Great Fantasy Authors

[indiscriminate_hater]

Who are some of the outstanding fantasy authors out there? My current favorites are George RRM, Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss. I'm interested in finding some of the lesser-known authors that still kick ass. Any recommendations?

[Byel]

Robert Jordan. Definitely not lesser known but best to do it. Wheel of time is amazing

[indiscriminate_hater]

Robert Jordan. Definitely not lesser known but best to do it. Wheel of time is amazing

Started reading the series this year, finished book two last month. I'm trying to read 2 other books in between each Wheel of Time book, so I don't get sick of the series. Pretty good so far.

[Knuckle]

R.A. Salvatore. Start with Homeland.

[loramin]

Weis and Hickman (Dragonlance (http://www.amazon.com/Dragonlance-Chronicles-Trilogy-Gift-Set/dp/0786926813)).

It might be D&D branded fantasy fiction, but it's really really good D&D branded fantasy fiction

[Arcinsane]

David Gemmell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_%28Gemmell_novel%29

Legend is a good book. I have not read his stuff in awhile, will have to go back to it.

[Swish]

I pick the writers with the most ridiculous names... my favourite is Colin Iggulgulgulden (say it in a Popeye voice)

[Zadrian]

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance series)

[Zade]

Patrick Rothfuss, the Kingkiller Chronicles


amazing


edit

My fav author is r.a. salvatore, but i would start with the dark elf trilogy and go thru all the drizzt series, if you have not


second edit --

didnt see you listed patrick rothfuss in your title BUT THUG LIFE ITS STAYING

[maskedmelon]

J.V. Jones' Sword of Shadows series. Right up there with Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan in my opinion.

David Eddings is a fun read too similar in style to Salvatore/Brooks.

[Dirkus]

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is my favorite.

[Millburn]

Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody trilogy is one of my favorite series of books ever written. Really incredible fantasy writing if you've never read it.

[Tulnavara]

Have only read the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks but it was pretty good.

[citizen1080]

Raymond E Feist - Riftwar series is fantastic all 22 some books

Brandon Sanderson - Read everything he has put out, great stuff

George RR Martin - Obv

Steven King - wut? I don't like anything he has written except his Dark Tower series. And it may well be the best story I have ever read.

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series is great, don't judge it by the shittastic tv series that was VERY loosely based on it (used same names and world, that's about it)

Jim Butcher - Dresden files are fucking fantastic, read them all 2 or 3 times. Also his Codex of Aleria is great.

Patrick Rothfuss - King Killer books

Lots more...too lazy to look at my library tho =p

[Sirken]

Steven Brust. i love his "Vlad Taltos" series as well as the "To Reign in Hell" book

[indiscriminate_hater]

Have definitely read all of Salvatore's Drizzt stories, minus the most recent trilogy. The Cleric Quintet is pretty awesome, too. Anything written in Faerun is entertaining - war of the spider queen, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions. I remember my first fantasy book - The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. Pretty cheesy by today's standards (hell even the standards when it was written) but damn if it didn't spawn a good habit.

[Dalven]

A second for J.V Jones here. Also check out Robin Hobb and Joe Abercrombie. Terry Pratchett if parodies/satire is your thing. I used to recommend Steven Erikson but he fucks up his timeline so bad by book 8 it ruins it and half the storylines are finished by another authors 5 book series, if at all. It's a shame because the first 5 are top drawer fantasy.

[Grizzled]

Pierce Anthony

http://www.hipiers.com/bibliography.html

Not a pure fantasy author. the Xanth series is fantasy, I didnt really get into it that much.

But the "Incarnations of Immortality" series is the cats meow. People assume the aspects of death, fate time,war, etc. its modern setting with fantasy/scifi twist.

Not to be outdone by "Dragons Gold" series. Modern guy find way into a fantasy dimension. As the story develops the worlds collide even further. Very good series if you are into scifi/fantasy.

Me personally never enjoyed pure fantasy for reading. For me its too much in a box. I guess id rather game it than read it. Twisting into the scifi/modern realm are awesome reads for me.

[xKoopa]

Who are some of the outstanding fantasy authors out there? My current favorites are George RRM, Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss. I'm interested in finding some of the lesser-known authors that still kick ass. Any recommendations?

brandon sanderson is by far the best fantasy author out, and probly one of the GOATs. comes out with tons of original stories at a ridiculous pace, and his cosmere will probably be the best fantasy series ever written. i think hes averaging about a year per book on the stormlight archive, along with mistborn novels and the reckoners series, as well as various novellas.

name of the wind is a pretty solid series, but patrick rothfuss hasnt really come out with anything else afaik. hes also taking quite some time with book 3. i think estimated release date is mid 2016 or something like that

ASOIAF is obviously good, although im not a fan of his writing pace.. dude writes like a snail

[Patriam1066]

Steven King - wut? I don't like anything he has written except his Dark Tower series. And it may well be the best story I have ever read.

Nice, a Dark Tower fan. Definitely have to agree with this one. They're amazing novels.

[Manticmuse]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Spin%281stEd%29.jpg

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

[Peekae]

Steven Erikson's Malazan series is pretty damn good.

first book is good but picks up more steam through the 2nd / 3rd

[Buellen]

As Lord bob said Raymond Feist magician series plus all the rest that followed.

Edit: found the book series by Piers anthony: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice_Adept

Phillip Jose farmer has a lot of excellent books

Last i highly recommend the dragon riders of pern. I was 13, 14 year 1979, 1980 when i started reading The white dragon I had read the books out of order due to no knowing better. I was blown away with the imagery of human and dragons fighting the thread menace. Later a lot different books cam based around perm and the societies their.

[srgraham69]

This is a pretty legit list I saved a while back.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1ynqcm/the_top_rfantasy_novels_of_all_time_results_thread/

[citizen1080]

As Lord bob said Raymond Feist magician series plus all the rest that followed.

Can remember the author name but books take place in future times rich people living on planet /moons in domes have serfs /slaves serve their whims. the serf/slaves can compete anualy in games to become citizen (rich people). One such slave /serf discover alternate dimension where everyone on the sic fi side has equal on the fantasy dimension. He has a unicorn fall in love with him and he make magic with music in the fantasy dimension.

Phillip Jose Pharmer (sp?) has a lot of excellent books

Last i highly recommend the dragon riders of pern. I was 13, 14 year 1979, 1980 when i started reading The white dragon I had read the books out of order due to no knowing better. I was blown away with the imagery of human and dragons fighting the thread menace. Later a lot different books cam based around perm and the societies their.

Forgot all about the Pern books. Great stuff

[citizen1080]

This is a pretty legit list I saved a while back.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1ynqcm/the_top_rfantasy_novels_of_all_time_results_thread/

That's a good list, i've read about half the series they listed there...and I can't say i agree with some of their rankings...but i'll be checking this before i pick my next series to read. Thanks!

[Buellen]

OH man totally forgot .

Guardians of the flam series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Flame

[Realanlon]

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is my favorite.

Just about through the third book. A little light, but enjoyable all around. :)

[Realanlon]

Heroes Die by Matthew Stover is possibly my favorite book of all time. Really interesting premise (the characters are "actors" sent to a parallel fantasy dimension to live out adventures that are recorded and experienced first-hand by those in the "real world"), brutal, gritty, full of action.

Hugely recommend The Acts of Caine series to anyone who loves dark fantasy.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/53770-the-acts-of-caine

[citizen1080]

Heroes Die by Matthew Stover is possibly my favorite book of all time. Really interesting premise (the characters are "actors" sent to a parallel fantasy dimension to live out adventures that are recorded and experienced first-hand by those in the "real world"), brutal, gritty, full of action.

Hugely recommend The Acts of Caine series to anyone who loves dark fantasy.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/53770-the-acts-of-caine

Read the first book like 10 years ago once...loved it...lost it...and never could remember the book name or author. You rock sir...downloading these now.

[citizen1080]

Heroes Die by Matthew Stover is possibly my favorite book of all time. Really interesting premise (the characters are "actors" sent to a parallel fantasy dimension to live out adventures that are recorded and experienced first-hand by those in the "real world"), brutal, gritty, full of action.

Hugely recommend The Acts of Caine series to anyone who loves dark fantasy.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/53770-the-acts-of-caine

100+ pages in already...<3

[Realanlon]

100+ pages in already...<3

Nice man! Thinking of rereading these (again) too.

[Madbad]

Gotta second Sirken with the Stephen Brust recommendation, the first book in the "Taltos" Series is called "Jhereg" and reads like a fantasy Godfather. Super fun read but kinda short.

You may laugh, but I recommend Stephen King's "Eyes of the Dragon," it's a pretty cool dark fantasy (I know Stephen King isn't lesser known but this fantasy book is tragically underrated.)

[xKoopa]

Nice man! Thinking of rereading these (again) too.

Started the second book of this series yesterday

Pretty interesting, but the writing in some parts is pretty bad lol

Or maybe im just spoiled by sanderson

[Mandalore93]

Sanderson writes very typical high fantasy in my opinion. Good world building but the characters are so, so, soooo flat. Then again grrm really ruined most of high fantasy for me. Couldn't even get through my old favorite Drizzt series after asoiaf

[Poetic]

Brent Weeks - Night Angel Trilogy is really awesome. I've read all of Brandon Sanderson, Rothfuss, Peter Brett, R Jordans books + a ton more.

Some other great Fantasy Books I would recommend are:
Mark Lawrence - (Thorns Trilogy)
Hugh Howey - Wool Omnibus
Robin Hobb - Farseer Trilogy

[xKoopa]

Sanderson writes very typical high fantasy in my opinion. Good world building but the characters are so, so, soooo flat. Then again grrm really ruined most of high fantasy for me. Couldn't even get through my old favorite Drizzt series after asoiaf

it is somewhat typical, but he does it in such spectacular fashion. its an over saturated genre but he remains original with his magic systems and world building. i also like most of his characters so /shrug kaladin is my dude

[Remeygi]

Gotta toss in some classics:

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Earthsea Trilogy
Michael Moorcock: the 'Elric' sequence ande the 'Corum' series

[citizen1080]

it is somewhat typical, but he does it in such spectacular fashion. its an over saturated genre but he remains original with his magic systems and world building. i also like most of his characters so /shrug kaladin is my dude

Yea...Kaladin/Vin 2016


Sanderson and Butcher are prolly the authors i enjoy reading the most. The Dresden files are just fucking amazing...can't recommend highly enough. Will be 22~ when the series is done and i've read all the current books and the short stories 3 or 4 times now. Not really high fantasy but still top notch stuff.

[xKoopa]

Yea...Kaladin/Vin 2016


Sanderson and Butcher are prolly the authors i enjoy reading the most. The Dresden files are just fucking amazing...can't recommend highly enough. Will be 22~ when the series is done and i've read all the current books and the short stories 3 or 4 times now. Not really high fantasy but still top notch stuff.

ive been hearing about dresden files but never read it

might read just because of wheel of time length and could be a good timesink

[Pyrion]

Something is missing here:
Lord of the rings! Maybe it is too obvious. But its incredibly good (for all who only saw the movies, the original is very good too).

Raymond Feist is one of my all time best Fantasy authors. Why there is still no movie about the rift war is beyond me. It could be totally epic. And there is enough material for endless sequels.
Terry Prattchet. Funny, hilarious and very deep at the same time. Too bad he is dead now.

[Visual]

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1036469/images/o-FABIO-BIRTHDAY-facebook.jpg

[Lojik]

I used to recommend Steven Erikson but he fucks up his timeline so bad by book 8 it ruins it and half the storylines are finished by another authors 5 book series, if at all. It's a shame because the first 5 are top drawer fantasy.

Aw man, I hope I don't find this to be the case. I have a long commute and I've been burning through these as audiobooks, currently on book 6. I really wasn't a huge fan of the first book, but it picks up after that I think.

[Man0warr]

Didn't read all the replies but these are the best fantasy authors going right now and their series:

Brandon Sanderson: Elantris, Mistborn trilogy, The Stormlight Archive (easily the best ongoing series in Fantasy, could one day be considered better than Lord of the Rings/ASoIaF)

Patrick Rothfuss: Kingkiller Chronicles

Joe Abercrombie: First Law Trilogy

Scott Lynch: Gentleman Bastard series

Brent Weeks: Night Angel trilogy, Lightbringer series

Mark Lawrence: Broken Empire trilogy, Red Queen's War series

Brian McClellan: The Powder Mage trilogy

Peter V. Brett: Demon Cycle series

My favorite author, Robin Hobb (just started a new trilogy but she's been around awhile. She has some of the best fantasy series/characters of all time): Farseer trilogy, Tawny Man trilogy, Fitz and the Fool series.

[lecompte]

Brent Weeks - Night Angel Trilogy is really awesome. I've read all of Brandon Sanderson, Rothfuss, Peter Brett, R Jordans books + a ton more.

Some other great Fantasy Books I would recommend are:
Mark Lawrence - (Thorns Trilogy)
Hugh Howey - Wool Omnibus
Robin Hobb - Farseer Trilogy

BUMP for Brent Weeks, Night Angel Trilogy AND The Black Prism!!! Amazing books.

Peter V Brett is also amazing, his fourth book just came out last week.