Books

[kjn]

I'm interested in finding a fantasy book/series to read. I prefer traditional fantasy (in the lack of a better term - probably using the wrong one, though), like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, rather than Sci-Fi (though the only Sci-Fi thing I've read that I can remember is Neuromancer, which I didn't even finish).

Some recommendations:

The Chalion books by Lois Bujold, which are loosely connected but independent. Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt. Paladin is set a few years after Curse, uses some of the characters, and has some of the events in that book as backdrop, but otherwise they're all independent of each other. The world they're set in is though very much inspired by Spain during the reconquista (something that brings in a set of unfortunate implications in one case).

The Books of the Elements by David Drake, set in the city of Carce (very closely modelled on Rome and the Roman empire). His earlier long fantasy series, the Isles, was also well received, though I didn't find them that interesting myself.

Phoenix Rising by Ryk Spoor. This one is falls into the DnD mold of fantasy, complete with recognisable character classes for the characters, but it manages to be smart about it. (Disclosure: I acted as beta reader for the book.) Note that this is the first book in a series, and the second book is just being written.

Going back a bit, you can find some classics in the Earthsea books by Ursula K LeGuin, though opinions are pretty divided on how the books after the initial trilogy stands up. But the first three books are real classics in the field. I think you should be able to find them translated to Portuguese without much trouble, if you want to.

[Brian Shanahan]

Going back a bit, you can find some classics in the Earthsea books by Ursula K LeGuin, though opinions are pretty divided on how the books after the initial trilogy stands up. But the first three books are real classics in the field. I think you should be able to find them translated to Portuguese without much trouble, if you want to.

Quite like the Earthsea books (have read the first four), but personally I think her two best works are The Left Hand of Darkness and The Lathe of Heaven, which I should reread.

[Jkaen]

Hmm, no one recommended the ones that started "it" all, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms?

If we are talking books that started it all, then Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books by Fritz Leiber aren't bad

[kjn]

Hmm, no one recommended the ones that started "it" all, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms?

If we are talking books that started it all, then Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books by Fritz Leiber aren't bad

Fritz Leiber wrote in an already established tradition of sword and sorcery. The most famous early example is of course Conan by RE Howard, but Howard's other stories are still reasonably readable still. Another early still readable example is Jirel of Joiry by CL Moore, perhaps the earliest example of a sword and sorcery heroine. Of course, Howard didn't write in a vacuum - one can probably point out ER Burroughs as an even earlier writer, with the John Carter and the Tarzan books as primary examples.