Okay folks, today I wanna talk about books, specifically trying to find stuff that gives you that same kick as those ancient “First Age, First Battle” kind of feels. Y’know, huge stakes, world-changing moments, maybe gods or ancient powers throwing down? Problem is, everyone throws around fancy titles but finding ones that actually hit that spot? Tough.
Where I Started (A Mess)
First thing I did was just grab my phone. Went straight to some big book sites, typed in stuff like “books like ancient epics” or “similar to Silmarillion battles”. Holy cow, the lists are endless! Pages and pages of stuff. Clicked on a few. One list promised “Epic Ancient Battles” and the top recommendation was… a romance novel with one battle scene near the end? What?
Felt like digging through garbage. People just slap popular fantasy books together and call it a day. Not helpful. Needed a different approach.
Time for Manual Work (Good Old Brain Power)
Got off the internet noise. Pulled out a notebook – yeah, actual paper – and started writing down books I remembered feeling that ancient, powerful vibe. Wrote down maybe ten titles. Okay, cool starting point.
Then I hit the forums. The real, grubby fantasy discussion boards where people argue for pages. Searched specifically for threads asking the exact thing I was after: “Books capturing that First Age of the World feel?” Focused on suggestions people seemed genuinely passionate about, not just the top-voted stuff. Ignored any answers that just said “Malazan” without explaining why. Found maybe five more solid candidates based on this.
The Testing Phase (Reading Like a Madman)
Armed with my list of about fifteen hopefuls, it was time to read. Well, sample like crazy.
- Sample Method: For each book, I committed to reading the first 50 pages at least, and then specifically scanned later chapters looking for the BIG moments. I wasn’t reading cover-to-cover unless it hooked me fast. Had to be ruthless.
- Checking the Vibes: Was the world genuinely ancient-feeling, or just old-ish? Did the battles feel consequential? Like they were shaping the world itself? Did it have that weight?
Man, some books crumpled fast. One had a cool ancient ruin on the cover, started with archaeology… then quickly devolved into palace politics and a love triangle. Discarded. Another had a legendary “Battle of the Dawn” constantly referenced in the past tense, but never shown! Instant no.
The Actual Hits (My Picks)
After burning through samples, here are the ones that actually delivered the goods for me:
- One Older Guy: Found it dusty on a bookstore shelf, cover looked kinda cheap. Started skeptical, but man, the prologue? A god and a titan clashing, literally tearing mountains apart to forge a new sea. Language felt primal. Hits the spot instantly. Why isn’t this talked about more?
- That Weird One Book 1: The naming is silly honestly. But the scope? Absolutely massive. Follows the literal forging of the world, the first war between the beings who shaped it and the horrors that crawled out of the cosmic cracks. Brutal, weird, exactly that primordial energy.
- Chronicle of the Stone: Starts slower, builds. Found myself thinking it was more about the founding of a kingdom… then BAM. Around page 200, unleashes a conflict against entities that feel truly alien and ancient. The battles are terrifying, world-scarring events. It builds to that peak perfectly.
- Shards of Heaven (Surprise!): Got recommended as “classic fantasy”. Initial chapters seemed standard knights and castles stuff. Almost gave up. Glad I flipped ahead. Discovers a long-buried conflict involving the shattered pieces of a creator’s power. The battles in the later half, where mortals harness these fragments against primordial echoes? Exactly the scale and feel I was chasing. A slow burn that pays off huge.
What Finally Clicked
Here’s the truth bomb websites won’t tell you: Most “Top 10 Epic Battle Book” lists are useless noise.
Finding books that truly capture that First Age, First Battle feeling? It’s detective work.
- Forget Algorithms: They mostly push what’s trending.
- Dig Deep in Forums: Look for the passionate arguments, the specific comparisons.
- Sample, Sample, Sample: Be ruthless. Does it feel ancient and momentous quickly? Or is the good stuff buried 800 pages deep?
- Embrace the Older Stuff: Sometimes the best are hiding in plain sight, just forgotten by the hype machine.
It took digging, reading chunks of mediocre stuff, and trusting my gut, but these four? Finally gave me that ancient thunder and world-shaking clash I craved. Phew.
