My Top Ten Fantasy Series

I've just realised that I conveniently have ten Great fantasy series. The authors, and books, that I always have on my shelf, always buy if I don't have, and always read again and again. I just finished the second book by Patrick Rothfuss - I think he may be one of the best fantasy authors I have ever read, and if you recognise any of the names below, you'll know that is high praise. 


My top five and bottom five are approximately equal with each other, so the order is only approximate. Most of these are true Epic Fantasies, a few are slightly different. I'll have to write a bit more about them...

1. The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett 
• Over thirty books, see the full list of Pratchett's books
2. A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin
3. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1)
• The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2)
4. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams
• The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 1)
• The Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Book 2)
• To Green Angel Tower: Book Three of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
• To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 3)
5. The Deed of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon
6. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
7. Vlad Taltos series/books by Steven Brust
• The Book of Jhereg
• The Book of Taltos (Jhereg)
• The Book of Athyra (Jhereg)
8. The Curse of Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Curse of Chalion
• Paladin of Souls
• The Hallowed Hunt
9. The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
10. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Honourable Mentions: 

• A Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
• The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (mostly for the sake of Magician), 
• The various Valdemar books and sub-series by Mercedes Lackey
• The Hound and the Falcon by Judith Tarr
• The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
• The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper

George RR Martin - Master of Genres, Winner of Practically Everything

The Random Quote: If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look him into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. GEORGE RR MARTIN - A CLASH OF KINGS


Most people know GRRM for his Epic Fantasy-historical-warring kingdoms-politics-and-prophecy Saga A Song Of Ice and Fire.

Firstly, let me state that this is a brilliant series - it. is. EPIC, the politics are internecine and yet believable and trackable, the characters are... incredibly unique, even the switching viewpoints and internal voices are consistent. This is A Wheel of Time done properly.

Also, Tyrion Lannister (not Lancaster, however reminiscient of Richard III the story gets XD) is a clever, crazy little hunchback.... not hunchback, sorry, mixing fictions again, dwarf strongly dominated by his father and family who reminded me increasingly of Miles Vorkosigan. This bugged me all the way through the first book and made me laugh all the way through the second (...and then I suddenly became mature. Honest).

Also, very, very much worth picking up are his short stories - recently brought out for me to seize upon in a ravenous howling of delight - Dreamsongs. In this book (or books, if you buy the parts separately) is a collection of short stories - most of which have won awards - in practically every fantastical genre, from Horror to Science Fiction, Historical to Erotic, Urban to traditional Fantasy... Go. Read them. Buy them. Give them to your friends. There is something in there that EVERYONE will love.

George RR Martin Recommended Reading:

A Game of Thrones - First book in A Song of Ice and Fire

The first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones is a brilliant introduction to one of the most gripping fantasy sagas around. I would recommend this to any fantasy reader without shame.

Dreamsongs: the short stories of GRRM

Dreamsongs part one.
I'd recommend buying Parts Two and Three as well, but let's start small, shall we?
Not only is almost every story in this award winning, not only do they display mastery in several different genres - bound to appeal to everyone - but even the nonfiction is enthralling. GRRM has written a introductory narrative about his literary history and progress in writing and publishing, as well as the stories around the stories in each section.

Urban fantasy, Horror, medieval fantasy, science fiction, auto-biographical, philosophical, futuristic, historical, humourous, thoughtful and plain terrifying... Epic fantay is rarely possible within the short story medium - but here, George RR Martin has created it.

Image copyright to Flynn the Cat