Looking for Book Recommendations for Christmas
 

I would like to wish for some books for Christmas.
But I have no idea which books to wish for. I thought people here generally have a taste which match with mine so I thought I'd ask for some suggestions.

I like sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism
I haven't read that much but all lotr, wot, got and Haruki Murakami books.

I don't really like factbooks, crime, romance ( however if it is some exceptional books in this area, those are fine too )

Any books which is exceptionally good works no matter which genre.

As for fantasy, I can recommend Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy and the following Golden Fool one.

Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jorge Luis Borges

If it can be a comic book as well - Do you know Bone ? That's the most … impressive comic series I've ever read.

If you want a good laugh, then I can recommend the comic series of "Pheobe and her Unicorn".

If it can be translated … well, someone did it already … Walter Moers' book "The City Of Dreaming Books" is … the probably most weird kind of … fantasy ? I've ever read.
I only read it in its original German language, so I'm unsure whether its weirdness can be transported well enough into other languages … I simply wonder because Walter Moers uses and invents words no-one ever has thought of … They do fit into this setting, though …

Apart from that, I could only recommend you German-language books … ;)

I really like the red rising series by pierce brown:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rising
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It isn't really fantasy per sey but it is extremely good.
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Also if you read green tower series by Tad Williams; he has a new expansion of the series 40? 50? years later where the original heroes are much older and the dark elves are rising again…

If you've not read Name of the Wind, do yourself a huge favour and read it. And then tell your friends.

If tougher content isn't an issue, with some serious philosophy tossed in for good measure, the Donaldson books are quite the treat.

Bernard Cornwell has penned quite a few series that I'm fond of, notably the Sharpe tales and the Saxon tales/Last Kingdom. He mixes fictional protagonists against a backdrop of real history, which I quite enjoy. I learned more about Alfred the Great from reading his books than I ever learned in University!

Great book, but while you are with your friends do not forget to tell them it is not finished and the author is tied with George R. R. Martin for the award of Procrastination Master of 2018. :)

Rothfuss, unlike Martin, doesn't seem to be on the cusp of expiration. Like a fine wine, I'm sure the third book will be aged to perfection, I've seen plenty of series that became train wrecks at the end, so I'm hoping the delay is for the sake of quality.

As for Martin, I suspect we'll never see another Ice and Fire book. At least not by his hands, but as long as he continues to contribute/edit the Wild Card books, he gets a full pass from me!

Name of the wind series is quite good; but as others noted I have my doubt on the third book showing up anytime soon. After all it has been over 14 years…

Okay, not a book recommendation per se, but I find my yearly subscription to Kindle Unlimited to be the best investment I've ever made. Thousands of books/year released. Now, some of them are horrible, but I'm a bulk reader :) If you read a lot, this is a great savings tool.

Book two of the kingkiller chronicles was 2010 or 2011, so I'm not sure where fourteen years comes from. The first one was 2007 I think, so not even fourteen years from that one.

And if you do pick up Name of the Wind, get the nice, special edition version. It really stands out on a book shelf! I'm hoping they release a similar edition for the second book when it hits the ten year anniversary mark.

I didn't like most of the well-known fantasy novels I've attempted to read. I just don't enjoy the style in which they tend to be written - I find it a chore to read them, and, if they contain good stories, I'd rather see them as an HBO series or suchlike. If the actual writing isn't pleasurable to read, I'd rather receive the tale via some other medium, and read something else.

For some older fantasy books that I think are very well-written, try the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolffe, and Lyonesse by Jack Vance. That last one is interesting, as it goes back to an older fantasy tradition, inspired by fairy tales, Arthurian legend, and that kind of thing.

No books for you! Work on your game :)

Seconded on Ripper's suggestions. In fact I came here to highly recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy and Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy. But Ripper beat me to it. :)

If you like first person perspective in a fantasy Film Noir two authors that do a masterful job are Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series and Glen Cook's Garret, P.D. series. Both are excellent and a lot of fun with fantasy at their cores. Make sure you start with book 1 of each as there are overarching themes/story lines that carry forward.

I've another suggestion, since I completely missed the magical realm category, assuming a contemporary setting is ok. Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles are pretty good, I'm still dragging my feet on the ninth book, simply because I don't want to finish the series. =xxx

If you like science fiction check out Ann Leckie's Provenance or Tad William's Otherland trilogy. Like Wiretripped I am a huge Robbin Hobb fan. Both of those trilogies are excellent.

I'm stunned that no-one mentioned Modesitt's Recluce and Imager series. They are by far my favourite books, though I do like Rothfuss and Sanderson!!

If you like magical realism (and just an excellent fantasy series as others have suggested):
Kingkiller Chronicles

If you're looking for a great fantasy series (one of my favorites) that will fill that Game of Thrones hole:
Sword of Shadows series (by J.V. Jones)

If your looking for some very emotional character fantasy:
The Farseer Trilogy (there's many more than 3 books at this point now)

If you're looking for great fantasy or sci-fi with lots of excellent witty British humour:
anything written by Terry Pratchett
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

If you're looking for excellent "believable" fantasy, with great writing, smart plots, and lovable characters:
The Curse of Chalion (and the 2 other books in that series)

Some other fantasy/sci-fi classics:
The Wizard of Earthsea
Watership Down
The Chrysalids
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Ender's Game (don't watch the movie, it's shite)

Wow, so many good suggestions! Thanks. Now I need to decide which ones I should wish for, name of the wind is for sure on the list, still thinking about the others to add.

Well, when I have time I still do, however I found that when you have a kid sleeping in your lap, reading a book works a lot better than coding :)