Good, Deep, Fantasy/Sci-Fi Series (for Older Readers)

[AceLuby]

Another good book by Dan Simmons is Carrion Comfort. It's more of a horror book, but it was really good IMO. Long, but I couldn't put it down. A real fun read.

[7ontheline]

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Glad to see Guy Gavriel Kay got some mentions. I almost listed Tigana and Lions of Al-Rassan in my first reply, but I was in a hurry and kept it brief.

I am not one to re-read many books. As a matter of fact, I could probably count the number of books I've read twice on one hand, if I could remember them. I think I will go back and re-read Tigana and Lions now, though, thanks to this thread.

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I dunno, Kay's stuff is good but seems to not hold up as well for me as I get older. It's a little melodramatic and a little too happy / fairy-tale-ish. Still, he definitely knows how to write dramatic scenes.

People looking for sci-fi authors should check out Bruce Sterling and Vernor Vinge.

Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix and Zenith Angle are really good. I liked Distraction and Zeitgeist too. He's a contemporary of William Gibson's.

[tautomer]

Great thread, I've read most of the more popular series and am always looking for something new.

The Stephen King Dark Tower series is probably my favorite but I've always been a huge fan of his stories. The ending was kind of strange but it definitely elicited a big emotional response so I can't complain (Even if it was, "wtf? Are you kidding me?"). If I don't feel anything at the end then the writer didn't do their job.

The Goodkind series has some interesting storylines and creative ideas but I can't really stand the main character. He's too damn preachy. I'd rather the author start a new series about Zedd in the early days, he's much more interesting.

Robert Jordan's stuff is good but it obviously dragged out way too long. Whole books were put out where basically nothing happened to further the overall plot. Oh well, I was entertained anyway.

George Martin's books are excellent and I impatiently await the next installment. He deals less with typical magic/special powers and more with politics and adult themes, although there are dragons in the story which kind of seem out of place to me. I'll have to reread the last couple before reading the new one when it comes out.

I'm more into the Fantasy than Science Fiction so I can't comment too much about SF. I am currently reading the Dune series and have not been very impressed. I guess I like the magic and adventure stories better. And the background of a barren desert planet doesn't really help with the overall feeling either. Obviously a well written story with excellent creativity but not my cup of tea.

[Slow Play Ray]

has anyone here read Elantris by Brandon Sanderson? it sounds pretty cool so i picked it up but it hasn't made its way to the top of the queue yet...

[Vilica]

Yep, pretty good as a standalone. I mentioned a trilogy of his above; Mistborn and Well of Ascension. Different world, different characters. But on Elantris, was a pretty quick read and enjoyable, if a bit light.

[anisotropy]

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The Demon Wars series is excellent.

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very much so! not ashamed to admit it at all. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Same here. I thought Transcendence and Mortalis were the 2 best of the series but I loved them all. Much much better than the Forgotten Realms books.

[gumpzilla]

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I came into this thread to post this. Gene Wolfe is my favorite author, and arguably the best sci-fi writer of all time. Seriously everyone needs to read these books.

Start with the Fifth Head of Cerebus, then skip to the Long Sun books, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Long_Sun) then go back and read the first series, the book of the new sun.

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I'll 3rd the recommendation, and I also agree with GA that Long Sun makes sense before New Sun. Long Sun is ultimately easier to "figure out," but still retains much of what makes Wolfe awesome. If Long Sun is a little too much for you, I think you're unlikely to like New Sun. Unlike the Long Sun -> Short Sun transition (I've just read the first book in that series, looking forward to the next two), you miss out on very little by reading Long Sun first. There are definitely enough clues that it seems like the worlds are connected, but that connection is more or less irrelevant, and Long Sun stands alone very nicely.

Also, be careful trolling the Wikis if you think you might be interested in Wolfe. Spoilers will definitely show up.

EDIT: Also, 7ontheline's suggestion of Vinge reminds me of two great books of his: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. The second is a prequel to the first. Both are very, very good, and either could be read alone. I first read Fire back towards the end of high school, and Deepness at some point late in college. The long separation blurred how similar the books really are, which is a little disappointing, but both are high quality space opera, and do an excellent job imagining convincingly alien cultures.

[Azizal]

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I really liked Tad William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series.

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I found this series to be decent, but fantasy has been hard for me to read since Martin is so much better than anything else imo (I have switched to historical fiction). I read M, S & T because Martin said it was a huge inspiration for ASoIaF. Martin borrowed quite a bit from Williams. Camaris = Arthur Dayne, for example (and Thorn = Sword of the Morning). Also, Martin's use of the shifting PoV, I believe, was inspired by Williams.

[Azizal]

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson is a great sci-fi book that hasn't been mentioned. It fits in the cyberpunk genre (sorta) and is also funny (main character is named Hiro Protagonist).

There is also a surprising lack of Heinlein recommendations. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is my fave of his, tho I have not read them all.

When I was very young I read a bunch of Star Wars novels. Nearly all were crap, kinda like (I imagine many of you have done this/tried to do this) when you go back and try to read Dragonlance again. But the Timothy Zahn Star Wars series is really good.

A Wizard of Earthsea (and sequels) by Le Guin are very good too.

I ditto the recommendations of: Speaker for the Dead (hated the ending of Xenocide so much I didn't read Children of the Mind tho. Also I think Ender's Game is way overrated), Amber, Hyperion, Foundation, early Shannara books, Dune, Rama, Illuminatus (sooo good).

But my favorite is George RR Martin and it's not even close. Anyone reading this thread who hasn't read this series should make it a priority. It's so good that many times when I have been in the mood to read fantasy, I look for something new and wind up re-reading Martin instead.

[Azizal]

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If you want to explore the Fantasy/Horror genre, then Clive Barker's Weaveworld, Great and Secret Show and Everville are worth checking out.

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Let's not forget the original master himself, HP Lovecraft. Seriously chilling, clever and well written.