The Best Epic Fantasy Novels and Series of All Time

[Shaina_2012]

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Bradinator1 wrote:

I'll agree with Paul on several of his picks:

Lord of the Rings- the Grand Poobah of all epic fantasy. You'd be hard pressed to find someone on this board that doesn't have a place in their heart for Frodo and his Crew.

Champion Eternal saga- Micheal Moorcock. I'm expanding Paul's pick to include Hawkmoon, Corum, and Erekose.

Black Company- Glen Cook

Fionvar Tapestry- Guy Kay

Chronicles of Amber- Roger Zelazny

Conan- Robert E. Howard

Deathstalker- Simon Green (a little sci-fi space opera for flavor)

Discworld- Terry Pratchett ( no need to be serious ALL the time, right?)

Dread Empire series- Glen Cook

Black Jewels trilogy- Anne Bishop

Brad

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Thank you soo much for including the Black Jewels Trilogy! it is epic! and a must read!

[check_raise]

Anytime I get between books I always go back to one.  It is a fun read.  It is not something to take seriously, but that is not what we are talking about.  What are the best of all time?  These are ones you keep going back to year after year.  The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings.

[DJCH]

This is a great thread and there are many books on here that i love.  There are also many that I haven't read and will have to pick up soon.  One trilogy that comes to mind that no one mentioned is "The Black Magician" by Trudi Canavan.  I enjoyed this one quite a bit and read it a couple of times in one month.

[largerthanlife]

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DJCH wrote:

This is a great thread and there are many books on here that i love.  There are also many that I haven't read and will have to pick up soon.  One trilogy that comes to mind that no one mentioned is "The Black Magician" by Trudi Canavan.  I enjoyed this one quite a bit and read it a couple of times in one month.

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I really like Canavan's Black Magician books as well.  I was a little sad that the next book was a prequal and didn't pick up after the last book in the triolgy.  However it was really interesting to read about what got the countries into the places they were. 

[tryplldeezay]

Sanderson did an incredible job on the first WoT book he did, I enjoyed it more than any of the others. To be fair a bunch of plot points are coming to fruition but he did an incredible job with the pace of the book 

[tryplldeezay]

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is by far one of the best, grittiest series I have ever read, and I have read most of them. At first I was pissed because Erickson kept killing off the characters I liked but hell with all the **bleep** those Marines go thru people sure as hell would be dropping like flies. One thing that always draws me deeper into a series is the promise of discovering all the knowledge the author hints at, the arcane mysteries they feed you piece by piece

[Astriya]

I would definitely refer them to specific authors that are considered fantastic fantasy/science fiction writers.  Some of my favorites are Gene Wolfe and his New Sun, Long Sun and Short Sun series, I am also partial to David Webber and the Honor series, can't go wrong with Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.  However, if they are fans of the Twilight series (I am not) they would probably feel more comfortable reading the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.  I found her books more digestible and entertaining than the Twilight saga.  My favorites when I was a kid were definitely the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan, the Dragonlance series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  

[Ghoste]

Not a huge fan of the Twilight series(read too much like a teen soap opera-too melodramatic) but There's some really good alternatives;

1. Cassandra Clare's mortal instruments series

2. Melissa de la Cruz's blue-blood series

Those are more teen geared but still pretty good without being so sappy, MY favorite books (so far) are Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series, The Inda books by Sherwood Smith, and the Alera books by Jim Butcher. Though none of which deal with the whole vamp theme.

[pagemaven]

Probably doesn't qualify as epic, but they are a series...Repairman Jack is my hero. I want to be him when I grow up.

[Talion]

Hoping to get some suggestions here. My son read the series by Brent Weeks about assassin's and enjoyed the them greatly and has asked if I knew about any other series that where like these. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you

[Cringeth3rd]

The Black Jewels Trilogy: #1

[kc5455]

The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbitt by J.R.R Tolkien 
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
The Deverry Series by Katherine Kerr
Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R R Martin
The Heritage Series by Chris Paolini

The People Stories by Zenna Henderson

[Ari_B]

Most everything I've read and loved is already listed.  Still, I would add The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. I like The Dresden Files but his second series blew me away and made me into a true Jim Butcher fan.

[Brekka]

New to the boards I have started browsing them as I am now the owner of a Nook and now MUST READ MORE BOOKS *sigh* 

#1 Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop without a doubt my favorite I read these a couple times a year

#2 Dragonriders Of Pern by Anne MCCaffery though the newer stuff has been disappointing 

#3 Fever series by Karen Moning though classified as romance it really isnt.

#4 The Dhampir series by the Hendee's

#5 Twilight 

#6 Harry Potter

I would like to add these in no particular order:

-The Talent series by Anne McCaffery not sure why with these are over looked they are great

-The Belladonna and Tir Alainn trilogy by Anne Bishop

-The Highlander Series by Karen Moning while these are romance *cringe* they have a lot of back story to go with the Fever series and are good reads too.  

-*EDIT* Also the Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor were an interesting read

[Lime-G]

The Gilded Chain (Tales of the King's Blades Series #1)

by

Dave Duncan

read it i've done all i can to get you to read a good book dont just stare at it GOOOO

[Fulkrum78]

Steven Erikson's Malazan books are superb.  First one in the series is a pain to get through ont he first reading though...

[MattFL]

Off the top of my head, in no particular order

George RR Martin - Song of Ice and Fire

Glenn Cook - The Black Company

Glenn Cook - Dread Empire

JRR Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

Steven Brust - Vlad Taltos Novels

Steven Brust - The Khaavren Romances

Steven R Donaldson - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever

[crazyminnie131]

I don't know if these would be considered fantasy, but here are some great books and series I love.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld(this one is more sci-fi)

The Alchemyst series by Michael Scott

The Host by Stephanie Meyer(I know, I know Meyer, but it's a good book. more sci-fi ish)

The Giver by Lois Lowry(this one's sci-fi too)

Okay, these are pretty much all sci-fi, but all very good.

[Ashenshugar]

my personal top three are as follows:

1- the midkemia series by raymond e feist

2- the deathstalker series by simon r green

3- the dragon lance series by weis & hickman

i realise that i'm not including some of the legendary series such as dune, lord of the rings, earthsea, sword of truth, etc. but these three aforementioned series hold a special place in my heart and in my imagination. they are the ones that got the ball rolling for me in the love of reading department. and i have re-read them many times over the years since.

[pagemaven]

Hi, Ashenshugar

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Ashenshugar wrote:

my personal top three are as follows:

1- the midkemia series by raymond e feist

2- the deathstalker series by simon r green

3- the dragon lance series by weis & hickman

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I'm also a Midkemia fan, and almost anything by Feist, but I'm curious as to your 'name" - anything to do with the hitman in "No Country for Old Men?" Not F/SF for sure, but really good stuff.