5 ms·

Kind of bummed that The Stormlight Archive, or at the least the first book (The Way of Kings) isn't on that list. I'm probably a bit biased, but if we were gon

Kind of bummed that The Stormlight Archive, or at the least the first book (The Way of Kings) isn't on that list. I'm probably a bit biased, but if we were gonna make this the best 51 then I'd recommend anyone reading this comment check out The Way of Kings ;)

frockington1 5y ago
I was also surprised not to see Sanderson on the list. The Emperor’s Soul may be my favorite book of all time however I do think it is technically classified as novella.
hpoe 5y ago
They didn't have any Sanderson on there? I'd classify Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books as the 4 best Fantasy books I've ever read. Although if you are thinking of jumping into Sanderson I'd recommend Mistborn for starters.
saalweachter 5y ago
Yeah, the Stormlight Archive is very re-readable. I'd also recommend the Licanius Trilogy in the same vein -- it's one of the best pieces of time travel fiction, while also having a solid emotional journey for the protagonist to go through with fate, loss and regret. Ryiria was also published entirely over the last ten years, unless Google is deceiving me. The Science Fiction I've enjoyed the most over the last ten years (everything by Julie Czerneda) was mostly written more like 10-20 years ago, although the second Web Shifters and the Reunification trilogy were more recent. Aside from that, the big thing of the last ten years for me has been LitRPG. I can't get enough of it, good, bad, high-concept, self-referential, explicitly game-like or incidentally.
- albatross13 5y ago
  Nice, I'll check out the Licanius Trilogy! Thanks for the recommendation.
- bradleyy 5y ago
  Re: LitRPG. I've read a few, but I'd love some recommendations. Any you'd care to share?
  - ask_b123 5y ago
    You could check out https://www.royalroad.com/ https://www.royalroad.com/ which is a site where people upload web novels. Most novels there aren't really good, but every once in a while you can find something great. And they are free to read. I'll recommend 4 novels: Vainqueur the Dragon: pretty good and it is completed although I never finished it. Path of the Dragon Mage: also good, the author uploads about 10 new chapters with around 2k-2.5k words each month. Arrogant Young Master Template A Variation 4: a great LitRPG and Xianxia parody. But it is in indefinite hiatus with no news from the author. The Power of Ten: In my to-read list. What you can often do is read the first 5 or so chapters of a novel and see if you like it. After all, they are free. There are also lots of reviews. Another place you could look in is: https://www.webnovel.com/tags/system-novel https://www.webnovel.com/tags/system-novel although I haven't really checked it out and I think later chapter of the novels are locked.
  - saalweachter 5y ago
    There's basically four flavors of LitRPG. 1. Books where the main character is a person playing a (VR) game. Travis Bagwell's Awaken Online is a good example of this. 2. Books where it starts off as a game, but then becomes real. Sometimes it's getting pulled into a game world magically (Rachel Aaron's Forever Fantasy Online, Aleron Kong's The Land). Sometimes it's getting uploaded into a game world (James Hunter's Viridian Gate Online, Dakota Krout's Ritualist). Sometimes it's a game world and a magical world getting cross-linked (James Hunter's Rogue Dungeon, Drew Hayes' NPCs). 3. Books where the world is just the world, but it runs like a RPG (video) game. People have classes and levels. Frequently they have an inventory, go on quests, gain experience. People will even see pop-up notifications and see and navigate menus only they can see related to their classes and abilities. Frequently there are dungeons full of monsters. Anything by Jonathan Brooks usually falls into this category. Full Murderhobo by Dakota Krout. 4. Books where the world is basically a game world, but the rough edges have been sanded off. You basically have classes, levels and experience but the author attempts to justify it with the metaphysics of the world. You don't have explicit quests or popups or anything like that, but you may still have dungeons and adventurers. Dakota Krout's Dungeon Born is a good example of this.
aardvark179 5y ago
It is over ten years old so doesn’t fit the list. I’m curious what you think it does that’s so good, I read the first one because a friend really liked it and I just found it competently written epic fantasy. In contrast I remember reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson and thinking I had never read that combination of Black Company style moral ambiguity and a world with deep history before, and really wanting to read more. Or A Game of Thrones where the writing was just so good.
- albatross13 5y ago
  I guess maybe it's not for everyone- I'm just a sucker for epic fantasy and Sanderson hits all my buttons. I enjoy his world building, his descriptive writing style, the way he writes combat gets me hype, etc. Hah, I love this because it demonstrates just how different people's tastes can be. A Song of Ice and Fire did not jive with me: I felt like Martin's writing style got real old real quick (killing characters started to feel like a crutch) and the story just couldn't keep my attention anymore around book four. But to each their own, that's what makes the world spin!
  - ip26 5y ago
    killing characters [...] the story just couldn't keep my attention anymore You indirectly nailed the biggest reason why I stopped reading that series. Once it became clear virtually every character would be quickly axed, I could no longer invest emotionally in any of the new characters.
    - albatross13 5y ago
      Yeah it's wild- some people seem to really enjoy it, others it's a huge turn off. My wife and I have had a few discussions about it and we both always settle on "Man I really liked it for awhile...but eventually it was just too much".
- ip26 5y ago
  Perhaps its strength is a lack of glaring weaknesses, which isn't as easy or common as it would sound.
Bhilai 5y ago
I am reading The Way of Kings right now and its hard to keep it down.
thrower123 5y ago
It's a terrible list, but what do you expect from a survey of NPR listeners? I read an enormous amount of science fiction and fantasy and didn't even recognize more than 10% of the authors on their list.

frockington1 5y ago

I was also surprised not to see Sanderson on the list. The Emperor’s Soul may be my favorite book of all time however I do think it is technically classified as novella.

hpoe 5y ago

They didn't have any Sanderson on there? I'd classify Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books as the 4 best Fantasy books I've ever read. Although if you are thinking of jumping into Sanderson I'd recommend Mistborn for starters.

saalweachter 5y ago

Yeah, the Stormlight Archive is very re-readable. I'd also recommend the Licanius Trilogy in the same vein -- it's one of the best pieces of time travel fiction, while also having a solid emotional journey for the protagonist to go through with fate, loss and regret. Ryiria was also published entirely over the last ten years, unless Google is deceiving me. The Science Fiction I've enjoyed the most over the last ten years (everything by Julie Czerneda) was mostly written more like 10-20 years ago, although the second Web Shifters and the Reunification trilogy were more recent. Aside from that, the big thing of the last ten years for me has been LitRPG. I can't get enough of it, good, bad, high-concept, self-referential, explicitly game-like or incidentally.

albatross13 5y ago
Nice, I'll check out the Licanius Trilogy! Thanks for the recommendation.
bradleyy 5y ago
Re: LitRPG. I've read a few, but I'd love some recommendations. Any you'd care to share?
- ask_b123 5y ago
  You could check out https://www.royalroad.com/ https://www.royalroad.com/ which is a site where people upload web novels. Most novels there aren't really good, but every once in a while you can find something great. And they are free to read. I'll recommend 4 novels: Vainqueur the Dragon: pretty good and it is completed although I never finished it. Path of the Dragon Mage: also good, the author uploads about 10 new chapters with around 2k-2.5k words each month. Arrogant Young Master Template A Variation 4: a great LitRPG and Xianxia parody. But it is in indefinite hiatus with no news from the author. The Power of Ten: In my to-read list. What you can often do is read the first 5 or so chapters of a novel and see if you like it. After all, they are free. There are also lots of reviews. Another place you could look in is: https://www.webnovel.com/tags/system-novel https://www.webnovel.com/tags/system-novel although I haven't really checked it out and I think later chapter of the novels are locked.
- saalweachter 5y ago
  There's basically four flavors of LitRPG. 1. Books where the main character is a person playing a (VR) game. Travis Bagwell's Awaken Online is a good example of this. 2. Books where it starts off as a game, but then becomes real. Sometimes it's getting pulled into a game world magically (Rachel Aaron's Forever Fantasy Online, Aleron Kong's The Land). Sometimes it's getting uploaded into a game world (James Hunter's Viridian Gate Online, Dakota Krout's Ritualist). Sometimes it's a game world and a magical world getting cross-linked (James Hunter's Rogue Dungeon, Drew Hayes' NPCs). 3. Books where the world is just the world, but it runs like a RPG (video) game. People have classes and levels. Frequently they have an inventory, go on quests, gain experience. People will even see pop-up notifications and see and navigate menus only they can see related to their classes and abilities. Frequently there are dungeons full of monsters. Anything by Jonathan Brooks usually falls into this category. Full Murderhobo by Dakota Krout. 4. Books where the world is basically a game world, but the rough edges have been sanded off. You basically have classes, levels and experience but the author attempts to justify it with the metaphysics of the world. You don't have explicit quests or popups or anything like that, but you may still have dungeons and adventurers. Dakota Krout's Dungeon Born is a good example of this.

aardvark179 5y ago

It is over ten years old so doesn’t fit the list. I’m curious what you think it does that’s so good, I read the first one because a friend really liked it and I just found it competently written epic fantasy. In contrast I remember reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson and thinking I had never read that combination of Black Company style moral ambiguity and a world with deep history before, and really wanting to read more. Or A Game of Thrones where the writing was just so good.

albatross13 5y ago
I guess maybe it's not for everyone- I'm just a sucker for epic fantasy and Sanderson hits all my buttons. I enjoy his world building, his descriptive writing style, the way he writes combat gets me hype, etc. Hah, I love this because it demonstrates just how different people's tastes can be. A Song of Ice and Fire did not jive with me: I felt like Martin's writing style got real old real quick (killing characters started to feel like a crutch) and the story just couldn't keep my attention anymore around book four. But to each their own, that's what makes the world spin!
- ip26 5y ago
  killing characters [...] the story just couldn't keep my attention anymore You indirectly nailed the biggest reason why I stopped reading that series. Once it became clear virtually every character would be quickly axed, I could no longer invest emotionally in any of the new characters.
  - albatross13 5y ago
    Yeah it's wild- some people seem to really enjoy it, others it's a huge turn off. My wife and I have had a few discussions about it and we both always settle on "Man I really liked it for awhile...but eventually it was just too much".
ip26 5y ago
Perhaps its strength is a lack of glaring weaknesses, which isn't as easy or common as it would sound.

Bhilai 5y ago

I am reading The Way of Kings right now and its hard to keep it down.

thrower123 5y ago

It's a terrible list, but what do you expect from a survey of NPR listeners? I read an enormous amount of science fiction and fantasy and didn't even recognize more than 10% of the authors on their list.