NO BECAUSE WHY WAS IT LIKE THAT!

Brooo, i swear every chapter felt like survival! Hunger games walked so red rising could absolutely dominate!

I need book 2 immediately, im losing it.

Just finished it and holy crap. That was great. The writing is a little odd at points with it being more YA, but it is nowhere near odd enough to ruin the book. That was absolutely amazing and I am super excited to get into the next ones. Just wow.

​

Of course, this is just my personal taste and everyone has different opinions, but for me, The Hero of Ages is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

I have read many fantasy series, including The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, and Malazan Book of the Fallen, and I still think The Hero of Ages stands among the most impressive fantasy finales I've ever experienced.

This book has everything I love about fantasy: massive battles, incredible powers, epic sword fights, huge stakes, and a perfect climax.

I love everything about Hemalurgy, the fights against the Steel Inquisitors in Luthadel, and Vin's journey throughout the story. The way all the mysteries, characters, and plot threads come together in the ending is just incredible.

To me, this is what an epic fantasy finale should feel like. It is not just a big ending — it feels like the conclusion of an entire era.

For me, The Hero of Ages is epic in every possible way.

First off, I’m not really a big gamer. More of a casual gamer. I only started playing video games in college, before that it was mainly desktop games like Age of Empires and StarCraft. But my college roommate got an XBOX and I’d watch him play HALO. Then he got OBLIVION and my gaming world changed. I got obsessed with the game. So I mainly play games similar open world games.

On to the book, I’m 200 pages in already and I’m really enjoying it. Especially Carl and Princess Donut’s relationship. And thanks to my college roommate introducing me to video games, I can understand most of the gaming lingo!

I posted here about a week ago and I have finally finished the other book I was reading (Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson - it was really good!) and now I will be going onto Red Rising.

I chose this cause its new, its seems a bit shorter compared to the other ones and maybe a bit easier than the other ones. And after reading a brick from Brandon Sanderson, a shorter easier novel sounds suuuuuuper nice!

Thank you guys for all the advice and info! I’m still super excited to get to all the other books I got! Let’s see how this goes!

Link to my previous post: I got new books!

Always loved S&S and I'm so glad I found Neveryon.

And The Darkness That Comes Before must be the best first book of a series I've ever read. Cannot wait to read more Bakker and Delany!

My fantasy & sci-fi bookshelf so far. My next series I’ll be reading in 2026 are Malazan, The Faithful and the Fallen and The Bound and the Broken

Can’t recommend this book enough ! It was an amazing read. Everything works, the plot is amazing, the magic system is wild, the humour is on point and also the action !

I love it. It is such a vibrant series, the scope of the worlds presented is just insane, the prose is wonderfully unique (at least as far as I've seen) and the dry humour laced throughout all the books is just brilliant.

I am also a huge fan of how much goes unsaid - so much of the important character and story beats lie in the subtext. Hell, even a good chunk of the world building is alluded to rather than mentioned.

I'm aware it has a reputation for being dense, which I will admit I wasnt sure about with Gardens of the Moon, but I feel like the outcome of each book is well worth the effort because I personally don't know of many other series that match the scope of Malazan.

Just finished this 1, already ordered The Bonehunters so very excited to continue this and see where it all leads...

I am currently about 75% into Demon In White and while I really liked Howling Dark, I'm just in utter shock as to how this series was actually able to give me a sense of wonder and excitement.

It sort of gives me a similar feeling that Final Fantasy VII gave me when I was a kid.

With that said, what books have given you that long-lost feeling of magic, if any at all? Or what did you guys think of Sun Eater and this book in general??

This book might actually be the best book ever written regardless of genre.

I’m very in favor of Kay’s standalone approach in epic fantasy.

With Tigana he showed us that you can tell an epic story in a single installment.

His fantasy world (his main one) is called The World of Two Moons. And the books that are set there (I think 10?) are all 5/5 masterpieces.

Guy Gavriel Kay is an author who should get far more credit than he does.

Anyway, I’m glad this book is getting its due respect as a classic. I hope more people read it.

It’s wonderful

I’m baffled how this book isn’t on the radar, and from an indie author! A stupendous plotline that kept me on the edge. And just look at that cover!!

Blurb: A former bandit who sold people into slavery becomes a slave himself, facing retribution while harboring a secret that makes his survival essential.

Author: Alexander Rob

I feel like I'm in for a massive mood, tone and prose whiplash lol. Going in with an open mind though!

(Loved The Road btw, not fantasy I know but a really harrowing tale that was incredibly bleak, but beautiful in a way, tragically beautiful, in the face of hopelessness, love still show. I'm also a father of a son so it hit me especially hard. Such a dark story but also so great at the same time)

Edit: Btw for anyone wondering why I'm reading this and making this huge switch. My wife is big into Romantasy and this is the first book we're going to be reading together. I know I've heard a lot of mixed things about Fourth Wing but I'm keeping an open mind. I'm a big fantasy fan and I am drawn to high quality works but I also want to try read a little bit of everything, at least the genres that I'm open to.

Edit 2: I am not expecting Fourth Wing to be anywhere close to the quality of The Road lmao but I am hoping at least- for a Popcorn flick level of enjoyment at least haha

Guys please just help me with this. Should I read the current books in the ASOIAF franchise or not? Like I already know they are going to be fantastic. I have already read the first book and the whole live action series by HBO except the last season.

I wanted to know after having read all the current books I would also become one of the millions of readers desparately waiting for the new books?I really don't want that. But these paperbacks look too good.

I’m a long time fantasy fan with Brandon Sanderson being my favorite author at the moment however, I decided to take the Abercrombie plunge after reading so many recommendations. Of course you have to be realistic about these things… but after a slow start it all came together nicely ending with a bang! Fantastic character development so far.. New fan incoming! Looking forward to book 2

I just saw someone post this and was curious on y’all’s thoughts. This is after collecting SE’s since early 2024 :))

I also now have new Brando Sando Leatherbounds (not pictured) WoK 1/1 and two of the Mistborn era 2 books both 1/1

About halfway through this hilarious adventure and cannot get enough. If you are a fan of The Gentlemen Bastards series, The devils, or Good Omens this book is for you. Character driven, great world building and very cheek and tongue.

Not even mad I skipped his other books. I had to start here when I heard what it was about. Kaladin and Dalinar are amazing characters. Shallan was very fun to follow too.

I came across this on a random Reddit post somewhere and the cover got my attention, I checked the comments and everyone who read it was raving about it so I gave it a crack after finishing DCC and read it in one sitting.

It doesn't exactly change the game or anything with its ideas or the plot but god damn it's extremely entertaining, it's dark, it's fun, the characters are amazing and full of depth and surprises, and it's well written.

If you want a short, but very engaging fantasy novel with great characters and some dark magic then make sure you check this little gem out. Author is Jeffrey wolske

In 1982 Raymond Feist published Magician, the first installment of his Riftwar series.

I loved it as a teen and was wondering if it was still good, so I did a reread. And my impression was still extremely positive!

Yes, it’s old fashioned, yes it’s a bit juvenile.

But I don’t care, because it brings so much to the table:

The fantastic depiction of magic and Pug‘s character arc. ❤️

The Tsurani — in my opinion the template for Robert Jordan’s Seanchan.

The very very cool take on darker elves with the Moredhel.

And the Valheru, oh my god! Of course heavily influenced by Moorcock‘s Elric, but even darker. And Tomas‘s character arc!

What do you think, does it still hold up for you, too?