5 Best Fantasy Books That Aren’t ASOIAF

George R. R. Martin has taken the entire world by storm with his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (referred to in this article as ASOIAF). Those of you who haven’t attempted to tackle the books may just know the series as Game of Thrones from the epic HBO series which tops the viewer ratings with its unique combination of murder, betrayal, dragons and boobs. So many boobs.

I’m not going to sit here and debate the merits of the books versus the TV series but what I think is indisputable is that those who only watch will never know pain like those of us who read the books. I’m lucky enough to still be reading the books but at the rate I’m devouring them I don’t think they’ll outlast the year and then what? Those who have been reading since the first book was released will be aware that the time lapse between releases is now about 5 years meaning that we’re probably looking at 2016 as the year for the next book and then I suppose 2021 for the last one which doesn’t even bear thinking about. Being a generous soul however, I thought I’d compile a list of fantasy series that ASOIAF lovers might find enjoyable and hopefully we can all avoid going completely insane from waiting.

Disclaimer: I have excluded the Narnia series, Discworld novels, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings from this article because recommending those is a bit pointless. If you hadn’t thought to give those a try yet then dear god what’s wrong with you? Get to it and then come back and read this.

 

The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorne Trilogy by Tad Williams

Tad Williams has written seventeen novels comprising multiple different series as well as collections of short stories and screen plays and his works have cumulatively sold over seventeen million copies so it’s fair to say he’s a pretty big deal. That being said, outside of fairly serious fantasy readers, who has heard of Tad Williams? I think a lack of any decent film or television adaptations and the fact that his writing isn’t what you’d call super accessible are largely to blame for this lack of mainstream recognition because let’s face it, unless it has Viggo Mortensen in it, high fantasy is not one for the masses. I think it’s a real shame because when you really get into his books they’re truly engaging and in my opinion the world building on show is easily in league with Tolkien and Martin.

I’ve chosen the Memory, Sorrow and Thorne Trilogy as a good way in to his writing mostly because they’re the ones I’ve read but also because I think it really showcases Williams’ trademarks of relatable heroes in rich, highly detailed worlds. It follows the adventures of Simon in his journey from kitchen boy to legendary hero set against the back drop of an ancient war between men and Fae creatures called the Garden Born. These books are basically the dream of every dorky ten year old but way better written and as such are not to be missed!

 

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Abercrombie has established himself as one of the leading lights in modern fantasy writing with his off the wall, often bleak story telling mixed with generous helpings of unbelievably dark humour. He actually comes with George R. R. Martin’s personal endorsement which carries a lot more weight than my own. He’s currently written eight full length novels with his other major series being the Shattered Sea Trilogy set to be concluded next year.

However, I think the First Law trilogy is the finest example of his unique brand of cruel irony and moral ambiguity. He’s a true master of a theme that interweaves much of Martin’s writing which is that there is no good and evil, it all depends on your perspective. This trilogy follows a similar pattern to ASOIAF in that it traces several interweaving stories, though in Abercrombie’s writing there are far fewer threads. The major stories followed are those of Logen Ninefingers, Jezel Dan Luthor, and Sand Dan Glokta. Logen is a legendary barbarian warrior who has grown tired of bloodshed and constantly tries to repress his horrific dark side, Jezel is a stuck up nobleman and duellist who is thrust into an epic adventure unwillingly and Sand is an ex-soldier who was tortured as a young man and has in turn become a torturer himself. This series brilliantly sets up a classical hero’s quest and then magnificently subverts your expectations with an ending that you could never predict.

The works of Walter Moers

Walter Moers is a German writer who hasn’t written his books in an exact series, they’re more a collection detailing different aspects of the world of Zamonia. The two I’ve read are Rumo which chronicles the coming of age of a Wolpertinger (an anthropomorphic half dog half deer that speaks, sword fights and walks on two legs) and the thirteen and a half lives of Captain Bluebear which pretty much does what it says on the tin by tracing the many and varied adventures of the aforementioned Bluebear. If these synopses had not tipped you off then I should warn you that these books are batshit insane. Moers has been described as being like J. K. Rowling on acid and with good reason.

With his books presenting a crazy mixture of science, fantasy, complete madness and moments that are truly touching, Moers is a largely underappreciated author who is definitely worth your time. As a further recommendation, Rumo is my second favourite book of all time, only behind The Hobbit. So there’s that.

 

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

I freaking love Pat Rothfuss. In my opinion he is one of the greatest writers working today. His only full length works so far are the first two books of this trilogy with the release date of the third inciting as much fevered speculation amongst Rothfuss fans as the next ASOIAF book. One thing we can say for certain is that with a combined length of over 1800 pages between the first two books, it’s going to be a monster. These books take place in a realm called The Four Corners and follow the life story of Kvothe, the greatest warrior, warlock and hero of all time.

The story is told by Kvothe in first person as he explains to a chronicler why he has gone into hiding as a humble innkeeper. The world building in this series is truly mind blowing with different nations complete with culture, customs, currency and a rich mythology and history for the entire realm. He’s another Martin recommended author with the first book of the series, titled “The Name of the Wind”, widely cited as one of the best first novels by any author in recent years. My only warning is that you’ll find that once you begin reading you’ll be compelled to finish to the point that you neglect relationships, study and work so be careful about how you time starting these.

 

The Wheel of Time by Oliver Rigney, Jr. (Robert Jordan)

I’ll own up right now and say that I put this series last because it’s the only one I haven’t actually read. It does however fulfil the mission objective of this article better than any other series. Standing at a whopping fourteen books, all of them pretty long, this series should go a good way towards keeping our minds off waiting for George R. R. Martin to drop his next work of fantasy gloriousness. The sheer scale of these books makes a synopsis pretty much impossible but they follow members of an order known as the Aes Sedai as they try to unite various mythic kingdoms against an arch villain called the Dark One.

These books are particularly notable for the complex and detailed exploration of the magic system utilised in the series known as the One Power which involves collaboration between men and women who can each utilise different variants of the One Power. However, the other reason I included this series is that it stands as a reminder that a fear rife amongst fans of all things Game of Thrones can become reality: Robert Jordan died three books before completing his series. We all live in hope that we never have to deal with that eventuality.

So there you are. Barring any of you being hermits who live in caves and derive nutrition purely from fantasy fiction that should be a good year or two of reading to take your mind off of A Song of Ice and Fire. Like a nicotine patch if you will but made up of thousands of pages of war, knights, dragons, monsters, intrigue and boobs. That being said, hurry the hell up George!