Get Inspired! Essential Reading For Your Games – Fantasy Books
September 10, 2015 by dracs
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I would also add to this with The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. A fantastic series which does a bit of the dark fantasy and mixes it in with the high to great effect.
BoW Ben
Just what I was thinking – and then any of the standalone’s. The ‘Half a ……..’ YA books are good to.
from a wargame perspective, anyone interested in fantasy should read the heroes, which covers a 3 day skirmish, following the events of the first law trilogy. and whilst the latter 2 books are enjoyable, half a king is probably Abercombies best work
OK, I like your list but I would add
Terry Brooks – Shanara series for the same reasons you add the Belgariad series.
Raymond E. Fiest – The Magician: Apprentice and Master are quite good but I would especially recommend the series he did with Janny Wurts — The Empire Trilogy. Very good.
Joe Abercrombie – The First Law series. I find it amazing and how nobody is exactly good but everyone does what they do for their own reasons. Everyone is kinda grey.
There are others but I think those are 3 I would definitely recommend for world building, etc.
You know, right after this was published I started kicking myself for not including The Sword of Shanara.
Considering Fantasy settings usually have some basis in reality to help keep it grounded and somewhat relatable (eg it usually includes humans whom the reader can relate to, and even Elves and Dwrves usually have mentalities that we can relate to, and things like armour and weapons start off based on ones that existed in the real world) and that authors draw inspiration from history (eg the various races in the Conan stories are inspired by real world ancient and Dark Age cultures) it might be worth also considering historic fiction novels to draw inspiration from, especially if you’re making… Read more »
No mention of Brandon Sanderson who has created some breath taking worlds, the obvious two that spring to mind is the mistborn series and the way of kings series. Huge books, especially the latte, but so immersive. I’ve often asked why no RPG s have been released to date for these worlds. The other factor with Brandon is that the magic system he employs has a strict rule in how it operates, for example using gold will have one effect, whereas silver another and so on. It doesnt detract fom the mystesism of magic either. As you can see, i… Read more »
the way of kings series is brilliant, read it last summer with no expectations and was blown away. I tried reading the first mistborn book earlier this year, but lost interest about a third in. once ive finished team yankee (after bows recommendation) ill give it another go as it did seem to have some good potential
It isn’t on here is because I have just started reading it.
Be warned Sam, reading Sanderson is like eating Pringles: you just can’t stop.
I would actually be really interested to see someone try to tackle a game system set in the Cosmere, and miniature interpretations of his characters 🙂
If your going to pull the Eddings Card (which is a good card to pull) , you cant not mention the Sparhawk Novels , the Elenium , again a quest novel , again a large cast of protagonists on a quest , but I can start the first book on christmas eve and have the lsat one read by boxing night evening (stopping for pud along the way) , which I have done for a few christmasses.
Robin Hobb is a good shout as well.
I also like the Paksenarrion books by Elizabeth Moon.
Absolutely agree about Robin Hobb. Excellent stuff.
I think my issue with the Sparhawk books is, while they’re really enjoyable, all of the chracters are rehashes of the characters from the Belgariad (Sparhawk is basically Silk, Ehlana is basically Polgara, etc.). Robin Hobb is definitely a good shout. Her Elderlings books are great and her Soldier Son trilogy is also worth a read! I think I may need to re-read the Paksenarrion books. They were a long time ago! I’ll add my vote for Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn books. I think the way the trilogy wraps up is amazing, and has a lot to say about the value… Read more »
So many inspiring authors when it comes to fantasy and definitely where I have spent most of my reading hours. David Gemmell (Legend, Waylander……so many) who sadly passed not so long ago had such an impact there is now an award presented each year for fantasy writing named after him. Probably the easiest author to read that I have ever read and the amount of story he compressed into the amount of pages he wrote was astounding. Peter V Brett (Painted Man, The Desert Spear, The Daylight War) such a unique concept and dragged me in from the first few… Read more »
Wait one final one I promise its my last.
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance Trilogy), one of the few fantasy novel sets that had me blubbing like a baby when one of the characters dies within it. Still gets me right in the chest that one. Probably one of the purist fantasy novels I have read that touches on many different races in a truly fantasy based world.
I loved the Dragonlance stuff as well. I remember the joy of finding the books on a ratherdamp holiday in Wales. I quickly judged the books by their covers and they didn’t disappoint.
I was going to say you can’t have a list like this without R A Salvatore and especially the Drizzt books. Added to that I think The Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance books from the makes of D&D/AD&D really help tie you into a campaign in these settings.
I strongly endorse the Gentlemen Bastard series as well. I have only read the first 2 thus far, but both are incredibly well thought out capers, that really do compare in scope to the Oceans movies (as weird a parallel as that is to make for a fantasy book). Also the First Law series and its sequels. The sequels are amazing because they tell stories in such varied ways. The Heroes is a massive book about a single battle and its great and interesting and not just pages of people getting stabbed. Glen Cook’s Chronicles of the Black Company is… Read more »
I find the Bible a great source of fantasy when thinking of ideas for a game of course it’s poorly written but there’s no copyright on it and you can’t get sued. LOL:-D
Michael Moorcock anybody?
Yes please.
Was reading down the list and thinking yep gotta add that one in 🙂
Also as he was influenced by him Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially the John Carter of Mars forget the Epic fail Disney, suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. Oh he did Tarzan as well 🙂
as well as terry brooks, feist, donaldson, hobb, gemmel, wurts, salvatore, weis and hickman i woild also recommend Melanie rawns sunrinner series, and jennifer robersons cheysuli series.
Fred Saberhagen also has a good book of swords series as well stick a pot of coffee on and get reading
Saberhagen! I’ve been thinking about these books a lot recently but could never remember who wrote them! Cheers for that!
I enjoyed Rawn’s books, but found them to be very heavy reading. Even heavier than Steven Eriksons Malazan Book of the Fallen, and that’s saying something! I’d definitely recommend Erikson though, it’s worth the effort.
No ones mentioned the dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. That really solidified my love of dragons. Plus time travel and a bit of political intrigue thrown in.
Yeah, but McCaffrey got on the last list. Can’t have her owning the show.
Terry goodkind is brilliant with the sword of truth series I think.
Wheel of time series? totally awesome story arch and a brilliant world.
The Malazan Book Of The Fallen series by Steven Eriksson (and the companion series by Ian C Esslemont) is an excellent example of world building, with a very interesting magic system and what feels like eons of history meshed into the world. There are also some of my all time favourite fantasy characters, and from a game sense very well written military groups.
Also the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is a good read, more traditional fantasy, but still with some interesting twists that could provide some inspiration.
Great recommendations (particularly Thomas Covenant which is often forgotten these days). My list: 1. Scott Lynch, on Warren’s Lake Town table would be brilliant 2. Brian McClelland, powder Mage trilogy – muskets & magic 3. Mark Lawrence – post apocalyptic fantasy 4. Anything, and I mean anything by David Gemmell 5. Miles Cameron, The Red Knight – the best writer of battles in fantasy and historical (as Christian Cameron) 6. Glenn Cook, black company. Best battle magic and great world building. 7. Chris Wooding, tales of the Ketty Jay for steampunk brilliance 8. Chris Evans, a Darkness forged in fire.… Read more »
Just get Leiber’s Fahred and the Grey Mouser series
Stupid tablet…Fafhrd
Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy plus prequel are very good and have a solid form of magic and how it is used. Set in a modern world where magic has ebbed and flowed throughout time adds for an interesting take on magic and how our history and the stories histories tangle and weave a wonderful tale.
It is young adult reading yet I (being of an age that knows of Nintendo thumb) also find enjoyable.
It like the Gentlemen Bastards shows urban life in many forms richly and with a casual hand that doesn’t jar you while delving into the tome.
David Weber (of Honorverse fame) has a great fantasy range in the War God series. Fun reads that would lend themselves to a fun rpg world.
His Safehold series isn’t really fantasy and really isn’t sci-fi but more of a futuristic historical world. Don’t know if it fits here but really don’t know where I would put it.
Did I mention how fun they are. Damn it is past my bedtime.
So I can;t really toss The Dresden Files into the ring as it’s not really “fantasy”-fantasy, more “urban fantasy/ fantasy noir”, but just to get Jim Butchers name in the ring how about his Codex Alera series: the descendents of a Roman legion, forging their own nation amidst various fantastic races who find that they can tap elemental powers?
Or how about James Barclay – The Raven series following a legendary band of mercenaries, by a writer who has zero qualms about tossing characters under a bus? A revelation when I discovered his books…..
I said urban fantasy are going to get their own list, which Dresden will inevitably be part of. A favourite series of mine.
Excellent list, so many books so little time.
I think pretty much all my faves have been covered, the only one I was going to mention was the Thomas Covenant books and Sam had those well covered 😉
Wheel of Time, The Name of the Wind are also good fun.
I know it doesn’t necessarily fit in this list but China Mieville New Crobuzon trilogy (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council) are extremely excellent, like, seriously good. I know Sam will frown at me mentioning them in this list though lol
Just finished Name of the Wind. Was really good, but I decided against including it because Wizard of Earthsea did a similar thing. Better in my opinion.
@dracs Yes after your write up of Earthsea I immediately noticed the similarities for Name of the Wind. I will check it out.
Have you read the China Mieville books I mentioned? I reckon you would enjoy them.
The books about Thomas Covenant…I had forgotten those! I read them over a decade ago, perhaps even as much as 15 years ago?!, but I still remember how utterly great and different they are. It also appears that in addition to the three first, by now very old, books Donaldson has released four newer books which ends the story. Well, hello online book store!!!!
I also loved The Belgariad as a kid. It was a fun read and my first “Farm boy saves the world” story.
What I would put on my list? Anything. that grabs your imagination and runs with it. I’d pretty much add in everything from Narnia to The Witcher and Game of Thrones
Another vote for the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, particularly for inspiration in a wargaming sense – famous units and their campaigns, epic battle scenes and excellent world building.