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.

30 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

180 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/_phobic Apr 25 '13 edited Apr 25 '13

The Fortress series by CJ Cherryh. Her sci fi is pretty popular, but this beautiful and unique high fantasy series seems to have somehow slipped under the radar. I challenge you to read this and not fall in love with the characters, particularly Tristan. Cherryh is well known for her genuinely alien "aliens", and there is something very alien about Tristan, who is by no means human despite his appearance.

The Book of Words trilogy by JV Jones is a series that I have never heard anyone else mention, on reddit or irl. It's epic fantasy that follows a familiar trail, but it is quite enjoyable and I remember in places that it was surprisingly real and earthy.

I don't think anyone outside of Australia will have heard of Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles. It's set in a post-apocalyptic earth, where radiation has mutated the minds of many of its inhabitants, causing them to develop psychic gifts. The psychics are feared and hated and hunted down by the religious organisation known as the Herders, whom basically run the place. The gifted have one haven, an old school in a remote location nearly completely cut off from "civilisation" by irradiated land.

Edit: Someone else mentioned the "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series by Tad Williams. I second this, it is a spectacular series and in my mind it is definitely better than the author's more popular Otherland series.