Saturday, December 5, 2009

Question for booklovers: What is the best Fantasy Trilogy that you have ever read?

I am a bookworm and read books on almost all subjects; these days I am on the hunt for fantasy authors I have not explored as yet. I would prefer trilogies because anthologies beyond three books can be a bit too tedious for a person like me who is reading all the time.


I recently got my first taste of Mercedes Lackey; the book was Exile's Honour and I would give it three stars.Question for booklovers: What is the best Fantasy Trilogy that you have ever read?
I can recommend several.Since you love Mercedes lackey read 'Take a thief'.It is not a trilogy.But you may like it.Alberich from 'Exile's honor is an important character.It is the tale of Skif, a young orphan making his way in the knock-and-tumble neighborhood between two of Haven's outermost walls. Skif is intelligent, good-hearted and creative enough to forage up three meals a day in a place where food is scarce and kindness almost unheard of. After a chain of events leave him homeless, Skif lands in the lair of Bazie, an Faginish ex-mercenary who trains thieves...until he is ';Chosen'; by one of Valdemar's magical horses and becomes a Herald serving the Queen.





Also try Dragonjousters series(joust,alta,sanctuary) by Mercedes Lackey.The setting is ancient Egypt.Hunger, anger, and hatred are constants for young Vetch, rendered a brutally mistreated and overworked serf by the Tian conquest of his homeland. But everything improves when a Tian jouster requisitions Vetch to become the first serf ever to be a dragon boy. His training is intense, and his duty clear-cut: to tend his jouster, Ari, and his dragon, Kashet. He discovers that, because Ari himself had hatched Kashet, the dragon is different from others that have been captured live in the wild and must be drugged to be made tractable. Vetch finds he really likes and understands dragons, and soon he becomes the best dragon boy of all. He still harbors anger, however, toward the Tian invasion. Could he, perhaps, hatch a dragon, and then escape to help his people?





The Time-Master trilogy By Louise Cooper.The books are 'The Initiate',The Outcast and The Master.It tells the story of Tarod a fascinating anti-hero, evolving throughout the series from a loyal disciple of Order to the God of Chaos that is his true heritage, with the repeated examination of his humanity thrown into the mix.





Allan Cole wrote the Timura triology.(review from Amazon)


Warrior Iraj Protarus was a boyhood friend of Safar Timura, who, raised to be a potter, turned out to have an at first unsuspected talent for sorcery. The visions they share and the battles they fight side by side as they set off on a journey impeded by intrigue, enemies, plots, betrayals, adventures, and all the other trappings of the fantasy quest are the basic stuff of the book. Eventually, Iraj has a throne and Safar is his high magician, but realistically, the tale cannot end there, for the friends have hardly seen the last of the host of enemies who customarily badger the possessors of power.





The following are not trilogies.But you may like them.


Dresden file book series by Jim Butcher.There are 8 books in the series beginning with stormfront.It narrates the story of Harry Dresden,chicago's only professional wizard who works as a detective.He stands between the general population who is ignorant about the supernatural world and the monsters - vampires,werewolves,fallen angels,fey.He is aided by Bob,a talking skull.Karrin Murphy-a police officer and Thomas-a white court vampire.





Another supernatural detective series is Nightside book series by Simon R.Green.John Taylor, the main character, is a private eye specializing in finding things. He literally has a private eye, one he can open and find anything. This power only works in the nightside, but anytime he opens it, his enemies (and he does not know who they are, but they have been hunting him since he was young) pick up on his presence like his gift is a homing devise. He as quite a reputation, some of which is true, some not and it gets him into trouble, or sometimes out of it, but it is the fact that some of it has nothing to do with him so much as that he is his mother's son. A mother he never knew and no one will tell him about. One big case is covered in each book, but underlying tensions build up higher and higher running through out the series.





Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1) by Jim Butcher.(From Publishers Weekly)At the start of Butcher's absorbing fantasy, the first in a new series, the barbarians are at the gates of the land of Alera, which has a distinct flavor of the Roman Empire (its ruler is named Quintus Sextus and its soldiers are organized in legions). Fortunately, Alera has magical defenses, involving the furies or elementals of water, earth, air, fire and metal, that protect against foes both internal and external. Amara, a young female spy, and her companion, Odiana, go into some of the land's remoter territories to discover if military commander Atticus Quentin is a traitor鈥攁nother classic trope from ancient Rome. She encounters a troubled young man, Tavi, who has hitherto been concerned mostly with the vividly depicted predatory ';herdbanes'; that threaten his sheep.Thinking that Amara is an escaping slave, Tavi decides to help her and is immediately sucked in over his head into a morass of intrigues, military, magical and otherwise.Warning:A character gets raped.





Then try the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.The books are quite complex.





Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the Mars novels and the tarzan novels.There are 11 novels in the mars series beginning with 'a princess of mars'.Captain John Carter of the Confederate Army is whisked to Mars and discovers a dying world of dry ocean beds where giant four-armed barbarians rule, of crumbling cities home to an advanced but decaying civilization, a world of strange beasts and savage combat, a world where love, honor and loyalty become the stuff of adventure. The later books are about his son Carthoris,daughter Tara etc.John carter is a recurring character in all these books as martians live for 1000 years.Question for booklovers: What is the best Fantasy Trilogy that you have ever read?
I liked Jacqueline Carey's ';Kushiel'; trilogy-- Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen and Kushiel's Avatar. A little kinky in places, but complex and interesting from an ';alternative history'; point of view.





As for Octavia Butler's Exogenesis Trilogy-- also called Lilith's Brood, it is well worth the read though much more in the sci-fi genre. In my opinion, anything b y Butler is worth the time it takes to read it.





An odd and under-read little fanstasy trilogy from the 1970s is Morya Caldecott's The Tall Stones, The Temple of the Sun, and Shadow on the Stones.
Tolkien's '; Lord of the Rings'; and Pullman's ';His Dark Materials';
Lord of the Rings





Winds trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
Ursuala Le Guin: The left hand of Darkness


and she has two other books that relate to this one, like the characters know each other, but its been a long time since I read them, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the names. But I think one other one was called The Dispossessed.
I am a major bookworm too! Personally, I loved the ';Gunslinger'; series from Stephen King. It's more than 3 books, but I never got bored. I also liked ';The Martian Chronicles'; from Ray Bradbury - only 1 book, but with tons of good stories in it. Not sure what all you like, but you might check out some Dean Koontz. He did a trilogy on a character he named ';Odd Thomas'; that was good, not to mention all of his other books. I don't mean to ramble, I just LOVE to read, and I have too many favorite authors! The Gunslinger was the name of the first book in the series, which would explain my reason for listing it like that - and I believe that I did mention that it was more than 3 books which are usually labeled horror/fiction, not sci-fi.
Lord of the Rings, of course.





The Fionvar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay.





Master of the 5 Magics - Lyndon Hardy.





I'd second Edding's 'Belgariad' too - it is a 5 book series, but they are very readable.
i prefer Anne rice book its not a fantasy but its the same fiction book to explore our deepest imagination with a suspense thrilling emotion mostly of his book is about vampires and witches with a romance to give men more interesting reading and my favorite is the Mayfair witches or the witching hour about the century old family of witches and a spirit name lasher or if you prefer the chronicles of narnia by c.s lewis seven book trilogy series or the series of unfortunate events book one to book 4
harry potter is a trilogy ? however i would peek three of em as a best trilogy i have ever read
I like Octavia Butler's patternist series, but it's five books. Her xenogenesis series has three books, but I haven't had time to read it so can't vouch. Her stuff is scifi, I don't know if it's your taste. My boyfriend likes fantasy and wasn't too fond iof it.
LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY...ITS BETTER WHEN YOU READ IT....
There are actually several books written by Marian Zimmer Bradley which are wonderful. Each of them can stand alone, however. The books tell the story of Arthur from the women's point of view. The first book looks at the story from Morgan Le Fay's perspective (she is not evil in this story), the second from Morgan's grandmother, I believe, and the third from Guinevere's. There is also a book showing how Avalon was created, and the last book she wrote was about the mother of Constantine, whom she claimed was also a priestess of Avalon.





If you like really funny books, again this is not a trilogy by any means, but they stand alone. It's the Myth series, by Robert Asperin. A young apprentice in magic has his master literally shot out from under him, and he hooks up with a demon (dimension traveler) and has several hilarious adventures. The puns are constant, and some are real groaners, but that's what makes it fun.
George RR Martin's ';A Song of Fire and Ice';





It's not strictly a trilogy, it is a series, but it is worth the read.





I found it one of the most compelling Fantasy Series i have have ever read (in fact also yet to read as there are still more books due).





Another rollicking good read is always Fritz Leiber's Swords series (aka the Lankhmar series). Mostly short stories about the same two characters, you can find yourself drawn back to them time after time.
I'll recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. The first book is ';His Majesty's Dragon'; (http://www.amazon.com/His-Majestys-Drago鈥?/a> It's a fantasy series (three books) set during the Napoleonic era, only the military on both sides has an air force made up of dragons. I found the books fascinating - good characters, interesting plot, and easy reading. Lots of fun.
It's not a trilogy,but each book uses some characters from the previous book.The Authors name is Piers Anthony(spelling correct) one of his series is the xanth.I liked all I've read from him and I don't read fantasy usually.Another good story is Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King.
Tad Williams: Memory, Sorrow %26amp; Thorn


Book 1 - The Dragonbone Chair


Book 2 - Stone of Farewell


Book 3 - To Green Angel Tower





He also has the Shadowmarch Trilogy but the 3rd book is not out yet (I think), other 2 are Shadowmarch and Shadowplay





Umm, The Gunslinger series mentioned above is actually 'The Dark Tower' series - 7 books - so I didn't suggest it - not sure I'd label it fantasy exactly, more sci-fi, but it's worth reading for sure!
the Talamadh trilogy by Mark James. I read the first book a few years ago. At the time it was by Mark Sebanc. He rewrote the book with another author and it is now called ';The Stoneholding.'; I have not read it, but I did read the first one by just the original author. It was breath-taking. I have never read such a well written fantasy novel. He is a master storyteller, and it was beautiful. I would read any of his fiction just because of that book. He has such control of the language and he doesn't waste words and the story was entertaining.
I would definitely recommend the ';Shannara'; trilogy by Terry Brooks. I think this trilogy is even better than ';Lord of the Rings';





1) The Sword of Shannara


2) The Elfstones of Shannara


3) The Wishsong of Shannara
Lord of the Rings, far and away. However, if you're looking for something less dense but rich enough to satisfy, you can try The Belgariad by David Eddings, or its sequel, the Mallorean. Each series has 5 books, but I suppose you could just read the first 3 and call it a day.
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