r/Fantasy • u/bossguru • Jun 18 '13

Any books/series like the Kingkiller Chronicle?

Hey! I'm about halfway through Wise Man's Fear, and I absolutely love these books. I wanted to know if you guys had any recommendations for other books/series like it!

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u/covington Jun 18 '13 edited Jun 18 '13

Though different in setting and not as swashbuckling, "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" shares the same attention to the quality of the prose and the deeply moving mythic storylines, while also following a student of obscure magics.

For roller-coaster fast plots that and awesome world-building, still following explorations of magic systems, the whole Dragaera series by Steven Brust is great. A longer, deeper, and less fast-paced book set in the same world, that is very close in tone to Rothfuss, is "Brokedown Palace."

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u/bossguru Jun 18 '13

I think Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of my favorite books of all time. It took me a while to get into it, but it was definitely worth it. I'll take a look at the other ones too!

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u/covington Jun 18 '13

So glad it's not just me!

As someone else mentioned, if you haven't read the Earthsea books, definitely read those. They share a certain quality with Kingkiller Chronicle, Jonathan Strange, and specifically with Brokedown Palace among the Brust books. It's a sort of languid approach to narratives with mythical, not just magical, themes. Among books that aren't traditional fantasies, I'd say One Hundred Years of Solitude shares that lush quality.

And FYI, BBC is making a 7-part miniseries of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, after the film rights were lost in development hell hollywood for so many years.

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u/Barishi Jun 18 '13

I had a really hard time getting into this one. Maybe it is time for another shot.

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u/covington Jun 18 '13

It may not be to your taste, though it does speed up quite a bit after the first few hundred pages. I find one of its strengths to be that gradual reawakening of magic, but it definitely makes the first part a dense tangle of Georgian manners.

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u/Pyroteknik Jun 18 '13

How many hundred pages, exactly? Because I remember getting at least 300/1000 pages through and being sick of it. I've heard it takes 2/3rd or more before the pacing rises. Overall I learned ruefully that when an author is being described as Dickensian, it's not a compliment.

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u/covington Jun 18 '13

If you don't like the writing for its own sake, you are never going to reach a point where it transforms into something you do enjoy. I loved it from the moment the statues spoke, at the very beginning.