New fantasy series worth trying...

[Ian Sales]

I'll admit here and now that I read more sf than fantasy. And when some of my favourite sf novelists write fantasy, I'll happily read it. But there's a vast amount of heartland fantasy out there, and I find it hard to distinguish the good stuff. Now, I've read the big ones - Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire - and tried one or two from some of the other popular series - Malazan Book of the Fallen, Terry Goodkind, Perdido Street Station, Amber, Viriconium... And even some of the less popular ones - RA MacAvoy, Ricardo Pinto...

But.

If I were try something more recent, what should I choose? What would you recommend?

[drosdelnoch]

To be honest with you Ian I'd say its dependent as to what things you like in a book, theres plenty to choose from and its key that you find something that matches with what you enjoy. Otherwise you're just flogging a dead horse. So let us know what type of themes you enjoy to types of characters and we'll go from there.

[Ian Sales]

I'm not so bothered about themes. All I demand is originality and good writing. So, let's say I was less than impressed by Steven Erickson, but have been eagerly awaiting lo these last ten years the third book of The Stone Dance of the Chameleons.

I do have the first book of Flewelling's Tamír Triad, although I've yet to tackle it. And I've very much enjoyed Park's Roumania series (but he's a favourite writer anyway).

Here are a few I've tentatively marked as worth a punt - Steph Swainston, KJ Parker, Empire in Black & Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky... Are they worth trying?

[drosdelnoch]

I'll let you know about the Empire of Black and Gold as Im just about to read that.

[Tom Lloyd]

I'll be keen to hear about the Tchaikovsky book, only just read the blurb of it but it looks like one worth checking out. Ricardo Pinto is worth a mention yes, I felt the second one was a bit lost in plot-terms, but he's a great writer so I'll certainly grab the third to see if he gets back to the elements I enjoyed of the first which was certainly very different to most epic fantasy.

I remain undecided about R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series, but oddly I would recommend it to others - I've read the first two and the quality is undeniable, whether I'll read the next I'm not sure however. The complete lack of humanity in the central character bugs me somewhat, but I think that's a personal preference that shouldn't stop me telling others to read it!

Steph Swainston I couldn't get into, too many things about The Year of Our War annoyed me, KJ Parker was good and enjoyable but hasn't gone beyond that so I've not been compelled to read the second in either series I've started yet.

[Maggie Brinkley]

I agee with you about Bakker's 'Prince of Nothing' series - I have recommended it, though for me it is too -hm - not flat exactly, but the Main Character seems to be very passive. Big Events happen all around, but he's just swept along and seems to have little emotional involvement, IMO. I could, of course, be wrong! KJ Parker began well, but the later books also seem rather dull. At least, the Main Character seems dull to me.

Have you tried the 'Coldfire' trilogy by Friedman? That's quite original, and the baddie is very nice - conflicted like anything. Well-written, too. Janny Wurts can plot like a mad, plotting thing: but her prose is so convoluted that she sometimes says exactly the opposite of what she means. In the end, I find I return to Pratchett, Diana Wynne Jones, Sherwood Smith and Lee and Miller's Liaden books for comfort! (And Heyer and Rafael Sabatini and Stanley J Weyman and Biggles and Chandler and... There are too many to count.)

[Maggie Brinkley]

Out of sheer curiosity, may I ask why you didn't like Erikson? I like his earlier works very much because I enjoyed his characters: though the later ones, it seems to me, are bogged down by Too Much Eldritch Meaning which isn't properly explained. As a reader I don't like being strung along when something should have been explained in simple language earlier. Not that that's a fault exclusive to Mr Erikson. I do like the way that he brings in his archaeology background to indicate ancient, long-dead civilisations.

[Ian Sales]

Because it struck me as a badly-written role-playing game campaign. Those characters that weren't clichés were characterised by quirks. And there were baddies in the hills, with no reason given for their location or how they continued to survive there.

[Sharyn Lilley]

If you find you enjoy the Tamir Triad, can I suggest you look at Carol Berg's Rai Kirah series, I enjoyed those so much I will pretty much buy anything that author cares to write. Also Jennifer Fallon's work, but I'd suggest The Second Sons series, and her latest series; The Tide Lords. I think those two series are her best work to date.

[James]

I can echo Sharyn’s comments about The Rai Kirah Series as I read these a couple of months back and it is a thoroughly engrossing read. And you may have read these as you have say you covered the big ones but the Rift War Saga and then the Empire Trilogy by Reymond E Feist are a good set of books to get wrapped up in. And finally but my no means least you should look at Mark Chadbourns work, a resident on wonderlands, and I can thoroughly recommend all of his books.

[Ian Sales]

I vaguely recall reading some Feist when I was a teenager. It's that sort of by-the-numbers sword & sorcery I'd sooner avoid, however.

[drosdelnoch]

Theres also Greg Keyes Kingdom of Bone and Thorn that you might enjoy with book four of it just out in the UK. Other than that the recommendations such as Rai Kirah pretty much get the biscuit although if you like a bit of Heroic Fantasy I'd suggest going with David Gemmell.

[Nick]

Current authors out there to consider with series either in progress or complete are: Joe Abercrombie (I haven't read him but he is said to give an ironic take on fantasy tropes); Scott Lynch (more Renaissance than Medieval in setting, but for some the contemporary expletives might grate, think likeable thieves and crime capers in fantasy land); Brian Ruckley & Tom Lloyd (who is a member of Wonderlands!) both of them writing recognisable heroic fantasy.

Greg Keyes' Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series (four volumes) I agree with drosdelnoch in mentioning that, it is solid, well-written fantasy fare to - in my opinion - to a very high standard. James Clemens' The Godslayer trilogy might be up your street, too. But perhaps suffers from the fact that he seems to knock out a thriller under the name of James Rollins in the same year, too. I enjoyed the first Shadowfall, although the latter third of it felt somewhat breathless. Haven't yet read the second in the series.

Neither Keyes nor Clemens have updated their websites for about two years now!

Then there is Tad Williams, back with a new series, two volumes of his Shadowmarch trilogy are already out. Some have said that it suffers in comparison with the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series that comes before the huge mainly SF wadge that is the Otherland quartet which separates them.

But if you like the more Baroque character of Pinto's work Ian, you might consider a fellow Canadian to Erikson: R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy. I've not read them myself yet, but Bakker writes eloquently on fantasy and has some beef behind him as a philosophy professor by trade. The Prince of Nothing is said to reflect that.