Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

The Noble Dead saga by Barb and JC Hendee.

10 books released so far. Starts with two con artist "vampire hunters" scamming villages, and then them actually having to deal with vampires.

And it gets into pretty epic journeys and world building. The first book is Dhampir.

A couple off the top of my head:
* The Thorn of Breland trilogy by Keith Baker. Normally I wouldn't suggest D&D novels (they, by and large, suck horribly) but this one is basically fantasy James Bond.

* The Night Angel series by Brent Weeks. Right now a trilogy, but the author is going to add more once he gets back from his other project. Setting is fairly low magic and fairly standard. The series is basically about assassins. Note: The books do have some dumb terminology but is otherwise really good.

* The Lightbringer series, also by Brent Weeks. Arguably better than his other series, much of the plot revolves around the setting's unique magic system: Converting light into a physical substance called luxin where different colors have different properties (not just limited to the visible spectrum either, there is also microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray based luxin).

Conan.

Noone said Discworld?

>>21919062
this man knows whats up.

>>21919062
Discworld is great but OP asked for "fantasy epic".

Can anyone suggest any fantasy which is more historical than surreal?

Does Codex Alera count as epic fantasy? What's the difference between epic fantasy and regular fantasy? Can Urban Fantasy be epic fantasy?

>>21918923
>The Steel Remains

Why?

The Black Company series, it follows a unit of mercenaries who start off working for the BBEG, fight a rebellion, then find out they've been unknowingly sheltering the Chosen One this entire time and have to flee to escape The Lady's wrath. Also her husband is waking back up, and was ten times worst then she ever was.

Get the omnibuses if you can.

The best fantasy I have ever read in my life is either the Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy by Patricia McKillip, or Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock.

Both of them manage to hit all the things I love about fantasy without resorting to HURR HURR ELVES ORCS GOBLINS and Tolkien stereotypes.

If you have had your fill of that generic shit, take a look. Some people won't like Elric though (he started the whole angsty albino with an evil sword schtick, but it is fucking awesome imo)

>>21918923
You. Person.

Look up that series I read ages ago. The first book was called The Anvil of Ice, I think. Michael Rohan? I think it was Michael Rohan. Anyway - magical blacksmiths. Pirate fuckery. Pretty dark universe. Topless dwarven women. All good stuff.

>>21919099
Only thing I can think of is Sapkowski's Hussite Trilogy (I'm not even sure if it was translated to English).
It's way better than the Witcher, which I would recommend only if you really liked the games, and even then only the short stories.

>>21919096
Some books are pretty epic.

Also really funy. The two books are freaking high fantasy epicness but made by the monthy pytons.

Monster Blood Tattoo
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Latro of the Mist
The Book of the New Sun

>What I've read:
>>The Hobbit
>>Lord of the Rings
Do the Silmarillion next.
Also, I don't know if it counts as an epic (well, most stuff doesn't really count as an epic, but you know), but The Abhorsen trilogy was good, as is most stuff by Garth Nix.
And if you like Tolkien, you should at least check out his pal CS Lewis.

>>21919148
I've always loved how hypocritical Moorcock is. Rags on other people for their creative output then literally rewrites John Carter of Mars without even the good grace to be ironic about it.

Also, his Elric books liberally borrow from old Poul Andersen books. Truly, there is no such thing as originality.

>>21919194
two first books i mean

Children of the river god.
Damn good read, I tell you.
More like King of dragon pass than Tolkien

I've been thinking about looking for WHFB books. I could go for some fantasy themed war porn

>>21919108
I'd say CA counts as pretty damn high fantasy.

>>21919206

Moorcock was great when he was young and then after that, not so much.

Basically, his original Elric set, Dorian Hawkmoon and Corum. Anything outside of that (Erekose, Super british spy bullshit, Doctor Who, Carter, etc) just turned into shit.

Stormbringer though? That shit is fucking legendary.

>>21919240

I both love and rage over the ending of Stormbringer every time.

Dragonlance

>>21919274
if he's young enough to enjoy Dragonlance then he shouldn't be on 4chan

Hm... you know how is called the boor series written by Richard A. Knaak about dragons and the sorcerer Cabe Bedlam?

File: 1354813034812.jpg-(64 KB, 450x305, pern.jpg)

Are the Pern books fantasy or sci-fi?

Gotrek and Felix collection. I just love those guys! Decent WH fantasy writing.

>>21919324
Kinda both.

LoTR. Everyone should read it once, and never again.
Game of Thrones. Despite /lit/'s bitching, it's a good series.
Camber of Culdi
Roger Zelazny's Amber series

File: 1354815551605.gif-(117 KB, 700x497, Edge.gif)

The Edge Chronicles. It's fucking awesome man.
It's about a world called 'the Edge' which is on top of a massive cliff. The setting is almost entirely original, but really easy to get into; you just learn things as you read. There's a fuckton of lore which makes up the world.

The closest thing to traditional fantasy species is that there's a fuckton of goblin species, but they're all extremely varied. There's goblin-esque species which share names with standard species (oakelves, red and black dwarves, woodtrolls, etc.) but they're nothing like the standard versions of said species. The human equivelant are things called Fourthlings, who are pointy eared humans.

There's a lot of focus on the weather (mother storms, great storms, dark maelstromms...), types of tree/wood (some are lighter than air when properly treated, some are very tough and used for weapons, armour and tools (seeing as there's no big mining industry in the Edge until right near the end of the series, so no metal)), the evolution of sky travel (sail ships kept aloft by flight stones, then small speedy craft made of light wood and special varnish), a substance called stormphrax (explosive, solid lightning which changes weight depending on the amount of light (originally used as very classy weight and water purifier, later used to power machinery and guns), and the rise of industry.

There's no magic. There's lots of items which have impossible and fancy properties, but not wizards or anything.

To top it all off, every book is full of fucking awesome maps and drawings.

>>21919795
I loved the edge, but the books are pretty young now.
Fucking awesome worldbuilding though.

>>21919822
This.

Malazan book of the fallen series.

Extremely good worldbuilding.

It's not strictly fantasy, but take a look at Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. If you enjoy that, The Scar and possibly The Iron Council (it's a little shit compared to the other two).

>>21919822
Yeah, they do seem pretty childish now, but I still love to reread them.

One of the reasons I love them is because they're the books which introduced me to darker themes, like the death of main characters: things get pretty damn grim at times. Something which really stuck in my mind was in the second book, when most of Twig's sky pirate crew either dies from crashing in that creepy fuck forest, or getting their throats slit and toes cut off by the mad guy in the Mire.

>>21918923
I recommend The Wise Man's Fear, since you've already read The Name of the Wind.

Joe Abercrombie. Anything by him. It takes the standard fantasy tropes and deliciously subverts them. Start with Best Served Cold. If you like it get the First Law trilogy.

>>21919868
oh jeez yeah, it was dark as fuck, and I loved it. I would like to see a roleplaying world or system for it.
>You will never be a knight academic in your skyship chasing a great storm for an ounce of stormphrax

I cannot recommend the Abhorsen trilogy enough. Garth Nix is a great writer and the setting and magic system is amazing.

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>>21919937
>You will never be an Undertown leaguesman, incharge of hoardes of flathead goblin mercenaries and an amarda of personal skyships

Did Anybody else See the video of Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Scott Lynch and a few other notable writers playing Adnd 2e? Pretty fucking cool

>>21918923
blackhearts is a fun little warhammer novel

>>21919206
Yeah, OP can just read the Barsoom series instead. Space fantasy with power trips, noble savages, princess rescuing, manliness, casual racism, perils, and a great momentum to the plot. One of the progenitors of Humanity Fuck Yeah, without too much technobabble to distract from the fact that it's a fantasy at heart. John Carter's philosophy towards obstacles in life will always produce manly tears.

>>21919868
The edge was the first series I thought of when I saw OP's post, consider that another vote in its favor.
They may be intended as children's books but they pull off the combination of idealistic adventure and exploration, gritty shades of grey morality and magnificently unique world building so well they are never leaving my shelves.

>>21919922
No, he should start with The First Law Trilogy. Much of the humor in Best Served Cold comes from know who some of the characters are from the previous story.

>>21919849

THIS

File: 1354816961415.jpg-(256 KB, 1200x667, DeBodardBooks.jpg)

If you're looking for a setting that's a bit different I would like to recommend De Bodard's "Obsidian and Blood"-series. The protagonist is the High-Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, God of Death, and his duties involve investigating mysterious murders. Lots of political intrigue, God-Spirits on the loose and everyday blood-magic in a "slightly" more magical version of the 15th century Aztec empire.

A fire upon the deep. It's half space opera (with Go Kart driving Plants and Nazi-Butterflies) and half Medieval Fantasy (with Hivemind Dogs). It then fuses both genres end.

>>21920055
Ain't that right. I've seen adult books that were less mature than the edge series.

File: 1354817656648.jpg-(1.1 MB, 1287x2100, bakker.jpg)

Take a look at R. Scott Bakker's "Prince of Nothing"-series as well. It starts with "The Darkness That Comes Before" and is really epic fantasy, and damn it's bleak ...

I read the first series and decided I hated most of the protagonist enough to buy the next series as well ("The Aspect Emperor") just to see them get destroyed. Now I'm beginning to rethink that ... clever clever author ...

>>21920182
i absolutely love this series but be warned OP it's very hit or miss. I have friends that absolutely rave about the books and others who fucking hate them with a passion.

Captcha: forewarns entsIfy

Can one of you explain to me this;

On the Black Library website on the Audio books suck as Chosen of Khorne it says "Buy now" and "Buy MP3".

What's the difference? Is the MP3 a virtual download and Buy Now is a CD copy?

Thanjs.

>>21919139
I'm currently reading the first book and I think the writing style is very bad and the characters are kind of shallow. Does it get better in the course of the series or does the writing stay on the same level? While I like the idea of the books I'm having difficulties finishing it because the writing is so bad.

>>21920244
it gets better. THe writing style is a bit weird, i'll grant you that but i really think the shallow characters work well with the whole useless grunts theme.

>>21920182
I like how the guys in the series are so multifaceted, one being a teacher/spy/wizard/madman, while all the women are one thing they remain forever, there's a whore who's always a whore, a slave who's always a slave, and a manipulative bitch who has always been a manipulative bitch.

Also, the protagonist may as well be a wizard, for all his depth and inherent knowledge of mankind, which he uses and everyone falls for because he's the protagonist.

>>21919139
The Black Company is fantastic, yeah.

>What fantasy books would you recommend?
Joe Abercrombies The First Law trilogy and extra books after that.

Thieves' World series by Robert Lynn Asprin and many other authors as well.

Also GRRM and his lovely tale of Westeros.

Most of all Joe Abercrombie, as his characters are just so bloody entertaining in their odd quirky ways and personalities and destinies.

>>21919986
>Did Anybody else See the video of Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Scott Lynch and a few other notable writers playing Adnd 2e? Pretty fucking cool

What, no (love Joe Abercrombies work)?

>>21919225
>I've been thinking about looking for WHFB books
Most of the WHfantasy books are not about battles though but more in line with WHFantasy Roleplay (2nd ed). Which makes them so much beter though. Now I try to avoid the Battle aimed ones.

>>21919922
>>21919986
>>21920507
>>21920521
Mah fuckin' niggaz. I love that man. I'm midway through The Heroes and holy shit, Gorst. Dat fucking Gorst.

Can't wait to dig my brain into Red Country when it comes out on paperback.

>>Did Anybody else See the video of Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Scott Lynch and a few other notable writers playing Adnd 2e?

Watched a trailer and all it did was to remind me of how horrible of a roleplaying game D&D is and how with a room full of that creative people it just gets reduced to horribly simplistic character by class and race and random jokes from the players. Such a shame.

>>21920588
>Gorst
Gorst sure steps up as a character and now stands shoulder to shoulder with Sand Dan Glokta as a all time favorit.

Havent read the most recent, Red Country, as of yet either.

Not exactly epic, but Burning City is pretty good. By Niven and Pournelle. Also Inferno and Escape from Hell (semi-sequel to Divine Comedy and then sequel to Inferno).

>>21920660
Ugh, he's a whiny bitch.
Seriously I've been on 4chan for years and played MUDs and I've never seen as much whining from so many characters as there is in that book.

File: 1354823275938.jpg-(20 KB, 316x498, n295462.jpg)

The Dwarves series is a pretty good read.

>>21919849
This is a great series, takes a bit to get your head around but totally worth it

>>21920073
This man knows what's going on.

I'm a huge fan of David Edding's series the Belgariad and it's sequel series the Mallorean.

Apart from GRRM stuff and the stuff mentioned:
Prince of nothing series
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Patrick Rothfuss stuff
Malazan book of the dead ( the first book is quite boring and has a million characters ,so you've got to plow through it, the rest is good).

>>21921148
Surprisingly so, as I found out. Just enough of a different feel from the usual fantasy dwarves to make things interesting. Haven't read the latest one, though.

Gormenghast trilogy, Mervyn Peake
Earthsea, and Ursula Le Guin's other work
China Mieville (Embassytown, Iron Council, Perdido Street Station, etc.)
M. John Harrison (Virconium, The Course of the Heart, etc.)
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
The Night Land, William Hope Hodgson
The Well at the World's End, William Morris
Pretty much everything PKD ever wrote. Even the bad stuff is ripe with ideas. He totally wrote fantasy so this isn't disingenuous even though he's 99% sci-fi (read the sci-fi).
Borges' Labyrinths
The Compleat Enchanter, Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Dhalgreen, Samuel Delany
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Hothouse, Brian Aldiss
The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Michael Swanwick

I see many terrible things have already been recommended in this thread, so enjoy your minefield OP.

I really enjoyed the Book of Swords series.

>>21921626
>>Illuminatus!

Holy shit fuck yes. Incredible book series, so fun to read. If you get all the following books as well it just gets better, although they're kinda mindfucky.

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>>21919922
>Telling people to read a series out of order
>not telling them to read about Logen motherfucking Ninefingers
u w0t m8?

>>21924177
Yeah he should be telling them to just read the first two books of the First Law, since after that Abercrombie's writing turns to boring.

>>21924427
First two books are FUCK YEAH HIGH ADVENTURE, then beyond them everything gets grimdark and morbid. I love it all though.

>>21921761
Book of Swords series - Fred Saberhagen.

I shatter swords, I splinter spears!
None stands to Shieldbreaker!
My point the fount of orphans tears!
My edge the widow maker!

Man, now I have to dig those books back out and re-read them.

>>21924882
It's grimdark and morbid through the whole thing, and that's fine.

But the 'big reveal' is not a reveal at all to anyone who's read the first two books, and doesn't matter otherwise.

Best Served Cold is just generic revenge story.

>>21924882

I actually liked the last book more than the first two because it's just so hilarious watching the collective shit hit giant fan

>>21928218
>army comes out of nowhere with legion of superpowered beings
shit will hit things with an asspull like that

>>21921626
This anon is correct. Also, Book of the New Sun, obviously.

the legacy of drizzt. there are about 22 of them, so you'll be busy for a while. i think the worst of them all (so far, i'm only 10 books in) was book 4 and i'd still give it an 8/10. 1-3 and 5-8 were all 9/10 and 10/10. i'm rereading the series (on book 9) and the second worst is 9, but it still gets about a 7.5 or 8/10

File: 1354853806544.jpg-(72 KB, 600x771, Soulcatcher_by_dosvidanjia.jpg)

The Chronicles of the Black Company. Best fantasy series imo.

Pic related, she's one of the bbeg's.

No one recommended Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy? Fine, then read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and its follow-up Alloy of Law. As long as we're on topic of Sanderson and epic fantasy, his Way of Kings book is out and it's pretty darn good. I also can't believe that no one said Wheel of Time yet. Yes, towards the middle of the series it veers into some stupid shit, but the latest books have been epic and excellent.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana and Lions of Al-Rassan are very good, and I second The Lies of Locke Lamorra (and its sequel "Red Seas Under Red Skies").

It's more of alternate history, but S. M. Stirling's Emberverse series are quite good (only the first three books, the second trilogy is suckarific).

>>21928285
Yeah, I like the first three and the Hunter's Blades trilogy. They're pretty shit lately.

>>21918923

>No 1001 Nights


That's all you need OP

>>21928317
GGK and Sanderson in the same breath? Wow. Kay is slow, but writes good and descriptive low fantasy with some literary merit. Sanderson is bland as hell and uses literal video game mechanics for his magic system.

>>21928449
Logical magic systems = literally videogames?

What are you on about dude, Sanderson's stuff is fine

I loved the hell out of Brom's The Child Thief.
It feels like Grimdark Peter Pan but as you read it it becomes so much more.
So much bloody fun.

File: 1354855189955.jpg-(138 KB, 575x250, 89703_1243332362_large1.jpg)

>The Black Company

Already been mentioned a few times. Great book.

>The Dark Tower series
Read the first book called "The Gunslinger". Its a damn good book set in a wild westish setting with ruins of fallen civilization about. It follows the Gunslinger Roland in his chase of the elusive man in black across the desert.

>The Witcher
Great read, and shows a great method of twisting fairy tales.

>Redwall series

I would be surprised if you haven't read this. You can start with the titular book, or start chronologically with "Martin the Warrior"

>The Wheel of time series

A classic at this point.


>The Dresden files

Hard boiled detective fiction and the main character is a wizard.


>The Kingkiller chronicles

It seems like a hit or miss with some people because the main character is amazing at everything he does. The first book is pretty great and is essentially a darker Harry potter. The second book gets a bit weird when he meets the ninjas.

The Coldfire Trilogy - Millennia in the future, earth is overpopulated. SEND OUT THE CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN EXPLORERS! Ship crash-lands on life-sustaining planet. People's nightmares and dreams coming to life. Month goes by, guy decides to sacrifice all of their ship, weapons, medicine, etc to appease the planet.
Centuries go by, back to medieval technology. Some people have been born, able to mold the force that brought their dreams and nightmares to life. One man - Gerald Tarrant - Tries to raise church on Erna. "Belief in one god will make the fae unworkable, and will prevent it from creating more of these monsters!" Has three heart attacks in as many years. Kills family in sacrifice to evil force created by the fae. Becomes immortal, lives as vampire until he learns he can live off of fear.

1500 YEARS LATER - The actual story takes place


The Magister Trilogy - Magic exists, but using it literally kills you, albeit slowly.

Both by C.S. Friedman.
The final book in the Magister Trilogy only came out just recently.

>>21928602
Also, book 4.5 is being written now.

ctrl-f: "Young Wizards"

What the fuck, /tg/? "So You Want To Be A Wizard?" Is the basis of modern fantasy.

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>>21928602
>Temeraire

A series about Dragons in the Napoleonic war. They use them as air support.


>Song of Ice and Fire

I like it. Don't mind /lit/. I remember seeing an actual discussion of 50 shades of gray on there once. Pretty terrifying.


>Under Heaven

Set in 8th century China, its all about politics and horses. Its ok.


>The Night Angel Trilogy

Already been mentioned. Its about a boy and his dream to become a magical assassin. He gets far more than he wishes for.

>>21918923
>Wizards First Rule

No. Nonononononono. Nooooo. No.

Author's Mary Sue cavalcade play out his fetishes while spouting Randian garbage. Awful, awful series. Burn before reading.

Go get the Earthsea chronicles. An engaging tale with an interesting setting and characters, a neat take on magic, and it's a relatively fast read.

>>21928632
Book 4.5 for what?

>>21928710
Sorry, book 4.5 for the Dark Tower series...

>>21928737
But its already finished.

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed."

The Black Jewels is a good series. It starts off really well and by the last book it gets really weird though.

Anne something writes it. It might be Bishop.

>>21919795

This guy knows what's up. Awesome books, not just for kids.

>>21928675
The series starts off as better-than-average fantasy: you can see who he's ripping off, and there's some author fetish stuff, but it has some spirit of its own.

>Awful, awful series.
But yes, with later books it starts to get really, really bad.

Is the Young Wizards series meant for kids or will teens/adults get something out of it?

>>21928671
Speak of the devil, or Lone Power as the case may be.

File: 1354856969684.png-(22 KB, 234x200, ohgod.png)

>that feel when I really want to get into all these fantasy books, but I find reading for leisure a chore unless I'm in a situation where it's the only option.

Damn my computer's tempting gaze...

>>21928887
pdfs are your new best friend

>Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
All round excellent fantasy with good characterisation and an interesting magic system, the villains start out a little drab but they greatly improve once the backstory is fleshed out more.

>Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart
Mostly for younger readers, its fucking imaginative and entertaining as all fuck though. Why did harry potter become the staple for young fantasy when this stuff existed?

>Mortal Engines series by Phillip Pullman
Not really fantasy exactly, but fucking read these books. The first one is especially great at the whole 'world encompassing plot' thing and characters that actually fucking develop like human beings.

>Dark Tower by Stephen King
Pretty much the best blend of dark/weird fantasy I have ever read.

>Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura
Oh man, I hope you like learning about economics, transport and the depreciation patterns of non-perishable goods.

>Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
It's fucking fantastic, though a few plot elements were a bit retarded. Also by Sanderson is the Mistborn series.

File: 1354857254004.jpg-(59 KB, 400x629, aaj.jpg)

No one ever mentions Jack Vance in any of these threads. This is a shame, as he is essentially the father of awesomely crazy fantasy tropes and the whole deranged, ultimately powerful magic. But most of all, his characters are so viciously realistic, and will certainly amuse for their sheer outrageousness, coupled with Vance's often lunatic descriptive powers.

The Dying Earth books are where to start (and curiously the actual source for D&D's spellcasting system). Educate yourselves.

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>>21928887
when I feel that problem. I put my book in a backpack, walk to the park or a library then no problems reading!

The Silmarilion

The Saga of Recluce
>nifty tale of order magic versus chaos magic. Order is black, chaos is white. It is a little different spin on the traditional trope. Solid read. L. E. Modesitt, Jr..

The Farseer Trilogy
>Part of a larger series called The Realm of the Elderlings. Very nice tale of a boy who becomes an assassin. Robin Hobb

Try the Codex Alera series. first book is Furies of Calderon.

>>21919005
>Starts with what thought to be myth is true
>eventually turns into fighting against the current powers that be as much as the supernatural to keep the weapons of the Enemy out of his reach.
>The Enemy is an eldritch god-like creature the world was made to imprison.
>Main character of first six novels was made to lead the Enemy's armies into the Elven glades where the dead cannot go
>Her partner, a half-elven assassin, was unwittingly led by his born Fay dog to work with her and keep her from that path

>>21928847
Holy shit man they are awesome, don't care how old you are. Best modern fantasy around.