6 EPIC Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books to Immerse Yourself In 

Jonathan thanks so much for the good time. Had a blast hanging out.

Loved this! I really need to try Hamilton and the Dark Tower series, and I think your rec of Children of Time is going to be a huge hit with John. You’re right that the ending was so satisfying, but the sequels are still too good to pass up. They get a bit more ideas-heavy and high concept as they go, and I’d bet that the next book at least Children of Ruin would be a huge hit with you. Children of Memory is strange to the point I’d never be confident in recommending it to anyone, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. The whole theme of the series of inter-species communication and understanding is a really special one, you nailed it when you said it’s hard sci-fi with heart.

Currently reading Children of Time, I'd heard so much about it beforehand, but...man...halfway through and I know this is going to be a favourite of mine, I wasn't prepared for how good it is. People talk about page turners but I think a level above that is when you want to stop after every two or three chapters just to digest and ruminate on what you have just read and this is definitely one of those! I'm with you on Wizard and Glass Jonathon, I loved the flashback and I don't get why it bothered some people, it's my favourite book in the series. Great collab with Talking_Story! You guys should definitely do another, great stuff!

I simply *love* Swan Song. And of course also The Stand

Swan Song is an old favorite that I enjoy rereading. And yes, way better than King.

The most recent chunky book I read was Seveneves by Neal Stephenson at 880 pages. Loved it. I have Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on audiobook, 32 hours! Since I only listen to my audiobooks on my commute, it will take me forever to finish. I loved the Dark Tower series, but read it on my kindle back-back, so didn't have a sense of how long the books were. And Swan Song is awaiting, also on my Kindle. I have no interest in Pandora's Star for some reason. Loved The Sandman TV show from a year back or so, but haven't read the source material at all...no chance to be mad about any deviations from the comics. Children of Time is on my bookshelf waiting.

Great suggestions! Swan Song is the bomb. Have read it several times over the years! And waaaaay better than the Stand, by a mile!

yay! Love John's channel. Glad to see this collab. 😄

John has now given me the most interest in reading Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell. And I loved hearing you gush about Wizard and Glass!

Cool collaboration! I just found Talking Story a couple of months ago and really like his channel, he's so passionate about everything he recommends. I stopped somewhere at part 6 of Sandman, I think. I have to continue this series sometime soon.

i felt exactly the same as you when i read THAT chapter in pandoras star. absolutely blown away by it.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Children of Time based on your recommendation some time ago. I first picked up Dogs of War while looking for the former book, and it was great. I'm really enjoying Children of Time, and you're spot on with following the evolution of society - there are many deep themes there

Johnathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - the BBC miniseries is excellent!

I'll add the swarm there, almost 900 pag of amazing underwater sci Fi!!

Thank you very much for the "recommendations". We will have a lot of reading to do the following months.

My good friend loaned me a chunky mass-market paperback copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is on the TBR for 2024. Quite excited to dig in!

Great video guys.

Dangerous Visions is actually on my TBR list. It’s pretty thick too.

Talking Story is the best!

Great video!

I LOVED Jonathan Strange. Wonderful fantasy. Worth every page, every footnote.

Nice recommendations! Children of Time was one of my favourite reads last year. The Sandman series, also great. Probably one of my all time favourite chunkers would be 1Q84, at around 1000 pages, a slow burn but an utterly captivating novel. The biggest book in my TBR is Dhalgren, at around 800 pages. Tempted to give Peter F Hamilton a try sometime, but the size of his doorstoppers are a bit intimidating.

Good choices! I read Sandman as it came out, there are 75 comics total, divided into many arcs and some individual stories. Some of the story arcs you could try if you wanted to sample a section - Doll's House, or A Game of You, both of which can be read as self contained 'novels'. Or get one of the collections of individual stories - Dream Country or Fables and Reflections. The first volume, Preludes and Nocturnes, is darker than the rest, and Gaiman is still finding his feet as a comic writer, so if you find it tough try one of the others. The work as a whole is definitely worth it - have read it through a few times, will read it all again in a few years.

When I read Children of Time it never occurred to me it was a chunky book. I finished it super fast. Started Children of Memory last night.

Great video

That might be the best pitch of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell I'd ever heard. Also I started with Piranesi and I haven't regretted it yet.

Thank you for the video. And again some more books on my wishlist. 100 pages a day, wow. The first thing in the morning (Mo-Fr) is reading time. But iam slow reading.

Recommendation to anyone who loves Susanna Clarke's writing: Titus Groan / Gormenghast. Not SF or even Fantasy. Yet many people think it is Great Fantasy. I liberate this book whenever I see it in a charity shop and give it to anyone who I think will love it

Interesting video. I've already read three and Swan Song and the Peter F Hamilton duology are already down on the TBR for the next couple of months. I did Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy back in 2019 and that's pretty much a single novel over 3,300 pages. Proper space opera and highly recommended. And another cheeky recommendation - Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle. The eBook's a 1,667 page beast of mediaeval fantasy which I finished a few days ago. I can't really say more than that as there's stuff that can't be spoken of for spoiler reasons. It's about time BookTube discovered it as it's got a lot in common with some of the big fantasy series and character aspects that would certainly find a receptive audience in 2024. And it's a standalone novel which is never a bad thing!

Peter F. Hamilton has a game tie-in coming in September, Exodus: The Archimedes Engine. I actually stopped Pandora's Star around the murder mystery part and went through The Night's Dawn Trilogy instead, but then I came back and loved Pandora's Star. Paula Myo is my future wife. The best chapter is around 66%. There is a prog rock song based on it.

I'm reading Judas Unchained. Have Swan Song on my shelf, on my TBR for this year. Love Sandman.

Though I disagree with Gaiman politics, Sandman is probably the best comic series Ive ever read. The first say 10 comics are just amazing and the way Gaiman ties everything together in the end is just remarkable. Watchmen is up there too, possibly even tied with Sandman but I kind of give Sandman the nid becauae the story is much longer.

Jonathan you would absolutely love Swan Song I think even though I'd call it more post-apocalyptic fantasy than sci fi but McCammon does have sci fi books as well

I really want to get the commonwealth books one day. Did you continue on with the other commonwealth books after the first duology?

I am surprised Wheel of Time wasn't mentioned! Although this was geared more towards sci-fi and thats epic fantasy.

Great video, great books. Have read all of these other than Sandman, which I have in limited edition hardcover, have to get to it. Swan Song, McCammon did do it better. That is a special hardcover edition, never did a hardcover other than that. I remember Dark Harvest, have some of their books. Also, Pandor's Star is really part one of a very long novel, you know Peter Hamilton writes chunkies.

Jonathan this is the second time a booktuber has sold me on Children of Time, that is a sign from the book gods! I also just started Deathstalker 2 Rebellion!!

11/22/63 by Stephen King, A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge are long books that are worth reading. I really enjoyed Children of Time and Swan Song, and to a lesser extent, Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.

Yeah i read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Followed by the sequel trilogy. Followed by the the further sequel duology. Took me ages 🤣

Another Stephen King I consider sci-fi is Tommy Knockers. I loved it, most people hate it. I know the Simpsons’ writers liked it as they gave it a big wink in one of their episodes with the school janitor. The Langoliers a short story is also scifi, the northern lights is the culprit in that story.

I've read all three books in the Children of Time trilogy. I didn't like the last one, Children of Memory as much as the previous 2, but it was interesting.

About Swan Song, is it a sad in a kinda good way, or in a rage inducing kinda way becuase of the unfairness and hopelessness of the ending? If it is the latter, I don't think I'm gonna be that interested in it. I just rage quit the red rising trilogy for that reason. By a sad in a good way I mean, for example, something like Flowers for Algernon, which I loved, even though I was sobbing a little bit. But if it is just dark, bleak or grim that makes me want to throw the book across the room, I don't enjoy them at all

I have sawnsong have to make thime to read 📚 it is a big book

Children of Time and Swan Song are excellent. I’ve read both twice. I’ve read a good bit McCammon’s canon. He’s a great writer, but will throw in some graphic details from time to time. He got started writing horror. Pandora’s Star was a disappointment for me. I’ll give 3 stars, but can’t go any higher the second book was better. I just don’t know if it’s worth the investment.

Let me guess about the chapter: potential SPOILER follows - it's 17 years since I read it so bear with me; is it describing the rise of morning light mountain?

SPOILER for John: Of course it's the Morning Light Mountain chapter.

I'm reading a big book now called never by ken follett but it's a thriller not sci-fi⚛😀

I’m glad to see this. I’ve been guilty of wanting to read “ more” books instead of enjoying the experience of reading good books.

Jonathan Wizard & Glass is so great, you can stop after this book and just pick up the comic books, Dark Tower: Beginnings, prequel to the flashbacks… the rest of the Dark Tower books are dreadful!!!

First

Thank goodness you kept talking after the Tchaikovsky comment 'the first two thirds of it I liked ..." I thought there was going to be a negative comment about the rest and I just, literally two hours ago, ordered the first two books in the series. I shouldn't have had doubts. I picked up City of Last Chances a little while ago because it was the only Tchaikovsky to be found in my local shopping centre and you had so highly praised Children of Time that I clearly had to try him. Bit surprised that it is a fantasy book, but I happily read fantasy so that didn't put me off. Really enjoyed it and will read the next one when it comes out. Looking forward to getting stuck into his sci-fi though. I love Blake Crouch who I picked up before I started watching your channel, and am really enjoying Seveneves so I'm trusting your recommendations by now. I will say though, Seveneves has me wanting to invent a book publishing style that would allow me to reach into the book and throw a particular character out an airlock before they can act on their self-involved stupidity. I'll keep working on that. Great channel Jonathan. Thank you!

I think it's "page depth" 😁