fantasy after LOTR

it's the only fantasy i've really read, what else is there? hoping for something that's not just a generic ripoff. or should i read more tolkien?

There's George Martin, China Mieville, Terry Pratchett...

read harry potter.  its much more sophisticated than that lord of the rings crap

>>3
did you really fucking say that?
you my friend ARE a fucking rimjob.

I support and agree with 4.

dragonlances books are also good

Terry brooks.

George RR Martin, R Scott Bakker, Steven Erikson - The best on the scene right now
As for a lesser known author, I enjoyed David Farland's first series, haven't read his new book yet.
You might also enjoy Robert Jordan (His series is getting way to long though and there are no real challenges for the main character), R A Salvatore (good old Drizzt, you'll have to know about drizzt to be a true fantasy geek).
Stay away from Terry Goodkind, seriously don't be the loser caught reading his work.

I liked the Dragonriders of Pern series myself, although at 13(15?) books or so it's rather long...

thanks, i'll look into these names. if i were to read more tolkien, what else is essential besides the silmarillion?

>>4
idiot

A lot of the fantasy books that came after Tolkien were basically copies of his work.  If you want to try reaing something really weird, I'd suggest China Meiville or Neil Gaiman (he's not as weird).

Something else you might like is the Elric series by Michael Moorcock. Not only is Elric himself an uber-badass, but as the counterstereotype to characters like Conan, he's become the basis for this generation's stereotype. At least as far as anime and videogames go.

And the Conan stuff by Robert E. Howard, too.

>>8

As far as the Drizzt stuff is concerned, you might want to stay away from some of Salvatore's stuff. The Dark Elf Trilogy and Legacy of the Drow are definitely worth reading, but I personally disliked Icewind Dale (I haven't yet read any of his other stuff). Icewind Dale was far too goody-goody for me. However, if you want some (in my opinion) better Realms stuff, read the War of the Spider Queen series. Villains make the best antagonists.

Not many people know him very well any more, but give some stuff by Roger Zelazny a shot.  A lot of his best work blurs the line between fantasy and science fiction, and he's played around the the conventions of both quite a bit.  More specifically, read the Amber series (particularly the first half, the second half is not nearly as good), Isle of the Dead, and most especially Lord of Light.

Agree with number 12/ Elirc is a badass. Corum is just to whiny

Anyway my suggestion is the Finowar Tapestry by Guy Garival Kay. Really nice trilogy.

Read the Robbin Hobb assasin trilogy.
then the Tawny Man trilogy.

their FANTASTIC

Philip Pullman -> His Dark Materials trilogy. Starts with The Northern Lights(UK) or The Golden Compass (USA). Best fantasy books I've ever read, apart from maybe LOTR.

>>17
Pull the other one. All pun intended. First, not proper fantasy. Second, Pullman sucks. He just does.

>>18
I didn't think he sucked, but it was too childish for my tastes.

>>19
That's what sucked. It was childish enough to be unappealing as mature fantasy, yet not entertaining enough to be a good children's book.

where as LotR plain sucked balls.
Now that I have your attention, seriously, people need to stop fapping over it. Yes it was good but not THAT good. Sure it was original and inspired lots of work today but loads of books have surpassed it.
You remind me of the assholes who, when the films came out, all of a sudden decided that they were Tolkein experts and that LotR was their most favourite book of all time ever. I asked one of the if they'd read The Silmarillion. They'd never even heard of it. Now a few years later they still haven't even finished LotR.
Phew semi off topic rank over (Y)

I'd have to push for Robert Jordan's super-lengthy Wheel of Time series along with >>8. I'm on the 11th book right now and it's really getting crazy. To me, it feels more like the LotR trilogy than the Silmarillion did, though the Sil was good in its own right. I'd have to say that this series is probably even better than LotR, in terms of character depth, plot, world depth... In short, the Wheel of Time series has always felt more like a living, breathing world than LotR did. I highly recommend it.

>>22
I fell asleep sometime during book 8 or 9 .. it just got ever more boring as the books progressed. Also, filler. Also, FUCKING STUPID  villains to the point of ridiculousness, with very few exceptions.

Great world-building, though.

I totally back up >>8 on George RR Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" it surely is a must read, without question...  (Even if you aren't a big fantasy reader, he has done such an amazing job that everyone should read it, IMO.)

You should also check out R. Scott Bakker's "A Prince of Nothing" series, another well done trilogy although it doesn't hold a candle to Martin.  He is doing another set though, building upon the last trilogy... and this was his first real endeavor into novel writing, so I hold high expectations for him... Hopefully many good things have yet to come from him.

I would have to say I would avoid Robert Jordan... he does build a great back story for his world, but otherwise I would have to say I was quite disappointed with it all so far. (and I have read em all...  still waiting for the next one - hope he can finish it, what with his disease and all.)

>>23
Wow, you actually managed to make it to book 8? You have endurance my friend!

Robert Jordan is probably the greatest disappointment in fantasy literature of the past decade or two.

I hate my fucking bookstore.

I mean, why do you have A Prince of Nothing books 2 and 3, but not 1? Why on earth should I bother to buy them?

>>25
I was pretty bored .. and I stole the (e)books anyway.


In other news, Prince of Nothing did nothing for me (lulz), there wasn't a single character in it that wasn't downright despicable at times and I just hoped everyone would simply die, in a somewhat entertaining, excruciating fashion. Although I have to say I appreciated the writing and philosophy, it just isn't enough for me to really like a book.

It's not epic fantasy, but google for Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss. All great and read very "fresh" for fantasy, sadly none of the series is released in its entirety as of yet.
Also Steven Erikson, which IS epic fantasy but in a high magic setting unlike ASOIAF, but still good.
And if you want to give heroic fantasy a shot, go with Gemmell, Howard, Barclay.

Yeah, Erikson is neat, but much as I lament the inane fluff most fantasy writers churn out, such as telling you at great length that the sky was indeed blue at the time, and trees have bark which is brown and leaves which agree green, Erikson goes a bit far in the opposite direction.

You're safe from long infodumps about the First Great War Between The Elves And The Dwarves And This Is Why They Hate Each Other with him, sure, but you have to be constantly alert for even hints of facts about the setting, or you'll just sit there scratching your head and wondering who the Forkrul Assail are and why Erikson assumes you live in the Malazan Empire and thus know all about them and thus he doesn't need to repeat himself.

>>28
Yeah, re-reading is nearly a must with Erikson, if you don't read all the books in a months time. But I still find them enjoyable even if I can't be arsed to re-read at every new release in the series - the important facts required to understand it tend to stick.

>>29
Yeah, they stick once you comprehend those facts. I'm not saying it's bad - it's actually great that he's doing it this way - but there is a certain amount of culture shock when you're switching over from the latest familiar farmboy-discovers-destiny book where there are no unexpected concepts for you to comprehend.