SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hey there! New member here. Was not a reader until last year and boy - I am going thru them. I see all of these reviews for the Sarah J Maas books but I haven’t read fantasy. I don’t like vampires or zombies BUT I love Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Would I like these books? TIA! Laura

She's hugely popular! not at all like GoT though. try one!

have you read the actual Game of Thrones books? There's a lot more in them than was shown in the TV series.

look under Epic Fantasy for that type of book.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is the start of the Kingkiller Chronicles
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb is the start of the Farseer Trilogy
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is part of his epic Wheel of Time series. This one has been made into a TV series and is shown on Amazon Prime Video
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie is the beginning of the First Law series

Ah, but I wouldn't recommend incomplete series. Rothfuss may be the one people are wishing hardest on to finish, but he's not the only one who is unlikely to ever get around to it.

Of the ones recommended by CBRetriever I'd say read the Joe Abercrombie books. Firstly, I guess they are most similar to Game of Thrones in that Abercrombie tries for a somewhat more grounded setting with less over the top magic, a lot of memorable recurring characters, a lot of intrigue and generally a lot of grit.

Plus, it's finished for now. It's two completete trilogies (The First Law & The Age of Madness) in the same world plus three standalone novels and a short story collection. If you like The Blade Itself, there's a lot to sink your teeth into and you won't have to sit there and hope that the author will get around to finishing the series at some point in the far far future.

And I would second going with the Robin Hobb series. It’s also finished. The first Trilogy (starting with Assassin’s Apprentice) is great, but it only gets better from there.

In case you hadn’t heard, the books series of Gome of Thrones isn’t finished (either).

So, I guess you like the medieval society / political fantasy? You might also like Katherine Kurtz’ Deryni novels, starting with Deryni Rising.

Maybe also try books by Mark Lawrence. His books blur the line between Fantasy and SciFi, he usually writes in trilogies, all of which are interconnected to some degree but also self-contained, meaning they work on their own without the absolute need to read his other trilogies. I'd still recommend to read them in order of publication, but it's not absolutely necessary. The trilogies all are somewhat diffrent in style though.

- The Broken Empire (Grimdark "Fantasy" with a villain/anti-hero protagonist. Imagine Ramsey Bolton but not quite as unhinged and a lot smarter)
- The Red Queen's War (same world and roughly the same timeline as the The Broken Empire, but the protagonists are a rakish prince and his Viking buddy, hence: less Grimdark, more humour)
- The Book of the Ancestor (Harry Potter, but a lot darker and with badass killer nuns instead of wizards)
- Impossible Times (coming of age with D&D, SciFi and a lot of 1980s nostalgia. If you like Stranger Things, you're good)
- The Book of the Ice (same world as Book of the Ancestor, but slightly different setting, not gonna say more)
- The Library Trilogy (only one book out so far, very inventive Fantasy that takes place in an enormous library)

Laura wrote: "Hey there! New member here. Was not a reader until last year and boy - I am going thru them. I see all of these reviews for the Sarah J Maas books but I haven’t read fantasy. I don’t like vampires or zombies BUT I love Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Would I like these books? TIA! Laura"

Just throwing this out there as an option, but the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which Game of Thrones is adapted from, is heavily influenced by the Wars of the Roses, so you may enjoy historical fiction on the subject as well. Less magic and dragons though. :P

Here's a list with HF books on the topic if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Becky wrote: "Just throwing this out there as an option, but the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which Game of Thrones is adapted from, is heavily influenced by the Wars of the Roses, so you may enjoy historical fiction on the subject as well."

also heavily influenced by Maurice Druon's The Accursed Kings series. The first Game of Thrones book had very recognizable character types that were also in The Iron King.

George R.R. Martin has apparently called The Accursed Kings, a seven-book historical novel series by Maurice Druon, 'the original game of thrones'.

I think some of the books are part of the Monthly Deal this month

Oh, I didn’t know that, CBRetriever. I’ll have to check those out!

Becky wrote: "Oh, I didn’t know that, CBRetriever. I’ll have to check those out!"

and they were an interesting and enthralling read.

If you can tolerate another series-in-progress, David Weber, best known for the SF Honor Harrington series, sometimes produces less commercial fantasy in his “War God” stories.

The first book is Oath of Swords, later reissued with the shorter Sword Brother. The latter story belongs somewhere after volume 4 and before volume 5. That edition also contains an interesting discussion by Weber on what he was trying to do with tropes in formulaic fantasy.
The others are:
2. The War God’s Own
3. Wind Rider’s Oath
4. War Maid’s Choice
-. “Sword Brother” (see above)
And, after a long gap (seventy years after War Maid’s Choice):
5. The Sword of the South

I have been reading the Onyx Court series by Marie Brennan. They mix real history with fae. Book one was set during the time of Queen Elizabeth I and weaves a story about how the underground fae kingdom of the Onyx Court had an influence on real events. I am halfway through book 2 which is during King Charles I, his beheading and Cromwell’s protectorate, King Charles II and the great fire of London.

Midnight Never Come
In Ashes Lie
A Star Shall Fall
With Fate Conspire