I’ve been a huge fan of the movies since they first came out but didn’t read the books until the beginning of this year. I just wasn’t a reader until recently. I’ve been yearning for some more fantasy but haven’t been able to find anything similar. I tried The Silmarillion but it reads too much like a textbook to me.
What are some other great fantasy books that I might like?
A neglected series is Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer. There are five volumes that are a great read.
All humanity is resurrected after death on the banks of a strange river. Each book deals with a real historical figure and the struggle to understand the mysteries of Riverworld. Each volume more or less follows characters from history (Richard Burton, Mark Twain, Cyrano de Bergerac and others) who embark on a journey to travel to the end of the River in order to solve the mystery of their resurrection. It’s quite pulpy but very enjoyable.
Already been mentioned but the The Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin is the only other fantasy that feels “similar” to the Lord of the Rings to me (admittedly I haven’t read a ton of fantasy, but I’ve read a decent amount). I’m reading through the series for the first time, on book three right now, and it’s just great. Feel like it does a nice job of defying my expectations of a “fantasy story” and Le Guin’s writing is beautiful.
Also these books straddle the line between fantasy and sci-fi, but the Broken Earth Series by N. K. Jemisin are amazing and among my favorite books. Actually gave the series a reread after my most recent reread of LotR earlier this year, so I can vouch they are an excellent follow up! These ones have less of an obvious fantasy parallel to LotR but they’re too good for me to not mention!
Ditto,
Absolutely flew through that book, very enjoyable.
Have you tried wheel of time?
That series has been on my radar, but I’ve been weary because I’ve heard that there’s a big lull in the middle 5 books or so.
The Shannara series by Terry Brooks has a reputation as being an homage to LotR, and they are quite enjoyable.
If you want to try and branch out and give Urban Fantasy (magic, but more modern society) a try there’s a reason that the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are super popular. The book Dead Beat was written as a mid-series introduction for new readers to the series because Sci-Fi had just come out with a TV series and the 1st few books are weaker because the author was super new to published writing.
Magician: Apprentice & Magician: Master by Feist are great
Long before there was Harry Potter, Ged from A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guinn was discovering he had magical talents and going to wizard school. It’s a beloved classic for a reason.
The Shannara series by Terry Brooks has a reputation as being an homage to LotR, and they are quite enjoyable.
Waaay back, this was what I turned to after reading LotR. He had only published the first then and it was what made me understand the difference between good writing and bad. It gave me nothing else other than that lesson and certainly didn’t scratch the itch that I had for something like LotR. In fact nothing did and I found it best to look for something completely different that was good in it’s own right rather than poor imitations.
The Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy by Patrick Rothfuss. It is not so much LotR becauseitt focuses on one main character. But it has a pretty clever and thoroughly thought out magic system and I for my part enjoyed the story. Link to openlibrary
Be aware that book 3 of this trilogy does not exist and has no chance to come out in the foreseeable future.
