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Shannara or Wheel of Time?
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Post by
Frostshamadin
I'm looking to get into a new fantasy series, hopefully something similar to A Song of Ice and Fire. These are the two that I have heard the most about. Are they any good? And which one is better?
Post by
wrlwnd
I thoroughly enjoyed the Wheel of Time series. I have never read Shannara so cannot say which is better.
There is so much of an expansive world and history that goes into the Wheel of Time series that engaged me all along. I also believe that the choice of the person to complete it worked out well.
Post by
Gone
Either series represents a fairly substantial time commitment, but both are worth it.
Shannara starts off as an almost point for point remake of Lord of the Rings. It gets much better though, mostly once Brooks comes into his own as a writer and stops ripping off Tolkien, you just have to stick with the series a bit.
Wheel of Time, imo, is the better of the two. It suffers from pacing issues at some points, but if you like ASOIAF then it shouldn't be a problem.
Post by
161638
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Maurvyn
I never could get into Robert Jordan (Wheel). I picked up the first one decades ago, and could never be bothered to pick up another.
That being said, Shannara was okay, but somehow less than what I expected. I only started reading them as a kid because my mother loved them and they were laying around the house. Never bothered to keep up with it after 1992.
I have heard that the Codex Alera is pretty good. Not as good as Butcher's other work, but still good.
If you haven't, you should definitely check out the Pern series. Anne McCaffrey's world is amazing, although a very quick read. One could probably burn through the whole series in less than a year, and there are quite a few. Plus: dragons.
If you are into DnD, or even if you aren't; the Weis & Hickman Dragonlance series is also a good, quick read.
And R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books are a lot of fun.They aren't the most developed writing, but the characters are truly great, and the action is non-stop.
Post by
Adamsm
Shannara; after the Sword, which was the first is a bit of a slow read and does have parallels to Lord of the Rings, but after it, the LotR things vanish completely and it becomes it's own world...and I think it's better(but everyone here knows I dislike Lord of the Rings). The Elfstones of Shannara is amazing and each book just got better and better. Brooks is one of the best fantasy writers out there. Heck, I'm currently re-reading the Shannara universe, which is a lot of books: Starts with the Word and Void series, goes into Genesis, then Bearers of the Black Staff, the First King, the Sword Trilogy, the Heritage quadrality, the Voyage of Jerle Shannara trilogy, High Druid trilogy and the most recent Dark Legacy Trilogy.
I'm sad, as there is only 6 more books and then he is stopping the series for good.
Post by
Kholin
I haven't yet read Shannara--I have the first few books but I haven't had time to start them.
I have read all of WoT though, and I absolutely adore it. That being said, I know
a lot
of people who couldn't get through the first book. I find that WoT tends to be a series you either love or hate, with very few people occupying a middle ground. I do agree with previous posters, however, that if you like ASOIAF then you will probably like WoT as well. There is a huge time commitment to it, but if that isn't an issue, it is definitely worth it.
It has a very complex world and thousands of characters which make the world so engaging and real. It does become rather slow at points, but that is bound to happen with any fantasy series of such length. I absolutely recommend it because it really is an enjoyable read that can be really heart-wrenching at times.
Post by
Monday
In reference to Song of Ice and Fire?
In order
:
Stormlight Archive
Wheel of Time
Shannara
Honestly, I don't recommend Shannara too much. It gets really repetitive at times. There's a few (
Voyage of the Jerle Shannar
a, for example) which are quite different, but a lot of the early books are really close to each other in terms of plot/characterization.
Stormlight Archive is closest to a Song of Ice and Fire; lots of political machinations, possible end of the world, less of a focus on magic, etc. Plus, it's written by Sanderson.
Post by
Stabhorn
Wheel of Time by far! (Stormlight Archive would be a close second though...)
Post by
508201
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Frostshamadin
Ok, just a quick addition. Where would you rank Stephen King's Dark Tower series in comparison with the two that I already mentioned? That's another one I'm thinking about starting.
Post by
Monday
Dark Tower is meh. I tried reading them and just couldn't get into it. They're not nearly as good as his other works.
Post by
Gone
Better than Shannara, not as good as Wheel of Time.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
I found both Shannara and WoT to be pretty poorly written, though entertaining. Dark Tower was much better written in my opinion, but I found it a little less engaging.
Post by
wrlwnd
The Dark Tower was a good read over all, but King did do some "jumping of the shark" in the last several books. I have read the entire series to many times to count and always reading the first line of The Gunslinger gets me in a different mood. Now I will admit that I am a big Stephen King fan, having read all but the baseball one and the writing one, And think that the first several in the series almost match what I believe to be his best work, The Stand.
Post by
Adamsm
So been re-reading the Shannara series..and it took me almost a week to work through the Sword; the other books I've gone a lot faster. But when I started re-reading Elfstones, I tore through the first 40 pages like nothing; I guess if you want to read the books, I'd suggest skipping over Sword and just reading a recap of it.
Post by
Gone
I've also heard that Malazan: Book of the Fallen and The First Law are similar to ASOIAF. I'm planning on checking both out this summer.
I know it's not fantasy, but I read Kite Runner over the past two days. Cried like a baby.
Post by
Monday
I hear Malazan is kinda meh.
Post by
Kholin
If the OP is still looking for ASOIF-esque books, then I would recommend Guy Gavriel Kay. His books have a LOT of political intrigue in them and tend to be less magic-focused, although there is some.
In particular,
Sailing to Sarantium
and
Lord of Emperors
(they go together, in that order) remind me of the political intrigue of King's Landing.
Tigana
is one of my favourites.
Ysabel
is aimed more towards a teen audience, but it is also a very good book!
The Fionavar Tapestry
is a trilogy--the first of his books I read--that has a lot more magic and fantastical elements, but the intrigue is still there.
Most of his books are historical fantasy, so if you like that as well, you may like his books :)
Post by
1301023
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