Patrick Rothfuss Kingskiller Chornicle isnīt finished yet but absolutly takes the NR.1 spot for me. Iīve read most of the books mentioned in this thread but his work is my run away favorite.
I was a fan of song and ice and fire since it first came out, and eve I think it is starting to get mythical overrated.
The first book was solid, the 2nd was great and the 3rd was one of the best books I have ever read, comparable to the final book of the wheel of time, however, not only did the quality dip in book 4-5 below any of the first 3 books, but the waiting period for the books is a huge turnoff since GRRM fell in love with his own fame.
It is seriously annoying to have read his blog waiting on word for the next book for near 7 years as he continually tells of how he went to book signings and allows people to bask in his magnificence and drop tidbits. Especially since in the same blog he talks of how he goes to box seats at sporting events regularly, and multiple other expensive "I am rich, famous and enjoy it" type posts while also posting things like "I wrote 2 pages for the next book this week. That is more than I have done in the last 6 months! Still no idea when it will be done."
Now, GRRM is not my bitch. I know that. He has every right to enjoy his fame and fortune. But he makes it plain he does not give a crap about finishing the series. The thing that got me the most annoyed was his statement that if he dies, nobody will be allowed to finish his books in his world or know the ending. He flat out stated he would rather leave everyone wondering what would have happened than to do what Robert Jordan did and pass along how he wanted it to end to another author. "Nobody gets to play in my sandbox. If I die, you will never know what happens." And legally, he made sure nobody ever could after he dies. The TV show is so drastically different now that it does not even seem to be related anymore and he already said the TV show is pretty much an alternate universe now.
He is nearly 70 years old and morbidly obese and doesn't care about the wishes of his fans, and always cites other great book series that were not finished before the author died as a mark of greatness........
So yeah, I am bitter. But the quality of books 4-5 were so much lower than the first 3 books that it is hard to care as much.
At least Robert Jordan did right by his fans and were were given one of the most epic final books ever written after he passed away.
#1 Yahoo Keep 5, 14 teams
C, C, RW, LW, F, F, D, D, D, Uti, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN
G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FOW~W, L, GAA, Sv%, saves, SO
McDavid C, Kadri C, Zibanejad C, Mackinnon C, Boldy LW/RW, Backlund C, Duchene C/RW, Fantilli C, Batherson LW/RW, Forsberg LW, Zegras C IR, Mintyukov D, Dunn D, Seider D, Hellebucyk G, Kochetkov, Bobrovsky G
Patrick Rothfuss Kingskiller Chornicle isnīt finished yet but absolutly takes the NR.1 spot for me. Iīve read most of the books mentioned in this thread but his work is my run away favorite.
Commish of UNFFHL, dangered species being the sole Panthers fan on Dobber.
This reminds me a lot of an essay we had to read in college regarding the artist Salvadore Dali, which basically asked the question "Is it moral and ethical to separate appreciation of the works from the often repugnant behavior of the creator?"
I have to admit, being a big Neil Gaiman fan, his essay "George R.R. Martin is Not Your Bitch" annoyed me. I did appreciate his overall point, but it ignored Martin's underdeveloped sense of responsibility not just to his fans but also to his legacy. I mean, how may of us can tell our bosses "You know, that project I was supposed to deliver on such-and-such a date? Well, it's going to be late because football season has started."
RETIRED
Not quite apples-to-apples... he gets to call his own shots given the level of success and fame he's achieved. Most of us are employees (and thus someone else's bitch).
Having said that, as a huge fan of the series I am just as pissed off as the next guy that this fat **** doesn't seem to be prioritizing what should be his life's work and legacy.
I would think (or maybe it's just hope) that people are expected to behave with some level of integrity and personal responsibility regardless of whether they are someone's employee or not.
My current employment status and bank account balance are not what drive my personal ethics and sense of responsibility.
The problem with Martin is that he never met a personal-appearance fee that he wouldn't accept. Which would be fine, provided that he was actually producing the product which is driving those appearance fees to begin with. But he's not.
RETIRED
Just going to second the shout-outs for the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, the Endymion/Hyperion books by Simmons, and the Kingskiller trilogy by Patrick Rothfuss. Also The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance by Sanderson are excellent.
FWIW, I got about 4 books into WoT before getting bored, got about 3 books into SoT before getting bored, haven't read Malazan at all, and have read the ASOIAF series twice. I personally prefer the Mistborn books, the Kingskiller trilogy, and the Simmons series over any named in the initial poll (including ASOIAF).
Yahoo 12 team H2H Keeper (Keep 7 vets; 3 prospects (Skater < 201 GP; Goalie < 101GP)
Categories: G, A, P, PIM, +/-, PPP, SOG, FW, Hits, Blocks, W, GAA, Sv% Saves
Start 3LW, 3C, 3RW, 5D, 2G, 8Bn
C: Crosby, RNH, Stepan, Faksa
LW: Ovechkin, Benn, Jenner (c), Komarov (c, rw), Dano
RW: Voracek (lw), Neal, Hornqvist, Silfverberg, Buchnevich (lw), Boeser
D: Karlsson, Letang, Ellis, Muzzin, Slavin, Boychuk
G: Price, Bernier, Grubauer, Pickard
Yahoo 12 team H2H Keeper (Keep 7 vets; 3 prospects (Skater < 201 GP; Goalie < 101GP)
Categories: G, A, P, PIM, +/-, PPP, SOG, FW, Hits, Blocks, W, GAA, Sv% Saves
Start 3LW, 3C, 3RW, 5D, 2G, 8Bn
C: Crosby, RNH, Stepan, Faksa
LW: Ovechkin, Benn, Jenner (c), Komarov (c, rw), Dano
RW: Voracek (lw), Neal, Hornqvist, Silfverberg, Buchnevich (lw), Boeser
D: Karlsson, Letang, Ellis, Muzzin, Slavin, Boychuk
G: Price, Bernier, Grubauer, Pickard
#1 Yahoo Keep 5, 14 teams
C, C, RW, LW, F, F, D, D, D, Uti, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN
G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FOW~W, L, GAA, Sv%, saves, SO
McDavid C, Kadri C, Zibanejad C, Mackinnon C, Boldy LW/RW, Backlund C, Duchene C/RW, Fantilli C, Batherson LW/RW, Forsberg LW, Zegras C IR, Mintyukov D, Dunn D, Seider D, Hellebucyk G, Kochetkov, Bobrovsky G
#1 Yahoo Keep 5, 14 teams
C, C, RW, LW, F, F, D, D, D, Uti, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN
G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FOW~W, L, GAA, Sv%, saves, SO
McDavid C, Kadri C, Zibanejad C, Mackinnon C, Boldy LW/RW, Backlund C, Duchene C/RW, Fantilli C, Batherson LW/RW, Forsberg LW, Zegras C IR, Mintyukov D, Dunn D, Seider D, Hellebucyk G, Kochetkov, Bobrovsky G
Yahoo 12 team H2H Keeper (Keep 7 vets; 3 prospects (Skater < 201 GP; Goalie < 101GP)
Categories: G, A, P, PIM, +/-, PPP, SOG, FW, Hits, Blocks, W, GAA, Sv% Saves
Start 3LW, 3C, 3RW, 5D, 2G, 8Bn
C: Crosby, RNH, Stepan, Faksa
LW: Ovechkin, Benn, Jenner (c), Komarov (c, rw), Dano
RW: Voracek (lw), Neal, Hornqvist, Silfverberg, Buchnevich (lw), Boeser
D: Karlsson, Letang, Ellis, Muzzin, Slavin, Boychuk
G: Price, Bernier, Grubauer, Pickard
#1 Yahoo Keep 5, 14 teams
C, C, RW, LW, F, F, D, D, D, Uti, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN
G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FOW~W, L, GAA, Sv%, saves, SO
McDavid C, Kadri C, Zibanejad C, Mackinnon C, Boldy LW/RW, Backlund C, Duchene C/RW, Fantilli C, Batherson LW/RW, Forsberg LW, Zegras C IR, Mintyukov D, Dunn D, Seider D, Hellebucyk G, Kochetkov, Bobrovsky G
I just finished the Night Angel Trilogy. It was really good. I read the 3 700ish page books over the past week which should be a pretty good indication of how captivating it was. I would put it behind the Kingkiller Chronicles and ASOIAF in terms of enjoyment but it goes ahead of ASOIAF for readability. I have not read the other series in the poll but am starting to think I should.
Any suggestions on what I should read next?
Anyone read The Black Company? Really good, and grittier/darker than most other fantasy series I've read.
Has anyone picked up Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons? I don't know anyone else who's read it and an curious on opinions.
IMHO it's as good as the Hyperion/Endymion books.
12 Team Dynasty, H2H (points)
Dress 2C, 4W, 1F, 4D, 1G (Daily)
G (3), A (2), STP (1), SHOG (1), +/- (0.5), SOG (0.2), Hits (0.2), Blk (0.2), FOW (0.1); W (5), SO (2), Sv (0.2), GA (-1)
C - Draisaitl (W), Hughes, Larkin, Trochek
W - T.Thompson (C), Pastrnak, Reinhart, Nichushkin, Batherson, Sharangovich
D - Dahlin, Theodore, Bouchard, Faber, Werenski, Skjei, Forsling
G - Jarry, Gustavsson
Fm - Bordeleau, Barlow, But, G.Perreault, Morrow, Perunovich, Nikishin