Fantasy books

Gilliatt · Post by **Gilliatt** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:07 pm

Sator started a thread about Zelazny's Amber Chronicles, but we quickly started talking about other authors, so I thought it might be a good thing to start a new thread so all fantasy lovers who have not red Zelazny could participate.

What I had in mind was that we could use this thread to recommend books we really liked and to ask questions about others we wish to know more about. Of course it does not have to be that strict, but I would appreciate if everyone keep this thread to fantasy only and to books only. I know we already have threads about books, but I think it would be fun to have a thread about fantasy only; with the subject being narrowed, we won't see James Joyce and Dan Brown in the same thread.

Of course I could recommend Tolkien, but who does not know him? Instead I will recommend an author I love very much, Guy Gavriel Kay. He his a Canadian author, he helped Christopher Tolkien put the Silmarillion together. I red his second novel, Tigana, last summer and found it very good. Kay is not a revolutionary author, but he is still original. Tigana is not a LOtR clone and it is not a D&D campaign put in a book. It is not a Good vs Evil story and it is not a quest to save the entire world. Although it is definitely a fantasy book, and nothing else, we can see some influences from tragedy and romanticism. The story is so well thought that it is difficult to give a summary without revealing something important. I can add that you don't need to rely only on my word, Anne McCaffrey also said that it was one of the best fantasy novel she ever red. I don't really recommend it to those who are more into teens fantasy though. If you think the DragonLance series and the D&D books are the best things ever wrote, you might find Kay boring.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:29 am

Raymond Feist's Rift War saga I found enjoyable, although some of the ones tha cam after were pretty weak IMO.

I would heartilly recommend the spinoff trilogy written by Janny Wurts (with some help from Feist) namely Daughter, Servant and Mistress of Empire. Better by far than the series it was a spinoff of in my opinion.

Gilliatt · Post by **Gilliatt** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:30 am

galraen wrote:Raymond Feist's Rift War saga I found enjoyable, although some of the ones tha cam after were pretty weak IMO.

I would heartilly recommend the spinoff trilogy written by Janny Wurts (with some help from Feist) namely Daughter, Servant and Mistress of Empire. Better by far than the series it was a spinoff of in my opinion.

I heard great things about that trilogy.

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:30 am

I'm not into fantasy books but I do know of a few of them. I'll list them below:

-Dark Tower series by Stephen King
-Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
-Artemis Foul series by Eoin Colfer
-Lirael by Garth Nix

As for Dark Tower series, I didn't like it very much. Read the first book halfway and fell asleep. Perhaps others would find it more interesting. As for Artemis Foul, the book reminds me of reading a plot for a video/computer game or something.

I liked the Harry Potter series, up till the later books where I started to loose interest. The theme became too dark for my taste. Lirael, I never read. My sister read that book and she really liked it very much.

Kipi · Post by **Kipi** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:31 am

As I may have stated in few other threads, I find the serie of "A Tale of The Malazan Book of The Fallen" very good. Detailed world and characters, interesting plot(s), and each book are linked yet one can read only one book from the middle of the serie and still get the idea of the plot.

Also, I liked the book called "The Meq". Okay, it's actually a mix of fantasy and modern fiction, but it has elements which make it fantasy -stylish. Quite good book.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:56 am

Hmmm, being the fantasy nut that I am, here's a few books for mature readers past the D&D/Dragonlance/Jordan/Eddings stage:

Chronicles of The Black Company - Glen Cook. The first trilogy in this series are cult classics, and the rest is also brilliant. My favourite books.

Elric - Michael Moorco*k. This is also a must if you like your fantasy dark.

The Malazan Book of The Fallen - Steven Erikson. This nutjob Canadian has conjured up the most mindbending fantasy setting ever. It will drive you insane at times, but it's brilliant.

Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone - Greg Keyes. Good, intelligent fantasy with a mythological twist.

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin. Good, wagnerian, epic fantasy. Based on classic works like Ivanhoe.

Phew, that should keep you occupied for a while.

Gilliatt · Post by **Gilliatt** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:28 pm

Moonbiter wrote:Hmmm, being the fantasy nut that I am, here's a few books for mature readers past the D&D/Dragonlance/Jordan/Eddings stage:

Chronicles of The Black Company - Glen Cook. The first trilogy in this series are cult classics, and the rest is also brilliant. My favourite books.

Thank you. I was about to ask questions about Cook. I see his books in every library, but I knew nothing about him.

Sator · Post by **Sator** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:12 pm

Moonbiter: (why does that remind mi of Fenrir?

) You seem to like your fantasy a bit on the dark side, eh? And you condemn Jordan's work? I must admit, the books after The Lord of Chaos were really dull compared to the rest, but recently the series has picked up again. And the first six are in no way targeting a minor audience IMO... Yes it's typical High Fantasy, yes Rand & Co are all powerful and our boy manages to splatter millennium-old champions of darkness while still being a half-ignorant shepherd.. But that's exactly what High Fantasy is all about! The coming of age of the main character , the ultimate world-saving quest and a strong good VS evil theme.. I don't know why u didn't reply in the other thread about ASOiAF, yes George R.R. Martin is refreshing but he got a bit carried away in the whole "everyone dies" theme. I mean the only characters I could still like and are alive are Danny/Arya/Jon Snow/Tyrion/Jaime/Areo Hotah(gotta love that guy

)/The Hound/Bron/Timet/Shagga.. But none of them is a leading character one could get attached to - and i'm sure that whenever JRRM feels we are getting to like someone too much, he'll think of a brutal death for him/her asap..

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:14 am

@Sator:

Don't get me started on Jordan.

I've done that too many times before.:laugh: I will, however, take issue with your definition of High Fantasy.

Is it your opinion that the story has to be unoriginal, convoluted, repetitive, cliched drivel, constantly ripping off a few select classics without coming up with anything new, to be considered High Fantasy? A bunch of dysfunctional, incomprehensible, gibbering tossers stumbling across a generic map while struggling with puberty, to find the magic doodad so they can beat the dark overlord? That's Low Fantasy, or even Lack of Fantasy, and it's threatening to swamp every decent effort and advance that is being made in the field.
As for GRRM, I don't mind him knocking off a few characters. It adds realism. Raymond Feist is far worse in that regard, he's killed off all the good ones and can't invent new ones. Talk about Xerox machine....

@Gilliatt:

The nice thing about the Black Company books is that they mostly are short, and to the point. The prose takes some getting used to, but once you're hooked you'll compare all new fantasy to them, and see how much they have been ripped off.

kathycf · Post by **kathycf** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:28 am

Any Charles de Lint fans? Some of my favorites of his books are Memory and Dream, The Little Country and Someplace to be Flying. I like the way he combines fantasy elements with folklore of different cultures.

I am also currently re-reading Mary Stewarts "Merlin" trilogy, a series of books based on history and Arthurian legend. They are in a fantasy setting and tell the story from Merlin's point of view. They were published years ago, and I still have my copies that I got when I was about 12.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:58 pm

I've always enjoyed the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. These are lighter and very tongue-in-cheek in tone. They make for a good break from the more serious fantasy. Working in a library, I do get to see what is going out and coming in. Will post some more suggestions later.

Sator · Post by **Sator** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:45 pm

Well i don't know, i guess i'm a bit childish when it comes to fantasy, since i like it more fairy-tale like, with the happy end and all

And i actually find High Fantasy enjoyable, even though it's not packed with new themes and original ideas.. A sudden twist in the plot or an action by one of the main characters that makes you go *gasp! what the hell??!?* is all that is needed to keep me hooked up

Oh and P.S., the definition of High Fantasy (which i agree with) at Wikipedia: High fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gilliatt · Post by **Gilliatt** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:44 pm

kathycf wrote:Any Charles de Lint fans? Some of my favorites of his books are Memory and Dream, The Little Country and Someplace to be Flying. I like the way he combines fantasy elements with folklore of different cultures.

I have not red any de Lint yet, but heard only good things about him. He sure is on my "must buy" list.

moltovir · Post by **moltovir** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:35 am

Apart from Lord of the Rings, Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series is the only fantasy series I ever enjoyed reading. In fact, I think they're absolutely brilliant. The extent of Erikson's imagination and the depth of some of his ideas are wonderful.

Gilliatt · Post by **Gilliatt** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:43 pm

Can anyone of you talk to me about those two authors: Lynn Flewelling and Henri Loevenbruck? I have red very good reviews about them, but I am not sure I can rely on those reviews.

kathycf · Post by **kathycf** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:54 pm

I am not familiar with either author, but you can go to this page and read excerpts from several of Flewelling's novels. They look intriguing and as I am always on the look out for new stuff to read I am glad you mentioned them.

Lynn Flewelling's Books

kathycf · Post by **kathycf** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:00 pm

I did read all of the excerpts from the link I gave. I thought they seemed...ok. I was not hugely impressed but the books didn't seem awful, just not to my taste.

Avane · Post by **Avane** » Sun May 13, 2007 8:37 am

A Zelazney summer

Gilliatt thank you and Sator for reminding me about the Zelazney Amber Chronicles (tho' believe G that you have not yet read them?). This is going to be my summer reading

Lovenbruck and Flewelling, I am sorry Gilliatt but not familiar with. Will have a look at Kathycf's link for Flewelling.
My main man was mostly J G Ballard, loved the imagery of his works, his jewelled scorpions and the post-apocalyptic domain in which he so often wrote, like The Crystal World, The Drowned World (think also a Burning World. Has anyone else read Ballard's Highrise probably one of his wildest, can't begin to describe it.
Ursula K Le Guin and Philip K Dick were also great reads within this genre.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:20 am

One of of my favorite series : The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Avane · Post by **Avane** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:36 am

Anne McCaffrey, well, the things that come back and back. Dragons!!! Loved that series.