HP is the only fantasy I've ever read. Suggest other books I might like!

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

Thanks! :D

[ogradda]

1. well give me a clue on harry potter first please

i've heard of it but never read it. a lot of people seem to like it. what's it about?

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

2. Oh, they are FABULOUS.

Harry Potter is an English boy who was born to a wizard father and a witch mother, which of course makes him a wizard, too. His parents were murdered when he was 1 year old by the most evil and dangerous wizard on the Dark side ever, Lord Voldemort. Good wizards are so scared of him that they call him "You Know Who" or "He Who Must Not Be Named." He tried to kill little Harry, too, but couldn't. The killing curse backfired on him. It didn't kill him, but it weakened him horribly.

Harry is sent to live with his Muggle (non-magical) relatives, who are awful to him, making him live in a closet. At age 11, he finds out that he's a wizard and goes off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he learns that his destiny is to destroy Voldemort once and for all.

There are seven books, one for each year he's at Hogwarts. We are waiting on Book 6 to be finished and released.

There is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more to it, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Warning: if you buy the first one, go ahead and buy them all. :D

[ogradda]

3. is that the title of the first one? harry potter?

i'll order the first one from the library and if i like it full steam ahead. i haven't read much fantasy but i do like it occasionally. the two i think i've liked the best are the last unicorn and the talisman.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

4. Here are the titles.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (in the UK, that one is called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone).

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

And book 6, as yet unreleased, is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

[ogradda]

5. thanks

:)

[crispini]

6. You'll like the Phillip Pullman trilogy.

Also YA fiction, but VERY well done, and IMO some of the same kind of style and feeling as HP. Very good stuff-- a great adventure story.

http://www.philip-pullman.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=36

Wow, there's a really LONG review here:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17000#fn1 Looks like it might have spoilers though. Don't read the whole thing.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

7. Thanks!

:hi:

[robbedvoter]

8. Does magical realism count? 100 years of solitude?

Isabelle Allende's books? Salmon Rushdie? (Midnight Childres, the Last Moor's sigh)

[bloodyjack]

9. what do you mean by "HP"?

HP Lovecraft? :silly:

In all seriousness, I strongly recommend that you check out HP Lovecraft. Drop by a used bookstore or a library or some place and pick up "Bloodcurdling tales of horror and the macabre"--either that or "The thing on the doorstep"...think Poe but with invisible whistling octopi and an obsession w/ non-Euclidean geometry :D:D:D:D:D

You won't regret it.

[porkrind]

34. HP Lovecraft is fantastic!

shadow over innsmouth ... cthulu ... great stuff! A must read author!

[BamaGirl]

10. Are you looking for books like HP? Or just any fantasy?

These aren't particularly like HP.

David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon series (10 books in all if I remember correctly). A lot of ppl complain that Eddings is predictable, but he's fun and has some of the best/most sarcastic dialogue in fantasy.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana is, imo, one of the best fantasy books ever written. A Song For Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan are some others of his I really liked.

Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince, Dragon Star, and Exiles series. I've been waiting years for the third book in the Exiles series, so it probably isn't a good idea to start it.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. yay another Guy Gavriel Kay fan

I loved Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan and the Fionavir Tapestry. We have the Sarantium pair but I have not read them yet.

[LWolf]

25. GGK is a standard in my home.

I first found him after reading an article about his work with Christopher Tolkien on the Silmarillion, picked up one of his books, and was hooked.

I have a shelf full, but they migrate. When I haven't read any for a couple of years, and I decide that it's time to pull them back out, I inevitably find them missing. When my youngest son, also a fantasy fan, lived with me, I could just go into his room and pluck them off of his shelves. These days I have to call him and have him return them on his next visit. Which he will; he'll reshelve them, and browse for others to take back with him for awhile. I'm his personal librarian.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. My daughter actually introduced me to his work, the first one

she read was "Tigana", then I found "Lions" and bought Fionavir at the used book store.

She is reading "Sailing to SArantium" now ..

[Carla in Ca]

11. I hope Science Fiction is included because one of the best books

I have ever read was 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury. I read it in HS, and 3 or 4 times since. Wonderful.

[outraged2]

12. some others

The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) and the Lord of the Rings (Tolkein) books... I am sorry to say I haven't read either set, but they keep coming up in my HP research.

[hyphenate]

13. I mentioned this in another thread

But I would also recommend several authors:

Tad Williams (The Dragonbone Chair series)

Piers Anthony for the Xanth series

Christopher Stasheff for the Warlock and Wizard series)

John Lee for the Unicorn series (this is, BTW, very hard to get)

Marion Zimmer Bradley for the Darkover series (some claim it's "SF" as opposed to a fantasy series, but that's a bit hard to swallow considering the inaccuracies as far as science in the stories)

Terry Brooks (Eddings and Brooks also worked on a couple of books together)

C.S. Lewis also wrote a trilogy which was supposed to be SF of which I only remember two of the titles: Perelanda and That Hideous Strength. Can't remember the other one, but they should be available at Amazon.

Madeline L'Engle's absolutely wonderful series with A Wind in the Door, A Wrinkle in Time and Swiftly Tilting Planet. It's more of a young adult series, but I must say, she is an incomparable writer.

I would also recommend Jane Yolen's work--excellent, and also geared to young adults.

[RevolutionaryActs]

15. Very much agree on Madeline L'Engle! I love those books

And Marion Zimmer Bradley is a great writer too, I love, love, loved! The Mists of Avalon.

Also another young adult book series thats really good is Song of the Lioness by Tamra Pierce.
There are four books in the series, 'Alanna: The First Adventure', 'In the Hand of the Goddess', 'Lioness Rampant', and 'The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.'

Really great books about a young girl (Alanna) who wants to be a knight so she switches places with her twin brother, the books follow her through her adventures from childhood to adulthood.

[hyphenate]

16. Yes!

I read that series several years ago. It was excellent.

[Silver Gaia]

21. I'm glad you mentioned Tad Williams...

I loved The Dragonbone Chair series, too. It's been a long time--10 years or more?--since I've read them, but they still rate right up there in my mind.

[ismnotwasm]

27. That's funny

I just bought the entire series at half-priced books, I've never read them before, so I'm enjoying them now. I go in and out of different genre's and it's fantasy time for me right now. And sci-fi

[RevolutionaryActs]

14. You know what I say.... Lord of the Rings! lol

:P
;)

[Longgrain]

17. If I may...

"Of Lions and Ladies: A Suburban Myth" and "Long Grain, Augie, and Mirra in: the Great Hawaiian Happening of 1972" ;-)

[LWolf]

18. I'll list some of my favorite authors

since fantasy tends to come in series:

JRR Tolkein
Mercedes Lackey
Madeline L'Engle
Anne McCaffrey
Guy Gavriel Kay
Ursula Le Guin
Patricia McKillip

There's more, but that's a good start!

[Astarho]

19. Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings

definately. You might like CS Lewis' space trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength).

anything by Charles de Lint, but especially Moonheart, Jack the Giantkiller and if you can find it, Yarrow.

[starroute]

20. I can't believe no one has mentioned Diana Wynne Jones

Her books are probably closest in feel to Harry Potter than anyone else's, but far more varied and insightful. Some of her novels are published as YA's, some as adult, but there isn't really much difference among them (except for a few of her very earliest, which were more kiddish.)

I hesitate to recommend any specific titles, because at least half of her books are somebody's favorite. You might do best by Googling on her name and checking out descriptions at one of the websites devoted to her work.

[bobbieinok]

28. great author...maybe a good first would be Howl's Moving Castle

[DrWeird]

22. Since you've never heard of Terry Pratchett, start there.

Fantasy fans sort of assume everybody else has read everything by Pratchett. It's like finding out somebody's never watched The Simpsons before.

He's one of the greatest working authors today, any genre. He'd be perfect to start with after Harry Potter.

IMHO, you should start with "Guards! Guards!", and if you like that one, move onto the next one with the same cast of characters. Pratchett probably has thirty different books set in the same world, many involving different characters. There's a list in the beginning of each book as to which book he wrote in order.

I'm not sure of your reading age, but he wrote them for all ages.

[yellowdogintexas]

24. Leave us not forget George R R Martin, and if you read the first

three of his books, maybe he will have #4 finished in time for you to just sail right in to it.

in a class by himself

[Turn CO Blue]

31. BEST BOOKS EVER!

[deadparrot]

32. I *love* GRRM.

Amazing books, even if any one of them could be used as a doorstop.

[NewJeffCT]

36. I love George R.R. Martin, but

It is a big change in style from Harry Potter. It is quite dark, brutal and is much more adult-themed. Major characters drop like flies.

[bobbieinok]

29. Sorcery and Cecilia by Particia Wrede and Carolyn S....

a 'regency novel' with the royal society of magicians added....a fun book

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~d-lena/Stevermer%20page.html

[Turn CO Blue]

30. Well, Gryff. The best fantasy series I've ever read...

(besides Lord of the Rings) is George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. But it is a little darker than HP, and has some violence and sexual references - so since I don't know how old you are, it may not be right for you. But I surely love that series and am hanging on pins and needles for Book 4 (A Feast for Crows)

[robbedvoter]

33. Whple waiting for HP 6, Eva Ibotson is the one - "Secret of platform 13"

I just discovered if with my little girl and have great fun reading. It was obviously inspired by Potter (has majical/real worlf portal at a platform at Victoria Cross station, some Dudley/Harry characters having it off etc) But it's an original story that does create a world of its on.

[porkrind]

35. Check out Hugo and Nebula award winners

Whatever you read, be sure and give some of the classics of fantasy (Hugo Award Novels) a try. Google for "Hugo Award", and you'll find many lists. These represent some of the best the genre has to offer, and they are well worth reading.

(If you want to skip the crap and go straight to the best, just check out anything written by Roger Zelazny. :) )

[NewJeffCT]

37. start with "The Hobbit"... another one is

It is certainly the closest in tone & style to Harry Potter.

Another book is "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks.

[WildClarySage]

38. Diana Wynn Jones

Start anywhere- the Chrestomancy stories are terrific, but then so are the Dalemark Quartet & Howls books.

[davidinalameda]

39. Mercedes Lackey and the Valdemar series

I highly recommend these to EVERYONE

[Matilda]

40. The Dark Is Rising sequence

by Susan Cooper.

The five books - Over Sea, Under Stone; Greenwitch; The Dark Is
Rising; The Grey King and Silver On The Tree - are about the
eternal contest between good and evil (of course).

Prof. Merriman Lyon (Merlin) brings together Bran, son of King
Arthur, the three Drew children and Will, the last-born of the
Old Ones together to take part in the last great battle between
the dark and the light. The books are very well written - she's
won awards for her writing - and enthralling for teenagers to
adults.

I first bought them to read with my daughter when she was 11, and
I loved them as much as she did. Now my 18 year old son, who
is not a reader, is working his way through the series as well,
to my delight.

[Sabriel]

41. Try William Corlett's quartet

I think it's called "The Magician's House Quartet." My HP-loving daughter loves them, too, FWIW.