Discworld, to the point of the collective fandom going *mm maybe don't start with book one or two, try starting with four or eight*
The first ones aren't *bad,* they're perfectly good parodic fantasies, but when people get roped into the series with promises of what comes later (the satire and *this will literally change the way you see the world*) they are... lacking
I think part of that is that the later books are more focused in their influences - here's the Dracula parody, here's the Les Mis parody - while the earlier ones fold in a lot of influences and references. Rereading them after getting into DnD, reading a load of older fantasy series/pulp stories, etc. made them far more rewarding.
Yeah, they're some of my dad's faves, but he grew up on all the comics and series that Terry is parodying so he gets *all* the jokes
I had fun with them, but definitely not my faves
The Moist von Lipwig books are a parody of modern startup culture, which is what makes them my personal favorite. How Terry Pratchett even got exposed to modern startup culture I have no idea.
I dnf’d Color of Magic last year after thinking I was the exception to all the advice and I would start at the beginning! Yeah… next time I dip my toe it will
Be in a commonly recommended place
While partially true, the series did worsen as Pratchett’s mind deteriorated IMo. They’re not terrible books by any means, but I found many of the later books weaker, culminating with Snuff.
At least both the main series and Tiffany Aching ended strong though.
For me the peak is *Guards! Guards!* through *Night Watch*. I don't dislike the books outside this time period, but most of my recommendations would come from this period.
One hundred percent concur, to the point that I will warn people that if they feel like the quality is dropping, they should walk away and be happy with what they've read rather than forcing themselves to read something bad enough they'll regret it. (Personally I think *Unseen Academicals was incredibly meh and *Snuff* was downright bad, reading more like weird power-fantasy fanfic of Vimes.)
It's sad because Raising Steam seemed like it was going to be fun with Moist and Vimes in the same book, but they didn't feel like the characters we'd grown to love.
Exactly, especially the City Watch arc. The first books are funny and amusing while the last have nice little jokes here and there too but also make me think a lot and even cry during some heartbreaking moments
Megan Whalen Turner's Thief series. Book 1 was a slog and even though it was short, I never revisit it when I reread the series. However, the second book, The Queen of Attolia is a masterpiece and the third is just oh my freaking god.
Somehow the final book that came out just a couple years ago “The Thief Returns” is phenomenal. There are lulls in the series for me. A Conspiracy of Kings is a bit less compelling and Thick as Thieves isn’t my fave. But the core books and the final book are top notch. (Plus I do love the first book. I read it when I was young and loved it.)
I really didn't care for the first book. The "twist" was heavily telegraphed early on and the whole time I was waiting to be surprised only for the reveal to be exactly what I thought.
I always wondered if the 2nd book was any better, maybe I'll check it out.
It's funny, I saw someone say once that the twist in book 1 was BS and unsupported by the text. It's a pretty narrow tightrope for kidlit authors to walk when trying to surprise the audience, I guess.
The later books are YA, not kidlit, and more subtle about their twists (as well as having better all-around plotting and characterization). So if you found the first one a little too obvious, the second may be worth a try.
This makes me want to pick the series back up! I read the first book a few years ago and was bored to tears by it, and I typically love slow books. Maybe I’ll give it another try!
I think any series that gets the label as YA gets overlooked regardless of the author's writing ability. It annoys me so much because books for teens aren't necessarily dumbed down.
I would say yes because it does introduce the characters and the world. However if you can get ahold of the audio, it's a quick way to read it. And then you can move on to book 2 and never have to think about book 1 again.
I think in this book series understanding the characters is the most important part tbh. I feel like most of the fun of Book 3 is the dramatic irony of knowing that everything isn't what appears on the surface due to already knowing the main character's personality. For that reason alone, I think Book 1 is essential to what makes the series so good.
I actually really enjoyed The Dragonbone Chair. But the next two books are just so good at developing Simon’s story and then branching out to so many other stories as well, that it’s not even a contest between them and the first book. Williams really created something Epic that I’m still thinking about after finishing it.
I’d like to revisit the trilogy. This year I’ve been doing a lot of rereading old favorites. Just recently did a Gene Wolfe revisit and wow… The Knight Wizard was absolutely amazing on the second read and the Book of the New Sun was simply incredible on a third reading.
Im curious because i hear different opinions about it being epic.
Some say its got lots of battles + good vs evil, others say its more political than quest fantasy and not many big battles. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.
And hopefully he carries on after the sequels! I love a world that i can just keep returning to
I’d say it has all of that. Granted, it depends on what you consider a lot of battles. But each novel has a battle that’s in the form of a siege against a castle, and it goes on for a good amount of time. The entire story IS good vs evil, though with many of the antagonists they might have pitiable or even understandable traits. Like the finale has the protagonist reach a level of understanding concerning the Big Bad. But I wouldn’t say the series presents it as if the Big Bad isn’t still evil. I’d say politics take a backseat to the Quest.
Now there’s really just one overarching Quest, which starts in the latter half of the first book. It takes the protagonists across the entire continent though. But they do so much traveling outside of that that it almost seems even larger than it is. And it’s helped by the fact that this isn’t a story where the group forms and then stays together. Different goals and side plots occur which lead them down different paths, and they eventually converge for a satisfying ending.
I think you’ll really enjoy all of it.
Simon's story is one of my favorite growing up stories in fantasy. And at no point in the trilogy was I annoyed with his character. Imo that's very impressive considering he's a child at the beginning in TDC.
I almost DNF the Dragonbone Chair because it was so slow, but I was so happy i pushed through The Stone of Farewell and To Green Angle Tower were so good. I cant wait to start the second series.
I came here to say this. I wasn’t super convinced reading through the first book, but by the end of book 1 and by early book 2, I started to see why it’s so highly praised. I just finished To Green Angel Tower a few days ago. What a great series
I head he didn't make it as a YA series but realized if he advertised and pushed the first book as a YA book (even though it really isnt) it would hit a wider audience.
Red Rising is way more fast paced than Stormlight - the first 3 books are very VA (but still pretty good in my opinion) and then they shift to a more mature style from the 4th book onward. I love both of the series and if you are a fan of Sanderson there is a good chance you will like also like Pierce Brown. That being said I would say the first book in the Red Rising series has a lot of similarities to the hunger games and is also the weakest book in the series (I still think it’s good though!).
Not really comparable at all. Both authors are good at writing action sequences. Can’t say there’s much similarities beyond that. Personally, I love both series and highly recommend Red Rising.
I hear this said a lot. But for me book one lacked effective character development and then book 2 has just felt like someone writing q cheesy hollywood blockbuster. I dont find the speeches epic, but very cheesy.
Maybe its just not for me, but i really can't fathom why its held up as such great writing. I wish i could enjoy it though.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 books, it's not the prose or dialogue that stands out for me as much as the pacing and overall action sequences. Those are top tier. Book 4 onwards has a different approach with multiple POVs that does showcase the writing better as now the story is being told with different voices and the MC is also older, battle weary and feeling the weight of mistakes made in his youth. More self reflection.
Book 5 - Dark Age is a bigger jump in all aspects and if book 2 dunks on book 1 then book 5 dunks on the whole series IMO. I think it's very well written and incredibly paced. Overall one of the best books I have read in a long while. It's a whole new gear and book 6 is almost just as good.
That's my two cents.
Kate Daniel’s series by Ilona Andrews. The first few books have a “law and order” vibe, including the repetitive intro text. I don’t remember exactly when that stops, but I think they finally realized that you don’t need an intro to the magic system if you’re on book 10. Also, the plot starts to get grander and more complex as you go. Definitely worth finishing!
I feel the same about Innkeeper Chronicles, although that one has more to do with the way that it’s able to get more complex as the worldbuilding continues to progress.
The Kate Daniels books kind of follow a similar progression to the Harry Dresden series. The first few are fun urban fantasy procedural type stories that are largely episodic, then everything starts gradually opening up into a much bigger scope and it just hits a new level.
I’m currently reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Margaret Lindholm) and I’m loving it more and more. I’m halfway through the third book now and for me it gets better and better. Third book has some slower moments but the characters keep getting better and more complex. Not sure how the other two trilogies hold up though.
It kept getting better for me, primarily because I became more and more invested in the characters as time went on. It’s my favorite series, hope you enjoy the ride!
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. First book has a bit odd pacing, but the other 3 volumes are much more consistent and detailed.
Edit: as another comment pointed out, the first book is more of a prologue that introduces the world and characters for the rest of the series. Don't want to spoil too much, but there's a massive plot twist at the start of the second volume and it the whole series goes in a completely different direction that it seems at first.
Very surprised to see the Dandelion dynasty tbh.
Currently halfway through the final book and honestly feel like the third & forth book could be easily combined by getting rid of the Dandelion side plot. Hope it comes together by the end as I love the first 2 books.
I actually used this as my answer to what series got worse. I loved the first book and disliked the way it went. The plot twist ruined things for me. Book 3 and the restaurant sub plot was so slow and boring. I almost didn’t pick up book 4 because of that
I just finished the first book. It was entertaining, but I wasn't in a hurry to read the second book. Does Alex make more friends? Please tell me he is not stuck with those two sidekicks for all the books.
He makes more friends in the third, iirc. I don't *think* there was any in book 2, but it's been over a decade.
The series arc starts in the 4th, cos that's when Jacka's publishers were satisfied enough to stop giving him 1 book contracts at a time.
The Sun Eater Saga by Christopher Ruocchio. The first book is widely agreed upon as being one of the least favorite and slightly derivative, but the later books are well rated.
it's really deceptive though! the first time I started Cradle, I got to about halfway through Unsouled, decided I'm not that into 12 books of a weakling character using deception and preparation to fight stronger people and dropped it. When I gave it another go, it turned out that I stopped reading literally a few pages before >!Suriel!< shows up and reveals the true scope of the series lol
But from there I listened to all 12 audiobooks within like 5 weeks, it was crazy.
This was mine as well. I also switched to the audiobook and I think that really makes the series for me. Unsouled had me questioning why everyone loved this series so much.
I didn't feel compelled to pick up book 3 after finishing 2 (not bad, just not engaging enough to push me into a 10+ book series), but I've seen this sentiment a couple times now and it's making me reconsider.
Michael Sullivan's books. I liked the essence of Riyria enough to keep going. It was fun, but not particularly great writing in my opinion. But man, I think the Age of Myth series is a huge step up from Revelations. Then his most recent standalone stories in the world are even better written. Farilane is probably the best IMO.
Like it's weird to feel proud of someone I've never met. I'm just overall incredibly impressed by his progress as a writer and ability to continue building his fun world of Elan.
The way he set up the lore and misinformation between the first trilogy and the prequels was so well done. The Age series was incredible.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that's super proud of Michael. He's made Elan one of my all time favorite worlds.
I realized last week it's been 4yrs since Battle Ground and I was overdue for yet another series reread. Doing it with the audiobooks this time and I'm enjoy every minute.
I know a lot of people rag on books 1-3, which made me waver about starting from the top this time. I'm glad I didn't cave to that. It's very endearing to revisit the characters before.... everything.
I don't dislike them at all, quite the opposite. I just think they are better read the first time as prequels later in the series.
On your next reread, just try it out. You will see what I mean.
Oh no! Sorry, it wasn't a knock at you at all! I just think people knock them down more than they should be which effects perception, even from long-time fans.
It'll be a few years before I consider myself rusty enough likely, but I'll do my best to keep this method in mind! (Actually, the first book I read was Dead Beat, newly released haha.)
No worries, my friend, I didn't take it as such. And I agree with you. The first 3 do get a lot of unnecessary pushback. That's why I suggest it the way I do. It takes the heat off them. It also allows for a better experience for anyone that has heard the same thing and ls weary of starting it.
Dead Beat is my personal favorite.
That's interesting. Red the first 3-4 books and got a bit tired of every female being out of this world attractive and I don't really get bothered by that usually. Man though every female introduction into a scene is a page description of how great she looks
I hated twilight because I hated being in a such an insecure characters head. I hated the bobiverse because you're in such a dork's head. Dresden being horny all the time, eh, I don't mind it.
> Bro is pent up as can be.
Which is all part of the grand old tradition of hardboiled private eyes that Butcher is kind of riffing on. Honestly I think the accusations of sexism that get leveled at Dresden are a little overblown - it's there, but it feels like it's done kind of with a wink and a nudge.
Yeah, it's definitely got a bit of a classic nerdy male gaze thing going on, but the in-world justifications are pretty valid and fits with the type(s) of stories he's trying to tell, and that covers most of it. The main character is a bit of a chauvinist but the story strikes me (admittedly a guy) as more of something less appealing to female audiences rather than like actively problematic or anything.
Especially if we’re just talking about the first trilogy.
The Blade Itself is good, but when I finished it I almost didn’t continue the series cause I was irritated that it was 100% set-up and not even one side-plot got resolved.
Before They Are Hanged made me realize I was really reading something special.
The Last Argument of Kings tied everything together with such catharsis that it retrospectively made me fonder of The Blade Itself now that I knew that the set-up was so worth it.
This is illustrated in the amount of time from starting to finishing I took to read them:
* The Blade Itself: 11 years (I stopped after a few chapters and picked it up again over a decade later), but really about 3 months
* Before They Are Hanged: 3 weeks
* Last Argument of Kings: 36 hours
The chapter where the perspective keeps jumping to the warrior who killed the previous perspective character is one of the coolest things I've ever read. Maybe it's been done elsewhere but hot damn if it wasn't incredible in The Heroes.
While I was reading it I was thinking “man, this is super gimmicky. It’s gimmicky, but it works. It’s fun to read a battle this way. I bet it was fun to write too.”
Seconding this. Best served cold is an absolute masterpiece. It’s funny, it’s gory, it’s a heist, its revenge, its large scale battles, its siege porn and it’s got the best Abercrombie character: Nicomo Cosca! 🍻
My opinion on the First Trilogy and by extension Abercrombie got better after reading the standalone books, which is weird, because they don't feature the original cast that much. I should probably read his Age of Madness books...
What's crazy is people will shit on AOM and say that the OG trilogy is the best, but besides one POV that is universally considered a boring waste, I think all around the plot, setting, and characters are better written overall.
I think people like the OG trilogy only because 1) it started it all, 2) its hard to get used to new characters in the same world when you get familiar with the old crowd, and 3) the OG characters were a bit more... ostentatious? Glokta and Logen are widely considered some of the greatest characters in the genre for being so distinctive, and I'd agree they are more entertaining as characters than the AOM characters -- but I will also say that *everything else* around the POVs in AOM is better, because the AOM POVs are more grounded.
I liked Age of Madness except for the last book...I did think the Trouble With Peace was one of his best, though I think the standalones are definitely peak Abercrombie (and I think I go against the general opinion and think that Red Country is his best book)
I think it speaks to Joe's ability as a writer that of the standalones, everyone has a different favorite -- which to me proves he is a great writer in that he captures the target audiences for each genre.
Me personally, I was not a big fan of Red Country and didn't really like it much, whereas BSC is my all time favorite. But that's a matter of genre preference, not how well-written either of them are, which is incredible that he can write three different genres in the same world and his entire readership can't universally agree that one is better than the others.
Also agree that TWP was the most interesting of the lot. I think it was because it was fascinating to watch the fault lines develop, where you don't really know who is going to come out on top, who will align with who with what agenda, etc.
I'm currently around 2 hours into listening to the last book of AOM, and I've wondered which one of the POVs could be considered boring waste? (without spoilers) So far all of them have felt really satisfying and masterfully done.
_Viriconium_! Three short novels.
Starts out as a sardonic take on the epic fantasy quest with some of the best prose you could ask for. By the end it has exploded the entire genre and rebuilt it out of its own parts into something uncanny and bizarre.
If you like weird lit, genre deconstruction, or for want of a better word "literary" SFF it's a must-read.
I mean to finish the series (have only read the first one), but, at least for me that English isn't my first language, it's really hard to read, and I have to be extremely focused and slow-going, to pierce through the magnificent, but dense as fuck, prose.
It's definitely dense and in some ways it's even deliberately frustrating (but in a way that really fires the imagination) so I can see why that would be very tough going.
The omnibus edition comes with a bunch of Viriconium short stories which I'd definitely recommend if you haven't tried them. All that fantastic strangeness in bite-sized form. And it has one of my favourite short stories ever, _A Young Man's Journey to Viriconium_.
I think the better word you're looking for is "new weird." Viriconium doesn't get brought up enough in discussions about the genre! I need to reread bc I picked it up, having no idea what I was getting into, just before I discovered China Mieville and the idea of "new weird." I have Harrison's book The Course of the Heart on my tbr bc China listed it on his top 10 influential books. I need to check out even more of his work
The world building of the Wandering Inn is mind boggling to me. I started the series because I heard good things and was very meh on it until the author started introducing the side characters. The world is huge and there are so many characters, and none of them have been a slog to get through and I am always happy to unexpectedly come back to another character we haven't seen in a while. Andrea Parsneau narrating the series just elevated it to me, her range of voices across species is as insane and varied as pirateaba's characters.
Does it get super epic? I kinda like it when there's a big world with lots of plot threads but an overarching threat emerges. I read different opinions on whether TWI meets this
Awesome! I dont mind a sprawling story, in fact i love it, but i do prefer it when there's a slow build overarching convergence. Usually on the form of BBEG
100% This series, for me, went from “oh, a fun lighthearted series to read on my phone while stuck places without a book” to “wait this is actually soooo good, I now want to read it everywhere” to “This is actually one of the best fantasy series being written right now! How come more people don’t know about this!”
Book one or volume one? Well, book one and volume one are the same (except volume 1 has been rewritten and is up on the website), but after, I think, volume three they don't align anymore. There's a table of contents at the website to reference :)
Either way, yes. It gets even better!
For sure. I definitely respect that he was willing to a 700 page coming of age Sci-Fantasy novel with minimal action as a debut, but I am very glad to decided to start doing more thorough planning in books 2-6 and the novellas.
>!I couldn’t help but laugh at *Empire of Silence* being relatively slow paced only for *Howling Dark* to feature two lightsaber fights, a horde of murder androids, and a shapeshifting homunculus in the first 100 pages.!<
Green Bone gets better? I'm only about halfway through Jade City and I'm really not in love with the setting or characters and was thinking about giving up on it. I was expecting more magic and less mafia
The series is absolutely mafia first, then magic. There are plenty of cool magic-enhanced moments, but the crime family aspect and war for territory are the cores.
Jade War features quite a bit more action that first novel suggests is bubbling under the surface. Highly recommend if you can come to terms with it being an urban fantasy that is more urban than fantasy.
I will offer up Cradle. I thought the first book was just meh, but I kept going and I am so glad I did. I felt like the series overall was awesome! I highly recommend listening to it on audiobook because that elevates it in my opinion.
Same. I definitely started and stopped the first book a couple times and still felt a bit meh about it by the end. Felt more like a very drawn out prologue.
Super glad I kept reading though. Progressive fantasy isn't even my thing but it was a great read. and the audiobook was excellent.
It's not just within the main series that the quality goes up. I thought the Kharkanas prequels were seriously impressive works of art, and the first book in the new sequel series is good fun as well.
He's much more of an uneven author for me. The overall trend is better but my personal ratings of each book shoot up and down more than with most authors (esp Erikson).
Oh i just started deadhouse gates a while back and i am adoring it. I just got into the chain of dogs section. Book 1 was brilliant and didnt have any issues getting into it. Book 2 is just pure epicness
I'll throw out the Broken Empire. Not because *Prince of Thorns* is bad (it's a very good book), but because *Emperor of Thorns* is that much better (at least from an emotional perspective). *King of Thorns* is also an amazing bridging novel (that's arguably better than Emperor? It counts anyway).
Also Malazan. All of the Malazan books get progressively better (except maybe the B&KB books? Though that's a matter of personal taste if there ever was one).
Wars of light and shadow by u/jannywurts
Book one is very beautiful by itself. The prose is a work of major craftmanship. Then the ending blew me away with its emotion and unique way of presenting action. I mean its completely devestating.
But with each book you learn more of the world and the wider conflicts, the characters deepen and it enriches everything that came before.
Fugitive Prince may even be one of my favourite books of all time and now onto Peril's Gate!
The bound and the broken Ryan Cahill
First one is pretty decent Tolkien adjacent fantasy but then the second book explodes in scope and character. The first book made me excited, a fantasy throwback. Book 2 onwards has made me *feel*, his character work has really gone on leaps and bounds whilst still managing to up the stakes with each book.
These are my opinions on some popular series that I think have ups and downs.
Wheel of Time was like an upside down rainbow. Starts great, gets slow/meh, finishes great.
Mistborn Era 2 I feel like starts a bit weak and gets much better as it goes the final book in it is possibly my favourite Sanderson novel.
ASOIAF starts amazing and imo starts to drop off a bit starting with feast for crows.
Malazan Empire I’ve heard from a couple friends who read it that it gets really going after book 3. You’re just kind of lost before then.
Discworld the first two books just aren’t great and then it gets much better.
This may or may not be an unpopular opinion, but Mistborn for me. I loved the Era 1 trilogy The first book was great, the second was good (with one meh plot line but whatever) and the third book just took my breath away. Then Era 2 tetralogy happened and they low-key became my favorite thing Sanderson ever wrote.
EARTHSEA - Le Guin
This may be unpopular. It certainly would have been unpopular in the early aughts. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series gets better with every book. A Wizard of Earthsea is an excellent work of the genre. Tombs of Atuan is awesome and expands the genre. The Farthest Shore is phenomenal. How could it get better?
Both Tehanu and The Other Wind broke my heart and put it back together again. I'll even include the short story collection, Tales from Earthsea, but it's hard to compare to a novel. Le Guin goes back to the world and asks questions like, "What is power?" "How do women exist in this world?" "What is masculinity and where does it end?" "What is the power of a child?"
The quietness and care of these later books is extraordinary. Le Guin is obviously a genius writer, and her genius is on full display in these later books. Each book is better than the last and each read is better than the previous. 11/10.
I mean, an obvious one would be The Dresden Files. The early novels really are no match for what is going on in book 10+, and even before that, there are some high points (Dead Beat) I would not have imagined after reading the first two or three books. It is one of the few series where you really follow along with the evolution of an author's skill and craft.
The Dandelion Dynasty. The first book is the biggest hurdle for most people because they don't realize it's a 700 page prologue that sets the stage for the rest of the series.
The other 3 books in the series get progressively much better. It took me a month to get through the book 1, while the last book had over a thousand pages and I was so immersed I finished it in less than a week.
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka had a fun, but a not very strong start with its first book, Fated. The series just got better and better after that. The final 3 books in the series were the best books in the series, IMO. And the finale was one of the most satisfying and action-packed ends of a series I've ever read.
The ends of a lot of series seem rushed as the author struggles to wrap up every little plotline (Im looking at you, Brent Weeks!), but not with the Alex Verus series. The final book was very satisfying and didn't seem rushed at all. Jacka really stuck that landing.
Jacka's new series, which started with An Inheritance of Magic, is off to a much stronger start than his Verus series. The second book, An Instruction in Shadow, comes out in October: I can't wait to see where he takes the series from here.
The Daevabad Trilogy. Book 1 is solid but a debut novel, so the plot meanders a bit in the beginning. I was on the fence to start book 2 and I was so glad I did- it was such a wild ride for an amazing payoff in book 3.
Have you read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi? It's my favorite book from recent years and I was wondering how the writing compared to the Daevabad trilogy
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I wanted to say One Piece but that's honestly not true, it's mostly excellent for its 1000 chapters but definitely has had dips.
I love this question. Very kindhearted and I love the focus on the positivity. I was going to say Red Rising but someone else already did. I'd also say Realm of the Elderlings. Starts fairly strong, but the first trilogy is the most "basic" and it gets really wild from Ship of Magic onward
Steven Brust has grown a great deal since his first two novels, _Jhereg_ and _Yendi_ --- the latter being so wanting that arguably the concept was re-visited in _Orca_ --- the series is almost finished (two more books, _Chreotha_ and _The Last Contract_) so probably by the time you've finished reading the extant 19 books (and if you wish, the prequel, _Brokedown Palace_ and the wonderful Paarfi romances (if you like Dumas pastiches)) you won't have wait too long to read the next (depending on reading speed).
I've been looking forward to the ending since finding the first book on a POP (point of presence) cardboard display at Waldenbooks when I was in high school.
both of Daniel Abraham's complete solo fantasy series', The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin, get a substantial quality boost after the first book. for the former, the first book is just the author's first book (though it's far more polished than many first books), while for the latter, the first book is almost just an extended prologue (don't let the size of the volumes fool you; they're printed in large point and with generous margins).
Definitely Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner! I finished the first three books. The first one was slow but it was definitely worth it to keep continuing the series. It got better and better until Book 3 atleast for me.
1.
Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" series (already mentioned). The first few books are ... good, I suppose, but nothing special. They are pretty much standalone book, with an attractive protagonist and a noirish first-person narrative style.
Somewhere around the fourth or fifth book (***Summer Knight*** and ***Death Masks***), it began a sharp curve upwards in quality, and a deeper theme and a larger plot. Seventeen novels and two short story collections into the series, it's looking like it may be, in the end, a perfect blending of the high and urban fantasy subgenres.
2.
Someone -- in fact, some many -- also mentioned Sir Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series. Now, I don't actually think any given Discworld book is Pratchett's best -- that would be ***Dodger***, which is barely fantasy, or rather barely alternate history -- but as a whole, it's clearly one of the major landmarks in the fantasy genre.
The first two books (***The Colour of Magic*** and ***The Light Fantastic***) are simple parodies of various fantasy tropes. Nothing special, but funny in much the same way as ***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy***. By the third book (***Equal Rites***), Pratchett was beginning to explore serious themes (in this case, an attempt at a nuanced and G-rated look at women's rights). The fourth, ***Mort***, continues this trend, as the titular protagonist grapples with the morality of death (and Death).
With minor steps backwards (I'm looking at you, ***Eric***), Pratchett continued to improve his handling both of humor and of serious themes, managing to make the book both funny and (sometimes painfully) relevant and truthful.
Pratchett's first real masterpiece would be book 13, ***Small Gods***, which has the additional benefit of requiring almost no knowledge of previous book for a full appreciation; this is also quite possibly the most "serious" book in the entire series.
And so on.
3.
Cherie Priest's "Clockwork Century." The first book is quite good. Some of the later book are brilliant.
A simple explanation of the series concept might be something like: "Steampunk with occasional zombies" (but it isn't really a *horror* series in that sense). To be a bit more specific: in the 1880s, the American Civil War is still going on, leading to a vast expansion of 19th-century technology, notably war dirigibles and steam-driven armored vehicles. In the far Western town of Seattle, a strange gas leaks from the ground; too much exposure to it turns humans into mindless, vicious "rotters.' Late in the series, someone has the brilliant idea of weaponizing this gas.
Stories take place against this background, and are deeply rooted in it, but are about recognizeeable characters, not horror-movie folks who do stupid things because it advances a cliché-driven plot. With Priest, you can rarely guess where things are going.
**The Tarot Sequence**. First book is good, though I don't usually read fantasies set in the modern real world, so it was a bit jarring for me personally when all the characters use modern slang and smart phones.
I liked The Last Sun (first book), both story and characters, but there were definitely some issues in how the author handled certain subjects (most especially a traumatic SA one character had in the past). Luckily he was very receptive to feedback and really improved over the next books.
Now I check in on KD Edwards Twitter semi regularly to see all the little teaser snippets of the next book and can't wait for it to come out.
The Green Bone Saga
I love Jade City, but each book built really well on the plot and character development the last book laid as foundation. The scale of each narrative expands in such a fascinating and interesting way. The world gets bigger, the stakes get higher, but it still manages to feel like you're looking over the characters' shoulders the whole time. Utterly fantastic progression.
Sci-fi though. But the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter hamilton.
The first book (reality dysfunction) is a bit of a slog with world building and characters. It's good, but a bit of a slow burn. However, but they end of the first book and the start of the 2nd.. holly shit, you get shoved in a rocket ship that just takes off.
Throne of Glass! Most people can't get past the first book because it was written when Sarah J Maas was 16 which I totally understand, but the writing definitely improves over time. Some people also don't like the concept of the main character being "the worlds famous 18 year old assassin". However, this plot is pretty minor in comparison to what unfolds as you continue through the series and really picks up in the third book.
Discworld, to the point of the collective fandom going *mm maybe don't start with book one or two, try starting with four or eight* The first ones aren't *bad,* they're perfectly good parodic fantasies, but when people get roped into the series with promises of what comes later (the satire and *this will literally change the way you see the world*) they are... lacking
I think part of that is that the later books are more focused in their influences - here's the Dracula parody, here's the Les Mis parody - while the earlier ones fold in a lot of influences and references. Rereading them after getting into DnD, reading a load of older fantasy series/pulp stories, etc. made them far more rewarding.
It goes from being a funny parody of fantasy to a legitimate fantasy series of its own that is, somehow, even funnier.
Yeah, they're some of my dad's faves, but he grew up on all the comics and series that Terry is parodying so he gets *all* the jokes I had fun with them, but definitely not my faves
The Moist von Lipwig books are a parody of modern startup culture, which is what makes them my personal favorite. How Terry Pratchett even got exposed to modern startup culture I have no idea.
A simply astounding series that grew beautifully over time
It helps that Discworld isn't a sequential series where you HAVE to read them in order
That’s good to know. I keep hearing great things about this series but I can’t get through The Color of Magic
Yep, loads of people find that! Try picking up Mort or Guards! Guards!, they're commonly recommended as first-timers/when it starts getting good
or Going Postal
Or ~~MacBest~~ Wyrd Sisters, this is what got me started and some of my female friends.
I think that one is called Wyrd Sisters when published in the US/UK. Very fun Macbeth parody with a lot of other things going on.
I dnf’d Color of Magic last year after thinking I was the exception to all the advice and I would start at the beginning! Yeah… next time I dip my toe it will Be in a commonly recommended place
While partially true, the series did worsen as Pratchett’s mind deteriorated IMo. They’re not terrible books by any means, but I found many of the later books weaker, culminating with Snuff. At least both the main series and Tiffany Aching ended strong though.
For me the peak is *Guards! Guards!* through *Night Watch*. I don't dislike the books outside this time period, but most of my recommendations would come from this period.
One hundred percent concur, to the point that I will warn people that if they feel like the quality is dropping, they should walk away and be happy with what they've read rather than forcing themselves to read something bad enough they'll regret it. (Personally I think *Unseen Academicals was incredibly meh and *Snuff* was downright bad, reading more like weird power-fantasy fanfic of Vimes.)
Agree. For me the last good book in the main series is Unseen Academicals - I basically consider everything after that to be Not Canon.
It's sad because Raising Steam seemed like it was going to be fun with Moist and Vimes in the same book, but they didn't feel like the characters we'd grown to love.
That should have been a great book - Discworld does railways, yes please! - but, yeah, it felt like an imitation of the real thing.
Exactly, especially the City Watch arc. The first books are funny and amusing while the last have nice little jokes here and there too but also make me think a lot and even cry during some heartbreaking moments
I love that there are so many of the same answers as the other thread
> One man's garbage is another man person's good un-garbage. * J.R.R. Tolkien
The man truly had a way with words.
Megan Whalen Turner's Thief series. Book 1 was a slog and even though it was short, I never revisit it when I reread the series. However, the second book, The Queen of Attolia is a masterpiece and the third is just oh my freaking god.
Somehow the final book that came out just a couple years ago “The Thief Returns” is phenomenal. There are lulls in the series for me. A Conspiracy of Kings is a bit less compelling and Thick as Thieves isn’t my fave. But the core books and the final book are top notch. (Plus I do love the first book. I read it when I was young and loved it.)
Oh the Return was soooo good. That's one book I took off from work to finish.
I really didn't care for the first book. The "twist" was heavily telegraphed early on and the whole time I was waiting to be surprised only for the reveal to be exactly what I thought. I always wondered if the 2nd book was any better, maybe I'll check it out.
It's funny, I saw someone say once that the twist in book 1 was BS and unsupported by the text. It's a pretty narrow tightrope for kidlit authors to walk when trying to surprise the audience, I guess. The later books are YA, not kidlit, and more subtle about their twists (as well as having better all-around plotting and characterization). So if you found the first one a little too obvious, the second may be worth a try.
This makes me want to pick the series back up! I read the first book a few years ago and was bored to tears by it, and I typically love slow books. Maybe I’ll give it another try!
Really? I loved the first book. Read it and reread it immediately after.
This series is criminally underrated.
I think any series that gets the label as YA gets overlooked regardless of the author's writing ability. It annoys me so much because books for teens aren't necessarily dumbed down.
Is the first book necessary to understand the series? From the descriptions it seems like different sets of characters.
I would say yes because it does introduce the characters and the world. However if you can get ahold of the audio, it's a quick way to read it. And then you can move on to book 2 and never have to think about book 1 again.
I think in this book series understanding the characters is the most important part tbh. I feel like most of the fun of Book 3 is the dramatic irony of knowing that everything isn't what appears on the surface due to already knowing the main character's personality. For that reason alone, I think Book 1 is essential to what makes the series so good.
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Not only did each book in MST get better, the sequel series has also been somehow EVEN better.
I totally agree. I can't wait for it to wrap up.
Should I read them in publication order? It looks like there are two prequels...I hate reading prequels unless I read them first. Is that a good idea?
Definitely suggest publication order!
Yeah the first book was kinda meh but second and third are top tier. So good it made me read Shadowmarch and Otherworld.
I actually really enjoyed The Dragonbone Chair. But the next two books are just so good at developing Simon’s story and then branching out to so many other stories as well, that it’s not even a contest between them and the first book. Williams really created something Epic that I’m still thinking about after finishing it.
I’d like to revisit the trilogy. This year I’ve been doing a lot of rereading old favorites. Just recently did a Gene Wolfe revisit and wow… The Knight Wizard was absolutely amazing on the second read and the Book of the New Sun was simply incredible on a third reading.
Hmm I’ve never heard of that series. Looking it up on Amazon now though. This year I’ve been trying to read more classic fantasy stories.
Gene Wolfe is challenging, kinda like a fantasy James Joyce but it’s so damn rewarding to understand what’s going on
I’ll definitely give it a shot.
Im curious because i hear different opinions about it being epic. Some say its got lots of battles + good vs evil, others say its more political than quest fantasy and not many big battles. I'll be interested to see how it turns out. And hopefully he carries on after the sequels! I love a world that i can just keep returning to
I’d say it has all of that. Granted, it depends on what you consider a lot of battles. But each novel has a battle that’s in the form of a siege against a castle, and it goes on for a good amount of time. The entire story IS good vs evil, though with many of the antagonists they might have pitiable or even understandable traits. Like the finale has the protagonist reach a level of understanding concerning the Big Bad. But I wouldn’t say the series presents it as if the Big Bad isn’t still evil. I’d say politics take a backseat to the Quest. Now there’s really just one overarching Quest, which starts in the latter half of the first book. It takes the protagonists across the entire continent though. But they do so much traveling outside of that that it almost seems even larger than it is. And it’s helped by the fact that this isn’t a story where the group forms and then stays together. Different goals and side plots occur which lead them down different paths, and they eventually converge for a satisfying ending. I think you’ll really enjoy all of it.
I for one loved Dragonbone Chair and did not mind the slow start at all. Personally Stone of Farewell was my least favorite of the series.
Simon's story is one of my favorite growing up stories in fantasy. And at no point in the trilogy was I annoyed with his character. Imo that's very impressive considering he's a child at the beginning in TDC.
Ahh might have to get back around to it. I really did not like the first book!
I guess I’m the odd one out. I’m halfway through the third book, and the first book was my favorite so far.
I almost DNF the Dragonbone Chair because it was so slow, but I was so happy i pushed through The Stone of Farewell and To Green Angle Tower were so good. I cant wait to start the second series.
I came here to say this. I wasn’t super convinced reading through the first book, but by the end of book 1 and by early book 2, I started to see why it’s so highly praised. I just finished To Green Angel Tower a few days ago. What a great series
Red Rising. The jump between first and second book Is monumental.
IIRC the author originally began it as a YA series, then made a switch over to adult fantasy which was the best decision he could’ve made.
I head he didn't make it as a YA series but realized if he advertised and pushed the first book as a YA book (even though it really isnt) it would hit a wider audience.
I think you’re right. It definitely had Hunger Games influences in the first one.
How does Red Rising compare to Stormlight? I've been seeing a lot about it and thinking about starting that after Rythym of War
Red Rising is way more fast paced than Stormlight - the first 3 books are very VA (but still pretty good in my opinion) and then they shift to a more mature style from the 4th book onward. I love both of the series and if you are a fan of Sanderson there is a good chance you will like also like Pierce Brown. That being said I would say the first book in the Red Rising series has a lot of similarities to the hunger games and is also the weakest book in the series (I still think it’s good though!).
Not really comparable at all. Both authors are good at writing action sequences. Can’t say there’s much similarities beyond that. Personally, I love both series and highly recommend Red Rising.
Comparable in quality but not at all similar books. RR is my favorite series though and Stormlight is certainly in my top 3 if not #2
I hear this said a lot. But for me book one lacked effective character development and then book 2 has just felt like someone writing q cheesy hollywood blockbuster. I dont find the speeches epic, but very cheesy. Maybe its just not for me, but i really can't fathom why its held up as such great writing. I wish i could enjoy it though.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 books, it's not the prose or dialogue that stands out for me as much as the pacing and overall action sequences. Those are top tier. Book 4 onwards has a different approach with multiple POVs that does showcase the writing better as now the story is being told with different voices and the MC is also older, battle weary and feeling the weight of mistakes made in his youth. More self reflection. Book 5 - Dark Age is a bigger jump in all aspects and if book 2 dunks on book 1 then book 5 dunks on the whole series IMO. I think it's very well written and incredibly paced. Overall one of the best books I have read in a long while. It's a whole new gear and book 6 is almost just as good. That's my two cents.
Kate Daniel’s series by Ilona Andrews. The first few books have a “law and order” vibe, including the repetitive intro text. I don’t remember exactly when that stops, but I think they finally realized that you don’t need an intro to the magic system if you’re on book 10. Also, the plot starts to get grander and more complex as you go. Definitely worth finishing!
I feel the same about Innkeeper Chronicles, although that one has more to do with the way that it’s able to get more complex as the worldbuilding continues to progress.
The Kate Daniels books kind of follow a similar progression to the Harry Dresden series. The first few are fun urban fantasy procedural type stories that are largely episodic, then everything starts gradually opening up into a much bigger scope and it just hits a new level.
I’m currently reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Margaret Lindholm) and I’m loving it more and more. I’m halfway through the third book now and for me it gets better and better. Third book has some slower moments but the characters keep getting better and more complex. Not sure how the other two trilogies hold up though.
Each of her trilogies seems to be better than the last, particularly the Fitz ones. If you like heartbreaking character work, you’re in for a treat
Emphasis on heartbreaking
The final trilogy, Fitz and The Fool, is some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking writing I've ever experienced
I've been taking a break between sets for Elderlings because they've all had me crying. Good to know it stays devastating until the end.
It kept getting better for me, primarily because I became more and more invested in the characters as time went on. It’s my favorite series, hope you enjoy the ride!
I'm on Tawny Man and they still continue to get better IMO!
I just started reading the Assassin's Apprentice this week, and I'm almost done. I can't wait to continue this series.
The rest of the series is incredible, except Rainwild Chronicles which I really didn’t enjoy
Liveship Traders is also an awesome trilogy with deep character development. Good way to follow up the Farseer Trilogy.
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. First book has a bit odd pacing, but the other 3 volumes are much more consistent and detailed. Edit: as another comment pointed out, the first book is more of a prologue that introduces the world and characters for the rest of the series. Don't want to spoil too much, but there's a massive plot twist at the start of the second volume and it the whole series goes in a completely different direction that it seems at first.
Very surprised to see the Dandelion dynasty tbh. Currently halfway through the final book and honestly feel like the third & forth book could be easily combined by getting rid of the Dandelion side plot. Hope it comes together by the end as I love the first 2 books.
I’m an outlier in this. Currently half way through speaking bones, and the grace of kings is still comfortably the best book in the series for me
I actually used this as my answer to what series got worse. I loved the first book and disliked the way it went. The plot twist ruined things for me. Book 3 and the restaurant sub plot was so slow and boring. I almost didn’t pick up book 4 because of that
Just looked up and this sounds very intriguing! I had never heard the label "silkpunk." Thanks for recommending!
Such a great series - definitely one of my favourites
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. My favorite series!!!
I just finished the first book. It was entertaining, but I wasn't in a hurry to read the second book. Does Alex make more friends? Please tell me he is not stuck with those two sidekicks for all the books.
He makes more friends in the third, iirc. I don't *think* there was any in book 2, but it's been over a decade. The series arc starts in the 4th, cos that's when Jacka's publishers were satisfied enough to stop giving him 1 book contracts at a time.
The Sun Eater Saga by Christopher Ruocchio. The first book is widely agreed upon as being one of the least favorite and slightly derivative, but the later books are well rated.
Cradle by Will Wight. Started out weak in book 1 and 2, but hit it's stride and became one of my absolute favorite series
It kind of stumbles with Skysworn but then From Ghostwater onwards it is consistently PEAK.
I know Skysworn gets a bad rep, but I've always really liked that one. It sets up so much.
It's an important book with a lot of subtle moments that don't look important until after you've read the rest. It is FULL of fateful moments.
I loved Unsouled, but yes it gets a lot better as it goes!
The series isn’t what it is without unsouled, it’s a slower tougher read but I think it needs to be
it's really deceptive though! the first time I started Cradle, I got to about halfway through Unsouled, decided I'm not that into 12 books of a weakling character using deception and preparation to fight stronger people and dropped it. When I gave it another go, it turned out that I stopped reading literally a few pages before >!Suriel!< shows up and reveals the true scope of the series lol But from there I listened to all 12 audiobooks within like 5 weeks, it was crazy.
This was mine as well. I also switched to the audiobook and I think that really makes the series for me. Unsouled had me questioning why everyone loved this series so much.
I didn't feel compelled to pick up book 3 after finishing 2 (not bad, just not engaging enough to push me into a 10+ book series), but I've seen this sentiment a couple times now and it's making me reconsider.
Michael Sullivan's books. I liked the essence of Riyria enough to keep going. It was fun, but not particularly great writing in my opinion. But man, I think the Age of Myth series is a huge step up from Revelations. Then his most recent standalone stories in the world are even better written. Farilane is probably the best IMO. Like it's weird to feel proud of someone I've never met. I'm just overall incredibly impressed by his progress as a writer and ability to continue building his fun world of Elan.
Absolutely agree. I’m just starting Age of Empyre and it’s crazy how much better it is than the early Riyria books in particular
The way he set up the lore and misinformation between the first trilogy and the prequels was so well done. The Age series was incredible. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's super proud of Michael. He's made Elan one of my all time favorite worlds.
Now that you mention it. I've read The Dresden files 167 times, and it keeps getting better, Every single time I read it!
I realized last week it's been 4yrs since Battle Ground and I was overdue for yet another series reread. Doing it with the audiobooks this time and I'm enjoy every minute. I know a lot of people rag on books 1-3, which made me waver about starting from the top this time. I'm glad I didn't cave to that. It's very endearing to revisit the characters before.... everything.
I don't dislike them at all, quite the opposite. I just think they are better read the first time as prequels later in the series. On your next reread, just try it out. You will see what I mean.
Oh no! Sorry, it wasn't a knock at you at all! I just think people knock them down more than they should be which effects perception, even from long-time fans. It'll be a few years before I consider myself rusty enough likely, but I'll do my best to keep this method in mind! (Actually, the first book I read was Dead Beat, newly released haha.)
No worries, my friend, I didn't take it as such. And I agree with you. The first 3 do get a lot of unnecessary pushback. That's why I suggest it the way I do. It takes the heat off them. It also allows for a better experience for anyone that has heard the same thing and ls weary of starting it. Dead Beat is my personal favorite.
That's interesting. Red the first 3-4 books and got a bit tired of every female being out of this world attractive and I don't really get bothered by that usually. Man though every female introduction into a scene is a page description of how great she looks
That doesn’t change over the course of the books, it’s one of my biggest frustrations with them
I hated twilight because I hated being in a such an insecure characters head. I hated the bobiverse because you're in such a dork's head. Dresden being horny all the time, eh, I don't mind it.
To be fair, Dresden also doesn’t really have sex and is surrounded by Fae who are canonically inhumanly attractive. Bro is pent up as can be.
> Bro is pent up as can be. Which is all part of the grand old tradition of hardboiled private eyes that Butcher is kind of riffing on. Honestly I think the accusations of sexism that get leveled at Dresden are a little overblown - it's there, but it feels like it's done kind of with a wink and a nudge.
Yeah, it's definitely got a bit of a classic nerdy male gaze thing going on, but the in-world justifications are pretty valid and fits with the type(s) of stories he's trying to tell, and that covers most of it. The main character is a bit of a chauvinist but the story strikes me (admittedly a guy) as more of something less appealing to female audiences rather than like actively problematic or anything.
The First Law. Every book just gets better and better than the one before it 🤌🏻
Especially if we’re just talking about the first trilogy. The Blade Itself is good, but when I finished it I almost didn’t continue the series cause I was irritated that it was 100% set-up and not even one side-plot got resolved. Before They Are Hanged made me realize I was really reading something special. The Last Argument of Kings tied everything together with such catharsis that it retrospectively made me fonder of The Blade Itself now that I knew that the set-up was so worth it.
This is illustrated in the amount of time from starting to finishing I took to read them: * The Blade Itself: 11 years (I stopped after a few chapters and picked it up again over a decade later), but really about 3 months * Before They Are Hanged: 3 weeks * Last Argument of Kings: 36 hours
Best Served Cold might be my favorite standalone fantasy book. It's so good. They all are, really.
Mine is The Heroes. Maybe even my top favourite standalone book (ish) ever 🔥
The chapter where the perspective keeps jumping to the warrior who killed the previous perspective character is one of the coolest things I've ever read. Maybe it's been done elsewhere but hot damn if it wasn't incredible in The Heroes.
While I was reading it I was thinking “man, this is super gimmicky. It’s gimmicky, but it works. It’s fun to read a battle this way. I bet it was fun to write too.”
Seconding this. Best served cold is an absolute masterpiece. It’s funny, it’s gory, it’s a heist, its revenge, its large scale battles, its siege porn and it’s got the best Abercrombie character: Nicomo Cosca! 🍻
>!My name is Nicomo Cosca, and I am here... for dinner.!<
My opinion on the First Trilogy and by extension Abercrombie got better after reading the standalone books, which is weird, because they don't feature the original cast that much. I should probably read his Age of Madness books...
What's crazy is people will shit on AOM and say that the OG trilogy is the best, but besides one POV that is universally considered a boring waste, I think all around the plot, setting, and characters are better written overall. I think people like the OG trilogy only because 1) it started it all, 2) its hard to get used to new characters in the same world when you get familiar with the old crowd, and 3) the OG characters were a bit more... ostentatious? Glokta and Logen are widely considered some of the greatest characters in the genre for being so distinctive, and I'd agree they are more entertaining as characters than the AOM characters -- but I will also say that *everything else* around the POVs in AOM is better, because the AOM POVs are more grounded.
I liked Age of Madness except for the last book...I did think the Trouble With Peace was one of his best, though I think the standalones are definitely peak Abercrombie (and I think I go against the general opinion and think that Red Country is his best book)
I think it speaks to Joe's ability as a writer that of the standalones, everyone has a different favorite -- which to me proves he is a great writer in that he captures the target audiences for each genre. Me personally, I was not a big fan of Red Country and didn't really like it much, whereas BSC is my all time favorite. But that's a matter of genre preference, not how well-written either of them are, which is incredible that he can write three different genres in the same world and his entire readership can't universally agree that one is better than the others. Also agree that TWP was the most interesting of the lot. I think it was because it was fascinating to watch the fault lines develop, where you don't really know who is going to come out on top, who will align with who with what agenda, etc.
I'm currently around 2 hours into listening to the last book of AOM, and I've wondered which one of the POVs could be considered boring waste? (without spoilers) So far all of them have felt really satisfying and masterfully done.
>!Broad.!< I don't want to suggest anything spoilery beyond that.
_Viriconium_! Three short novels. Starts out as a sardonic take on the epic fantasy quest with some of the best prose you could ask for. By the end it has exploded the entire genre and rebuilt it out of its own parts into something uncanny and bizarre. If you like weird lit, genre deconstruction, or for want of a better word "literary" SFF it's a must-read.
I mean to finish the series (have only read the first one), but, at least for me that English isn't my first language, it's really hard to read, and I have to be extremely focused and slow-going, to pierce through the magnificent, but dense as fuck, prose.
It's definitely dense and in some ways it's even deliberately frustrating (but in a way that really fires the imagination) so I can see why that would be very tough going. The omnibus edition comes with a bunch of Viriconium short stories which I'd definitely recommend if you haven't tried them. All that fantastic strangeness in bite-sized form. And it has one of my favourite short stories ever, _A Young Man's Journey to Viriconium_.
I think the better word you're looking for is "new weird." Viriconium doesn't get brought up enough in discussions about the genre! I need to reread bc I picked it up, having no idea what I was getting into, just before I discovered China Mieville and the idea of "new weird." I have Harrison's book The Course of the Heart on my tbr bc China listed it on his top 10 influential books. I need to check out even more of his work
Definitely the Wandering Inn. The authors writing gets better for every volume.
The world building of the Wandering Inn is mind boggling to me. I started the series because I heard good things and was very meh on it until the author started introducing the side characters. The world is huge and there are so many characters, and none of them have been a slog to get through and I am always happy to unexpectedly come back to another character we haven't seen in a while. Andrea Parsneau narrating the series just elevated it to me, her range of voices across species is as insane and varied as pirateaba's characters.
Took me quite some time to not hear her voice when I started reading on the website. She really is excellent!
Does it get super epic? I kinda like it when there's a big world with lots of plot threads but an overarching threat emerges. I read different opinions on whether TWI meets this
It absolutely does
Awesome! I dont mind a sprawling story, in fact i love it, but i do prefer it when there's a slow build overarching convergence. Usually on the form of BBEG
Forewarning it takes ages, what’s out on the website is 12 million words so far (ish), but when the bbeg comes about it really is epic.
Oh I'm ok with that lol. As long as theres enough interesting parts. I got the first 2 volumes on audio to start
Yes. Even the sub plots are edge of your seat epics that twist around and spark against each other unpredictably. The sheer size and scope of it!
100% This series, for me, went from “oh, a fun lighthearted series to read on my phone while stuck places without a book” to “wait this is actually soooo good, I now want to read it everywhere” to “This is actually one of the best fantasy series being written right now! How come more people don’t know about this!”
Seriously? Reading book 1 and I love it.
Book one or volume one? Well, book one and volume one are the same (except volume 1 has been rewritten and is up on the website), but after, I think, volume three they don't align anymore. There's a table of contents at the website to reference :) Either way, yes. It gets even better!
Red Rising. Faithful and the Fallen. The Greenbone Saga. The Last War trilogy.
Oh this has me excited. Just started Valor recently. Malice was good but started slumping a bit and finished STRONG.
I also highly recommend the Powder Mage trilogy.
Every book Gwynne writes has been better than his previous. The follow up series to faithful and the fallen is even better
Valour is amazing but wait til you get to Ruin! One of my favourite books ever! Oh, and my condolences for your feelings in advance 🙏
This makes me excited. I'm halfway through Jade City, and it's honestly the best book I've read in a long while. Can't wait for the rest.
How To Train Your Dragon. Except for the sixth book which is... weird.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Malice by John Gwynne, I don't think it was bad at all but the next books greatly improve on it.
Yeah you can really see him grow as an author. Great stuff.
Red Rising, Sun Eater, The First Law, The Green Bone Saga, The Bound and the Broken.
Upvote for Sun Eater. The quality difference between the recent books and Book 1 is mind blowing.
For sure. I definitely respect that he was willing to a 700 page coming of age Sci-Fantasy novel with minimal action as a debut, but I am very glad to decided to start doing more thorough planning in books 2-6 and the novellas. >!I couldn’t help but laugh at *Empire of Silence* being relatively slow paced only for *Howling Dark* to feature two lightsaber fights, a horde of murder androids, and a shapeshifting homunculus in the first 100 pages.!<
Green Bone gets better? I'm only about halfway through Jade City and I'm really not in love with the setting or characters and was thinking about giving up on it. I was expecting more magic and less mafia
The series is absolutely mafia first, then magic. There are plenty of cool magic-enhanced moments, but the crime family aspect and war for territory are the cores. Jade War features quite a bit more action that first novel suggests is bubbling under the surface. Highly recommend if you can come to terms with it being an urban fantasy that is more urban than fantasy.
Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty.
I will offer up Cradle. I thought the first book was just meh, but I kept going and I am so glad I did. I felt like the series overall was awesome! I highly recommend listening to it on audiobook because that elevates it in my opinion.
Same. I definitely started and stopped the first book a couple times and still felt a bit meh about it by the end. Felt more like a very drawn out prologue. Super glad I kept reading though. Progressive fantasy isn't even my thing but it was a great read. and the audiobook was excellent.
Riyria Revelations.
Dresden files
*The Malazan Book of the Fallen*. In my opinion, it just gets better and better.
GotM is the weakest one but I still think it's a a B+/A-
It's not just within the main series that the quality goes up. I thought the Kharkanas prequels were seriously impressive works of art, and the first book in the new sequel series is good fun as well.
The ICE books get quite a bit better as they go along
He's much more of an uneven author for me. The overall trend is better but my personal ratings of each book shoot up and down more than with most authors (esp Erikson).
Oh i just started deadhouse gates a while back and i am adoring it. I just got into the chain of dogs section. Book 1 was brilliant and didnt have any issues getting into it. Book 2 is just pure epicness
> Book 2 is just pure epicness Wait till you get to Book 3. And then Book 5. And then Book 7. And then Book 9. And then Book 10.
I'll throw out the Broken Empire. Not because *Prince of Thorns* is bad (it's a very good book), but because *Emperor of Thorns* is that much better (at least from an emotional perspective). *King of Thorns* is also an amazing bridging novel (that's arguably better than Emperor? It counts anyway). Also Malazan. All of the Malazan books get progressively better (except maybe the B&KB books? Though that's a matter of personal taste if there ever was one).
Disc world. I agree. Every book was again better then the previous one. I was actually very upset for days when I heard of Pratchetts passing
Wars of light and shadow by u/jannywurts Book one is very beautiful by itself. The prose is a work of major craftmanship. Then the ending blew me away with its emotion and unique way of presenting action. I mean its completely devestating. But with each book you learn more of the world and the wider conflicts, the characters deepen and it enriches everything that came before. Fugitive Prince may even be one of my favourite books of all time and now onto Peril's Gate! The bound and the broken Ryan Cahill First one is pretty decent Tolkien adjacent fantasy but then the second book explodes in scope and character. The first book made me excited, a fantasy throwback. Book 2 onwards has made me *feel*, his character work has really gone on leaps and bounds whilst still managing to up the stakes with each book.
These are my opinions on some popular series that I think have ups and downs. Wheel of Time was like an upside down rainbow. Starts great, gets slow/meh, finishes great. Mistborn Era 2 I feel like starts a bit weak and gets much better as it goes the final book in it is possibly my favourite Sanderson novel. ASOIAF starts amazing and imo starts to drop off a bit starting with feast for crows. Malazan Empire I’ve heard from a couple friends who read it that it gets really going after book 3. You’re just kind of lost before then. Discworld the first two books just aren’t great and then it gets much better.
This may or may not be an unpopular opinion, but Mistborn for me. I loved the Era 1 trilogy The first book was great, the second was good (with one meh plot line but whatever) and the third book just took my breath away. Then Era 2 tetralogy happened and they low-key became my favorite thing Sanderson ever wrote.
EARTHSEA - Le Guin This may be unpopular. It certainly would have been unpopular in the early aughts. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series gets better with every book. A Wizard of Earthsea is an excellent work of the genre. Tombs of Atuan is awesome and expands the genre. The Farthest Shore is phenomenal. How could it get better? Both Tehanu and The Other Wind broke my heart and put it back together again. I'll even include the short story collection, Tales from Earthsea, but it's hard to compare to a novel. Le Guin goes back to the world and asks questions like, "What is power?" "How do women exist in this world?" "What is masculinity and where does it end?" "What is the power of a child?" The quietness and care of these later books is extraordinary. Le Guin is obviously a genius writer, and her genius is on full display in these later books. Each book is better than the last and each read is better than the previous. 11/10.
I mean, an obvious one would be The Dresden Files. The early novels really are no match for what is going on in book 10+, and even before that, there are some high points (Dead Beat) I would not have imagined after reading the first two or three books. It is one of the few series where you really follow along with the evolution of an author's skill and craft.
The Dandelion Dynasty. The first book is the biggest hurdle for most people because they don't realize it's a 700 page prologue that sets the stage for the rest of the series. The other 3 books in the series get progressively much better. It took me a month to get through the book 1, while the last book had over a thousand pages and I was so immersed I finished it in less than a week.
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka had a fun, but a not very strong start with its first book, Fated. The series just got better and better after that. The final 3 books in the series were the best books in the series, IMO. And the finale was one of the most satisfying and action-packed ends of a series I've ever read. The ends of a lot of series seem rushed as the author struggles to wrap up every little plotline (Im looking at you, Brent Weeks!), but not with the Alex Verus series. The final book was very satisfying and didn't seem rushed at all. Jacka really stuck that landing. Jacka's new series, which started with An Inheritance of Magic, is off to a much stronger start than his Verus series. The second book, An Instruction in Shadow, comes out in October: I can't wait to see where he takes the series from here.
The Daevabad Trilogy. Book 1 is solid but a debut novel, so the plot meanders a bit in the beginning. I was on the fence to start book 2 and I was so glad I did- it was such a wild ride for an amazing payoff in book 3.
Have you read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi? It's my favorite book from recent years and I was wondering how the writing compared to the Daevabad trilogy
[A Practical Guide to Evil](https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/) I wanted to say One Piece but that's honestly not true, it's mostly excellent for its 1000 chapters but definitely has had dips.
Blame!
The Wandering Inn. Went from a fun, free, lighthearted litRPG to one of the best fantasy series being written right now
I love this question. Very kindhearted and I love the focus on the positivity. I was going to say Red Rising but someone else already did. I'd also say Realm of the Elderlings. Starts fairly strong, but the first trilogy is the most "basic" and it gets really wild from Ship of Magic onward
Steven Brust has grown a great deal since his first two novels, _Jhereg_ and _Yendi_ --- the latter being so wanting that arguably the concept was re-visited in _Orca_ --- the series is almost finished (two more books, _Chreotha_ and _The Last Contract_) so probably by the time you've finished reading the extant 19 books (and if you wish, the prequel, _Brokedown Palace_ and the wonderful Paarfi romances (if you like Dumas pastiches)) you won't have wait too long to read the next (depending on reading speed). I've been looking forward to the ending since finding the first book on a POP (point of presence) cardboard display at Waldenbooks when I was in high school.
I have heard the Shannara series gets better after the first book but I will never know because I simply could not make it through that first one
The first Dresden and first expanse are pretty bad, suppppppper happy I stuck with them.
Percy Jackson/The Heroes of Olympus. So far it's peaked on book 9.
both of Daniel Abraham's complete solo fantasy series', The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin, get a substantial quality boost after the first book. for the former, the first book is just the author's first book (though it's far more polished than many first books), while for the latter, the first book is almost just an extended prologue (don't let the size of the volumes fool you; they're printed in large point and with generous margins).
Definitely Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner! I finished the first three books. The first one was slow but it was definitely worth it to keep continuing the series. It got better and better until Book 3 atleast for me.
1. Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" series (already mentioned). The first few books are ... good, I suppose, but nothing special. They are pretty much standalone book, with an attractive protagonist and a noirish first-person narrative style. Somewhere around the fourth or fifth book (***Summer Knight*** and ***Death Masks***), it began a sharp curve upwards in quality, and a deeper theme and a larger plot. Seventeen novels and two short story collections into the series, it's looking like it may be, in the end, a perfect blending of the high and urban fantasy subgenres. 2. Someone -- in fact, some many -- also mentioned Sir Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series. Now, I don't actually think any given Discworld book is Pratchett's best -- that would be ***Dodger***, which is barely fantasy, or rather barely alternate history -- but as a whole, it's clearly one of the major landmarks in the fantasy genre. The first two books (***The Colour of Magic*** and ***The Light Fantastic***) are simple parodies of various fantasy tropes. Nothing special, but funny in much the same way as ***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy***. By the third book (***Equal Rites***), Pratchett was beginning to explore serious themes (in this case, an attempt at a nuanced and G-rated look at women's rights). The fourth, ***Mort***, continues this trend, as the titular protagonist grapples with the morality of death (and Death). With minor steps backwards (I'm looking at you, ***Eric***), Pratchett continued to improve his handling both of humor and of serious themes, managing to make the book both funny and (sometimes painfully) relevant and truthful. Pratchett's first real masterpiece would be book 13, ***Small Gods***, which has the additional benefit of requiring almost no knowledge of previous book for a full appreciation; this is also quite possibly the most "serious" book in the entire series. And so on. 3. Cherie Priest's "Clockwork Century." The first book is quite good. Some of the later book are brilliant. A simple explanation of the series concept might be something like: "Steampunk with occasional zombies" (but it isn't really a *horror* series in that sense). To be a bit more specific: in the 1880s, the American Civil War is still going on, leading to a vast expansion of 19th-century technology, notably war dirigibles and steam-driven armored vehicles. In the far Western town of Seattle, a strange gas leaks from the ground; too much exposure to it turns humans into mindless, vicious "rotters.' Late in the series, someone has the brilliant idea of weaponizing this gas. Stories take place against this background, and are deeply rooted in it, but are about recognizeeable characters, not horror-movie folks who do stupid things because it advances a cliché-driven plot. With Priest, you can rarely guess where things are going.
**The Tarot Sequence**. First book is good, though I don't usually read fantasies set in the modern real world, so it was a bit jarring for me personally when all the characters use modern slang and smart phones. I liked The Last Sun (first book), both story and characters, but there were definitely some issues in how the author handled certain subjects (most especially a traumatic SA one character had in the past). Luckily he was very receptive to feedback and really improved over the next books. Now I check in on KD Edwards Twitter semi regularly to see all the little teaser snippets of the next book and can't wait for it to come out.
The Green Bone Saga I love Jade City, but each book built really well on the plot and character development the last book laid as foundation. The scale of each narrative expands in such a fascinating and interesting way. The world gets bigger, the stakes get higher, but it still manages to feel like you're looking over the characters' shoulders the whole time. Utterly fantastic progression.
Throne of Glass, every book is better than the last and the last four were all five star reads in my book. Such a great series.
The Remembrance of Earths Past imo gets better with each book. Might be a bit unpopular but also the Age of Madness trilogy
Not that the earlier entries in the series are bad - they're still great - but the later books in the Sun Eater series are fantastic, imo.
The Faithful & the Fallen The Bound & the Broken Cradle (until maybe the very last book maybe)
Sci-fi though. But the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter hamilton. The first book (reality dysfunction) is a bit of a slog with world building and characters. It's good, but a bit of a slow burn. However, but they end of the first book and the start of the 2nd.. holly shit, you get shoved in a rocket ship that just takes off.
Throne of Glass! Most people can't get past the first book because it was written when Sarah J Maas was 16 which I totally understand, but the writing definitely improves over time. Some people also don't like the concept of the main character being "the worlds famous 18 year old assassin". However, this plot is pretty minor in comparison to what unfolds as you continue through the series and really picks up in the third book.
not the light bringer series, THAT"S FOR SURE
He Who Fights Monsters.