So i just finished reading harry potter ( which was great) but im still in the "Wizards N' Shit" mood. What are your favourite books with Mages/Wizards?
>>46050916
Sanderson tends to do magic pretty well. I'd recommend Mistborn as another fun YA-ish magic-n-shit series. Just skip past all of the horribly cringeworthy romance.
>>46050954
>horribly cringeworthy romance.
but thats my fav kind of romance
>>46050916
The Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone is about WIZARD LAWYERS and it's even more fun than that implies.
>>46050968
not OP but where should i start? Three Parts Dead?
Stasheff's Her Majesty's Wizard
>>46050916
That shit be RACIST homie
>>46050916
I know the comic is old but I'd love to play D&D with this guy.
>>46050916
I liked the Bartimaeus books. Summoners 'n' Shit.
>>46050996
Yeah. Deffos read in published order.
David Eddings Tamuli series, or the various Belgariad books (3 series).
Weiss and Hickman's Death Gate cycle.
>>46051057
>Death Gate
by the gods... i need to go back and reread those books.
Lev Grossman's The Magicians Trilogy. Or at least the first one. Can't really recommend the others since I haven't read them, but I'm sure they're pretty good too.
>>46051040
Seconded. It's always fun to read books from the point of view of an unapologetic asshole.
Speaking of which, I would very highly recommend The Name of the Wind if you somehow haven't read it yet, and suggest the the Chronicles of Amber find it's way onto your list at some point.
>>46050916
The Alex Verus series isn't too bad.
Protagonist is a gradually improving dickass Mage specialising in telling the future, but with sod all offensive capabilities.
>>46050968
The Choose Your Own Adventure game that came out for that series was pretty great too
And I havent even read the books
>>46050916
Dresden Files, if you like detective stories.
>>46050954
It's a shame about the romance sub-plot, my favorite part of Mistborn were the chapters about being incognito among the nobility. And then everything went to shit once out in the open with love intrests.
>>46051147
Seconding this.
>>46051070
I did, they weren't as good as I remembered.
>>46051153
For real. Have two character with less chemistry ever been forced together in the history of literature?
>>46051124
Hey, Nathaniel was an unapologetic asshole with a heart of gold, I'll have you know.
>>46051161
The first one is the worst, so it's handy for deciding whether to reread the whole series or not.
>>46051146
The choose your own adventure game was what got me interested in the books myself.
>>46050916
Well, there's the Dresden Files, which is pretty great and about a Wizard Detective. Has a pretty solid universe, some fun characters, and quick reads. Solid series, a little slow in the start, but the writing quickly improves.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman is Harry Potter/Narnia mooshed together with a lot of fucked-up stuff added. The first book is absolutely worth a read for some fantastic moments and a lot of very realistic character writing. The second two get more fucked-up and weirder, but I'd recommend them.
The Vlad Taltos series by Stephen Brust is about an assassin-wizard human living amongst elves, and deals with lots of gang politics, delicious recipes, and stabbing motherfuckers in the face. Vlad is a Pretty Cool Guy.
The Chronicles of Amber is sorta about mages, but the magic is all probability math and multiverse shifting. Still great, Zelazny is a crazed genius.
>>46051040
>>46051124
The MC was legitimately my favourite part of reading the books. He was so unapologetic it was amazing. Still a little sad he didn't go anywhere with the rebellion(?) girl he 'saved', but hey, I'm a sucker for cute couples.
>>46051124
>>46051040
Bartimaeus books are great, they're the only books from my childhood I kept
I've always wanted to run a campaign based on that setting
>>46050916
I like the Nightside series of books by Simon. Less Wizards and shit, and more WIZARDS and everything else supernatural.
>>46050916
This is the best fantasy novel published in decades. Prove me wrong.
>/l/ tells you to fuck off to /v/
>/v/ mods instantly delete threadDon't have any suggestions for you op but felt bad and wanted to see if you would actually get anything from here
is the Malazan empire series anygood?
>>46051253
Would you play magicians or demons though?
>>46051274
For ants maybe
>>46051307
Presumably humans since we have no good way of emulating four separate trains of thought, although I'd be open to a resistance kind of thing where people play as gifted humans like Kitty's group instead.
I'd have to find a system or homebrew one with summoning rituals and rules since that would be a big deal. And something that really emphasizes social stuff since that's what magicians are all about in high society.
saw you on /lit/ which I entered after thinking how much I loved reading Harry Potter
good thing you came here anon, now I get exactly the kind of recs I wanted
>>46051147
>>46051160
Dresden Files is like the exact opposite of Harry Potter.
Both are about wizard detective stories, but Harry Potter is well written, has likable characters, a coherent world, and actually has humor rather than awful attempts at snark and lolsorandom.
Telling someone who likes HP to read Dresden is like saying "Hey, you know that thing you like? Here's something of infinite worse quality that only superficially resembles it. Your welcome."
>>46051347
Out of curiosity, what did /lit/ recommend?
>>46051397
not a single thing. The only post was the one telling him to go away
>>46051397
nothing just told anon to post this here and on /v/, of all places.
>>46050916
Sword of Truth (Wizard's First Rule being book 1) was alright but it gets TERRIBAD as the series goes on. But the first few are good, no matter what these plebs want to say.
>>46050916
>ctrl+f
>no Earthsea
Alright, I guess it's up to me then.
The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuinn. It's fantastic. Read it. Begins with A Wizard of Earthsea.
>>46051195
Fire Sea is always worth re-reading. Whenever I re-read the Deathgate Cycle, I start there, mainly because the first book isn't great, and the second book is even worse, with unlikable characters.
>>46051334
Humans can't think as demons do, but considering that players can spend minutes debating things that happen in a few seconds in-game and bring notes made between sessions... It's not necessarily that huge a difference.
>>46051393
>inb4 only popular because of advertising
>>46051522
Male Twilight.
>>46051422
>>46051438
Kek. What the fuck is /lit/ even for? Do they just fap over Shakespeare or something?
>>46051534
Its not even close to twilight dude.
>>46051393
>Both are about wizard detective stories
>Harry Potter
>wizard detective series
U fucking wot.
>>46051028
I do, he's latino though.
Apparently he go into it when he was in prison and just....well he's the most creative PC I've ever had. Regularly makes weapons/shivs out of wands, rods, and staves.
>>46051707
Sorry meant for >>46051031
>>46051664
Really? You didn't even pick up on that?
Not from the way each book was classically constructed as a detective story, the assemblage of clues to solve the whodunnit mystery complete with unmasked villains delivering "how I did it" monologues,, or even from how Potter ends up as an Auror, which is a funny magical sounding word for "Specialist Wizard Detective"?
>>46050916
The Magicians by Lev Grossman - Harry Potter for edgy people. It's good though, kind of like if Stephen King wrote Narnia.
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - Wizard Detective in Chicago. Really fun series, first book isn't very good but it ramps up quickly after that.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke - British as fuck but well worth reading.
Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss - First book is great. He's got some of the best prose in fantasy. Too bad he done fucked up with the second book.
The Once and Future King - A retelling of the legends of King Arthur. Author has a comical distaste for women. It's a classic though.
The Spellsong Cycle ; The Magic of Recluce ; The Corean Chronicles ; The Imager Series all by L.E. Modesitt Jr. - He pumps out books at a ridiculous volume but they are enjoyable and his worlds are well put together. The basic gist of most of his books is that [young adult male who is the quiet, composed type] leaves home for [reasons] and learns how to be a user of [magic system]. I recommend the Magic of Recluce as a good starting point with him.
The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist - Classic of high fantasy, the first few books are about a Magician though later entries branch into other characters stories.
>>46051735
In fairness a lot of the later books are him being a bit of a whingey little teen so its easy to forget he is detecting stuff. Even then mostly he just gets told about something or someone figures out the problem for him.
>>46051765
>It's good though, kind of like if Stephen King wrote Narnia.
You go through a magic wardrobe and find yourself in Maine?
>>46051707
Prison DnD honestly sounds like the most fun DnD.
>>46051295
It's amazing, but long. I read the first 4 books, each about a thousand pages, in a month. For those who don't know, its basically the roman empire conquering africa, with wizards and wizard assassins. And then shit gets real.
>>46051765
>Too bad he done fucked up with the second book.
What was the problem with it, apart from being five years late and about as long as the entire trilogy was supposed to be?
>>46050954
War-something the one with color magic was pretty neat too.
And Rithmatist.
Basically every damn series he starts has some fascinating magic system regardless of its other qualities.
>>46051767
It does put some effort in departing from a straightforward detective story, and it puts a lot of effort in disguising the real main character (hermoine, her Mary Sue), but Rowling's forte is the classic mystery, which is rather evident with her post-potter work.
>>46051836
That it read like bad fanfiction of the first book? That it went from a coming of age story to a self masturbatory author insert. If you didnt at least find the Felurian part to be obnoxious then I don't know man.
>>46051789
Which one is the first one?
>>46051459
>ctrl+f
>find thread saying "ctrl+f but no Earthsea"
Seconding A Wizard of Earthsea. It's a great book, if a bit young adult-ish (though if you're coming from Harry Potter, that's obviously not an issue). The other two books in the original trilogy are pretty good, but not nearly as good as the first, and are kind of different animals (think Dune Messiah to Dune, though maybe not with as wide of a quality gap). I started on the 4th book, Tehanu, which was written almost three decades later, and found it excessively... well... the only way I know how to describe it is "womany" and overly concerned about interpersonal relationships and shit. It didn't appeal to me, and I put it down before I finished it. I never picked up the next two books, so I can't comment on them. But the books of the original trilogy are all good, and A Wizard of Earthsea is great.
>>46051863
I have read all the books and as far as I remember hermoine was pretty damn side characterish.
>>46051664
Nevermind that dresden only starts as a dectective series. I don't know what it is at this point, but not so much detective type activity going on.
>>46051887
General city defending + a reasonable amount of mystery solving?
>>46051534
Now this is just blatant bait.
As for OP. The other series by Jim Butcher is really interesting in terms of magic too. Everyone gets magic from these sorts of spirits.
First book is called uh....
Shit I can't remember right now. Anyone else remember the name? I'm not gonna have time to Google and come back.
>>46051871
Gardens of the Moon, though it does somewhat feel like you've been thrown in halfway through a trilogy, which was the author'sintention.
>>46051871
Gardens of the Moon. It's a 10/10 series. I didnt recommend it personally because while it's got Mages it's not about them like Harry Potter is.
>>46050916
hpmor.com
the best fanfiction about Harry potter ever written.
(beadvisedmostof/tg/thinksitsucks)
>>46051905
Furies of something or other?
>>46051906
>>46051915
I hear there are two series set in the same universe.
>>46051905
Way of Kings
>>46051905
Furies of Calderon
>>46051887
The detective part is mostly used as a backdrop by this point, which is probably for the best since it was easily the weakest aspect of the first few.
Well, apart from some personality issues, but credit where credits due, that got quite skilfully rolled into character development.
>>46051867
The Felurian was the plant right? I was disappointed at the sex, because it was so out of place. ESPECIALLY IN THE !NINJA VILLAGE holy fuck. I don't know how he could think that was a good idea when he penned that.
>>46051539
Philosophy, mostly.
>>46051887
The latest one is fairly close, but the latest trilogy in the series is basically just getting over the fallout from Changes and reclaiming his place in the world.
That said, they're still good.
>>46051765
>British as fuck
Not like Harry Potter isn't
>>46050916
Still on the YA end of things, but the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix are pretty good
>>46051922
Yes the world is based on GURP roleplaying two friends did in the 80s/early 90s. They both wrote a series. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is generally considered the superior one. Stephen Erikson, the author of that one, makes better use of humour and was a better writer at the beginning. Ian C. Esselmont, who writes Tales of the Malazan Empire, doesn't have that same sense of humour, and his first book(Night of the Long Knives) is very raw. He improves a lot though over time.
>>46051946
Yea, I got even more annoyed when I saw a picture of the author and realized Kvothe was just an idealized version of himself. It was just a really cringey self-insert masturbation fanfic that wandered aimlessly without plot progress.
>>46051867
I just kind of read both books assuming that Kvothe couldn't resist a healthy amount of embellishment even in his honest biography, and basically everything was bullshit. I thought it was a bit drawn out, but I'll let a bro tell his story about that time he totally fucked a sex goddess so hard she let him return to reality.
>>46051931
I don't get it, is this supposed to be some sort of bait?
Check out Wildbow's Pact. A modern fantasy serial novel about a young adult who gets thrust into a world of MAGIC AND ADVENTURE when he inherits his diabolist grandmother's house and immense karmic debt.
>>46051393
I was always under the impression that Dresden was written intentionally pulpy. I could be wrong, butcher could be a hack, but i always thought it was to be a callback to the detective penny dreadfuls.
>>46052002
>I saw a picture of the author
Kvothe is a scrawny redhead, though.
can't go wrong with the Old Kingdom series.
You'll also shit yourself when you reread Lirael and pay a bit closer attention to the dog's first words and a few choice sentences.
>>46052074
Still mad he didnt call his first book semi auto magic. That said I didnt read the first book, and as far as I can gather I didnt miss much.
>>46051393
>A coherent world
It's fucking Harry Potter what are you smoking?
>>46052128
You really didn't.
The constant callbacks may get irritating, but they do at least save you the pain of reading the first two books.
Even the audio versions can't save it, because the editor seemed to have ADHD when working on it, and randomly jammed sentences together and apart with wild abandon
>>46051031
good cuck
>>46050961
Yeah it is.
And Sanderson is master of such romance.
No irony.
>>46052160
I was about to contest this, then I realized that the only not painfully cringeworthy romance in all of his books is in Warbreaker, where he tried to write James Bond and ended up with merely mildly cringeworthy.
>>46051920
It's okay.
There are times when the author has trouble letting go of his soapbox, but if you can look past that, there are a lot of good parts too.
>>46051859
> War-something the one with color magic was pretty neat too.
Warbreaker.
And yes, Sanderson is fucking amazing if you like deep worldbuilding and/or incredibly well-designed, internally consistent magic systems. He's struggled a bit with characterization, but he's gotten a lot better at that, too.
And if you like Sanderson's work, you should definitely take a moment to look up the Cosmere. It's stuff that's only shown up in the books a little at this point, but it's awesome.
>>46051274
Not even as good as the Sabriel books.
>>46051393
"This is not to my taste, so you shouldn't like it either. Nyah!"
>>46051773
More like, you go through a magic well and Mr. Tumnus tries to rip out your throat and eat your eyeballs.
>>46052392
>More like, you go through a magic well and Mr. Tumnus tries to rip out your throat and eat your eyeballs.
In Maine. That part is VERY important.
>Control + F, 94 replies and no Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, or Wheel of Time
Holy shit guys, are you even trying? Also, Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei for those of you so inclined.
>>46051274
>laughing Red Knight.vellumscroll
>>46052417
Also, you're an author who was hit by a car.
>>46052431
None of those are good, though. Literally everyone in FR is a Mary Sue, Dragonlance is okay but Weiss's worst work, and WoT doesn't get good until you're 40,000 pages in and cognitive dissonance makes it so you couldn't dislike it if you tried.
>>46051173
Romeo and Juliet.
To be fair, that was kind of the point. Teenagers not making good decisions and all that.
>>46051905
Furies of Calderon.
Who doesn't love Fantasy Roman Elementalists?
>>46051920
>implying the Methods of "dissecting a children's book series and exploiting the intentionally whimsical magic system like the world's worst Munchkin while ACTUALLY being an advertisement for a particular ideology " is a good fanfiction
Black Company
>>46053204
The only fanfiction I ever liked was the mass effect/command and conquer one.
>>46053204
It might have been good had it been tongue in cheek, has a few time skips to spread out the knowledge gathering/extrapolations and kept to being just a small derail in the same setting.
As it stands, a first year being an insufferably smug cunt of a genius, and the backstory changing to make everything unrecognisable, renders the premise utterly pointless.
>>46053270
Most of Peptuck's stuff is pretty good.
>>46053040
Check and mate. Well played, sir.
In a related note, how do I overcome my rage when someone calls it a love story? What do I do if they then claim that it was Shakespeare's best work?
>>46053270
wat
Link?
>>46053391
Go home and scream into your pillow
what romance books do you guys like?
>>46053413
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5851454/1/Renegade
>>46051274
I enjoyed the fuck out of it but my main criticism is that it felt like I was reading a shitty alternate reality version of Seattle in the 90's without drugs. Like, my thoughts while reading it were that it's a very cool setting, but the characters are a bunch of fucks
>>46053445
50 Shades of Grey.
>>46053391
Show them how much you love them by stabbing/poisoning them?
It's not a terrible play, by any means, but it's just not the story a lot of people think it is
>>46050916
For something magical but unique that I never see recommended try the Man of his Word series by Dave Duncan, which starts with Magic Casement.
>>46052156
When was the vampire ball? Cause whichever book that was in was when i decided to keep reading the series. I was on the fence until then.
>>46053413
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5851454/1/Renegade
Tiberian sun guys get into space and find mass effect technology. They then give the turians a run for their money. Humans are not part of the council races and use tiberium tech to compensate
>>46053451
Neat thanks.
Have a Harry Potter and the Natural d20, introducing a D&D wizard in Hogwarts:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8096183/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Natural-20
And a WH40K/ME crossover, where a Stormtrooper and an Eldar Iforgot land in the beginning of ME2:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7436717/1/The-Mission-Stays-the-Same
Fun times all around. I like how in the first one a muggle cop tries to find out more about wizards.
>>46053486
I feel like it might have been the third one. Possibly the fourth.
>>46053391
Bask in the warm feeling caused by not being a pleb, then change the subject to analysis of a minor character from a more obscure play. Someone like Abhorsen or Ariel is a good bet.
>>46053426
Gooby, pls
>>46053352
>a first year being an insufferably smug cunt of a genius
What else would he be, though? The kid is literally Voldemort.
>>46053486
Third one.
Harry going absolutely apeshit and immolating the entire ball on half power is a high point, and was also where the audio versions get good as well.
>>46053530
An insufferably smug cunt of a genius that at least had the decency to wait a few years before making vast leaps in the field of magic, as Voldemort and Dumbledore did.
>>46053611
This. Methods of rationality's flaws absolutely wouldn't be removed if you took out the element of "smug as shit eleven year old pulling all this crap", but it still amplifies the flaws for being there.
>>46053530
Reminds me of a great fanfic where the kid is literally Voldemort. Instead of dying, his soul goes in the baby's body and takes over. It's pretty hilarious, really.
>>46051534
He's not wrong. The writing is better, but that's not saying much.
The difference is that Twilight targets demographics and themes that are incredibly creepy (repressed sexuality and rape fetishism) and Dresden targets demographics and themes that are at least goofy. Dresden is *canonically* a walking caricature of masculinity, and while Butcher is slightly more self-aware than Myers, that is, again, not saying much. Frequently the wince-inducing 'manly' parts are pointedly unintentional.
They're both 'fun', pulpy trash that's meant to be easily consumed and both target very specific aspects of gender demographics. I could rattle on about how women are raised to find overt masculinity appealing and men are raised to find overt femininity unappealing, but the nuances of the discussion would almost certainly be completely wasted on this board and I'm tired.
>>46051886
Like he says, it puts a lot of effort into disguising the fact that she's the driving force behind the plot. You said it yourself: he kind of gets stuff just handed to him or solved by other people. Spoilers: it's usually Hermione.
>>46052074
He's just a bad writer.
Admitting to liking his writing might as well be a bannable offense, because it's basically admitting that you're under 18.
>>46053747
I dont know man, I think hes just old fashioned. I read a lot of westerns when I was young and he wouldnt have been too out of place there.
>>46053790
Being smarter than an average teenager who is usually brooding over some shit doesn't make you a driving force.
>>46052598
I managed to dislike book 8 with mild difficulty, 9 was bizarrely better, and then I literally threw book 10 at a wall and only picked it up to shove it in a box over a year later.
>>46053747
>men are raised to find overt femininity unappealing
I think you're going to have to state and justify your definition of femininity for that statement to mean anything.
>>46053835
>old fashioned
>westerns
>canonically a walking caricature of masculinity
Anon, I don't know how to tell you this...
>>46053855
When your dad learns to make knives from bits of cars,seasons wood for bows and arrows and encourages you not to be a pussy and be nice to girls it gives you a different opinion I guess.
>>46053843
God fuck fine
Men are raised to find *female* things (the characteristics that define an individual as 'female', primarily their sexual characteristics and the behaviors related to them) attractive and *feminine* things (the characteristics that define an individual as 'feminine', and the behaviors related to them, generally the non-sexual or more technical female actions, such as the the fine points of makeup, fashion or home making) unappealing. Obviously this doesn't apply universally and it's not (usually) any kind of intentional indoctrination or brainwashing or anything, it's just kind of a pervasive thing. It's messy.
>>46053905
Really? Did this post just happen?
Who are you trying to impress?
You just succeeded in convincing me that you're not capable of following a pretty straight-forward discussion, and I think it might be because you're an insecure homosexual.
>>46053983
I'm just saying when you come from an old fashion sort of family it seems like less of a caricature.
>>46053958
Got any citations there for such an incredibly sweeping statement?
Be warned that if feminism crops up in any of them, I will laugh at it.
>>46053905
Do you just not know what 'canonically' means? Is that the issue here? Dresden *himself* talks about this, and it's written in a way that is pointedly tongue in cheek. Butcher isn't insulting masculinity or anything, he's just writing Dresden as kind of an awkward goofball whose definition of being manly comes from stuff like old westerns (as opposed to his father), for reasons that are pretty well outlined by the plot.
>>46054025
Just saying there are people out there whose definitions of being manly also come from westerns and shit.
>>46054020
...uh, are you implying that knowing how to apply makeup and an in-depth knowledge of fashion aren't feminine qualities that most men find unappealing? I'm legitimately confused now.
>>46054047
No, your definitions of manly pretty obviously come from your dad. Dresden's, equally obviously, do not come from his father.
>>46050954
If the romance bothers you just read the Era 2 books. Its still got all the magic from the original trilogy but the main character is a mid 40s something lawman instead of a teenage girl orphan
>>46054068
And my dads came from westerns. He literally learned that shit because he read about cowboys doing it.
>>46052598
I really do like WoT but I love epic fantasy and stuff that goes on forever. The others I agree with you, FR is just the same rehashed crap rebranded 30 times, and dragonlance is OK sometimes but still pretty poorly written
>>46050916
Jack Campbell's Pillars of Reality.
Technology is controlled by one Guild, Magic by the Other. They hate each other and normal people are treated like second class citizens.
The first three books are out already.
>>46054049
That's because you deliberately funnelled your argument into applying to a very specific behaviour despite trying to discuss the impact of broader definitions of femininity, all in order to create a now painfully obvious gotcha.
>>46053958
I'm not sure where you're going with this. Or where you're coming from, for that matter. Men may not be predisposed to engaging in "feminine" pastimes, but it's no less common than women interested in traditionally masculine pursuits (cars, tech, and professional sports come to mind). And just because a man may not be interested in the finer points of cosmetics, fashion, and home making doesn't mean he's any less likely to appreciate a well-dressed woman and an orderly household.
>>46054100
Sure, but your dad didn't spring forth from his father's forehead fully formed or anything. He's had a whole lifetime before you were even born to refine and consider them, and then pass THOSE refined and reformed ideas on to you. The best Dresden had was McCoy, and their relationship was explicitly, pointedly and consistently that and teacher and student (in ways that were somewhat upsetting for Dresden, I think; if I recall correctly, there are points where Dresden contemplates just how far away from a father figure McCoy actually is and how that's kind of a sad thing for both of them) so his whole life philosophy is a piecemeal mess of noir and western ideologies that are completely self taught while also being an orphan with an evil uncle. Dresden's emotional maturity is stunted, to put it gently.
>>46053747
A rebuttal on why I find Dresden Files better than Twalot.
- At least Dresden's terrible choices (romantic and otherwise) are acknowledged as such, instead of romanticized.
- At least Harry doesn't do dumb shit like throw himself of off a cliff because his waifu left town.
- It's made very clear that the entire series is filtered through the lens of Harry Dresden (which explains, among other things, the attention to detail when describing women), especially seen in the Side Stories book where we get a short story from Murphy's POV, which makes Harry seem like some sort of disheveled autist - literal autist, right down to being socially oblivious/inconsiderate/responding with pop culture references.
- This point is more along the lines of why I like DF over "Muh chosin wan" stories. Dresden gets his ass kicked at least once a book, and has to have help quite often, while still not being worthless on his own. He employs lateral thinking, but also thinks himself cleverer than he is.
I find the comparisons between Twilight and Dresden Files inaccurate, even if they're "fun, pulpy trash that's meant to be easily consumed and both target very specific aspects of gender demographics."
>>46054215
Didnt he have some contact with his dad? Pretty sure he wasnt straight orphan.
>>46054089
Oh god, the Wax and Wayne books are even worse in that regard. Marasi may well be the cringiest character he's ever written. She's literally worse than Elend.
>>46051887
If you want one that's more detectivey, try Rivers of London/Midnight Riot (two titles, same book). It's about a policeman who becomes a wizard and investigates supernatural cases.
>>46054248
...an orphan is just a child whose parents have died, and Harry's dad died when he was pretty young (I wanna say seven?). Also, his dad was a stage magician who was, if I recall correctly, not a stellar specimen of manhood himself.
>>46054315
I cant remember much about his dad so I cannot refute you.
>>46053826
Youre shitting me. Im 19 and my dad who's 50 loves the series to the point of denying my criticisms. Shit taste transcends age.
>>46054294
There is no "romance" with Marasi though. Her fascination with Wax is cringeworthy buts its a one sided crush that ultimately goes nowhere
>>46054221
I agree. Dresden is way better than Twilight. Calling it 'Twilight for men', though, isn't really far from the truth. It's a very specific kind of genre fiction, one just happens to be higher quality and have a narrower band of appeal.
They're written with the same intent in mind, one's just better and less creepy than the other.
>>46054367
My mother and my father both enjoy it.
>>46054012
That's hardly "old fashioned." At best, your dad likes arts and crafts.
>>46051442
Loved that first book. Read the next like fucking dozen out of some misplaced sense of obligation. Had to skip Pillars of Creation, felt so glad to read Confessor or Chainfire, whatever the finale in that trio was and finish the series.
Found out a week ago there are like 8 more books. Fuck that guy.
>>46054416
He supplied his own lunch for several years at work by hunting animals and butchering them.
The man has a spear on top of one of our shelves and laments not having any boars in the country to use it on.
>>46053445
Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. I can't get over how awesome "A masochistic Renaissance-era French whore travels to pre-Roman Britain to enlist the help of the Celts in repelling an invasion of bloodthirsty Vikings" is as a plot summary. I'll admit that the prose leaves something to be desired, though.
>>46054476
You're talking to a guy who lives in Russia.
>>46054537
Well thats not fair. But consider that we do not live in russia and he still does that shit.
>>46051539
They're mostly try hards who jerk themselves off for laughing at a 700 year old joke about hangovers and hate anything that isn't literary fiction.
Just kidding.
>Fiction
>Not reading Nonfiction exclusively.
>Having fun
>>46054476
He should move to Texas. Apparently there's pretty good money in going around killing wild pigs.
>>46054658
I think if we lived in Texas he would actually try to get a job as a cowboy. Texas still has cowboys right?
>>46054681
Sort of.
Not him, but I am a Texasfag. Find a ranch, and if they could use a hand, you might as well be an honorary cowboy.
I heard that Howl's Moving Castle was originally a book.
Is it any good?
>>46054844
I thought it was better than the movie, and I liked the movie.
>>46051274
Bitch please
That honour goes to Malazan Book of the Fallen.
>>46050916
OP, welcome home.
You even need other boards.
>>46051905
Furies of Calderon.
It's shit*
*It's not actually shit, but it has some very shitty elements to it that serve to ruin the entire thing - Mainly the main character and his mother.
>>46054868
Good. I'll have to order that, Tales from Earthsea, and few more Pratchett novels, then.
>>46054907
Varg a best.
>>46054947
I would totally read 'Varg, Aquitaine and Araris Fuck Shit Up' for six books. Antillar, Fidelias, Gaius, Bernard and Aldrick can stay as well. Maybe Ehren and Amara. The rest of them need to go and stay go.
>>46053502
HP and the Nat 20 was pretty good, but the sequel got swallowed by a weird side plot and I eventually dropped when the original premise of ''did wizard at Hogwarts'' got sidelined by ''muggle police discover the magical world''.
>>46053502
I would ask if there is a reason everyone uses femshep in fan fiction but she is actually better than manshep.
>>46054874
Tool is literally the best character.
>>46050916
Raymond E. Feist's series of books starting with "Magician" is probably the best fantasy series out there. There must be 20+ books in the series by now. Makes game of thrones seems like a fucking kid's book just like Harry dicksplash Potter.
>>46054874
>>46055193
Who is this undead fellow?
>>46055095
What about Doroga and Walker?
>>46054844
It's pretty good. The book and the movie are different in a few key aspects, but I wouldn't call either one better. That said, the book has two sequels that are also pretty good, which is not something the movie can say.
>>46050916
While it's not exclusively about wizards, the Traitor Son series does have quite a few of them in prominent positions.
Most of them are dicks in one way or another.
>>46055221
An undead Neanderthal swordmaster
His entire race spooky-fied themselves 100,000 years before the main series so they could commit genocide on the elephant people more thoroughly
>>46051765
>He's got some of the best prose in fantasy.
that's a damning criticism of the genre
>>46055329
Thats dedication right there.
>>46055221Onos T'oolan, nicknamed Tool in Book 1. He's the (Ex-)First Sword of the T'lan Imass, who are a race of skeletons who became immortal so that they could exterminate the Not!Orcs. He's also one of the few T'lann Imass who retains any sense of personality after literal millenia of existing as little more than dust kept alive by an oath.Basically, he's a skeleton swordmaster who is burdened by thousands of years of ennui and stagnation, and still finds the time to make wry comments, engage in philosophical debate, and smash through castle walls and armies of undead raptor-people by himself in order to save the one mortal who he calls friend.
>>46055447
Stuff like this is why I hang around 4chan. I would never have heard about this book otherwise.
>>46055447
>That bit where he carries Toc out of the castle
Literally gave me shivers. My favourite part of the entire series, but I'm still on book 4 so that could change.
>>46055525
The series is well worth reading. All 3.2 million words of it.
>>46055193
Memories of Ice and Gruntle are my favorites personally.
>>46055643
Erickson also managed to finish it within a decade too, probably because he likes coffee more than pizza and football.
>>46051393
>stop liking what I don't like
Nah, you're just retarded.
>>46055212
lol. no accounting for tastes I guess.
>>46055847
B-but WORLDBUILDING anon, and Gardening, and Mehrensese Knots!
>>46053826
>Admitting to liking his writing might as well be a bannable offense, because it's basically admitting that you're under 18.
>>>/lit/ is that way
>>46053391
Explain that being Star-Crossed is VERY EXPLICITLY A BAD THING, for starters.
>>46053835
>>46053790
Apropos of nothing, I never understood why Harry was so engaged in doing as little work as possible. HE GOT ACCEPTED INTO FUCKING MAGIC SCHOOL TO LEARN FUCKING MAGIC, HOLY SHIT why wouldn't every single muggleborn or half-blood character be Hermione; that's the thing that stretches my credulity about the series the most.
>>46053466
I mean, technically, wouldn't it be more apt to show them how much you love them by stabbing or poisoning yourself? Not sure that'll get the right message across, though...
>>46051765
L.E. Modesitt Jr. Also writes some pretty damn good SciFi I highly recommend the octogonal raven.
>>46056321
Yeah seriously. The lazy fuck has the power to defy nature and complains about it being hard.
Shit nigger try learning biotoxicology and protein analysis and come talk to me about hard.
>>46056321
Children are children and schoolwork about magic is still schoolwork. And hey, why put in the effort when you have natural talent coming out of your ears(as in the case of Harry). And learning to use magic is quite different from having to write a million essays about it(or at least, that's what most teenagers would think).
Of course, I should think that given what his life was like at home, Harry of all people should've been all over that shit.
>>46053674
Yeah, but at least it shows him constantly fucking up because of his smugness and slowly losing it as shit gets real.
Like, you never thought he would go there real.
>>46056453
Hes only even good at defense magic isnt he? He only just scrapes by on everything else pretty much.
>>46052121
>hello I am the disreputable dog or the disreputable bitch if you want to be technical when do we go for a walk
>write this out to make fun of you because there's nothing there
>look over my shitpost before I shitpost
>when do we go for a walk
>go for a walk
>walk
>bells ring in my head
>all the bells
>everyone around me begins dying because of Astarael
>a cold wind blows in from the north
>Greater Dead rise from the ground
>run to a nearby river
>such was the strength of my mind being blown
So yeah, I'm stuck on a bridge watching necromancers haul in gravedirt, and everyone I cared about is dead, but it was worth it given how clever that was.
>>46056496
Admittedly it's been a while since I read any of the books, but I'm pretty sure he was more than just scraping by at least in most subjects. He just wasn't top of the class like Hermione, mostly because he didn't put in the effort.
>>46050916
Favorite books?
Well, start with the OG "No sense of right and wrong" wizard - Prospero from Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Move on to Vainnamoinen, Swedish perv wizard and all-around fuckup who ends up fighting a harpy-witch for control of endless food, gold, and salt.
Then hit Merlin for a bit. Read The Once and Future King and then read "The Last Defender of Camelot" because god damn Merlin is fucking scary.
For more modern ZAP MUTHAFUCKA hit up Earthsea, The Dark Tower, and American Gods. These are by no means the best, just the ones I'm familiar with.
>>46056453
Harry isn't talented at magic. Snape is correct when he tells Dumbledore that Harry only manages to get by because of his friends. Dumbledore understands (and by extension this is Rowling's point) that Harry's good-person-ness and ability to make friends is more important than his technical skill.
>>46056591
>Väinämöinen
>swedish
Go die in a fire.
>>46056582
He was definitely shit at potions. Whatever cat lady and the midget thought him he wasnt much good at either. He does alright in magic beasts and plants and he is actually good at defense.
Pretty sure thats how it goes but it has been a few years since I have read the books as well.
>>46056616
Finnish, whatever.
>>46056650
he's not actually that bad at potions, since he did pretty well, albeit not outstandingly, when objectively tested.
The problem was Snape being an unprofessional dipshit, meaning he never managed to get the theory down, which later fucked him up in 6th year.
>>46056700
Well ok but that still isnt exactly an excellent magic resume. Hes only good at one subject that actually involves casting spells and is poor to mediocre at the rest.
>>46056560
Remember how she described how she went into Death, anon?
Or what she did to the assassin under the bridge?
>>46056781
Now I actually have to check it out.
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter#Magical_abilities_and_skills
Looks like he managed an Exceeds Expectations grade in most subjects.
>>46056864
Well shit. I remember the little bastard struggling. Dont I have egg on my face.
Doctor Strange
>>46056496
He excelled at "Defense Against the Dark Arts", but it wasn't actually just defensive magic. Basically, he was good at combat magic in general, including offensive spells.
>>46058404
I know but at the time I was too lazy to type the full name.
>>46052431
>Wheel of *TUGS BRAID*
>Mahouka aka "I'm just your everday average kind of literal jesus"
The fuck anon?
>>46061113
Well it does have wizards in a school.
>>46061359
You SHOULD have prefaced that the writing is terrible and should really only be read when you don't want to think too hard about your story. Despite it's school wizardry it also has a super not-yet incestuous sister, secret ninja magic, robots, aliens and possibly the worst American character in fiction.
>>46061423
I'm a different person. I have no great interest in onii-chan and his OP shenanigans.
>>46061465
Then I guess you know why you're going to hell then? Recommending wheel of time, what were you thinking?
>>46061678
I am a different person you ninny, I didnt recommend either. I just said the series had wizards in a school.
>>46061752
You still defended the recommendation.
>>46061944
No I didnt. All I said is that it fits what OP is looking for, and most likely found at this point, not that they are good. I never even read the wheel of time.
>>46061678
To be fair, wheel of time was good until about halfway through. Though on the other hand, that's 1.7 million words of bad compared to 1.7 million words of good.
>>46052237
Wax and Steris's relationship in Era 2 Mistborn has gotten pretty good
>>46051985
From what I understand he wrote the Codex Alera series on a dare. Butcher claimed that good writing is more important than good ideas, and someone told him he was full of shit.
>Give me not one, but two bad ideas and I will make a story about them.
I hate the bullshit lost Roman legion myth and Poke'mon.
>Done.
Six books later Butcher made one of the most entertaining fantasy reads I have plowed through in a long time.
He isn't a great author, but his style of writing is 'fast paced'. I haven't ever really sat one of his books down out of boredom which is something R.A. Salvatore has never accomplished.
>>46063103
When you grow up, I hope you'll look back at your exaggerated proselytizing with some degree of shame.
Calling Code Alera anything more than an awkward, extended mistake makes me wonder if you spend your days on fanfiction.net and are using those stories as the basis for your reading collection.
I mean, damn son, you're pulling up Salvatore as someone to compare him to. I mean, you're perfectly free to have bad taste, but wowee wow wow do you need to stop hopping on Butcher's dick just because you are terribly under-read.
>>46063406
>>46051393
>>46053826
>>46052074
Pretty much. I mean, the first two books were literally written out of spite for his creative writing teacher by making the most by the numbers irritating thing he could that would be guaranteed to be published.
After the third and he realized there was money to be made he started giving some shits.
>>46064325
Honestly the first two can be skipped entirely.
>>46064434
I believe that was the intent with the third book, start a storyline that the first two largely didn't fucking matter in.
>>46051147
I came in here to say this OP. Really good series.
>>46051393
>Harry Potter
>wizard detective
>coherent world
OP, here's someone who doesn't have any idea what he's talking about and his opinion can safely be written off.
>>46054907
Honestly, I'd really love a game where everyone plays as part of a legion during the stories. Not dealing with main characters, just being some of the nameless soldiers holding the line against thezerg
>>46050916
Early Young Wizards books by Diane Duane. I feel like the latter books really start to suck badly.
The Ravirn series by Kelly McCullough is cybertech wizards and shit
>>46063103
>I hate the bullshit lost Roman legion myth and Poke'mon.
>>Done.
And then he threw in the Zerg for good measure, just because he's that fucking awesome.
Yeah, I'm a fan.
>>46050916
Something I think is criminally underrated is the Twilight Reign series. Sure it's pretty trashy, but the author goes a long way to up himself in scale each time. Plus covenant theory is an interesting magic system
>>46066079
I remember reading another fantasy book with zerg in it. The only part I remember though is they tried to copy a famous archer by making a bug with four arms so it could use two bows at once.
>>46051040
I loved these.
Bartimaeus''s "footnotes" or whatever were some of my favourite parts to read.
>>46052431
>Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
The MC was so fucking obnoxious I couldn't stand it. Of all the series with magic use, why would you mention this one? I would have recommended Overlord personally. Also depending on how far you want to depart from a "traditional wizard" there's a plethora of magical girl series (Nanoha, Madoka), TM stuff like Fate and Kara no Kyoukai, numerous "this is a pseudo MMO/we're trapped in an MMO series" where there are magic users (Danmachi etc.) and even alchemy (Full Metal Alchemist).
I recently read the Old Kingdom books. I fell in love with this series so hard. The second book seemed a little long to me (technically, although a lot happens, not much happens) and I didn't like the MC at first, but by the third book she really grew on me and that made up for it.
Also, the other day I saw people discussing some series involving a magical university or something. Could that have been Kingkiller Chronicles? I feel like such a retard, I wish I could remember something else about it.
>>46066647
You read Overlord more for the character interaction then the magic. How a jap managed to make a story where half the characters literally worship the MC entertaining I dont know but he fucking did it.
Mate Harry Potter is shit
>>46050916
For a less conventional more modern wizards n' shit thing you could try the Dresden Files. The first two books are good, but the third one is where shit gets really good.
Book 16 when btw? It's been over a year and I haven't heard shit.
>>46068804
>He missed the 200 posts shitting on DF in this very thread
>>46068947
I read them and don't give a fuck.
>>46051920
Your Mileage will Very. MOR is ABSURDLY preachy.
>>46054537
Son, stop lying to the adults and go to bed. You've got that test in first hour tomorrow.
>>46068947
There was a handful. Most were defending it.
>>46050916
Hellblazer
>>46050916
I realize this is very much juvenile fiction but Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series was pretty good. Lots of interesting ideas.
>>46050916
Animorphs.
>>46053744
I kinda want to read that
>>46069328
Keys to the Kingdom was my jam.
Another good series is the Circle of Magic
>>46068947
They were all made by you, faggot, don't try to deny it
>>46069363
It's called the Seventh Horcrux, and explains so much about Voldemort and why he acts the way he did.It's entirely that since you can't imperius someone who's already imperiused, he decided to imperius HIMSELF. And kept it that way.
>>46069363
Aha yes, I was looking for the title.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10677106/1/Seventh-Horcrux
>>46069527
Also in which we discover he created the Deatheaterafter getting hammered because he was refused the DADA teacher spot. And then forgot how he created the dark mark at all because of all the alcohol involved.
