Hi all! One thing about this listing I forgot to mention is that I only included series that I've read at least two books from, thus no Dune as I have only read the first (so far!)
The fact that you didn't include The Lord of the Rings, in its self, should be a crime. The Lord of the Rings in known to be THEE best fantasy series of all time. shame shame
Well, I look at The Lord of The Rings as one book, divided into three sections - so that's kind of why. But if I looked at it as 3 books, then it would've been! @@NehnBellanaris
Excellent list, Brian! Gardens of the Moon, book one of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, famously opens in medias res, tossing the reader into a world that has hundreds of thousands of years of depth with words crafted by a true master of prose in Steven Erikson. When I first read it, I knew I had never seen anything like it.
I completely agree with Gardens of the Moon being worthy of this list. But, what I had forgot to mention in the video (and corrected in the pinned comment) is that I only included books that I've read at least two books of the series - and Deadhouse Gates is up next month! Thank you always for the support, Philip!!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy my local B&N tells me he lives in my town here in Alaska. With the University here, I wouldn't be surprised. The world building and story were for a game? Makes sense over long winters.😁
“Don’t worry, it gets good around book 3.” I FELT that sigh. You captured the polite smile and dead eye stare perfectly 😂. But I am definitely a hypocrite because I do this too. Perfect example is the Culture series by Iain M Banks. Consider Phlebas is meh, but Player of Games and Use of Weapons are 5 stars for me.
I agree with your list. For me : The Blade Itself, The Eye of the World, Shadow of the Gods, Justice of the Kings, Fellowship of the Ring, Deathstalker, Winter King, Boudica Dreaming the Eagle, The Children of Gods & Fighting Men, The Blacktongue Thief, The Magician, Daughter of the Empire, The Dragonbone Chair , The Pawn of Prophecy& The Book of Three!!! I guess I like my book ones!
Great list! And I completely agree with HP. I read it from middle school until my early 20s and will never forget that experience and the excitement surrounding every release.
Suggestions: Zelazny, Chronicles of Amber: Nine Princes in Amber is really strong. (It's also quite short, so you'll know quickly if it's for you.) Brust, Vlad Taltos: Jhereg is a brilliant heist fantasy that holds your attention from the very beginning. Lackey, Valdemar: Arrows of the Queen is gripping and emotionally charged. (I'm going with publication order here, btw.) Weber, War God's Own: Oath of Swords is gripping and well-written. If you like fantasy and any other Weber books, you'll probably like this series. Bujold, Sharing Knife: Beguilement starts off a unique fantasy series with very high stakes and (as could be expected from any Bujold work) brilliant characters. (Penric & Desdemona is also really good.) Rosenberg, Guardians of the Flame: The Sleeping Dragon starts this (to my knowledge the first epic LitRPG series) with a bang. The focus isn't on the game, it's on the characters and the plot and very well handled. Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion: Sheepfarmer's Daughter is compelling and starts off a series that goes really dark and is compelling throughout.
Glad to see Sun Eater getting the love! I have binging Sun Eater the last six months or so (just finished book six, so I am suffering withdrawal), this whole series is amazing!
For sure. I just read GOTM this month and what I'd forgotten to mention at the start of the video was that I was only going to list books that I've read at least two in the series.. I'm hoping to start Deadhouse Gates soon, but sort of want to get through Sun Eater first.
Great list! Completely agree with almost all of these. My only disagreement is hyperion; great book, but it feels self-contained and complete, I didn't feel the urge to read book two. Others I haven't seen mentioned in the comments: foundation, red rising, the forgetting moon, the grace of kings, blood song, brilliance, the black prism.
I haven't read Liu yet, or that may have made the list. As far as Hyperion goes, it's probably like Dune, where it can be viewed as complete, but it is still a series and Fall of Hyperion works with it. Red Rising I may have listed, but the series really evolved for me at Golden Son. Foundation, I think for me would make the list, but for a lot of people, it can get a little dry - at least if they mostly read fantasy vs sci fi. But I loved the Foundation trilogy. Good ideas in your comments for books I haven't read yet too!
Thank you for letting me know I wasn't alone in being let down by The Warded Man's sequels. I've read all of the books you mentioned, except for Hyperion and Sun Eater, (which are on my wishlist). I'd like to recommend P.C. Hodgell's series, the Kencyrath. Granted, the Science Fiction Book Club started me on the 3rd, but i bought the other 8 in the ongoing series 😅
Cool! I will add P.C. Hodgell to TBR Mountain. I love getting recommendations from you guys. I figure anyone who enjoys my content, I probably align with on other books, so thank you!
This was a really great list Brian! Totally agree about ASOIAF, Harry Potter, Kingkiller, and Green Bone Saga. I need to start getting into Sandman Slim.
Wonderful list! I certainly did get hooked with A Game of Thrones, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Assassin’s Apprentice, Harry Potter, Way of Kings, and Name of the Wind. I need to get to Hyperion, and I’m with you in hoping we get more from Scott Lynch! 😊
Couldn't agree more on Lies of Locke Lamora and Jade City. For Way of Kings, Assassin's Apprentice and Game of Thrones, it took me a bit longer to fully get the hype though (but maybe that was just a case of them being overhyped for me haha). And dang, I really need to check out Sun Eater and Sand Man Slim asap!! Some series that hooked me from book 1 were The Riverfall Chronicles by Jacquelyn Hagen, Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar, and A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla!
I for sure should add Legacy of the Brightwash and a Touch of Light to TBR Mountain. I'm about to start The Spider Key in the next two months (only reason it wasn't on list is because I've only read book 1 so far). I think since I read the three that took you a little longer to get into when they essentially were published, I didn't have the pre-hype to set too high of expectations.
@@BrianBell7 Why did I not know you've already read The Wickwire Watch?!? Can't wait for you to read the rest of the series, it only gets better imo. And that makes total sense with you reading those books in isolation, I can't imagine what that must have been like to bbe one of the OGs hahah
which book in Discworld did you start with? I tried The Colour of Magic and didn't love it, but then I tried Guards! Guards! and thought it was fantastic!!
Hi! I don't know the ''name'' of the series but it took me by surprise !!! Half a king, Half the world, Half the war by joe abercrombie. I think often about it all and nobody speak about it.
So what you’re saying is there’s a reason that the most popular SFF series are the most popular SFF series?! 😜 But srsly, as always great video based on a great & original idea. ♥️
That's one of my least favorite claims. Why can't it be good right off the bat? What's funny to me is how often it's not true. It feels like fans of a series are weighing out the entirety of the series where they see everything building up to that third book, therefore that's the baseline. But if someone says that and book one doesn't hook me at all, then I'm out. I haven't read A Song of Fire and Ice yet, but it's on my TBR. I just finished up the 2nd book of Suneater and can't wait to start the 3rd. I'm caught up on Brando Sando's Comsmere. The Stormlight Archive is the best. The Lies of Lock Lamora is on my TBR (due to Merphy Napier). I read Jade City in December. Great 1st book. The others are on my TBR. Such a great job of investing you in the characters. Harry Potter - Only seen the movies, the books are my TBR, but towards the back. A sorting video sounds fun. Hyperion - I am having a tough time getting into this one. I'm forcing myself to read a tale a year. It's as much as I can take right now. If the later half works for me, then I'll continue on with the series. I haven't read any Patrick Rothfuss yet. At this point, I'll probably wait for the series to be completed before I pick it up. Read Assassin's Apprentice late last year, loved it. The rest are on my TBR. I will be checking out Sandman Slim! Some series I think started off strong for me: Murderbot, Wheel of Time, and Arcane Ascension.
Very cool Chris. I think you are really going to like the books in the video. Totally agree on Arcane Ascension as well. I still haven't read any of the Murderbot books. I think maybe at some point I was annoyed that the publisher was charging $$$ for short books. I could be wrong though and be thinking of another series.
@@gryftkin I use DaVinci Resolve 18 (it's free from BlackMagic Design) for my editing software. For the effects that I put on the book covers, I find overlays I like from something like Pixabay, download them free, then layer them on top of a book cover image on the DaVinci timeline and dial down the opacity a ton so only a little bit of the original effect shows through and mostly the book shows. Lmk if you have questions. Always happy to share whatever I learn, and this is all 100% new to me.
@@BrianBell7 Appreciate it. I also use DaVinci and I have a few plugins for it, but still learning the bells (no pun intended) and whistles. :) I know the bread and butter (cuts and edits and normalizing audio), but haven't messed with much else (and the Fusion node scares me :D )
I rarely use fusion. only for tracking once for a video I think. I spend hours goofing around on the Edit page though as part of my process of learning it. Tons of great YT videos for how-to's as well out there. @@gryftkin
Hi all! One thing about this listing I forgot to mention is that I only included series that I've read at least two books from, thus no Dune as I have only read the first (so far!)
The fact that you didn't include The Lord of the Rings, in its self, should be a crime. The Lord of the Rings in known to be THEE best fantasy series of all time. shame shame
Well, I look at The Lord of The Rings as one book, divided into three sections - so that's kind of why. But if I looked at it as 3 books, then it would've been! @@NehnBellanaris
@@BrianBell7 And if we reeeeeally want to get technical, it's actually 6 books made into one book.
Excellent list, Brian! Gardens of the Moon, book one of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, famously opens in medias res, tossing the reader into a world that has hundreds of thousands of years of depth with words crafted by a true master of prose in Steven Erikson. When I first read it, I knew I had never seen anything like it.
I completely agree with Gardens of the Moon being worthy of this list. But, what I had forgot to mention in the video (and corrected in the pinned comment) is that I only included books that I've read at least two books of the series - and Deadhouse Gates is up next month! Thank you always for the support, Philip!!
@@BrianBell7Okay, so I supoooose it’s forgivable leaving out Gardens.
Check out Erickson's partner in building the world Esslemont. The Malazan world has more.
@@tamarawalters-p3q Agreed! I've read all of Esslemont's books and love them. I've even chatted with him a couple times -- fantastic fellow!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy my local B&N tells me he lives in my town here in Alaska. With the University here, I wouldn't be surprised. The world building and story were for a game? Makes sense over long winters.😁
“Don’t worry, it gets good around book 3.” I FELT that sigh. You captured the polite smile and dead eye stare perfectly 😂.
But I am definitely a hypocrite because I do this too. Perfect example is the Culture series by Iain M Banks. Consider Phlebas is meh, but Player of Games and Use of Weapons are 5 stars for me.
haha, that's so funny because Culture is also on my TBR. I'll consider myself forewarned :)
I agree with your list. For me : The Blade Itself, The Eye of the World, Shadow of the Gods, Justice of the Kings, Fellowship of the Ring, Deathstalker, Winter King, Boudica Dreaming the Eagle, The Children of Gods & Fighting Men, The Blacktongue Thief, The Magician, Daughter of the Empire, The Dragonbone Chair , The Pawn of Prophecy& The Book of Three!!! I guess I like my book ones!
You sure do! You've literally listed 8 book / series I haven't even read yet! Heidi is the winner of today's secret TBR Mountain Addition Challenge :)
Great list! And I completely agree with HP. I read it from middle school until my early 20s and will never forget that experience and the excitement surrounding every release.
Thank you! It's incredible how much actually happens in that first book!
Read all but Jade City and Assassin's Apprentice. Gotta get to those soon. Great list!
IMO, do Green Bone Saga first. Only because it's easy to check off your list being 3 books versus 16...
I am gonna treat Elderlings like trilogies with breaks in between. Hiding the overloaded nature of my TBR from myself. @@BrianBell7
Suggestions:
Zelazny, Chronicles of Amber: Nine Princes in Amber is really strong. (It's also quite short, so you'll know quickly if it's for you.)
Brust, Vlad Taltos: Jhereg is a brilliant heist fantasy that holds your attention from the very beginning.
Lackey, Valdemar: Arrows of the Queen is gripping and emotionally charged. (I'm going with publication order here, btw.)
Weber, War God's Own: Oath of Swords is gripping and well-written. If you like fantasy and any other Weber books, you'll probably like this series.
Bujold, Sharing Knife: Beguilement starts off a unique fantasy series with very high stakes and (as could be expected from any Bujold work) brilliant characters. (Penric & Desdemona is also really good.)
Rosenberg, Guardians of the Flame: The Sleeping Dragon starts this (to my knowledge the first epic LitRPG series) with a bang. The focus isn't on the game, it's on the characters and the plot and very well handled.
Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion: Sheepfarmer's Daughter is compelling and starts off a series that goes really dark and is compelling throughout.
Awesome. Thanks Doug. I'll add those to TBR Mountain. I forget sometimes how widely and deeply read you are!!
Hello, brother from another mother, naming two of my favorite book series of all time.
So glad to see someone mention paks! Wonderful series, memorable main character. And the gird series is solid as well.
20 years later, Assassin's Apprentice is still my favorite book !
Right? And we had no idea how huge the series would wind up to be!
Your library looks as neat and professional as a book store. Best wishes with your reading choices.
Thank you so much for that compliment! I really feel like my creative energy is better when my surroundings are organized :)
I’d add Wickwire Watch to this list. I was hooked from the first sentence. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the rest of the series.
100% Great opening book. I can't wait to start book 2!
Glad to see Sun Eater getting the love! I have binging Sun Eater the last six months or so (just finished book six, so I am suffering withdrawal), this whole series is amazing!
Agreed! I just started Demon in White. It's an incredible series!
Has to be Malazan Brian GOTM oh my I had no idea that kind of journey was out there.
For sure. I just read GOTM this month and what I'd forgotten to mention at the start of the video was that I was only going to list books that I've read at least two in the series.. I'm hoping to start Deadhouse Gates soon, but sort of want to get through Sun Eater first.
@@BrianBell7 ooooo suneater I hear that’s a goodie. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts 😊
Great list! Completely agree with almost all of these. My only disagreement is hyperion; great book, but it feels self-contained and complete, I didn't feel the urge to read book two.
Others I haven't seen mentioned in the comments: foundation, red rising, the forgetting moon, the grace of kings, blood song, brilliance, the black prism.
I haven't read Liu yet, or that may have made the list. As far as Hyperion goes, it's probably like Dune, where it can be viewed as complete, but it is still a series and Fall of Hyperion works with it. Red Rising I may have listed, but the series really evolved for me at Golden Son. Foundation, I think for me would make the list, but for a lot of people, it can get a little dry - at least if they mostly read fantasy vs sci fi. But I loved the Foundation trilogy. Good ideas in your comments for books I haven't read yet too!
Thank you for letting me know I wasn't alone in being let down by The Warded Man's sequels.
I've read all of the books you mentioned, except for Hyperion and Sun Eater, (which are on my wishlist).
I'd like to recommend P.C. Hodgell's series, the Kencyrath.
Granted, the Science Fiction Book Club started me on the 3rd, but i bought the other 8 in the ongoing series 😅
Cool! I will add P.C. Hodgell to TBR Mountain. I love getting recommendations from you guys. I figure anyone who enjoys my content, I probably align with on other books, so thank you!
This was a really great list Brian! Totally agree about ASOIAF, Harry Potter, Kingkiller, and Green Bone Saga. I need to start getting into Sandman Slim.
Thanks Chas! Sandman Slim books are short and you'll know by book one if it's a series for you or not 100%.
Solid picks! :)
Thank you! Appreciate your watching and engagement! Happy Friday!
Wonderful list! I certainly did get hooked with A Game of Thrones, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Assassin’s Apprentice, Harry Potter, Way of Kings, and Name of the Wind. I need to get to Hyperion, and I’m with you in hoping we get more from Scott Lynch! 😊
I think you will appreciate Hyperion quite a bit. It's a lot of pieces that work together to get the full result. C'mon Mr. Lynch!!!
Couldn't agree more on Lies of Locke Lamora and Jade City. For Way of Kings, Assassin's Apprentice and Game of Thrones, it took me a bit longer to fully get the hype though (but maybe that was just a case of them being overhyped for me haha). And dang, I really need to check out Sun Eater and Sand Man Slim asap!! Some series that hooked me from book 1 were The Riverfall Chronicles by Jacquelyn Hagen, Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar, and A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla!
I for sure should add Legacy of the Brightwash and a Touch of Light to TBR Mountain. I'm about to start The Spider Key in the next two months (only reason it wasn't on list is because I've only read book 1 so far). I think since I read the three that took you a little longer to get into when they essentially were published, I didn't have the pre-hype to set too high of expectations.
@@BrianBell7 Why did I not know you've already read The Wickwire Watch?!? Can't wait for you to read the rest of the series, it only gets better imo. And that makes total sense with you reading those books in isolation, I can't imagine what that must have been like to bbe one of the OGs hahah
The most recent book 1s that I have read that hooked me to the series are The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan and Dune by Frank Herbert.
Same with me on Dune, I just haven't read the following books yet!
I’ve read these all!!🎉
Excellent!!!
L.E. Modesitt, Jr - Recluse series
Malazan
Mecedes Lackey - Valdemar
Chronicles of Amber - Zelanzy
Check out Tamora Pierce
I have to get to Amber. Everyone has been talking about it with me. Malazan, I'm about to start Deadhouse Gates soon....
First series I loved was Discworld by Terry Pratchett
which book in Discworld did you start with? I tried The Colour of Magic and didn't love it, but then I tried Guards! Guards! and thought it was fantastic!!
@@BrianBell7 Hogfather was the first one. Greetings from Zagreb, Croatia. I love your videos
@@edohadzic9012 I love that we have more than one member of the BellTube Community from Croatia!!
You don't like Amber Cronicles by Roger Zelazny? I have read Great Book of Amber dozen times
Hi! I don't know the ''name'' of the series but it took me by surprise !!! Half a king, Half the world, Half the war by joe abercrombie. I think often about it all and nobody speak about it.
Hi! Off the top of my head, I can't remember either, but I think I know which one you are talking about!
So what you’re saying is there’s a reason that the most popular SFF series are the most popular SFF series?! 😜 But srsly, as always great video based on a great & original idea. ♥️
haha, yes. Although I think some of the big series like First Law, Dresden, etc.. do take a little longer than book 1 - at least for me.
Almost forgot The Black Company. Piers Anthony - Xanth series
Xanth was my first fantasy series I ever read!
@@BrianBell7 that's so punny
That's one of my least favorite claims. Why can't it be good right off the bat? What's funny to me is how often it's not true. It feels like fans of a series are weighing out the entirety of the series where they see everything building up to that third book, therefore that's the baseline. But if someone says that and book one doesn't hook me at all, then I'm out.
I haven't read A Song of Fire and Ice yet, but it's on my TBR.
I just finished up the 2nd book of Suneater and can't wait to start the 3rd.
I'm caught up on Brando Sando's Comsmere. The Stormlight Archive is the best.
The Lies of Lock Lamora is on my TBR (due to Merphy Napier).
I read Jade City in December. Great 1st book. The others are on my TBR. Such a great job of investing you in the characters.
Harry Potter - Only seen the movies, the books are my TBR, but towards the back. A sorting video sounds fun.
Hyperion - I am having a tough time getting into this one. I'm forcing myself to read a tale a year. It's as much as I can take right now. If the later half works for me, then I'll continue on with the series.
I haven't read any Patrick Rothfuss yet. At this point, I'll probably wait for the series to be completed before I pick it up.
Read Assassin's Apprentice late last year, loved it. The rest are on my TBR.
I will be checking out Sandman Slim!
Some series I think started off strong for me: Murderbot, Wheel of Time, and Arcane Ascension.
Very cool Chris. I think you are really going to like the books in the video. Totally agree on Arcane Ascension as well. I still haven't read any of the Murderbot books. I think maybe at some point I was annoyed that the publisher was charging $$$ for short books. I could be wrong though and be thinking of another series.
@@BrianBell7 No, it was a bit high for short books. I only picked them up when they were on sale!
got it. Yeah, I remember seeing a price of over 20 or something like that and going, huh?
@@christhewritingjester3164
And here i thought The Warded Man was horrible and never bothered with the sequel
you are an Oracle :)
Hard Magic by Larry Corriea
Hard Magic was on my Dec TBR, then got delayed, but it'll be back again on the March TBR!
He's an ORPHAN?!?!?
right?!?! Lol.
@@BrianBell7 Can't remember if I asked. Are you using DVR or FCP or something else to edit your videos? I like the dancing light on the cover.
@@gryftkin I use DaVinci Resolve 18 (it's free from BlackMagic Design) for my editing software. For the effects that I put on the book covers, I find overlays I like from something like Pixabay, download them free, then layer them on top of a book cover image on the DaVinci timeline and dial down the opacity a ton so only a little bit of the original effect shows through and mostly the book shows. Lmk if you have questions. Always happy to share whatever I learn, and this is all 100% new to me.
@@BrianBell7 Appreciate it. I also use DaVinci and I have a few plugins for it, but still learning the bells (no pun intended) and whistles. :) I know the bread and butter (cuts and edits and normalizing audio), but haven't messed with much else (and the Fusion node scares me :D )
I rarely use fusion. only for tracking once for a video I think. I spend hours goofing around on the Edit page though as part of my process of learning it. Tons of great YT videos for how-to's as well out there. @@gryftkin