Looking for tips on fantasy books

[Hvitveis]

Does anyone have recs for fantasy books? And here's the snag: I'd like single titles, , or max three.. and if they have all been written already thats even better, as I am already resigned to wait for years for the third Patrick Rothfuss. Stuff I have read (and some reread and know by heart): All of Discworld (of course), LOTR (once or twice a year), The belgariad/mallorean by David Eddings, Some Robin Hobb, Stephen Donaldson, Bitterbynde triology by Cecilia Dark-Thornton, Salvatore, but I sort of lost my mojo some years past as to beginning something new. Browsing the shelves at bookstores is not doing anything as most is "The first of a new 12 book series" and seems to be centered around politics and assasins..I like the traveling quest story, and prefer my heroes/heroines to end up more or less alive at the end.

I did browse through the topics to see what I could find, but it is a bit overwhelming..

txs

[MongoGutman]

That's quite difficult - stand alone fantasy books are quite rare.

Of course Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter goes without saying...

The first three of Raymon Feist's Midkemia books: Magician, Silverthorn and Darkness at Sethanon make a trilogy called the Riftwar saga - yes, there are interminable sequals set in same land with many same characters, but the first 3 make a distinct - and quite excellent - story.

this is cut and paste from a toplist site:

"And this book is classic fantasy at its best! You're not getting anything new here (like the efforts of Steven Erickson, Susanna Clark, or Scott Bakker), but what Magician does, it does superbly well: the classic transformation tale of village boy to powerful magician. Yes, it's cliche. Yes, every author since the dawn of sword carrying barbarians and pointy-haired elves has used the village boy conceit. But despite this, Magician stands out above all the rest of the wannabies.

What hurls Magician above the rest of the pack is the really compelling plot and world, tons of action, and a cool butt kicking hero. The book is just so damn fun to read. So if classic fantasy is the apple of your eye, and you are weary of the gritty realism creeping into fantasy and long for some of the "good old stuff", then this book is your fix.

I have what I consider two "classic" fantasy tales on this list: Wheel of Time and Magician. If I had to pick between the two, Wheel of Time gets my vote for its sheer scope. But for those who still love those old fantasy conventions without the requisite reading of 10+ volumes, Magician is heartily recommended."

[Penfold]

Michael Moorcock's "Eternal Champion" series can generally be bought as omnibus editions and make for a good read. If you don't mind a series that has already been written, and might also be available in omnibus edition, then you can't go far wrong with Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and Grey Mouser" series either.

[deldaisy]

I used to collect collections of sci-fi. Short stories. There are collections of fantasy too but no idea as to titles right now.

Look it up at your local library.

Not all short story writers write novels; but alot do. So its a good intro into writers styles and who you might like.

[Tonyblack]

How about Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust'?

[pip]

Or Neil Gaimens Neverwhere.
Or American Gods.

Gegory Maguire Mirror Mirror
Ben Aaronovitchs books , The Rivers of London and Moon over Soho are fantastic but there is a third part to come .

[Hvitveis]

Thank you so much! I have checked them all out on google, and they are all going on to my wishlist (for when exams finish sometime in march) except Eternal Chamion that sounded a little bit too bloody and depressing for my taste. And I am not going near the Wheel of Times. (I began reading it, and I thought it was going to be hard to wrap it all up in book seven..halfway into the book I realized there was not going to be any wrapping up anytime soon, and that the rest of the story was not written yet..by the time nr 8 came out I had forgotten most of the previous seven, and the thought of reading them all, only to be left hanging (again) put me off completely..) I had read an Feist book many years ago, without being too enthusiastic about the story, (prince of blood or something like that) but I'll try the first three. I really liked Good Omens and The Graveyard Book, so I'll be happy to give mr. Gaiman some more of my money. ( I want to start on the Sandman books/comics as well)

Deldaisy: The main library here in zaragoza, when last I went had just a couple of shelves with books in english and the bookstores are not much better. And my local library in Norway is much the same, (only they have the good excuse of being a library for 15 000 people, not 800 000.)so I have given them up for this genre.

[pip]

Thank you so much! I have checked them all out on google, and they are all going on to my wishlist (for when exams finish sometime in march) except Eternal Chamion that sounded a little bit too bloody and depressing for my taste. And I am not going near the Wheel of Times. (I began reading it, and I thought it was going to be hard to wrap it all up in book seven..halfway into the book I realized there was not going to be any wrapping up anytime soon, and that the rest of the story was not written yet..by the time nr 8 came out I had forgotten most of the previous seven, and the thought of reading them all, only to be left hanging (again) put me off completely..) I had read an Feist book many years ago, without being too enthusiastic about the story, (prince of blood or something like that) but I'll try the first three. I really liked Good Omens and The Graveyard Book, so I'll be happy to give mr. Gaiman some more of my money. ( I want to start on the Sandman books/comics as well)

Deldaisy: The main library here in zaragoza, when last I went had just a couple of shelves with books in english and the bookstores are not much better. And my local library in Norway is much the same, (only they have the good excuse of being a library for 15 000 people, not 800 000.)so I have given them up for this genre.

Graveyard book was great . Try Gaimans short story books as well - Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things. Some absolute Gems in these and you can pick up an drop them at will

[Mycroft Vimes]

Might also want to give Tanith Lee a google/check.
Although a lot of her books are part of series,most are also perfectly good on their own.
I particularly liked the Tales of the Flat Earth,i even have used the nickname Chuz now and again...

You listed Stephen Donaldson,how about Peter F. Hamilton?
Also more series than stand-alone's though and i think the Commonwealth- and Confederation Universe series are his best.

[chris.ph]

simon r green, raymond e fiest, peter f hamilton these are all fine authors if you enjoyed david eddings you will definately enjoy raymond e fiest, try the early peter f hamilton the greg mandel books mindstar rising and nano flower, they are good fun. the neutronium alchemist is fantastic but quite long winded, simon r green wrote the deathstalker saga, but has also done the drood novels, tales from the darkside, the shadow fall books and the hawk and fisher books all are a really good fun easy read

[ghostsecurity28]

How about game of thrones = George R. R. Martin's [only at book 5] its quite like LOTR in someways me thinksys

[Hvitveis]

This is soo cool. None of my friends are into fantasy, and so I have never had anyone to talk genre books and geek out with
Thank you for more recs, thay are all jotted down on a List. RR Martin however, I'll give a try when he has finished. Maybe. I hate it when the author gets you invested in characters only to kill them off in horrible ways, but I could deal with that if I knew the whole story was told, and there is an ending..

[pip]

This is soo cool. None of my friends are into fantasy, and so I have never had anyone to talk genre books and geek out with
Thank you for more recs, thay are all jotted down on a List. RR Martin however, I'll give a try when he has finished. Maybe. I hate it when the author gets you invested in characters only to kill them off in horrible ways, but I could deal with that if I knew the whole story was told, and there is an ending..

George RR martin would never kill off any of his main characters at all . not a chance

[Hvitveis]

[MongoGutman]

The first Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy by Weis and Hickman works as a stand alone story. It's sort of tied in with TSR and D&D so the format and character types and so forth are very familiar - but they're not as mechanistic as that sounds; its a very enjoyable read. There are many sequel trilogies by various authors an of various quality but it's not necessary to read them.

Not strictly Fantasy but not really SF either, Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is a great book and seems to me to have been written as a stand alone and works as one - again many sequels but not necessary to read them, although if you get hooked you can call it quits at the end of the seventh book, All the Weyrs of Pern, which reaches a satisfactory conclusion - after that it just goes around in circles.

Most of L. E. Modesit's Recluse books can be read as stand alones - as far as I can work out they don't really share characters and are set in different time periods and can be read in any order. I particularly liked The Magic Engineer