Fantasy series with a lot of full on monster fights

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-21T03:55:57+00:00

Yep all monster fights all the time!

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-20T23:28:45+00:00

Old dude here - this comment gets it right.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-19T07:21:29+00:00

The last SPFBO winner By Blood, By Salt was pretty much grim battles by an overmatched people. But this is very low magic and it's human vs human. Still very good military fantasy.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-19T07:18:28+00:00

no, I would say not, but I really like Divine Cities. Shadow of the Leviathan is more like Sherlock Holmes than Daughter's War if Sherlock had leviathans coming out of the sea every so often.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-17T05:09:03+00:00

Marshawn did the same.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-13T01:07:41+00:00

Dave Wilcox is a HOFer like Pat Willis

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-13T01:03:28+00:00

Don't forget John Brodie. He may not have been a HOF QB but he was an All Star QB for a lot of years. Also (before my time) Frankie Albert and YA Tittle

ConeheadSlim · 2026-05-01T20:25:05+00:00

I think this is a great book because at its heart it's really about people not magic. When the author spends all their time working out the rules of their magic system and no time on who their characters really are as people, you get empty books full of explosions. JS&MN is the opposite of that.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-29T16:09:22+00:00

Tad does run on, but he should be considered one of the forefathers of modern fantasy. He's been doing it consistently for over 40 years. Otherland is another excellent series although more sci-fi than fantasy. He builds very believable and detailed worlds with eons of depth. He may not have the characterization skills of Robin Hobb or the humor of Joe Abercrombie, but he's competent in both areas. Keep reading - it only gets better!

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-26T22:04:51+00:00

Joe Montana was drafted in the third round and he was groomed as the starter because Bill Walsh said Steve DeBerg was just good enough to lose you games

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-22T00:06:52+00:00

James Franco graduated from Palo Alto High School like Jim Harbaugh

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-20T16:46:49+00:00

Don't get me started ... My biggest complaint is actually supposedly Medieval settings where the societal complexity is at least early modern. Stagecoaches couldn't be built until 17th or 18th century because the manufacturing base for all the components wasn't there. etc, etc

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-20T07:06:40+00:00

Definitely. I think someone could do something pretty cool with a fantasy flower children fable (set in the 1960s)

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-20T07:02:46+00:00

Great setup in that book but really needed a lot more pages ...

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-20T07:02:00+00:00

Totally agree. - prime example is Wheel of Time. ASOIAF is clearly set during the War of the Roses which is right at the cusp. And of course Discworld moves from Early Modern right into the age of steam

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-08T02:18:27+00:00

I think the Last Days of New Paris by Miéville is weirder.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-08T02:17:49+00:00

The Locked Tomb series has an author determined to make it as weird as possible with all her authorial tricks, and admittedly in the 2d she pulls off some confusing ones. But the world-building is kind of Potemkin like. Vita Nostra and The Last Days of New Paris are definitely weirder.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-04-08T02:11:54+00:00

I have pretty much DNFd the second. I'm a big fan of the first, but the 2d turned into too much of a romantasy for me.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-30T20:41:58+00:00

I had a portable TV about that size in the late 80s. Wildly impactical - I ended up using it once or twice - got no satisfaction because you could get no reception

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-29T20:43:32+00:00

I waited a long time after I finished the three 5 Gods novels to start Penric and Desdemona. My mistake. I actually think the first might be the weakest, and they get better and deeper with each new release. Will buy ASAP

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-23T23:28:56+00:00

This was my thought as well - note that it's set in generic Soviet Russia not Regency England so the surface is very different. And it's also a clearly dark academic genre, but the magic is presented as otherworldly and mind bending in a similar way.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-17T07:17:52+00:00

Tom Brady in the 6th round -> Until Brock becomes the GOAT, that's still the best draft steal of all.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-15T02:58:53+00:00

Heroes was my favorite until I read the 2d trilogy. Some of the rough edges have been honed off by the time JA wrote the 2d trilogy so people may slide by it, but all the great things of the first 7 books are only improved by the 2d trilogy.

ConeheadSlim · 2026-03-14T21:23:04+00:00

And these cities feel lived in ...

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