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Complex Numbers #968586 added October 29, 2019 at 12:24am
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Fantastic
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-fantasy-book-series-sci-fi-s...
The 21 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Series Ever
"Best" is usually subjective. They're still wrong about some of these.
We’ve done the hard work for you and rounded up the 21 best science fiction fantasy series of all time, in no particular order.
I'll give 'em credit for not putting it in a countdown-style slideshow to generate more clicks. As a reward, I'm sharing this and maybe they'll get a couple more clicks.
For the sake of tidiness (and our own sanity), we’ve limited this list to series that include at least three books, and that are either completely finished or have no further books currently planned (so, no A Song of Fire and Ice)
That's good, because I got bored with that bloated tripe about halfway through the fourth book. Okay, I'm being unfair - Martin is a good writer, but when I drop a book halfway through, it's for good reason: I just quit caring what's going to happen.
Couldn't watch the series, either.
Now. Some of the series in that list, I've read; some, I haven't. Unlike some people, I don't have an opinion on the ones I haven't read.
The Vorkosigan Saga (1986-ongoing) by Lois McMaster Bujold
I like this series a lot, but I really hate Bujold because she got her first novel published on, from what I've heard, the first try. Bitch.
The Wheel of Time (1990-2013 by Robert Jordan (with Brandon Sanderson)
This series ain't all that. Remember how I said if I quit a book halfway through, it's because I just don't care? Well, I got about 1989 pages into the 2000-page first book of this series, right when things are supposed to be all climax-y, when the book's plot is being wrapped up and the stage set for the next 89 books, and threw the thing at the wall.
When Jordan died and I heard Sanderson was going to wrap things up for him, I thought about going back and trying again - I like Sanderson's writing a great deal, and I figured if he cared enough to do the work I should at least see what all the fuss was about, but... you know... squirrel!
The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Come on, do we really have to include this one?
His Dark Materials (1995-2000) by Philip Pullman
Let me not mince words, here: this series is indefensible. About the only good thing about it is: bears in armor. I mean, that's epic. But everything else about the series actually sucks. Unlike some of the other books I mentioned, though, I actually finished it. That's 24 hours of my life I'm never getting back.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series (1979-2009) by Douglas Adams
Two of my favorite things are science fiction and comedy. When someone combines the two and does it well, it can be amazing. Also, these books are so ingrained in pop culture that you're lost if you don't read them - kind of like Star Wars.
Mistborn (2006-2008) by Brandon Sanderson
I'd pick The Stormlight Archives over Mistborn when it comes to Sanderson, but apparently the list is about completed series (even though the status of the Vorkosigan saga might make the Bujold entry an exception). Still, Mistborn is a fine series by an excellent author who is amazing at crafting epic fantasy.
There are also three fantasy series that are conspicuously absent from this list:
Amber by Roger Zelazny
Zelazny, like Jordan, was taken from us too soon. Unlike Jordan, he pretty much finished the Amber novels - though I think he wanted to write another set in the series. There are ten books in all, and the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, served as my personal introduction to fantasy.
The Vlad Taltos novels by Steven Brust
I've read this series so many times it's pathetic. The first book, Jhereg, contains what I consider to be the greatest opening line in all of fantasy (at least all that I've read). Again, though, the series might not be actually concluded.
Chronicles of Alera by Jim Butcher
Butcher is better known for the Dresden Files, a modern fantasy series. But it's definitely still in progress. Alera is a five-book (if I recall correctly) high fantasy series that's just a great read.
Anyway, that's my opinion, which of course you can take as truth.
I'm kind of surprised Harry Potter didn't make the list. Like Pullman's crappy series, it's targeted at a younger readership, which is fine. The first book was kind of painful to read, but the author got better as she went along. And like Hitchhiker's, it's part of pop culture now and there's no going back from that. |
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