Popular Fantasy Books I Still Want to Read
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- Mike talks about some of the "greatest hits" of Fantasy that he has yet to read but still hopes to.
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0:00 Introduction
0:32 Background & Prerequisites
1:31 Popular Fantasy I Still Want to Read
21:31 Final Thoughts
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#MikesBookReviews #Fantasy #FantasyBooks - Zábava
Hi Bookworms! I wanted to get out in front of this, though I know anyone that brings it up probably doesn't read this first...I know that Dragonriders of Pern is argued for as science-fiction (even by the author!) but I kept it as fantasy because simply being genetically engineered space dragons from another planet wasn't enough for me to declare it straight SF. I had to make a decision between this one or the SF list and I went with this one. Hope that makes sense!
i agree it's fantasy.for the fact that it is a survival colony story that relapses into medieval technology. there is one author that i think you need to add to your bucket list and that is Simon R Green. he writes 4 genres that are interconnected . he defined what the space opera is with Deathstalker series and his blue moon and hawk and fisher are perfect sword and sorcery series. if you like paranormal mysteries then his other two series are great to.
if you find yourself not liking glen cooks black company give garret files a try it's got some very colorful characters and stuff you will never see in other series.
Definitely would love to see a horror list like this!
And a Sci Fi list.
@@redwoodninja He did a sci-fi list two weeks ago.
October is only a month away, it would be a crime if he didn’t.
And would love to see Philip Fracassi on that list
@@seppuku- Nailed it.
An excellent list! I’m no Discworld expert, but so far The Color of Magic has been the weakest I’ve read from the series, so I encourage you to read on after it. Yes, the Norse gods are in American Gods most prominently, but ALL the gods are there too. Also, do avoid the show, especially after season one. Happy reading, Mike!
Sounds like Pratchett gets better as he goes. Always love to hear that.
Personally the best are the City watch and industrial revolution(Moving pictures, the truth, going postal..) subseries.
Magician is one of my favs Mike it's well worth a read,the other books in the trilogy are good too.Enjoy!
@@mikesbookreviews He Does, however it's a bit of a slow burn. Like... the first handful of Discworld books are a bit so-so and the series gets really good after a while... but it does take a while. It's not like book #2 is immediately great.
Oh a horror list in this format would be amazing!!
I think you might just be happy in about a month from now.
I found a first edition of Tigana in the charity shop the other day! So many books on this list that I need to get round to reading.
Just not enough time!
Tigana is a fantastic book.
Dude the black company is amazing. So awesome. The first book is hard to follow for the first half, but after that it clears up and is amazing. I feel like you will love the characters here, as well as the very unique world.
I'm hoping so!
I'm sure he could power through it but Black Company has a lot of the same elements that Mike doesn't really like about Malazan. Would be interesting to see if his opinion is any different with a different writing style and character work.
Man discworld is insanely good. The comedic parallels to the real world are just brilliant
Yes
The Once and Future King has been on my TBR for so long. I had the copy since my early days of college. I also love King Arthur books, great video Mike
Thanks!
I am so glad I started reading Discworld! I started on the Death series. Just finished Morning Star, and next I'll start on Sould Music. Book 3 in the Death series. Most definitely recommend!
If you're looking for Arthurian reimaginings, I highly recommend Jack Whyte's series A Dream of Eagles. It starts with The Skystone and sets the beginnings of Arthur's story in post Roman Britain. Very fun reads and more historical fiction than fantasy.
I’m reading Pratchett for the first time. Guards Guards now, so many Discworld fans told me to steer clear of the Color of Magic for the first book lol
They are a sensitive lot and they clearly want to make sure you enjoy him.
The colour of magic is fine
Guards Guards had me laughing so hard in some scenes...also the books about Death (he is my favorite Discworld character).
Nice to see some more classics. I’ve read Earthsea, Drenai, Thomas Covenant, Elric, Future King, Riftwar, Pern, Black Company, Recluse Saga, Dark Materials, all fantastic.
Chronicles of Amber, Gormenghast, Prydain and Belgariad are worth checking out as well!
I meant to include Amber. D'oh!
Could you please do _popular horror/classics/contemporary books you want to read_ video ?
Tigana is a fabulous book! Hope you enjoy.
Thank you! I will definitely check out magic of reclus… happy reading to you 🎥
Solid list! I think reading classics deepens your understanding of the modern works! You can see parallels and allusions !
"Tales of the otori" will always be the book series that makes me go "Wait what, you haven't read that?", and almost no one have reviews on it on youtube.. To me it's one of the best fantasy books out there, but it's a lot more about the characters and the politics driving everyone, than it's about the fantasy elements and combat :)
I enjoyed Philip pullman, it's pretty high up on my young adult list, but it's not one of the YAs I'd reread.. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is my favourite YA series, by far
Great list! I definitely want to try these authors. Thanks for the list.
Earthsea and The Sword in the Stone are excellent. Very literary and thematically rich and rather postmodern and deconstructionist regarding classic fantasy narratives and tropes so I think it's no bad thing you're coming to it at this stage in your fantasy journey. Both are definitely very different from what you might expect based on the blurbs.
So many cool books you’ve got ahead of you. Exciting
This sounds like an awesome project!!! I’ll keep a look out for these reviews! I wouldn’t mind reading some older books with great story telling!
My man! Allways great to watch your video's Mike
Another fantastic video; thank you!
I just started reading some Discworld books. Following the many suggestions on booktube, I started with Mort. I loved it. I haven’t read the Colour of Magic yet, I have read Guards, Guards and it was also great. I’m def planning on using more Discworld books as palate cleansers during my more serious reads
Very much looking forward to your take on Covenant.
This was great timing! I recently purchased several of these books with the intent of shoring up on my knowledge of the history of fantasy (plus hopefully enjoying them in their own right). I think reading these will add plenty of perspective on other newer series I've read.
I read Wizard of Earthsea. Not really my cup of tea, as it sort of skims from place to place rather than lore/world deep diving like I'm used to and have developed a preference for. But I still appreciated it and am glad I read it.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Legend
David Gemmell is a very special author to many fantasy fans
Because we all know, no matter what grim dark, morally gray characters you come across... Eventually you'll want a grizzled hero to take the fight to evil
And also... axe beats sword 🤣
I'm excited to read it!
Horror list? Yes, please!
I think you may see something come Spooky Season.
Great video! Wow. L'Morte and OAFK are two of my all time favs (along with Warlord Chronicles). So is Thomas Covenant. You will love OAFK and TH's take on especially Lancelot if you loved Cornwell's version
I too have to read Earthsea, and a couple of the rest on your awesome list! Happy reading Mike!
Every Book readed and still reading! Thank you for speak about These Masterpieces;)
Props to your wife for making it so far into His Dark Materials. I got a third into the second book and couldn't be bothered anymore. 😅
Damn, book 3 might be my favorite
Reading the first dark tower book atm because of your video's about them. Great so far!
Long Days & Pleasant Nights to you, Sai.
OMG I just finished Legend and it was super and you will be nicely surprised how unique it is overall! The story is different in a good way!
I finally read The Golden Compass, and continued on and conpleted His Dark Materials, and LOVED IT. funnily the 3rd book was my favorite!! It was a fun intriguing read and Phillip Pullmans writing style is an absolute page turner.
Lots of the series that I grew up reading. Riftwar, Thomas covenant, Druss etc. Pullman's books have a beautiful ending quite bittersweet. You're in for a great time I'm envious
My first taste of Gaiman was Good Omens with Terry Pratchett. Quality 5-star read. Went on to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane , Coraline, and The Graveyard Book, and threw four stars at all of them.
I decided to pick up American Gods, and although I finished it, I did not enjoy it much at all. My first two star book. Stardust, Neverwhere, and a few of his short story collections are collecting dust on my shelf--I have been hesitant to pick one up since the taste American Gods left in my mouth.
Excited to see your thoughts on that one, it just didn't work for me.
I also just read Magic of Recluce and have to say it was fantastic. A little slower pace, vut deals with interesting concepts that kept me thinking well after I finished the book
Excellent choices! Reckon I read most of them.
Black Company is great!
Donaldson gets dark indeed but great books.
On Discworld, the first two books were meant as a sort of spoof on fantasy, good books though, Pratchett really hits his stride after that!!!! And yes, the humour is great!
Gemmell is great! Think you'll really like the Jerusalem man trilogy from him.
Modesitt has 20 books now? Damn, high time for a re-read since i only read about 5 of them in my teens, good stuff I remember.
American Gods is a great read! Lost interest in the tv series after season 1......
Morcock is actually the grandfather of "grimdark" he's like what Tolkien is to fantasy. But unlike Tolkien who didn't invent fsntasy, Morcock sort of did for almost every "grimdark" author. For example, Morcock was a big inspiration for Martin, Williams, Abercrombie, Sapkowski, and many others who fall under the grim/dark fantasy. I wouldn't be surprised if Morcock inspired Glenn Cook.
Edit: what surprised me watching Daniel Greene/Brandon Sanderson intterview was that Brandon is inspired by Moorcock
Hi Mike. I love your channel. You got me to start reading again. Keep up the great work you do. I would LOVE to see you do a horror list. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what you'll be doing for spooky season.
This is an impressive list, Mike. But you unintentionally broke my heart. I've been trying to get a copy of the Grim Oak Press Lord Foul's Bane for about 2 years now. Seeing the cover on this video re-opened the wound. Now I'm just staring at the gap in my collection... (I have the other 2 books in the first trilogy from Grim Oak.) *sniff, sniff*
Quick update: I GOT A COPY!!! My collection of the Grim Oak Press's First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is finally complete!! I have a copy of Lord Foul's Bane!
Great list here. You made my tbr grow more lol...If you read the colour of magic then you should read the light fantasy discworld 2. It's a direct sequel and continues from colour. I'm on book 6 btw
I read Earthsea a few months ago. It's awesome!!
Finally! Gemmell! Waylander & the Druss books are awesome
Great to see Discworld on here and I am interested in your thoughts on The Black Company as I have been considering that series for a while.
Oh I’m so excited that you’re going to give the Pern series a try, Anne’s books are what made me fall in love with Dragons all those many years ago and I have been addicted ever since.
I can’t believe you have never read Magican, you’re in for a treat, it will have to be my all time favourite book series, I hope you love them as much as I do. 😊
I do love me some dragons.
Love your channel. I relate with your love of character-driven stories. If you haven’t already, would you be open to doing a list of your favorite character-driven books, regardless of genre? Would love to see your picks!
Going Postal is the Discworld book I started with this summer... the library offered a choice of two books, that or, I think, Thief Of Time. Quite a flexible series.
Looking forward to hearing about so many of these. Yeah, your wife might have a point about The Golden Compass.
For Gaiman, while I enjoyed American Gods... hmm. This will be interesting. I have also read the first two Pern books, seems like a lot of people take issue with how certain elements hold up.
Pratchett's first 2 books in the series is him just getting into his stride, they are rougher, and they get *much* better as you hit the third, and really open up by the time you hit mort
I'm close to finishing up Of Fire and Blood, and recently picked up The Aeronaut's Windlass from Jim Butcher. I'm really enjoying it I was a bit hesitant to try it since I adore The Dresden Files so much.
DF set the bar so high I was disappointed with Codex Alera.
I think you'll blast through Discworld books in a few days.
As a character guy, I'm really interested to hear your take on Pratchett's Death too.
Great list. I would like to say I've read a lot of them but that would be a lie. So I am only going to comment on two. If you vibe with Ursula's writing but not so much the earthsea books, you should try her Orsinian tales. I actually prefer those but I did enjoy earthsea. I could go on about Gain an for hours, but instead I will give you a different view. My favorite book by him is the Graveyard book which would be a fun October read for you and your son. Happy reading.
I've knocked a couple of these off the list in recent years including Leguin, Gemmell and GGK. I think you'll love Legend. GGK is a new favorite after only one book, although I'm buddy reading Under Heaven with Jake next month. I haven't read Discworld yet either lol
You have some good choices to read, Mike. GGK and Gemmell are pivotal books in fantasy. I’m fan of Recluce, so I will be interested in what you think.
Your First Pronunciation of Druss is the right one.
You will love Once and Future King! Such a great classic!
Hi Mike... Magican is brilliant!!! Read it years ago.
I love Anne McCaffrey’s books! She was one of my favorite authors in high school.
Might need to jump on the Once and Future King, Earthsea, and Black Company read alongs!
Also I'd LOVE a horror list like this!
Hey i just bought two days ago The Once and Future King, I will wait to read it with you, Earthsea quartet is beautiful and they are short books. I am planning to read Thomas Covenant in december. American Gods you should start immediately! Take care.
Some great ones, including TH White. Also recommend Gormenghast. Would love to join you for Legend and Tigana.
I love the Riftwar Trilogy so much. Might be due a reread.
You should for sure do a horror version. This is a new genre for me so I'll be happy to hear about any books that should be on my radar.
I love Discworld and Pern so I'm looking forward to you getting to those. Neil Gaiman is great too, my favourite of his is still Neverwhere though. I agree with your wife about His Dark Materials LOL
I haven't read any of these, so I can't offer feedback. But I will say, many of these have been roasting on my TBR, so I may join ya, a time or two. I definitely want to read Feist's Magician books, and get into LeGuin
I read Magians Apprentice and loved it but then I went into my worst reading slump ever and never got back to it...weirdly it was ready player one that pulled me out of my slump and inspired me to be reading 130-150 books a year. I NEED to try Thomas Covenant I keep kicking that and Black Sun, and Black company and Legend down the road and are the books on my Still need to read list... UGH so many books...
I enjoy Modesitt. He can be hit or miss though, but he does write both fantasy and Sci-fi. Magic of Recluce is a good start for fantasy while I would recommend The Timegod for his Sci-fi. Love both of those first books. I need to read Tigana from Guy Gavriel Kay as I loved his Fionavar Tapestry series.
Exciting times ahead. Earthsea is pretty enjoyable, not in my top 10 though. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but The Colour of Magic, may not be the best place to start in Discworld. Most people would recommend Mort, or Guards, Guards! I’ve read a little bit of Elric of Melnibone and really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to read more.
Good to see Feist, McCaffrey, and Modesitt on your list. All great books. Le Guin has stronger work than Earthsea. At the time I read Wizard of Earthsea I liked it less than other books I was reading at the time (probably because I had already read Riftwar and was reading Wars of Light and Shadow and WoT). Once you've read the Riftwar Saga, I hope you go on to read the Empire trilogy - that was my intro to Janny Wurts and she became my favourite author. If you go past book one for Pern and Recluce, I'd recommend continuing in publication order so you don't spoil the reveals.
His Dark Materials was very meh for me. I had to force myself to finish book 2 and couldn't make myself go on, especially after not being a huge fan of book 1. Gave my very nice anniversary edition set to a friend. Hope your experience with it is more positive.
Magician is really good. I'm new to reading fantasy but it was on offer on kindle so gave it a go. I've now read the three in the trilogy and will definitely read the rest from the world.
I will say Mike if your into the more Asian inspired historical fantasy lately I’d highly recommend Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay I think it’s even better than Tigana and is a historical fantasy set in a world based on ancient china
I’m kinda of jealous, you have some brilliant and compelling books to read for the first time. They are all good, IMHO.
Most of these have been on my radar for a while. Hoping to get to GGK and Riftwar in the next year or two. I absolutely love HHGTG but the size of Discworld always intimidated me.... maybe someday.
Read the first 3 books from The Riftwar Saga!! Amazing books❤❤
I have just started reading Magician. Really enjoying it so far, it is giving me LOTR journey vibes
This format is so much fun! Would love to see your horror list, too.
--I still need to read The Once and Future King. It's crazy that I haven't done so yet!
--I definitely recommend The Wizard of Earthsea. It's been ages since I read it, but I have fond memories. Still need to try the sequels.
--I love that cover for Dragonflight! I quite enjoyed the early books in the series (have not read the later books), especially The White Dragon.
--I feel like a terrible fantasy fan since I've never read Discworld. Just not motivated to start it, though I likely will eventually.
--Sadly, my experience with His Dark Materials was similar to your wife's. I really enjoyed The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. I may have liked the second book more than the first, if my memory is correct. However, the third book was a massive disappointment. I managed to finish it, but it was a struggle. It was painfully boring, and I even stopped caring about the characters. HOWEVER.....I am in the minority (though I have found some like-minded fans in recent years). I hope your experience is better than mine!
Thanks for sharing your list, and I hope you enjoy these books!
I"m going to join you for "Legend" in December... I've DNF'd "The Colour of Magic" twice... was told to try "Guards! Guards!" instead as a starting place and loved it. Hell yes on Tigana. All day long. Big fan of American Gods too.
Haven't read any of the Riftwar Cycle yet, but I am about to start book 3 of Feist's Firemane Saga and I'm really enjoying the series....definitely plan on reading the Riftwar Saga sometime soon!
Try the Empire Trilogy with Janny Wurts.
Huge Arthurian legend fan. I read the Once and Future King last year and while some bits were dazzlingly genius, other bits did not land for me at all.👀 Excited to hear your thoughts on it whenever you get to it!
I read The Once And Future King back in high school and liked it. I need to read it again because I don't remember much. I read Tigana a few years ago and I enjoyed it but it didn't quite live up to the hype for me. Still worth reading though. I've heard some of Kay's other books are much better and I plan to read some more of them soon.
The Riftwar Saga is a great read! I've got to continue with Earthsea, and try Hobb, McCaffery, Pratchett, Gwynne...so many!
I have a soft spot for Gormenghast.
Golden Compass is on my TBR for this month, The Golden Compass is the Northern Lights in the UK and I love the first book, 5/5. The Subtle Knife was 4/5. American Gods was a bit weird but I did really enjoy it in an odd way. I wouldn’t start with The Colour of Magic if I were you but it’s up to you. I’d probably go with Mort and then Reaper Man but 🤷♂️
Really fun video! His dark materials: top three series of all time for me. GGK: beautiful writing. Modesitt: love him, very similar writing style to Jordan. Discworld: keep reading, colour of magic is by far the weakest book in the series. Feist: I’ve read 35-40 books in this world, love him but magician apprentice/master are imho the weakest books in the series. Very excited to hear your opinions on all of these!
The first Black Company omnibus is excellent. The rest is okay but not at the same level. But the first is worth your time.
Just got dragonflight for 25 cents at my local library this week. Looks like I might have to move this up my TBR
A lot of books in common. If timing is right I will read along with you.
I recommend reading Discworld in chronological order IF you plan to read them all (even if it takes years). At least you can try with the first 2 books which are just one story. But if you feel that it is too much, I suggest the Death series, the witches series and city watch series. I'm also interested in the books of L.E. Modesitt Jr. They look so epic.
That's what I'm doing. Only 5 books in but I think you get a better grasp of the world, the magic, and characters going in chronological order
@@MrBoJangles I have read them all, so I think, as you said, it is the best way to get an idea of the whole world, and also you don't get tired of the same story line. And I think there is still a chronological order among the series.
Can't wait for the video "Romance Books I'm Going to Give Up a Year to Read"!
I'm the only person who DNF'd Pern 😅 I got 150ish pages in and put it down because of the SA. I see people telling you not to start with Colour of Magic but I started there and I feel like you're better off reading the "worst" discworld book first, because they just get better and better then 😍
I still haven’t touched my Malazan books. I think I’m gonna give it a try this year. And YES to the horror video. I haven’t read any horror outside of King. I’m gonna keep recommending Zalazny to you. Lol
Hi, Mike! I think you should read the infamous Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher, the #1 grimdark book in the Mark Lawrence's top. 😁
Magician is my all time favourite fanatasy book. The first few riftwar books are great, then the series goes up and down a bit.
Raymond Feist is the October author of the month for my local library’s fantasy book club. I’m reading Magician.
Angela, Magician is really wonderful but you and everyone in your library should know that the Empire trilogy that follows the first Riftwar arc is one of the best series I ever read. It is due to Janny Wurts collaboration with Feist. If you can, listen to the audiobooks narrated by Tania Rodgries. The writing style is totally different the Magician and on another level. I recommend viewing Kit’s World review of the Empire Trilogy. He is very funny and insightful. I told Mike to start Daughter of the Empire right after Magician and skip Silverthorn & Sethanon.
@@heidi6281 Thank you for the recs and tips!! This really helps!
I need to get back to Once and Future. I started it years ago and never finished the last section. Last month, I bought at my used bookstore that Penguin Deluxe edition that came out a few years back. I've been reluctant to start Pern because I heard the first book has this pretty toxic relationship between the main protagonist and someone else. I was personally not a fan of the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, nor Wizard of Earthsea. I'm currently reading Magician, really digging it. Already put the second book on hold. Love Discworld, but just so you know, it's not entirely stand alone. The Light Fantastic, which comes after Colour of Magic is a direct sequel. Legend, Tigana, and Black Company are on my TBR as well. His Dark Materials is okay. I warn you, if you stick it through, the ending will wreck you. Nothing but love for American Gods. One of my favorite books of all time!
Definitely do the horror version of this video. I wish to read more horror in the future and I need some recommendations 😅.Thanks for all of this great content,almost to 100k,more than deserved.
Terry Pratchett is high on my radar, but Discworld is pretty much the only thing on this list I recognize, so this was a great intro for me
Took me three tries to really like Discworld. Now I'm a big fan. Colour of Magic though is way weaker than Guards, Guards, so if you are starting with Colour of Magic just keep in mind that this one is just Pratchett warming up. Also, I agree that all the books work as standalones, but it doesn't mean that they work well if you don't know much about the world. And as a side note, Soul Music has tones of references to rock and music of the 70s (Def Leppard, Stairway to Heaven, Blues Brothers, etc.). This is the book that made me fall in love with Discworld
I love The Black Company and am on She Is The Darkness, the eighth book in the series, if you include The Silver Spike. I love it, but I'm not sure you will enoy it given how you feel about military fantasy. I think you will appreciate it for how it influenced the genre, but I'm not sure you will read past the first book. I encourage you to try to finish the first three because it wraps up the main story line.
I also have some big gaps in my fantasy genre knowledge that I need to fill with some of these like Donaldson, Le Guin, GGK, and Feist. Also so curious what the deal is with Modesitt!
The only one I've read is American gods.
I really like it. Just checked my Kindle and I've got Tigana. When I got it i had no idea. But I find stuff on my Kindle all the time and say " when did i get this? " 😂 Keep on keeping on Mike 👍🤓
Happens to the best of us. The best is when you can't remember if you've read it or not.