Something like LOTR

[Saratoga NX-3842]

I'm looking for a new book. Something like LOTR, that scope and scale but a little more action packed and easier to read and preferably only one book and not a series.


Any body have any suggestions?

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

You pretty much killed it by asking for only one book and not series. Most sword and sorcery fantasy writers are incapable of writing a single great book. They pretty much all go into series, drag on, and on, past the story length, regurgitating the same thing over and over again.

If you're willing to try the first book of a series, the only one that really comes to mind as LOTR-esque but with real quality, is George R R Martin's A song of Ice and Fire. The first book is "A Game of Thrones". The series is, of course, unfinished, and the series length gets longer and longer after each release.

It's a little darker and more medieval and a little less magical (at first) than LOTR, but fits what you are asking for I think.

 

[Rabittooth]

Terry Brooks' Shannara series is vast and so similar to LOTR in the first Trilogy that he actually gets quite a bit of criticism for it.
I read a bunch of them years and years ago and enjoyed them at the time.
Maybe you should give them a shot.

-Rabittooth

 

[Evil Twin]

Ditto on A Song of Ice and Fire. Simply the best fantasy series out there right now. I'd also recommend another favorite of mine, Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon) which would definitely fit the bill for more action and easier to read.

 

[Mistral]

For a single book-

GRUNTS!-Mary Gentle I can't suggest this to enough people enough times-great book!

if you want action try Santiago, A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnik,

or more fantasy one-shots:

The Practice Effect - David Brin

Tea With the Black Dragon-unknown

The Once and Future King- T S White

You could also pick up a Terry Pratchett book-most of his Discworld series do well as stand-alones.

There is a trade paperback out(kinda big) by Roger Zelazny called The Chronicles of Amber-it is a very entertaining and interesting fantasy and you can pick it up, read a while and set it down, then come back to it later. The overall story is wild and amazing like Tolkein's work without bogging down in all of those complicated names and deep sidepaths of history that LOTR has.

 

[DigificWriter]

It's really hard to reccommend a single book that is like LotR, since, as already stated, most of the authors who write 'high fantasy' like Tolkien did tend to write more than one novel. With that said, here's some reccommendations anyway (most of them have sequels, but, after reading them, you can make the determination whether to continue with the series of which they are a part):
- 'Sorcery Rising' by Jude Fisher
- 'The Summer Tree' by Guy Gavriel Kay
- 'The Sword of Shannara' by Terry Brooks
- 'Dragon Wing' by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
- 'The Dark is Rising' * by Susan Cooper
- 'The Curse of Chalion' ** by Lois McMaster Bujold

* This is actually the second book of Cooper's 5-book 'Dark is Rising Sequence'; the first is 'Over Sea, Under Stone'

** Note: This book has a sequel, 'Paladin of Souls', but it's not really necessary to read it because both books, although they share characters, each tell their own self-contained, stand-alone stories

 

[Brian]

You could try the Inheritance Trilogy (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr). They are most certainly heavily influenced by Tolkien, a much easier read, and more action-oriented.

 

[John Clark]

For a single book-

GRUNTS!-Mary Gentle I can't suggest this to enough people enough times-great book!

Couldn't agree more. The idea behind this one sounded a little odd at first, but it is a very enjoyable read

 

[MarianLH]

The Deed Of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon.


Marian

 

[Davros]

The Elric Saga by Micheal Moorcock

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

If you are willing to shift away from Fantasy into the Sci-Fi genre, I can highly recommend Tad Williams's "Otherland".
It's pretty long, consists of 4 Books but has a definitiv end.
Huge parts of it take place in a cyberworld with lots of different settings (even Middle-Earth has a cameo).
It references LotR quite a lot.
It certainly has it's action sequences.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

The Mists of Avalon - a fairly original retelling of the Arthurian myths with grand scope, excellent characters and marvelous depth to the world. There are various sequels and prequels, but it works best by far as a stand alone book. It is not directly influenced by LotR and so avoids the rehash feeling a lot of swords and sorcery fantasy has, but it is similar in its epic feel, grandly heroic characters and big themes of a world shifting from one age to another.

 

[JuanBolio]

I can't think of any single books, but Wizard's First Rule is pretty good, and stands pretty well on its own in that it tells a complete story in and of itself. Definitely more action-packed than LOTR, and a damn exciting read at times.

 

[Venardhi]

You could try the Inheritance Trilogy (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr). They are most certainly heavily influenced by Tolkien, a much easier read, and more action-oriented.

No. Please no, and fuck no. Don't encourage people to read that shit, especially if they're older than 12 years old.

 

[Cain]

I'm currently reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian tales. Written in 1912, the first book is the story of John Carter who is transported to Mars where he battles giant green Martians and wins the heart of the princess. It's a little cheesy and more sci-fi then fantasy, but it is very imaginative, fast paced, and hard to put down. It was the inspiration for much of the sci-fi that follows it, including Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, and Ray Bradbury's Martian stories.

It reminds me of LOTR because there are huge battles between different races. It's really a lot of fun. The first book, A Princess of Mars, works as a stand alone.

 

[Mick of Time]

Guy Gavriel Kay's fantasy singletons, Tigana and A Song for Arbonne. Can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[Procutus]

I'd recommend the Shannara books too. If you want just a single book read, then Sword of Shannara is the way to go. There is a great similarity to Tolkien, but in many ways it is a lot easier to read.

 

[Freman]

Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends. Six books, but damn good ones.

 

[wew]

Or Stephen Donaldson's series about Thomas Covenant. You can get a good solid story just reading the first three books of the original. It actually has two sets of trilogies, and I believe he's started a tetraology.

 

[Bishbot]

I'd recommend the Shannara books too. If you want just a single book read, then Sword of Shannara is the way to go. There is a great similarity to Tolkien, but in many ways it is a lot easier to read.

Its too damned similar - I didn't actually finish it because of how close it was.

I'd say that "Wizard's First Rule" as mentioned above isn't bad - you'd probably enjoy that one - its quite adult at times, but that's not a bad thing - just don't read any of the ten sequels - just don't, ever!

"Magician" by Raymond E. Feist is pretty good, a big chunky read, but easy enough and flows pretty well. Although I read it a really long time ago, so I don't really remember it.

The best fantasy book I've read recently was "The Steel Remains" by Richard Morgan, but its pretty much the anti-Tolkien (and sets out to be) conflicted characters, sex, swearing on every page, bloody violence. It's terrific, but I'm willing to concede its probably not what you want.

Another not really suitable suggestion would be "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville. Its an amazing steampunk adventure, thick as a breeze block but the prose moves like greased lightning. Shares some stuff with "The Steel Remains" though, and also features huge cityscapes and railway engines and things - so I guess not what you really want.

I'll add my voice to the "just read A Game of Thrones" chorus - read it, its not standalone, but at the end you'll be glad.