Books! My favorite subject!
Re: Discworld
Check this out. It might help you decide on which books to read. They don't really need to be read in order, but there are quite a few of them that are directly related.
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The Malazan series is one that I really want to get into. But, like Freya, I'm becoming an oldwoman and don't have a lot of time.
I love Brandon Sanderson. The Cosmere books are awesome. I still haven't read Oathbringer, but that is because I want to read Edgedancer first. And that is a lot of book to read. Those two and Soul of the Empire are the only Cosmere books I haven't read yet.
My favorite thing about Sanderson's different books are his different magical systems. I don't think I've ever read an author that is so imaginative in regards to the ways that magic works in his worlds. This reason, if for nothing else, makes him worth reading.
I'm also going to take a moment to second Wolf Kanno's shout-out to the Death Gate Cycle. That is a GREAT series. Definitely an enjoyable read and interesting take on the worlds being broken apart.
The Witcher is pretty alright, from what I've read so far. I have the first four or five books. The way I'm reading it, Blood of Elves is the third book. Also the next one in the series I need to read. I think a bit gets lost in the translation from Polish, because I don't often find it exciting to read. But I like the characters so much that they make it worth reading.
I've been off and on working my way through the Wheel of Time for the past couple of years. I had a good start, where I read the first 7 books (New Spring thru Lord of Chaos) and then I hit a slump and needed a break. I got halfway through a Crown of Swords and didn't touch the book again for over a year. I'm about a quarter way through Winter's Heart now.
I want to give my own shout-out to Brent Weeks and his Lightbringer series. I think the way he mingles magic and color vision is extremely cool. Plus the underdog story is really good, because there are times you love, pity, and loath Kip (the/a main character). Good bits of political intrigue, betrayal, and rises/falls from grace. He also did the Night Angel trilogy, which I loved. Great assassin story.
smurf it, let's keep going.
Peter Brett just finished the Demon Cycle. I loved these books so much. The different cultures he creates are fantastic. Each of the 5 main books focuses on a different persons backstory and perspective. Don't worry, he writes from many different characters points of view in each book, but the focus is generally on a particular persons big story. I thought that was a really neat thing. Kind of like what Brandon Sanderson is doing with the Stormlight Archive.
Patricia Briggs has some wonderful stuff, but her Mercedes Thompson novels are just amazing. They follow Mercedes, a skinwalker who can change into a coyote at will, in her experiences with the Fae, werewolves, vampires, and more, as she tries to live her life as a mechanic in rural Washington state. Urban fantasy kinda thing.
Steven Brust and the Vlad Taltos novels, although there is a whole world history he has written about. Mostly a fantasy with some sci-fi possibilities subtley mixed in. Vlad is a human gangster/assassin in the land of Dragaerans (tall, magical, ridiculuously long living badasses i.e. elves). He gets into a lot of trouble, but makes lots of powerful friends along the way. He also has an awesome jhereg (cat sized dragon) familiar named Loiosh who he communicates with telepathically. Oh, and he is a witch. I heckin love these books.
Alan Dean Foster gives us another telepathically connected dragon like creature in the adventures of Pip and Flinx. Well, not telepathically. Empathically. Flinx is a super powerful empath in a science fictional future. Together, Flinx and Pip, a minidragon (snake with wings that spits acid), travel the stars interacting with different alien life forms and causing the best kind of trouble.
Simon R. Green has many a great series. I don't know whether I want to highlight the Deathstalker series or the Nightside series. Or the Secret Histories. Or the Blue Moon / Hawk & Fisher. So many choices. I'll give the basics.
Deathstalker - SciFi. Chemically enhanced badass who just wants to be alone inherits deadly responsibilities.
Nightside - Urban Fantasy. Private Detective with the special gift to find absolutely anything if he looks returns to the supernatural London underground called Nightside, a place where it is always 3am, nothing is what it seems, and everything is possible.
Secret Histories - Urban Fantasy. What do you do when you are part of a supernatural family that has protected humanity from things that go bump in thie night and then that same family declares you a rogue agent? Eddie Drood, secret agent, fights back.
Kevin Hearne gave us the Iron Druid Chronicles and the joy of knowing an Irish wolfhound who loves sausage. Atticus O'Sullivan is the last surviving druid. At 21 centuries old, he spends his days running a tea shop in Tucson, Arizona. At least until one of the Celtic gods decides they want something he has. Then all Tír na nÓg breaks loose.
Robin Hobb gave me another assassin who has adventures that span over three trilogies. It starts with the kings bastard becoming the families assassin and of course, the bastard assassin has to save the kingdom without getting any credit. The third trilogy just finished up and I can't wait to see what is next for Fitz the assassin. There is so much in these books that I don't want to risk giving anything away.
The Cal Leandros novels. Rob Thurman brings us to modern day New York and shows us all the things that we thought were just fantasy exist, and boy are they ugly. Cal Leandros and his half brother Niko are a pair of badasses who have had to take care of each other since childhood. The twist is that Cal is half Auphe, a species that is feared by everything and ghastly evil. At least Cal looks human though.
Holy cow. I'm going to end with a specific book that I just absolutely love. It is probably my favorite fantasy book of all time. I read it a couple times before I moved away from home and have been searching for it again ever since. After 10 years I finally found a new copy, since it has been put back into print.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip. This is simply an amazing book that has so much emotion to it. McKillip writes some of the best prose I've ever read, but still manages to keep it simple. I'm not going to go into detail because I don't want to ruin any of the magic for you.
okay i'm done now.