Consistently excellent fantasy series'?
June 3, 2018 2:54 PM Subscribe
Out of the fantasy loop for a while - what should I be exploring?
I just stopped reading Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle a third of the way through the third book. After the narrative nosedive of book 2 this thing is a spectacular crash-and-burn, and reviews suggest that things get even worse with 4 and 5.
I've had this problem with a lot of fantasy series I've tried over the years (e.g. A Song of Ice and Fire), where they just become incredible door-stopping, plot-padded waffle-fests. Characters you've grown to enjoy and thought you would be adventuring with until the end get steamrolled by knobheads.
So what I'd like to hear about are series from the last decade or so that stay on-message, and give you what was advertised in the first book. Like, the modern equivalent of the (frankly, excellent) Weis and Hickman Dragonlance novels?
(I've glanced at the Rothfuss Kingkiller books but understand the final entry has experienced delay after delay, which suggests to me that he doesn't know how to tie it up, which leaves me leery of starting.)
So hit me up please gang, with your suggestions for consistently excellent fantasy trilogies (I guess "cycles" could also work, but I think three books is a nice tight package) worth binge-reading. It's ok if it's gritty and edgy or whatever, but that's not a requirement. Obliged!
I just stopped reading Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle a third of the way through the third book. After the narrative nosedive of book 2 this thing is a spectacular crash-and-burn, and reviews suggest that things get even worse with 4 and 5.
I've had this problem with a lot of fantasy series I've tried over the years (e.g. A Song of Ice and Fire), where they just become incredible door-stopping, plot-padded waffle-fests. Characters you've grown to enjoy and thought you would be adventuring with until the end get steamrolled by knobheads.
So what I'd like to hear about are series from the last decade or so that stay on-message, and give you what was advertised in the first book. Like, the modern equivalent of the (frankly, excellent) Weis and Hickman Dragonlance novels?
(I've glanced at the Rothfuss Kingkiller books but understand the final entry has experienced delay after delay, which suggests to me that he doesn't know how to tie it up, which leaves me leery of starting.)
So hit me up please gang, with your suggestions for consistently excellent fantasy trilogies (I guess "cycles" could also work, but I think three books is a nice tight package) worth binge-reading. It's ok if it's gritty and edgy or whatever, but that's not a requirement. Obliged!
Best answer: This is slightly older than your request, but CS Friedman's Coldfire series is also consistently good all the way through. First book is Black Sun Rising.
posted by augustimagination at 3:27 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by augustimagination at 3:27 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Gentleman Bastards- caper/heist style fantasy
Stormlight Archive - more classic fantasy style, interestig magic system, cool sort of ecologically driven world building
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:28 PM on June 3, 2018 [6 favorites]
Stormlight Archive - more classic fantasy style, interestig magic system, cool sort of ecologically driven world building
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:28 PM on June 3, 2018 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: NK Jemisen's Broken Earth Trilogy - starts with The Fifth Season.
Very glad to hear that, as it was literally next in the queue!
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:31 PM on June 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Very glad to hear that, as it was literally next in the queue!
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:31 PM on June 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Pretty old ('80s) but a different take on the genre -
'Mordants Need'
Also a little old ('80s) and includes some sci-fi but also a lot of Celtic myth-making -
'Saga of Exiles'
More recent - not really a series (maybe borderline fantasy; more weird-fiction/steam-punk?) but a few of these sit in the same milieu -
'Perdido Street Station', 'The Scar' & 'Iron Council
posted by phigmov at 3:58 PM on June 3, 2018
'Mordants Need'
Also a little old ('80s) and includes some sci-fi but also a lot of Celtic myth-making -
'Saga of Exiles'
More recent - not really a series (maybe borderline fantasy; more weird-fiction/steam-punk?) but a few of these sit in the same milieu -
'Perdido Street Station', 'The Scar' & 'Iron Council
posted by phigmov at 3:58 PM on June 3, 2018
Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun is kinda sorta a trilogy depending on how you count it. It took me a couple tries to get past the first 100 pages or so but once I did I literally locked myself in a room to get my family to leave me alone so I could finish it.
posted by DarthDuckie at 4:24 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by DarthDuckie at 4:24 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Have you tried the Tearling trilogy by Erika Johansen? After some cataclysmic event resulting in a new society, a young queen must reclaim and retain her throne.
Or the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik? Talking dragon Air Force during the time of Napoleon!
posted by kittydelsol at 4:28 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Or the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik? Talking dragon Air Force during the time of Napoleon!
posted by kittydelsol at 4:28 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Oh yes, what about the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud? Magicians and demons in 19th-century-ish London.
posted by kittydelsol at 4:33 PM on June 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by kittydelsol at 4:33 PM on June 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you've been out of the loop, it's probably worth mentioning that the new Hugo Award for Best Series has mostly nominated fantasy series and that r/Fantasy has become huge--320k subscribers, a tone not hugely different from Metafilter's, and packed with opinions about fantasy series. A recent poll there covered series authored by women, and probably the clearest intersections between that list and the Hugos would be the Broken Earth series and the World of the Five Gods but that leaves out a lot of good candidates from both sources.
posted by Wobbuffet at 4:37 PM on June 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Wobbuffet at 4:37 PM on June 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
May I recommend Katherine Kerr’s Deverry Cycle. It’s Celtic fantasy that follows various incarnations of the main characters through history.
The books are arranged as several groups of 3 or 4 books, and they are fairly short by recent standards, and you can get really invested in the characters. There are occasional dragons.
posted by monotreme at 4:47 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
The books are arranged as several groups of 3 or 4 books, and they are fairly short by recent standards, and you can get really invested in the characters. There are occasional dragons.
posted by monotreme at 4:47 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Alex Marshall's Crimson Empire trilogy. It's complete, has weird unexplained magic, and people consume bugs to get high. If you care about avoiding the Standard White Dude hero, this is a great series - the ensemble cast runs the gamut both ethnically and sexually.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:33 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:33 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Jo Walton's Thessaly series. What happens if everyone across a couple millennia who prayed to Athena to set up Plato's Republic got to do so? (Hint, it all goes wrong. In interesting ways.)
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 5:40 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 5:40 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
I just finished the second book in the Winternight Trilogy and have really enjoyed both so far. Russian folklore and a strong female protagonist - yes, please!
And many of them are on the older side now but if you've never checked out Robin Hobb's works I would highly recommend them. I liked the Farseer Trilogy (starting with Assassin's Apprentice) a lot, but was utterly HOOKED by the Liveship Traders series, which you can read independently of the Farseer books. Really interesting premise, well-fleshed out characters, multiple strong women, and all three books were equally addictive (to me, at least). I've just finished the first novel in the next series (The Tawny Man Trilogy) and adored it, but that one is a continuation of the Farseer Trilogy so you'd want to read those ones first.
And seconding the Temeraire series - they are UTTERLY different from Dragonlance, but for me they scratch that same dragon-loving itch in a completely different way. I've not made it through all of them yet but the ones I have read have been wonderful.
posted by DingoMutt at 5:59 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
And many of them are on the older side now but if you've never checked out Robin Hobb's works I would highly recommend them. I liked the Farseer Trilogy (starting with Assassin's Apprentice) a lot, but was utterly HOOKED by the Liveship Traders series, which you can read independently of the Farseer books. Really interesting premise, well-fleshed out characters, multiple strong women, and all three books were equally addictive (to me, at least). I've just finished the first novel in the next series (The Tawny Man Trilogy) and adored it, but that one is a continuation of the Farseer Trilogy so you'd want to read those ones first.
And seconding the Temeraire series - they are UTTERLY different from Dragonlance, but for me they scratch that same dragon-loving itch in a completely different way. I've not made it through all of them yet but the ones I have read have been wonderful.
posted by DingoMutt at 5:59 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have just recently enjoyed Daniel Abraham's "The Dagger and the Coin" series. It runs to 5 books but does keep the pace up, and I like the characters.
posted by HaveYouTriedRebooting at 6:00 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by HaveYouTriedRebooting at 6:00 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
I came in to recommend any N.K. Jemisin, so glad to see I'm not the first - I like the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy the best of all her books, but like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy best as a series. But, she's awesome, all her books are super fun to read.
posted by snaw at 6:01 PM on June 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by snaw at 6:01 PM on June 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
You could try the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, if you haven't already. Each book is a well-thought out urban-fantasy-mystery, and each is written in such a way that it can be read independently of the others, though starting with Book One would be the best way to go.
Seconding the Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I am not a big fan of the Rainwilds books which followed, but that is mostly because I found the dragons' personalities tedious. I appreciate that they were not intended to have cute and fluffy personalities, but it wasn't my thing. I enjoyed the Farseer Trilogy, but not as much as the Liveship Traders Trilogy.
posted by Crystal Fox at 7:00 PM on June 3, 2018
Seconding the Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I am not a big fan of the Rainwilds books which followed, but that is mostly because I found the dragons' personalities tedious. I appreciate that they were not intended to have cute and fluffy personalities, but it wasn't my thing. I enjoyed the Farseer Trilogy, but not as much as the Liveship Traders Trilogy.
posted by Crystal Fox at 7:00 PM on June 3, 2018
I highly recommend the The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Basically, there used to be gods who favored one nation, and helped it enslave the rest of the world. The gods where somehow defeated, apparently killed, the tables have turned, all the old magic has gone away (it seems…) and the former empire is now a vassal state of their previous thralls. Then, strange things start to happen.
It's great fun, solid world building, good diverse characters, etc.
posted by signal at 7:10 PM on June 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
Basically, there used to be gods who favored one nation, and helped it enslave the rest of the world. The gods where somehow defeated, apparently killed, the tables have turned, all the old magic has gone away (it seems…) and the former empire is now a vassal state of their previous thralls. Then, strange things start to happen.
It's great fun, solid world building, good diverse characters, etc.
posted by signal at 7:10 PM on June 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
My current favorite series is Kate Elliott's Spiritwalker trilogy (Cold Magic, Cold Fire, Cold Steel). Set in an alternate 19th century with magic...starts out with a steampunk feel but it's handled with a light touch. Two strong heroines who travel around Europe and the Caribbean fighting for social and political rights for all and negotiating egalitarian relationships with the men around them.
posted by Preserver at 7:26 PM on June 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Preserver at 7:26 PM on June 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
How about Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet? It's often considered her best because it doesn't feature the slightly icky take on romance her earlier works from the 80 had (that she has since apologized for) and it's really fantastic, but the last book is kind of dark.
Characters from her previous two series (which I recommend, but they do have some weaknesses) appear from time to time, but you don't need to have read them if you don't want to.
It's young adult, but actually pretty mature in terms of topics.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 8:43 PM on June 3, 2018
Characters from her previous two series (which I recommend, but they do have some weaknesses) appear from time to time, but you don't need to have read them if you don't want to.
It's young adult, but actually pretty mature in terms of topics.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 8:43 PM on June 3, 2018
Seconding the Broken Earth trilogy, China Miéville's Bas-Lag novels, and The Divine Cities trilogy. Also, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence books.
posted by neushoorn at 8:47 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by neushoorn at 8:47 PM on June 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Thirding the Divine Cities novels: they're fascinating, unlike anything else I've read recently.
If you want fantasy series that tell a great story, have lots of interesting characters (all with their own agendas), and know where the story is going without a lot of wandering about and wasted time (i.e. like Martin and Jordan), try Kate Elliott. The Crossroads trilogy is excellent, as is the Spiritwalker trilogy mentioned above. And I'm waiting eagerly for the sequel to Black Wolves (which is set in the same universe as the Crossroads novels, but about 30 years later).
Elliott is excellent, and really deserves to be better known.
I can also recommend Martha Wells. The novels of the Raksura is a connected series of 5 novels and 2 collections set on a secondary world inhabited by dozens of sapient peoples (none of them human). They have smart, propulsive plots and engaging characters.
Sherwood Smith's Inda novels are great fun, full of politics, pirates, mages, gender fluidity, horses and military schools.
posted by suelac at 9:31 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
If you want fantasy series that tell a great story, have lots of interesting characters (all with their own agendas), and know where the story is going without a lot of wandering about and wasted time (i.e. like Martin and Jordan), try Kate Elliott. The Crossroads trilogy is excellent, as is the Spiritwalker trilogy mentioned above. And I'm waiting eagerly for the sequel to Black Wolves (which is set in the same universe as the Crossroads novels, but about 30 years later).
Elliott is excellent, and really deserves to be better known.
I can also recommend Martha Wells. The novels of the Raksura is a connected series of 5 novels and 2 collections set on a secondary world inhabited by dozens of sapient peoples (none of them human). They have smart, propulsive plots and engaging characters.
Sherwood Smith's Inda novels are great fun, full of politics, pirates, mages, gender fluidity, horses and military schools.
posted by suelac at 9:31 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Martha Wells-wise, I'm currently inhaling her Ile-Rien books and #4 looks as good as the previous three - they correspond to some pulp novels in very intriguing ways. (#1 is Musketeers / court intrigue / cape-and-rapier, #2 features not!Sherlock Holmes as the protagonist's opponent, #3-#5 seem to be war spy caper, with sorcery overlying everything.)
Django Wexler has recently (like in the last year) finished both his series - Infernal Battalions (not!Napoleonic campaigns with demons) and Forbidden Library (Young Adult). I enjoyed both very much.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:57 AM on June 4, 2018
Django Wexler has recently (like in the last year) finished both his series - Infernal Battalions (not!Napoleonic campaigns with demons) and Forbidden Library (Young Adult). I enjoyed both very much.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:57 AM on June 4, 2018
Came in to recommend the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. Leigh Bardugo is great and her Grisha trilogy is fine flavored. The other books that take place in the universe of the Grisha series are very solid, too. Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series is very good and if you dig the universe then her Alpha Omega series is one to consider.
posted by jadepearl at 4:05 AM on June 4, 2018
posted by jadepearl at 4:05 AM on June 4, 2018
Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire & Red Queen's War. Two separate trilogies that read fine independently but take place largely simultaneously in the same world. Does exactly what you ask for.
posted by el_presidente at 5:02 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by el_presidente at 5:02 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is old, but have you ever read Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series?
I have the whole set and recently loaned them to a 17YO nephew . He loved them.
posted by james33 at 6:53 AM on June 4, 2018
I have the whole set and recently loaned them to a 17YO nephew . He loved them.
posted by james33 at 6:53 AM on June 4, 2018
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series pretty much checks all your boxes. And it is complete (six books), so no worries there.
posted by 445supermag at 7:07 AM on June 4, 2018
posted by 445supermag at 7:07 AM on June 4, 2018
For a single book, try Railsea, if you don't mind steam/diesel punk fantasy, with light sf explanations for the fantastic and a dose of well-deserved anti-capitalism.
posted by 445supermag at 7:11 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by 445supermag at 7:11 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Just wanted to chime in also saying that Robert Jackson's Bennett's series is absolutely terrific.
I also love all of Kate Elliott's work. Her Cold Magic series is great, but I also really love her Crossroads series that starts with Spirit Gate.
I will also highly recommend Mark Lawrence and Red Sister. He is more famous for his earlier books, but I think Red Sister is his best (sequel is Gray Sister which is out and I haven't gotten to yet, final book in trilogy is already written).
Daniel Abraham is great. He has two completed series both of which I enjoyed, although I liked The Long Price Quartet a bit more than the other.
posted by bove at 8:20 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
I also love all of Kate Elliott's work. Her Cold Magic series is great, but I also really love her Crossroads series that starts with Spirit Gate.
I will also highly recommend Mark Lawrence and Red Sister. He is more famous for his earlier books, but I think Red Sister is his best (sequel is Gray Sister which is out and I haven't gotten to yet, final book in trilogy is already written).
Daniel Abraham is great. He has two completed series both of which I enjoyed, although I liked The Long Price Quartet a bit more than the other.
posted by bove at 8:20 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Joe Abercrombie meets all of your requirements. the First Law trilogy is tight and self contained, then there are three further standalone novels. The Shattered Sea trilogy is theoretically YA but it didn't really seem so to me - it is as tight, enthralling and fascinating as his other works.
posted by el_presidente at 8:50 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by el_presidente at 8:50 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
I feel like I am recommending it on here all the time but the Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore is YA fantasy that just gets better as it goes, culminating in a hugely satisfying, funny!! third book (Bitterblue) about restorative justice and national trauma and complex logic puzzles and weird magic and grief and royalty being a job that is frankly incredible.
posted by colorblock sock at 9:48 AM on June 4, 2018
posted by colorblock sock at 9:48 AM on June 4, 2018
Lois McMaster Bujold's Five Gods books. Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are a duology, Hallowed Hunt is set in a different country a couple of hundred years earlier. (There's a series of novellas set in the same universe which may or may not be complete- if the one that's just come out is the last one, it's a perfectly OK ending point. The novellas don't have any character overlaps with the novels.)
I really like Andrea K Host. Stained Glass Monsters/The Sleeping Life could be a good duology to try, maybe.
posted by Shark Hat at 11:38 AM on June 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
I really like Andrea K Host. Stained Glass Monsters/The Sleeping Life could be a good duology to try, maybe.
posted by Shark Hat at 11:38 AM on June 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
The first two Broken Earth novels are fantastic - the final book in the trilogy is... poorly conceived, to say the least.
Definitely recommend The Fifth Season and Obelisk Gate, but since you are specifically seeking consistency, be warned you won't get it from this trilogy.
posted by RajahKing at 12:21 PM on June 4, 2018
Definitely recommend The Fifth Season and Obelisk Gate, but since you are specifically seeking consistency, be warned you won't get it from this trilogy.
posted by RajahKing at 12:21 PM on June 4, 2018
The Attolia series by Megan Whalen Turner, starting with The Thief (which is marketed as a children's book but ignore this).
posted by nicebookrack at 9:59 PM on June 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 9:59 PM on June 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Our family listened to the audiobooks of Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series a few years ago and they were enjoyed by kids as young as 8 or so, as well as by the grownups. It's a seven-book series but they're not heavy reads.
Years ago when my 14-year-old was a baby, I got so sucked into Robin Hobb's Farseer books--at that time, three trilogies--that I basically couldn't stop reading them. I was actually relieved when I finished them so I could get back to paying attention to other things than the baby and the books. My partner has recently listened to the audiobooks and enjoyed them. So we would second that recommendation.
posted by Orlop at 8:38 PM on June 6, 2018
Years ago when my 14-year-old was a baby, I got so sucked into Robin Hobb's Farseer books--at that time, three trilogies--that I basically couldn't stop reading them. I was actually relieved when I finished them so I could get back to paying attention to other things than the baby and the books. My partner has recently listened to the audiobooks and enjoyed them. So we would second that recommendation.
posted by Orlop at 8:38 PM on June 6, 2018
Response by poster: (Just checking in to report that The Fifth Season is an absolute 24 carat ball-tearer and I am enjoying it immensely. I will likely proceed directly into the second and third books [despite the cautions about the third] and then look forward to revisiting all of these excellent recommendations. Thanks, Metafilter!)
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:17 PM on June 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:17 PM on June 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I thought the third was difficult but held up, and the climax worked for me.
posted by suelac at 8:56 AM on June 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by suelac at 8:56 AM on June 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by augustimagination at 3:25 PM on June 3, 2018 [34 favorites]