Hello. I've been interested in getting into a swords and sorcery type fantasy series. I'm a pretty slow reader and these books seem to always be pretty CHONKY. I'm thinking like...a nice 3-6 book series, though willing to not be limited by that

I'm looking for something...........epic. Great character arcs, deaths, betrayals, political intrigue, etc etc, you know the deal

Not super interested in GoT at the moment, maybe someday. I actually haven't read LOTR but I've got the Andy Serkis narrated series on Audible ready to go any day

A shortlist after some very brief research:

- Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
- The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
- The Dark Tower by Stephen King (not sure this is the vibe I'm going for rn though)
- Age of Madness by Joe Abercrombie

I know little to nothing about any of these. Anyone ever read any of them and have any thoughts?

Would love recs outside this list too

good idea not getting into ASOIAF, you don't want any part of this wait for Winds of Winter

- Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
I have read these, but it has been a long time ago. My memory is that they were good, and I have generally enjoyed Hobb's stuff.

- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Mistborn is good. I enjoy Sanderson' stuff.

- The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Stormlight Archive started out fantastic, but I have had trouble finishing the later ones that are out.

- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
If you don't want clunky, this series is not for you. The story is great, but it is a very long series and you can speed read through large portions of it without missing anything.

- Age of Madness by Joe Abercrombie
I haven't read this trilogy, but did read his First Law trilogy which I think is the same world. Abercrombie books are entertaining and usually not long reads.

Another series that I enjoyed is the Cradle series by Will Wight. There are a lot of books, but they are all pretty quick reads. He has another series called the Elder Empire that is 2 trilogies, where each trilogy tells the same story from opposite sides of the conflict. I thought it was pretty good and unique.

Perfect. Ty!

That dueling trilogy does sound pretty cool

I still think the best fantasy books I have ever read are Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind series. The problem is that only 2 of the 3 are out, and if you read them you will be stuck in this never-ending George R. R. Martin style wait for the third book that the rest of us are in.

I really enjoy Joe Abercrombie. If you ever get around to him I would suggest you start with his First Law trilogy since Age of Madness builds off of the same world. I also suggest them because I've actually read them and thought they were good whereas I haven't made time for the new trilogy yet.

What I really think are his highlights (again, that I've read) are two of the standalone (but still connected to the trilogies) books he did called Best Served Cold and The Heroes. I really loved both.

Somewhere in there he did a YA series too that I ignored. It was the only thing he's done that I know of that doesn't connect to the same world and characters.

If 317 ever ventured into these topics he would gush about Brandon Sanderson.

Shagbot from ProM would gush about Robert Jordan.

Timmah @ 6/6/2024 12:41

I still think the best fantasy books I have ever read are Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind series. The problem is that only 2 of the 3 are out, and if you read them you will be stuck in this never-ending George R. R. Martin style wait for the third book that the rest of us are in.

I read these two and thought they were really good but yeah I can't suggest them because the author's indifference seems like GRRM's on steroids.

An older series that I read in the aftermath of ASOIAF was the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams. It wound up being a series that GRRM had obviously taken inspiration from quite heavily. Really bare bones basic fantasy but it was enjoyable and made me side eye George a little bit.

Kinda thinking Joe Abercrombie (what a name) is the move for me. For starters anyway