This year I have been focused on reading mainly sci-fi and fantasy books. I started with The Kingkiller Chronicle (Patrick R), which I did not really enjoy, then I started on the Misborn books (Brando Sando), and just finished the first trilogy which I really enjoyed.
In between them I started Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy and have read 1 & 2 so far with the 3rd left to finish.
I have also picked up Dune, The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson), Between Two Fires (Christopher Buehlman), and Mistborn: Secret Histories.
Logically it makes sense I finish Silo, but I am on a real fantasy kick, so from the above, which would you guys recommend I read next, Or, any further recommendations?
by Mr_Murdoc
1 Comment
It might help to know why you disliked Kingkiller and liked Mistborn in order to make some more tailored recommendations.
There are a LOT of fantasy series out there and a fair few sci fi series, ranging from comedic to the most serious.
If you are looking for the most difficult, but potentially deepest and epic fantasy series, Malazan is maybe a go to.
If you are looking for something really well written and stunningly brilliant, Hyperion Cantos is my choice for the best sci fi ever written.
Insightful and entertaining, and critically acclaimed even among literature people? Maybe pick up Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse 5 is arguably sci fi (although I mentally place Vonnegut in his own category. It is missing enough of what is traditional sci fi fare that I consider it its own thing even where it includes sci fi elements as it does here).
Want something that sounds ridiculous and silly, but is actually excellent, pick up Dungeon Crawler Carl. This is doubly true if you do audio, as the audio versions of this are among the best out there. I put off reading these for a while as the cover and description sounded ridiculous, but I honestly *loved* them and am eager for book 7.
Want some deep and meaningful sci fi (with light fantasy elements) that you can read at surface level but could come back and reread a dozen times and understand differently each one? Pick up Gene Wolf’s Solar Cycle, Starting with the Book of the New Sun.
Want maybe the best overall fantasy series ever written, but are willing to abide the fact that it will not soon be completed (and may never be) you can pick up A Song of Ice and Fire, also called Game of Thrones, by George RR Martin. The story is excellent, and his clever use of rotating points of view made reading it always feel like a game or puzzle to me.
Want THE classic fantasy that essentially everything in the genre owes SOME homage to, read Lord of the Rings.
Want something that has an awesome story and excellent world building, and with a seriously epic ending, read Wheel of Time. Warning, this series is LONG and by my estimation struggles with pacing all the way through. And I think it leans perhaps a bit too heavily into a few ideas on gender. And there is a rather large section in the middle where it feels like it falls off the rails under its own weight. Still, if you can persevere, the ending is among the most epic in all fantasy.
Want an at times juvenile but also endlessly entertaining military sci fi space opera? Pick up Expeditionary Force by Alanson. Again, these are most popular in audio by far. Earth is attacked by space hamsters and saved by space lizards and joins a galaxy spanning conflict involving space cats, space spiders, space beetles, space birds and little green men (among others). Humanity needs to navigate difficult interstellar waters and try to avoid the seemingly certain destruction of our little, fragile planet. We are assisted by an elder AI in the size and shape of a beer can who can be a bit of an asshole. Like Carl, this one is more entertaining than it really has any right to be.
I have a ton more, but without knowing more about what you are looking for I will refrain from just listing everything. If you have questions I’ll be happy to elaborate in a spoiler free method on any of these and what I think makes them worthwhile and anything I think is a weakness.