also, tried Thomas Covenant and just wasn't feeling it. Thomas as a character just does nothing for me
Going with series that I've actually read all of, or at least enough to matter: - LOTR by Tolkien - Mistborn (first trilogy) by Sanderson - Stormlight Archive by Sanderson - Wheel of Time by Jordan - Shannara by Brooks - Discworld by Pratchett - Barsoom by Burroughs - ASOUE by Snicket - Dragonlance by Weis & Hickman (War of Souls especially) - Titus Crow by Lumley - Drenai by David Gemmell - Banned & The Banished by Clemens - Prydain by Alexander - The Dark Is Rising by Cooper - The Enchanted Forest by Wrede - Iron Tower by McKiernan - Witches of Eileanan by Forsyth - Book of the Holt by Beaulieu - Narnia by Lewis - probably Harry Potter as well, with the usual caveats That's a pretty solid list, honestly. I'm pleased with that. Then there are ones where I'm sure they'll be favorites, but I simply haven't read enough of them yet to include them in the list. The perfect example for me is Tad Williams; I'm positive Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn will be in like my top five of all time, but I've only read the first book. I would also include Runelords by Farland (only read three), Radiant Kingdom by Dalglish (only one book out so far), Deverry by Kerr (only read one), Unhewn Throne by Staveley (only read one), Gods of the Caravan Road by Johansen (only read one), Expanse (only read one), Red Rising (read the first three), Valdemar (read the first three), and then all of Moorcock's stuff (I've read three). I also considered David Eddings for pure nostalgia (I read pretty much all his stuff), Lovecraft (not exactly a series), and Tim Akers (one of my favorites, but same deal, lots of disparate/connected series).
@tvck, adding some of yours to my TBR too @Garrett I need to get back into Lightbringer also Donaldsen and Bakker are both already on the TBR
first book (basically a novella), and iirc it kind of bleeds over into part of book 2, has a fair amount of SA/Abuse/Manipulation. One of the main characters is a real piece of shit at the beginning.
There’s also a prevalent moment in the first Thomas Covenant that took me a long time to “get over.” definitely the point though
Wish Red Rising didn't fall out of my top rankings but upon reflection and how long it took for Light Bringer and has taken for Red God, I've thought more and more about the issues I've had with the series. Dark Age is still an all-timer, and Iron Gold was made much better by the subsequent books, but where he's taking things after Light Bringer, I'm super nervous about.
I'd say that both of those series (Gap Cycle and Second Apocalypse) are the only things I've read that I think actually deserve the genre designation of grimdark. Not even Abercrombie tbh. His stuff is just morally grey but it never felt oppressive like these 2 can at times.
Good to know! Second Apocalypse was one of the ones I'd added book one to my list. (I found Abercrombie's first trilogy perfectly fine, but recognized it also wasn't going to be a world for me.)
I used to like it a lot as a young person, but now I think the combo of having kids + the world being so grim and dark in real life makes it less and less appealing for me to read for fun - I really felt this a lot on my recent Abercrombie reread and had to dip out partway thru Best Served Cold even though I remember really liking all of the standalones, particularly The Heroes
I still think that Bakker did some incredible things using the crusades as a backdrop. The Judging Eye (first book of the 2nd part of the series) has probably my favorite scene out of everything I've read. Think Mines of Moira but dark as hell.
I really wish I read Bakker's books when he first published them and I had more time to focus entirely on reading
great news, book 1 is on Kindle Unlimited so you can get the audiobook for less than $6 right now if you add to your library.
I don't have KU. Book one of the Aspect-Emperor is free on Audible right now and I was like "oh, that's fortuitous" before I realized.
ah fair enough. it's one of those subs I always forget I'm paying for until I have one of these moments to get a cheap audiobook lmao. if you buy the kindle copy outright and add on the audiobook it's around $18 total where the audiobook right now is like $32. anyways, I imagine it'll go on sale at some point as well. I've seen it in a lot of sales over the years. one thing I'll call out if you decide to try out the series down the road, book 1 definitely reads almost like a historical textbook (but in a good way). Bakker does a great job zooming out.
Speaking of Audible sales, this current series sale is ridiculous. Currently on a buying freeze/own most of what I would've bought anyway, though.
Yeah I had to really rein things in. There's so much there that I want to check out (145 Warhammer books lol). I limited myself to just using a $15 credit I had from a prior promotion. Got the next Murderbot and Red Rising lined up, Hugh Howey's Wool, and the complete Oz collection though, so that's cool.
I read this trilogy to start the year. Definitely watch the show on Apple when you're done. I think the show might be telling the story in a more engaging way!
if we're talking Warhammer, those Gotrek and Felix books have some of my favorite audiobooks ever. Jonathan Keeble is top tier. They are on the fantasy side and just really fun. Quick hit palate cleansers
iirc, at least book 1, was a collection of short stories that they bound together, so that's why it can feel disjointed where the show was able to weave things together better.
Oh, yeah, that's actually not my complaint with how they're telling it. That's probably my favorite of the three books. I think they're just adding some more interesting connective tissue in the show and can kinda iron out the telling of the third book (I found it clunky, if interesting).
The reviews for Project Hail Mary (film) have started coming out. I'm cautiously optimistic because The Martian was also a great movie. Two of my favorite standalones.