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]

Oh and I forgot Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind) only one book out currently but its pretty epic and setting up quite well for the subsequent novels.

[T.D. Newton]

I'm also going to suggest Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch. Both are fantastic and very new to the scene.

[T.D. Newton]

I'd definitely suggest the Sword of Shadows series by J.V. Jones. She has released 3 of the 5 books so far.

Also, the Chronicles of the Necromancer books by Gail Z. Martin are fantastic.

For something not-so-new but probably more your style (fantasy with a bit of sci-fi around the edges) try C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy. If you read a lot of SF, you've probably heard of her other books and they are also good (In Conquest Born, This Alien Shore, etc).

[Nick]

Agree about J.V. Jones, T.D. She is a wonderful writer. There was a huge gap between her second and third book, though, about five years, I think. And welcome to Wonderlands!

[Rosalie Skinner]

I am not going to recommend any more authors at present, but I did enjoy this discussion and have updated my 'to read' list accordingly. Thanks for the information.
With so little time to read these days, it is great to have a quick reference guide to what is worth starting.

One day I hope my own novels will be amongst those recommended. I guess that is every writer's fantasy.

[drosdelnoch]

Patrick Rothfuss' book was originally released last year (PB out now) with more books to follow. Likewise theres Scott Lynches Gentlemen Bast*rd series thats been pretty good fun although of the two currently out the best one is the first,The Lies of Locke Lamoura. Otherwise Joe Abercrombie has been fun. Its really a case of what you want from a book.

[Julie Carter]

Recent books that I think are pretty wonderful:

Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion books

Greg Keyes's Thorn and Bone books

Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind (incomplete series)

Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer (incomplete series)

Brian Sanderson's Mistborn (I haven't read the second yet, so I don't know if it's complete)

I read Ricardo Pinto's The Chosen and and thought it was magnificent, but the second one made me... heartsick, I guess. I couldn't finish. I also couldn't finish the GRR Martin books which struck me as despairing. Other books/series I didn't choose to finish were Scott Lynch, Bakker, Anne Bishop's Black Jewels, and a frillion more I can't remember.

I'm currently reading The Swans' War by Sean Russell and enjoying it.

Julie

[Satima Flavell]

Check out Joe Abercrombie's first trilogy The First Law. It's one of the best first trilogies ever to hit the market, I think. A bit dark, very gritty, very realistic. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire you'll really like Abercrombie, too.

[Carole McDonnell]

I'd recommend Amberlight by Sylvia Kelso. The second part is coming soon. If you like literary poetic dense feminist fiction.

I'd also recommend Seaborn by Chris Howard. If you like mermaid stories and greek water myths.

Both these books are published by Juno Books. -C

[Ian Sales]

I read the excerpt of Amberlight on the Juno Books website. Seems very... Cherryhesque.

[Carole McDonnell]

oh dear! ::feeling a bit like a deer caught in the headlights:: I don't know Cherryh. The first part did have an operatic feel to it, though. It lightened up somewhat in the later parts. Very, very, very tough read for moi. -C

[Ian Sales]

Never read any CJ Cherryh? She writes both sf and fantasy, although is probably better known for the sf. She's been writing since the 1970s. She's very good. Here's her web site - http://www.cherryh.com/