Epic Reads

Yesterday on the podcast, Christen led off a discussion about some of our favorite fantasy fiction with a comparison of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” vs. J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series. I love discussions like these because they often lead us into some very unexpected places, like comparisons of the strength of female characters and then into other fantasy realms altogether, like J. R. R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones.” And while we may not always be factually accurate, it’s fun to discover that we each favored different characters and took away different bits of insight and observation. Sometimes I feel like we could just keep talking for hours, and sometimes we have. Some episodes end and I just can’t wait to write up my blog post and share all the things I forgot to say. That day is not today.

I’m not sure why, but I feel drained from comparing the two storylines. I love both. So instead, I thought I’d throw out a few other favorite fantasy books and series.  So, listed here in no particular order are my 10 favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Gothic Fiction series that are not the focus of one or more Modern Musings podcasts:

• The Expanse by James S. A. Corey

• A Song of Ice and Fire by J. R. R. Martin

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, et. al

• The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

• Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (et. al)  by Arthur C. Clark

• Larry Niven’s Known Space

• The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

• The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire

• Ender's Game (series) by Orson Scott Card

And because I can’t leave the list without mentioning two of my favorite historical fiction writers:

• Asian Saga by James Clavell

• The collective works of James Michener

Of course, this is not a complete list of my favorite authors and books by any means…there are many, many fine books and series that I have loved – too many to name them all! And after pouring through this list, I see that some have a few new additions.  It might be time to revisit these series again!

What about you? Do you have a favorite Sci-Fi or Fantasy series? Tell me about it! Is it one that I didn’t mention? Let me know because I might want to read it, too!