Hello all you wonderful people!
Today I wanted to write a list about some fantasy authors and novels I enjoyed without going too far into what the novel is about, or the series if I have more than the first in whatever trilogy or longer series of which that novel is a part. I’ll start by saying this: fantasy novels are my favorite genre. There’s definitely a niche in some respect to fantasy, like urban fantasy, or epic fantasy, or whatever it may be, but I tend to read many different novels despite not owning most of what I’ve read. I tend to, when I have a day off and I’m feeling up to it, go to my local book store, browse the fantasy/science fiction section, pick a fantasy novel off the shelf and start reading it. I think I’ve done that with Robin Hobb (shame on me for never buying one of her novels), Brandon Sanderson, Pat Rothfuss, Jim Butcher, Joe Abercrombie, and many more.
However, here is a list of some fantasy novels I actually own that I enjoyed more than I thought I would from the start:
- Mark Lawrence-
- I’ve talked about Mark Lawrence on Twitter before and possibly on here, too. I can’t get enough of this man’s writing. He won the David Gemmell Legend award twice, first in 2014 for his novel Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire trilogy #3) and again in 2016 for his novel The Liar’s Key (The Red Queen’s War #2). He was also nominated at least three other times for novels in the two aforementioned trilogies (and possibly another nomination in his third trilogy with Red Sister). So, this man knows how to write. His stories are captivating, gritty, dark, and the characters resonate off the page. My favorite by him, and one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time, is Emperor of Thorns. I recommend it if you can get through Prince of Thorns and King of Thorns. Emperor of Thorns is beautifully written…
- Brent Weeks-
- Another author I may have talked about on Twitter, but he, much like Mark Lawrence, has both been nominated and won the David Gemmell Legend award. The man has a trilogy, short story, and another epic series that concludes in October of this year. The Night Angel trilogy, Weeks’ first, is written well enough, but he really comes into stride in his ongoing Lightbringer series, and out of Weeks’ novels, I have to say that each has gotten better and better. As of now, my favorite from him is The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer #4). It’s hard for me to even attempt explaining anything about the Lightbringer series, because it’s based on metaphysics and color and I just can’t do it. However, I recommend that series, as well as his original trilogy.
- Jasper Kent-
- Do you like vampires? How about historical fantasy with vampires? Well look no more as Jasper Kent has a pretty solid quintet based on Russia starting in 1812 with Napoleon’s invasion stretching through to the 20th century and World War I. Yeah, it’s a pretty lengthy time period to cover, but each aspect of his novels revolves around a specific time in Russian history, with fantasy thrown into the mix. They’re gritty, bloody, and bare-bones vampire novels. There is no sparkle to these vamps, but they’re enjoyable nonetheless. So far, I’ve enjoyed his first novel Twelve the most, but they’re all good additions to the initial story.
- Sarah J. Maas-
- I have recently started reading her novels again, as I stopped for some reason, but right now I have three from her. She has more novels that I thought, and more stories than I believed, but her Throne of Glass series, which started it all, has been captivating. A beautiful world, well-written characters, and a story that will pull readers in makes the series enjoyable. I honestly think her best work so far, from what I’ve read, comes from Heir of Fire (#3). It’s an enjoyable ride with a good world and characters. I’m itching to get the fourth and fifth installments of the series to finish what I started.
And there you have it! Fantasy authors I enjoyed, and my favorites by them. To recap, here are my favorite novels so far by the authors I listed:
- Emperor of Thorns, Mark Lawrence
- The Blood Mirror, Brent Weeks
- Twelve, Jasper Kent
- Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas
That’ll do it for me today!
Are there any novels, fantasy or otherwise, that stuck with you or that you enjoyed? I’d love to know!
Thanks for reading!
Alexie 🙂
Alex's Arena 
I’m not a fan of Mark Lawrence’s portrayal of women. His dark fantasy isn’t bad by far and he knows how to do anti-heroes, but women are a different story. I’ve heard good things about Emperor of Thorns, though, so I do plan on reading through that series one day. The brutality in his novels are really fantastic and it’s what drew me to him initially. I love violent stuff, lol. Brent Weeks is an author I want to try out! I started reading one of his books, but had to return it to the library. I’m going to read some of his stuff in July for an adult fantasy readathon I’m joining. What little I did read of his work, I liked quite a lot.
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Lawrence’s portrayal of women in his first series was more than rough for sure, but I think he may have finally figured something out for his third trilogy (Ancestor trilogy) with Red Sister, Grey Sister, and Holy Sister. The first three or four in the world of the Broken Empire were not good portrayals, albeit his focus was almost solely on MCs Jorg and Jalan, who were not good people by any means.
I would say without a doubt that Brent Weeks handles women in his story much differently, with stronger back stories and more development both for the plot and as their own beings, so for that you’d probably like Weeks’ work much more. Plus, the character Momma K in Weeks’ first trilogy is one of my all time favorite characters in fantasy. Weeks also has amazing and strong female characters in his Lightbringer series as well. Definitely worth a shot for fantasy readers.
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That’s good to know for Lawrence! I try to stay open-minded to writing getting better with each book an author puts out, and I have heard that about Lawrence. Are most, of not all, his works set in the world of Broken Empire?
That’s great! I love well-developed characters very much. The book I’ll be reading by him is The Way of Shadows. I actually own the whole trilogy now. The Lightbringer series sounds really interesting.
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Lawrence’s first two trilogies (The Broken Empire and The Red Queen’s War) take place in that world around the same time, which I think is cool. His third trilogy is a different setting.
A note on Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy: it’s a medieval setting, and there are some extremely heavy, hard to read portions, but each portion almost always leads to specific character developments.
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Oh thanks for letting me know! I’ll proceed with some caution. 🙂 If I feel like chatting about The Broken Empire, can I hit you up?
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Yes you can! I’ll understand if you put it down for good without finishing it, though. It’s not for everyone.
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Sweet! I’m a firm believer that if the series gets better along the way, then the first couple instalments are usually worth the trudge through. I think getting that initial foundation laid out can be the trickiest part about fantasy works.
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I’ve never read any of these authors before, but they sound really interesting and it’s just further proof that I need to read more books. I’ve been slacking off on my reading for a good few years now!
My personal favourite Fantasy novels have always been The Belgariad series by David Eddings. I highly recommend them if you’re into Fantasy stories! The series is a little derivative at times, but it has a lot of unique elements that also make it stand out in places.
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is also one of my favourites, although it’s 14 books long and is a real slog at times. Worth the effort though!
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I still haven’t started the Wheel of Time series, which is something I need to change at some point. I’ve heard a great many things about it over the years, though.
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