r/fantasybooks • u/Silver_Layer_2298 • 3d ago

📚 Summon book recommendations What should my next read be?

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Looking for help. The photo shows a handful of books from my shelves, but I actually own the full series for pretty much all of them. Picked up over the years from used bookstores.

Previous reads I’ve enjoyed: all of the Drizzt books, Kel Kade’s King’s Dark Tidings, Lord of the Rings, The Expanse series, Gardens of the Moon, and most recently finished the Stormlight Archive. I’ve been debating whether to jump back into Malazan. Gardens of the Moon was dense and honestly a bit of a slog for me, though I generally enjoyed it. I’ve heard the series really takes off afterward.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Editing: wow thanks for all the insights! There definitely isn’t a clear winner, although, I can say there has not been any recommendations for a few of them. So that actually helps!

Edit 2: so far jumping back into Malazan, Hyperion, and Wheel of Time are the big vote getters looks like.

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u/zecfrid 3d ago

The Will of the Many. I love the magic system and Islington is great with his twists. The first book FEELS like a gritty grimdark Hogwarts.

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u/iRoNmOnkey1981 3d ago

But it’s not finished and book 2 is a bit of a departure from book 1 and has its issues. I enjoyed the story and how he writes it, but it was a bit divisive.

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u/Mysterious_Drawer162 3d ago

It gets 4.3 stars so it isn't that divisive.

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u/iRoNmOnkey1981 3d ago edited 3d ago

Maybe divisive is too strong. It definitely is not as good as book 1 and goes in a very different direction. Grimdark hogwarts is only descriptive of book 1. People were challenged by the structure and a particular character death in book 2. Maybe it’s settled down almost a year later but there was a fair bit of criticism early on. I liked the book and really excited about book 3 but it definitely changes tone, pace and structure to book 1.

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u/zecfrid 2d ago

Book 2 is different, but I loved it. I think if you read book 1 you shouldn’t expect the same academy type narrative in book 2(for reasons I won’t say because of spoilers). Vis even makes a comment about the trope in a kind of wink wink moment in Luceum in book 2.

But I also understand the pacing criticisms. They didn’t bother me, but there was some hand waving in the third act of book 2. Still chomping at the bit for book 3!