Good fantasy books to start off with?

I've been wanting to get into fantasy books for a while now. I had a list of books on my computer that I wanted to check out, but lost it when I had to reformat
The only book I've read that is fantasy-like I guess would be, The Phantom Tollbooth which is pretty much the reason I want to get into fantasy books.

Hope you can help me.

 

Try," A Wrinkle in Time"

Piers Anthony, the author, is a good place to start also.

Then you have ,"The chronicles of Narnia", and, "The Lord of the Rings".

The,"Xanth", novels are terrific.

 

Read the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin, before they make the movie.

 

A really good series "Warriors" by Erin Hunter. If you're into cats that is...(I've read 12 books in the series so far!!)

 

Sounds good.

 

Seven Songs of Merlin
A Wrinkle In Time
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 

Sweet, thanks guys

 

Anything by Terry Brooks (The Shannara novels are some of my fav's). David Eddings is allso good with the Belgariad novels. If your looking for good hack and slash fantasy nothing beats Robert E. Howard's Conan (continued after his death by other writers like Robert Jordan, DeCamp and Carter).

 

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is a favorite of mine

 

anything by Robin Hobb is fantastic. She writes the cognitive aspects of magic better than any author I've encountered so far.

 

I agree with all the books listed. Piers Anthony has a little bit of everything though and a sense of humor too.

 

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

 

Tolkien is good - I'd suggest the following order:
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
And if the first three leave you unsatisfied, then Unfinished Tales of Middle-Earth and The Children of Hurin.

Another great series is The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I know he isn't normally associated with fantasy, but the dark tower is bloody amazing. Sort of fantasy with a slight mixture of horror in there as well (as in it can be "darker" than some pure-fantasy books).

 

Gotta agree with those who said about Peirs Anthony! I LOVED those books. So brilliantly written. =D
Also I'd say...
Robin Hobb
Robert Jordan
Terry Goodkind
Others, but it's half past midnight and my brain's shutting down.

 

Some "old school" pre-LOTR fantasy is great. The King of Elfland's Daughter, Lud In The Mist, The Well at the End of the World ... are all great and very well written.

An excellent introduction to fantasy is the original Wizard of Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin. The series was later expanded to include 2 more novels and a collection of short stories. IMO, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan are the best of the lot.

Judith Tarr wrote some amazing books collectively called "The Hound And The Falcon" series and two related novels, Alamut, and The Dagger and the Cross.

George RR Martin's above mentioned series is awesome... complex and well written. Then there is Phillip Pullman's series His Dark Materials (The Amber Spyglass, et. al.)

Guy Gavriel Kaye is a good fantasy writer.

What about the Redwall series by Brian Jacques?

If you want fantasy that borders on the surreal and horror, Try Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs or Bones of the Moon. Along the same fantasy/surreal/horror line is The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce; I think it will be read in literature classes a hundred years from now, assuming the Earth is not a charred cinder in space.

Piers Anthony is fun to read but all the slapstick gets old after the first few books. I have tried for years to get into Terry Brooks novels but I find them a bit stale and unoriginal.

 

i kinda like the forgotten realms books...

 

Two suggestions in very different directions:

The Once and Future King, by White
anything by Lovecraft.

 

I'll second this motion. While the Fionivar Tapestry is probably the best place to start, I must admit Tigana is my fav.

 

The Eragon trilogy.

 

Redwall is excellent, perhaps childish for some, but still, very fun to read. Similar to Redwall (in the animals sense) are the Welkin Weasel novels by Garry Kilworth.

For fantasy stemming from the framework that Tolkein set out, try R.A. Salvatore. I started by reading...hmmm, The Crimson Shadow I think. He has a selection of trilogies/series revolving around particular characters. Drizzt Do'Urden takes the cake as his most famous though.

Tad Williams, The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower are wonderful, LONG reads, but totally worth it.

Terry Goodkind, another modern fantasy writer, I would highly recommend his books, once again, they're long, but entertaining and enthralling the whole way through.

Raymond E. Feist. Not much to say other than he's good. Shorter than the others, which can definitely be a bonus. But excellent adult fantasy nonetheless.

On a side note, most of the stuff I've mentioned is newer fantasy, not classical fantasy such as stuff by Heinlein...I also neglected to include sci fi stuff, which is technically a similar genre...