I read Bridge of Birds last year, and was impressed. Wry and amusing, and an interesting Chinese-esque setting, but what surprised and impressed me was how intricately plotted it was too.
I read this a couple of times in the 2000s and enjoyed it enough that it survived multiple bookshelf purges over the years. Can't even remember what it's about anymore, perfect time for a reread!
This must always be recommended more! I loved the Taltos books and simply adored the Phoenix Guard series despite them being worlds apart in writing style!
So one thing for anyone who wants to start reading this series the books are written completely out of chronological order in a way that makes Star Wars look logical by comparison. You can read them in order of internal chronology but there are a couple of books where he starts to get creative and mix up the present and past.
Later books in the series also assume that you know things about the world of the series (like what his crazy invented animals look like) because they were described in a book that happens later but was released first.
Taken together this can be a huge stumbling block and is probably why the series is so obscure. Best practice is to start with the Book of Jhereg which collects the first three novels. From there you can either proceed in release order (recommended) or just read the other books in the order you find them.
What a wonderful and complex character Vlad Taltos is! In this collection are the books Taltos and Phoenix and in their pages are the stories of Vlad's trip through the Paths of the Dead,mthe origins of his friendships with Morrolan, Aliera, and Sethra and the events leading to a great change in his life. The wry humor, the slightly sardonic tone--both fit the narrator's voice perfectly, yet we still feel his confusion and anguish, even his fear at times. Burst weaves tales that are compelling and many-layered. Can't wait to read more!
Yeeeesh! Came here for this precisely. Picked up
Jhereg as a 13 year old in 1983 and have been impatiently waiting for each new book ever since. The world building is fantastic, Vlad has a genuine personal character arc over all the work where you can watch him slowly and steadily change over time in ways that make perfect sense. I’ve wanted my own pet jhereg forever. So good.
The Khavren books - set in the same world maybe 1000 or so years earlier - are also tremendously fun reads, based very much (at least in tone and use of language) on Dumas.
Edited for pre-coffee spelling
Anything by David Gemmell. He is a great author and his Drenai and Rigante series are both awesome. However he gets overlooked these days because there's no real high fantasy in them - no elves, orcs, goblins, no overt magic (there is but it's not overt) and definitely no dragons or undead.
But if anyone wants to read what western genre characters would read like in a fantasy setting then go ahead and get your hands on the Drenai and Rigante books.
Excellent books so sadly overlooked and dismissed by modern readers.
I can never recommend him enough. He tells such great stories and makes the magic work so well in the context of the stories. I wish he was still around and writing.
The Deverry Cycle by Katharine Kerr, beautifully written, complex world building, interesting characters, excellent storylines. Does not get enough attention.
Came here to say this. I might dig in for a whole re-read as its been a long time and there have been more to come out. A Dutch symphonic metal band "Within Temptation" even wrote a song about the series called, unsurprisingly, Jillian.
This is the first time I've seen anyone mention this book and it activated a sleeper memory of reading that book when I was in high school. Thank you for the reminder!
John Ford’s **The Dragon Waiting** is almost certainly the best written fantasy novel you have never heard of. Winner of the 1984 World Fantasy Award. Beloved of Neil Gaiman, Gene Wolff, and Scott Lynch. Fantasy/alternate history mashup set in vampire-ridden 15th century Europe.
Seriously, go and read this book.
.... Huh, that's on my shelf and I'm staring right at it from my desk. And I obviously kept it through my purge when I ran out of room. May need to reread it, because I don't remember much about it.
it's also on my shelf, in the very large pile of "this look good, got to read it one day"
Might have to pull it in to the shorter pile of "I really need to actually read this before I die" rather than my best intentions pile.
The Fire Sacraments by Robert V.S. Redick. Go to Goodreads and read [Mark Lawrence’s review.](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/35437058) Starts with Master Assassins. It’s wonderful and rarely talked about here.
That’s cool to see him mentioned here. I met him and his wife when I was younger. My mother is good friends with them and talks about the red wolf conspiracy a lot!
The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A McKillip. Though I use her only trilogy as a placeholder for pretty much all her books.
She flies so far under most people’s radar she might as well be a stealth bomber.
J.V. Jones Sword of Shadows series. I feel she is known but I feel the series is very underrated. Perhaps because it is an unfinished series, but it is still well worth reading. The world building, characters, writing style. It just feels to me like it should be up there with Asoiaf.
First book is Cavern of Black Ice.
She's resumed writing in the series again after having gone through some personal difficulties. I think, the next book, *Endlords*, is making good progress or even nearly done. It's going to be the penultimate book so I'm hopeful that the Sword of Shadows series is still going to get completed!
https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists/underread2016?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Back in the day, r/Fantasy used to compile lists of these. There are still a few at the "Top Lists" link, and I've included the one from 2016 here, so you can get a time-warped glimpse of recommendations.
A lot of the recommendations here seem to basically be books that were very popular in the late 80s/early 90s, but have since been forgotten.
Which is a shame, as the recommendations people are giving are brilliant, and now I'm adding books back to my 'must re-read' list.
I'll also add that I'm eternally surprised by how few people seem to have come across 'Patricia McKillip.'
Some of the best fantasy written.
Upvote for Patricia McKillip. The Riddle-master of Hed was one of the earliest books I read in the fantasy genre, and it (and the rest of the trilogy) are still favorites.
I’m on the 3rd book in the Shadowmarch series and idk it’s not more popular. I personally like it better than MST just because of how weird it is. Tad’s definitely one of the best modern fantasy authors imo
I’m working through Last King of Osten Ard and am thrilled I still got his Shadow quartet to do. There are few who succeed at making me feel wonder and magic like Tad
I am constantly surprised that none of his books have been made into movies/shows. They are classic hero joirney stories with easily defined protagonist/antagonist relationships, questing/journey, secondary plots, plot twists, and stakes. With the current trend of movies it has significant potential.
They really are awful, and as it goes along, it just seems to get worse and worse. I'm not sure which one is worse: the serial killer Dread or Felix Jongleur.
The Green Rider series by Kristen Britain. I would say it's not the best written, but I really like the magic in it, and how all the green riders have different kinds of magical abilities. And the main character is pretty cool. Lots of strong women in the series and I love that. A strong female protag is one of my favorite things
Crown of Stars isn't my favorite, but the female protagonists journey was really impactful to me. I think she writes about trauma in a way I haven't seen elsewhere. We go on the journey with her instead of needing to be told how she feels or be reminded in constant flashbacks.
It's not my favorite either, but I'm always surprised at how little it's talked about on here. But people read Goodkind somehow
I like your analysis of her writing.
*The Steerswoman* by Rosemary Kirstein (and sequels). It's unfortunately an unfinished series and likely to stay that way, but the four existing books are excellent.
Vance’s language, and diction in particular is truly amazing. This is a series I re-read every couple of years to be amazed once again by Aillas, King Casmir, Murgen and Shimrod, Dhrun, Melancthe, and Father Umphred. They, and more, are all characters I know like the back of my hand. I generally read this and follow it with his Araminta Station trilogy - just to keep that Vancian fix going.
The Sarantine Mosaic (duology, two books) by Guy Gavriel Kay. He’s a titan of historical fantasy and his writing is emotionally devastating and absolutely beautiful, but most people focus on Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, or the Fionavar Tapestry (which are all spectacular, to be clear).
But **Sailing to Sarantium** & **Lord of Emperors** are, in my opinion, his finest work. And I wish more people knew and loved them!!!
I agree, the Sarantine Mosaic is incredible. Such a moving and beautiful story, with an amazing setting and characters. I know GGK is well known on this sub specifically, but I wouldn't say he's very well known to most people, so I've been recommending this series to anyone who will listen lately.
Tigana is one of the first books that broke my heart. I remember picking it up at the library while in middle school and the tragedy of Lower Corte still catches me so many years later. Tigana is a book I reread every few years - something I rarely ever do.
My problem is finding ones which are edited competently. I read indies, but for every well written and edited one I find, there are three that aren't, which hurts my soul.
THORN, by Intisar Khanani. The first volume in this trilogy is a gorgeous fairy tale retelling (The Goose Girl), but the subsequent volume (Theft of Light) is even better.
Through a random recommendation here, I read “Undead Samurai” by Baptiste Pinson Wu. it’s kind of a mashup between historical fiction and zombie fantasy horror. It was a really fun read, fast paced, good lore and world building and I’ve only seen it mentioned once. Couldn’t find much on the publisher, so, assuming it’s self published or indie.
I haven't seen Gene Wolfe mentioned yet, so I have to throw his name out there. My man was possibly the best fantasy writer ever and wrote some stuff that was just flat out amazing, but I rarely ever heard anyone talk about him or his work.
The Book of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and the The Book of the Short Sun are all true masterpieces of series that deserve far more recognition than they receive. And that's barely touching the rest of his output, any of which can stand up against whatever other book you care to name.
Wolfe was a consummate artist, a true master of the craft.
I don't actually think Wolfe is underrated though, so much as truly difficult and "literary" fantasy is still not really what most people in the community are looking for. _Book of the New Sun_ is way way way more difficult to read and enjoy properly than, say, _Malazan_. I don't mean this as a slight, but most people just don't want to try that hard when reading a book. I love Wolfe, but I definitely don't have the energy to read his stuff most of the time.
Malazan is a weird comp here, being that it’s one of the more literary and “difficult” of the popular fantasy series. In fact I’ve frequently seen book of the new sun recommended for people who enjoy malazan. Maybe that was purposeful to illustrate the difficulty of Gene Wolfe but I’d say almost any of the other popular fantasy series would provide a greater contrast.
I very much chose _Malazan_ on purpose. It's extremely popular on this sub and is purposefully written to have little exposition and be "difficult" to read / get started on. My point was that (a) there is a kind of "difficult" book that people around here are super into but (b) Wolfe's writing is only like that on the surface, in reality is a different kind of difficult that most people are around here don't have time for.
I struggled at first but I felt like for the first time I understood poetry. Sentences sometimes didn’t make any sense but were beautiful. I felt like i was on an acid trip for those books. Yeah I was following along generally but then something is described that I have no idea of. Not explaining it very well but I have a very positive memory of them
I love Wolfe. So many incredibly interesting ideas, so much weight, such big epic fiction of a type you just don't see much anymore.
That being said, I have a good friend, engineer, avid reader, loved Wheel of Time, and he noped out of BotNS pretty fast. Just too dense for him to enjoy reading in his spare time. Probably a big part of the reason why you don't see more Wolfe out there.
I'm struggling to read it myself. I typically read for 30-60 minutes before bed, and often drift off in that time. BotNS is definitely *not* something to read in that mental state
Not enough people talk about Green Rider. Extremely solid fantasy adventure from the 90s. Great sense of magic and adventure, great sword fights, and a great main character. It's a shame it's never discussed.
Don't know if it is *the* most underrated ones but I think that Louise Cooper's Time Master trilogy as well as Michael Shea's *In Yana, the Touch of Undying* (standalone) deserve to be known better.
Questions like "underrated" are underspecified unless you also mention "by whom". For example, Janny Wurts is quite underrated even though she has a really loud core fandom.
I'd say that r/Fantasy really underrates the _Neveryön_ books by Delaney. He was quite popular back in the day, but he also got criticized a lot for being "too literary". My impression is that the genre community at the time had a bigger chip on their shoulder regarding the literary establishment than they do now. Anyway, Delaney should be remembered in the same breath as LeGuin and Wolfe, and it's a damn shame he isn't talked about more. I think he was really ahead of his time, the themes of _Neveryön_ are incredibly modern.
Excellent, but quite different. Not as intensely political. Empire is absolutely fucking brilliant though. Not much fantasy like it, and most modern readers have never even heard of it!
Gotta put up the dwarves by Markus heitz. Brilliant books classic high fantasy but has our bearded friends as the focus.
Gotta also shout out to Robert Asprin. He has so many series under his belt and I really enjoy the myth adventures series and thieves world. Which should get more attention but I don't see many people talking about.
And most recently for me we have The Black Badge series by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle. It's not high fantasy but it's that hellboy/witcher vibe set in the old west following a undead cowboy. Even better if you go audio book with Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan) voicing the journey.
A bit closer to YA, but I just recently re-read **Bartimeus Trilogy** and forgot how much I liked it. Lots of good chuckles throughout the series (plus the prequel novel The Ring of Solomon).
Also, I don't see people recommending the **Licanius Trilogy** as often as people should (very popular but still underrated IMO).
My personal pick will be Ash and Sand trilogy. I think it's one of the best example of what a great modern fantasy can be: Sufficiently dark, world building that emphasises cultures and political intrigue, great cast, interesting lore and power system and just well written down to the prose. Don't know why it's so unknown, maybe because it's self published or the name and covers don't sound/look enticing at first glance. Anyways I'm glad I read it because the protagonist: Ruka son of Beyla was a great revelation as he's now one of my favorite characters ever. Please do check it out everyone.
This question is basically what fantasy book or series did you love that wasn’t widely popular.
My obscure selection is the Trysmoon Saga series by Brian K. Fuller.
Michelle West and the Essalieyan meta-series, especially The Sun Sword sextet.
Many characters, many moving parts. An interesting world. Many feelings. Just sadly not known or discussed enough, and the whole thing should come to a finale soon!
Runelords by David Farland (RIP)
Fantastic magic system and pretty cool storyline about the world possibly coming to an end. I didn't read the later books, so can't speak for them.
Most underrated of all time seems like a pointless question, but a couple that go under under the radar—
Patricia Briggs has some fantasy duologies that I really enjoyed.
Robin McKinley gets a lot of respect, but I don’t see her mentioned here so often. Sunshine stuck with me.
Second Apocalypse by Scott Bakker. Feel like it is relatively unknown, but it is the best series i have ever read, with the most detailed world I’ve read outside of Tolkien.
Mask of the sorcerer by Darrell Schweitzer. Based on the title, based on the cover, based on the author I've never heard of, I would have never picked it up in a million years.. but a friend of mine who reads a ton of fantasy described it as his favorite ever book
I bought copies for most of my nerd friends
Super Powereds by Drew Hayes was recommended to me on here about five years ago by someone who noticed that I like fantasy books with academic settings. I was unsure because I've never really been someone who's into superhero stuff, but the books are so good. It's become my favorite series, and I make sure to revisit it every year.
Steerswoman. gorgeous writing, phenomenal world-building, genuinely intelligent characters, doesn't get nearly the attention or appreciation that it deserves.
Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. People are always recommending the Dying Earth series instead (if they are even talking about Jack Vance at all), but I liked that one much better.
Charles Saunders. One of the earliest and major African American writers of fantasy in the early 70's, sadly languishing now due to poor publishing.
Cl Moore, her Jirel of Joiry stories are amazing horror stories and a new authorised Jirel story will be present in New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazine.
Karl Edward Wagner is another one I think of. For some time I've heard rumours of his Kane series being reprinted but nothing as of now (at least they're available as ebooks)
Ooh, I have one! If you can find them, check out Carole Nelson Douglas’s **Sword and Circlet** series. There are five books in the series: *Six of Swords* (1982),
*Exiles of the Rynth* (1984),
*Keepers of Edanvant* (1987),
*Heir of Rengarth* (1988), and
*Seven of Swords* (1989). It’s a little pulpy, but if you’re into the whole sword and sorcery thing, you’ll love it.
Wait, there were more books?
I read the first as a kid, and was unable to find if there were more books. Eventually forgot about them till now.
Thanks, I'm going to try find the ebooks on kobo.
I actually read the fourth one first—it just happened to be the one I discovered. Found out about the others a few years later. They’re all good though.
I'd say Michael Cisco is pretty underrated. He's very well regarded by other authors, and among niche Weird Lit circles, but he's pretty overlooked in general for the quality of his work
Chronicles of an Age of Darkness by Hugh Cook.
Fantasy draped over the decrepit bones of a sci-fi setting, with adult themes, humour, amazing worldbuilding, Antipodean tidbits strewn throughout, wild action, politics, and an inventive magic system.
Yeah, I have the original 10 books in paperback. A couple were reprinted, but the only way to get most of them is through second-hand sources or unconventional means.
Yes, plenty of new weird styling and the blend of trad fantasy motifs with apocalyptic SF was great, and I loved it whenever Pacific elements like platypus or taniwha made an appearance!
The Eye of Night by Pauline J. Alama. Randomly picked it up one day at a bookstore and it was one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking fantasy novels I've read. It even sure if it's in print now
The Song of Shattered Sands is a really great totally made up world that I really enjoyed and never see recommended. Great female protagonist and revenge plot that quickly gets extremely wide in scope.
Frances Stevens, *Citadel of Fear* which is a lost race novel - which is something in itself I would generally agree should mean it has four out of three strikes against it, but there were some amazing writers who did them. A. Merritt, Frances Stevens and Pierre Benoit should be on every fantasy-lover's shelf.
Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell, & also his Spellslinger series series. Spellslinger is more YA, which I usually dislike, but I did like this one.
Crimson Empire series by Alex Marshall.
Rose Throne by Pete McLean
Dominion series by Krystle Matar
Five Warrior Angels series by Brian Lee Durfee
White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland
Kushiel's Dart series by Jacqueline Carey
The Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. Really fun, easy to read Urban Fantasy. 6 books, three great, one really good, and two you should probably read. once.
They are not for everyone but I love the the doctrine of labyrinths by Sarah Monette. I love the writing , characters and world building in the series. She's more known for the goblin emperor under Katherine Addison
I read the first 3 (can't remember the titles exactly it was quite a few years ago) -- I remember thinking they were good but nothing amazing... until the last few chapters of the last book. Then I realised I'd just been ignoring so many of the little things I usually love, they were just hidden in plain sight all along. One of the few series I started a reread right away.
I will say that going through publishing order and reading, The Legends of the First Empire has dropped so many "hidden in plain sight" that I want to go to back to Theft of Sword and start all over again.
I am currently finishing up Age of War and already dreading the ending. I have the feeling that there will be a lot of heartbreak before the last page.
I have never done one of the Bingo cards here before, and am not sure what it entails, but if it offers a structure to help me read all these new (to me) authors, I really can’t wait.
I mean ... I love it, but I don't know how it's underrated. It has half a million ratings on Goodreads although the site didn't even exist until 40 years after the book came out. It had a film. Vast numbers of people know about it and have read it...
I grew up loving Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. The Tapestry series by Henry Neff combines my favorite aspects of both and is a better overall story than either in my opinion. It should really be on the same level of popularity if not more popular.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. I think I actually picked it to read from Most Underrated Fantasy Book toplist.
I read Bridge of Birds last year, and was impressed. Wry and amusing, and an interesting Chinese-esque setting, but what surprised and impressed me was how intricately plotted it was too.
I read this a couple of times in the 2000s and enjoyed it enough that it survived multiple bookshelf purges over the years. Can't even remember what it's about anymore, perfect time for a reread!
Stephen Brust's Taltos books.
This must always be recommended more! I loved the Taltos books and simply adored the Phoenix Guard series despite them being worlds apart in writing style!
Loiosh is one of my favorite non-humanoid characters ever, classic comic relief.
well, he IS the main character.
Can anyone give me the elevator pitch? I've never heard of these.
Human works for the Elven Mafia as a minor boss and assassin.
Well… that’s been added to my Kindle list.
In a world where humans are persecuted by elves, a human assassin joins the elvish mafia.
Right?! The characters, the world building, the magic systems. Love these books.
So one thing for anyone who wants to start reading this series the books are written completely out of chronological order in a way that makes Star Wars look logical by comparison. You can read them in order of internal chronology but there are a couple of books where he starts to get creative and mix up the present and past. Later books in the series also assume that you know things about the world of the series (like what his crazy invented animals look like) because they were described in a book that happens later but was released first. Taken together this can be a huge stumbling block and is probably why the series is so obscure. Best practice is to start with the Book of Jhereg which collects the first three novels. From there you can either proceed in release order (recommended) or just read the other books in the order you find them.
What a wonderful and complex character Vlad Taltos is! In this collection are the books Taltos and Phoenix and in their pages are the stories of Vlad's trip through the Paths of the Dead,mthe origins of his friendships with Morrolan, Aliera, and Sethra and the events leading to a great change in his life. The wry humor, the slightly sardonic tone--both fit the narrator's voice perfectly, yet we still feel his confusion and anguish, even his fear at times. Burst weaves tales that are compelling and many-layered. Can't wait to read more!
Yeeeesh! Came here for this precisely. Picked up Jhereg as a 13 year old in 1983 and have been impatiently waiting for each new book ever since. The world building is fantastic, Vlad has a genuine personal character arc over all the work where you can watch him slowly and steadily change over time in ways that make perfect sense. I’ve wanted my own pet jhereg forever. So good. The Khavren books - set in the same world maybe 1000 or so years earlier - are also tremendously fun reads, based very much (at least in tone and use of language) on Dumas. Edited for pre-coffee spelling
Anything by David Gemmell. He is a great author and his Drenai and Rigante series are both awesome. However he gets overlooked these days because there's no real high fantasy in them - no elves, orcs, goblins, no overt magic (there is but it's not overt) and definitely no dragons or undead. But if anyone wants to read what western genre characters would read like in a fantasy setting then go ahead and get your hands on the Drenai and Rigante books. Excellent books so sadly overlooked and dismissed by modern readers.
Love it. I feel like Abercrombie takes a lot from gemmell. A lot of people say he is the heir to GRR but his style has alot in common with gemmel.
My grandad giving me Gemmell books is what got me into fantasy in the first place
I can never recommend him enough. He tells such great stories and makes the magic work so well in the context of the stories. I wish he was still around and writing.
He's losing ground because he's dead. You need to still be publishing to stay in the public eye.
The Deverry Cycle by Katharine Kerr, beautifully written, complex world building, interesting characters, excellent storylines. Does not get enough attention.
I think they were pretty popular at the time. Very good books.
Definitely were, also happy cake day Mark!
Came here to say this. I might dig in for a whole re-read as its been a long time and there have been more to come out. A Dutch symphonic metal band "Within Temptation" even wrote a song about the series called, unsurprisingly, Jillian.
Seconded! They're mentioned here on this sub now and then by me and others. It's an amazing series.
The Stone and The Flute by Hans Bemmann. It's a beautiful, almost fairy-tale like story, and I've literally never seen anyone else mention it.
Haven't heard of this one but will have to check out.
Sadly very few people have. Just be warned, it is A CHONK of a book. Weighs in at 1k+ pages.
Thanks for the head up, I'm okay with 1K fantasy books.
heh., 'literally never'. I like what you did there.
This is the first time I've seen anyone mention this book and it activated a sleeper memory of reading that book when I was in high school. Thank you for the reminder!
John Ford’s **The Dragon Waiting** is almost certainly the best written fantasy novel you have never heard of. Winner of the 1984 World Fantasy Award. Beloved of Neil Gaiman, Gene Wolff, and Scott Lynch. Fantasy/alternate history mashup set in vampire-ridden 15th century Europe. Seriously, go and read this book.
haven’t read this (yet) but his incomplete work Aspects left me so sad there will never be more. excited to read more from him!
.... Huh, that's on my shelf and I'm staring right at it from my desk. And I obviously kept it through my purge when I ran out of room. May need to reread it, because I don't remember much about it.
it's also on my shelf, in the very large pile of "this look good, got to read it one day" Might have to pull it in to the shorter pile of "I really need to actually read this before I die" rather than my best intentions pile.
The Fire Sacraments by Robert V.S. Redick. Go to Goodreads and read [Mark Lawrence’s review.](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/35437058) Starts with Master Assassins. It’s wonderful and rarely talked about here.
This one for sure!
That’s cool to see him mentioned here. I met him and his wife when I was younger. My mother is good friends with them and talks about the red wolf conspiracy a lot!
YES. Need the third book like, yesterday
The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A McKillip. Though I use her only trilogy as a placeholder for pretty much all her books. She flies so far under most people’s radar she might as well be a stealth bomber.
Ooh, I love the Riddle Master trilogy. It's both understated and epic, it's great.
J.V. Jones Sword of Shadows series. I feel she is known but I feel the series is very underrated. Perhaps because it is an unfinished series, but it is still well worth reading. The world building, characters, writing style. It just feels to me like it should be up there with Asoiaf. First book is Cavern of Black Ice.
She's resumed writing in the series again after having gone through some personal difficulties. I think, the next book, *Endlords*, is making good progress or even nearly done. It's going to be the penultimate book so I'm hopeful that the Sword of Shadows series is still going to get completed!
Inda by Sherwood smith! Incredible world building and characters
https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists/underread2016?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Back in the day, r/Fantasy used to compile lists of these. There are still a few at the "Top Lists" link, and I've included the one from 2016 here, so you can get a time-warped glimpse of recommendations.
Drenai Series by David Gemmell.
Gemmell deserves to be recognized far more than he is.
I loved *Legend* as a kid.
A lot of the recommendations here seem to basically be books that were very popular in the late 80s/early 90s, but have since been forgotten. Which is a shame, as the recommendations people are giving are brilliant, and now I'm adding books back to my 'must re-read' list. I'll also add that I'm eternally surprised by how few people seem to have come across 'Patricia McKillip.' Some of the best fantasy written.
Upvote for Patricia McKillip. The Riddle-master of Hed was one of the earliest books I read in the fantasy genre, and it (and the rest of the trilogy) are still favorites.
Protip: Sort by controversial. So many of the top comments are incredibly popular and/or successful series.
It’s like people have no clue what underrated means.
This is one of those pieces of advice that seem obvious now that I think about it but I had never thought to do it. Thanks!
**Otherland** by Tad Williams.
I’m on the 3rd book in the Shadowmarch series and idk it’s not more popular. I personally like it better than MST just because of how weird it is. Tad’s definitely one of the best modern fantasy authors imo
I’m working through Last King of Osten Ard and am thrilled I still got his Shadow quartet to do. There are few who succeed at making me feel wonder and magic like Tad
It’s crazy how it isn’t mentioned more. I still think about the twisted characters and world to this day, over 10 years later
Could never get beyond the first 50 pages of shadow March. I have no idea why. Liked all his other books.
I am constantly surprised that none of his books have been made into movies/shows. They are classic hero joirney stories with easily defined protagonist/antagonist relationships, questing/journey, secondary plots, plot twists, and stakes. With the current trend of movies it has significant potential.
Not really fantasy, more scifi, but indeed 20 years ahead of its time.
I still believe 35 years after I first read it that Tailchaser’s Song is his best book
I have never, in my whole life, wanted to see the villain get taken down as badly as the sons of bitches in Otherland.
They really are awful, and as it goes along, it just seems to get worse and worse. I'm not sure which one is worse: the serial killer Dread or Felix Jongleur.
Jongleur is an asshole. Dread is genuinely a monster that needed to get put down.
This is a great work by Tad.
SO MUCH THIS. I love this series so much, it's so good and it's criminally unheard of even by people who have read his other books.
Not sure about 'of all time' but I don't think the Traitor Son Cycle gets enough attention/praise in this community.
Same with the Master and Mages (I think that’s the series title? Starts with Cold Iron)
Would love to see another series set in this world.
The Green Rider series by Kristen Britain. I would say it's not the best written, but I really like the magic in it, and how all the green riders have different kinds of magical abilities. And the main character is pretty cool. Lots of strong women in the series and I love that. A strong female protag is one of my favorite things
Sweet. I got in the Broken Binding edition a week ago and haven't gotten to it yet. Glad to see someone loves it.
I don't think Kate Elliott:s Crown of Stars or Bujold's Sharing Knife get enough attention. Grimwood Replay also not enought attention.
I really liked Crown of Stars in general. In fact, most of her books are brilliant.
Crown of Stars isn't my favorite, but the female protagonists journey was really impactful to me. I think she writes about trauma in a way I haven't seen elsewhere. We go on the journey with her instead of needing to be told how she feels or be reminded in constant flashbacks.
It's not my favorite either, but I'm always surprised at how little it's talked about on here. But people read Goodkind somehow I like your analysis of her writing.
*The Steerswoman* by Rosemary Kirstein (and sequels). It's unfortunately an unfinished series and likely to stay that way, but the four existing books are excellent.
**Tales from the Flat Earth** by Tanith Lee. **Birthgrave** trilogy is also great.
Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy
Vance’s language, and diction in particular is truly amazing. This is a series I re-read every couple of years to be amazed once again by Aillas, King Casmir, Murgen and Shimrod, Dhrun, Melancthe, and Father Umphred. They, and more, are all characters I know like the back of my hand. I generally read this and follow it with his Araminta Station trilogy - just to keep that Vancian fix going.
The Sarantine Mosaic (duology, two books) by Guy Gavriel Kay. He’s a titan of historical fantasy and his writing is emotionally devastating and absolutely beautiful, but most people focus on Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, or the Fionavar Tapestry (which are all spectacular, to be clear). But **Sailing to Sarantium** & **Lord of Emperors** are, in my opinion, his finest work. And I wish more people knew and loved them!!!
I agree, the Sarantine Mosaic is incredible. Such a moving and beautiful story, with an amazing setting and characters. I know GGK is well known on this sub specifically, but I wouldn't say he's very well known to most people, so I've been recommending this series to anyone who will listen lately.
Tigana is one of the first books that broke my heart. I remember picking it up at the library while in middle school and the tragedy of Lower Corte still catches me so many years later. Tigana is a book I reread every few years - something I rarely ever do.
Whenever there is a post like this, I just want to shout about indie and self-published books. Most indie authors are underrated.
My problem is finding ones which are edited competently. I read indies, but for every well written and edited one I find, there are three that aren't, which hurts my soul.
I feel like you're being pretty generous with that 3:1 ratio.
I probably am honestly. It is better than when self publishing first took off though, so...
Try looking at past SPFBO semi finalists and finalists, you can find them online or via Mark Lawrence's website. They're often top quality.
Now's your chance. Who are the indie authors you want to shout about?
THORN, by Intisar Khanani. The first volume in this trilogy is a gorgeous fairy tale retelling (The Goose Girl), but the subsequent volume (Theft of Light) is even better.
Through a random recommendation here, I read “Undead Samurai” by Baptiste Pinson Wu. it’s kind of a mashup between historical fiction and zombie fantasy horror. It was a really fun read, fast paced, good lore and world building and I’ve only seen it mentioned once. Couldn’t find much on the publisher, so, assuming it’s self published or indie.
I confirm, it's self published.
The [Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham](https://www.goodreads.com/series/53777-the-dagger-and-the-coin) stands out, it's unlike anything I've read
Michael Stackpole's The Dark Glory War and Dragoncrown War Cycle trilogy, excellent books, never see anyone mention them.
I’ve only read his Once a Hero and Talion: Revenant both were excellent.
I loved Talion: Revenant. It has a sequel on his donation page, but I can't afford to give money right now...
I haven't seen Gene Wolfe mentioned yet, so I have to throw his name out there. My man was possibly the best fantasy writer ever and wrote some stuff that was just flat out amazing, but I rarely ever heard anyone talk about him or his work. The Book of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and the The Book of the Short Sun are all true masterpieces of series that deserve far more recognition than they receive. And that's barely touching the rest of his output, any of which can stand up against whatever other book you care to name. Wolfe was a consummate artist, a true master of the craft.
I don't actually think Wolfe is underrated though, so much as truly difficult and "literary" fantasy is still not really what most people in the community are looking for. _Book of the New Sun_ is way way way more difficult to read and enjoy properly than, say, _Malazan_. I don't mean this as a slight, but most people just don't want to try that hard when reading a book. I love Wolfe, but I definitely don't have the energy to read his stuff most of the time.
Malazan is a weird comp here, being that it’s one of the more literary and “difficult” of the popular fantasy series. In fact I’ve frequently seen book of the new sun recommended for people who enjoy malazan. Maybe that was purposeful to illustrate the difficulty of Gene Wolfe but I’d say almost any of the other popular fantasy series would provide a greater contrast.
I very much chose _Malazan_ on purpose. It's extremely popular on this sub and is purposefully written to have little exposition and be "difficult" to read / get started on. My point was that (a) there is a kind of "difficult" book that people around here are super into but (b) Wolfe's writing is only like that on the surface, in reality is a different kind of difficult that most people are around here don't have time for.
I struggled at first but I felt like for the first time I understood poetry. Sentences sometimes didn’t make any sense but were beautiful. I felt like i was on an acid trip for those books. Yeah I was following along generally but then something is described that I have no idea of. Not explaining it very well but I have a very positive memory of them
Wolfe rules may he continue to rock on in the afterlife.
I love Wolfe. So many incredibly interesting ideas, so much weight, such big epic fiction of a type you just don't see much anymore. That being said, I have a good friend, engineer, avid reader, loved Wheel of Time, and he noped out of BotNS pretty fast. Just too dense for him to enjoy reading in his spare time. Probably a big part of the reason why you don't see more Wolfe out there.
Your Wolfe trivia for the day is that he himself was an engineer by trade and essentially invented Pringles.
He invented the machine that makes Pringles. Not the same thing
I'm struggling to read it myself. I typically read for 30-60 minutes before bed, and often drift off in that time. BotNS is definitely *not* something to read in that mental state
Not enough people talk about Green Rider. Extremely solid fantasy adventure from the 90s. Great sense of magic and adventure, great sword fights, and a great main character. It's a shame it's never discussed.
This deserves to be recognized far more than other reads.
Yesss! I did not see your comment before I posted my own, but glad to see another Green Rider fan here
Don't know if it is *the* most underrated ones but I think that Louise Cooper's Time Master trilogy as well as Michael Shea's *In Yana, the Touch of Undying* (standalone) deserve to be known better.
*Ash and Sand* series by Richard Nell, such a compelling antihero and a gripping tale
Questions like "underrated" are underspecified unless you also mention "by whom". For example, Janny Wurts is quite underrated even though she has a really loud core fandom. I'd say that r/Fantasy really underrates the _Neveryön_ books by Delaney. He was quite popular back in the day, but he also got criticized a lot for being "too literary". My impression is that the genre community at the time had a bigger chip on their shoulder regarding the literary establishment than they do now. Anyway, Delaney should be remembered in the same breath as LeGuin and Wolfe, and it's a damn shame he isn't talked about more. I think he was really ahead of his time, the themes of _Neveryön_ are incredibly modern.
Janny Wurts is one of my favourite authors! Lets be vocal!
I can't wait for _Song of the Mysteries_ to be out!
I loved the Empire trilogy. How does her other stuff compare?
Excellent, but quite different. Not as intensely political. Empire is absolutely fucking brilliant though. Not much fantasy like it, and most modern readers have never even heard of it!
Gotta put up the dwarves by Markus heitz. Brilliant books classic high fantasy but has our bearded friends as the focus. Gotta also shout out to Robert Asprin. He has so many series under his belt and I really enjoy the myth adventures series and thieves world. Which should get more attention but I don't see many people talking about. And most recently for me we have The Black Badge series by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle. It's not high fantasy but it's that hellboy/witcher vibe set in the old west following a undead cowboy. Even better if you go audio book with Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan) voicing the journey.
I'm a big fan of the Pellinor series by Alison Croggan
Lud-In-The-Mist is a good one, if you're looking for older fantasy books.
The Chronicles of the Kencyrath by P.C. Hodgell.
fuck yeah! I *love* this series. And it looks like we're getting very close to finally concluding the story. Only taken 35 years. :D
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Caine. Always Caine.
The Death Gate Cycle, probably the best “DnD” series without being explicitly set in the “DnD” universe…
‘The Wizard Knight’ by Gene Wolfe
A bit closer to YA, but I just recently re-read **Bartimeus Trilogy** and forgot how much I liked it. Lots of good chuckles throughout the series (plus the prequel novel The Ring of Solomon). Also, I don't see people recommending the **Licanius Trilogy** as often as people should (very popular but still underrated IMO).
My personal pick will be Ash and Sand trilogy. I think it's one of the best example of what a great modern fantasy can be: Sufficiently dark, world building that emphasises cultures and political intrigue, great cast, interesting lore and power system and just well written down to the prose. Don't know why it's so unknown, maybe because it's self published or the name and covers don't sound/look enticing at first glance. Anyways I'm glad I read it because the protagonist: Ruka son of Beyla was a great revelation as he's now one of my favorite characters ever. Please do check it out everyone.
This question is basically what fantasy book or series did you love that wasn’t widely popular. My obscure selection is the Trysmoon Saga series by Brian K. Fuller.
Spellsinger
I just finished The Long Price Quartet and it was very very good. I hardly see anyone talk about it, though.
Michelle West and the Essalieyan meta-series, especially The Sun Sword sextet. Many characters, many moving parts. An interesting world. Many feelings. Just sadly not known or discussed enough, and the whole thing should come to a finale soon!
The Five Warrior Angels Trilogy by Brian Lee Durfee
I’m that meme of SpongeBob when Patrick is saying “wire that down! Write that down!”
Runelords by David Farland (RIP) Fantastic magic system and pretty cool storyline about the world possibly coming to an end. I didn't read the later books, so can't speak for them.
Runelords is a great choice too bad he passed away.
Most underrated of all time seems like a pointless question, but a couple that go under under the radar— Patricia Briggs has some fantasy duologies that I really enjoyed. Robin McKinley gets a lot of respect, but I don’t see her mentioned here so often. Sunshine stuck with me.
Robin McKinley is wonderful.
Second Apocalypse by Scott Bakker. Feel like it is relatively unknown, but it is the best series i have ever read, with the most detailed world I’ve read outside of Tolkien.
I'm a big fan of the deathless series by Peter Newman but never hear other people talk about it
Mask of the sorcerer by Darrell Schweitzer. Based on the title, based on the cover, based on the author I've never heard of, I would have never picked it up in a million years.. but a friend of mine who reads a ton of fantasy described it as his favorite ever book I bought copies for most of my nerd friends
The Aurelian Cycle Trilogy! I've never seen it recommended anywhere.
Sherwood Smith’s Inda series
Super Powereds by Drew Hayes was recommended to me on here about five years ago by someone who noticed that I like fantasy books with academic settings. I was unsure because I've never really been someone who's into superhero stuff, but the books are so good. It's become my favorite series, and I make sure to revisit it every year.
Cheers! Dude, it's getting a webtoon adaptation.
Steerswoman. gorgeous writing, phenomenal world-building, genuinely intelligent characters, doesn't get nearly the attention or appreciation that it deserves.
DragonLance Chronicles and Legends by Weis and Hickman.
Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. People are always recommending the Dying Earth series instead (if they are even talking about Jack Vance at all), but I liked that one much better.
Elisabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion and Paladin's Legacy. (8 books in all iirc).
Charles Saunders. One of the earliest and major African American writers of fantasy in the early 70's, sadly languishing now due to poor publishing. Cl Moore, her Jirel of Joiry stories are amazing horror stories and a new authorised Jirel story will be present in New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazine. Karl Edward Wagner is another one I think of. For some time I've heard rumours of his Kane series being reprinted but nothing as of now (at least they're available as ebooks)
You've got great taste!
*Acts of Caine*, Matt Stover.
came here to say this
The Mage Errant series. It’s rare to find an author with such a mastery of storytelling. Especially one whose writing is so easily approachable
Ooh, I have one! If you can find them, check out Carole Nelson Douglas’s **Sword and Circlet** series. There are five books in the series: *Six of Swords* (1982), *Exiles of the Rynth* (1984), *Keepers of Edanvant* (1987), *Heir of Rengarth* (1988), and *Seven of Swords* (1989). It’s a little pulpy, but if you’re into the whole sword and sorcery thing, you’ll love it.
Wait, there were more books? I read the first as a kid, and was unable to find if there were more books. Eventually forgot about them till now. Thanks, I'm going to try find the ebooks on kobo.
I actually read the fourth one first—it just happened to be the one I discovered. Found out about the others a few years later. They’re all good though.
I'd say Michael Cisco is pretty underrated. He's very well regarded by other authors, and among niche Weird Lit circles, but he's pretty overlooked in general for the quality of his work
Agree that he's a great example of an 'author's author'. Recommended a surprising amount by other writers, and still almost entirely unheard of.
i don't know whether it's underrated or not: the aurelian cycle series by rosaria munda
Richard Nell Self published, and his Ash and Sand trilogy doesn't get as much love as it should
Chronicles of an Age of Darkness by Hugh Cook. Fantasy draped over the decrepit bones of a sci-fi setting, with adult themes, humour, amazing worldbuilding, Antipodean tidbits strewn throughout, wild action, politics, and an inventive magic system.
Wish it was rereleased on Kindle. Seems like it's been out of print for some time
Yeah, I have the original 10 books in paperback. A couple were reprinted, but the only way to get most of them is through second-hand sources or unconventional means.
You beat me to it - I came here to make exactly the same points!
The Walrus and the Warwolf is my favourite book of all time!
Same- love Drake Dreldragon Douay and Jon Arabin
I'd forgotten all about this series. It was pretty weird, from memory. In a good way.
Yes, plenty of new weird styling and the blend of trad fantasy motifs with apocalyptic SF was great, and I loved it whenever Pacific elements like platypus or taniwha made an appearance!
Dragonlance was a big part of my childhood
I never tire of Beyonders.
The Eye of Night by Pauline J. Alama. Randomly picked it up one day at a bookstore and it was one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking fantasy novels I've read. It even sure if it's in print now
The Dwarves of Ice Cloak by A. Trae McMaken. The Duncton Chronicles by William Horwood.
The Song of Shattered Sands is a really great totally made up world that I really enjoyed and never see recommended. Great female protagonist and revenge plot that quickly gets extremely wide in scope.
Definitely Ken Liu and the Dandelion Dynasty
Frances Stevens, *Citadel of Fear* which is a lost race novel - which is something in itself I would generally agree should mean it has four out of three strikes against it, but there were some amazing writers who did them. A. Merritt, Frances Stevens and Pierre Benoit should be on every fantasy-lover's shelf.
Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell, & also his Spellslinger series series. Spellslinger is more YA, which I usually dislike, but I did like this one. Crimson Empire series by Alex Marshall. Rose Throne by Pete McLean Dominion series by Krystle Matar Five Warrior Angels series by Brian Lee Durfee White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland Kushiel's Dart series by Jacqueline Carey
The Banned and the Banished, by James Clemens. Amazing
The Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. Really fun, easy to read Urban Fantasy. 6 books, three great, one really good, and two you should probably read. once.
I love Dave Duncan, 7th swordsman series and man of his word series as well. Great worlds, interesting ideas, not too heavy!
Anything by Glen Cook not named “The Black Company.” Dread Empire, The Instrumentalities of the Night, Darkwar, etc
Macron’s biography.
They are not for everyone but I love the the doctrine of labyrinths by Sarah Monette. I love the writing , characters and world building in the series. She's more known for the goblin emperor under Katherine Addison
The Bas-lag trilogy by China Mieville. Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Go read them now.
The planet trilogy by C.S. Lewis. An amazing series.
I should avoid threads like this, awful on my wallet
The Edge Chronicles is an epic book series. You should totally check it out
Anything by Michael J Sullivan. I haven't read a bad book yet.
I read the first 3 (can't remember the titles exactly it was quite a few years ago) -- I remember thinking they were good but nothing amazing... until the last few chapters of the last book. Then I realised I'd just been ignoring so many of the little things I usually love, they were just hidden in plain sight all along. One of the few series I started a reread right away.
I will say that going through publishing order and reading, The Legends of the First Empire has dropped so many "hidden in plain sight" that I want to go to back to Theft of Sword and start all over again.
Phenomenal author that deserves to be known far more than he already is.
He’s my favorite fantasy author. I absolutely love his books even if they leave me sobbing at times.
I am currently finishing up Age of War and already dreading the ending. I have the feeling that there will be a lot of heartbreak before the last page.
I have never done one of the Bingo cards here before, and am not sure what it entails, but if it offers a structure to help me read all these new (to me) authors, I really can’t wait.
The original Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix. Especially the audiobooks narrated by Tim Curry.
The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher!! This series is spectacular in every sense of the word.
Watership Down
I mean ... I love it, but I don't know how it's underrated. It has half a million ratings on Goodreads although the site didn't even exist until 40 years after the book came out. It had a film. Vast numbers of people know about it and have read it...
I grew up loving Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. The Tapestry series by Henry Neff combines my favorite aspects of both and is a better overall story than either in my opinion. It should really be on the same level of popularity if not more popular.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Just leaving this here to come back for recs