Authors like Brandon

[Emerald101 he/him]

I've read every book by Brandon that I can get my hands on, and I've run out of good books to read, so here's my question:

 

What other authors have similar writing styles to brandon, and how are they similar? Who are some good authors in general?

 

I'm looking mostly for Epic fantasy, but I also enjoy a good Science Fiction, steampunk, or paranormal.

 

Here's who I've already read/already know of:

• Brandon Sanderson (must always be first on any list of authors)
• Tolkien
• Robert Jordan
• Dave Duncan
• George R. R. Martin
• Eoin Colfer
• Brandon Mull
• J. K. Rowlings
• Isaac Asimov
• Frank Herbert
• James Dashner
• Patrick Rothfuss
• Rick Riordan
• John Flanagan
• D. J. Machale
• P. W. Catanese
• Pittacus Lore
• Richard Paul Evens
• Susan Cooper
• Obert Skye
• Greg Park

So, yeah, you can see why I'm running out of books.

 

I'll make a list of the authors you guys name as you guys name them.

 

Authors you guys named:

• Scott Westerfield
• Michael J. Sullivan
• China Mieville
• Brian McClellan
• Jim Butcher
• Guy Gavriel Kay
• Brian McClellan
• Brent Weeks
• Scott Lynch
• Brian Staveley
• Mervyn Peake
• James S. A. Corey
• John Crowley
• John Scalzi
• Jonathan Stroud
•  Orson Scott Card
• Terry Goodkind
• Seanan McGuire
• Michelle West/Michelle Sagara
• Glen Cook
• Diane Duane
• Terry Pratchett
• Dan Simmons
• Lois McMaster Bujold
• Tamora Pierce
• R. A. Salvatore
• Peter V. Brett
• David Walton
• Robin Hobb
• Naomi Novik

Edited June 20, 2015 by Emerald101

[Redbird he/him]

I wouldn't exactly compare the writing to Brandon, but from the genres you listed, you may find this interesting. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield, it is a steampunk vs. genetic fabrication alternate history WWI.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Redbird

[+Slowswift he/him]

I personally recommend Michael J Sullivan's Riyria novels. They may not measure up to Brandon's standard to some folks, but they were some of the best fantasy I've read. Ever.

[Emerald101 he/him]

thanks guys, keep it rolling people.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Emerald101

[ThirdGen]

Try some China Mieville.  I recommend The City and The City.

[Kasimir he/him]

Try Brian McClellan's Powder Mage Trilogy, if you don't mind heading into the gunpowder age in your fantasy. Considering he's of the Brandon Sanderson school of magic systems, there's a bit of overlap there. And you should absolutely try Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series.

 

Edit: And while Guy Gavriel Kay doesn't write like Sanderson--more like Tolkien--I'd always recommend his books. That man's a god.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Kasimir

[Argent he/him]

Judging from the list in your original post, it looks like you are mostly looking for good authors, not necessarily authors similar to Brandon. Because half of those are only tangentially similar to him.

 

So, if we are going for good authors...

• Brian McClellan - a student of Brandon himself, he's been a published author for couple of years and already with a trilogy (and a few novellas and short stories) behind his back. I would rate his quality of writing just a tad below Elantris or Warbreaker. Stories are solid though, as is his improvement between books.
• Brent Weeks - one of my favorites, author of the Night Angel and Lightbringer series. Night Angel is alright, but Lightbringer is where he shines. It's big, it has beautiful and clever magic, and is just all around great. 
• Scott Lynch and his Gentleman Bastard is another great choice. The series is mostly fantasy heists, well written and featuring an overarching plot.
• Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files is really a must. Urban fantasy, set (usually) in Chicago, where wizard and private investigator Harry Dresden helps the police, fights crime, solves mysteries, has sex with vampires and fairies, and acquires a personal army of pixies whom he feeds with pizza. Other highlights feature a zombie T-Rex, a "Polka will never die!" war cry, and the following lines of dialogue:
  
  

  He bowed his head to me. “Likest thou jelly within thy doughnut?”

  “Nay, but prithee, with sprinkles ‘pon it instead,” I said solemnly, “and frosting of white.”

   

   

• Brian Staveley is one of those authors that showed up out of nowhere and stole the show. His Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne are books about three siblings, heirs to the Unhewn Throne, and how they apply their unique talents and training (one is ascet monk, one is the equivalent of special operative, and one is a politician) to some pretty nasty situations. My description is bland and vague because I find it hard to tell what's really going on lest I spoil something interesting. It's a very well written series though.

I'll stop here though. There are some others I would recommend, but you have plenty of authors already.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

James S. A. Corey, a pen name for the collaboration of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. They write the Expanse series, which is Sci-Fi gold.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

What? No Mervyn Peake? What sort of heresy is this?

 

I wouldn't recommend you go out and buy Titus Groan right now, but keep it in the back of your head. Particularly if you read and like China Mieville. 

 

And how could you not have the One True Author: John Crowley?  Once again, you have to be in the right state of mind, I'd see if you could check out Engine Summer from the library. It's a quicker read than Little, Big and will let you know real quick if you'll like him... or be doomed to mediocrity! 

 

Now for an actual recommendation you can use sooner than later... has John Scalzi been mentioned yet? He's science fiction, but he writes consistently enjoyable books.

[ccstat he/him]

I will add a vote for Brent Week's Lightbringer series. I absolutely love them, and of the ones mentioned so far they are most similar to Brandon's style. (For the record, since a lot of people may be reading this thread, Weeks has a bit more violence, intimacy, and language than Brandon's books, which is why I sometimes hesitate to recommend them to several of my Sanderson-loving friends who have particularly  sensitive triggers. But in comparison to many things on your list above, these will be nothing special.)

 

Another of my stand-by recommendations is Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy, set in a magical England from the perspective of an enslaved jinni whose primary magical ability appears to be conceited snark. The characters are simply delightful in that one. Stroud is currently in the middle of a younger series called Lockwood & Co. Think British teen ghostbusters with swords.

[Lindel he/him]

Try Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Pathfinder... Basically anything by Card is good. 

[kroen]

Personally I enjoyed the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

[kaellok he/him]

Echoing suggestion for Jim Butcher, Scott Lynch, and Brent Weeks.

Seanan McGuire has a great urban fantasy (book 1 is kinda meh, but quickly gets much better in 2+.) She also writes horror as Mira Grant. Her Newsflesh trilogy has some of the best written, most enjoyable, relatable, and sympathetic characters I've ever read. I used to not care about zombie apocalypse genre, and actively stayed away from it because it is, in general, awful. She brings it, and the world, to life ina way that very few authors can do.

Michelle West/Michelle Sagara also creates incredibly vivid and believable worlds and characters to populate them. Under West, the stories are slower paced, and with a surreal fairy tale-esque feel to them. (I've been told that's a horrible description, but i stand by it.) Under Sagara, think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but fantasy.

Glen Cook's Black Company series, and stand alone novels, are amazing. Better, by far, than GRRM.

[Paragrin she/her]

Diane Duane. I'm not good at describing things, but she's awesome. She has a nine-book fantasy series called Young Wizards (with several accompanying short stories and two tie-in novels featuring sentient magic cats) and some other fantasy I haven't read and some Star Trek novels.

[Fatebreaker he/him]

My initial reaction after reading the title of this thread was, "There's no one like Brandon Sanderson. NO ONE."

 

 

 

But if you want to read amazing fantasy, read Terry Pratchett. He's one of Brandon's favorite authors, and one of mine too. His story telling is excellent and his characters are, unforgettable...

[StormingTexan he/him]

I love these threads they help me put my TBR list together which amazingly is a little empty atm.

+1 for Brian McClellan Powder Mage books are probably the best non-Sanderson I've read so far this year.

Since you said SciFi have you read the Hyperion books by Dan Simmons? You mentioned Herbert so I assume Dune I rank the first Hyperion book right under Dune.

I've also read a little Weeks and Butcher both I think are great as others have said.

Edited June 17, 2015 by StormingTexan

[Emerald101 he/him]

Thanks guys!

[+Wax he/him]

Edit: Just more explanation added on why some books I recommend more...

 

I would recommend the following:-

 

The curse of chalion and paladin of souls by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Basically a 2 book series, but curse of chalion is a standalone masterpiece in itself.  Great payoffs at the end of each book.  Slow build up, but once you are hooked, each books starts building momentum like a freight train (slow 50 pages), but by the end, it's awesome.  Curse of Chalion is my favourite book of all time.

 

The old kingdom series (3 books) by Garth Nix - Sabriel was a brilliant book with a completely different magic system, focusing on death magic and necromany & bells (no zombies).  Garth Nix is absolutely brilliant, and I highly recommend some of his other books as well (which are a sci fi or urban fantasy) - keys to the kingdom series (7 book), confusion of princes (homage to robert a heinlein's style), shade's children.

 

Recommend the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett - again, he's a genius and he's already on your list.  All the discworld series is great and each book is standalone, which is a marvel given 40 odd books.  I thought Thud! and A Wee Free Men were modern masterpieces in humor mixed with insightful commentary into race, relationship matters, younger siblings, fear and everything else.  

 

Re-recommend Jonathan Stroud - The Barthemeus djinn is funny, is all I can say.  Basically, a kid calls up a djinn in a world where djinns are quite common - except this djinn has a sense of humor.  High quality stuff. The lockwood & co series (completely separate to the djinn series) had a good start, but book 2 dragged a bit.

 

The Bekah Cooper series (3 books) by Tamora Pierce.  The only Tamora Pierce stuff I would recommend.  The pacing is slow with this one, but a more rounded view of a new police recruit with a touch of magic power in a historical kingdom.

 

I don't know if you've read Robert A Heinlein - he's a treasure trove from the 50s-70s.  Fast, easy, unpredictable & fun!

 

Also recommend reading Armor by John Steakley.  Just one book was written by the author in the 80s and it was great!  A sci fi flick but more of a character driven story.  Yet the characters were so mesmerizing in themselves.

 

Rick Riordan - He writes some great books, but the narration is from a YA perspective.  Think greek demi gods interactions meets Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  Still good fun and I am still reading them 8-9 books in and can't hardly wait!

 

50-50 on these:-

 

Eoin Colfer - OK- His Artemis Fowl series is absolutely fun!  You'll love butler!  Will get a movie soon as well.  However, the rest of his books are formulaic.  So, stay with Artemis Fowl series.  Books are stand alone, so you can leave the series any time you want.  I would say that the quality dropped a little from book 6 and onwards.  Still a fun read.

 

Brian Staveley - Book 1 was great, but book 2 was just a lot of killing for questionable results... So, on the fence with this series.

 

Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos series is the one I've read.  It's a modern masterpiece.  BUT, it's Complex.  I loved it, but not sure if it's everyone's taste.  I'd put it in my recommended list, but I know, not everyone can deal with the complexity until it all gets resolved in book 4.  Also, some characters are weird and unlikable, until you get to book 4, and it all becomes clear.  Until then, it's just a mind boggling series.  So, if you choose to pick this one up, make sure you at least read until the end of book 2 to make your mind about if you like it or not.

 

 

On the negatives from your list:-

 

Avoid Orson Scott Card except for Ender's game.  The rest just go downhill into politics, religion, philosphy & power games, and his latest stuff is even worse.

 

Jim Butcher - don't like how he describes females - a lot of repetitive scenes of "oh.. I know this will be trouble, but I have to help the damsel  in distress or just because I have an ego".  Not bad, but probably worth putting on the bottom of the list.

 

Frank Herbert - Dune series.  Frankly overrated in my view.  Brilliantly written, and you keep waiting for the point to hit you; for some grand revelation - but it never comes even after 10 odd books, by which time more than 10,000 years have passed in the series.

 

Scott Lynch - I am reading lies of locke lamora at the moment, and frankly, the writing style is not as engaging, as it can be.

 

John Scalzi - Overrated!  Once the plot opens up - it's just a formula driven conclusion you can see a mile away.

 

Also, avoid John Pierce - the red rising series... just a communist propoganda book.

Edited June 19, 2015 by axcellence

[Tetriona she/her]

The writing styles aren't exactly similar, but R.A.Salvatore's Drizzt Do-Urden books are AMAZING! Plus the entire series of books is very long so it will keep you busy for a while... (I suggest starting with his Icewind Dale trilogy and go from there)

[kaellok he/him]

Lol axcellence. I pretty much think the very opposite of you. With exception of Heinlein. And i thoroughly enjoyed Card's Shadows of Ender series nearly as much as the original (heartily recommend avoiding all the others, tho.)

Love how you gave examples of what you liked and not, as well as why they didn't work for you. Really helps to match up tastes more, since different people look for different things even in several books they like in common.

[DanTheSeamonster he/him]

axcellence, do yourself a favor and keep reading until the end of Lies, the climax is amazing, brilliant and totally worth the read. As for Butcher, I haven't read his Dresden Files, but from what you say he treats the women in the Codex Alera better. They're all independent and strong, collected and able to keep their head in a tough situation.

 

So I would definitely add votes to Pat Rothfuss, Brent Weeks, Butcher's Codex Alera and Scott Lynch. You should probably go ahead and Peter V Brett on the list too. He writes some really good stuff!

Edited June 18, 2015 by The Crooked Warden

[Kaymyth she/her]

axcellence, do yourself a favor and keep reading until the end of Lies, the climax is amazing, brilliant and totally worth the read. As for Butcher, I haven't read his Dresden Files, but from what you say he treats the women in the Codex Alera better. They're all independent and strong, collected and able to keep their head in a tough situation.

 

So I would definitely add votes to Pat Rothfuss, Brent Weeks, Butcher's Codex Alera and Scott Lynch. You should probably go ahead and Peter V Brett on the list too. He writes some really good stuff!

 

Speaking as a female who thoroughly enjoys the Dresden Files novels, I've always gotten the impression that it's meant to be a character flaw of Harry's.  Yes, he's got an overdeveloped sense of chivalry - and it has consequences of annoying the heck out of the quite capable females he knows.  It's also backfired on him once or twice where he's had a genuine reason to keep the mortal person out of mortal danger, and they ignore him because they chalk it up to his standard overprotectiveness.  He does learn and get better about it over time.

[+Wax he/him]

Lol axcellence. I pretty much think the very opposite of you. With exception of Heinlein. And i thoroughly enjoyed Card's Shadows of Ender series nearly as much as the original (heartily recommend avoiding all the others, tho.)

Love how you gave examples of what you liked and not, as well as why they didn't work for you. Really helps to match up tastes more, since different people look for different things even in several books they like in common.

 

@kaelok - opposite of my opinion on everyone I listed? 

 

I did read Ender's shadow which killed it for me.  My memory's gone a bit hazy on the characters names - but as I recall Bean went all biblical on the girl?  Kinda killed it for me - "Hi... were your acting like the following bible character?" is some kind of weird line from a 10-14 year old.

 

 

axcellence, do yourself a favor and keep reading until the end of Lies, the climax is amazing, brilliant and totally worth the read. As for Butcher, I haven't read his Dresden Files, but from what you say he treats the women in the Codex Alera better. They're all independent and strong, collected and able to keep their head in a tough situation.

 

So I would definitely add votes to Pat Rothfuss, Brent Weeks, Butcher's Codex Alera and Scott Lynch. You should probably go ahead and Peter V Brett on the list too. He writes some really good stuff!

 

I will get to the end of Lies... would you consider reading The Curse of Chalion ?  It's my favourite fantasy book to date.  Just builds up slowly and the payoff which comes towards the end is truly startling. 

Edited June 19, 2015 by axcellence

[DanTheSeamonster he/him]

I will definitely check it out! Always looking for a good read.

[navybrandt he/him]

An author that's not very big but a personal friend of mine is David Walton. He's a recipient of the 2008 Philip K. Dick Award for his first novel, Terminal Mind. His latest book, SUPERPOSITION, is a quantum physics thriller with the same mind-bending feel as films like Inception and Minority Report. He is also the author of Quintessence, a science fantasy in which the Earth is really flat.

 

If any of you have read his books, let me know.