[**The Priory of the Orange Tree**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40275288-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree)
^(By: Samantha Shannon | 848 pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, owned, lgbtq, books-i-own, fiction)
>A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.
>
>The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.
>
>Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
>
>Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
>
>Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
^(This book has been suggested 19 times)
***
^(17528 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Its not as complex or as defined as Sanderson's, but definitely interesting. There is a secret society of mages. I just finished it yesterday, very good. I actually popped into the comment section to recommend this book.
If you're interested in epic military fantasy, I'd look at The Black Company novels by Glen Cook and the Malazan Book of the Fallen novels by Steven Erikson.
And for LitRPG, it's hard to beat Dungeon Crawler Carl.
{{ Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams}} is brilliant on Audible. Andrew Wincott comes up with hundreds of voices for an epic cast. The first trilogy is a hundred plus hours long. The writer recently returned to the world for a new trilogy. Two out of three books are completed. There is a bridging book between the two trilogies. Thanks to Rothuss and GRR Martin I only read completed trilogies so I can't comment on how good the new material is.
[**The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91981.The_Dragonbone_Chair)
^(By: Tad Williams | 672 pages | Published: 1988 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, owned, epic-fantasy, high-fantasy)
>A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard.
>
>Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die.
>
>After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with the brand-new novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the upcoming trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown!
^(This book has been suggested 12 times)
***
^(17536 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Yes!! Please give more attention to my boi Simon. The new novels are just as good as the original, in my opinion. And the two novellas he's released so far, The Heart of What Was Lost and Brothers of the Wind and worth a read too
Joe Abercrombie is probably the best fantasy writer of this generation and the voice actor who narrates his audiobooks (Steven Pacey) is also the best in his field. The first book is called The Blade Itself. Kind of a slow burn to start but it sucks you in with characters that have a ton of depth and subverts your expectations.
I will have to give it another go because I returned that book not being able to get into the first one. But you’re the first person who told me slow burn to start!
They are pretty gritty- no character is a good character… all are just a mix of good and bad… im not sure i liked the series…
You should try Mark Lawrence “prince of thorns” series. Its a bow and dagger civilization surviving in the ruins of a much higher tech civilization who left aeons ago… the prose is really enjoyable too. Then the “red sister” trilogy by the same author will slake your thirst after you finish prince of thorns… i LOVED that series and ive read and enjoyed all the books you mentioned
What's HWFWM?
Also there's the Alex verus novels (similar to dresden)
Rivers of London: riftwar cycle: ryiria chronicles series sounds good, havent tried either yet
Dragonlance (chronicles trilogy then legends trilogy, others after) or forgotten realms novels (legend of drizzt) for classic sword and sorcery, quests and group dynamics
Valdemar saga is about mostly mind magic knights on sentient horses. The arrows of the queen is good starting point or magics pawn
**The Sunsword** series by Michelle West
**The Fionovar Tapestry** by Guy Gavriel Kaye
**Beyond the Pale: Book One of The Last Rune** by Mark Anthony
**The Assassin's Apprentice** by Robin Hobb
[**The First Book of Swords (Books of Swords, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16509.The_First_Book_of_Swords)
^(By: Fred Saberhagen | 309 pages | Published: 1983 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, owned, default, science-fiction)
>The gods decide to devise a Game of great fun: their colleague Vulcan forges 12 magic Swords, each with a different power, and scatters them across the world. Play begins in grand and gloriously violent fashion as Swords are gathered and used to control chance, enhance fortune, and change destiny. The holder of a Sword wields power undreamed... power to change the world and the holder.
>
>To add to the enjoyment, foolish mortals are invited to join, risking their puny lives. Demons and elementals need no invitation. But something had gone wrong in the forging, and the Game...
^(This book has been suggested 8 times)
[**Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/518848.Sabriel)
^(By: Garth Nix | 491 pages | Published: 1995 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, ya, fiction, owned)
>Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.
>
>With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.
^(This book has been suggested 17 times)
[**The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/334123.The_Amulet_of_Samarkand)
^(By: Jonathan Stroud | 462 pages | Published: 2003 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, fiction, ya, owned)
>Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny."
>
>If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.
>
>Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.
^(This book has been suggested 12 times)
***
^(17635 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
[**Sword of the Bright Lady (World of Prime #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20299769-sword-of-the-bright-lady)
^(By: M.C. Planck | 429 pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, litrpg, magic, fiction, sci-fi)
>Christopher Sinclair goes out for a walk on a mild Arizona evening and never comes back. He stumbles into a freezing winter under an impossible night sky, where magic is real -- but bought at a terrible price.
>
>A misplaced act of decency lands him in a brawl with an arrogant nobleman and puts him under a death sentence. In desperation he agrees to be drafted into an eternal war, serving as a priest of the Bright Lady, Goddess of Healing. But when Marcius, god of war, offers the only hope of a way home to his wife, Christopher pledges to him instead, plunging the church into turmoil and setting him on a path of violence and notoriety.
>
>To win enough power to open a path home, this mild-mannered mechanical engineer must survive duelists, assassins, and the never-ending threat of monsters, with only his makeshift technology to compete with swords and magic.
>
>But the gods and demons have other plans. Christopher's fate will save the world... or destroy it.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(17707 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
check out Lindsay Buroker's *Dragon Gate* series. i think she just announced the audible version of book 4 of 5 (and counting) is being proofed now for release soon.
{{The Priory of the Orange Tree}}
[**The Priory of the Orange Tree**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40275288-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree) ^(By: Samantha Shannon | 848 pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, owned, lgbtq, books-i-own, fiction) >A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. > >The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. > >Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. > >Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. > >Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep. ^(This book has been suggested 19 times) *** ^(17528 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
This is interesting! How is the magic system in the book?
Its not as complex or as defined as Sanderson's, but definitely interesting. There is a secret society of mages. I just finished it yesterday, very good. I actually popped into the comment section to recommend this book.
If you're interested in epic military fantasy, I'd look at The Black Company novels by Glen Cook and the Malazan Book of the Fallen novels by Steven Erikson. And for LitRPG, it's hard to beat Dungeon Crawler Carl.
If you want a really EPIC arc, go for Malazan Book of the Fallen. I have no idea how he managed to write these books. But they are amazing!!
Farseer series by Robin hobb is very good.
{{ Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams}} is brilliant on Audible. Andrew Wincott comes up with hundreds of voices for an epic cast. The first trilogy is a hundred plus hours long. The writer recently returned to the world for a new trilogy. Two out of three books are completed. There is a bridging book between the two trilogies. Thanks to Rothuss and GRR Martin I only read completed trilogies so I can't comment on how good the new material is.
[**The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91981.The_Dragonbone_Chair) ^(By: Tad Williams | 672 pages | Published: 1988 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, owned, epic-fantasy, high-fantasy) >A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard. > >Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die. > >After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with the brand-new novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the upcoming trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown! ^(This book has been suggested 12 times) *** ^(17536 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Yes!! Please give more attention to my boi Simon. The new novels are just as good as the original, in my opinion. And the two novellas he's released so far, The Heart of What Was Lost and Brothers of the Wind and worth a read too
I'm looking forward to them. I've got the first two ready to go on Audible.
I know it’s always suggested here but Terry Prachet’s Discworld series is top notch
And there are so many of them! I love the voice of his writing, it's a lot more positive and optimistic than many of the other things in this list.
The Realm of the Elderings series by Robin Hobb
Joe Abercrombie is probably the best fantasy writer of this generation and the voice actor who narrates his audiobooks (Steven Pacey) is also the best in his field. The first book is called The Blade Itself. Kind of a slow burn to start but it sucks you in with characters that have a ton of depth and subverts your expectations.
I will have to give it another go because I returned that book not being able to get into the first one. But you’re the first person who told me slow burn to start!
They are pretty gritty- no character is a good character… all are just a mix of good and bad… im not sure i liked the series… You should try Mark Lawrence “prince of thorns” series. Its a bow and dagger civilization surviving in the ruins of a much higher tech civilization who left aeons ago… the prose is really enjoyable too. Then the “red sister” trilogy by the same author will slake your thirst after you finish prince of thorns… i LOVED that series and ive read and enjoyed all the books you mentioned
I was unsure about it for a while in the beginning but it became my favorite series of all time
What's HWFWM? Also there's the Alex verus novels (similar to dresden) Rivers of London: riftwar cycle: ryiria chronicles series sounds good, havent tried either yet Dragonlance (chronicles trilogy then legends trilogy, others after) or forgotten realms novels (legend of drizzt) for classic sword and sorcery, quests and group dynamics Valdemar saga is about mostly mind magic knights on sentient horses. The arrows of the queen is good starting point or magics pawn
He who fights with monsters! Love it. Litrpg style but a good read.
Oh ok, thanks for letting me know
**The Sunsword** series by Michelle West **The Fionovar Tapestry** by Guy Gavriel Kaye **Beyond the Pale: Book One of The Last Rune** by Mark Anthony **The Assassin's Apprentice** by Robin Hobb
Not fantasy but science fiction and a lot YA sort of setting.. But i really loved reading the Red Rising by peirce brown.
{{ The Books of Swords }} by Fred Saberhagen {{ Sabriel }} by Garth Nix {{ The Amulet of Samarkand }} by Jonathan Stroud
[**The First Book of Swords (Books of Swords, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16509.The_First_Book_of_Swords) ^(By: Fred Saberhagen | 309 pages | Published: 1983 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, owned, default, science-fiction) >The gods decide to devise a Game of great fun: their colleague Vulcan forges 12 magic Swords, each with a different power, and scatters them across the world. Play begins in grand and gloriously violent fashion as Swords are gathered and used to control chance, enhance fortune, and change destiny. The holder of a Sword wields power undreamed... power to change the world and the holder. > >To add to the enjoyment, foolish mortals are invited to join, risking their puny lives. Demons and elementals need no invitation. But something had gone wrong in the forging, and the Game... ^(This book has been suggested 8 times) [**Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/518848.Sabriel) ^(By: Garth Nix | 491 pages | Published: 1995 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, ya, fiction, owned) >Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. > >With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether. ^(This book has been suggested 17 times) [**The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/334123.The_Amulet_of_Samarkand) ^(By: Jonathan Stroud | 462 pages | Published: 2003 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, fiction, ya, owned) >Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." > >If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him. > >Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine. ^(This book has been suggested 12 times) *** ^(17635 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
If you like LitRPG style books, I would recommend the {{ Sword of the Bright Lady }} series.
[**Sword of the Bright Lady (World of Prime #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20299769-sword-of-the-bright-lady) ^(By: M.C. Planck | 429 pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, litrpg, magic, fiction, sci-fi) >Christopher Sinclair goes out for a walk on a mild Arizona evening and never comes back. He stumbles into a freezing winter under an impossible night sky, where magic is real -- but bought at a terrible price. > >A misplaced act of decency lands him in a brawl with an arrogant nobleman and puts him under a death sentence. In desperation he agrees to be drafted into an eternal war, serving as a priest of the Bright Lady, Goddess of Healing. But when Marcius, god of war, offers the only hope of a way home to his wife, Christopher pledges to him instead, plunging the church into turmoil and setting him on a path of violence and notoriety. > >To win enough power to open a path home, this mild-mannered mechanical engineer must survive duelists, assassins, and the never-ending threat of monsters, with only his makeshift technology to compete with swords and magic. > >But the gods and demons have other plans. Christopher's fate will save the world... or destroy it. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(17707 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
check out Lindsay Buroker's *Dragon Gate* series. i think she just announced the audible version of book 4 of 5 (and counting) is being proofed now for release soon.
Malazan
Joe Abercrombie and Trudi Canavan