Hi folks, The last books I finished were the Otori Trilogy by Liam Hearn, which for only being moderately fantasy based, were amazing! I then read 50 shades of grey..........but we will move on from there as I need to get back to fantasy! For some reason Waterstones has changed and now does their books by author but not by genre so I cant just browse through the fantasy section and choose a set of books so could you help me out and suggest what I should read? I am looking for a set of books as I like to get lost in the depth of the world and characters. So far from the top of my head I have read: Dragonlance series and other books - Tracy Hickmen & Margeret Weis All R.A.Salvatore Wheel Of Time - Robert Jordon Damphir set - Barb Hendee There are others but I can't remember them all.

If you like dwarves, read the series by Markus Heitz. The book order is Dwarves, War of the Dwarves, Revenge of the Dwarves, (not out yet) Fate of the Dwarves. I love dwarves so I really get into these books. They are translated from German so sometimes syntax is messed up, but it is great overall.

I shall have a look into it! I didn't like orcs that much until i read a trilogy with them in and then my love for them grew.

I have kind of shameless plug and then some more fantasy-related suggestions.

My mom's a Regency Romance author whose books are REALLY good even if it's not a genre you usually enjoy -- but if you like romance, or suspense... definitely take a look at A Perilous Journey and An Unlikely Hero by Gail Eastwood (the others will be coming out over the course of the next year or two, but those two are available now from Amazon or Barnes & Nobles!)

(You don't have to buy them but if you could go "like" them on Amazon and "agree" with all the tags to help with her rankings, it'd be awesome. )

The Green Rider series by Kristen Britain, if you haven't read it, is one of my all-time favorite fantasy series. It follows the adventures of Karigan G'ladheon, who is the heir of a wealthy merchant clan, as she gets swept up in the Green Riders -- an order of magical messengers for the king. It's got magic, mystery, political intrigue... and possibly one of (at least in my point of view) most relate-able fantasy protagonists of all time. There's four books now -- but I have to confess I have not read the latest (Blackveil) yet. I haven't seen it in paperback, and it has to be paperback to match the rest of my collection, you understand. (I'm not OCD *at all*... )

And, of course, I haven't read them yet but the A Song of Ice and Fire series is a favorite amongst fantasy fans and I can say from the TV series that I've been watching... I cannot wait to read the books myself, they should definitely be on your list as well!

I've also been reading the Fallen Moon Trilogy by K.J. Taylor and it's pretty good -- my biggest complaint is there's a few typos that the editor absolutely should have caught, but that doesn't take away from the story at all. The main character isn't the nicest main character, which I'm enjoying because there's this turmoil where I'm like "I shouldn't really like you.... in most other series you'd be a bad guy! But I kinda get where you're coming from, you crazed man, you!" In fact, I'm a little torn because the chapter I just finished last night kind of has me liking the bad guy now too. I'm so full of turmoil, I have to keep reading to see if I can make up my mind!

As crayauchtin mentioned, you should definitely take a look on the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. It's kinda mainstream nowadays because of the TV series - which is really good, but cannot really catch all the highlights and ideas of the books (similar to the LotR Books + Movies). These books (5 up to now) may not be what you expect from classic fantasy books, as there are no bad orcs fighting against good elves, magic and fantasy creatures also play a minor role in Martin's world. Still, this book has the best story and first of all the BEST BEST characters of the books I've read yet. I also liked the Tide Lords series (4 books, completed) by Jennifer Fallon. The characters are well designed and the story is exciting. As in A Song of Ice and Fire, it's not simply good vs. evil, but has more fantasy and magic in it. Readers who like Martin's books should also have a look on this one.

Thanks very much for your replies guys I think I shall try out A Song of Ice and Fire will let you know what I think after first book ^_^

Try the Ki Kalendeen Chronicles, which I (J. E. Sandoval) am in the process of writing. I have two free novellas out on Smashwords if you want to get a sense of my writing style. Pirates of the Decian Sea Trouble at the Scholar's Inn: Women - underestimate them at your own peril. Blood of the Righteous is the first novel in the series. Working on book 2 now, going to be releasing it in October or November.

Women - underestimate them at your own peril.

'Tis true and fair warning, for l have been in peril. And on dry land,never mind for those in peril on the sea.

Updated 23 July 2012 (21:51)

If you've only read three of the Otori books, I highly recommend reading the fourth. It was amazing and stands as one of my favorite series ever. Martin's work is always good, and I've found Robin Hobb, Raymond Feist, and Ursula K. LeGuin to be to my liking as well. Almost forgot to add Dennis McKiernan to the list! I have read and re-read Dragondoom several times and it never gets old. This book made me love dwarves even more, but don't tell my orc side that- we tend to quibble over things like this...

Updated 7 August 2012 (05:15)

Posted by Zogdukk ThrakkaIf you've only read three of the Otori books, I highly recommend reading the fourth. It was amazing and stands as one of my favorite series ever.

I have read the both the prequel with Shiguru and his brother but it was no where as good as the the one with Takeo and his kids. I wish there were more books with them

Agreed, but I still liked the way it tied everything together and had to include it in my list.

I absolutely recommend The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. Also the sequel. The third book is in the works, and I can hardly wait. I used to read a lot of fantasy novels when I was younger, and then sort of felt as though they were all sort of the same after a while. I really feel like Rothfuss breathed new life into the genre. I'm gearing up to read them again as a refresher.

This isn't fantasy related in the least. But I've been reading "An Unquiet Mind" by Key Redfield Jamison and its amazing. Its a rarity that I read non-fantasy/fiction books, but I'm glad I made an exception in this case.

I've started reading "Narn i Chîn Húrin" (eng. The Children of Hurin) couple of months ago, but i haven't finished it yet.

Too much Guild Wars 2 lately. Totally recommended if you are into the Tolkien universe ! Gee, who is not a Tolkien fan these days huh ?! The book is published by his son Christopher Tolkien in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_H%C3%BArin

Berserk saga from Kentaro Miura!!

This may be an aging thread but Avatar highlighted it, so what the hell, I'll throw in my bit..

I heartily recommend Poul Anderon's Three Hearts and Three Lions, a fantasy classic on which the D&D idea of the paladin is very thoroughly based. Overall, Poul Anderson's fantasy books are noteworthy because of "Ander-Saxon", Anderson's habit for eliminating latinate words from the vocabularies of pre-Norman characters, extrapolating new ones if necessary. This gives the dialogue a very Tolkien-esque feel.

Okay, with the following I'm working on little else than rumour and hearsay, but I've had a lot of recommendations both from casual readers and hardened fantasy literature research veterans for Steven Erikson's and Ian Esslemont's Malazan books (originally based on a homebrew rpg setting) and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series.

Out of these I've only read the first book in the series by Erikson, and that was well-written and the world was fascinating. His stuff is definitely on my personal reading list.

I would recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's amazing and the great start to a trilogy! I am currently reading the second (The Wise Man's Fear). I'd also recommend Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (the beginning of Kushiel's Legacy).

Posted by StoriaThymeI'd also recommend Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (the beginning of Kushiel's Legacy).

I'll second that! As long as you're not put off by depictions of BDSM.The series manages to have sexuality as a central theme without being gratuitous about it. Besides, Carey has built a very interesting world wherein love and sex truly matter, and portrays it exceedingly fluently.