Great list! I highly recommend Crown of Stars series, I've read it twice but I think you'll find many people don't know Elliott. I love Drizzt and I personally prefer The Dark Elf Trilogy. I actually would normally recommend starting with Icewind Dale and I think you'll notice a difference in the writing and world building. I'd love to see your Drizzt collection one day.
I'm looking forward to Crown of Stars, only hear good things about it and I like what little I've read from Kate Elliott so far. The Dark Elf trilogy was my intro to him, that's the first in the 25th anniversary editions! I've heard Icewind is a bit of a step down, so expecting that. I'll send you a pic on Discord, it's not much of a collection.
Yes, «Aspect Emperor» 😎🙌 My own 2025 TBR list: «Doom of Destiny» (Sundered Nation #3) by Vaughn Roycroft (Epic/Historical Fantasy inspirert by the Historical Ancient Goths and the Rohirrim of Tolkien, with a dash of «Dune») «The Children of Gods and Fighting Men» by Shauna Lawless (Gael Song#2, Historical Fantasy set in Viking Age Ireland) «Bloodstone» & «Dark Crusade» by Karl Edward Wagner (the «Kane» series, S&S/Proto-Grimdark) «Lancelot» by Giles Kristian (Arthurian Fantasy/Historical Fiction) «Navola» by Paolo Bacigalupi (Political Fantasy inspired by Renaissance Italy & «The Godfather») «Carthage Ascendant» by Mary Gentle (Book of Ash #2, Alt-Historical Military Fiction inspired by the Mercenary Wars of the Renaissance) «The Blood Dimmed Tide» by Stephen Aryan (The Nightingale and the Falcon #2, Historical Fantasy inspired by the Mongol Conquest of Persia) «The Crystal Cave» by Mary Stewart (Arthurian Fantasy from the perspective of Merlin) «Brothers of the Wind» by Tad Williams (Prequel to «The Last King of Osten Ard», sequel series to «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn», Epic Fantasy) The «Aspect Emperor» series by R. Scott Bakker (Epic Dark/Grimdark Fantasy, sequel series to «The Prince of Nothing» Trilogy)
That's an awesome stack. I want to read Navola sometime soon, I've held off mainly because I saw Raf mention it's the first of a series. And I definitely need to get to the rest of Osten Ard!
I adored the Engineer trilogy. It’s my favorite work-looking at it as a way whole-by K. J. Parker, of what I’ve read so far, so I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you get to it!
Lmao, there's a big gap of time between when I read something and when I post on it, at some point I'll manage to catch up and the firehose will become a dribble 😅
I really got into Drizzt with the Neverwinter Saga. After that came The Sundering, Companions Codex, and I think Homecoming. After that the next two books in Generations were so boring I dropped out.
@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels One notable change over time, not a spoiler, Salvatore would take an entire page to describe in vast detail 2 seconds of a sword fight. He generalized a bit more as time went on.
I'm a big Cook fan but somehow after reading the first two in Instrumentalities I never got the motivation to read the third. Maybe you'll convince me to pick it up!
I've heard so many mixed things about Instrumentalities, not continuing sounds pretty much par for the course. I hope I enjoy it to start with, much less recommend it, ha. Thanks for watching!
@@Already-Overbooked awesome, that's the first two of his I read also! I'd recommend going to the Fencer trilogy next, it's some of his early stuff so it only gets better from there on out, it's really good because he's had years of experience writing as Tom Holt by then, and the second book has the most deranged ending of anything I've ever read. I read that as part of a Library of Allenxandria readalong and it melted people's brains.
Oh, thanks for correcting me! I've never actually heard that name enunciated before, so didn't know. If you get to any of them at some point let me know!
@@salty-horse it's a rare author I'll actually watch an interview of, and definitely not before I read their stuff. So far, the only ones I can remember doing that for are China Mieville, Fonda Lee and K.J. Parker.
@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels you don't have to watch the whole thing for this info. Just the beginning. But I'm the opposite. I use author interviews to gauge my interest in their work. They usually aren't spoilery as they are for marketing purposes.
I'm also curious about Crown of Stars. I love Aspect-Emperor. Its wild, bleak and brutal madness. If Prince of Nothing was GRRM writing Dune, Aspect-Emperor is if Cormac McCarthy wrote LotR instead of Blood Meridian. I binged the whole thing in like, 2 weeks, I couldn't put it down. I haven't read any Indian inspired Fantasy, any recommendations?
I keep hearing it's way more brutal than Prince of Nothing, I'm really looking forward to it! I just need to wait for when I'm in the right headspace for it. Later this year I'm re-reading Black Company in anticipation of the new book, I suspect that'll get my hyped to finally dive into it. For Indian inspired fantasy, the best stuff I've read so far is Tasha Suri's Burning Kingdoms trilogy and Vaishnavi Patel has two standalone feminist retellings that are extremely engaging. I also recently read Gourav Mohanty's Sons of Darkness which is pretty popular with some of the larger channels like Petrik and Philip Chase, but personally I had some major problems with it, so that one you can check out with a grain of salt.
I'm intrigued by Kate Elliott's series. Enjoy your 2025 reading!
the covers for King's Dragon and Upon A Burning Throne are absoultly amazing
That they are, right. Those Banker books are some of the nicest on my shelf.
Great list! I highly recommend Crown of Stars series, I've read it twice but I think you'll find many people don't know Elliott.
I love Drizzt and I personally prefer The Dark Elf Trilogy. I actually would normally recommend starting with Icewind Dale and I think you'll notice a difference in the writing and world building.
I'd love to see your Drizzt collection one day.
I'm looking forward to Crown of Stars, only hear good things about it and I like what little I've read from Kate Elliott so far.
The Dark Elf trilogy was my intro to him, that's the first in the 25th anniversary editions! I've heard Icewind is a bit of a step down, so expecting that. I'll send you a pic on Discord, it's not much of a collection.
Excited for you to read Aspect-Emperor, man! I haven’t read any KJ Parker yet, but I have the Engineer trilogy. Just waiting for the mood to strike.
When the mood strikes . . . You're going to have a fun time. I haven't read it yet, but from what I've heard and the general habits of KJP, it's nuts.
Yes, «Aspect Emperor» 😎🙌
My own 2025 TBR list:
«Doom of Destiny» (Sundered Nation #3) by Vaughn Roycroft (Epic/Historical Fantasy inspirert by the Historical Ancient Goths and the Rohirrim of Tolkien, with a dash of «Dune»)
«The Children of Gods and Fighting Men» by Shauna Lawless (Gael Song#2, Historical Fantasy set in Viking Age Ireland)
«Bloodstone» & «Dark Crusade» by Karl Edward Wagner (the «Kane» series, S&S/Proto-Grimdark)
«Lancelot» by Giles Kristian (Arthurian Fantasy/Historical Fiction)
«Navola» by Paolo Bacigalupi (Political Fantasy inspired by Renaissance Italy & «The Godfather»)
«Carthage Ascendant» by Mary Gentle (Book of Ash #2, Alt-Historical Military Fiction inspired by the Mercenary Wars of the Renaissance)
«The Blood Dimmed Tide» by Stephen Aryan (The Nightingale and the Falcon #2, Historical Fantasy inspired by the Mongol Conquest of Persia)
«The Crystal Cave» by Mary Stewart (Arthurian Fantasy from the perspective of Merlin)
«Brothers of the Wind» by Tad Williams (Prequel to «The Last King of Osten Ard», sequel series to «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn», Epic Fantasy)
The «Aspect Emperor» series by R. Scott Bakker (Epic Dark/Grimdark Fantasy, sequel series to «The Prince of Nothing» Trilogy)
That's an awesome stack. I want to read Navola sometime soon, I've held off mainly because I saw Raf mention it's the first of a series. And I definitely need to get to the rest of Osten Ard!
I adored the Engineer trilogy. It’s my favorite work-looking at it as a way whole-by K. J. Parker, of what I’ve read so far, so I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you get to it!
I want to get to it before too much longer! Expect me freaking out in a chat somewhere if it's anything close to Fencer, ha.
With the amount that you read, I’m kind of surprised you haven’t read the Icewind Dale trilogy! I think you’ll enjoy it
There's always another adventure to go on. I hope so too. Thanks for watching, and happy new year!
the rate you go, this title should have been 10 Fantasy Series I'm Reading next week
Lmao, there's a big gap of time between when I read something and when I post on it, at some point I'll manage to catch up and the firehose will become a dribble 😅
I really got into Drizzt with the Neverwinter Saga. After that came The Sundering, Companions Codex, and I think Homecoming. After that the next two books in Generations were so boring I dropped out.
With a series as sprawling as that, I'm not surprised there's peaks and valleys. I'm excited to dive into them myself and hopefully it works out.
@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels One notable change over time, not a spoiler, Salvatore would take an entire page to describe in vast detail 2 seconds of a sword fight. He generalized a bit more as time went on.
@@Montie-Adkins Hmm, I didn't notice that in the Dark Elf trilogy, which is all I've read so far. Will watch out for it as I move forward.
I'm a big Cook fan but somehow after reading the first two in Instrumentalities I never got the motivation to read the third. Maybe you'll convince me to pick it up!
I've heard so many mixed things about Instrumentalities, not continuing sounds pretty much par for the course. I hope I enjoy it to start with, much less recommend it, ha. Thanks for watching!
KJ Parker is so good!!
Yes he is! I want to read as much of his stuff as I can this year. What have you read from him?
@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels the folding knife and the company. Both so good!! I want to read more of his works this year
@@Already-Overbooked awesome, that's the first two of his I read also! I'd recommend going to the Fencer trilogy next, it's some of his early stuff so it only gets better from there on out, it's really good because he's had years of experience writing as Tom Holt by then, and the second book has the most deranged ending of anything I've ever read. I read that as part of a Library of Allenxandria readalong and it melted people's brains.
@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels Hell yes! I need some brain melting haha
Seanan is pronounced like "Shawn-ann". Sorry I have nothing more to add. Nice picks, and I share your desire to read most of them :)
Oh, thanks for correcting me! I've never actually heard that name enunciated before, so didn't know.
If you get to any of them at some point let me know!
@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels TH-cam interviews with authors are a great way to hear their names and pronouns :)
@@salty-horse it's a rare author I'll actually watch an interview of, and definitely not before I read their stuff. So far, the only ones I can remember doing that for are China Mieville, Fonda Lee and K.J. Parker.
@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels you don't have to watch the whole thing for this info. Just the beginning. But I'm the opposite. I use author interviews to gauge my interest in their work. They usually aren't spoilery as they are for marketing purposes.
@salty-horse I'll keep it in mind for next time!
I'm also curious about Crown of Stars.
I love Aspect-Emperor. Its wild, bleak and brutal madness. If Prince of Nothing was GRRM writing Dune, Aspect-Emperor is if Cormac McCarthy wrote LotR instead of Blood Meridian. I binged the whole thing in like, 2 weeks, I couldn't put it down.
I haven't read any Indian inspired Fantasy, any recommendations?
I keep hearing it's way more brutal than Prince of Nothing, I'm really looking forward to it! I just need to wait for when I'm in the right headspace for it. Later this year I'm re-reading Black Company in anticipation of the new book, I suspect that'll get my hyped to finally dive into it.
For Indian inspired fantasy, the best stuff I've read so far is Tasha Suri's Burning Kingdoms trilogy and Vaishnavi Patel has two standalone feminist retellings that are extremely engaging. I also recently read Gourav Mohanty's Sons of Darkness which is pretty popular with some of the larger channels like Petrik and Philip Chase, but personally I had some major problems with it, so that one you can check out with a grain of salt.