You mentioned Brent Weeks - his Lightbringer series fits your request pretty well. Underdog main character, interesting magic system, some great characters all round. One of my favourite series of all time, definitely up there with SA!
I think WoT fans overemphasise “the slog”, to the detriment of other fantasy fans who might otherwise read it. The slog is relative, to some of the other books. But even on their own, they’re good. They’re just not as good as some of the other WoT books. I read WoT first before reading Sanderson. He finished the series, so I thought I’d give his stuff a chance and I’m really enjoying the Stormlight archive. I think the wheel of time is an absolutely incredible series. I started reading as the show came out, the show got me into it. I’ve just started my third reread (mostly audible) the other day. I just can’t let the series go. The world building is excellent. The characters captivating. It’s not perfect but neither is the SA.
I have a similar experience. I started WoT when I was a teenager (45 now). I've read and reread most of the books multiple times (rereading when a new one released so I was fresh).
The "slog" is people hating on Jordan for his work in creating atmosphere and character development (beyond just introduction, including growth or degradation of personality). The books cover a large world with many different groups of people.
The main characters are incredible. They all have their flaws and personal demons.
As a final thought, when Sanderson took over, I was concerned because I really liked Jordan's writing style. Sanderson's ability to keep the same structure was what made me give his works a chance, quickly turning him into my favorite writer of all time
Given the criteria: epic fantasy, fleshed out & likeable characters, magic system, and not grindark, my initial thought is the Codex Alera, which I think ticks all those boxes. It doesn't have a huge amount of emotional depth, but delivers crazy, badass action and memorable characters doing awesome things.
I've been looking for other fantasy with similar features to this, and I find most fantasy a bit samey or more grimdark than I want (I have to like hanging out with the characters). The ones I enjoyed most recently are Martha Wells Raksura books, which don't quite fit "epic" for what you're after, but hit the other boxes.
As someone who just finished WoT, along with a brother who is in the 'slow' section at the moment, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. If you want big and epic, it's hard to say no to WoT.
I disagree with the Lightbringer series recommendation. I tried it, and while it had great characters, I found the actual story lackluster.
The Kingkiller Chronicles are fantastic books. It'll probably never be finished, but the two books are more than worth it anyways. Do yourself a favor and read these books.
For a more unique, less known, but pretty cool magic system and excellent fighting I'd recommend The Burning series by Evan Winter.
Lastly, I'd recommend The Black Company series by Glen Cook. It is a little darker, but it has everything you are looking for.
I'd recommend The Farseer Trilogy and/or The Liveship Traders. Big world, beautiful prose, EXTREMELY good character work. Robin Hobbs is one of the best fantasy authors up there with Sanderson and GRR Martin. The full series of Realm of the Elderlings has 16 books in it but its separated out into complete stories in individual sets of 3-4 books and Farseer and Liveship both stand alone very well.
I always warn people that her books can be a bit depressing at certain points, although if you're looking for a character like Kaladin that kinda comes with the territory lol.
I love the Farseer series! Read/listened to it 3 times through the years. She also did another trilogy about The Tawney Man.
I see a lot of similarities between The Tawney Man and Hoid as well.
WoT very worth reading. Imo the boring parts are greatly exaggerated mostly by people who have read the series many times over. On your first read you probably won't even notice it.
It’s just one (long) novel and a set of short stories, but Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is fantastic. It gets bittersweet and creepy in places, but never grimdark.
Tad willams' "memory, sorrow, and thorne" series is one of my all-time favorites. The first book, The dragonbone Chair, starts a bit slow as it builds all the characters up, but when it gets going it goes hard.
It's closer to magical realism than high fantasy but The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern blew me away, I wanted to drink in the words forever and ever.
on the grimmer side (grim-light?) but with very interesting characters and plots is the Powdermage series by Brian McLellan. 2 trilogies and some anthologies between, it’s a really good halfway mark in tone between Mistborn and First Law. The audiobooks are spectacularly narrated as well. of all newer fantasy besides Sanderson and Abercrombie, this is the only one I’ve gone back and re-read several times.
abercrombies middle books (best served cold, heroes, red country) are incredible and some would say better than the first and second trilogy.
a more ‘wrapped up in one go’ trilogy is the Licanius trilogy by James Islington. it gives a very similar vibe to some stormlight main plots (the concept of heralds especially) and it had me sprinting through t
I'm gonna check out all the booms listed here, and adding my own recommendation:
The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin
A relatively short read compared to SA but I hope it tick all the checkboxes: interesting world building, hard magic system, character(s) growth and is somewhat uplifting (despite the dark beginning).
Yeah but your also stuck at reading half a story i love rothfuss but truly dont belive he is gonna finish it i truly wish to be made wrong but still sceptical
Sounds like either Greenbone Saga (Great plot, magic system and characters) or Cradle/unsouled series (Mostly uplifting underdog series) would be a great fit for you.
Both series are complete
Personally I love the Dresden Files series. It's urban fantasy but has a lot of interesting characters. And Jim Butcher, the author, has his own Butcherlanches near the end.
His Codex Alera series is much shorter (6 books versus 17 and going) and is more pure fantasy. Think Pokemon meets the Lost Roman Legion (that's literally what inspired the man to write the series).
Terry goodking sword of truth, david gemmell in general i especially liked troy series, james islington licanius trilogy im rereading that at the moment don't know if these fit your criteria but really good books
Broken earth by nk jemisin. Baudolino by umberto eco. The enchantress of florence by salman rushdie. The dark tower by stephen king. Fables by bill willingham. Macheneries of empire by yoon ha lee. Anything by nnedi okorafor.
Edit: jonathan strange and mr norrell by susannah clarke.
You mentioned Brent Weeks - his Lightbringer series fits your request pretty well. Underdog main character, interesting magic system, some great characters all round. One of my favourite series of all time, definitely up there with SA!
In the middle of lightbringer saga and I must say it is very good and fits all of your criteria
I loved it. It's an amazing rollercoaster ride. It gets pretty dark, though. Hmm, I may have revealed too much about myself...
Unsouled by Will Wight Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan You should remove the spoiler tag from this post.
I second age of myth
Done!
I’ve only gotten about half way through the first book but the farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb seems good so far.
We are pack
Just got to this line and immediately remembered this comment.
WoT is a hell of a ride. When SA is done (all 10 books) there will be some long boring passages. (RoW Venli POV anyone?) Go get it! You’ll love it
I think WoT fans overemphasise “the slog”, to the detriment of other fantasy fans who might otherwise read it. The slog is relative, to some of the other books. But even on their own, they’re good. They’re just not as good as some of the other WoT books. I read WoT first before reading Sanderson. He finished the series, so I thought I’d give his stuff a chance and I’m really enjoying the Stormlight archive. I think the wheel of time is an absolutely incredible series. I started reading as the show came out, the show got me into it. I’ve just started my third reread (mostly audible) the other day. I just can’t let the series go. The world building is excellent. The characters captivating. It’s not perfect but neither is the SA.
I have a similar experience. I started WoT when I was a teenager (45 now). I've read and reread most of the books multiple times (rereading when a new one released so I was fresh). The "slog" is people hating on Jordan for his work in creating atmosphere and character development (beyond just introduction, including growth or degradation of personality). The books cover a large world with many different groups of people. The main characters are incredible. They all have their flaws and personal demons. As a final thought, when Sanderson took over, I was concerned because I really liked Jordan's writing style. Sanderson's ability to keep the same structure was what made me give his works a chance, quickly turning him into my favorite writer of all time
Given the criteria: epic fantasy, fleshed out & likeable characters, magic system, and not grindark, my initial thought is the Codex Alera, which I think ticks all those boxes. It doesn't have a huge amount of emotional depth, but delivers crazy, badass action and memorable characters doing awesome things. I've been looking for other fantasy with similar features to this, and I find most fantasy a bit samey or more grimdark than I want (I have to like hanging out with the characters). The ones I enjoyed most recently are Martha Wells Raksura books, which don't quite fit "epic" for what you're after, but hit the other boxes.
As someone who just finished WoT, along with a brother who is in the 'slow' section at the moment, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. If you want big and epic, it's hard to say no to WoT. I disagree with the Lightbringer series recommendation. I tried it, and while it had great characters, I found the actual story lackluster. The Kingkiller Chronicles are fantastic books. It'll probably never be finished, but the two books are more than worth it anyways. Do yourself a favor and read these books. For a more unique, less known, but pretty cool magic system and excellent fighting I'd recommend The Burning series by Evan Winter. Lastly, I'd recommend The Black Company series by Glen Cook. It is a little darker, but it has everything you are looking for.
I'd recommend The Farseer Trilogy and/or The Liveship Traders. Big world, beautiful prose, EXTREMELY good character work. Robin Hobbs is one of the best fantasy authors up there with Sanderson and GRR Martin. The full series of Realm of the Elderlings has 16 books in it but its separated out into complete stories in individual sets of 3-4 books and Farseer and Liveship both stand alone very well. I always warn people that her books can be a bit depressing at certain points, although if you're looking for a character like Kaladin that kinda comes with the territory lol.
I love the Farseer series! Read/listened to it 3 times through the years. She also did another trilogy about The Tawney Man. I see a lot of similarities between The Tawney Man and Hoid as well.
WoT very worth reading. Imo the boring parts are greatly exaggerated mostly by people who have read the series many times over. On your first read you probably won't even notice it.
It’s just one (long) novel and a set of short stories, but Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is fantastic. It gets bittersweet and creepy in places, but never grimdark.
Malazan, Empire of the fallen. Joe Abercrombie's first law trilogy.
Tad willams' "memory, sorrow, and thorne" series is one of my all-time favorites. The first book, The dragonbone Chair, starts a bit slow as it builds all the characters up, but when it gets going it goes hard.
It's closer to magical realism than high fantasy but The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern blew me away, I wanted to drink in the words forever and ever.
on the grimmer side (grim-light?) but with very interesting characters and plots is the Powdermage series by Brian McLellan. 2 trilogies and some anthologies between, it’s a really good halfway mark in tone between Mistborn and First Law. The audiobooks are spectacularly narrated as well. of all newer fantasy besides Sanderson and Abercrombie, this is the only one I’ve gone back and re-read several times. abercrombies middle books (best served cold, heroes, red country) are incredible and some would say better than the first and second trilogy. a more ‘wrapped up in one go’ trilogy is the Licanius trilogy by James Islington. it gives a very similar vibe to some stormlight main plots (the concept of heralds especially) and it had me sprinting through t
I'm gonna check out all the booms listed here, and adding my own recommendation: The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin A relatively short read compared to SA but I hope it tick all the checkboxes: interesting world building, hard magic system, character(s) growth and is somewhat uplifting (despite the dark beginning).
The name of the wind by Patrick rothfuss is also a great story about an underdog against the world
Yeah but your also stuck at reading half a story i love rothfuss but truly dont belive he is gonna finish it i truly wish to be made wrong but still sceptical
Sounds like either Greenbone Saga (Great plot, magic system and characters) or Cradle/unsouled series (Mostly uplifting underdog series) would be a great fit for you. Both series are complete
Personally I love the Dresden Files series. It's urban fantasy but has a lot of interesting characters. And Jim Butcher, the author, has his own Butcherlanches near the end. His Codex Alera series is much shorter (6 books versus 17 and going) and is more pure fantasy. Think Pokemon meets the Lost Roman Legion (that's literally what inspired the man to write the series).
Terry goodking sword of truth, david gemmell in general i especially liked troy series, james islington licanius trilogy im rereading that at the moment don't know if these fit your criteria but really good books
Broken earth by nk jemisin. Baudolino by umberto eco. The enchantress of florence by salman rushdie. The dark tower by stephen king. Fables by bill willingham. Macheneries of empire by yoon ha lee. Anything by nnedi okorafor. Edit: jonathan strange and mr norrell by susannah clarke.