who here read wheel of time or malazan?
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I read through Malazan years ago. It was a good read in spite of the authors love for meandering story threads that often didn't go anyplace exciting. If you like epic stories, check out series like Mistborn, Codex Alera, and the Powdermage trilogy.
I would be interested in any recommendations from you as well.
I would be interested in any recommendations from you as well.
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Hey there, friend!
Yeah, WoT showed me what fantasy can be.
I don't know Malazan though.
I agree with @Drifter about Mistborn. (It's written by Brandon Sanderson. The name should be familiar to you😉) It leans a bit more in the Young Adult direction, in my opinion.
I find Brandon Sanderson in general to always be a good choice. I am currently listening through his Stormlight Archive series and I am quite impressed.
I did not have a good experience with Codex Alera but that might be because I read the german translation and I have the feeling that the translators did not do their best job...
If I may recommend a Sci-Fi series (I consider Sci-Fi and Fantasy two sides of the same coin), I would suggest Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy (Ancillary Justice,...).
Yeah, WoT showed me what fantasy can be.
I don't know Malazan though.
I agree with @Drifter about Mistborn. (It's written by Brandon Sanderson. The name should be familiar to you😉) It leans a bit more in the Young Adult direction, in my opinion.
I find Brandon Sanderson in general to always be a good choice. I am currently listening through his Stormlight Archive series and I am quite impressed.
I did not have a good experience with Codex Alera but that might be because I read the german translation and I have the feeling that the translators did not do their best job...
If I may recommend a Sci-Fi series (I consider Sci-Fi and Fantasy two sides of the same coin), I would suggest Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy (Ancillary Justice,...).
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Hello! I have no recommendation to give, since after I read WoT I haven't been able to read that kind of fantasy anymore 😂
I simply knew that nothing could compete with it... Sanderson is a good suggestion though.
Do you know that Amazon is working on a WoT series? If it'll be successful, there's enough material to last tens of seasons!
I simply knew that nothing could compete with it... Sanderson is a good suggestion though.
Do you know that Amazon is working on a WoT series? If it'll be successful, there's enough material to last tens of seasons!
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Malazan is still my top favorite Fantasy series, although some get close.
If you like GOOD fantasy and want to find new ones, there are quite some good series available on the internet for free.
Such as Mother of Learning, Practical Guide to Evil and The Wandering Inn, each of those is as good as a published book by a skilled author.
If you like GOOD fantasy and want to find new ones, there are quite some good series available on the internet for free.
Such as Mother of Learning, Practical Guide to Evil and The Wandering Inn, each of those is as good as a published book by a skilled author.
As far as world-building goes, Malazan led me to a few unusual places:
- S. M. Stirling's Draka series, which had its appendices published online long ago: http://www.geocities.ws/hentaihelper/drakaapps.htm. Draka is about a works in which nobody ever did nuffin wrong and serf-humans happily serve their masters in a 20:1 ratio through the power of generic engineering. Especially its second book would be excellent to gift to a small child for Christmas.
- Crossby's Hârn tabletop RPG, about which I know very little.
- M. A. R. Barker's Tekumel, the first tabletop RPG universe and certainly the greatest, invented by an Indiana Jones-esque badass weaving around the globe during the collapse of the British Empire and the start of its replacement with the NWO. It is rather decentralized, but try http://www.weirdrealm.com/tekumel/link.html. You should also look at the conlang(s) http://www.uld3.org/uld27/index.html for which this series is most well renowned. Finally, the big kahuna starting-point book was just re-published (The Empire of the Petal Throne) and can be found at https://blog.tekumelfoundation.org/2017/10/16/empire-of-the-petal-throne/ and for those outside of the West is is regrettably not yet on LibreGen, alright they claim to have a PDF version of the book. There are also more pages of Tekumel novels and novellas than is the case for Malazan, and quantity has a quality all its own, and these can sometimes be found for free.
All the stuff we find after discovering that there is more in this world than whatever generic fantasy showed up on top-ten lists when we were kids. Did you know Malazan was originally a tv script?
- S. M. Stirling's Draka series, which had its appendices published online long ago: http://www.geocities.ws/hentaihelper/drakaapps.htm. Draka is about a works in which nobody ever did nuffin wrong and serf-humans happily serve their masters in a 20:1 ratio through the power of generic engineering. Especially its second book would be excellent to gift to a small child for Christmas.
- Crossby's Hârn tabletop RPG, about which I know very little.
- M. A. R. Barker's Tekumel, the first tabletop RPG universe and certainly the greatest, invented by an Indiana Jones-esque badass weaving around the globe during the collapse of the British Empire and the start of its replacement with the NWO. It is rather decentralized, but try http://www.weirdrealm.com/tekumel/link.html. You should also look at the conlang(s) http://www.uld3.org/uld27/index.html for which this series is most well renowned. Finally, the big kahuna starting-point book was just re-published (The Empire of the Petal Throne) and can be found at https://blog.tekumelfoundation.org/2017/10/16/empire-of-the-petal-throne/ and for those outside of the West is is regrettably not yet on LibreGen, alright they claim to have a PDF version of the book. There are also more pages of Tekumel novels and novellas than is the case for Malazan, and quantity has a quality all its own, and these can sometimes be found for free.
All the stuff we find after discovering that there is more in this world than whatever generic fantasy showed up on top-ten lists when we were kids. Did you know Malazan was originally a tv script?
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A bit late to the party, but here are a few titles that might be of interest :
The Darkness That Comes Before. Maybe the closest thing, in the following list, to the Malaazan in its scope and grimness.
The Fifth Season
More coming of age -ish (i think) :
The Dragon's Path.
The Blade Itself
Assassin's Apprentice
For the record I'm still waiting for the next GRR Martin, who can deliver on all fronts : complex, compelling and epic story, diverse and realistic behaviours and cultures, well paced direction, human (not over heroic and manichean) characters and factions. Despite the grand worldbuilding, I dropped Malaazan because it was becoming too messy formy taste and Erikson's writing couldn't bait me into waiting for loose ends to be tightened (my mistake ?). At least he didn't make me root for the villains as Tolkien, Sanderson, Hobb and most of fantasy I read did
The Darkness That Comes Before. Maybe the closest thing, in the following list, to the Malaazan in its scope and grimness.
The Fifth Season
More coming of age -ish (i think) :
The Dragon's Path.
The Blade Itself
Assassin's Apprentice
For the record I'm still waiting for the next GRR Martin, who can deliver on all fronts : complex, compelling and epic story, diverse and realistic behaviours and cultures, well paced direction, human (not over heroic and manichean) characters and factions. Despite the grand worldbuilding, I dropped Malaazan because it was becoming too messy formy taste and Erikson's writing couldn't bait me into waiting for loose ends to be tightened (my mistake ?). At least he didn't make me root for the villains as Tolkien, Sanderson, Hobb and most of fantasy I read did
@meltingspot @LowSanity @Drifter
this is rather late, but many thanks for the coming-of-age recommendations.
any other general fantasy recommendations (with a male protag) for a fairly new reader to fantasy would be much appreciated.
I had a look at the malazan books and wow, they are NOT for beginners... so some 'beginner-friendly' recommendations would be gratefully received.
this is rather late, but many thanks for the coming-of-age recommendations.
any other general fantasy recommendations (with a male protag) for a fairly new reader to fantasy would be much appreciated.
I had a look at the malazan books and wow, they are NOT for beginners... so some 'beginner-friendly' recommendations would be gratefully received.
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Good but beginner friendly? Codex Alera follows the main character from childhood but keeps its POV to a few select characters. Its an easy but good read. The Cycle of Arawn is a good fantasy romp where side quests turn into epic stories. The two main leads start as carefree teens but grow in skill and magic as well as age and responsibility. Its tougher than Codex but easier than Malazan IMO.
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@elbs
One that is also decently reviewed is The lies of Locke Lamora. I only read the first one and AFAIR it's got a steady pace, is focused on a narrow range of characters, and is more bent on trickery and manipulation (mission: impossible style) than on epic battles.
As others said, Brian Sanderson's Mistborn and Storlight Archive might be a good a good place to start for more "traditional" fantasy; they involve supernatural power concepts which are quite interesting to the development of the stories.
Also, I'm just going to mention The Dark Tower from Stephen King, though it's probably not coming of age, nor it is your average fantasy setting, mixing medieval, modern, western, postapo elements. Still less confusing and taxing than Malazan
Even more off-track, as it is a comic book and is set in our present : Locke & Key by Joe Hill. I found the original idea and what the author builds upon it simply mind-blowing, not to mention the excellent art and the writing.
One that is also decently reviewed is The lies of Locke Lamora. I only read the first one and AFAIR it's got a steady pace, is focused on a narrow range of characters, and is more bent on trickery and manipulation (mission: impossible style) than on epic battles.
As others said, Brian Sanderson's Mistborn and Storlight Archive might be a good a good place to start for more "traditional" fantasy; they involve supernatural power concepts which are quite interesting to the development of the stories.
Also, I'm just going to mention The Dark Tower from Stephen King, though it's probably not coming of age, nor it is your average fantasy setting, mixing medieval, modern, western, postapo elements. Still less confusing and taxing than Malazan
Even more off-track, as it is a comic book and is set in our present : Locke & Key by Joe Hill. I found the original idea and what the author builds upon it simply mind-blowing, not to mention the excellent art and the writing.
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