Best selfpublished Fantasy works?

[Anglachel]

I searched the site but did not see a thread like this (at least not on page 1 of the results).

Some authors who selfpublish are regulars on here, like Mr. Sullivan.
Now i am wondering if i miss out on some good fantasy books just because i never look that way (i admit i am kind of old fashioned and, as of now, only buy printed books by well known publishers, so i kind of missed out on talented fantasy authors who are only available via ebooks and/or obscure publishing labels)?

I know of Mr. Sullivan's books (now also published via Orbit) and Mr. Ryan's book (which also got a publishing deal).

Any other good fantasy that, for you, dear reader, matches the quality of published authors?

As a point of reference, here some authors i like a lot:

Steven Erikson, R. Scott Bakker, Michelle West, George R. R. Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Davis Ashura]

I've read about 10 self-pub books, and the only one I found to be good, and it was actually utterly compelling was Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. I found it to be the finest debut novel since Patrick Rothfuss. Here's a link to his thread. http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?34957-Blood-Song-(Raven-s-Shadow-1)-by-Anthony-Ryan

I haven't read Michael's (Sullivan) books yet, but I've heard great things about them, and they're on my to-read list.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Ranting Dragon's asked me to produce a list of "Top 20 speculative fiction" authors. I tried to make the list diverse, and really all of these have been well received. Here is a link. Also, io9 did an article on the The Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors which is worth looking at as well.

And yes I agree that Antony Ryan's book is very good. In fact, it is the only book (to date) that I volunteered a blurb for:

“Anthony Ryan is a new fantasy author destined to make his mark on the genre. His debut novel, Blood Song, certainly has it all: great coming of age tale, compelling character, and a fast-paced plot. If his first book is any indication of things to come, then all fantasy readers should rejoice, as a new master storyteller has hit the scene.”—Michael J. Sullivan, author of the Riyria Revelations series

And thanks for the interest in Riyria!

 

[ArtNJ]

Here is what I have read of decent indies, many excluded. Agree Bloodsong is the best, and haven't read Sullivan yet. These are in no particular order, rated on a 5 star scale


1. Cloak - 4 stars -- quite fun urban YA fantasy with some similar elements to the TV show Grimm. I can recommend this one to kids or adults, its fun;

2. The Martian - 4 stars -- Sci-fi story, space mission goes bad, hero stranded on mars but survives with McGuyver like brilliance. If you liked Apollo 13 you might like this. This one is really popular on Amazon. The science stuff seemed well done and believable. Pretty close to zero characterization, but there is some humor;

3. Psion Beta (Series of 3 books) -- 5 stars -- This is sort of like a YA Ender's Game where the heroes have psionic powers. Its lots of fun, and the plotting is good. Very highly rated on Amazon. 5 stars is generous to be sure, but I really did enjoy it;

4. Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Novel -- 3.5 stars -- Very clever premise and world, but the actual detective story isn't that great. Still, this one is worth a look.

5. Mech Series -- 4 stars -- Some of BV Larson's better stuff. This is basically the "Aliens" movie impacting a colonial spacefaring society. It has a few legit sci-fi ideas, but mostly its just decent writing and fun. Good buy at .99;

6. Star Force Larson (3-4 stars depending on book) -- This unfinished series is already 7 books. While it is among Larson's best, and has legit sci-fi ideas, it just goes on to long and gets repetitive. Plus, for all the legit sci-fi, there are aspects of it that are cringe-worthy, like the cardboard-cut out alien races;

7. 14 -- 4 stars -- Steampunk meets Scooby doo. LOL, what? Mysterious goings on at a really cheap apartment building. Works better while the mystery is still live, before the reveal, but has a certain charm;

8. Turing Evolved -- 3.5 stars -- I liked the treatment of AIs here, seemed somewhat original. The actual story is a little underwhelming;

9. Ex Heroes/Ex Patriots - 4 stars - Zombies plus Super-Heroes. A guilty pleasure, but actually pretty well done and fun. Not high fantasy to be sure

10. The Cloud Roads - 4 stars -- This is a totally imaginative fantasy -- cant really describe it in a sentence. I think its full priced now though, and its only around 250 pages. Slightly shallow by the standards of published work, but fun and imaginative.

11. Confessions of a D List Supervillain -- 4 Stars -- Funny and quality super-hero type story -- really short, but its cheap enough. I recommend this one pretty highly, would have given 5 stars but its just too short.

 

[Skynjay]

My favorite self pubbed series is The Emperor's Edge by Lindsey Buroker. She has kept the first book free on Amazon, so try it. They are light reading books with a bit of steampunk flair, but have great character interactions, at time hilarious.

AK Host writes very original fantasy, and my fellow reviewer Pauline thinks the Silence of Medair is one of the best fantasy novels out there, period.

I didn't care for A Dance of Cloaks, but it recently got picked up by a publisher, so he must of done something right.

Wool hardly counts anymore, but the first short story was absolutely amazing, and the omnibus wasn't bad.

 

[ArtNJ]

My favorite self pubbed series is The Emperor's Edge by Lindsey Buroker. She has kept the first book free on Amazon, so try it. They are light reading books with a bit of steampunk flair, but have great character interactions, at time hilarious.

AK Host writes very original fantasy, and my fellow reviewer Pauline thinks the Silence of Medair is one of the best fantasy novels out there, period.

I didn't care for A Dance of Cloaks, but it recently got picked up by a publisher, so he must of done something right.

Wool hardly counts anymore, but the first short story was absolutely amazing, and the omnibus wasn't bad.

I couldn't even get through Emperor's Edge. Different strokes

 

[sullivan_riyria]

My favorite self pubbed series is The Emperor's Edge by Lindsey Buroker. She has kept the first book free on Amazon, so try it. They are light reading books with a bit of steampunk flair, but have great character interactions, at time hilarious.

Totally agree about Lindesy's books - they are very entertaining reads.

AK Host writes very original fantasy, and my fellow reviewer Pauline thinks the Silence of Medair is one of the best fantasy novels out there, period.

This is a new one to me - I'll definitely check it out - Thanks!

 

[Andols]

where do you guys find out about new self pub works that are worth a look? short of making a thread here i guess

are there blogs or sites dedicated to such?

 

[ArtNJ]

where do you guys find out about new self pub works that are worth a look? short of making a thread here i guess

are there blogs or sites dedicated to such?

I just look at ones with good reviews on Amazon. That screens them somewhat, but not completely because tastes differ wildly and a book can have 4.5 stars and 150 Amazon reviews and still be trash IMHO. Hmm, maybe trash isn't the right word, I'm not elitist, but sometimes the level of plotting in these books is really crazy superficial.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

where do you guys find out about new self pub works that are worth a look? short of making a thread here i guess

are there blogs or sites dedicated to such?

Just look at the Amazon "Top Rated" books (link here). Generally anything under $5 is either self-published -or was recently self-published and picked up by a traditional publisher.

For instance currently there are 20 books:

The self published books that were picked up by traditional publishers are:

• Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
• Heir of Novron by me
• Muirwood books by Jeff Wheeler

The self published ones are:

• Conspiracy, as well as Blood & Betrayal by Lindsay Buroker
• Untimed by Andy Gavin
• Clash of the Otherwords by Elle Cassey

The traditional ones are:

• Hobbit & Lord of the Ring books by Tolkien
• Ever Affter by Kim Harrison
• The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks
• The Way of the Kings by Bradon Sanderso

 

[meatsim]

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan for me. One of the best fantasy books I've read. Crazy that it was a self published piece when I read it

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan for me. One of the best fantasy books I've read. Crazy that it was a self published piece when I read it

Hugh Howey (author of Wool) has an interesting point about this that I never really thought about util I read it:

Your manuscript won’t change. This is the biggest logical fallacy I see in the self vs. trad debate. The idea seems to be that if you self-publish, somehow your work drops in quality. It’s the same work. The words won’t change because of perceived association with what else is out there. Querying an agent won’t make your manuscript better. Self-publishing won’t make it worse. It’s either a story that appeals to readers or it isn’t.

 

[TCSimpson]

I really enjoyed Ryan's Blood Song. Also Dalglish's Shadowdance.

 

[SCO]

JR Rain is ok
Daniel Keyes Moran is great (though he was published for a while)

 

[Skynjay]

Also Dalglish's Shadowdance.

Ah, the everyone in the world is a beautiful redhead ninja assassin book. I hated this book. Stopped after the first one despite getting all three in the trilogy for a buck. I had many problems with it, but one of the bigger ones is a women who while getting assaulted is thinking about how she can change her life.

But it has now been picked up by a publisher, so I am obviously not in the majority on this one.

 

[DurzoBlint]

A couple of my favorite self-published authors that haven't been mentioned above are:

Tim Marquitz- Demon Squad and Dawn of War series
Jay Allen- Marines series
Tony Evans- Code Name: Atlas
John A Mackie- Hazardous Goods
Jake Elliot- The Wrong Way Down series

There are a few others, but mainly found in short story anthologies.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

A couple of my favorite self-published authors that haven't been mentioned above are:

Tim Marquitz- Demon Squad and Dawn of War series
Jay Allen- Marines series
Tony Evans- Code Name: Atlas
John A Mackie- Hazardous Goods
Jake Elliot- The Wrong Way Down series

There are a few others, but mainly found in short story anthologies.

Tim I knew about, just haven't gotten too, yet. The other ones were "new to me" so thanks.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

A couple of my favorite self-published authors that haven't been mentioned above are:

Tim Marquitz- Demon Squad and Dawn of War series
Jay Allen- Marines series
Tony Evans- Code Name: Atlas
John A Mackie- Hazardous Goods
Jake Elliot- The Wrong Way Down series

There are a few others, but mainly found in short story anthologies.

Tim I knew about, just haven't gotten too, yet. The other ones were "new to me" so thanks.

 

[meatsim]

Hugh Howey (author of Wool) has an interesting point about this that I never really thought about util I read it:

Wool was one of the first things I read when I upgraded my tablet to the kindle fire and had amazon prime for the first month. I just finished Theft of Swords. You did a great job. I already downloaded the 2nd book

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Wool was one of the first things I read when I upgraded my tablet to the kindle fire and had amazon prime for the first month. I just finished Theft of Swords. You did a great job. I already downloaded the 2nd book

Nice I'm glad you enjoyed i and Wool. I have nothing but respect and friendship with Hugh.