Was looking for some fantasy series to start reading and a friend highly recommended it. He's a good writer and an avid reader so I'll probably give it a shot, but then I'd like to order more than 1 book of the series at a time to save money and I'll only do that if it really is that good. Opinions?

If you stop after the first book then it is a good standalone fantasy book. The series that comes after it becomes a rip off of Robert Jordan and kind of dull.

Yeah, don't go past the first 2 books. After that they are terrible.

I'd go with A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. It was my favorite fantasy series (when I was into fantasy). In fact, I may re-read them. If you want a good, chunky, and time-consuming series - go with Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.

I fell out of fantasy because it limited everything else I wanted to get to. The books are so long and there are so many of them!!

blah, been through R.J.'s WoT series 2 or 3 times over already. Can't wait until January for the next book, though he can be long winded in his writing sometimes. Thanks for the input guys

I like Goodkind's stuff quite a bit. He's the one author I'm avidly following alongside of Modesitt.

The first couple were a little more explicit than I normally like, but he's gotten a lot better recently. "Faith of the Fallen" was really, really good. In general, I like the series much more than I ever liked Jordan - much tighter, better characters, etc.

Tuan Jim

I don't know what you mean by "explicit?"

I like the characters from WoT much more just because they are so much more dynamic. Even though it is a fantasy series, it seems to make them a little more real. I feel that is when fantasy can really hit...when you relate to the characters, but there is a special level of unknown (since their world doesn't operate like our's) that always keeps you guessing. It seemed like the characters in SoT just kept going through the same emotions and events.

Oh well, its just not my taste.

ehhh, how else to explain it?

The first few books went into far more graphic detail -- violence, sex, etc. -- especially with the torture scenes and bondage -- than I normally prefer in my books. Still, it was a good story from the start, and it's gotten even better. "Pillars of Creation" did take a different path from the main story -- kinda like Modesitt's character diversions and whatnot -- the way some characters cross paths -- but was still pretty good overall. I'm hoping for much more Richard and Kahlan in the next book though.

Tuan Jim

I'd have to disagree with some of the previous posters and say I like Goodkind better than Jordan, although it is very close. Both series are starting to get a bit stretched, but Goodkind's books (especially Faith of the Fallen as mentioned above) tend to be better stand-alone books (while still being part of a main story) rather than just the next 30 chapters in a 300 chapter epic.

George RR Martin is definitely one series to read. I'll actually buy the next book as soon as it comes out, which is what I used to do with Jordan and Goodkind (now I wait a little longer, as the stories have sort of petered out).

Incidentally, I am reading the Death Gate series by Weis and Hickman right now, and it is actually very good. I was a bit dubious int he beginning, but the 5th and 6th books have been great. Bit too much in the way of footnotes and other bad attempts at verisimilitude, but the story is very good. I'd reccomend it if you can find it cheap.

I really enjoy reading both Jordan and Goodkind, but I have to say that I don't really like the structuring of Goodkind's books. They all seem like stand alone novels to me, with the characters carrying over. I guess I'm just more of an epic fantasy fan, where there is one huge problem they are trying to solve. I'm not sure that I'm saying this very well...

As others have suggested, definately pick up George RR Martin's books. Amazing. The best fantasy I have ever read. I really enjoy how the chapters are structured.

I didn't really care for Goodkind at all. I bought all the books before-hand from the discount racks. I trudged through them all and promptly sold them at a used book store (normally I keep all my books to reread them later).

I'd recommend Martin or even Jordan way before I'd recommend Goodkind. YMMV, of course.

Goodkind definitely seems like a love him or hate him kind of author. You may want to grab the first couple of books form the library to see which bin you fall into.

Death Gate got off to a slow start in the first book but definately picked up with the 2nd book - Elven Star. Funniest scenes in that.