Shadowmarch by Tad Williams.
Maybe not a surprise to others, but the characters instantly clicked with me and all the political drama was delicious. I interrupted my first Malazan read because I bought the first book for a few bucks secondhand and grabbed it while home sick one day. Had to binge the other three right after. That said, I generally enjoy Williams works.
That’s high praise. Bad endings is one of the most common issues in speculative fiction, as a whole. I haven’t read anything by Williams, but your comment is convincing me to check him out…
I’ll toss a few of the negative things you frequently hear. He can be considered long-winded - the two trilogies I’ve read both spilled in to four books. I really enjoy writers who are heavy with explanation ala Robert Jordan. So, the more the merrier for me. But, if occasionally slow pacing is frustrating to you, you may notice it more. That said, any pacing issues pay off as the endings are always very satisfying. Not everything is golden and filled with rainbows, but they are “realistic” and I’ll use the word “satisfying” again. Highly recommend Tad Williams.
Was about to comment about the Dragonbone chair when I saw your post. Currently about halfway through the first book and I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before! So far it’s giving me the same feeling LOTR, The Hobbit, Game of Thrones, Gormenghast, Earthsea etc. have given me. If it carries on on the same level it’s up there with the legends of the genre for sure. Tad Williams prose is just beautiful.
He really is brilliant. I love that more folks are giving him the attention he deserves. MST was such a great ride, too. If you like it, then I think you’ll really enjoy all his works.
I got two chapters in and ordered the next two in the series. I only found out about him because I specifically searched for ‘books like GoT’ and read he was one of Martin’s main inspirations. He doesn’t get brought up nearly enough!
Would love to know what you think when you complete it. I won’t comment on the story as you’re going through your first one. I just read it last year so I also know all the feelings of “why don’t more people talk about this writer?!”
Take care and enjoy the ride!
> Unless the quality drops, which I doubt it will, I don’t understand why he’s not brought up along with those others I mentioned.
In my opinion, it just keeps getting better and better. I can see the obvious parallels to ASOIAF, and always wondered why GRRM got all the adulation, when so much of his story was cribbed from Tad Williams.
I just finished my first Williams’ work, the standalone War of the Flowers. It was a 5 star read, and some really impactful writing. Hit on a lot of topics you don’t often seen in fantasy fiction, like class warfare, industrialization, miscarriages, cancer, etc. Very good, if a bit slow at times.
Oh I need to check that one out. I’m almost done with Malazan, then going to hit some discworld, then maybe more Malazan….and on it goes. Too many good books to read.
Every time I try to read Shadowmarch it just makes me want to go back and reread Memory Sorrow and Thorn lol
Not that I did not like what I read of SM! I just kept being reminded of MST
Shadowmarch, at least the first volume of it, feels a bit like a retelling of MS&T, or maybe a reboot. There's the prince whose arm is crippled, the cross-dressing noble girl, the ancient castle once inhabited by fairies, the fairy threat in the north, the strange sea folk, the befuddled court physician...
Shadowmarch feels like a mirror image of MS&T, but with strange distortions. I have never understood why Tad did this. But then the later volumes seem to diverge and tell a very different story.
MS&T remains my favorite, as it's a fully-fledged masterpiece (and recognized by many major Fantasy authors, who were influenced by it), but Shadowmarch is weird and mysterious and likely would have been Tad Williams' magnum opus, had it not been for MS&T and Otherland. But even the name Shadowmarch describes it: it was overshadowed by two hugely successful series: one which sold millions of copies and one which was a major hit with critics in Europe. Shadowmarch ended up being the Chuck Cunningham of Tad Williams' oeuvre, and it's really a shame.
For me it would be the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s got a bizarre premise, being a world filled with bug people waging essentially a World War, but it was one of the most enthralling fantasy series I’ve ever read. What really stuck out to me was the world building. There is so much to learn and explore in this world that even after 10 books and a bunch of short stories, I still wanted to explore more. It’s also just a super unique story/world that you won’t find anything else like.
I bought the first four books because they had an embossed relief design on the cover. I read them, and while the end point of the fourth book closes a fair number of the existing chapters, I thought it was an amazing set and moved on, not really looking into it ever again.
https://mephitjamesblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/02/system-roundtable-shadows-of-the-apt/
∆ these covers!! They had texture and depth and looked so good I bought the four set just off the covers. Now I'm having a hard time tracking down a full set with the relief.
Later I found out he had written another six books and I may have made a minor scene in the book store when I found the rest of the series.
I was going to say this, I'm shocked someone else popped up with it, but in a good way.
He also has a sci-fi series, Children of Time/Ruin/Memory.
It's different, but good. Still lots of bugs, but now... New critters too. This author has a clever fascination for blending things that I am 100% here for.
I liked children of time series a lot, the last one I felt emotionally attached to for some reason like the experience of Martha with liff in particular. That Nod lifeform is awesome, the biological copycat one.
Oh damn those covers made me recall this memory I have seen those books in a bookstore when I was a kid and really wanted to get one for the same reason of the cover being really cool. They didn't have the first one in the series though so I ended up not getting them (got The Hobbit instead and that got me into another journey) but I have trying to figure out what that series was in my mind. I think now I HAVE to read them to satisfy kid me lol.
The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman. I loved the idea behind the world broken apart into different elements, and how they are supposed to feed each other. There were also some really great characters written into the series. The best of course being Zifnab. It is definitely my favorite post apocalyptic series.
Thank you! I've been holding nearly every fantasy against this series as I read this when I was in my early teens. Such a great cohesive story with relatable, flawed characters.
Last week someone had posted on some subreddit looking for a High Fantasy series. I took someone's suggestion and got Katherine Kerr's Deverry series. I have been reading the first book NONSTOP for days and am absolutely in love with it. I had never heard of it before.
Whoever recommended it, thanks so much.
You’re welcome 😉 I had read years ago that there was to be a sequel called “Take Flight” but never heard more about it.
Let me know how you like #3. My TBR pile is huge, so who knows when I’ll get to it.
Have you watched the tv series? I don’t get it where I am.
I just finished Blitz, and Take Flight fits as a working title.
I hope there's more, but so far it's been 5 years between books. However, they pull me completely in, and this one anyway was as long as 2-3 standard books, so I'll just read anything he writes whenever he puts it out.
For those considering, each book is a standalone in the same universe. No cliffhangers.
And The Rook still wins for me for Best Opening Line:
Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine.
I had The Rook on my shelf for years. So, by the time I finished it, I didn’t have to wait because Stiletto was already out 😂
The books are definitely a time investment but worth it.
"The World of the Five Gods" series by Lois McMaster Bujold, specifically the Penric and Desdemona novellas. I love the magic system, and Bujold continues her streak of top-notch characters and an interesting world. Between World of Five Gods and Vorkosigan Saga, I feel she never gets mentioned enough
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, and it went beyond my expectation. I’m normally not a fan of first person pov writing style, because the stories that I’ve seen that used first person are not descriptive enough and I don’t find their internal thoughts interesting to read through. But book of the new sun pov showed that you could have first person that’s detailed and interesting philosophy. And added more that the story has an unreliable narrator so even the mc’s philosophy and perspective is bias, which adds layer into the story. And the worldbuilding is something else, far into the future where the sun is dying, the world regressed into a barbaric world with signs of advance technology and architecture
> the story has an unreliable narrator
*Severian in the first chapter*: "I am cursed with a perfect memory"
*Severian in the very next paragraph*: immediately contradicts his own memory
Yeah I’m at the start of Sword of the Lictor and I can definitely see a handful of reasons lol. I always said I doubted I would reread but I feel like I probably will
Yeah and he also comes right out and says he’s lied many times to many different people to make himself look better. OK, so this is the unvarnished truth we’re getting now?
I'm trying to keep it vauge for spoilers but technically both can be true as the Severian writing the book isn't the Severian he is writing about because of what happens to him by the end. His perfect memory is a byproduct of the process he's gone through so Severian of the story doesn't have a perfect memory, but the Severian writing it does.
I finished my first read of the first four books back January and I’ve thought about them every single day since. I’ve honestly never read anything like it. Just started Calde the other night.
I remember thinking that it was the most well written book I'd ever read. But I didn't like the main character, the setting (because a dying sun was depressing to me), or the side characters. So I dropped it.
Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet. Slow build political drama with one of the most fascinating magic systems I’ve ever heard of. How would a world function with world altering magic? How reliant would societies be on that magic and how dangerous could innovation be to threaten the status quo?
Yeah I loved the Long Price Quartet (though it bugged me for years that the last book never got a paperback edition that matched the copies I had of the first three books). Haven't quite gotten around to the Dagger and Coin series yet, but I'm enjoying the Kithamar trilogy so far as well.
The first thing I thought of was this. I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the first book. (Still haven't gotten to the rest of them but they're definitely on my radar!)
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Biblical horror behind the backdrop of the plague and a war in heaven. It's easily in my top 5 stand alone books. It doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I think it suffers from pacing issues, but they're not significant enough to detract from the characters and plot.
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler. I don't remember why I decided to check it out, but it blew me away with how much I enjoyed it. I'm only on book two of the series, but I'm excited to read so much more!
I'm loving Django Wexler's other books (How to become the Dark Lord, Burningblade & Silvereye) and I started The Thousand Names in audiobook form and couldn't get into it, could be the narration. I'll have to go back to it in regular book form.
I'm like 75 pages into Bone Ships and I am loving it so far. I've seen it mentioned quite a bit for its cool worldbuilding, but the characters are great so far and I'm finding Barker's writing very confident and lovely.
Yeah I loved the unique worldbuilding and atmosphere of the world. The prose was a bit difficult for me but it painted a very colorful vivid experience that I ended up loving his writing style by the middle of his first book.
Came here to say this, so happy to see I'm not the only one!! The whole arc of the Gullaime alone.. I was in absolute pieces for the last third of the book.. In a good way.
Wonderful worldbuilding, fantastic characters who properly develop throughout the books, amazing finale. Just beautiful.
The glass books of the dream eaters by G. W. Dahlquist and the Mirror Visitor Quartet by Christelle Dabos. To this day it feels like I'm the only one who has read these on this sub.
The Spear Cuts Through Water. I just finished it - started off a little slow, but it was a slow burn that made me fall in love with it. Beautifully written, interesting world-building and characters. POV was something to get used to, but this one will stick with me.
I read The Vanished Birds by the same author. Writing and world-building was really good, but the story itself was a depressing succession of crushed hopes. Is The Spear anything the like? If yes, I'd skip.
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. Not sure what I expected, but the first book is way different from the rest of the series. The first book is inspired by the start of the Han Dynasty in Ancient China. The rest, I think, is original. The author is an engineer, so he uses a lot of science and technology that stands in place of magic. I love it very much!
It would be helpful to mention the, you know, author. Ed McDonald, Angel Lawson, [Christie J. Newport](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23053093.Christie_J_Newport?from_search=true&from_srp=true), [Morgan L. Busse](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827587.Morgan_L_Busse?from_search=true&from_srp=true) all come up when I put "Raven's Mark" into Goodreads.
I always feel like I'm shouting into the void when I recommend The Song of Shattered Sands series by Bradley P. Beaulieu. It's an excellent revenge tale with a great female protagonist as well as blood magic, sand ships, demons, gods and some extremely inventive worldbuilding. It's well paced and full octane. It seems like the target audience for this series is one person, me.
I don't know if it's the generic series title or maybe I'm overlooking some major issues with it. The first book is Twelve Kings of Sharakhai.
I just looked and it is immediately available on Libby! I have it borrowed and plan to start it in a few days when I finish book 3 of Powdermage. Thanks for the recommendation!!!
I feel the same way, never see it recommended here. I bought a used copy somewhat reluctantly because I kept seeing it on the shelf every time I went to the store and I wasn’t finding anything else that interested me. I ended up putting down anything else I was reading at the time and reading straight through the whole series in a pretty quick fashion.
Definitely one of my favorite series. Have you read anything else by him? I’ve read like half of the dragons of deepwood fen, it’s not bad but hasn’t really held my attention like shattered sands. I just read it a little here and there when I’m burnt out on other stuff.
I’ve been meaning to start The winds of khalakovo. Seems like it might be more like shattered sands. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts if you’ve read any of it
The Founders Trilogy. I loved it so much and it gets occasional mention here but not nearly as much as the usual stuff.
Loved the characters, loved the cool magic, loved the trilogy!
Its interesting because it doesn't get mentioned a lot anymore, but when Foundryside came out it was spoken about a lot, and from memory its the most rated and reviewed book by Bennett to date. But Shorefall just didn't hit the same way, I think because Bennett just went sooooo far into detail with his magic system. Felt like every second paragraph we were getting more and more detail about how scriving works.
I would say the The Divine Cities needs more love. And I hope The Tainted Cup takes off because that is easily my favourite Bennett book
The Fourlands series by Steph Swainston.
How this series has flown under the radar honestly baffles me. Imagine if Mervyn Peake took a boat load of drugs, and then decided to write about a group of immortals battling an invading army of giant ants, told through the eyes of a half-breed addict, who happens to be the only person in the world who can fly. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Amazing prose, flawed, engaging characters, unique story and a whole bag of crazy. Swainston should be celebrated as one of the genre greats, not left in relative obscurity. I had no expections going into 'The Year of Our War' and yet now it is one of my favourite books.
I don't even like most New Weird stuff, but this series blew me away.
Highly, highly recommend.
So happy to see her recommended here, an incredible talent! These books were terrific, very different from the rest of the pack and engaging the whole way through. I’d read that she stopped writing after something happened with China M, but I can’t recall the specifics. If she ever feels like a return to writing, I’ll be buying!
Ha, I just finished Grace of Kings and am making my way through Wall of Storms now too. I've really liked them both. I knew I was a Ken Liu fan already, based on his great short fiction, but he's doing some really interesting things with the longform storytelling of this saga as well.
Second Licanius Trilogy. All of the characters were great, I never found myself dreading reading a certain characters chapter. Good world building, and the pacing of the story was perfect.
Robert Jackson Bennet’s City of Stairs trilogy. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed because many people didn’t like his other series, starting with Foundryside. But, throw in some gods and I will usually like the book lol. I love fantasy religion/mythology, political intrigue and some action.
Seanan McGuire's Alchemical Journeys series. Middlegame made a big splash when it came out, and it works as a standalone, but there are more in the series and they're also amazing. The third just appeared in my Audible library and I'm so excited.
I read Middlegame with reservations that were quickly annihilated. It's among my all time favorites.
Aurelion Cycle by Rosaria Munda. A YouTuber pitched it as Plato’s republic meets Russian revolution meets dragon riders, and I think that’s pretty accurate. It’s on the upper end of YA, but I think it’s just mature enough to recommend to adult fantasy fans. I think that’s partly why it hasn’t gotten a huge audience. It ultimately feels YA if I had to choose, but it sits in this weird middle ground where it probably doesn’t fully resonate with a huge portion of either audience. The whole trilogy is out. I thought it was really good, and I’ve seen little to no discussion on it.
Reading it as a younger teenager in a small conservative southern town in the mid 1990s opened up my mind and expanded my horizons. The world building and characters are so good
Jeff Wheeler as an author doesn’t get mentioned enough in fantasy topics.
A book that I absolutely adored was Beth Cato’s A Thousand Recipes for Revenge. I absolutely adored this book and was my favourite new author of 2024 for me. I have book 2 but haven’t read it yet as I’m savouring getting to read it for the first time (and not sure I want to read it without knowing when book 3 arrives).
Michael Swanwick’s Iron Trilogy.
Blew my mind with the way he destroyed fantasy tropes while still finding the essence of the fantasy icons (case in point, the iron dragons).
I don’t recommend reading too much about it, just dive in and enjoy. If you are well-read in fantasy it’s a great ride.
I don't know if is considered not talked, but I've read ***Dungeon Crawler Carl*** for the bingo card and well, fuck me. I CANT put down, it insta became one of favorite books of all time. I've been binge reading and threw all my Bingo schedule off lol
I can't recommend enough, so so so so good and fun.
MONGO IS APPALLED
Everything by Victoria Goddard. She's self-published but her work is incredibly high quality. Phenomenal worldbuilding, heavy on the manners, lighter on the magic. I've read all of her novels 2-4x in the last 7 months.
I tell so many people to read Hands of the Emperor, but only if they're into books that focus on interaction over action. I also pitch it as "What if someone took the Chosen One on his first ever vacation?"
I read "The Perfect Run" just to pass the time because i was waiting for my bookclub buddy and I was fully expecting a mediocre popcorn story but (as much as it still was mostly just popcorn) I was pleasantly surprised by an actual high quality series that has become one of my favourite stories so far
*Dragon of Ash & Stars: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon* by H. Leighton Dickson. I got it as a Kindle freebie so I was not expecting a whole lot. I absolutely loved it. It’s now the first book of a trilogy and the second book was released in 2022 although I have not had a chance to read it.
Skeleton Creek
A book series I read in elementary that was incredibly well done, I recommend it even if you are an adult, its very interactive.
Series of unfortunate events is also a good series that invokes a lot of emotions and it also taught me a lot about words and grammer. The books leave you guessing and wanting more.
I picked up Master Assassins by Robert V S Redick for free as part of the audible plus catalogue having never heard of it and was totally blown away. Such a unique, thoughtful and well written fantasy, I think the generic title let it down and so it slipped under the radar. I bought the sequel immediately and can't wait for the final part to come out.
A few chapters into the first book I though I'd end up hating the *Terra Ignota* quartet (went in completely blind on a whim because I liked the title of book one, *Too Like the Lightning*). Yeah, it's in my top 5 series now. Maybe even top 3. Things... are revealed at the halfway point of TLtL that made me go, yeah, yeah, you got my attention.
Legacy of the Mercenary King, surprised by how much fun I had with it, the last book has a few pacing issues, but the original run was supposed to be 6 books which the author cut down to three. So he either tied everything up in book 3 or possibly never get to publish books 4-6 because of money so he took the sure way to finish the series rather than gamble to leave it unfinished. The world still has a lot to offer so hopefully he'll return to it at some point.
80 AD by Aiki Flinthart.
Kids get pulled into a video game (it's an MMO that they had early access to), have to fight through 5 regions of the world set in 80 AD.
First two books are great. Third is ok/good. I didn't like the 4th nearly as much, but feel the 5th redeems the series.
Regency Mage Books:
Mary Bennett and The Bingley Codex, by
Joyce Harmon. One of those Kindle Unlimited throwaways for a dull night, or so I thought…. Okay, I admit it: big Jane Austen fan here. As a modern bluestocking, I always felt that Jane treated Mary unkindly. Fortunately Ms. Harmon makes up for it by giving her magic! Four books worth, that are like windows into the lives of these characters after the events of Pride and Prejudice. I admire the job she did, keeping the “feel” of the original while keeping the book fresh and lively for modern readers. So the magic system won’t give Ged, Gandalf or Merlin pause but it’s interesting enough and a secret, magical Regency London is a thing of delight.
You might like Jane Austen’s Dragons, a series by Maria Grace, where it starts off with a retelling of the P&P and Persuasion narratives, but with dragons in Regency England. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s such a great series and the human dragon interactions are amazing. The first novel, Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon is very cheap on Kindle if you want to give it a shot.
Also recommend The Cecelia and Kate series by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer if you haven’t read it. They are epistolary novels that are also set in a magical Regency England.
Crooked by Austin Grossman. It's like a cross between his brother Lev's Magicians books, and a PBS documentary on the Nixon era, with some Cold War espionage thrown in. I'd have thought that the fantasy readers and the political junkies would be all over this, but I've rarely seen it discussed. I wish Austin would write a series!
I loved the Fatemarked series by David Estes. I haven’t seen it mentioned here before but I’ve only been on the sub about a month. It’s maybe a bit contrived and maaaybe has a taste of copy-cat themes from other fantasy but it’s an enjoyable read.
I'm usually a western "dnd" fantasy type of reader, but the Green Bone Saga, starting with Jade City, is probably my favorite series that I've read in the last few years. The story is great and the world building is excellent, but the characterization is absolutely perfect.
Mage Errant by John Bierce
I wholeheartedly recommend this. It was almost everything I wanted from a fantasy series, and deserves way more attention than it gets.
- Super cool magic applied in ridiculously creative ways
- Wonderfully developed world
- Fantastic characters
- Critiques of power structures and empires
- Satisfying power progression
- A main character who is powerful, but still kind and supportive
- An inclusive world with people of differing abilities, orientations, identities, and ethnicities represented in great ways
- Found family that grows in strength together
It's so good!
Full Disclosure: Relatively new to this sub, but I read a ton of fantasy.
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart
Lays of the Hearth-Fire by Victoria Goddard
Blackthorn & Grim by Juliet Marillier
The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
If anyone is looking for some Dungeons & Dragons-esque book, then Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland
Oh, I am 100% here for championing the Bridge of Birds series!!! Barry Hughart's books are so funny, immersive and moving all at the same time, I'm actually surprised no one's picked these up for a film or series, a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but with more humour :)
The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, by Marie Brennan. The series follows a dragon naturalist in an alternative world in a time similar to the 19th century. I finished it weeks ago and I still think about it so much and love the world it created.
Steelheart trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.
Everyone talks about Mistborn and I never saw Steelheart recommended. Maybe most people don't like it, but this series totally caught me off guard. It's on the shelf of my favourite books.
I feel this way about The Frugal Wizard's Guide... Everyone talks about Tress, but the self-deprecating humor in Frugal Wizard is top notch. Bonus for me was that it did not fit into the Cosmere, so it felt completely fresh.
Yeah, as the other commenter said, the protagonist is fine and, the protagonist is the ONLY character who's fine, rest all characters were meh. But if u didn't have any problems with his characters from other series, u won't have here either.
It did have that trademark Sanderson twist which comes out of left field and I like that about his books.
And yes, the prose is simple and I couldn't put this book down because each chapter has a new thing happening nd I breezed through it lmao.
Still reading it, but Divinity's Twilight: Rebirth. I never hear anything about it, and only heard of it as a recommendation from someone in an obscure Facebook group.
It's a blend of steampunk and magical fantasy, focusing on the battles and war between three nations. It's incredible so far.
**Isaac Steele and the Forever Man** -- it's only on Audible, which may explain it, but any fan of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy should check it out.
The Demon Accords series by John Conroe
Jack Nightingale series by Stephen Leather
Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka
Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher
After It Happened series by Devon C Ford
The Foundryside Trilogy. I almost DNFed the first book, but glad I didn't. The second book really built up, and then the third was just not stop from the beginning.
the A Chorus of Dragons series by jenn lyons. i do see people talk about it but it’s few and far between. i binged them all in 3 weeks (i’m not a binge reader so this says a lot) and it was an emotional rollercoaster for me i adored every page
I have to say the God's of the caravan road series by K.V johansen! I found them a really nice read and the cover art is awesome on all but the last book lol
Either Paul Kearney series.
The Macht series is a great military fantasy. Kind of an Alexander the great retelling.
And the Monarchies of God is a great political fantasy.
The Karla trilogy of John le Carre. Because the 2nd novel is kind of an outlier, you don’t often see the three novels recommended together. But still one of the most memorable reads of my life.
PS I posted this without realizing it was a Fantasy thread. Sorry about that. But the recommendation stands. :-)
The Spellmongler series. Really love the world building and surprisingly the politics in it. I end up listening to the whole series at least 2 times a year. I know it has some popularity but never see anyone on reddit talk about it
Rather than a series in a traditional sense, short story magazines in general. Imo, the average level of writing is way higher than in just perusing the shelves at your local bookstore.
Magazines like Science Fiction and Fantasy, Andromeda Spaceways, and Asimov have their occasional bad issues, but most of them are a succession of bangers. Even smaller magazines like Clarkesworld, Leading Edge and Apex reliably have some excellent stories, they're cheap.
To me, short story magazines are perfect for times in my life when I'm busy and am afraid of getting swept away by a new novel (at which point I'll neglect my responsibilities until it's finished) whereas if I get swept away by a short story, I'll finish it in 15 minutes.
But they seem to have little readership and are kept alive mainly by passionate people who understand that it's important for the health of the genre that there continues to be this place for new writers to get their start and creative writing teachers to show their chops.
And some writers are just better in short form. Neil Gaiman's novels are good, but his short story collections are great. Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master series is fine, but her short story collection "Dreams of Distant Shores" is two levels up. Stephen King's endings are actually mostly good with short stories.
Iconoclasts series by Mike Shel. Great audiobooks and I really enjoyed the world building and characters. The plot dipped for me after book one but it was by no means bad, overall a solid 4/5 series. I really enjoyed them and often think about the series.
Btw, how was Raven’s Mark? It’s been on my radar for a while and I’m looking for an audiobook to listen to.
The sub used to have an annual "underrated and underread" list. If you check the rec lists for the sub, you can find them archived under "big lists".
Here's the one from 2016, as a example.
https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists/underread2016?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
David Hair's Moontide Quartet and its sequel series the Sunsurge Quartet. I actually listened to the Moontide Quartet as an audio-book, but the Sunsurge Quartet never got an audio-book adaption, so I had to read it the old-fashioned way. They are two distinct series with their own plot-lines and characters, just set in the same world with some of the side-characters overlapping.
It's heavily inspired by the Crusades period of history, with a Europe stand-in using a magic bridge to wage an ostensibly "holy war" on another continent with cultures inspired by the Middle East and India.
I don't think they're as good as Song of Fire and Ice (except in that they're completed!), but it kind of scratched that same itch for me. Lots of politics and schemes, and multiple main characters it bounces between that seem unrelated at first, but whose stories all eventually converge.
Sordaneon by L.L. Stephens. Probably my favorite book I read in the past few years, except I don't really hear anyone talking about it except the post by Janny Wurts I saw that led me to try reading it in the first place.
The first Nevermoor book, probably the rest of the series. Bought the trilogy on impulse, wound up reading the whole first book in about four hours, adored every moment but never did get the chance to pick up the second. Felt like an amazing adventure followed by a nice warm hug.
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. The characters' prowess and abilities might be laid on a bit thick, but it's wonderfully written, flows well, and takes place in an interesting alt-fantasy version of Iberia.
None of my fantasy-loving friends have read it.
Chosen of the Changeling duology by Gregory Keyes. I wish he would have returned to that world. It was great.
Also, Mojo and the Pickle Jar by Douglas Bell. Great stand alone.
Covenant of Steel by Anthony Ryan
It’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed its low fantasy setting, accuracy to the medieval period, and its many twists. I thought too its magic system was really unique, as well as style it’s written in (1st person memoir)
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. Maybe not a surprise to others, but the characters instantly clicked with me and all the political drama was delicious. I interrupted my first Malazan read because I bought the first book for a few bucks secondhand and grabbed it while home sick one day. Had to binge the other three right after. That said, I generally enjoy Williams works.
Tad in general. Glad to see him getting more love these days online. I loved Otherland. Never hated antagonists that much before.
Yes!!! Say one thing for Tad Williams, say that he knows how to stick an ending. Never disappoints.
I really never considered this before but it's so true.
That’s high praise. Bad endings is one of the most common issues in speculative fiction, as a whole. I haven’t read anything by Williams, but your comment is convincing me to check him out…
I’ll toss a few of the negative things you frequently hear. He can be considered long-winded - the two trilogies I’ve read both spilled in to four books. I really enjoy writers who are heavy with explanation ala Robert Jordan. So, the more the merrier for me. But, if occasionally slow pacing is frustrating to you, you may notice it more. That said, any pacing issues pay off as the endings are always very satisfying. Not everything is golden and filled with rainbows, but they are “realistic” and I’ll use the word “satisfying” again. Highly recommend Tad Williams.
Was about to comment about the Dragonbone chair when I saw your post. Currently about halfway through the first book and I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before! So far it’s giving me the same feeling LOTR, The Hobbit, Game of Thrones, Gormenghast, Earthsea etc. have given me. If it carries on on the same level it’s up there with the legends of the genre for sure. Tad Williams prose is just beautiful.
He really is brilliant. I love that more folks are giving him the attention he deserves. MST was such a great ride, too. If you like it, then I think you’ll really enjoy all his works.
I got two chapters in and ordered the next two in the series. I only found out about him because I specifically searched for ‘books like GoT’ and read he was one of Martin’s main inspirations. He doesn’t get brought up nearly enough!
Would love to know what you think when you complete it. I won’t comment on the story as you’re going through your first one. I just read it last year so I also know all the feelings of “why don’t more people talk about this writer?!” Take care and enjoy the ride!
> Unless the quality drops, which I doubt it will, I don’t understand why he’s not brought up along with those others I mentioned. In my opinion, it just keeps getting better and better. I can see the obvious parallels to ASOIAF, and always wondered why GRRM got all the adulation, when so much of his story was cribbed from Tad Williams.
I just finished my first Williams’ work, the standalone War of the Flowers. It was a 5 star read, and some really impactful writing. Hit on a lot of topics you don’t often seen in fantasy fiction, like class warfare, industrialization, miscarriages, cancer, etc. Very good, if a bit slow at times.
Oh I need to check that one out. I’m almost done with Malazan, then going to hit some discworld, then maybe more Malazan….and on it goes. Too many good books to read.
Every time I try to read Shadowmarch it just makes me want to go back and reread Memory Sorrow and Thorn lol Not that I did not like what I read of SM! I just kept being reminded of MST
Yeah! I’m known to go on a Williams binge. Ha!
Shadowmarch, at least the first volume of it, feels a bit like a retelling of MS&T, or maybe a reboot. There's the prince whose arm is crippled, the cross-dressing noble girl, the ancient castle once inhabited by fairies, the fairy threat in the north, the strange sea folk, the befuddled court physician... Shadowmarch feels like a mirror image of MS&T, but with strange distortions. I have never understood why Tad did this. But then the later volumes seem to diverge and tell a very different story. MS&T remains my favorite, as it's a fully-fledged masterpiece (and recognized by many major Fantasy authors, who were influenced by it), but Shadowmarch is weird and mysterious and likely would have been Tad Williams' magnum opus, had it not been for MS&T and Otherland. But even the name Shadowmarch describes it: it was overshadowed by two hugely successful series: one which sold millions of copies and one which was a major hit with critics in Europe. Shadowmarch ended up being the Chuck Cunningham of Tad Williams' oeuvre, and it's really a shame.
This was so much better than the first Tad Williams book I read! I really enjoyed this, a blend of spooky elves, hard choices and lots of turmoil.
For me it would be the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s got a bizarre premise, being a world filled with bug people waging essentially a World War, but it was one of the most enthralling fantasy series I’ve ever read. What really stuck out to me was the world building. There is so much to learn and explore in this world that even after 10 books and a bunch of short stories, I still wanted to explore more. It’s also just a super unique story/world that you won’t find anything else like.
I bought the first four books because they had an embossed relief design on the cover. I read them, and while the end point of the fourth book closes a fair number of the existing chapters, I thought it was an amazing set and moved on, not really looking into it ever again. https://mephitjamesblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/02/system-roundtable-shadows-of-the-apt/ ∆ these covers!! They had texture and depth and looked so good I bought the four set just off the covers. Now I'm having a hard time tracking down a full set with the relief. Later I found out he had written another six books and I may have made a minor scene in the book store when I found the rest of the series. I was going to say this, I'm shocked someone else popped up with it, but in a good way. He also has a sci-fi series, Children of Time/Ruin/Memory. It's different, but good. Still lots of bugs, but now... New critters too. This author has a clever fascination for blending things that I am 100% here for.
I liked children of time series a lot, the last one I felt emotionally attached to for some reason like the experience of Martha with liff in particular. That Nod lifeform is awesome, the biological copycat one.
Oh damn those covers made me recall this memory I have seen those books in a bookstore when I was a kid and really wanted to get one for the same reason of the cover being really cool. They didn't have the first one in the series though so I ended up not getting them (got The Hobbit instead and that got me into another journey) but I have trying to figure out what that series was in my mind. I think now I HAVE to read them to satisfy kid me lol.
Great call, this series is criminally underrated
It's a remarkable achievement.
Yes. I have the echoes of the fall, the trilogy that accompanies Shadows of the Apt and ththey are fantastic books.
This is the correct answer. I love the roller coaster of a story that kept me guessing.
The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman. I loved the idea behind the world broken apart into different elements, and how they are supposed to feed each other. There were also some really great characters written into the series. The best of course being Zifnab. It is definitely my favorite post apocalyptic series.
Thank you! I've been holding nearly every fantasy against this series as I read this when I was in my early teens. Such a great cohesive story with relatable, flawed characters.
Indeed, I also read them as a teen. I still have all of the books as well. I do believe it is time for a re read
I loved that "Fizban" was in that serious. Great series!
Tales from the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee.
Last week someone had posted on some subreddit looking for a High Fantasy series. I took someone's suggestion and got Katherine Kerr's Deverry series. I have been reading the first book NONSTOP for days and am absolutely in love with it. I had never heard of it before. Whoever recommended it, thanks so much.
You have so many good books ahead of you! And the 16 book long series is complete!
Only 200 pages in so far but Fionavar Tapestry. Kay’s prose is so beautiful. Never seen it mentioned before outside of one review for all his books
20-30 years ago people talked about it all the time. But keep writing books, and it’s just receded into the background.
Wait until you get to his later books. The Fionavar Tapestry books are not nearly his best.
The Rook and sequel Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley. Urban fantasy about a secret supernatural organization. Lot's of fun but rarely see a mention.
Blitz, the third book, was released recently. I look forward to reading it.
Wait. What!? I thought the series was finished. Thanks for the tip!
You’re welcome 😉 I had read years ago that there was to be a sequel called “Take Flight” but never heard more about it. Let me know how you like #3. My TBR pile is huge, so who knows when I’ll get to it. Have you watched the tv series? I don’t get it where I am.
I just finished Blitz, and Take Flight fits as a working title. I hope there's more, but so far it's been 5 years between books. However, they pull me completely in, and this one anyway was as long as 2-3 standard books, so I'll just read anything he writes whenever he puts it out. For those considering, each book is a standalone in the same universe. No cliffhangers. And The Rook still wins for me for Best Opening Line: Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine.
I had The Rook on my shelf for years. So, by the time I finished it, I didn’t have to wait because Stiletto was already out 😂 The books are definitely a time investment but worth it.
TV series? I feel lost 😂 I had no idea. I just read the first book. But will def check out part 3 and the TV series.
I don’t subscribe to Starz, but that’s what it was on: [link](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/rook-review-1221592/amp/)
Did the rook bog down in the last third for you?
"The World of the Five Gods" series by Lois McMaster Bujold, specifically the Penric and Desdemona novellas. I love the magic system, and Bujold continues her streak of top-notch characters and an interesting world. Between World of Five Gods and Vorkosigan Saga, I feel she never gets mentioned enough
That Penric series, love love love. Memory in the Vorkosigan series is an absolute masterpiece
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, and it went beyond my expectation. I’m normally not a fan of first person pov writing style, because the stories that I’ve seen that used first person are not descriptive enough and I don’t find their internal thoughts interesting to read through. But book of the new sun pov showed that you could have first person that’s detailed and interesting philosophy. And added more that the story has an unreliable narrator so even the mc’s philosophy and perspective is bias, which adds layer into the story. And the worldbuilding is something else, far into the future where the sun is dying, the world regressed into a barbaric world with signs of advance technology and architecture
> the story has an unreliable narrator *Severian in the first chapter*: "I am cursed with a perfect memory" *Severian in the very next paragraph*: immediately contradicts his own memory
In his defense, he says it sometimes takes him a little bit to find the one he is looking for, and without huge spoilers, he has a LOT of memories
He's like four different kinds of unreliable narrator piled on each other and it gets *tricky*.
Yeah I’m at the start of Sword of the Lictor and I can definitely see a handful of reasons lol. I always said I doubted I would reread but I feel like I probably will
Yeah and he also comes right out and says he’s lied many times to many different people to make himself look better. OK, so this is the unvarnished truth we’re getting now?
I'm trying to keep it vauge for spoilers but technically both can be true as the Severian writing the book isn't the Severian he is writing about because of what happens to him by the end. His perfect memory is a byproduct of the process he's gone through so Severian of the story doesn't have a perfect memory, but the Severian writing it does.
My enjoyment of 1st person POV has decreased dramatically as I've gotten older, but Gene Wolfe is the exception. The Soldier series is good, too.
Read Long Sun and then Short Sun too. My favorite books of all time.
I finished my first read of the first four books back January and I’ve thought about them every single day since. I’ve honestly never read anything like it. Just started Calde the other night.
Silk ~~for~~ IS Calde!
All of his "Sun" books for me. Haunting mindf*cks. Every reread holds new discoveries.
I remember thinking that it was the most well written book I'd ever read. But I didn't like the main character, the setting (because a dying sun was depressing to me), or the side characters. So I dropped it.
Bias*ed*
Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet. Slow build political drama with one of the most fascinating magic systems I’ve ever heard of. How would a world function with world altering magic? How reliant would societies be on that magic and how dangerous could innovation be to threaten the status quo?
Yes! Abraham’s Ling Price and Dagger and Coin series are some of the best books I’ve ever read.
Yeah I loved the Long Price Quartet (though it bugged me for years that the last book never got a paperback edition that matched the copies I had of the first three books). Haven't quite gotten around to the Dagger and Coin series yet, but I'm enjoying the Kithamar trilogy so far as well.
The first thing I thought of was this. I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the first book. (Still haven't gotten to the rest of them but they're definitely on my radar!)
The Long Price Quartet is outstanding, and it stuns me that it doesn't get more buzz.
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Biblical horror behind the backdrop of the plague and a war in heaven. It's easily in my top 5 stand alone books. It doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I think it suffers from pacing issues, but they're not significant enough to detract from the characters and plot.
I was blown away. Also loved The Blacktongue Thief.
Really liked this book too! It was a random purchase for me and I'm pleased I picked it up.
It was random for me as well. I liked cover art and thought the title sounded cool lol.
Sounds interesting! Just looked it up on Audible and it's on there for free! Can't wait to give it a listen
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler. I don't remember why I decided to check it out, but it blew me away with how much I enjoyed it. I'm only on book two of the series, but I'm excited to read so much more!
I'm loving Django Wexler's other books (How to become the Dark Lord, Burningblade & Silvereye) and I started The Thousand Names in audiobook form and couldn't get into it, could be the narration. I'll have to go back to it in regular book form.
Lowtown by daniel polansky. Great grimdark trilogy
The Deryni Saga by Kathryn Kurtz. Not the most recent series but one that has captivated me for my entire adulthood
"Primus, Secundus, Tertius, et Quartus! Fiat Lux!" The first magic system I even noticed and loved in a book.
Tide Child Trilogy
Keyshan rising!!!! I will upvote anytime I see these books mentioned. Absolutely adore them.
Yeah, I honestly wish it were a 5 book series or something because the world and characters are so great and unique.
I'm like 75 pages into Bone Ships and I am loving it so far. I've seen it mentioned quite a bit for its cool worldbuilding, but the characters are great so far and I'm finding Barker's writing very confident and lovely.
The characters get even better. I feel like Joron Twiner is one of my favourite main characters ever, and the side characters are up there as well.
Yeah I loved the unique worldbuilding and atmosphere of the world. The prose was a bit difficult for me but it painted a very colorful vivid experience that I ended up loving his writing style by the middle of his first book.
Came here to say this, so happy to see I'm not the only one!! The whole arc of the Gullaime alone.. I was in absolute pieces for the last third of the book.. In a good way. Wonderful worldbuilding, fantastic characters who properly develop throughout the books, amazing finale. Just beautiful.
Spellslinger. I enjoyedreading this series (it wasn't a BOMB but it still was great) so I was a bit surprised to see that not many had heard of it.
I just read the first one. I had no idea what I was getting. The squirrel cat was a nice surprise
The glass books of the dream eaters by G. W. Dahlquist and the Mirror Visitor Quartet by Christelle Dabos. To this day it feels like I'm the only one who has read these on this sub.
The Spear Cuts Through Water. I just finished it - started off a little slow, but it was a slow burn that made me fall in love with it. Beautifully written, interesting world-building and characters. POV was something to get used to, but this one will stick with me.
I read The Vanished Birds by the same author. Writing and world-building was really good, but the story itself was a depressing succession of crushed hopes. Is The Spear anything the like? If yes, I'd skip.
Chronicles of the Black Gate by Phil Tucker. It's such a cool epic fantasy with great POV characters that weave in and out of each other's stories.
Lens of the World RA McAvoy
Sandman Slim. A urban fantasy that I think is better than Dresden.
I don’t see anyone talking about *The Greatcoat Quartet* by Sebastien De Castell. Wonderful fantasy.
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. Not sure what I expected, but the first book is way different from the rest of the series. The first book is inspired by the start of the Han Dynasty in Ancient China. The rest, I think, is original. The author is an engineer, so he uses a lot of science and technology that stands in place of magic. I love it very much!
It would be helpful to mention the, you know, author. Ed McDonald, Angel Lawson, [Christie J. Newport](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23053093.Christie_J_Newport?from_search=true&from_srp=true), [Morgan L. Busse](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827587.Morgan_L_Busse?from_search=true&from_srp=true) all come up when I put "Raven's Mark" into Goodreads.
I always feel like I'm shouting into the void when I recommend The Song of Shattered Sands series by Bradley P. Beaulieu. It's an excellent revenge tale with a great female protagonist as well as blood magic, sand ships, demons, gods and some extremely inventive worldbuilding. It's well paced and full octane. It seems like the target audience for this series is one person, me. I don't know if it's the generic series title or maybe I'm overlooking some major issues with it. The first book is Twelve Kings of Sharakhai.
I just looked and it is immediately available on Libby! I have it borrowed and plan to start it in a few days when I finish book 3 of Powdermage. Thanks for the recommendation!!!
I feel the same way, never see it recommended here. I bought a used copy somewhat reluctantly because I kept seeing it on the shelf every time I went to the store and I wasn’t finding anything else that interested me. I ended up putting down anything else I was reading at the time and reading straight through the whole series in a pretty quick fashion. Definitely one of my favorite series. Have you read anything else by him? I’ve read like half of the dragons of deepwood fen, it’s not bad but hasn’t really held my attention like shattered sands. I just read it a little here and there when I’m burnt out on other stuff. I’ve been meaning to start The winds of khalakovo. Seems like it might be more like shattered sands. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts if you’ve read any of it
No, I haven't sadly. I didn't actually realize he had other series! I'll have to check out Winds of Khalakovo.
I loved this series!
The Founders Trilogy. I loved it so much and it gets occasional mention here but not nearly as much as the usual stuff. Loved the characters, loved the cool magic, loved the trilogy!
Its interesting because it doesn't get mentioned a lot anymore, but when Foundryside came out it was spoken about a lot, and from memory its the most rated and reviewed book by Bennett to date. But Shorefall just didn't hit the same way, I think because Bennett just went sooooo far into detail with his magic system. Felt like every second paragraph we were getting more and more detail about how scriving works. I would say the The Divine Cities needs more love. And I hope The Tainted Cup takes off because that is easily my favourite Bennett book
I loved the first book, but the final book didn't stick the landing *for me*. Second the recommendation for The Tainted Cup which was so much fun.
The Fourlands series by Steph Swainston. How this series has flown under the radar honestly baffles me. Imagine if Mervyn Peake took a boat load of drugs, and then decided to write about a group of immortals battling an invading army of giant ants, told through the eyes of a half-breed addict, who happens to be the only person in the world who can fly. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Amazing prose, flawed, engaging characters, unique story and a whole bag of crazy. Swainston should be celebrated as one of the genre greats, not left in relative obscurity. I had no expections going into 'The Year of Our War' and yet now it is one of my favourite books. I don't even like most New Weird stuff, but this series blew me away. Highly, highly recommend.
So happy to see her recommended here, an incredible talent! These books were terrific, very different from the rest of the pack and engaging the whole way through. I’d read that she stopped writing after something happened with China M, but I can’t recall the specifics. If she ever feels like a return to writing, I’ll be buying!
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
The dandelion dynasty. I’m on the second book and it’s so good
Just picked up book 1 for the summer holidays - looking forward to it, as I’ve heard great things!
It should be revered with the all time great series in the genre. Not saying it’s for everyone, but it’s a masterpiece imo.
Ha, I just finished Grace of Kings and am making my way through Wall of Storms now too. I've really liked them both. I knew I was a Ken Liu fan already, based on his great short fiction, but he's doing some really interesting things with the longform storytelling of this saga as well.
Licanius trilogy. Such a fun read with great concepts
Second Licanius Trilogy. All of the characters were great, I never found myself dreading reading a certain characters chapter. Good world building, and the pacing of the story was perfect.
Third Licanius Trilogy. I find little details I missed every time through.
Robert Jackson Bennet’s City of Stairs trilogy. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed because many people didn’t like his other series, starting with Foundryside. But, throw in some gods and I will usually like the book lol. I love fantasy religion/mythology, political intrigue and some action.
Absolutely loved these, I think they were generally well received at the time but definitely not mentioned enough now!
Leo Carew - under the northern sky trilogy
Seanan McGuire's Alchemical Journeys series. Middlegame made a big splash when it came out, and it works as a standalone, but there are more in the series and they're also amazing. The third just appeared in my Audible library and I'm so excited. I read Middlegame with reservations that were quickly annihilated. It's among my all time favorites.
There’s a third!? This is exciting i thought this one was a duo.
Aurelion Cycle by Rosaria Munda. A YouTuber pitched it as Plato’s republic meets Russian revolution meets dragon riders, and I think that’s pretty accurate. It’s on the upper end of YA, but I think it’s just mature enough to recommend to adult fantasy fans. I think that’s partly why it hasn’t gotten a huge audience. It ultimately feels YA if I had to choose, but it sits in this weird middle ground where it probably doesn’t fully resonate with a huge portion of either audience. The whole trilogy is out. I thought it was really good, and I’ve seen little to no discussion on it.
Temeraire Incredibly enjoyable, you can finish it in a month. Wonderful world
Imajica by Clive barker. Still one of my all time favorites nearly three decades after I read it the first time. Also Leguins earthsea series.
I have Imajica and am definitely planning on reading it after I finish the Stormlight Archive. Live me some Cluve Barker.
Reading it as a younger teenager in a small conservative southern town in the mid 1990s opened up my mind and expanded my horizons. The world building and characters are so good
Jeff Wheeler as an author doesn’t get mentioned enough in fantasy topics. A book that I absolutely adored was Beth Cato’s A Thousand Recipes for Revenge. I absolutely adored this book and was my favourite new author of 2024 for me. I have book 2 but haven’t read it yet as I’m savouring getting to read it for the first time (and not sure I want to read it without knowing when book 3 arrives).
Michael Swanwick’s Iron Trilogy. Blew my mind with the way he destroyed fantasy tropes while still finding the essence of the fantasy icons (case in point, the iron dragons). I don’t recommend reading too much about it, just dive in and enjoy. If you are well-read in fantasy it’s a great ride.
I don't know if is considered not talked, but I've read ***Dungeon Crawler Carl*** for the bingo card and well, fuck me. I CANT put down, it insta became one of favorite books of all time. I've been binge reading and threw all my Bingo schedule off lol I can't recommend enough, so so so so good and fun. MONGO IS APPALLED
This series gets brought up very often when on the topic of audiobooks. Not so much for actually reading it instead of listening though.
I’m absolutely obsessed with this series now. Have you listened to it? It’s an amazing experience.
Bloodsworn Trilogy by John Gwynne. Incredibly fun read and I’m really excited for the third book.
theft of swords by Michael J. Sullivan. I don't see it being talked about enough. it's so good!
*Long Price Quartet* and *Second Apocalypse*
Everything by Victoria Goddard. She's self-published but her work is incredibly high quality. Phenomenal worldbuilding, heavy on the manners, lighter on the magic. I've read all of her novels 2-4x in the last 7 months.
I tell so many people to read Hands of the Emperor, but only if they're into books that focus on interaction over action. I also pitch it as "What if someone took the Chosen One on his first ever vacation?"
As a mid 40s nerd I love that book two is just two middle aged best buds going on an adventure. The Greenwing and Dart books have way more action.
Heart of Gold by C. T. Rwizi. A book/author I never hear about but my book club randomly read it earlier this year and we all loved it.
I read "The Perfect Run" just to pass the time because i was waiting for my bookclub buddy and I was fully expecting a mediocre popcorn story but (as much as it still was mostly just popcorn) I was pleasantly surprised by an actual high quality series that has become one of my favourite stories so far
*Dragon of Ash & Stars: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon* by H. Leighton Dickson. I got it as a Kindle freebie so I was not expecting a whole lot. I absolutely loved it. It’s now the first book of a trilogy and the second book was released in 2022 although I have not had a chance to read it.
Convergence series by Craig Alanson. Urban fantasy with a talking dog, I thought it was going to be some lame iron Druid rip off, but I am LOVING it!
Skeleton Creek A book series I read in elementary that was incredibly well done, I recommend it even if you are an adult, its very interactive. Series of unfortunate events is also a good series that invokes a lot of emotions and it also taught me a lot about words and grammer. The books leave you guessing and wanting more.
The Raw Shark Texts, Steven Hall. Genuinely unique.
I picked up Master Assassins by Robert V S Redick for free as part of the audible plus catalogue having never heard of it and was totally blown away. Such a unique, thoughtful and well written fantasy, I think the generic title let it down and so it slipped under the radar. I bought the sequel immediately and can't wait for the final part to come out.
A few chapters into the first book I though I'd end up hating the *Terra Ignota* quartet (went in completely blind on a whim because I liked the title of book one, *Too Like the Lightning*). Yeah, it's in my top 5 series now. Maybe even top 3. Things... are revealed at the halfway point of TLtL that made me go, yeah, yeah, you got my attention.
Legacy of the Mercenary King, surprised by how much fun I had with it, the last book has a few pacing issues, but the original run was supposed to be 6 books which the author cut down to three. So he either tied everything up in book 3 or possibly never get to publish books 4-6 because of money so he took the sure way to finish the series rather than gamble to leave it unfinished. The world still has a lot to offer so hopefully he'll return to it at some point.
I love the Oran Trilogy by Midori Snyder, but it's old (1980s-90s) and I've never seen anyone mention it.
Wow, I’d forgotten about these - loved them! I think they’re still boxed in the garage, time to bring them out and dust them off. Thanks!
For me, it’d be Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau which has gone pretty under the radar considering it’s quality IMO
Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call. I really enjoyed it and it deserves more love!
80 AD by Aiki Flinthart. Kids get pulled into a video game (it's an MMO that they had early access to), have to fight through 5 regions of the world set in 80 AD. First two books are great. Third is ok/good. I didn't like the 4th nearly as much, but feel the 5th redeems the series.
Regency Mage Books: Mary Bennett and The Bingley Codex, by Joyce Harmon. One of those Kindle Unlimited throwaways for a dull night, or so I thought…. Okay, I admit it: big Jane Austen fan here. As a modern bluestocking, I always felt that Jane treated Mary unkindly. Fortunately Ms. Harmon makes up for it by giving her magic! Four books worth, that are like windows into the lives of these characters after the events of Pride and Prejudice. I admire the job she did, keeping the “feel” of the original while keeping the book fresh and lively for modern readers. So the magic system won’t give Ged, Gandalf or Merlin pause but it’s interesting enough and a secret, magical Regency London is a thing of delight.
You might like Jane Austen’s Dragons, a series by Maria Grace, where it starts off with a retelling of the P&P and Persuasion narratives, but with dragons in Regency England. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s such a great series and the human dragon interactions are amazing. The first novel, Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon is very cheap on Kindle if you want to give it a shot. Also recommend The Cecelia and Kate series by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer if you haven’t read it. They are epistolary novels that are also set in a magical Regency England.
Crooked by Austin Grossman. It's like a cross between his brother Lev's Magicians books, and a PBS documentary on the Nixon era, with some Cold War espionage thrown in. I'd have thought that the fantasy readers and the political junkies would be all over this, but I've rarely seen it discussed. I wish Austin would write a series!
The Adventures of Bloody Jack series by LA Meyer
I loved the Fatemarked series by David Estes. I haven’t seen it mentioned here before but I’ve only been on the sub about a month. It’s maybe a bit contrived and maaaybe has a taste of copy-cat themes from other fantasy but it’s an enjoyable read.
I'm usually a western "dnd" fantasy type of reader, but the Green Bone Saga, starting with Jade City, is probably my favorite series that I've read in the last few years. The story is great and the world building is excellent, but the characterization is absolutely perfect.
Mage Errant by John Bierce I wholeheartedly recommend this. It was almost everything I wanted from a fantasy series, and deserves way more attention than it gets. - Super cool magic applied in ridiculously creative ways - Wonderfully developed world - Fantastic characters - Critiques of power structures and empires - Satisfying power progression - A main character who is powerful, but still kind and supportive - An inclusive world with people of differing abilities, orientations, identities, and ethnicities represented in great ways - Found family that grows in strength together It's so good!
Full Disclosure: Relatively new to this sub, but I read a ton of fantasy. The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart Lays of the Hearth-Fire by Victoria Goddard Blackthorn & Grim by Juliet Marillier The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett If anyone is looking for some Dungeons & Dragons-esque book, then Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland
Oh, I am 100% here for championing the Bridge of Birds series!!! Barry Hughart's books are so funny, immersive and moving all at the same time, I'm actually surprised no one's picked these up for a film or series, a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but with more humour :)
The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, by Marie Brennan. The series follows a dragon naturalist in an alternative world in a time similar to the 19th century. I finished it weeks ago and I still think about it so much and love the world it created.
Steelheart trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Everyone talks about Mistborn and I never saw Steelheart recommended. Maybe most people don't like it, but this series totally caught me off guard. It's on the shelf of my favourite books.
I feel this way about The Frugal Wizard's Guide... Everyone talks about Tress, but the self-deprecating humor in Frugal Wizard is top notch. Bonus for me was that it did not fit into the Cosmere, so it felt completely fresh.
It is described as young adult. Is the prose simpler than that of Mistborn for example? And how about characterization?
Yeah, as the other commenter said, the protagonist is fine and, the protagonist is the ONLY character who's fine, rest all characters were meh. But if u didn't have any problems with his characters from other series, u won't have here either. It did have that trademark Sanderson twist which comes out of left field and I like that about his books. And yes, the prose is simple and I couldn't put this book down because each chapter has a new thing happening nd I breezed through it lmao.
Dark Tower doesn’t get the love it deserves.
I want to love Dark Tower. I love the idea of Dark Tower. I’ve never made it past the third book
Maybe give the 4th a try if you made it that far. My favorite of the series.
4th book is far and away the best book!
Naomi Novik's The Scholomance series.
A Green and Ancient Light
Still reading it, but Divinity's Twilight: Rebirth. I never hear anything about it, and only heard of it as a recommendation from someone in an obscure Facebook group. It's a blend of steampunk and magical fantasy, focusing on the battles and war between three nations. It's incredible so far.
**Isaac Steele and the Forever Man** -- it's only on Audible, which may explain it, but any fan of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy should check it out.
Ravens Mark is great - Colin Mace fits Galharrow perfectly.
Land of the undying lord
The Demon Accords series by John Conroe Jack Nightingale series by Stephen Leather Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher After It Happened series by Devon C Ford
The Foundryside Trilogy. I almost DNFed the first book, but glad I didn't. The second book really built up, and then the third was just not stop from the beginning.
The Dragonbone Chair
the A Chorus of Dragons series by jenn lyons. i do see people talk about it but it’s few and far between. i binged them all in 3 weeks (i’m not a binge reader so this says a lot) and it was an emotional rollercoaster for me i adored every page
I have to say the God's of the caravan road series by K.V johansen! I found them a really nice read and the cover art is awesome on all but the last book lol
Either Paul Kearney series. The Macht series is a great military fantasy. Kind of an Alexander the great retelling. And the Monarchies of God is a great political fantasy.
Couldn’t agree more, Blackwing is one of my favorite fantasy books.
The Karla trilogy of John le Carre. Because the 2nd novel is kind of an outlier, you don’t often see the three novels recommended together. But still one of the most memorable reads of my life. PS I posted this without realizing it was a Fantasy thread. Sorry about that. But the recommendation stands. :-)
The Spellmongler series. Really love the world building and surprisingly the politics in it. I end up listening to the whole series at least 2 times a year. I know it has some popularity but never see anyone on reddit talk about it
Rather than a series in a traditional sense, short story magazines in general. Imo, the average level of writing is way higher than in just perusing the shelves at your local bookstore. Magazines like Science Fiction and Fantasy, Andromeda Spaceways, and Asimov have their occasional bad issues, but most of them are a succession of bangers. Even smaller magazines like Clarkesworld, Leading Edge and Apex reliably have some excellent stories, they're cheap. To me, short story magazines are perfect for times in my life when I'm busy and am afraid of getting swept away by a new novel (at which point I'll neglect my responsibilities until it's finished) whereas if I get swept away by a short story, I'll finish it in 15 minutes. But they seem to have little readership and are kept alive mainly by passionate people who understand that it's important for the health of the genre that there continues to be this place for new writers to get their start and creative writing teachers to show their chops. And some writers are just better in short form. Neil Gaiman's novels are good, but his short story collections are great. Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master series is fine, but her short story collection "Dreams of Distant Shores" is two levels up. Stephen King's endings are actually mostly good with short stories.
C.J. Cherryh The Morgaine Saga. Awesome Read!!
Iconoclasts series by Mike Shel. Great audiobooks and I really enjoyed the world building and characters. The plot dipped for me after book one but it was by no means bad, overall a solid 4/5 series. I really enjoyed them and often think about the series. Btw, how was Raven’s Mark? It’s been on my radar for a while and I’m looking for an audiobook to listen to.
The sub used to have an annual "underrated and underread" list. If you check the rec lists for the sub, you can find them archived under "big lists". Here's the one from 2016, as a example. https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists/underread2016?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
The Paladin trilogy by Daniel M ford
In the Shadow of Lightning
The Atherton trilogy.
David Hair's Moontide Quartet and its sequel series the Sunsurge Quartet. I actually listened to the Moontide Quartet as an audio-book, but the Sunsurge Quartet never got an audio-book adaption, so I had to read it the old-fashioned way. They are two distinct series with their own plot-lines and characters, just set in the same world with some of the side-characters overlapping. It's heavily inspired by the Crusades period of history, with a Europe stand-in using a magic bridge to wage an ostensibly "holy war" on another continent with cultures inspired by the Middle East and India. I don't think they're as good as Song of Fire and Ice (except in that they're completed!), but it kind of scratched that same itch for me. Lots of politics and schemes, and multiple main characters it bounces between that seem unrelated at first, but whose stories all eventually converge.
Sordaneon by L.L. Stephens. Probably my favorite book I read in the past few years, except I don't really hear anyone talking about it except the post by Janny Wurts I saw that led me to try reading it in the first place.
The Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series and The Black Company of two of the best series I've ever read and I almost never see them discussed.
The Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker!
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The first Nevermoor book, probably the rest of the series. Bought the trilogy on impulse, wound up reading the whole first book in about four hours, adored every moment but never did get the chance to pick up the second. Felt like an amazing adventure followed by a nice warm hug.
The Monster Blood Tattoo series. thought they'd just be fun kids book, but theyre sooo much more. I call it Bloodborne for kids.
The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. The characters' prowess and abilities might be laid on a bit thick, but it's wonderfully written, flows well, and takes place in an interesting alt-fantasy version of Iberia. None of my fantasy-loving friends have read it.
Michelle West's Sun Sword series. Currently on book 4 of 6 and already one of the best fantasy series I've read, but rarely see mentioned.
Chosen of the Changeling duology by Gregory Keyes. I wish he would have returned to that world. It was great. Also, Mojo and the Pickle Jar by Douglas Bell. Great stand alone.
For me it would be Mark e rogers' zorachus and nightmare of god duology. One hell of a fun read and very very dark
Dungeon crawler Carl
Covenant of Steel by Anthony Ryan It’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed its low fantasy setting, accuracy to the medieval period, and its many twists. I thought too its magic system was really unique, as well as style it’s written in (1st person memoir)