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Fantasy Reading List

Well, these books are by her alone, and are more geared towards adults.
This is the summary of the First one, Divine by Mistake.
The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on summer vacation is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess…

Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside—what woman doesn't like lots of pampering?—it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double.

Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind….

Second one, Divine by Choice

hannon Parker has finally come to terms with life in the mythical world of Partholon. She loves her centaur husband, her connection to the goddess Epona and the pampering that comes with both! She's almost forgotten her old life on Earth—especially when she discovers she's pregnant….

Then a sudden burst of power sends her back to Oklahoma. Without magic, Shannon can't return to Partholon—and so she needs to find help. Trouble is, it might take the form of a man as tempting as her husband. And along the way she'll discover that being divine by mistake is a lot easier than being divine by choice….

Third: Divine by Blood
Conceived in a lie and trapped in a tree throughout her gestation, Morrigan's birth was truly magical. After that start, she spent the next eighteen years raised as a normal girl in Oklahoma.

Upon discovering the truth of her heritage, her rage and grief take on a power of their own, carrying her back to the world of Partholon. Yet, instead of being respected as the daughter of the Goddess Incarnate, Morrigan feels like a shunned outsider.

In her desperation to belong to Partholon, she confronts forces she can't fully understand or control. And soon a strange darkness draws closer….
 
I'll add The Anvil of Ice by Michael Scott Rohan. I first read it during a very long car journey back in the 80s. It says something about the quality of the writing that I lost track of the outside world as soon as I started reading. I haven't read the other books in the Winter of the World series, sadly, but I'll get around to it someday even if I have to lose a limb in the process.
 

Artless

Minstrel
Oh COME on!
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a MUST read for someone who wants to 'master' the fantasy genre. GODDAMNIT!!! Why does everyone hate it so? :(
Also, Feist's series(And a Faeire tale!), Janny Wurts Daughter of the empire series (Written with Feist and complementing the Riftwar saga)
What about Katherine Kerr? She writes incredibly well.
Lian Hern.
I would also suggest Goodkind, Sara Douglas' first trilogy, the Shanara series (Even though I don't particularily like them)
Stephen Kings Dark Tower series (even though I don't particularly like them either)
And, Lovecraft.
I would definitely agree with Tolkien, Robin Hobb, Ursula Le Guin, G.R.R.M, RA Salvatore.
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Hey Artless,

That's a great list. And I also agree that the Wheel of Time is a must read. The first few books were great. The problem is that midway through the series Jordan lost sight of the larger narrative, causing the main storyline to grind to a near halt. Otherwise, they are terrific books.
 

Kelise

Maester
Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series. Anything by Jennifer Fallon is pretty good. Glenda Larke's Watergiver's series is pretty epic (one book still to come out). And I agree with the suggestions of Robin Hobb and Sara Douglass.

Juliet Marillier is more historical fiction, but as it's set in England at the time of druids and such, it seems fantasy enough to me. Sean Williams is usually more Sci-fi but as the same usually go hand in hand, he's quite fantasy also.

...Yes, most of mine are Australian suggestions, they're pretty much unknown but in my travels I've seen them in most bookstores overseas, so there's no excuse :D
 

Artless

Minstrel
The problem is that midway through the series Jordan lost sight of the larger narrative, causing the main storyline to grind to a near halt.

I'll agree the books definitely slow down around 5 and 6, but I can't see how else they could have gone. With so very many differing threads of the pattern to keep track off... (Whoooo In book reference! :p)
Actually, the last time I re-read the series, I found I enjoyed these books a lot more than I used too.

I think Jordan's series is a must read for both world building and character dev. 'Nuff said.

And Starconstant, ain't nothing wrong with Aussie suggestions!
Aussie all the way! :)
 

myrddin173

Maester
Personally I think to truly understand what "epic fantasy" is you have to read the Wheel of Time. I would also suggest reading The Heir Trilogy and the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima, she is one of my favorite authors.
 

Helbrecht

Minstrel
Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series definitely needs a recommendation. I'm not particularly far into them, but the books I've read so far have failed to disappoint. They're not particularly intense or thought-provoking - the lighthearted snark that's ever-present in the narration keeps it from being so - but the world is about as well-built as urban fantasy gets and the writing is fantastic.

Apart from that, I could parrot the names of Gaiman and Miéville as much as I like, but their foremost works have already been mentioned here.

I'd also like to recommend a series that scarce few people seem to know about. Have any of you encountered the Orcs series by Stan Nicholls? They were published initially as Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest not too long ago, but they were compiled under an omnibus edition which gave the series its title a couple of years ago. They're excellent. Some of the best prose and plotting I've seen in a long time, and the central conceit - the protagonists being Orcs, duh - is a refreshing change from typical fantasy fare and it never really gets stale.
 

Kelise

Maester
Power & Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts is utterly fantastic, and winning all the awards lately. I can't put it down!

And then there's Feed by Mira Grant. I have utterly no idea what genre it's officially classed under, but I dare you all to read it and not enjoy it.
 

kennyc

Inkling
Anyone reading Game of Thrones? hee-hee.... What do you think of the books as compared to the HBO miniseries? Should I read the books first or watch the show?
 
I don't think that I saw them in here, but one must read Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. The Dragonlance series is simply epic (you can attribute other qualifiers after epic if you so desire....epic fantasy, epic superwonderment, epic crap...whatever.

They can be a bit formulaic, but they're allowed; they invented many of the formulas that we all loved as kids. Keep in mind that the main characters were created while playing the earliest (even pre-version) forms of D&D - way back when TSR was kicking butt before they were swallowed by Wizards of the Coast.

There are some bad DL novels, but they're written by guest authors. Great, epic, and classic fantasy reads for any fan should include the main branch of the DL series by authors like Weiss, Hickman, Knack, and a few others. So, try reading the Chronicles, Legends, and Heroes trilogies to see what you think. If you need more in terms of order suggestions after that, let me know.

Remember, the badest-ass of all the bad-asses in fantasy literature is Raistlin - a DL invention.
 
Map is right, everyone should read the dragonlance chronicles (and dragonlance legacy trilogy as well) the other books are optional,

and Raistlin is epic
 
I may have missed it due to being tired but I do not believe anyone has mentioned A Wizard of Earthsea by K. Le Guin. It is the first book in a series, and as I have only read that one book I cannot speak for the whole series. I would, however, include it in my fantasy must read list.

I think all the other books I would include have already been mentioned.
 

Ali

Dreamer
Has anyone read Sydney Van Scyoc's fantasy novels? I read them many years ago when I needed something to 'take me away' and just loved them. Beautiful, fantastic concepts.
 
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