Calling all nerds! Share your favorite Fantasy / Sci-Fi reads

[Ani]

Patrick Rothfuss is an ongoing source of frustration -- it's so good but where the heck is the third book?!

[Emmett]

The Left Hand of Darkness Excellent winter adventure on a planet even colder than Chicago!

[Alin]

Ani wrote: "Patrick Rothfuss is an ongoing source of frustration -- it's so good but where the heck is the third book?!"

I'm 100% in agreement with this. He did have a side book about a character in the first book. I have it if anyone wants to borrow it!

[Alin]

I'm currently reading the Unsouled series by Will Wight. It's quick and super fun to read.

[Ani]

Emmett wrote: "The Left Hand of Darkness Excellent winter adventure on a planet even colder than Chicago!"

I'm gonna check this out, looks fantastic!

[Ani]

A few of my favorite reads from the pandemic:
- The Affair of the Mysterious Letter: recommend for the sheer inventiveness of the world, with a mostly fun twist on Sherlock Holmes
- The Angel of the Crows: a delightfully fantasy-rich take on Jack the Ripper-era London. Highly recommend.
- The Goblin Emperor: another Katherine Addison book, phenomenal world-building
- A Deadly Education: significantly better than her earlier books, Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education is a wry, darker, and more fun Harry Potter
- All Systems Red: took me a few tries to get past the cliched description, but this series is a set of fun, genre-bending, and cliche-destroying short reads. If you liked Marvin the Android from Hitchhiker's Guide, you'll like Murderbot.

[Matt]

My introduction to fantasy began with Robert Jordan's series, The Wheel of Time around 1995, the first book being The Eye of the World. If someone wants to dive into some epic high fantasy (the series is 14 books and something like 10,000 total pages in hard cover), I recommend it.

Robert Jordan passed prior to completing the series, but his rough draft for a final book was willed to Brandon Sanderson, who decided it needed 3 books to complete. I believe he did a respectable job, and his work did not detract from the series. I have been meaning to reread the whole thing as it has been 7 or so years since I finished the last book, but the scope of time needed is intimidating.

The completion of a series by a second author is (unfortunately) what I now hope will happen with A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. I would consider these two series to be similar, though A Song of Ice & Fire has more death and carnage. The only reason I do not recommend Martin's is that it is unfinished!

A standalone fantasy book I have read a few times is Once a Hero by Michael Stackpole. It alternates between stories of past and present with two different protagonists and is a fun read.

Enjoy!