Life after Martin: Epic Fantasy at the Library

This week’s column was submitted Joel Sawyer, of Readers Services at the .

A Game of Thrones HBO miniseries has cast a spotlight on George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy masterpiece A Song of Ice and Fire. He also released the latest book of the series (after six years!) this summer: A Dance with Dragons. Demand for these books is rightfully high, but here some other series to check out after (or before) reading George R.R. Martin:

The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson

Thomas Covenant is a writer who has contracted leprosy and is ostracized by everyone in his life, including his wife and son. Alone and in utter despair, he is transported to another world (simply called “the Land”) where his leprosy is cured. After working hard to accept his debilitating disease that requires constant attention, he is confused and angered by its sudden remission. As a result, he commits an act of violence for which he spends the rest of the 6 books trying to achieve redemption. Because of this, Covenant as a character is less of a vaunted hero and more of a vulnerable human capable of achieving great things. Adventure, atonement, and heartbreak populate the pages of these books: Donaldson does the Quest method as well as Tolkien himself.

Earlier:

Acacia by David Anthony Durham

The fact that four siblings are the main characters of this fantasy trilogy will remind one of the Chronicles of Narnia, but there the similarities between these two come to a screeching halt. The afore-mentioned children have recently lost their father, the king, to an assassin’s blade and are left to not only run a corrupt empire, but fend off an ancient enemy returning to fulfill a centuries-old vendetta. The most fascinating aspect of this series is the process by which the two boys and two girls each gain their world-awareness: finally discovering their sheltered palace life has been built upon a vast system of slavery and cruelty to the common man. Fast-paced and somewhat violent, these novels specialize in plots that slam you from a blind direction just when you think you’ve gotten things figured out.

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

If you like a very healthy dose of action in your fantasy, search no further. Logen Ninefingers is a fierce warrior who has a reputation that is much bloodier than he actually is, just don’t make him angry. Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta was mercilessly tortured in the last war, providing him the finest possible education of inquisition techniques. Combining these and other well-defined characters with non-stop adventure and a dark-yet-wry tone is Abercrombie’s recipe for success; overcoming the just average world-building effort (no maps are included in these books). I challenge you to read the first 10 pages of The Blade Itself (Book 1) and then put it down.

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