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  1. #81
    Acts of Caine by Matthew Stover is an awesome series and just what you are looking for, OP
    Gentlemen Bastards are quite entertaining and you will enjoy them.
    Death Gate Cycle is easily Weiss/Hickmans best work.

  2. #82
    The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. Only the first two books are out, but they are completely amazing in every way a good book can be.

    Here's the prologue to give you a taste of the writer's style.
    IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a
    silence of three parts.

    The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that
    were lacking. If there had been a wind it would have sighed through the
    trees, set the inn’s sign creaking on its hooks, and brushed the silence down
    the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful
    of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with conversation
    and laughter, the clatter and clamour one expects from a drinking house
    during the dark hours of night. If there had been music . . . but no, of course
    there was no music.In fact there were none of these things,and so the silence
    remained.

    Inside the Waystone a pair of men huddled at one corner of the bar.They
    drank with quiet determination, avoiding serious discussions of troubling
    news. In doing this they added a small, sullen silence to the larger, hollow
    one. It made an alloy of sorts, a counterpoint.

    The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. If you listened for an
    hour, you might begin to feel it in the wooden floor underfoot and in the
    rough, splintering barrels behind the bar. It was in the weight of the black
    stone hearth that held the heat of a long-dead fire. It was in the slow back
    and forth of a white linen cloth rubbing along the grain of the bar. And it
    was in the hands of the man who stood there, polishing a stretch of
    mahogany that already gleamed in the lamplight.

    The man had true-red hair, red as flame. His eyes were dark and distant,
    and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many
    things.

    The Waystone was his, just as the third silence was his.This was appropriate,
    as it was the greatest silence of the three, wrapping the others inside itself.
    It was deep and wide as autumn’s ending. It was heavy as a great riversmooth stone.
    It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die.

  3. #83
    err... if OP thought LOTR was 'too heavy', he isn't going to like writing by Patrick Rothfuss.

  4. #84
    Quote Originally Posted by obdigore View Post
    Malazan Books of the Fallen.

    Something else you might like are the Dresden Files, which are modern fantasy, but much better than and started before all this vamp-craze crap happened. The Dresden series is an extremely fun read, and although each book is not very long (around 300 pages, compared to the Malazan Books generally being around 1,000 pages), they are worth it and I've read this series and reread it because it is so fun. If you are really into fantasy, the same author, Jim Butcher, did a fantasy series as well, which is pretty much a Roman Legion getting trapped in an alternate world where they learn to tame pokemon. Sounds stupid, but it is actually a very entertaining series with tons of magic in it.
    Another good modern fantasy series I've found is the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. 4 books have been released so far with more to come. Uses Irish/Norse and other mythological figures and gods, good humour, easy to read. Highly recommend it.[COLOR="red"]
    Last edited by AlthalusStone; 2012-08-21 at 08:13 AM.

  5. #85
    The Enduring Flame trilogy.
    Yes you are still the worst moderator on these forums.
    Quote Originally Posted by mistuhbull View Post
    So unless you have a source besides your rectum, we'd appreciate if you didn't spread misinformation

  6. #86
    Merely a Setback Adam Jensen's Avatar
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    Book marking this thread because after A Memory of Light comes out and I finish it, I'm going to need more.
    Putin khuliyo

  7. #87
    If you want a truly epic series. Wheel of Time as others has mentioned is seriuosly epic. A lot of people struggle to get through the 4th book unfortunately and drop the series. The books do somewhat get less awesome until they reach a peak low during the 10th book(imo of course), however the 11th-13th has been back to the great standard of the earlier books. Also the series last book comes out in January so you wont have to wait like the rest of us patient fans for years for it to finish .

    Anything by Brandon Sanderson. I have no yet read Elantris, but his other books are great. The Mistborn triology(Assassins and magic) is great, as is the first of its sequel trilogy. The Way of Kings(swords, magic, war etc) has a some what slow start, but I couldn't put it down for the last 600 pages. Warbreaker(more of a character driven story, not always a ton of magic, but it does talk about it a fair bit and some sections have a lot) was also a good book.

    If you like very dark fantasy, Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy is great. Very very dark and very very twisted, but also very engaging. There are also several books written after/before in the same universe

    Night Angel Triology, by Brent Weeks, Great read, assasins, magic etc. Great books

    TL;DR
    1. Read the Mistborn Triology first, I'd be surprised if many people didn't like it.
    2. Night Angel Triology similar boat to mistborn, although I think mistborn is better.
    3. If you have no problem with a very dark book, The Black Jewels Trilogy is by far my favourite.
    4. If you want an EPIC, Wheel of Time, hands down.
    5. All other Brandon Sanderson books
    Last edited by Willfox; 2012-08-21 at 01:42 PM.

  8. #88
    Both Malazan and GRRMs AsoIaF are more 'epic' than WoT. Especially when Jordan gets drowned in minutae in the middle books.

  9. #89
    Bloodsail Admiral Omertocracy's Avatar
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    If you don't mind a splash of Sci-fi in your fantasy, try the Coldfire trilogy by C. S. Friedman. Starts with Black Sun Rising.

    What else...
    *shuffles through ten boxes of fantasy books*

    The Deathgate Cycle (Weis and Hickman) starting with Dragon Wing. It has little primers about different parts of its magic system in the back of each book! Bonus points if you read it right after Dragonlance Chronicles to get the Super Secret Double Character.

    You also can't go wrong with the War of the Spider Queen sextet (followed by the Lady Penitent trilogy) by various authors, overseen by R. A. Salvatore, but to get about half the backstory, you need to get to book 10 or so in the Legend of Drizzt (mentioned previously several times).
    Last edited by Omertocracy; 2012-08-22 at 06:16 AM.

  10. #90
    I'd recommend The Redemption of Althalus, by David and Leigh Eddings...

    and if that strikes your fancy, the Belgariad, Mallorean, and other supporting books provide you with TONS of great literature to read afterwards (though in a completely separate setting).

  11. #91
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    I would recommend:

    The Black Company by Glen Cook
    The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
    The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
    Malazan Book of The Fallen by Steven Ericsson and the other books in the same universe by Ian Esslemont.
    Last edited by mmoc56ad7363be; 2012-08-22 at 06:36 AM.

  12. #92
    Field Marshal stormlynn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Callei View Post
    Joanne Bertin's The Last Dragonlord and Dragon and Phoenix, Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos novels, Harry Turtledove's Darkness series, and Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead have all been splendid reads for me.
    Seconded! Joanne Bertin's Dragonlord series is really great.

    May I also suggest Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series?! (6 books in all) One of the BEST series i've read in a long time. Re-read 'em every summer whilst sun-worshipping

    Rhiver 85 Holy Paladin
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  13. #93
    Mechagnome Dirtybird42o's Avatar
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    I would like to recommend The Dark Tower series by Stephen King

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_(series)

  14. #94
    Merely a Setback Adam Jensen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by obdigore View Post
    Both Malazan and GRRMs AsoIaF are more 'epic' than WoT. Especially when Jordan gets drowned in minutae in the middle books.
    I even had to skip a book. Crossroads of Twilight. I got so sick about reading about Elayne picking a goddamn dress or Egwene . . . picking a goddamn dress . . . that I wikipedia'ed the book for its plot. Nothing happens in it. Literally. Most of the characters, including the protagonist Rand Al'thor, is in the same position in the book after Crossroads as they are at the end of the book before it.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a great series, but that one book almost made me quit.
    Last edited by Adam Jensen; 2012-08-23 at 12:41 AM.
    Putin khuliyo

  15. #95
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    If you really want to get into long, intertwined series of books, then the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire books are great. Same with the Riftwar Saga (and many, many follow-ups) by R. E. Feist. The R. A. Salvatore books set in the Forgotten Realms (Crystal Shard, Icewind Dale, Hunter's Blades trilogies etc) are entertaining, easy-reading and there's lots of them.
    My personal recommendation would be to read everything written by David Gemmell (starting with, Legend, Waylander, The King Beyond the Gate, Sword in the Storm, Echoes of the Great Song, The Swords of Night & Day... ah, you get the picture - everything) and finish up with his take on the Trojan War, the last books he wrote before his death.
    For something reasonably heavy (but not too long) you could try to track down copies of the 'Tales of the Bard' by Michael Scott (Magician's Law, Demon's Law & Death's Law). It's an amazing trilogy, very Epic, High Magic with a clearly Celtic feel. They're a bit obscure and probably hard to find now, but well worth it I think.

  16. #96
    The Unstoppable Force Super Kami Dende's Avatar
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    DragonLance

  17. #97
    Bloodsail Admiral ovm33's Avatar
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    They have been already mentioned, but my three suggestions are:

    The Death Gate Cycle series - Was the first fantasy books I ever read and the ones I compair all others to. Most come up lacking imo.

    The Sword of Truth seies - Good enough series to have a TV show made about them. The fact that the show was an abomination is neither here nor there.

    Shannara series - Epic in length but in small "bite-size" stories / trilogies.

    Honorable mention to:

    Wheel of Time series

  18. #98
    Quote Originally Posted by orissa View Post
    I even had to skip a book. Crossroads of Twilight. I got so sick about reading about Elayne picking a goddamn dress or Egwene . . . picking a goddamn dress . . . that I wikipedia'ed the book for its plot. Nothing happens in it. Literally. Most of the characters, including the protagonist Rand Al'thor, is in the same position in the book after Crossroads as they are at the end of the book before it.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a great series, but that one book almost made me quit.
    I am a massive wheel of time fan and I totally agree. The 10th book(crossroads of twilight) is spanned over 10 days from like 20character points, and to sum it up, its them all going,(Spoiler) "WTF JUST HAPPENED, DID YOU FEEL THAT?!". You could skip the 10th book and I'm pretty sure the series would be perfectly readable.
    Last edited by Willfox; 2012-08-23 at 05:05 AM.

  19. #99
    Quote Originally Posted by orissa View Post
    I even had to skip a book. Crossroads of Twilight. I got so sick about reading about Elayne picking a goddamn dress or Egwene . . . picking a goddamn dress . . . that I wikipedia'ed the book for its plot. Nothing happens in it. Literally. Most of the characters, including the protagonist Rand Al'thor, is in the same position in the book after Crossroads as they are at the end of the book before it.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a great series, but that one book almost made me quit.
    It is, but the genre tropes it extends, it obviously was started well before ASOIAF and Malazan. Farmboy to Hero is a big one that the genre has been moving away from. Not to mention Jordans writing of the all-woman. Every woman in the book falls neatly into three categories, and the situation with Rand and the ladies is clearly wishful thinking on Jordans part.

    TBH, I've not read the Sanderson stuff yet, since I find it insanely hard to go through the middle books (again), which I read so long ago I don't remember half of what goes on. Same with GRRM's series. aSoS is so mehtastic if you have already read it and are just reading it to catch up.

    Honestly Malazan is the best out there currently for Epic Fantasy, but Sandersons new epic series (number one is Way of Kings and he is writing the second now) is the only successor I see on the horizon, unless Richard Morgan or Joe Abercrombie sit down and start writing long epic series instead of the trilogies they are doing now. Rothfuss is good but a trilogy is a trilogy and so far his books don't fall into the 'Epic Fantasy' category, for me at least. Glen Cooks' Black Company series is very very good, but again, it is more Tragic than Epic.

  20. #100
    Quote Originally Posted by obdigore View Post
    It is, but the genre tropes it extends, it obviously was started well before ASOIAF and Malazan. Farmboy to Hero is a big one that the genre has been moving away from. Not to mention Jordans writing of the all-woman. Every woman in the book falls neatly into three categories, and the situation with Rand and the ladies is clearly wishful thinking on Jordans part.

    TBH, I've not read the Sanderson stuff yet, since I find it insanely hard to go through the middle books (again), which I read so long ago I don't remember half of what goes on. Same with GRRM's series. aSoS is so mehtastic if you have already read it and are just reading it to catch up.

    Honestly Malazan is the best out there currently for Epic Fantasy, but Sandersons new epic series (number one is Way of Kings and he is writing the second now) is the only successor I see on the horizon, unless Richard Morgan or Joe Abercrombie sit down and start writing long epic series instead of the trilogies they are doing now. Rothfuss is good but a trilogy is a trilogy and so far his books don't fall into the 'Epic Fantasy' category, for me at least. Glen Cooks' Black Company series is very very good, but again, it is more Tragic than Epic.
    You really should read books 11-13(and hopefully 14 is good too when it comes out, I know 11 isn't Sanderson, but it's right after the lull of book 10), they are good. If you don't want to read it, just have a quick look on the net for summaries of what happens in the middle books. I'm currently re-reading through and was surprised that the middle section of book 4 wasn't as dull as I remembered it and was pleasantly surprised by a lot of the things I didn't pick up the first time I read through them however many years ago.

    As for Way of Kings, the first book so far has been great except for how long it took for the story to get any traction. Personally I found the first 400 pages(minus the small szeth part at the start) incrediblly dull and unexciting. After that the book did pick up considerably and I actually found myself liking all the main characters.

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