Need a good fantasy book

I love the Lord Of The Rings books. And I generally like fanatsy stories. The problem for me is, that there I am unable to find a fantasy book thats well written. I guess good writers tend to write something other than fantasy.

So, can you guys recommend something? Something I have tried for example  is the "Wheel Of Time" series by Robert Jordan. It seemed interesting at first, but soon got very disappointing, because of poor writing (weak one dimensional characters, deus ex machinas, repetitiveness).

What books did you enjoy?

Check out anything by Terry  Brooks:

Sword of Shannara
Elfstones of Shannara
Wishsong of Shannara

There are a lot of others by Brooks but those are the original 3.

Also, David Eddings The Belgariad series.

I recommend Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series, if you like fantasy with a sting of humour in it, that is. Warhammer series of books is also pretty interesting, not particularly well written (depends heavily on the fact who is the author) but digestible, and easy to read. Other than that, (and LoTR) I don't usually read fantasy, so not much help from me.

I think my problem might be that I´m not looking for something "gripping" as they say, but rather something laid back and relaxed. You know, a book that takes the time to simply explore a world or a village or whatever without having to advance the plot with every sentence.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones is the first book.

Best series I've ever read.

Warning: Don't read the series too fast or you'll end up in a torturous wait for the next book that is 10 times worse and 10 times longer than waiting for the next season of Lost.

I don't read that much fantasy but Tad Williams has written a few good ones.  If you're not looking for traditional fantasy his Otherland series is amazing also.  You could also check out the Thomas Covenant books by Stephen R. Donaldson.  Not exactly typical fantasy either.

Has Nick Perumov been translated into english yet. His books are very good.....

definately terry pratchett, that's laid back for sure, lots of humour. 

if you want some more serious stuff, try r a salvatore's books, like the icewind dale trilogy, the dark elf trilogy, there's lots of trilogies. or maybe the deed of paksenarrion by elizabeth moon, very good books. 

Another vote for Terry Pratcett....... a very funny read.

Terry Brooks is a kind of a plagiat, when you read it you realize that a lot of things were borrowed from LOTR.
As for me I love David Gemmell and Weis & Hickman.

Soulforged

if you want some more serious stuff, try r a salvatore's books, like the icewind dale trilogy, the dark elf trilogy, there's lots of trilogies.

I second this.  RA Salvatore is a fantastic writer.  Can't put his books down.

The Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan.

A very good read, the final 3 books are being written by someone else due to Jordan's tragic passing but the story arc and ending are still from notes by Jordan left before his death.

Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Absolutely spellbinding

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I just finished the first one and I found it absolutely riveting. It's one of the more well-written books I've read, too, and it's very fleshed-out.

The keyboard wizard


Terry Brooks is a kind of a plagiat, when you read it you realize that a lot of things were borrowed from LOTR.
As for me I love David Gemmell and Weis & Hickman.

True about Brooks, but I enjoy the series anyway.  The first book is heavily influenced by Tolkein but he found his own voice the more books he wrote.

Definitley George RR Martin. Super gritty high fantasy.

Another great author is Janny Wurts.

Anything by
Morgan Llywelyn
major goodness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Llewellyn

George R. R. Martin is definitely my fantasy author, as others have said here.  Another great reading experience, which I just mentioned in another thread today, is The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkind.  (starts with Wizard's first rule)  Not as masterful a work as Martin's, but you'll learn all about Objectivism along the way.  

Can't believe no one has beaten me to recommending Magician by Raymond E Feist. Very easy to read and one of the best fantasy books ever written.

Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series is fantastic. I'd also highly recommend Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of Ages series. If you're looking for some stuff with a slightly more humorous bent, plenty of people have recommended Terry Pratchett, so I'll skip him and cast a vote for Robert Asprin's Myth series, as well as Piers Anthony's Xanth novels (the first nine, anyway...after that, the series becomes essentially a series of novels written largely to appease a fanbase that keeps him in the money while he writes his more interesting stuff). I'll second the nomination of Raymond Feist's Magician (as well as the rest of the Riftwar novels...great stuff there). Also, it's worth checking out The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King.

And I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in not liking Robert Jordan. Heresy, I know, but I can't fucking stand the guy, for all the reasons the OP mentioned.

Hope that helps.

Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series is my favourite of all. Can't believe no-one has mentioned Steven Eriksen's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Epic, well-written stuff that doesn't just rip off Tolkien.
Never enjoyed Feist or Brooks. Far too twee for me. The heroes are in trouble so the all-powerful wizard does some magic and saves everyone! I prefer some vulnerability in my heroes. Eriksen is not afraid to kill his main characters off.

Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber.  10 books, all extremely good.

I have always really enjoyed The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.  Many of her books tend to be hit-or-miss with me, but it is truly a standout novel from her and is beautifully written to boot.  It has a prequel of sorts called The Blue Sword which I have unfortunately not read, but hear is also quite good.

Others have mentioned Pratchett's Discworld, Asprin's Myth books (HILARIOUS), Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony, which I can also highly recommend.  I also enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness books, although I would term them 'chick' fantasy and understand if that doesn't quite satisfy the male palette that dominates here at MP.com.

Some people that enjoy LoTR also enjoy the Narnia books, although I can't speak for everyone--they have a very different flavor but are enchanting reads if you don't mind the overt Christian allegory.  The standout and most popular low fantasy that I can think of is the Harry Potter books, which some people love and others don't.  I would definitely encourage trying them out, though, if you haven't yet.

Exploder


A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones is the first book.

Best series I've ever read.

Warning: Don't read the series too fast or you'll end up in a torturous wait for the next book that is 10 times worse and 10 times longer than waiting for the next season of Lost.

This.  Best series I have ever read.  I'm a massive LOTR fan and the writing, story, everything in this series is better IMO. It's not cheesy like a lot of fantasy books - it's adult orientated, gritty, brutal and spellbinding.

The Brooks, Eddings, Salvatore etc. are all good recommendations.  Having read Salvatore and Feist AFTER I read A Song Of Ice And Fire, I was disappointed.  Not because Salvatore and Feist aren't good, they are great, even amazing, and had I read them before A Song Of Ice And Fire, I would probably be recommending them to you.  However, after reading George R R Martin, that wasn't the case.  He just is THAT good and if you get the first book "A Game Of Thrones", you really won't regret it. Martin has almost (but not quite) ruined the fantasy genre for me because nothing can be as good (IMO).

Also, Martin's series is being turned into an HBO series (well, they are currently filming the pilot episode) and Martin is on board with the project and is contributing with some of the writing and creative process too.  Sean Bean is playing the main character.

I honestly cannot praise the book highly enough and hope that whatever choice you make as your next series, you will at SOME point read A Song Of Ice And Fire.

Barge


Can't believe no one has beaten me to recommending Magician by Raymond E Feist. Very easy to read and one of the best fantasy books ever written.

A HUGE + 1

The first book I ever read for pleasure (back when I was 12) was Magician.  Within a few months, I'd read every single one of Raymond E Feist's books and he remains one of my all time favourite authors.

Another great fantasy series that deserves a mention is The Dragonlance Chronicles.  Fantastic series, I've only read the novels that Weis and Hickman collaborated on, though (the original 3 books and the War of the Souls) but I loved every one of them.

locriation

...as well as Piers Anthony's Xanth novels.... 

I was coming in to suggest the Xanth books. They're really quick reads, very entertaining and while it's not mindless entertainment, you don't really need to keep track of too much "stuff" in order to get what's gong on.

If you are allergic to bad puns though, I'd steer clear.

KirksNoseHair


Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Absolutely spellbinding

+1

Or, any of the old Conan or Dragonlance books.

Stephen King - The Dark Tower

Seven books of awesomeness, with surprises and weirdness at every turn.

THE ONLY BOOKS THAT EVER MATTERED. THE FUCKING DARK TOWER!

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.  Just awesome and gets very darker and more brutal with every book.

The Sword of Truth series is good.  I'm reading the 3rd book right now.  Also The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

The Song of Albion trilogy by Stephen Lawhead is awesome too.

The problem with most fantasy authors today is that they don't know how to finish a story. they become so long that it loses its appeal after a while...

Brian Ruckley's Godless Word trilogy is not like this. It is a gritty, political, multi-layered fantasy like George RR Martin...not much magic and faeries here...but he actually manages to tell an entire gripping story in only three books!!! who would've known this was possible among contemporary fantasy writers. Lots of action, multi-character perspectives (don't get too attached) in an arctic tundra type of setting...

Winterbirth
Bloodheir
Fall of Thanes

DebraKadabra


Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber.  10 books, all extremely good.

This, not to mention his other fantasy novels like The Changing Land and A Night in Lonesome October.

I recommend Legends and probably Legends II (I haven't read it yet).  They're collections of novellas by almost all the authors mentioned so far, plus a few, all set in the worlds they're famous for.  After reading Legends, I've decided I'm not interested in several series, that I am interested in others, and that I'm interested in at least one author, but not his series.  Oddly enough, I'd already read the stories by Stephan King and Ursula K. Leguin, so I skipped those.

Stimuli

The problem with most fantasy authors today is that they don't know how to finish a story. they become so long that it loses its appeal after a while...

This.  It's why I have mostly given up on GRRM....To split a massive book into 2 books 3 years ago and still not have released the 2nd of those books is ridiculous....Too much time spent on football and ancillary projects while his main series just languishes on the typewriter...

I highly reccommend Patrick Rothfuss' "The name of the wind"....Very lyrical read...And Joe Abercrombie's series was good.

So, for anyone interested: I read "The Name Of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss first and I can only recommend it to anyone, fantasy lover or no. This is a magnificent book, very well written and full of delightful ideas, thoughts and images. For example the part about the four doors of the mind, that the mind can go through in a time of pain: Sleep, Forgetting, Insanity and Death. I love this book passionately, I currently consider it one of my favourite (if not the favourite) books.

After that I read the first two books of the Demon War Series by Peter V Brett. It is also very enjoyable. The Demon War Series has above all great characters that you care for and has some really satisfying scenes of human conflicts.

Next up is Joe Abercrombie´s First Law series. I hope I´ll like it. Haven´t had enough of fantasy so far, but it´s always difficult for me to choose what to read next. There´s too much trash out there.

Oh, if any of you like something more real with only a little bit of fantastic elements, I can recommend Carlos Ruiz Zafon. He writes beautifully, it´s really a pleasure to take in his use of language.

Any series by David Eddings:
 
Belgariad
Elinium
Mallorean
Tamuli
Dreamers

Check out some of Gene Wolfe.  I'm not familiar with his entire output, but The Knight and The Wizard (in that order) are a great place to start.  Then move on to the Book of the New Sun.  Very literary writing.

Also, Steven Brust has some extremely well written, fun books - The Khaavren Romances.

Yeast Lords!

...but seriously,

Naigewron

Stephen King - The Dark Tower
Seven books of awesomeness, with surprises and weirdness at every turn.

to Naigewron you listen.