In last week’s Small Council roundtable, we recommended books to read while we all wait for The Winds of Winter, the long-gestating sixth book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. We also asked you guys to recommend stuff, and you had lots of terrific picks. Let’s go over some of them — after all, there’s still no telling when The Winds of Winter will be out, and we have to fill the time any way we can.
If you’re looking for more high fantasy books, commenter James Sturdy recommends The Wheel of Time series, which spans 14 novels and two authors (original author Robert Jordan died before the series was complete, so Brandon Sanderson finished it with the approval of Jordan’s family). As thewhitedrewcarey pointed out, these books are “a pillar of modern fantasy storytelling,” but NewJeffCT advises caution:
"It was still enjoyable, but after ASOIAF, it seems more young-adult oriented in how the characters interact with each other – it’s just a lot bigger in scale than your typical YA book series. I’m happy they finished the series and it was a fairly satisfying conclusion, though Sanderson’s style was kind of a jarring difference from Jordan’s style, IMO. (Sanderson used some terminology that felt anachronistic and out of place for the series) And, even though Sanderson broke Jordan’s final book into 3 separate books, it kind of felt rushed at the end to try to cram in as many loose ends as possible."
Dragonbreath, meanwhile, recommends The Expanse, an ongoing series of tremendous scope.
"I am on the last book in “The Expanse” series by James S. A. Corey. It’s science fiction/fantasy. Excellent reading. As entertaining and intelligent as “A Song of Ice and Fire” (which I have read books twice waiting for next book). I have read through this series as quickly as ASOIAF……and as fast as I re-watch “Firefly.” Well done!"
Interesting sidebar: The Expanse series is actually written by two people — Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham — who use the joint pen name of James S.A. Corey. Franck once worked as an assistant to George R.R. Martin, so there’s a connection to ASOAIF built right in.
The Expanse is currently being adapted to TV by Syfy, and Martin is a big fan.
Erebor recommends The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, another series that got a Syfy adaptation. It wasn’t as successful, though.
"The Dresden Files was ‘adapted’ (very loosely, and even that’s a stretch) by SyFy about a decade back, but the premise is the same: the case files of a wizard P.I. in Chicago. The first couple are a bit rough, but it’s a rich, well-fleshed out world. There are 15 books out so far with 24 (ish?) planned."
The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss has made waves in the fantasy world over the last few years (Lin-Manuel Miranda, of all people, is currently adapting the series to the screen). Several commenters recommended these books, but I’m going to let NewJeffCT have the floor, since his perspective more or less lines up with mine:
"A lot of people seem to like The Kingkiller Chronicles from Patrick Rothfuss – two books so far, and it’s been a long wait for book 3. Book 1 was published in 2007, book 2 was published in 2011 and book 3 is still TBD.Rothfuss is a wonderful writer and his words just flow off the page, but when I looked back on the two books – The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear – it was a lot of interesting things going on within the books itself related to the main character Kvothe, but it doesn’t exactly have an epic scope to it. The main character also seems like the male version of a Mary Sue – young compared to his peers and extremely good at everything he tries. But, it’s been over 2,000 pages of not a lot going on in the grand scheme of things."
Thewhitedrewcarey, striking again, recommended works from bestselling sci-fi/fantasy author Tad Williams:
"How could you NOT mention Tad Williams’ “Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn” trilogy? And, for that matter, the just released interim novel “The Heart of What Was Lost” and the forthcoming sequel trilogy “The Last King of Osten Ard”?!?Williams’ story is a bit more fantastical than ASOIAF, but no less excellent for it (and of course, there is the oft-overused praise that GRRM gave the first trilogy).The best part: Williams is pretty good about having his story planned out and delivered 1) on time, and 2) in the amount of books he originally said it would take. With that in mind, we may likely see the final volume in the sequel trilogy before WoW… :p"
And Nick Larter recommended some older high fantasy:
"The original low magic, pseudo-Mediaeval, high political intrigue fantasy trilogy, written around 50 years before before A Game of Thrones, is E.R. Eddison’s Zimiamvian trilogy (Mistress of Mistresses, A Fish Dinner in Memison, and The Mezentian Gate)…Mistress of Mistresses is the most ‘Thrones’ like of the books. Horius Parry, Vicar of Rerek, is a villain on a par with Tywin Lannister. Boy king Derxis of Akkama is a carbon copy of Joffrey Baratheon (I guess I should really write that the other way around) and, in an excellent plot device, the good guy…The other two books make more of the intersection between The Three Kingdoms and our world (in the early 20th century) which is why I like to describe the trilogy as a whole as ‘Game of Thrones meets Downton Abbey.’"
Nick Padilla was all about the historical fiction:
"I originally read the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte before ASoIaF. The series starts out with the fall of Rome, and the beginning of the Dark Ages. The story progresses with two friends planning for the troubles ahead, and evolves into a realistic tale of the Arthurian legend. It can be a little dry in parts, but overall beautifully done. Whyte is no Martin, but the relationship between Merlyn and Uther growing up together was awesome.Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chronicles is a fun read. He’s been putting out a book just about every year and telling the story of Alfred the Great’s struggles with the invading Danes. They’re quick, they’re fun, and I think there are about eight now. You can see the adventures of Uthred the Godless played out on T.V. too now. The Last Kingdom is in it’s second season now.For those of you who love historical fiction, anything Sharron Kay Penman does is fantastic. The Sunne In Splendor (War of the Roses), and she has about six novels that go through the Plantagenet time from Henry the First through John the Unlikely. Great stories, rich characters. Henry the second’s life with Eleanor, their children, Llewelyn the great, Wales. There is so much. Highly recommend."
Phaze stayed in that vein:
"The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is a great book that feels similar to ASOIAF, albeit without the fantasy. It about the building of a cathedral in England. The riddle that Varys says to Tyrion, the one about who holds the power between the sellsword, the high septon, and the king, is the conflict here. Knights have a brutal sense of chivalry and honor. There was also a mini tv series that faithfully recreate the book, and a sequel to the book that takes place a few generations after the original so you see how actions of the past can create conflict in the futureAlso, George RR Martin’s writing friend, Diana Gaboldon, writes a great historical fiction with elements of sci-fi. In her brilliant Outlander series. It is a beautiful telling of the Scottish struggle in the 1700’s. It, too, has a television series based on the books."
And Firannion waxed rhapsodic about Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay.
"He is an extraordinary wordsmith, creates wonderful, complex, relatable characters and has a deft hand for political intrigue and twisty plots. His specialty is somewhat dark historical fantasy, set in different periods and lands on a planet much like Earth (except that it has two moons). So, for example, the two books called The Sarantine Mosaic involve monarchs inspired by Justinian and Theodora in a land inspired by Byzantium, seen from the PoV of an artist. There’s a little bit of magic/the supernatural, but applied very sparingly.A fair few people are fans of his first trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry, which is more high fantasy, strongly influenced by Tolkien (young GGK’s first serious gig was helping Christopher Tolkien assemble his father’s miscellaneous writings into The Silmarillion). It also has elements from Arthurian legend. But to me it’s his least mature, least interesting work – essentially about a bunch of college kids on a lark (that turns deadly) in an alternate universe.For me, a better way into Kaye’s work was Tigana (sort-of medieval Italy), which is still one of my favorites – along with The Lions of Al-Rassan (sort-of Iberia during the conflict between the Christian Spaniards and the Moors). I love to proselytize for these books because I think that it’s a real shame that they’re not as widely read as, say, The Wheel of Time, even though the writing is ten times better."
The recommendations runneth other! Here are some other great ones:
- Slizzy Mcwhizzy: “All the Phillipa Gregory historical books.”
- Ibbison: And, of course, if you haven’t read The Iliad and The Odyssey yet, drop everything else, go get the Fagles translations, and start tonight.
- Andrea: “I love The Magicians series. It’s what would happen if J.D. Salinger and J.K. Rowling had a baby together.”
- Topdecker577: “For Star Wars fans, the Darth Bane trilogy was awesome. As was the Darth Plagueis novel.”
- Servo’s girl: “The Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, brilliantly plotted with fantastic writing. The characters and world he creates are unforgettable”
- Chris: “I recently started reading Robin Hobb’s books, and I really enjoy them. They aren’t as complex or epic in scope as ASOIAF, but sometimes it’s nice to read stories about a just a few great characters. Plus, she cranks out a new book every year so there’s no danger of waiting forever to find out what happens next.”
- House Mollohan: “I would recommend The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon – the original “game of thrones,” as stated by GRRM.”
- Several commenters recommended The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.
- Jeanne had lots of recommendations: “How about American Gods by Neil Gaiman? I think one of the best books ever written, period. I would recommend any of his novels…One of the best Arthurian Legend novels is The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Written from a women’s point of view. I just finished The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Fascinating look at how good intentions sometimes lead to unexpected consequences. Lastly, read anything by Ursula K. Le Guin… Sometimes the old guard is worth a second look.”
So that should be enough reading material to tide fans over until The Winds of Winter comes out. And if you just can’t wait, there’s always this: