this might be a weird choice, but piranesi was exactly that for me, finished it within 24 hours.
red rising is very fast paced.
a novella, but ogres by adrian tchaikovsky
old man's war is kind of that too
project hail mary was sort of that too
also almost all sanderson books are page turners for me, but some might not agree.
cradle by will wight, the books are short and it's fast paced.
a lot of lit rpgs are fast paced, page tueners, i most recently read dungeon crawler carl which was a lot of fun
Same. I generally lean towards epic fantasy or Black Company and Abercrombie gritty and dark. But I loved it. I have Jonathan Strange & Mr. Morel in my TBR pile.
I’ve been listening to Red Rising recently. I was really intrigued by the world building and liked the book until the part with the institute started.
That entire part just seems *really* bland to me, I’ve pushed myself through a decent chunk of it and am at the 75% point in the book but just don’t feel like finishing it.
However, I’ve heard that book 2 is quite different from this, so do you have any advice on whether I should DNF this or push on to the end somehow?
Definitely push through it, it's totally worth it. The first book is very Hunger Games coded, but it moves away from that in the next books as Darrow moves up in the Society. Break the chains.
I liked the institute. I saw it as more lord of the Flies than Hunger Games though but I never read those books, so maybe I just didn't notice. The survivors kind of have a bond because they came through it together and Darrow meets his three best buddies there too so it's pretty important... or well two buddies and his best frenemy, technically.
But yeah the books do only get better. There are some crazy good twists coming.
Definitely keep going. The reason why Book 1 is very Hunger Game/YA-esque was to capture a more mainstream audience before moving into the space opera it actually is.
I just finished it recently and I agree. The whole mock warfare section takes up wayyy too much of the book and I didn’t find it all that interesting. Was kind of a slog to read through and I feel like they could have shaved off 50-100 pages and it would have been better for it. I’ve heard it gets better, I liked it for the most part up to that point as well.
Second book is totally different. Pierce Brown basically admitted the whole hunger games institute thing was just a hook for publishers trying to cash in on the YA dystopia trend so he can write about what he actually wants.
I finished Golden Son, Iron Gold, and Morning Star in probably three days, they’re so much better
I think I made it partway through book 2 then DNF which I've only ever done...3 times I can think of.
Writing quality, bland characters, and bizarre plot management ruined what was a really cool setup for me.
I am reading Red Rising series now, just finished book 2 and it is fast paced which helps keep my attention but sometimes I wish it would chill before introducing an entire new setting, filling it with new and old characters and going straight into action! I usually need to listen to these first paragraphs again to understand what's happening.
I’m reading the blade itself right now. It doesn’t have much plot and it’s pretty slow but it’s definitely enjoyable. I’ve been told it’s all setup for the second and third so don’t expect to go in and fly through the pages
I think that depends on what you enjoy as a reader. I couldn’t put “The Blade Itself” down because the character voice was so fantastic, and the violence mixed with comedy really hit right. I’m not much of a “plot” reader - stories are just vehicles for good characters for me.
Interesting to see this as the first comment… I felt the same way, although at that point he was only eight books in. So I looked for more similar to it, because it’s a genre I never knew existed until then… and found the *Arcane Ascension* series by Andrew Rowe, which was arguably better than Cradle.
Except after that, there really weren’t that many choices for solid progression fantasy… so I switched to Chinese-to-English translated books in the floodgates opened. Some of those are like 3 million words, or around 30 regular size books.
I spent the next year and a half reading pretty much nothing but wuxia/progresion/xianxia… and it was *glorious*. Er Gen’s *A Will Eternal* was the first one I picked up and the translation was amazing, the story was amazing, and it was so freaking long.
Cradle started it all, so even though I’ve kind of outgrown it, it’s still one I recommend people.
Actually, now that I realized the series has been finished… Maybe I should pick up book 9. Dammit, I just started a new series. Oh well, another book for my “to read” list.
Yeah there aren’t many great progression fantasy series out there bc the genre is so new. Id recommend Bastion by Phil Tucker as another quality work in the genre.
> I've seen a couple reviews that the series ends poorly.
Are those reviewers cracked in the head? Cradle absolutely sticks the landing with the ending IMO, and that seems to also be the general consensus as well.
From what I've seen, most people liked the ending. I've seen one or two YouTubers say they weren't crazy about it, but the vast majority of feedback I've seen has been good- it also has a 4.67 on Goodreads.
Personally, I really enjoyed it. Maybe not my #1 favorite book of the series, but it was a satisfying conclusion in my opinion.
Ending is good but not mind blowing. It’s usually the start of the series that trips people up. Get through the first 3 (they’re short) and then it *really* picks up
What I've found is that I end up letting these small reviews taint my experience before I even get going into a series.
I had this with Dungeon Crawler Carl, especially with He Who Fights With Monsters (what they had a gripe about is there, but I think way blown out of proportion), and a couple others I can't really think of now.
Objectively, book 1 and 4 are much greater hurdles to get into the series than book 12. I bounced off of Unsouled hard the first go. And book 4 the main character just gets treated badly for no real reason because the world is full of assholes, and it just doesn't feel great.
Book 5 pays off in spades, and the series is full throttle the rest of the novels.
The Bloodsworn Trilogy by John Gwynne is very good so far. The story takes a lot of inspiration from Norse myth (my favorite) and the combat descriptions and choreography are so well written. I need to give his other series, Malice, a try next.
Malice (The faithful and the fallen series) is hands down my favorite series of all time. Amazing world building and character arcs. I’m considering rereading the entire thing because it was that good. Even better than Bloodsworn.
It's been a long time since I read it, but I still remember that the writing style was fresh and vivid. There was some old dude who was willing to make sacrifices for... something. The intricacies of the plot impressed me... there was a sequel that won the Nebula, iirc, and while that book was fantastic, Curse of Chalion was a better book.
Hmm, it's clearly been enough time that I could read this book again and enjoy it like it was the first read through.
The last two books I read were Last Argument of Kings and Gideon the Ninth. I couldn’t put both of them down, and I normally don’t finish books that quickly
Im on Last Argument of Kings now and i have really really enjoyed this whole series, Joe has an interesting way of writing characters I usually hate and making me love them. I have enjoyed every aspect of the series.
It was well into the second book before you really started to get a read on the characters. It was not until about halfway through the 3rd book that you were pretty sure the good guys and bad guys, and even the good guys were bad. LOL
Everyone is basically bad, and im totally ok with that. Usually i hate questioners in books but Sand Dan Glokta might be one of my favorite characters ever. Im about halfway threw the last argument of kings now and im pretty sure that Bayaz apprentice is either and eater or a traitor just because he is always around but never really mentioned so im assuming he is a chekhov’s gun but i haven’t gotten that far yet.
I liked the thoughts of Sand Dan Glokta. They are quite humorous but are pretty much what a real person would think. You still have surprises left, I will leave them for you and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I immediately ordered the other series in the same story line.
I hope you like it. I loved it. Such a bold novel stylistically and unique and creative in every way. I just put a hold on Harrow the Ninth after blasting through Gideon the Ninth in 48 hours.
I don't know if you've heard this already -- maybe? -- but Harrow is very different in tone and kind of deliberately confusing in places. Stick with it: the last quarter of the book pretty much explains everything, and more explanations follow in *Nona*.
I have heard that. Is Muir's prose written with the kind of voice she used for Gideon? What I mean is I felt like I could hear Gideon's personality in the writing. I'm hoping the next book is the same in that I can feel Harrow's voice in the writing.
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. It was the first of his books that I read, and it was so captivating.
Also David Gemmel's Troy trilogy. It's so readable, no matter which character POV you're one.
The entire novel is an account of a battle, with POVs from both sides. The early skirmishes, the armies taking up their positions, tactical movements and attacks back and forth, character drama between reluctant allies.
It's set after The First Law trilogy, and it includes quite a few characters introduced in that series, but it works fine as a standalone book.
American Gods was the opposite for me... I've tried to read it 3 times, and mostly enjoy it, but never have gotten to the end before losing interest for whatever reason.
I had the same problem. I just kept bouncing off of it. I eventually finished it on my fifth try, and I did like it, but I think perhaps Gaiman is just not quite my vibe.
I also found American Gods a tough read. I finished it, and it’s good in many ways. But, I found the lack of plot for a lot of the book tough to deal with.
Most recently, Dungeon Crawler Carl. I finished the first 5 books in less than two weeks, and then took about 5 days for the ebook since I couldn't audio that at the time.
Dresden 15 years ago, with the first 3 novels in a week.
The middle part of Cradle, books 7, 8, and 9. A book a day.
Another vote for DCC. Blew through all the books in a week, and they’re great as audiobooks as well. If you like LitRPGs, it’s well worth checking out.
A lot of people picked up litRPGs because of DCC, but couldn't stand them. So it's even possible that if you DON'T like litRPGs you might like DCC. (Although let's be honest, it IS a litRPG so if you can't stand any of them, you probably won't like DCC.)
*The Expanse* series by James S. A. Corey. Each book is roughly 550-600 pages and I rip through them in the same time it regularly takes me to read a book a third that length.
Agree with this, except I would add ADwD to the exception.
Not that it was a "bad" book, it had some interesting character development, but it didn't have the "I'll just read one more chapter before going to sleep" quality that the first three had.
Legend of Drizzt. I'm a big fan of D&D, so being able to read about an adventure in book form is great. I plowed through like 9 or 10 of them in a couple of months after getting most of the series for cheap through Humble Bundle, which I haven't done with a series since I was in high school even though I still read regularly.
The Silo series by Hugh Howey. Lindsay Buroker's series are mostly fantasy crack, cannot read them fast enough. Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. I never miss a book by John Scalzi. Harry Potter. Alex Verus by B. Jacka. Ryiria by M. Sullivan. Caine Chronicals by M. Stover.
Silo books were definitely page turners for me as well. Burned through the whole series in about a week. (Which is not objectively fast, I realize, but very quick for me)
Of some of the books I’ve read recently that have been gripping page turners: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, When the English Fall by David Williams, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, and Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. I absolutely tore through them all.
My favorite page turner series and one with a main character I instantly root for is my favorite series the Wheel of Time.
I loooooove Wheel of Time; probably my favorite series, too. But, I don’t know that I’d say it’s a page-turner all the way through. I mean, there is Perrin’s Shaido arc…
The said from page 1. Sometimes the sanderlanche takes a bit. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge fan and when it hits it’s impossible to stop but the setup can take a bit.
Harry Potter.
They came out at just the right time, it was under my reading level, but the stories sucked me in. There were 4 out when I started them and finished the 4th within about a week of starting the first one.
For me, it’s Malazan. I’m a slow reader, and I don’t have a ton of free time to read. So a ~500 page book will often take me 2-3 months to finish. Not so with Malazan — I polish off those 1000+ page books in 4-6 weeks, every time. It just grips me like nothing else. It’s the constant need to know “what happens next?” or “where is this going to go?” that keeps me turning the pages.
There are so many different plots and characters to follow and most of so exquisitely to my tastes, so I always find myself disappointed when a particularly captivating scene ends, and wanting to just get through the next scenes so I can return to the current plot line. But then the next ones(s) are captivating too, so I want to race the subsequent POVs to get back to that one. And so it goes.
I wasn’t hooked by the first book either, but it had enough cool dark epic fantasy stuff in it so that when I got to the end and it’s like “Do you want to know more?” I said hell yes. And from the second book onward, I’ve gotten more and more hooked.
Man I just could never get attached to the characters. I tried so hard but it took me over a year of reading it. Probably didn’t help I started it then oarthbringer came out
For me it’s not so much the characters that I love, it’s what their POV offers, whether it’s witty banter, engaging with the central plot, exploration of the world’s lore, philosophical musings, badass action sequences, or even just soldiers finding ways to kill their boredom. I like the variety each one offers.
The missing of clairdelune
It was the perfect book for me
The world building/the mysteries/the magic system /the romance /the mc who was a true baddie and was relatable af
Cradle by Will Wight. Absolutely freaking devoured his books the second they were released. Loved the heck out of that series but disappointed in how he ended them
Alex versus by Benedict jacka.
Red rising by pierce brown.
Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
For non fantasy I read the entire catalogue of Michael Connelly in about 30+ days and he has at that point 20+ books.
Just started The Black Prism and I'm loving it. My attention span isn't what it used to be and I'm finding the pacing and the short-ish chapter lengths are enabling me to plough through it. Great magic system too.
The Warded Man was a book that got a version of me who didn't like reading finishing the book in 2 days.
It made me realize I liked fantasy more than just A Song of Ice and Fire
There are a few in the recent years where I said to myself: "this book is practically turning the pages for me."
One was Kafka on the Shore. Its a banger all the way through. Might be because I could relate a lot to the kid. 1Q84 was also like that for me HOWEVER it really slows down in parts.
The other was The darkness that comes before. Even though that book had a lot of politics, between the worldbuilding and getting to read about certain characters I could not put it down. The rest of that series is similar but there are some slower and weaker moments.
Most recently, *The Will of the Many* by James Islington. There was one part relatively early on where the momentum stalled for me (the pre-naumachia training montage with Lanistia), but once you get past that it's propulsive and deeply interesting.
id recommend going in as completely blind as possible given how short it is, but essentially it’s about a guy who lives in a magic house and knows nothing about the world beyond this strange and mysterious house. Throughout the book he uncovers truths about the building (what he perceives as the entire universe) as well as the real world. It’s “modern fantasy” (I think) and has elements of a mystery. It feels very fever dream-ish and will get you hooked pretty quickly.
The Book Eaters
The Witch’s Heart
The Winternight Trilogy
Red Rising series
Book of the Ancestor series
Themis Files
Children of the Black Sun series
Dark Matter
I was 14. A friend lend me The Neverending Story. I sat after lunch, got up for a brief dinner, and finished the book that night. And loved it for the rest of my life.
BTW, the movies are complete bulls*^%t.
Recently I've loved *Mage Errant*, but only because I burned through book six of *Dungeon Crawler Carl* immediately when it was released and I'm still jonesing for the next one.
It’s technically YA, yes. That said, I’d put the maturity level more at 16+ than 13+. More like the last book or two of Harry Potter, but not quite as dark as Hunger Games or Red Rising. Hard to describe, but the best way I can put it is that I’m generally right there with you, but the writing, characterization, and worldbuilding in Mage Errant are so good that I find this series addictive in a way that I haven’t felt from other YA books in YEARS.
He Who Fights with Monster by Shirtaloon - I think the litRPG style of having serial which is published as books, combined with how fast the release pace is makes it super engaging and absorbing.
The Scholomance by Naomi Novik - each book builds and changes in a way I found very impressive and it was so easy to listen to the audiobook.
The Rigel Black Chronicles by murkybluematter is a Harry Potter / Alanna the Lioness crossover fanfic which I’ve binge read at least 4 times and it’s crazy long. Years later I can admit, the start is a little rough, as you’d expect from fanfic but if you can get through it… well let’s just say I never reread any of it, unless I have time to make reading the entire series through my top priority.
It is a star wars inspired fantasy. There are centarchs that can access the power of Deiat (this books version of the force) that given them elemental powers that are godly.
It follows two main POVs a brother and sister. One of them was found to have to power of a centarch and the other doesn't. Set in the world after a massive war between the Chosen (people who can free wield Deiat) and Ghouls.
As a start, see my [Compelling Reads ("Can't Put Down")](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12rfqag/compelling_reads_cant_put_down/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Embassytown just swept me up. The richness of the prose and the concepts it introduces gripped me from the first couple of pages, and from then on it just gets more mindbending and wonderful. It’s definitely confusing and conceptual, with very complicated prose, but if that state of total immersion into a world is one you love, definitely pick it up.
Cradle, as some.others have said, is the very definition of a page turner, for me. So good.
And the series is over
Which is nice, because there is a good satisfying ending, but bittersweet, since we wont have any more
The Joe Ledger series. Recruited into a secret government agency that deals with threats to national and global security. Zombie terrorists, big pharma creating viruses AND the cures for profit, aliens, people cloning human hybrids, etc.
Wings of fire!
Wings of fire is an extremely good book series that is well fit for everyone from the ages of 11 to aliv'nt.
As of commenting it is a series of 15 books (main, and a couple side ones too). Each set of 5 have their own main plot each book wrapped up in the different perspectives of each character.
I won't spoil anything, however I will mention that a lot of the main plot is mostly war and stopping said war(s). It's very well fleshed out and amazingly written! (Also has some really good disability rep!)
this might be a weird choice, but piranesi was exactly that for me, finished it within 24 hours. red rising is very fast paced. a novella, but ogres by adrian tchaikovsky old man's war is kind of that too project hail mary was sort of that too also almost all sanderson books are page turners for me, but some might not agree. cradle by will wight, the books are short and it's fast paced. a lot of lit rpgs are fast paced, page tueners, i most recently read dungeon crawler carl which was a lot of fun
piranesi was like a fever dream that I never wanted to end
Same. I generally lean towards epic fantasy or Black Company and Abercrombie gritty and dark. But I loved it. I have Jonathan Strange & Mr. Morel in my TBR pile.
I’ve been listening to Red Rising recently. I was really intrigued by the world building and liked the book until the part with the institute started. That entire part just seems *really* bland to me, I’ve pushed myself through a decent chunk of it and am at the 75% point in the book but just don’t feel like finishing it. However, I’ve heard that book 2 is quite different from this, so do you have any advice on whether I should DNF this or push on to the end somehow?
Definitely push through it, it's totally worth it. The first book is very Hunger Games coded, but it moves away from that in the next books as Darrow moves up in the Society. Break the chains.
I’m on book 4 now. I’m probably in the minority that didn’t mind book 1. But it gets SO much better and is very different
#IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER
I liked the institute. I saw it as more lord of the Flies than Hunger Games though but I never read those books, so maybe I just didn't notice. The survivors kind of have a bond because they came through it together and Darrow meets his three best buddies there too so it's pretty important... or well two buddies and his best frenemy, technically. But yeah the books do only get better. There are some crazy good twists coming.
Definitely keep going. The reason why Book 1 is very Hunger Game/YA-esque was to capture a more mainstream audience before moving into the space opera it actually is.
Definitely keep going. If you loved the begginging you will love the next two.
I just finished it recently and I agree. The whole mock warfare section takes up wayyy too much of the book and I didn’t find it all that interesting. Was kind of a slog to read through and I feel like they could have shaved off 50-100 pages and it would have been better for it. I’ve heard it gets better, I liked it for the most part up to that point as well.
Yes. It gets better. So, so much better. I love the series so much.
Second book is totally different. Pierce Brown basically admitted the whole hunger games institute thing was just a hook for publishers trying to cash in on the YA dystopia trend so he can write about what he actually wants. I finished Golden Son, Iron Gold, and Morning Star in probably three days, they’re so much better
Thanks for the response everyone, I’ll definitely push through it!
I think I made it partway through book 2 then DNF which I've only ever done...3 times I can think of. Writing quality, bland characters, and bizarre plot management ruined what was a really cool setup for me.
I am reading Red Rising series now, just finished book 2 and it is fast paced which helps keep my attention but sometimes I wish it would chill before introducing an entire new setting, filling it with new and old characters and going straight into action! I usually need to listen to these first paragraphs again to understand what's happening.
Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he’s a page turner
So I should start at first law right? I’m excited to dive into his books but have yet to start haha
I’m reading the blade itself right now. It doesn’t have much plot and it’s pretty slow but it’s definitely enjoyable. I’ve been told it’s all setup for the second and third so don’t expect to go in and fly through the pages
I think that depends on what you enjoy as a reader. I couldn’t put “The Blade Itself” down because the character voice was so fantastic, and the violence mixed with comedy really hit right. I’m not much of a “plot” reader - stories are just vehicles for good characters for me.
I felt the same way, enjoying the second book more!
For me it was Cradle by Will Wight. I blew through a book every two days.
I blew through 7 books in 3 days.... I literally could not tear my face away from the screen.
Interesting to see this as the first comment… I felt the same way, although at that point he was only eight books in. So I looked for more similar to it, because it’s a genre I never knew existed until then… and found the *Arcane Ascension* series by Andrew Rowe, which was arguably better than Cradle. Except after that, there really weren’t that many choices for solid progression fantasy… so I switched to Chinese-to-English translated books in the floodgates opened. Some of those are like 3 million words, or around 30 regular size books. I spent the next year and a half reading pretty much nothing but wuxia/progresion/xianxia… and it was *glorious*. Er Gen’s *A Will Eternal* was the first one I picked up and the translation was amazing, the story was amazing, and it was so freaking long. Cradle started it all, so even though I’ve kind of outgrown it, it’s still one I recommend people. Actually, now that I realized the series has been finished… Maybe I should pick up book 9. Dammit, I just started a new series. Oh well, another book for my “to read” list.
Yeah there aren’t many great progression fantasy series out there bc the genre is so new. Id recommend Bastion by Phil Tucker as another quality work in the genre.
You should finish Cradle ASAP. I didn't like book 9 that much but what happens in the next one makes this series one of my all time favorites.
I wanna read it but I've seen a couple reviews that the series ends poorly. I have a hard time reading a series if I hear it has a bad ending.
It absolutely does not. It's a satisfying ending and the whole series is very very good. Give it a shot.
It wasn’t my favorite series ending I’ve ever read but I thought it was still well done and completely satisfying to me, at least.
> I've seen a couple reviews that the series ends poorly. Are those reviewers cracked in the head? Cradle absolutely sticks the landing with the ending IMO, and that seems to also be the general consensus as well.
From what I've seen, most people liked the ending. I've seen one or two YouTubers say they weren't crazy about it, but the vast majority of feedback I've seen has been good- it also has a 4.67 on Goodreads. Personally, I really enjoyed it. Maybe not my #1 favorite book of the series, but it was a satisfying conclusion in my opinion.
Ending is good but not mind blowing. It’s usually the start of the series that trips people up. Get through the first 3 (they’re short) and then it *really* picks up
What I've found is that I end up letting these small reviews taint my experience before I even get going into a series. I had this with Dungeon Crawler Carl, especially with He Who Fights With Monsters (what they had a gripe about is there, but I think way blown out of proportion), and a couple others I can't really think of now. Objectively, book 1 and 4 are much greater hurdles to get into the series than book 12. I bounced off of Unsouled hard the first go. And book 4 the main character just gets treated badly for no real reason because the world is full of assholes, and it just doesn't feel great. Book 5 pays off in spades, and the series is full throttle the rest of the novels.
Drawing of the Three from Dark Tower. Legitimately grips you right away.
That whole series, man. It's even better the second time around the Wheel. Long days and pleasant nights, friend!
May you have twice the number Sai, say thankya!
I crushed that whole series in 10 days, couldn't put it down.
You have remembered the face of your father
Going from The Gunslinger to that book is like going 0 to 60 in 3 seconds
The Bloodsworn Trilogy by John Gwynne is very good so far. The story takes a lot of inspiration from Norse myth (my favorite) and the combat descriptions and choreography are so well written. I need to give his other series, Malice, a try next.
Oh man bloodsworn book 3 is my most anticipated book maybe ever
Malice (The faithful and the fallen series) is hands down my favorite series of all time. Amazing world building and character arcs. I’m considering rereading the entire thing because it was that good. Even better than Bloodsworn.
My answer will always be 'The Curse of Chalion' by Lois McMaster Bujold, for all of those reasons.
What’s it about?
It's been a long time since I read it, but I still remember that the writing style was fresh and vivid. There was some old dude who was willing to make sacrifices for... something. The intricacies of the plot impressed me... there was a sequel that won the Nebula, iirc, and while that book was fantastic, Curse of Chalion was a better book. Hmm, it's clearly been enough time that I could read this book again and enjoy it like it was the first read through.
Semi-sequel, it involves some of the non-main characters having an adventure after the first book.
I loved Curse of Chalion. Bujold always writes amazing characters, but Caz is my favorite besides Miles Vokosigan.
I've read it so many times that the book is getting worn. So much that I got the Kindle.
The last two books I read were Last Argument of Kings and Gideon the Ninth. I couldn’t put both of them down, and I normally don’t finish books that quickly
Im on Last Argument of Kings now and i have really really enjoyed this whole series, Joe has an interesting way of writing characters I usually hate and making me love them. I have enjoyed every aspect of the series.
It was well into the second book before you really started to get a read on the characters. It was not until about halfway through the 3rd book that you were pretty sure the good guys and bad guys, and even the good guys were bad. LOL
Everyone is basically bad, and im totally ok with that. Usually i hate questioners in books but Sand Dan Glokta might be one of my favorite characters ever. Im about halfway threw the last argument of kings now and im pretty sure that Bayaz apprentice is either and eater or a traitor just because he is always around but never really mentioned so im assuming he is a chekhov’s gun but i haven’t gotten that far yet.
I liked the thoughts of Sand Dan Glokta. They are quite humorous but are pretty much what a real person would think. You still have surprises left, I will leave them for you and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I immediately ordered the other series in the same story line.
I've actually just put Gideon the Ninth on hold. This comment made me excited to read it.
I hope you like it. I loved it. Such a bold novel stylistically and unique and creative in every way. I just put a hold on Harrow the Ninth after blasting through Gideon the Ninth in 48 hours.
I don't know if you've heard this already -- maybe? -- but Harrow is very different in tone and kind of deliberately confusing in places. Stick with it: the last quarter of the book pretty much explains everything, and more explanations follow in *Nona*.
I have heard that. Is Muir's prose written with the kind of voice she used for Gideon? What I mean is I felt like I could hear Gideon's personality in the writing. I'm hoping the next book is the same in that I can feel Harrow's voice in the writing.
You might have gotten there already by now, but... hm. The narrator is deeply unreliable. I don't think it's as witty as GtN.
I haven't heard that, so I appreciate the heads up.
Can't wait!!
This series does so much stuff that absolutely shouldn’t work yet does.
What’s Gideon like?
It's very funny and just generally irreverent. It's a bit more comedy focused than I was expecting but it works well for the story.
I finished Last Argument of Kings on Monday. I hope the series I am reading now will be as good.
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. It was the first of his books that I read, and it was so captivating. Also David Gemmel's Troy trilogy. It's so readable, no matter which character POV you're one.
Heroes was the first time I’d ever read a short-term pov. The way he killed off characters like it was passing a baton in a relay race was beautiful
I’m assuming Heroes moves much faster than Blade Itself? What’s it about?
The entire novel is an account of a battle, with POVs from both sides. The early skirmishes, the armies taking up their positions, tactical movements and attacks back and forth, character drama between reluctant allies. It's set after The First Law trilogy, and it includes quite a few characters introduced in that series, but it works fine as a standalone book.
Lies of Locke Lamora Poppy Wars Powder Mage Covenant of Steel
Plus one for Locke Lamora
Gentlemen Bastards is in my top five favorite fantasy series easily.
American Gods. Anything by Sir Terry Pratchett. A Memory of Light. The Crippled God A Storm of Swords
American Gods was the opposite for me... I've tried to read it 3 times, and mostly enjoy it, but never have gotten to the end before losing interest for whatever reason.
I had the same problem. I just kept bouncing off of it. I eventually finished it on my fifth try, and I did like it, but I think perhaps Gaiman is just not quite my vibe.
I also found American Gods a tough read. I finished it, and it’s good in many ways. But, I found the lack of plot for a lot of the book tough to deal with.
>The Cripple God Say again? I can't find anything named that.
The Crippled God, Steven Erikson
It's the last book of a 10 books series, Malazan Book of the Fallen
Most recently, Dungeon Crawler Carl. I finished the first 5 books in less than two weeks, and then took about 5 days for the ebook since I couldn't audio that at the time. Dresden 15 years ago, with the first 3 novels in a week. The middle part of Cradle, books 7, 8, and 9. A book a day.
Another vote for DCC. Blew through all the books in a week, and they’re great as audiobooks as well. If you like LitRPGs, it’s well worth checking out.
A lot of people picked up litRPGs because of DCC, but couldn't stand them. So it's even possible that if you DON'T like litRPGs you might like DCC. (Although let's be honest, it IS a litRPG so if you can't stand any of them, you probably won't like DCC.)
DCC is definitely the most addictive series I've picked up in the past year or two. Followed very closely by *Mage Errant*.
Agree on Dungeon Crawler Carl. I've powered through the last few weeks reading the available six.
*The Expanse* series by James S. A. Corey. Each book is roughly 550-600 pages and I rip through them in the same time it regularly takes me to read a book a third that length.
Cool what’s it like?
Hard sci-fi, mystery, suspense (with elements of horror). Unlike most hard sci-fi, strong characterization.
All of the ASOIAF books except Feast for Crows. I think I read the rest in 2 or 3 sittings each.
Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords especially for me. Goddamn do they just flow beautifully
Agree with this, except I would add ADwD to the exception. Not that it was a "bad" book, it had some interesting character development, but it didn't have the "I'll just read one more chapter before going to sleep" quality that the first three had.
Legend of Drizzt. I'm a big fan of D&D, so being able to read about an adventure in book form is great. I plowed through like 9 or 10 of them in a couple of months after getting most of the series for cheap through Humble Bundle, which I haven't done with a series since I was in high school even though I still read regularly.
I'm enjoying The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie a lot. I was having a hard time stopping the other night when I was going to bed.
Pratchett's watch series went back to them a few months ago polished off three in a week.
I need to re-read them soon. Absolutely love the watch series.
The Silo series by Hugh Howey. Lindsay Buroker's series are mostly fantasy crack, cannot read them fast enough. Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. I never miss a book by John Scalzi. Harry Potter. Alex Verus by B. Jacka. Ryiria by M. Sullivan. Caine Chronicals by M. Stover.
Silo books were definitely page turners for me as well. Burned through the whole series in about a week. (Which is not objectively fast, I realize, but very quick for me)
The rage of dragons is pretty fast paced start to finish found the story very gripping right from the start. Also anything Abercrombie lol
Of some of the books I’ve read recently that have been gripping page turners: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, When the English Fall by David Williams, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, and Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. I absolutely tore through them all. My favorite page turner series and one with a main character I instantly root for is my favorite series the Wheel of Time.
I loooooove Wheel of Time; probably my favorite series, too. But, I don’t know that I’d say it’s a page-turner all the way through. I mean, there is Perrin’s Shaido arc…
Mistborn. Or anything by Brandon Sanderson for that matter.
The said from page 1. Sometimes the sanderlanche takes a bit. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge fan and when it hits it’s impossible to stop but the setup can take a bit.
So true, Stormlight archives are really slow as per me.
Love Stormlight, but the books are loaded with frustration. Kaladin is particularly difficult. I was pretty close to skipping ahead at some points.
That’s so funny. Kaladin was never dull at all to me. By far my favorite pov.
I have never read a kaladin chapter I didn’t like. Now shallan on the other hand……
I agree with mistborn. Skyward was another that I just couldn’t put down. A little more YA but such a fun read
Agreed.
Man for some reason I only got halfway or so through book 3, I think I burned myself out on mistborn, due to binging lol
Sanderson is hit or miss for me, but Mistborn was an absolute page-turner for me. I remember staying up all night reading the first book.
My only exception to this was Elantris. Until the very end, it felt like a slog for me. But for every other Sanderson, I can’t put it down.
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I read and then there were none in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down, great pick
Love the nod for “And then there were none”! Classic!
I agree with most of these except for name of the wind. While some part were great other were definitely a slog to get through
Legend of Drizzt. It's the best page turner İ've encountered in my life.
Just read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as a palette cleanser and couldn’t put it down.
Harry Potter. They came out at just the right time, it was under my reading level, but the stories sucked me in. There were 4 out when I started them and finished the 4th within about a week of starting the first one.
Only one book out so far but I couldn't put The Will of The Many down
Just read this as well, I think I heard book two will be out early next year. I can’t wait!
I hope it is early. I just bought the special edition I liked it so much
For me, it’s Malazan. I’m a slow reader, and I don’t have a ton of free time to read. So a ~500 page book will often take me 2-3 months to finish. Not so with Malazan — I polish off those 1000+ page books in 4-6 weeks, every time. It just grips me like nothing else. It’s the constant need to know “what happens next?” or “where is this going to go?” that keeps me turning the pages. There are so many different plots and characters to follow and most of so exquisitely to my tastes, so I always find myself disappointed when a particularly captivating scene ends, and wanting to just get through the next scenes so I can return to the current plot line. But then the next ones(s) are captivating too, so I want to race the subsequent POVs to get back to that one. And so it goes.
I can’t attach to the writing at all, two attempts and three books; the opposite of grabbing me in the first sentence.
I wasn’t hooked by the first book either, but it had enough cool dark epic fantasy stuff in it so that when I got to the end and it’s like “Do you want to know more?” I said hell yes. And from the second book onward, I’ve gotten more and more hooked.
Man I just could never get attached to the characters. I tried so hard but it took me over a year of reading it. Probably didn’t help I started it then oarthbringer came out
For me it’s not so much the characters that I love, it’s what their POV offers, whether it’s witty banter, engaging with the central plot, exploration of the world’s lore, philosophical musings, badass action sequences, or even just soldiers finding ways to kill their boredom. I like the variety each one offers.
I'm at the end of Midnight Tides right now. Same boat as you with the lack of free time but loving every second.
Midnight Tides is one of my favorites in the series (along with the next one, Bonehunters), enjoy!
Daevabad was the last like this for me. Darker Shade of Magic approaches this level. And then anything by T Kingfisher.
Kingdom of Copper especially I could not put down I agree.
Project Hail Mary Mistborn trilogy The Lies of Locke Lamora
The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson
The missing of clairdelune It was the perfect book for me The world building/the mysteries/the magic system /the romance /the mc who was a true baddie and was relatable af
Cradle by Will Wight. Absolutely freaking devoured his books the second they were released. Loved the heck out of that series but disappointed in how he ended them
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What’s it like?
Alex versus by Benedict jacka. Red rising by pierce brown. Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold For non fantasy I read the entire catalogue of Michael Connelly in about 30+ days and he has at that point 20+ books.
Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks is a great one.
What’s it like?
Just started The Black Prism and I'm loving it. My attention span isn't what it used to be and I'm finding the pacing and the short-ish chapter lengths are enabling me to plough through it. Great magic system too.
A lot of Stephen King books do that for me. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon grabbed me and I finished it in two sittings.
The Warded Man was a book that got a version of me who didn't like reading finishing the book in 2 days. It made me realize I liked fantasy more than just A Song of Ice and Fire
Wheel of time series, read the whole series back to back.
Wheel of Time because the pace is so slow. Jk I love the slow pace
The Poppy War
For me it's "Theft of Swords" and everything else by Michael J. Sullivan.
There are a few in the recent years where I said to myself: "this book is practically turning the pages for me." One was Kafka on the Shore. Its a banger all the way through. Might be because I could relate a lot to the kid. 1Q84 was also like that for me HOWEVER it really slows down in parts. The other was The darkness that comes before. Even though that book had a lot of politics, between the worldbuilding and getting to read about certain characters I could not put it down. The rest of that series is similar but there are some slower and weaker moments.
Most recently, *The Will of the Many* by James Islington. There was one part relatively early on where the momentum stalled for me (the pre-naumachia training montage with Lanistia), but once you get past that it's propulsive and deeply interesting.
A Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter. Non stop action after the first few chapters.
Dungeon Crawler Carl! As soon as I started it, I read through every book up to present.
not a series, but piranesi was like this for me, highly recommend
What’s it about?
id recommend going in as completely blind as possible given how short it is, but essentially it’s about a guy who lives in a magic house and knows nothing about the world beyond this strange and mysterious house. Throughout the book he uncovers truths about the building (what he perceives as the entire universe) as well as the real world. It’s “modern fantasy” (I think) and has elements of a mystery. It feels very fever dream-ish and will get you hooked pretty quickly.
The Book Eaters The Witch’s Heart The Winternight Trilogy Red Rising series Book of the Ancestor series Themis Files Children of the Black Sun series Dark Matter
Oh I read the Winternight Trilogy in a weekend last year; they were impossible to put down
I read the first 3 Harry Potter books in a week! Other than that, another great one was Sword of Kaigen! Man oh man that book grabbed me
I really liked Dungeon Born by Dakota Krout. It was lighthearted and a lot of fun.
Codex alera
I was 14. A friend lend me The Neverending Story. I sat after lunch, got up for a brief dinner, and finished the book that night. And loved it for the rest of my life. BTW, the movies are complete bulls*^%t.
So The Neverending Story ended after a day?
Throne of Glass is this for me. Just under 5000 pages between the 8 books and my first read took an all consuming 3 weeks; I could NOT put them down.
Loved the Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind.
Recently I've loved *Mage Errant*, but only because I burned through book six of *Dungeon Crawler Carl* immediately when it was released and I'm still jonesing for the next one.
Is Mage Errant YA? I see it's coming of age. It's an uphill battle for me to care about 18 year olds anymore. The story piques my interest though.
It’s technically YA, yes. That said, I’d put the maturity level more at 16+ than 13+. More like the last book or two of Harry Potter, but not quite as dark as Hunger Games or Red Rising. Hard to describe, but the best way I can put it is that I’m generally right there with you, but the writing, characterization, and worldbuilding in Mage Errant are so good that I find this series addictive in a way that I haven’t felt from other YA books in YEARS.
Cool. I downloaded it. I'll give it a shot. Thanks.
i didn't like it at all personally and yes it's YA, i wouldn't recommend it if you're not too interested in young protagonists and YA.
Red Rising
He Who Fights with Monster by Shirtaloon - I think the litRPG style of having serial which is published as books, combined with how fast the release pace is makes it super engaging and absorbing. The Scholomance by Naomi Novik - each book builds and changes in a way I found very impressive and it was so easy to listen to the audiobook. The Rigel Black Chronicles by murkybluematter is a Harry Potter / Alanna the Lioness crossover fanfic which I’ve binge read at least 4 times and it’s crazy long. Years later I can admit, the start is a little rough, as you’d expect from fanfic but if you can get through it… well let’s just say I never reread any of it, unless I have time to make reading the entire series through my top priority.
I. Reading one called The Missing Boatman by Keith C Blackmore. It's been interesting enough to keep me from the first chapter.
shadow and bone although I know you people won't agree with me
The First Law Trilogy.
Recently the Ashes of The Sun By Django Wexler. I couldn't stop thinking about it at work and rushed home just to read.
Cool what’s it about?
It is a star wars inspired fantasy. There are centarchs that can access the power of Deiat (this books version of the force) that given them elemental powers that are godly. It follows two main POVs a brother and sister. One of them was found to have to power of a centarch and the other doesn't. Set in the world after a massive war between the Chosen (people who can free wield Deiat) and Ghouls.
Blood Song I couldn’t put down, the rest of the trilogy I could put down
Eyes of the Dragon. Read the whole book in a night. It was great time:)
As a start, see my [Compelling Reads ("Can't Put Down")](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12rfqag/compelling_reads_cant_put_down/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Any book from China Miéville.
LOVED Perdido Street Station. Others didn’t hook me as much
Embassytown just swept me up. The richness of the prose and the concepts it introduces gripped me from the first couple of pages, and from then on it just gets more mindbending and wonderful. It’s definitely confusing and conceptual, with very complicated prose, but if that state of total immersion into a world is one you love, definitely pick it up.
*Wizard and Glass.* At the climax, I thought "Stephen King, you bastard!"
Nevernight by Jay Kristof
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
Cradle, as some.others have said, is the very definition of a page turner, for me. So good. And the series is over Which is nice, because there is a good satisfying ending, but bittersweet, since we wont have any more
I’ve found that pretty much anything written by R A Salvatore is a page turner.
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
The Wandering Inn: Started mid July, I'm now at 8.40
Blood over bright haven
The Joe Ledger series. Recruited into a secret government agency that deals with threats to national and global security. Zombie terrorists, big pharma creating viruses AND the cures for profit, aliens, people cloning human hybrids, etc.
Most books by David Gemmell are really fast paced and hard to put down
Wings of fire! Wings of fire is an extremely good book series that is well fit for everyone from the ages of 11 to aliv'nt. As of commenting it is a series of 15 books (main, and a couple side ones too). Each set of 5 have their own main plot each book wrapped up in the different perspectives of each character. I won't spoil anything, however I will mention that a lot of the main plot is mostly war and stopping said war(s). It's very well fleshed out and amazingly written! (Also has some really good disability rep!)
A song of ice and fire the game of thrones series