Have you read Discworld yet? If not then it should be the thing for you. Books are pretty short, though there are a lot of them, and you can pick it up anywhere in the series. Personally I'd recommend reading the Sam Vimes centric books, so that would start with Guards! Guards!

 

Nope, never heard of Discworld or this Sam Vimes fellow. So there's one series to check out...

 

If you liked Dresden Files you should read Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. He has two books out and the third one will be released in late August. The story is pretty good. It takes place in modern London. The world is like Dresden Files with magic and such, although the magic is different. The world is full of Harry Dresden types who swing lots of firepower around, but the main character is a seer and most of the time he wants to survive.

It's pretty good so far, just like the first Dresden Books, good not great but a nice read and it has the potential to be something more.

Also, the main character doesn't swing around many pop-culture references like the Iron Druid Series.

Edit: The Discworld, is a comedy-like series by Terry Prachet, it also has a couple of movies and mini-series. It's also long, the book count may be in the twenty or more , I'm not sure. The color of magic was a great book, and the ones with Death as a main character are also good, but most of them are not that good.

 

Alex Verus, eh? Does it have a smart-ass dog like Iron Druid? Not a deal-breaker, mind.

Just went on the wiki to check it out. Might just pick up to get a feel for it to start.

 

What?

Yeah, go and read them. All of them. Even his YA books are good (except the Johnny And The... series). They won't lose too much if you don't read them in order, but you'll be introduced to the characters well if you read them the right way round.

 

I think I just died a little inside...

 

It's a bit closer to forty books, thirty nine to be precise, but they don't really tell any sort of connected overarching story line. Just a lot of individual stories set in the same world, with a few recurring characters.

That, sir, is a lie. A blatant, bold faced lie.

 

Why are people surprised? You can't honestly expect everyone in the world to have heard or read a specific book series, no matter how enjoyable you've found it.

 

The last couple of Discworld books have been a little lacking, probably due to Pratchett's 'embuggerance', but the series as a whole is absolutely worth a read.

And I'll second Oz's recommendation of the Belgariad - I finished the first book a few weeks ago, and while it's pretty generic stuff, it's fun in a way that most fantasy available these days isn't.

 

Because, bar maybe Harry potter and Twilight, there is no fantasy series that I see in shops and being read more, and it's been going for about twenty years. I really am surprised to see someone who actively reads fantasy that has never heard of Discworld.

 

Hell, I tried to read it, but honestly didn't enjoy it that much.

Maybe I'll try again at some point, but I don't really feel like I'm missing out that badly.

 

Picked up the Discworld Series. Finished reading the Color of Magic and well... it's odd. I suppose that's the word for it. Odd.

Are they all like that one?

 

Some are good, some are better.

But since you didnt like the First Law Trilogy, i think you should stick to classic fantasy.

 

Not really. The sequel to it (The Light Fantastic) is very similar, but after that they get a lot better. He started the series as broad parodies of fantasy literature, and it's changed a lot since then. The later works are more likely to be political satire than anything else.

 

Your best best is to Google the separate series within the series as a whole and read those in order, that's the easiest way to get into the books I find. Of course, if you read them all in order of release it gives you more insight into the evolving world as a whole. Some of the best books in the series are stand alone, so that's a good reason to read them all... Conflicting advice I know but to be honest, they're all mostly so good that, well, just read them all.

 

Not sure if they've been recommended or not, but the Walt Longmire mysteries by Craig Johnson are really good for ~300 page books, and they're written in an episodic style like the Dresden Files so you can pick up anywhere in the series and not be totally lost.

As an aside, the new TV series on A&E is based off of it, which actually got me into the books. I started watching the show, liked it, and decided to give the books a try.

 

Click for large. Start with Guards Guards if you like cop shows, start with Wyrd Sisters if you're familiar with Shakespeare, start with Colour of Magic if you hate yourself. Otherwise, start with Going Postal or Small Gods or The Truth.

(not that CoM is bad per se, it's just that it isn't a good representation of what the series is about - it's a mishmash of parodies instead of a solidly-built world that plays host to a range of stories with a satirical slant)

 

While John Ringo was not exactly what I wanted his books are Ok. Not great but ok if you can stand his pro-america, pro-war , pro-man philosophy.

But Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell is a lot more like what I searched for. Nice military Sci-Fi with fleet to fleet action and a halfway plausible world building. The idea behind the protagonist is also interesting.

 

I'll second the recommendation. Campbell's Lost Fleet series also happens to have some of the most realistic spaceship battles from the standpoint of special relativity. I found the later books in the series to be less interesting than the first, however.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned in this thread, but before reading Ringo's shit (and I'm being generous here), more interesting, less objectionable military-themed science fiction can be found in, say, Steakley's Armor or David Drake's Hammer's Slammers (and a gazillion other works, mostly military-themed).