Recommend me a great Fantasy/Sci-Fi series (of books)

[Perpetual Change]

Got a Kindle for Christmas and I'm raring to fill it up with some good light reading.

Stuff I've read and liked:
-China Meiville
-George RR Martin
-Frank Herbert
-JRR Tolkien (The Best Them)

I've also read other writers like Robert Heinlein, Robert Jordan, RA Salvatore, and so-on but I don't hold them in as high esteem as the above (Though China kinda sucks now, smh).

[BlobVanDam]

I suggest you change your thread to specify that you mean books. I was all ready to suggest some scifi TV shows.

[AcidLameLTE]

The Dark Tower series

[lonestar]

S.M. Stirling- The novels of the Change, awesome post apocalypse series.  Get the opening novel, Dies The Fire, it is so damn good.  About ten books follow it(he's still writing the series).

Orson Scott Card- The Homecoming series

And if you want some messed up modern fantasy, try these novels by Tim Powers, Last Call, Expiration Date, and Earthquake Weather

[yorost]

R Scott Bakker: The Prince of Nothing

Its dark, full of philosophical discourse, complex, and doesn't even try to be politically correct.  The world is cruel and morality is subjective based on beliefs.  The characters are flawed to a fault, have a hard time dealing with life, and 5 books in we still don't know if major characters are good, evil, or something else entirely.  The author is a failed PhD in philosophy who has a very strong dislike for genre bias displayed in academia.  His aim is nothing short of demonstrating popular genres can used for serious fiction.  He has absolutely topped Martin for me.

[bosk1]

Orson Scott Card- The Homecoming series

VERY good series (although, much like Battlestar Gallactica, once you figure out that the basic premise is basically Mormons in space, it's hard to tune that aspect out because you will see it pop up everywhere).  Pretty much anything Orson Scott Card writes is pure gold.  But even better than Homecoming, I would recommend:
-The Ender series -- probably the best sci-fi I've ever read.
-Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus -- perfect juxtaposition of historical fiction and sci-fi. 

Next favorite would probably be the Mordant's Need series by Donaldson.  Ignore the fact that the titles and the covers might lead one to believe that they are romance novels.  They aren't.  Interesting series in that there is basically only one predominant type of magic/mythology that is dealt with, and it otherwise could have been a very real life story of political intrigue in medieval Europe.  Donaldson's big series, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, is also pretty good, but it took me awhile to get into these.  I think I started and stopped reading the first book three times before plowing through it and realizing just how good it is.

Not sure how I went so long without even knowing this series existed, but I read Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber a few years ago, and found it thoroughly entertaining.

Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is some VERY good sci-fi of the "earth gets invaded by aliens and it is up to a few plucky humans to turn the tide against overwhelming odds" variety.  Overall, I'd pretty much consider Niven to be a genius in the sci-fi realm.  You pretty much can't go wrong with his stuff, even if some of it may seem a bit dated now.  He's just a fantastic story teller with a knack for explaining fairly complex scientific stuff in a way where the common reader can understand it and buy into it being real and serving as a basis for his stories.

[Dimitrius]

The Dark Tower series

[Ryzee]

The Dark Tower series

This and also the Song of Ice and Fire series.

[lonestar]

I'll second the Ender series and Pastwatch.  Though Pastwatch is not a series, it is an incredible book.

[yorost]

The Dark Tower series

This and also the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Did you read his list of what he already likes?

[Ryzee]

The Dark Tower series

This and also the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Did you read his list of what he already likes?

I thought I did, but apparently my mind did not process item #2, probably because it had already decided to recommend asoiaf no matter what     My bad.

[FiberglassMoon]

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

It's an excellent first person account of the main character's life.  A Song of Ice and Fire is definitely my favorite fantasy series, but The Kingkiller Chronicle is easily top 5.

[tjanuranus]

The Dark Tower series

[Genowyn]

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

Seriously.

Also if you're into Urban Fantasy at all check out Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series. He also has a regular fantasy series called Codex Alera.

[jingle.boy]

The Dark Tower series

Weighing in with my approval.

[blackngold29]

The Dark Tower is great. Also, it's a lot shorter but The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is my favorite book.

[GuineaPig]

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

This is the correct answer, and everyone else is misleading you.

[Nekov]

Ringworld series by Larry Niven.

The book of the New Sun series By Gene Wolfe

The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Wise and Tracy Hickman

The Dark Tower series

[tartarus250]

terry pratchett , david gemmell, raymond e fiest, ben bova are all a good read 

[wkiml]

The Books of Art  ..by Clive Barker  only 2 of the triology have been released...still waiting on the third

[AcidLameLTE]

david gemmell

I've only read his "Troy" series but that really good.

[Perpetual Change]

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

R Scott Bakker: The Darkness that Comes
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

The Christopher Columbus book by Orson Scott Card is next on my list. I did read, and enjoyed, Ender's Game, so it's only a matter of time.

[tartarus250]

david gemmell

I've only read his "Troy" series but that really good.

honestly you should check out the rest of his stuff it is great :-) also matthew reilly is a good read !!

[lonestar]

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

R Scott Bakker: The Darkness that Comes
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

The Christopher Columbus book by Orson Scott Card is next on my list. I did read, and enjoyed, Ender's Game, so it's only a matter of time.

Forever War is a great read, and you can never go wrong with Gaiman.  If you haven't yet, his American Gods is a must.  A review of Bakker would be more than welcome.

[Perpetual Change]

Will do. I noticed immediately that it had somewhat lower reviews that many other suggestions, but something about the plot just seemed like it was something I'd enjoy.

Also, so many people recommended Kingkiller. I'll go with that next, too.

[Dimitrius]

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

But did you read the rest of the series? Because "The Gunslinger" is probably the weakest of the Dark Tower books.

[yorost]

on Bakker.  I bought The Darkness That Comes Before for four friends a few years back.  Two of them loved it and continued on, while two of them told me they think Bakker is evil!   If you want discussion on his series, https://www.westeros.org/ is the best place I know of, albeit probably very spoilerish now.  A large portion of Bakker's fans seem to come from recommendations from fellow Song of Ice and Fire fans.  Bakker has even said something along the lines of he might not still be going if it weren't for ASoIaF fans pointing people to him.  I think this book took him about 20 years of writing, as a hobby that eventually sold and helped lead him to quitting his PhD.

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

But did you read the rest of the series? Because "The Gunslinger" is probably the weakest of the Dark Tower books.

What?  Gunslinger is one of the best in the series.  I love Dark Tower, but it really started to slide IMO.  The first three might actually be my favourites.

[axeman90210]

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

But did you read the rest of the series? Because "The Gunslinger" is probably the weakest of the Dark Tower books.

[Nekov]

What?  Gunslinger is one of the best in the series.  I love Dark Tower, but it really started to slide IMO.  The first three might actually be my favourites.

This. Except the 4th book is by far the best. After that it just goes down but it's still entertaining.

[Pyroph]

on Bakker.  I bought The Darkness That Comes Before for four friends a few years back.  Two of them loved it and continued on, while two of them told me they think Bakker is evil!   If you want discussion on his series, https://www.westeros.org/ is the best place I know of, albeit probably very spoilerish now.  A large portion of Bakker's fans seem to come from recommendations from fellow Song of Ice and Fire fans.  Bakker has even said something along the lines of he might not still be going if it weren't for ASoIaF fans pointing people to him.  I think this book took him about 20 years of writing, as a hobby that eventually sold and helped lead him to quitting his PhD.

Okay, I forgot to mention that I had read "The Gunslinger" before... Anyway, this is what I went with:

But did you read the rest of the series? Because "The Gunslinger" is probably the weakest of the Dark Tower books.

What?  Gunslinger is one of the best in the series.  I love Dark Tower, but it really started to slide IMO.  The first three might actually be my favourites.

Yeah, seriously. I'm almost done with the fourth, and while I loved the best parts of the Wastelands the most, The Gunslinger was the most consistent. Perfect length and not a lot of filler.

[Dimitrius]

I haven't finished The Dark Tower series yet, I'm currently in Wizard and Glass, but I've found every book after The Gunslinger more interesting. Not that The Gunslinger is bad, but I enjoyed The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands much, much more!

[yorost]

What?  Gunslinger is one of the best in the series.  I love Dark Tower, but it really started to slide IMO.  The first three might actually be my favourites.

This. Except the 4th book is by far the best. After that it just goes down but it's still entertaining.

I definitely don't dislike 4. ...but it was almost like a side story instead of book 4 of the series.  I felt the current katet's story, what little there was of it, was the first really bleh part of the series.

[Dimitrius]

What?  Gunslinger is one of the best in the series.  I love Dark Tower, but it really started to slide IMO.  The first three might actually be my favourites.

This. Except the 4th book is by far the best. After that it just goes down but it's still entertaining.

I definitely don't dislike 4. ...but it was almost like a side story instead of book 4 of the series.  I felt the current katet's story, what little there was of it, was the first really bleh part of the series.

Please, please, spoiler tag Wizard and Glass stuff, I'm in the second chapter of the book.

[yorost]

Sorry, that really shouldn't be too bad, at least.  I almost said more.

[Nekov]

I agree with it being kind of a side story but I think it helps to know the main character a lot better and it almost made me cry.

* Spoilers












When Roland gets on a fight with Mr. T is just awsome