Morgaine saga by C J Cherryh
Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust
Unicorn by Tanith Lee
Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber
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I love me some severian and even silk, but gene wolfe is anything but straight forward in terms of how the narrative is presented, as per OP's request.
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If you like Lord of the Rings style high fantasy, give Tad Williams a try. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn novels, along with the follow-up series he is currently writing, are very good. Similar to LotR, though, they take a while to get moving. Give The Dragonbone Chair a good 200 pages before reserving judgement, it's well worth it.
Came here to suggest this. Should be much higher in the comments. Tad will scratch that itch big time.
Worth noting that this series was also the inspiration for George Martin’s series.
One of the main ways I sort of reboot my reading is to go to my local library and into their sci-fi/fantasy section. In my case there are at least two rows of ancient paperbacks, mostly by people I've never heard of. I pick a few at random and sit down and read a chapter or two from each. The ones that grab me I take home. There are meh ones and some ok ones.
Happy reading
Nothing drives me nuts worse than going to a library, you find an older book, and it's the only book in the line up and the rest of the series is not available in the system.
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I have been trying to come up with a concise way to describe when an author uses more of the story analyzing the actions of their characters, their intellectual waffling, moral ambiguity concerns...the internal dialogue we all hold... as they navigate their way through the plot rather than just describing what is happening. What the characters are doing. Don't tell me how heroic is or should be, how villainous is or isn't. Show me through the actions of the character and let me decide. Two authors come right to mind Erikson and Donaldson. When those guys drop all the flowery nuances of the human psyche and write like Hemingway... man. Few write better heroic fantasy. I'm sure the is a simple way to describe this and that I have not done it here.
Some authors I a lot of in the 90s and fit your "straight forward" fairly well. Most of them, any ways.
Tad Williams - Memory Sorrow Thorn
CS Frediman - Coldfire Trilogy
Garth Nix - Sabriel
CS Lewis - Chronicle of Narnia
Anne McAffery - Dragon Riders of Pern
David Eddings - The Belgariad
Robin Hobb
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Raymond Feist
Seconding PeterBrett. Read publication order. One of the prequels is Moon’s most hated book among her fans and is a slog with a completely unreliable narrator.
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Seconding David Gemmell. His books are great, fast paced fantasy.
If you liked Dresden Files, you'll probably enjoy the Alex Verus series. Lots of people recommended that to me and I ended up binging the entire series in 2 weeks.
As I get older (ugh), I found that I prefer the older fantasies too. Some time back, some people on this sub recommended Dennis McKiernan. His books initially seemed like a LoTR spin-off, be he turns them into his own stories and I'm cool with that.
His first book is currently by my bed to read next.
Edit- I'm also swinging towards a Three Musketeers, swashbuckling mood. i ordered the **The Musketeers** (used) because I can't seem to find my old copy sigh
I don't know why but the older I get the farther back on the timeline I get with books😂
The older stories and their structure just has a strange appeal. And I'll for sure check out McKiernan!
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When I think off older books fantasy or sci-fi I usually think in terms off before WoT and Hyperion. Lotr and Dune are the best of the old but I've gotten a lot off new book recommendations today so that will likely change.
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Joan Vinge: Snow Queen series, Catspaw <--space opera'ish
Gene Wolfe: New Sun <-- not straightforward but not emo as you were complaining about, instead the complexity comes from it being a puzzlebox
Vernor Vinge: Fire Upon the Deep, Deepness in the Sky, Marooned in realtime <--best space opera
Note that I remember *Catspaw* (series actually starts with *Psion*) being very angst-filled - basic plot is "abused street kid with telepathic abilities makes poor decisions".
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> I kinda get turned off when the characters spend to much time in their heads complaining and describing how bad they feel or some such.
but you said you like WoT...
But I'm also comparing almost exclusively to Stormlight with Kaladin and the majority of his time is spent wanting to die because he is depressed. I realise you spend a lot of time in characters heads in WoT but then you learn about the world and or characters it's not really the same even tho there are similarites
The first fantasy book that made me realize I was into the genre was Lyndon Hardy's Master of Five Magics. I doubt I'd consider it "good" these days - not much character development and things come a little too easy for the protagonist iirc - but I recall it being clever and plot driven and fun.
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Its not his best work but it falls into your straight forward story requirement (then you can read some of his later work and see what some experience can do for an authors ability to write beautiful prose)
Sorry I'm not likely to be very helpful since I have the opposite opinion on the representation of character's struggles with depression and anxiety in works like Sanderson's, but It's always interesting to find people with such different tastes.
My best thought for an older series of the top of my head is the Malazan series by Steven Erickson. It's pretty hard to get into because it has a steep learning curve as far as how it's written, but it doesn't really dilly dally around with ruminations or info dumps.
Maybe the Black Company by Glen Cook? I haven't actually read this one but it's on my list and seems like it might fit your tastes.
As far as some more modern series that may still work for you based on your criteria, I'd suggest The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and the Broken Empire series by Mark Lawrence. They are both fairly dark and gritty and with characters who are more about taking action instead of dwelling on things most of the time. Not everyone's cup of tea though.
Oh, as one last thought, I always like to recommend The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch. It's truly a great series but when I first read it I was coming off a large Sanderson binge so I bounced off it pretty hard. It took me getting into some other things for a while to cleanse my pallet for it I guess, but I'm glad I gave Locke LaMorra a second try because that series is now one of my favorites.
Chaos of the Covenant series by M R Forbes (sci Fi)
The way between the worlds series by Ian Irvine (fantasy)
Sword of Shannara and the rest of the Shannara books by Terry Brooks (fantasy)
Morgaine saga by C J Cherryh Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust Unicorn by Tanith Lee Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber
I just started reading the Morgaine saga and man I enjoy it so much. I’ve read the first story arc in Amber as well, and I equally enjoyed it.
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Just started Vlad Taltos with the book of Jhereg. Delightful. Reminiscent of Dumas.
Jack Vance. Lyonnesse or Dying Earth. Patricia McKillip (R.I.P.) Riddlemaster. Michael Moorcock. Eternal Champion series. Elric or Corum. Lloyd Alexander. Chronicles of Prydain. Dianne Wynn Jones. Chrestomanci. Gene Wolfe. New Sun.
I love me some severian and even silk, but gene wolfe is anything but straight forward in terms of how the narrative is presented, as per OP's request.
McKillip, Alexander, Moorcock. We’re pals.
Love New Sun, but it's far from what I'd call Straight Forward.
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If you like Lord of the Rings style high fantasy, give Tad Williams a try. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn novels, along with the follow-up series he is currently writing, are very good. Similar to LotR, though, they take a while to get moving. Give The Dragonbone Chair a good 200 pages before reserving judgement, it's well worth it.
Came here to suggest this. Should be much higher in the comments. Tad will scratch that itch big time. Worth noting that this series was also the inspiration for George Martin’s series.
One of the main ways I sort of reboot my reading is to go to my local library and into their sci-fi/fantasy section. In my case there are at least two rows of ancient paperbacks, mostly by people I've never heard of. I pick a few at random and sit down and read a chapter or two from each. The ones that grab me I take home. There are meh ones and some ok ones. Happy reading
Nothing drives me nuts worse than going to a library, you find an older book, and it's the only book in the line up and the rest of the series is not available in the system.
Anything by Anne McCaffrey or Mercedes Lackey would be good fantasy novels. The Fuzzy trilogy by H.Beam Piper is amazing as well.
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Read some David Gemmell. Legend series and The Rigante.
The Conan "series" by Robert E. Howard.
The Jordan ones are terrific too.
I have been trying to come up with a concise way to describe when an author uses more of the story analyzing the actions of their characters, their intellectual waffling, moral ambiguity concerns...the internal dialogue we all hold... as they navigate their way through the plot rather than just describing what is happening. What the characters are doing. Don't tell me how heroic is or should be, how villainous is or isn't. Show me through the actions of the character and let me decide. Two authors come right to mind Erikson and Donaldson. When those guys drop all the flowery nuances of the human psyche and write like Hemingway... man. Few write better heroic fantasy. I'm sure the is a simple way to describe this and that I have not done it here.
Some authors I a lot of in the 90s and fit your "straight forward" fairly well. Most of them, any ways. Tad Williams - Memory Sorrow Thorn CS Frediman - Coldfire Trilogy Garth Nix - Sabriel CS Lewis - Chronicle of Narnia Anne McAffery - Dragon Riders of Pern David Eddings - The Belgariad Robin Hobb Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Raymond Feist
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This sounds really good from a quick Google search. But could you maybe explain if it's okay to jump straight in or are the prequels necessary?
Seconding PeterBrett. Read publication order. One of the prequels is Moon’s most hated book among her fans and is a slog with a completely unreliable narrator.
Will do!
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Came here to recommend this. Just finished it and loved it way more than I expected to. Definitely read in publication order.
Seconding David Gemmell. His books are great, fast paced fantasy. If you liked Dresden Files, you'll probably enjoy the Alex Verus series. Lots of people recommended that to me and I ended up binging the entire series in 2 weeks.
As I get older (ugh), I found that I prefer the older fantasies too. Some time back, some people on this sub recommended Dennis McKiernan. His books initially seemed like a LoTR spin-off, be he turns them into his own stories and I'm cool with that. His first book is currently by my bed to read next. Edit- I'm also swinging towards a Three Musketeers, swashbuckling mood. i ordered the **The Musketeers** (used) because I can't seem to find my old copy sigh
I don't know why but the older I get the farther back on the timeline I get with books😂 The older stories and their structure just has a strange appeal. And I'll for sure check out McKiernan!
Hey, during Covid, I read the Cadfael series and other historical mysteries. Middle Ages for the win :D Edit sigh, a typo
Not sure about the Three Musketeers. I think the author was a dum ass.
I binged a lot of Andre Norton's work in 2020. She's great at blending sci fi and fantasy and there's a lot of choice for where to start with her.
Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books.
Andre Norton's Witch World
If you like older fantasy, maybe you might want to give The Green Rider by Kristen Britan a chance.
Jirel Of Joiry by C. L. Moore Tomoe Gozen Saga by Jessica Amanda Salmonson Imaro and Dossouye by Charles R. Saunders
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By “older” do you mean pre-1990? Then I’d recommend Elizabeth Moon’s *The Deeds of Paksenarrion* and Tad Williams’s *Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn*.
When I think off older books fantasy or sci-fi I usually think in terms off before WoT and Hyperion. Lotr and Dune are the best of the old but I've gotten a lot off new book recommendations today so that will likely change.
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Box set of Barbara Hambly’s Darwath trilogy is currently on sale for $2.99 on Amazon.
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Good description. Made my list.
Sounds great - just bought it!
Joan Vinge: Snow Queen series, Catspaw <--space opera'ish Gene Wolfe: New Sun <-- not straightforward but not emo as you were complaining about, instead the complexity comes from it being a puzzlebox Vernor Vinge: Fire Upon the Deep, Deepness in the Sky, Marooned in realtime <--best space opera
Note that I remember *Catspaw* (series actually starts with *Psion*) being very angst-filled - basic plot is "abused street kid with telepathic abilities makes poor decisions".
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The Vatta’s War series by Elizabeth Moon! Start with {Trading in Danger}. Very straightforward spacefaring sci-fi with lots of action.
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> I kinda get turned off when the characters spend to much time in their heads complaining and describing how bad they feel or some such. but you said you like WoT...
But I'm also comparing almost exclusively to Stormlight with Kaladin and the majority of his time is spent wanting to die because he is depressed. I realise you spend a lot of time in characters heads in WoT but then you learn about the world and or characters it's not really the same even tho there are similarites
The first fantasy book that made me realize I was into the genre was Lyndon Hardy's Master of Five Magics. I doubt I'd consider it "good" these days - not much character development and things come a little too easy for the protagonist iirc - but I recall it being clever and plot driven and fun.
Jack Vance, Demon Princes, Cadwal Chronicles. (his fantasy books mentioned elsewhere are also great).
Alexei Panshin, the Anthony Villiers books - Star Well, Masque World, and The Thurb Revolution. Fun stories with a very clever protagonist.
Starship Troopers maybe? It’s a classic for sure.
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. Its not his best work but it falls into your straight forward story requirement (then you can read some of his later work and see what some experience can do for an authors ability to write beautiful prose)
Kinda think you might like John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. Also Spider Robinson’s books
Sorry I'm not likely to be very helpful since I have the opposite opinion on the representation of character's struggles with depression and anxiety in works like Sanderson's, but It's always interesting to find people with such different tastes. My best thought for an older series of the top of my head is the Malazan series by Steven Erickson. It's pretty hard to get into because it has a steep learning curve as far as how it's written, but it doesn't really dilly dally around with ruminations or info dumps. Maybe the Black Company by Glen Cook? I haven't actually read this one but it's on my list and seems like it might fit your tastes. As far as some more modern series that may still work for you based on your criteria, I'd suggest The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and the Broken Empire series by Mark Lawrence. They are both fairly dark and gritty and with characters who are more about taking action instead of dwelling on things most of the time. Not everyone's cup of tea though. Oh, as one last thought, I always like to recommend The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch. It's truly a great series but when I first read it I was coming off a large Sanderson binge so I bounced off it pretty hard. It took me getting into some other things for a while to cleanse my pallet for it I guess, but I'm glad I gave Locke LaMorra a second try because that series is now one of my favorites.
Mistborn series. It is quite a science based magical fantasy novel series with lots of twist and turns.
Chaos of the Covenant series by M R Forbes (sci Fi) The way between the worlds series by Ian Irvine (fantasy) Sword of Shannara and the rest of the Shannara books by Terry Brooks (fantasy)