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Books that

Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword series has this. The Reluctant Swordsman is the first one. Fantasy series.

Some of Barbara Hambly's series have this too. I enjoyed Sun Wolf and Starhawk from The Ladies of Mandrigyn and the other books in this series. Then there are the 2 books of the James Asher series. Those Who Hunt the Night was interesting and I liked James and his wife. These both are, to some degree fantasy.


And if you haven't read the Rings of the Master series, you definitely should. Lords of the Middle Dark is the first book in the series. Actually, I've read several of Jack L. Chalker's series and have liked all of them to one degree or another. So you might want to check out him too. This series is sci-fi, but he also has series that kind of mix fantasy with science.

Sing the Four Quarters is the first book in Four Quarters series. I like Tanya Huff's books. Some of them are straight fantasy (like this one) and some are more UF. She came to a convention that I was attending once, and I kind of stalked her. (Hey, I had a HUGE stack of books to get autographed, and they limited how many you could get done at a time.) She actually had me running errands for her. (Ok, I was also one of the volunteers at the Con, so she was well within her rights to use me that way.) Also, some of her series are fairly serious Blood Price is the first of her Victoria Nelson series. (This one was a very short lived series on one of the cable channels, sorry I don't remember which one.) In it, Henry FitzRoy, first Duke of Richmond (aka the illegitimate son of Henry VIII), presently a vampire and romance writer teams up with Vickie Nelson, former homicide cop for Toronto. They solve mysteries that have a paranormal slant. So--vampires and werewolves and demons, oh my. Then, for a lighter hearted series, she has the Keeper series. Summon the Keeper is the first book in this series. She has some other series, and a couple of books that are either stand alones or that are collections of short stories about the same character. (The most powerful wizard in the world is--too lazy to worry about conquering it, and gets annoyed when other wizards do try and she has to get out of her hammock and go swat them.)

I'm also going to recommend the Beastmaster series. The Beast Master. This one is a sci-fi series that deals with the aftermath of an interstellar war. The Beastmasters were humans who were able to telepathically connect to genetically enhanced animals. They were saboteurs and spies during the war. This series is about one particular Beastmaster who was Navajo. (And I'm going to admit right up front--the first time that I read the first 2 book in this series, I fell madly in love with Storm--but I was also 13. And he could talk to ANIMALS. But I still get the entire series out (it's at 5 books now and is finished) periodically and re-read it and just kind of sigh. Because I really want my own merecats and eagle and sand cat that I can mentally join minds with. . . Ok, and I've been doing this for (mumble) decades.

Well, that should get you going. :o) And feel free to go over and check my library and see if you think any of the other series that I've read look interesting.

Shards of Honour the first book in the Vorkosigan series for anyone who isn't aware of what it is.

I think this depends a little on which Vorkosigan you prefer. I feel very different about Dendarii Miles and post-Dendarii Miles. The early ones are more adventure. I prefer the later ones because Miles seems to have more depth.

With this in mind

For Naismith Miles, I'd try Sharon Lee. Agent of Change is a good starting point

For post-Naismith Miles (who I won't specify further, because Spoilers) I like the Peter Wimsey series, particularly with Harriet Vane. The earlier ones are closer to early Miles too, so there's a range:
Strong Poison (first with Harriet Vane)
Whose Body? (first in series)

I also like Kage Baker. She did a long SF series and semi-standalone novel fantasy series:
In the Garden of Iden (SF)
The House of the Stag (fantasy, book 2 because I like it better)

Also Sharon Shinn's Archangel

If you don't mind comics, I adore Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master. (view spoiler)[Akira is SO CUTE (hide spoiler)]
I also like the characters in Skip Beat!, Vol. 01, but the plot is completely (view spoiler)[batshit (hide spoiler)], pardon my Klatchian. It's not boring though.

Misc other things with characters I like:
First Truth
Raven's Shadow
Foreigner (this series takes commitment. The first book is practically a prologue)
Rivers of London (Lois McMaster Bujold also likes this. That's how I found out about it)
Evil Genius
Girl Genius Omnibus Volume 1: Agatha Awakens
Mercedes Lackey is character heavy too, though I don't adore them like I used to.

Thank you all so much for suggestions, particularly given my truncated question.

I have copied all your suggestions and will be checking on many of them, though some I have read.

Do you want to stick to Sci-fi? I asked a reverse question, coming from urban fantasy, and got Vorkosigan as one of the suggestions.

I don’t know how to link on my phone, sorry....

My books I liked were:
Patricia Briggs—Moon Called from the Mercy Thompson series. It’s about shifters, etc... Alpha Omega begins a different, but heavily related series. They are sort of independent from each other, but the big picture is best seen by reading both series in published order.

Ilona Andrews—Magic Bites from her skate Daniels series. Though she has multiple series and I’ve liked them all.


Both series have relationships that change and develop over multiple books, worked in around the action/plot.

I don't think you can Ebookworm2016.

So--Moon Called and Alpha & Omega for the Patricia Briggs series that were recommended (and I'm going to second these 2 series and add--you really need to read them in the order that they were published. Check Patty's website--it shows the correct order. While the mc's in the 2 series don't (or at least haven't thus far) get together in the "present" of the series, there are plot points that are covered in one that you need to know about for the other. And yes, those of us who read Patricia Briggs's do tend to be a tiny (you, know like Jupiter is tiny) bit obsessed with her works.

Ilona Andrews's (pen name for a husband and wife writing team) Kate Daniels series first book is Magic Bites. Then they also have Clean Sweep which is kind of fantasy/sci fi mixture. And they also have a couple of straight PNR series where the cast changes with each book.

The Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series are all set in what I call "alternate dimensions. You know, ones where things are just slight different. In the Briggs books, the Fae have come out of the toadstool circle, the werewolves are out of the kennel and the vampires are (thank God) still in the coffin. While in the Andrews Kate Daniels series about 30 years ago Magic suddenly returned and is in the process of kicking the a## out of Science. There are were-everythings, magic users and vampires. But don't expect vampires that you are used to--these do not sparkle--either bodily OR suavely. The Innkeeper Chronicles of the Andrews takes place on what is ostensibly "our" Earth, but the Innkeepers help hide the existence of aliens from the mundanes, as well as doing the job that the series is named for.

Oh, and if you don't mind romances, there is a series called Surviving Ashes where the super volcano formerly known as Yellowstone decides that it's time for it's every 100k or so years temper tantrum. The people in the series are all friends, and they are all trying to get to the same "safe spot". Essential Beginnings is the first book in the series. Lots of excitement and action in this one, and I liked most of the characters.

I do really like urban fantasy. I have trouble with longer series like Magic Bites and Mercy Thompson because I tend to not remember what happened in earlier books. That's why I have not continued with some of these. Like Alpha and Omega, all I know is it's wolves, and I'm not even sure which ones I have read.

My favorite recent fantasy series was Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy. I hope she writes more in this series.

My favorite underrated two series are by Wen Spencer, Ukiah Oregon, and the group that starts with Tinker (of which the first, Tinker, is my least favorite).
And of course there's Kelley Robinson's Otherworld series. I had less trouble with it since the focus shifts from group to group.

I'm not much of a romance reader because they seem so inconsistent, even within one authors' works.

But I will have a look at Yellowstone. I have recently been reading a paranormal romance series that people on GR chose to read as selections for a group book, and I think they're boring. But sometimes they can be great.

I just want something that makes me stay up all night reading. I'm more likely to like SF/F, but it can have romance in there, that's fine. Just not too much internal dialogue or debate, please! A little is fine, but sometimes they just go on and on and on in romances.

It's about characters I fall in love with, not what genre the book is.

I have not read “Tinker�, but it looks good. Reading the description reminded me of Kim Harrison’s “Dead Witch Walking�. It’s not new, so you are likely familiar with it.

Rachel Morgan is a witch in an alternative Cincinnati. There are elves and fairies and vampires, etc.... and her love interests and friendships play out throughout the books. There are a lot of books, but I thought the basic plot progress was easy to follow. Maybe there are fewer overall characters?

yep I have read the first one and it took me forever. First I lost the library's only copy by dropping it (I think) in a parking lot in South Bend, Indiana while it was snowing like crazy. When it came out in Kindle I got it, but I had read so much really great urban fantasy by then that it seemed kind of tame, so I kept starting and stopping.

Does the series get better than the first one? I know they often do.

A book that I loved was "Shades of Grey" by Jasper FForde, which, by an unfortunate coincidence, came out at about the same time as "50 Shades of Grey" and so the title was, I think, confusing. Also, it was priced pretty high.

It's on sale for 1.99 right now in Kindle format. The only reason I say this is that he has been promising a second book in this universe and maybe if everyone buys this one, he'll finally put out another.

don't know for how long

His "Tuesday Next" series is pretty great, too. Haven't read it in years, so maybe I will try them again.

He is one of the most underrated writers out there, IMHO.

Kate, you might like to try the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester (it starts with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower in internal chronology); Bujold cited that one, too, as being one of the inspirations for Miles's career. It's an Age of Sail adventure story, and rather heavily British-patriotic at times, but still it's worth looking at.

I absolutely agree with you about Fforde - sometimes I feel he's got about as many original ideas per book as suffice some other fantasy authors for their whole output... But in Shades of Grey, which was brilliant, I think he has rather tied up his plot in knots by the end, and it may be difficult to write his way out of that.

I thought the Rachel Morgan series was the best in the middle books. In my memory, the first one has a different tone, but it’s been a long time. Time for a re-read. I was invested in the characters and I still remember crying at one particular “happening� and remember it as one of those “Nooooo! How could the author do that?� moments. Trying not to give spoilers. :).

By the last few books, as often happens, I was just reading to finish the series. But the middle ones, I gobbled up as soon as they were out.

I was able to get “Tinker� requested. So I, at least, benefitted from this thread. And I think I look for the Volcano in Yellowstone series every time it’s suggested, but my library doesn’t have any of it.

Ebookworm, The Yellowstone are in kindle and the first was free
The rest, if I recall are not THAT expensive (I could be wrong, I've slept since then). So if you have a Kindle, I'd go for the first one.

Nente, I actually tried to read the first of those Horatio Hornblower years ago and failed. My library doesn't have them in ebooks, but I will try again when I can get one cheap. They have to go on sale sometime.

FForde IS brilliant. I was shocked when I saw he'd never even been nominated for awards that I had heard of. I trust him to be able to write his way out of anything

You might like The Price of the Starsand the rest of the MageWorlds trilogy. One of my favorite Space Opera series.

I'll 2nd the Sharon Lee/Steve Miller Liaden Universe books. I'd start with Agent of Change or Conflict of Honor they look like the middle of the series, but publication order is better than chronological I think.

Ann aka Iftcan said "I'm also going to recommend the Beastmaster series. The Beast Master." I had such a crush on Storm as a young teen. And I loved Catseye by Andre Norton as well.

I just got a copy of Catseye cheap. Maybe I will try that next.

I read the first few Beastmaster years ago and then lost track.

I have recently started Liaden at the chronological beginning because years ago I started at the writing order and stopped reading. I have been reading Crystal Soldier, and I keep stopping for other books, but I want to get back to it soon.

It's really getting invested in the character that does it for me.

Thanks to all again

I actually started Liad with Local Custom and Scout's Progress, because I have a similar problem. I'd about given up on the series and only tried the omnibus with them because I had requested it on ILL earlier. Local Custom is essentially a romance, which is surprising because when I read a romance it's usually for the 'plot'. They're usually hilarious.

Most people seem to prefer the more action-y ones, which is why I mentioned Agent instead. I ignored them for years, though. Except Conflict of Honors.

My dad likes Crystal Soldier and read it first, but there're so many in-references I've never thought it was a good starting place

I thought of something immediately after I hit post.

I listed some comics earlier. If you have any interest at all in comics, Girl Genius is free online. All 18-ish volumes.

The first three are a story arc, and I'd go through all three at least. Like the first novel of a series, there were some kinks. It should be obvious at that point if you'd like the rest of the series

Which gave me another thought--the first nine volumes were novelized in groups of three:

Agatha H and the Airship City

Sorry I'm going on a bit here.

No, Lou, I like people who go on a bit. I am the queen of going on a bit, and thanks for your input.

I am not really a comic person. I was as a kid, but when I was trying to read Buffy, Season 8, I seemed to have lost the knack of looking at pictures with reading. I would rather make my own pictures in my head, I guess.

I asked my library to get Agatha H. and the Airship City. It's weird. They have the 2nd group of three but not the first.

When I started Liaden long ago, I started with Agent of Change and never finished. I think, since I'm halfway through Crystal Soldier, I will just continue. But if I get bogged down I will try Local Custom.

Kateblue--I thought it was a legal requirement that libraries never have all of a series. They can only have 60% of the series, forcing you to buy the missing books. (Which, if you are OCD like I am, means you then have to go buy the books that they did have, because you can't face having missing books in a series.)

LOL, Iftcan! Sounds just like me!

Have you read Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series
Red Rising?
Just a thought

Ha! Thanks, Tricia, for the Pierce Brown suggestion, but only got 5% in and abandoned. I'm kind of sick of dytopias, for one thing.

The Blackcollar is an interesting book series. (SF) And, lucky you, the series is finally finished. Timothy Zahn wrote the first 2 fairly quickly--then it was decades before that last one came out.

Thanks Ann, I like TZ of the little I've read. I will look for it.

I know this question as I wrote it is "Books that have characters and plots that you care about as much as the Vorkosigan Saga."

But what I am looking for is books that, every few years, you just really want to read over. If you don't read things over, then something you still remember all the details of years later (but only if they are good memories).

Should I start a new thread phrased that way? I joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ because I kept reading books that were "eh." Then I quit that and stopped reading "eh" books partway through. And now, the partway through is getting shorter and shorter. Maybe this all needs to go at the top of the thread?

Although all the answers I have gotten are great, I have to say, I have started only a couple, and one, I unfortunately went "eh."

Kateblue�-I have the same problem, and I have a low tolerance to keep reading books that I don’t like. However, I think the answer is so personal that your “emotionally invested� isn’t the same as mine. My “emotionally invested� books were ones that you were indifferent about. :)

So, I think you are better off starting a new thread that identifies specific characteristics you like. Genre? Strong female or male character? A little romance? A lot of romance? Series or individual books?

I started a thread like that and found enough gems to jumpstart my reading list. But I was fairly specific about what I wanted and didn’t want. I also was willing to branch out and I asked for similar books in different, but similar, genres to find new authors. That was very successful for me.

Mixed in with the gems were books that people gushed over that I did not care for at all. But you don’t know until you try it.

I guess what I really need to do is find people that like the books I like, which I hoped is what goodreads would do. But what I see is, although you can compare books with individuals, you can't say "find me an individual that likes the same books I like as much as I like them." Of course, that would be really hard. I found a woman who agreed with me 99% of the time on books we both rated, but she read almost all romances, and I read almost all SF and F. So we both love this same, great author.

I think if you can list 3-5 authors in a query, your chances of overlap are better. Just 1 author could give you lots of outlier answers.

Also, our library offers a service where you fill out a survey and a librarian comes back with books that are similar. They ask pretty detailed questions about books you like and dislike and why. Maybe your library offers a similar service.

Have you tried the site “what should I read next�. You put in an author or book and it comes back with similar books. I didn’t put the full link, since I didn’t know if that was allowed here. I did not register and I was still able to get book suggestions.

Honestly, it takes a lot of effort to find more books, so I use all these resources. But I think I enjoy the hunt.

Good luck.

I have been looking at your books, and I think that, except for historical romances, our tastes are pretty similar.

We even both hated the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I don't get why people love that book so much.

Why did you hate Seanan McGuire's Rosemary and Rue? I was thinking of trying it.

I will try that site soon.

I don’t know why I gave R & R a 1. That may have been a mistake. I remember reading it, but not details and I didn’t remember rating it. Lots of people on one of the author fan pages I follow (another way I find books) like that series. I’ll have to try it again and see.

Girl With a Dragon Tattoo was not a mistake. yuck.

Here are a few random books that I read and loved the first time through, without expecting anything from the author:

“Garden Spells� by Sarah Addison Allen. I like the rest of her books too, but this one is my favorite. She uses little bits of magic in her book instead of having werewolves and witches everywhere.

“The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter� by Theodora Goss. This is a unique twist on some characters from classic literature. Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau, Jekyl & Hyde, etc.... more accurately, women in their lives. This was a hit with my book club last month. And I think this is the beginning of a series. It set up for a sequel, so I hope so.

Anne Bishop—The Others. Starting with “Written in Red�. I avoided this series for a long time, but when I finally read it I really liked it. Shifters and “Others� done in a very different way. It’s lacking the romance aspect that I usually look for...or it’s actually done VERY subtly. But there was still enough focus on relationships and friendships that I was fine with that.

If you want a book that I go back and re-read every few years, I have 3 or 4 of those.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress classic sci-fi. The technology is dated, but it's one that I totally love. And I describe my political philosophy as being one that is described in this book.

The Ship Who Sang I loved Helva (the title character.) This is set in the far future but, again is more "classic" time frame, so the tech is dated again. But the "ships" are called Brainships and are piloted by humans who were born with severe birth defects. This is actually the first in a series, and not all the ships are ships--at least one controls an entire city/space station. But this one and The Ship Who Searched are the 2 that I read over and over. Oh, and a warning about the Search book--have a box of tissues handy. Even after the 15th re-reading, I STILL cry when reading this book.

Have Space Suit—Will Travel this is a YA. It's set in the time period it was written in (late 50's early 60's) but I love the characters in it--even Peewee--and Robert A. Heinlein has problems with female characters. Maybe this one wasn't a problem because of her age.

If you like fantasy AND humour, I'm just going to suggest anything Terry Pratchett's Discworld. But especially the Witch and the City Watch. Guards! Guards! is the first book in the City Watch books. I seriously love Captain Vimes and Corp. Carrot Ironfounderson. Carrot is the Discworld's only over 6 foot tall dwarf. (And we are talking traditional dwarves--beards, breastplates, giant axes. . .) Wyrd Sisters is the first of the Witches stories. And, of course, it starts out quoting Shakespeare--and goes downhill very quickly from there. But you have to love Nanny Ogg, Granny Wetherwax and Magrat.

Oh, the Sir Terry books might not appeal if you don't enjoy British humour. I love them and sincerely mourned when Sir Terry passed away.

Wow, Ann! I knew I was right when I friended you! I just read MHM for about the 10th time here recently. Have Space Suit Will Travel may have been the first Heinlein juvenile I read back when I was still a juvenile (tho' my husband might say I still AM a juvenile). And The Ship Who Sang is on sale at Amazon Kindle for 1.99 right now, and I bought it and am reading it again.

The deal with Terry Pratchett is, I had lots of his books but not all from the Science Fiction Book Club years ago. I read a few, and always intended to read them all, but was thwarted by a mold invasion at my mother's house a few years back. (All my library, and hers, gone. Which is why I'm a Kindle girl now.)

I would have to start over because I can't remember, but my library doesn't have many of them in Kindle and they are expensive. I have liked many of his stand alone books, though.

EBW16 -- I had Written in Red out from the library, but I ran out of time and it expired. I will get it again. I actually have a list for that here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

I have Alchemist's Daughter out right now. I am going to start it right now. Is it a GoodReads book club? Maybe I should join. And I have reserved Garden Spells.

I'm reading the Difference Engine right now for a book club, but I am not too excited about it even though I am 20% in. Sometimes I think that Nebula nominated books are not necessarily fun to read for ordinary people. The authors get excited, but I don't.

I have a question about the PSI/changeling series. I was supposed to read the third book in a book club last month, but I decided to read the prequels and the 1st and 2nd first. I petered out during the 2nd and didn't read the prequels entirely, and the library loans ran out. I see you loved them, but they seemed slow and similar to each other to me (not an informed opinion since the only I finished was #1.)

So what did you love about the PSI/changeling series? Do the books get any different as time goes on? I remember I started Vorkosigan with Shards of Honor and was kinda thinking "come on come on" and then went on to Barayar because it was in the same book. Wow! I was hooked (it won the Hugo, so of course I was hooked.)

What I'm asking is, are the PSI/changeling going to pull me in gradually? Or did you get sucked in the minute you started. I'm trying to decide whether to continue. Thx

Kateblue--I think that Have Spacesuit, Will Travel was also the first of Heinlein's juveniles that I read too--also way back when I was a juvenile. (And our husbands must think that anyone who loves Heinlein is juvenile, because mine says the same thing.)

I also have almost every single book written by Andre Norton. Her sci-fi's, her fantasy's, her historical's, her children's, the romances. . . everything except for 3 books--and those were issued in very limited numbers and haven't been re-issued and the last time I found one of them--it was for sale for over $400 (and that was about a decade and a half ago). So, I'll just wish and hope that I can get hit by a one in a million surprise and find them in a thrift store some where, some time. I do re-read a number of those too. Especially the Witch World ones. There are a few others of hers that I re-read again and again. But I do love my Witch World books. The first one was written not too long after WWII, and the MC served in that--and is now on the run. He manages to stumble across the current Keeper of the Siege Paralous (Ok, can't remember how to spell that last one) and gets sent from our world to the alternate reality world of Witch World. After that one, there are about 30 or so books in the series, but they are broken down into much smaller sub-series. And often the only thing that the series have in common is the setting. But Witch World is such a wonderful world--it has something for everyone--medieval level societies, male dominated ones, female dominated ones, sea going ones where it doesn't matter if you are male or female. And then there is science and magic and mundane societies, all different types of societies living side by side. And indulging in warfare, of course. Plus there are non-human societies and characters. Great, great world.

I actually started reading Psy/changeling with book 6, "Branded by Fire." It was my favorite for a long time. It took me a while to realize that it was a series. The relationship featured in each book is stand-alone, except for, maybe, reading a spoiler so that you know someone is mated. And there is an "action plot" that belongs specifically to each book. Some threat to get rid of. There is some overall political intrigue that does continue from book to book and that's the part that you would miss out on by reading out of order. I, sometimes, skim over that part. Though, I've read the books enough times now, that I know it.

The book series has an "arc" that ends with Allegiance of Honor. I was, honestly, getting tired of the series. The next book, "Silver Silence" is kind of like a spinoff tv show. Nalini switched the locations, and that switched up the "cast" of characters, with occasional crossover. I really liked this book again. She called it a "soft ending" to the series and specifically said it gives new readers a good place to jump in.

With that said.....after I read "Branded by Fire" and discovered the series and got caught up, I was reading as they published. Which means I had to wait between books. I think, sometimes, that does a lot to keep you interested. I think if they are binge read, you could easily start to think they are similar.

But, I also think you could read Book 3 without having read the first 2. I think Nalini gives you enough cues and background. You just catch more of the overall intrigue if you read them in order. It's another one of my favorites.

I have recently been purchasing some Norton Kindle books as they are on sale. But I am confused as to what order to read. There seem to be conflicting ideas about that.

I have these that would seem to be the first,
1. Witch World (1963)
2. Web of the Witch World (1964)
but after that there seem to be many different branches.

Do I get 1. Year of the Unicorn (1965)
or 3. Three Against the Witch World (1965)

I remember trying to read at least one of witch world books years ago but I was really confused by it. Probably wasn't the first one.

Advice? I should go look for a better website that the one I usually use, but we have a huge line of thunderstorms coming in, so I will wait until later. :-)

EBW2016, I didn't see your post there when I was talking to Ann about Witch World.

I will just wait a while and try again on the PSi/Changling, thanks!

To both Ann and EBW2016, and to everybody, have you ever read Jasper Fforde? He is a very underrated writer. His Tuesday Next Series is great. You must start at the beginning though, And they are pretty British. One of my favorite books of his is Shades of Grey (not part of the Tuesday Next Series).

It's no relation but it came out about the same time as that infamous series . . . you know the one. I bet this caused a marketing snafu. Otherwise this book should have sailed to the top.

Or maybe Ffordes' books are like The Magicians. People either love or hate those books, it seems. I love them. I don't care if Quentin whines. Hell, I whine. I'm OK with some whining. And they messed it up in the TV show. I'm one of the ones who kept saying "Where's Janet?"

I hear the thunder to the west! Later!

I have the Eyre Affair on hold. It will be a couple of weeks before it’s my turn. I started Shades of Gray, but didn’t get very far. The dependence on colors for the language was more than I wanted to, mentally, tackle. It’s like being in the right headspace to read Jane Austen.

I’m willing to try it again, just not right now.

Shades of Gray is definitely unique, so I get it. FForde may not be for everyone. But he is whacky and I like whacky.

I found Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword series and I have started that. So far, I like it, though I'm not thinking it's my next Vorkosigan

Good night all.

Kateblue--I've always felt that the correct order to read the books is:

Witch World
Web of the Witch World
Three Against the Witch World
Warlock of the Witch World
Sorceress of the Witch World

All of the events in all of the books happen in like a 20 or 30 year time on the World , but what happens when depends on if you are in Estcarp, the Dales, Escore, the Aerie, or any of the border states that I haven't named. And there is even some time dilation going on, since at least some of the characters get thrown out of the World and time passes differently in other worlds. (And Andre Norton decided to handle the age old author's problem of handling time passing much faster in the "real world" than it can/should in the stories by using that time dilation. There was almost 50 years difference between the publishing of the first book and the last book, so she handled having people from our world thrown into Witch World by means of the time in Witch World passing at a much slower rate than time in our world.)

These 5 books really set up a good bit of the rest of the series. After these, there really isn't any real order to read, except maybe chronologically. Although I will say that Year of the Unicorn kind of ruins the Dales part of the series, since it's set at the end of the War between the Dales and the Hounds. Although it really is a bit confusing, but that's mainly because, except for the location (i.e. Witch World itself) there really isn't a lot of cohesion between the various series, or even when they happen, until you get to the very last 3 books in the series. And, well, they are the last and should be read in order. Those 3 are: The Key of the Keplian then The Magestone and finally The Warding of Witch World Those 3 books do need to be read last, and they bring back some of the characters (evil and good) and civilizations from all the previous books. This is especially true of the last book, where we see a bunch of them get together in this book to handle a huge quest, that is done all over the World.

Have I confused you even more? :o) But it's a series that I have loved since about 1970 or so (which is when I was introduced to the first book) until now. Some I like more than others, but I've gone back and re-read a number of them time and again. (And, on that, I'm confusing MYSELF now.)

Here's why I am confused. They are all divided up.

Let me show you info I found

Witch World : Estcarp Cycle
1. Witch World (1963)
2. Web of the Witch World (1964)
3. Three Against the Witch World (1965)
4. Warlock of the Witch World (1967)
5. Sorceress of the Witch World (1968)
6. Trey of Swords (1977)
7. Ware Hawk (1983)
8. The Gate of the Cat (1987)
9. Ciara's Song (1998) (with Lyn McConchie)
10. The Duke's Ballad (2005) (with Lyn McConchie)

Witch World : High Halleck Cycle
1. Year of the Unicorn (1965)
2. The Crystal Gryphon (1972)
3. Spell of the Witch World (1972)
4. The Jargoon Pard (1974)
5. Zarsthor's Bane (1978)
6. Gryphon in Glory (1981)
7. Horn Crown (1981)
8. Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) (with A C Crispin)
9. Were-Wrath (1989)
10. Songsmith (1992) (with A C Crispin)
11. Silver May Tarnish (2005) (with Lyn McConchie)

Witch World : The Turning
1. Storms of Victory (1991) (with P M Griffin)
2. Flight of Vengeance (1992) (with P M Griffin and Mary H Schaub)
3. On Wings of Magic (1994) (with Patricia Matthews and Sasha Miller)
4. The Key of the Keplian (1995) (with Lyn McConchie)
5. The Magestone (1996) (with Mary H Schaub)
6. The Warding of Witch World (1996)

Then there seem to be lots of short story collections????? (or could be omnibusses (omnibusi?) that cross the groups of books:
3. Lore of the Witch World (1980)
Tales of the Witch World 1 (1987)
Tales of the Witch World 2 (1988)
Four from the Witch World (1989)
Tales of the Witch World 3 (1990)

And then there are these books:

Witch World : Secrets of the Witch World (with Lyn McConchie)

Tales from High Hallack may not even be witch world don't know yet:
1. Tales from High Hallack, Volume 1 (2014)
2. Tales from High Hallack, Volume 2 (2014)
3. Tales from High Hallack, Volume 3 (2014)

There's also some omnibusses I have left out.

I see you are considering books in "the Escarp Cycle" and "the Turning" groups to be the ones to read . . .

Back to you . . . if you don't mind

Like I said--they are kind of scattered all over. But really, after you've read the first 5 that I suggested, read whichever sounds interesting to you.

The High Halleck ones were sometimes called the Dales (because the people there call where the live, XX Dale of High Halleck. Muy confusing, yes?)

If I were recommending based on which books I loved the most, I'd go:

The first 5 that I listed. Then I'd go Year of the Unicorn, Crystal Gryphon, Gryphon in Glory, Jargoon Pard, Gryphon's Eyrie. (These tie into each other as a sub-series.) Then I'd read Gate of the Cat, Ciara's Song and The Duke's Ballad (the last 2 should be read in that order, since they are a 2 book sub-series.)

The collections of stories can be read at any time in there, and I have to admit, some of those I wasn't as fond of as others. And while there were books published after the 3 that I said were the "ending" of the series, they are set before those 3.

(And I don't remember if the "High Halleck" books are actually set on Witch World or if they were written at the home of Ms. Norton that she called High Halleck. I'm getting to the point where my memory isn't what it used to be, and I had a fall in February with a concussion that has got things totally scrambled up. My doctor says that I should be fine eventually, but it's that eventually that's worrying me.

Wow! get well soon.

I am going to list your order in my spreadsheet that I made because I was so confused. Remembering what is in the High Halleck books is NOT your first priority :-)

I think the book I had was Crystal Gryphon, and I just never got into it. I'm thinking starting at the beginning will help.

I also had a copy of catseye, but I don't remember much about it. I think that those are the only two Norton books I ever had.

Thanks so much