I really enjoyed reading all 4 of "The Enchanted Forest" Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. Most would consider these children's books, but believe me, adults will love these. I was so wrapped up in them, it was hard to put them down. I highly recommend them.

I've been wanting to begin reading some of Robert Jordan's books ... they just look so interesting & intriguing, but there are so many he's wrote, I don't know where to start ... anyone have any suggestions??

I too love Garth Nix's "Sabriel" trilogy. I'm currently reading the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and one of my favorite fantasy novels *ever* is "Song in the Silence" by Elizabeth Kerner.

I recommend Wheel of Time for Robert Jordan...I've never read any others, but the first three books at least are good.

Not much, can you count the silmarillion, as it is by Tolkien. I like the Chronicles of Narnia, The mabinogion (welsh fairy tales, i think thats how you spell it), Harry Potter could be counted as fantasy but I think its more just fiction.

I thought it was spelled Maboingion...do you know where I might find it to read? I've been wanting to for quite a while...

EDIT: Isowen's right on the spelling.

Too many to recomend
 

Far too many books to recomend, but briefly;

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Song of Ice and Fire by George R Martin
Red, Green, Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Dune (et al) by Frank Herbert
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Willaims
Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the Trillogy of Five) by Douglas Adams

Just a few than spring to mind as favourites that get re-read, as many other works of fantasy get read once, and then never seen again.

NB, when mentioning Dune, I am NOT including any of the prequals written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert, which in my humble opionion are little better than candyfloss fantasy.

The Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin-one of the best books i ever read and they are all big so you can really read as long as you want
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams-At first it is a bit boring,but later it's great
Forgotten Realms-You really have many books,and they are all great
Harry Potter-good competition to LoTR

Like shia'tan, I enjoy the Hitchhiker's Guide (they're making a movie!! *glee*). But that's just the tip of the iceburg...
The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.
Windhaven. I can't remember who wrote it, and I don't feel like tracking down the book right now to find out...
The Area 51 series by Robert Doherty.
The Halfblood trilogy (Elvenbane, Elvenblood, and Elvenborn) by Mercedes Lackey (I swear, I'd marry the character Zed if I could).
Well, just about everything by Mercedes Lackey, really...
The Myth series by Robert Asprin.
And, as I count science fiction to be a kind of fantasy... Anything by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Bear, Ben Bova, or Michael Crichton (Timeline is one of his best).

Are you serious?! The Hitchhiker's Guide is one of the best books I've ever read.

Yup. Quick, before we're yelled at for being off-topic, here's the official movie website!

Thanks so much! Ok that was the last of off-topicness!

Besides tha greatest books ever written, those being the ones by Tolkien, i read a little bit of other stuff.

These are ones like LOTR ( and these are also very good books)
-The Redwall series
-The Shannara series
-The Chronicles of Narnia was a favorite
-The Cold Fire Trilogy

These are other books
-The Harry Potter books were pretty good
-The Lemony Snicket series ( i thought the movie was a little better)

if you have any questions about any of these books let me know by IMing me or emailing me, or however you can get a hold of me.

I have read very little fantasy because they seem to be so often Tolkien rip-offs (I have read Hitch-hikers, Narnia and Pratchett) but although a lot of the names and concepts are clearly Tolkien inspired, I have just read and really enjoyed "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. It has a gripping plot even if Alagaesia is not as richly drawn as Middle Earth.

I've a recommendation for you all: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark. Ignore most of the reviews, because it's nothing like any of the books the reviewers compare it to, but if you are interested the website is here. Beware though, it's not one you can read in bed because you'll end up breaking your arms, and if you want a first edition, I think they are about to go ona second print run already!

Bartimaeus Trilogy
 

I highly recommend the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (only the first two instalments have been released thus far: The Amulet of Samarkand and The Golem's Eye). There seem to be quite a few young adult fantasy novels about magicians set in London/Britain lately, but these truly stand out above the rest.

Stroud has a very sharp wit and his writing is lively without being banal or repetitive. The plot is quite compelling and action-packed throughout, so much so that I've stayed up till 2am a few nights in a row because it's so incredibly difficult to put it down! Bartimaeus is simply divine!

Cecily

I agree with lots of you. I like:
Redwall
Bartimaeus
Eragon
The Wheel of Time was pretty good too.
I would recommend the Artemis Fowl Trilogy and the Dark is Rising Sequence. Artemis Fowl is like the Bartimaeus Trilogy, except it's more modern and technologically advanced.

i read alot of the forgotten realms seris by R.A Salvatore.
my favorite trilogy is IceWind Dale:
The Crystal Shard
Streams of Silver
The Halflings Gem

(of course none of those comes close to lotr)

David (& Leigh) Eddins:
The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Eleneum, The Tamuli, Althalus, POlgara, Belgarath, Rivan Codex, Elder of Gods
J.K Rowling:
All Harry Potters
Marion Zimmer Bradly:
The forest house or something like that and Mists of Avalon is in progress
Katherine Kerr:
The Deverry-thing
Annie McCaffrey (or something similar):
Dragon riders of Pern

Dan Brown:
1. Da Vinci Code
2. Angels and Demons

JKR:
~ALL HPs~

Ysabel Allende
1. Eva Luna
2. House of the Spirits

Oh. And all the Star Wars I could find in the local bookstore. :rolleyes:

Is there any fantasy book referring to the Vatican Secret Archives? Please tell me; after reading Dan Brown I got so curious about what the Citta del Vaticano hides in that Archive thing.

After looking through this thread I got to thinking about how many fantasy movies there are out there. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in posting on a thread that would be like this one only about fantasy movies instead of books.

I would. :)

Books I read
 

Hi

I am New over here! Well the books I've liked...
Dan Brown: The DaVinci Code and Angles and Daemons
C.S. Lewis : the Narnia Series.
Douglas Adams: all of the Five books
Tolkien: LotR, The Hobbit, Simalirion, The lost Tales of middle earth.
Phillip Pullman: His dark materials trilogy, I was a Rat, The Tin Princess, Ruby in the Smoke...
There was this book that I read called the Mists of Avalon and its sooo amazing its written from the perspective of Morgana LaFay, George RR Martin is good too and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I sort of like the book Ella Enchanted, And Witch Hall was good. Harry Potter. This amazing book called Walking the Boundries...which isnt really Fantasy Except this guy meets his dead grand-ma when shes young...
:D A series of unfortunate events and last but not least Dr. Suess!

Peace
Elonve
________
porn star Webcams

I heard Mists of Avalon was great... I ought to read that when I'm done with all the other books I'm halfway through... no wonder I can never find a bookmark!

And welcome to the Downs, Elonve. :)

Why isn’t Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles considered fantasy?

Like Belethfacwen said, it’s my latest kick too. Ms. Rice is an artist because of how she leads the reader around and then by slowly giving clues you're given the whole picture or only a frustrating portion. “Queen of the Damned” which I am currently reading is the most complex so far. It jumps around and can get pretty confusing but slowly towards the middle it starts to make sense. Anne Rice’s books have always been a satisfying read. She also writes very good fiction worth checking out.

I very, very highly recommend the Bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton. She has a new trilogy (of which the first book has just been released this month in the US) set in the same world as her first trilogy. I'm really looking forward to delving into it. Currently, I'm reading Dracula. It's a classic, so I really do recommend that one too.

The Pendragon books by Stephen R. Lawhead.

Very mythological in tone.

And who can resist the Arthurian legend combined with the legend of Atlantis?

I've read so many fantasy books that I won't list them all... :)
My favorites (except Tolkien) are Robin Hobb's books and Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea -stories.

I'm reading The Sight right now by David Clemens-Davies (or some name close to that, my spelling may be off) and it's a good book, though rather sad.
I recently finished Tamora Pierce's Wolf Speaker which was an excellent book.

I know its probably already been mentioned, but I really like the Wheel of Time. They're pretty long, but I would definitely recommend them. I've also been looking at the Bartimaeus Trilogy, but they won't bring the last WoT book back to the library. Guh! :mad:

Encaitare, Mists of Avalon is well worth the read. And I know how you feel about being unable to find a bookmark...

Elsewise I would suggest Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), anything by H.G. Wells (including When the Sleeper Wakes...even though that has the worst ending ever.) and any short stories by Ray Bradbury (though especially The Exiles and The Long Rain.)

While those are top on my list I've also enjoyed:
David Eddings (suggested to me by my very tolkien-geeky friend)
Katharine Kerr (suggested to me by a friend...or 'borrowed' *coughstolencough*...whichever...)
The increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy by Douglas Adams
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Blindness by Jose Saramago (Warning on this one though...read with caution)

as well as a ton more I can't write out in full but will gladly name if requested to.

Oh yes, Mists of Avalon is something wonderful!!! (that's still in progress but i'm alreafy on page 626...)
AND Eddings... *nods* In my top three. :D
Katharine Kerr's books are also good. ^^

.. Now, I might add to my list there somewhere also I have read books from Douglas Adams... And Philip Pullmans Golden compass and the two others and theNarnia series. :)

i love Narnia! and Terry Brooks, (i've only read his Shannara books, but i want to read his others). i also like T.A. Baron, and Stephen Lawhead. And of course, LotR, Silmarillion, Hobbit, etc... i wanted to read the Mists of Avalon, but i can't find it at my library :( and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is v.v. good too. oh, and some of the Star Wars books are ok, too....

I would recommend anything written by Frank Herbert, who is best known for his 'Dune' books. In all of his works FH tries to make a point, using the story as a vehicle (unlike some authors who put the story first then decorate it with some 'big' idea). He runs a *little* deep, and so you will need to use your noggin a little. Also, his stories don't end up with everything back in place and happy (i.e. Asimov), as like in the real world things change and there are always consequences (mostly unforeseen and unintended).

Note that the books written by his son, Brian Herbert, are garbage and demonstrate that talent isn't always inherited.

Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are long time favorites.

Not really big on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and I cringe :mad: anytime someone compares WoT to LOTR. Please!

Robert E. Howard's "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" was a good light read.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman grapic novels are different but thought provoking.

D'Aulaires "Book of Greek Myths" is great, and can't wait to start sharing it with my kids as I remember reading it as a child.

D'Aulaires "Book of Greek Myths"!

Forgot about that...I've been reading for longer than I can remember...and still read it regularly, so much so that it can only be handled carefully...Thanks for reminding me of it...except now I can't do anything else until I go read it again...*meanders off to find the book and whittle away the hours in wonderful, colourful Greek Myth*

Oh, yes, Dune was amazing. It's not only a great story, but it's beautifully written, very quotable. When I read it I had a pencil in hand most of the time, bracketing off passages I liked. Hopefully I'll get around to reading the next two in the series soon -- I've heard that the first three are the best.

The first three are indeed great. Four is okay, and five and six start to drop off a little as some stuff gets rehashed.

If you like Frank Herbert's style, then I would suggest the following:

The Dosadi Experiment - a psychological experiment gone very awry.
The White Plague - a new world emerges when a man-made biological kills all women.
Eye - a collection of thought-provoking short stories.

I've found that the 'wisdom' espouced by the characters within the books to be applicable to today's world/life.

Cool!

Remember reading it ages ago and so tracked it down and purchased it. It was just as good as I remember it being, and again, I can now start sharing the same with the kids.

Thanks for the suggestions, alatar! *scribbles down names*

I'm a Sandman fan too -- amazing art, storylines, everything, and plus I love Dave McKean.

I concur with the assessment of the Dune series, but all I can say is avoid the 'prequels' like the plague. The Butlerian Jihad is ok, Machine Crusade is lacking, the final book is a real let down, although one does discover the reason for the fude between Atradies and Harkonen :smokin:

Last night I was talking about how some lengthy serial fantasy works seem to decline in quality the longer they go on. Most of my favourites seem to be relatively restricted in length, and fairly self contained. I came to the conclusion that in many cases the writer has created an amazing world, but appears to have run out of stories, thus proving that the story is always the mainstay of any novel. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing Tolkien had written more about Middle Earth, but I'm glad he didn't pursue this to the extent that many writers today do. Wringing every last drop out of the secondary world you have created isn't always a good move for a writer.