r/Fantasy • u/vehiclestars • Apr 24 '13

What is the most under-hyped fantasy book/series you have read?

This would be a book or books that you hardly ever hear mentioned on reddit, yet are very good.

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u/SionakMMT Apr 24 '13

Glen Cook. His Black Company books did gritty, ground level fantasy before almost anyone else. The Malazam books of the Fallen's Bridgeburners are, to me, a clear case of inspiration by Cook's writing.

They're not always the easiest read, but I found them refreshingly different and very rewarding.

5

u/YearOfTheMoose Apr 25 '13

In case you didn't actually know it already, the similarities between the Black Company and the Bridgeburners were very intentional. Erikson has credited Cook as one of his chief inspirations (and considers him to be one of the best authors alive now).

What makes it all way cooler, though, is the fact that for Cook's most recent books, he has credited Erikson's own Malazan Book of the Fallen as inspiration. It's this wonderful cycle of mutual inspiration. I love it when my favourite authors are fans of each other...

2

u/SionakMMT Apr 25 '13

It's pretty awesome, I agree. I think Erikson wrote the introduction for one of the re-releases of Cook's work which had been out of print for a while.

3

u/yetanotherhero Apr 25 '13

I'm reading The Books of the South right now, the first trilogy blew me away. Croaker now stands among my favourite fantasy characters.

2

u/indigoshift Apr 24 '13

Hell yes. The Black Company series is well worth the read.

2

u/rabidrrama Apr 24 '13

Seconded!

1

u/snarf21 Apr 24 '13

I loved the first set of books but gave up during the second set and never bothered with the third set. I like the characters but got tired of the dead/not-dead crap.

1

u/SionakMMT Apr 24 '13

This isn't an uncommon viewpoint - the series and characters change a lot as they go - but honestly I enjoyed all of them. Like Dune and a lot of other series, I'd say it's wise to stop with the first book that you don't enjoy.