Anonymous wrote:I just finished the Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty, which is a Middle Eastern/Islamic folktale take on the fantasy epic. Also fun is Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels, which are the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons.

LOVE the Daevabad Trilogy - truly epic.

The King's Peace and the King's Name by Jo Walton are more Arthurian than high fantasy, but they are great.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

I find Sanderson a mixed bag but he writes big fantasy books and he finishes series (unlike GRRM and Rothfuss).
I struggled to get the Priory of the Orange Tree but it is a large sweeping fantasy book.

Anonymous wrote:The Wheel of Time if you have the patience for it.

The Riya Chronicles for something a little less convoluted and drawn out.

I forgot to mention Raymond Feist's Midkemia series.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Wizards First Rule (and series) by Terry Goodkind

Just no. Those books get really weird and awful. The first is standard high fantasy, but the series descends into creepy BSDM with Ayn Rand screeds. The books are also poorly written.

At least one of the books is an homage to Atlas Shrugged. It's worth reading just for the entertainment value, assuming you aren't an objectivist. My biggest disappointment is the inconsistency of magic and how it's used.

The Wheel of Time if you have the patience for it.

The Riya Chronicles for something a little less convoluted and drawn out.

Anonymous wrote:The Wizards First Rule (and series) by Terry Goodkind

Just no. Those books get really weird and awful. The first is standard high fantasy, but the series descends into creepy BSDM with Ayn Rand screeds. The books are also poorly written.

The Wizards First Rule (and series) by Terry Goodkind

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved the GoT books and the LotR books when I read them, and with the new prequel TV shows for both of them, it's reminding me how enjoyable it was to read those series. I was thinking about rereading them but what I actually want is a series that is similar to one or both in style (epic fantasy).

Any suggestions? Also interested in stand alone books but would love something long and involved to sink my teeth into as the weather gets colder.

Guy Gavriel Kay's first trilogy is called the Fionvar Tapestry and it's very much in that style. Kay helped Christopher Tolkein assemble and edit the Silmarillion.

I was coming to recommend this. Liked his book Tigana.

Anonymous wrote:NK Jesimon

OP here and for some reason I could not get into these. I read the first one but it felt like a bit of a slog. I'll try again another time -- I was surprised because it came so highly recommended by people who tend to share my taste in books.

Same problem with the Three Body Problem (it's sci fi, not fantasy). It just took me longer to read than I expected it to. I do think both of these heat up at the end of the first book but for some reason it took me some time to key into them.

Lots of recommendations in this thread though, thank you! I'm taking a list to the bookstore this weekend so I can read the first page or two of a few of them and will buy whatever grabs me fastest.

Nerds of the highest order is a good one

The PP reminded me of how much I enjoyed the Paksenarrion books. I also enjoyed the first Robin Hobb series, The Farseer Trilogy. The rest of her series were not as good, and the later ones went downhill significantly unfortunately. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay is also one of my favorites.

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. It's multiple (three?) books but sometimes sold as a giant brick of a book. Farmgirl to hero arc.

I haven't read Moon's other high fantasy but I adore her Familias Regnant books.

NK Jesimon

My H was into the GoT books before the show, and LoTR before the movies. He loves Brandon Sanderson, and has been trying to get me to read the Mistborn series for years. Sanderson is a prolific writer who regularly updates his schedule (through blogs and videos online) to show what he is working on now and will be next...he won't write two books in a trilogy, then never get to the third one. He is my husband's favorite author in that he carves time out specifically for reading when a new book is out (and I know not to bother him at those times, lol).