Fantasy book suggestions

My only suggestion would seriously violate your "Nothing long or strongly epic" rule but I far prefer series books as I like returning to whatever world I'm escaping to. That being said, Terry Brooks Shannara series are a great read, although the first book does borrow heavily from The Lord of the Rings.
 
My only suggestion would seriously violate your "Nothing long or strongly epic" rule but I far prefer series books as I like returning to whatever world I'm escaping to. That being said, Terry Brooks Shannara series are a great read, although the first book does borrow heavily from The Lord of the Rings.

Wow... you just jogged my memory. "Sword of Shannara" was the 1st fantasy book I ever read (I remember having it hidden behind my text books in junior high so I could read it during class. Kinda explains why I have the same grasp of algebra, history and grammar as a 12 year old...)
 
Wow... you just jogged my memory. "Sword of Shannara" was the 1st fantasy book I ever read (I remember having it hidden behind my text books in junior high so I could read it during class. Kinda explains why I have the same grasp of algebra, history and grammar as a 12 year old...)

There are about 10 or so books in the Shannara series now. I've read all but the last couple as I've been spending my time with school work. Once I graduate I plan to go back and read the entire series again and catch up on all that I've missed.
 
There are about 10 or so books in the Shannara series now. I've read all but the last couple as I've been spending my time with school work. Once I graduate I plan to go back and read the entire series again and catch up on all that I've missed.

You might want to skip the last three. Does anyone use the expression "phoning it in" for authors? Because he totally is.
 
I bought the 1st book in the series a little while ago, but never found the time to read it. I'll see if I can find it in the organized chaos that is my bookshelf and start reading it tonight.

I hope you can find it, and do let me know what you think of it. You'll discover the source of my handle.

BTW, has anybody here read the <i>Rose of the Prophet</i> series by Weis and Hickman? I read it a long time ago during my early brush with fantasy, and it left some fond memories. However, I'm not too sure if I'm merely imagining its merits since I can't find them in the stores anymore. I'm tempted to order from Amazon but I don't want to spend my money only to discover that they're actually bad. Age seem to give a new perspective. I reread Feist's <i>Riftwar Saga</i> recently and discovered that my previous enthusiasm was quite misplaced. It's not bad but it's not that brilliant either.
 
You might want to skip the last three. Does anyone use the expression "phoning it in" for authors? Because he totally is.

I think the bulk of the popular fantasy writers (the ones taking up prominent shelf-space) are guilty of this since they tend to return to the same world over and over again. Only a handful of good writers can survive telling their fans, "I'm done with writing fanfics for my own story. Here's a new story set in a totally new world with new characters and new rules that you have to assimilate. Deal with it!"
 
Jack Vance's Lyonesse series (three books, which together are quite thick, but they're pretty easy to read; two volumes in the Fantasy Materworks series). It concerns the politics and wars of the island Lyonesse outside the coast of France, where there are plenty of magic, pixies and a king who is obsessed with birds. It's been some time since I read it, and can't remember what it was really all about, but it was Vance.

Evengeline Walton's The Mabinogion (four books, but bound together in a collection in the Fantasy Masterworks series) which is set in old Wales. A memorable part is the monologue about how cows in a pen do not give rise to new cows, but once you put a bull in the same pen, you will get new cows as long as the bull remains; however, they cannot really imagine why this is so.

And, although they take some time, I liked both E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros and David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus (although I'll admit I didn't udnerstand the ending of Arcturus). The first is written by a man who hated moderns society and its ideals and who couldn't stick to one sort of name for his characters, but decided to place it all on a viking-style Venus (or is it Mars?) in a war between the Demonland and the Goblinland. The second is a man's journey via a magical tower to a land where he changes shape from time to time.

It's been some time since I read all of them, though, so perhaps they've grown fonder in memory than they were when I actually read them. Also, I can't remember fully what they were all about.

Otherwise, I liked Feist and Wurts' Empire series, even though that person from the other world more or less ruined the last book for me.
 
I just recalled 2, more titles I had read a long, long time ago that are based upon the Norse and Arthurian mythos: A. A. Attanasio's "The Dragon and the Unicorn" and the sequel "The Eagle and the Sword".

Unfortunately, it's been so long since I read them that I can't remember too much of the details, but I do recall that they were a "mature" read.
 
too bad about the 'no epic' rule.

if it hadn't been for that rule I'd have recommended:
'Song of Ice and Fire' (like many other forum dwellers :))
Robin Hobb's series: Farseer trilogy, Liveship trilkogy and Tawny man trilogy.


if you want to go for hack and slash fantasy:
some of the Drizzt books, or the Arilyn Moonblade books
 
Curnir: You're now on my list of people to kill for knowing Robin Hobb trilogy titles.
 
You might want to skip the last three. Does anyone use the expression "phoning it in" for authors? Because he totally is.

That really sucks as the Shannara world has been one of my favorites for a long time. When I was a gamer I used his world to inspire my own worlds. But, eventually it gets to the point where there isn't anything you can do to keep someplace fresh.
 
I think an even bigger flaw than an author overusing his own world is when the author identifies too much with one of his characters, and that character starts hogging the limelight. To me, it's pretty obvious that Raymond Feist thinks he's Pug, even down to the creepy beard in his jacket photo.
 
That really sucks as the Shannara world has been one of my favorites for a long time. When I was a gamer I used his world to inspire my own worlds. But, eventually it gets to the point where there isn't anything you can do to keep someplace fresh.

I often though Brook's greatest strength was the naming of things. His plots may not be terribly original (at this point he's actually stealing from himself!) and his characters may not be the most interesting, but he sure as heck comes up with excellent names for people and places and things.
 
Curnir: You're now on my list of people to kill for knowing Robin Hobb trilogy titles.

Oh.
Well I did mess up one of the titles, it's not 'Liveship trilkogy' :blush:
The proper title is 'The Liveship Traders'.

NOW you may place me on that hitlist :D
 
If you're willing to bend the no-epic/religion rule, try "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman. It's three fairly short books with teenage protagonists (which is why it usually gets shelved with Young Adult fiction). The reason it is worth checking out is how it goes from a pretty standard fantasy story in the first book (an alternate Earth with a somewhat Victorian flavor) to something that is much more. The religious aspect is there, Pullman seems to have a serious thing against organized religion, but it doesn't get in the way of a really good story (and there are sentient armored polar bears!!!)
 
I recommend Charles de Lint books, and also Guy Gavriel Kay. I would start with Kay's other books, like A Song for Arbonne or The Lions of al-Rassan or definitely Tigana (which I think is truly outstanding) before trying that Fionavar Tapestry trilogy. You can read all about Guy Gavriel Kay at http://www.brightweavings.com/

I got into Charles de Lint via his books of short stories. A lot of his stuff is more modern urban-set fantasy but he has several good books that are of the more medieval type. You can read about him at http://www.charlesdelint.com/
 
Check out Joel Rosenberg's "Guardians of the Flame" series. I haven't read his last few, as they're rather different in tone. The first several, however, are quite good.
 
If you're willing to bend the no-epic/religion rule, try "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman. It's three fairly short books with teenage protagonists (which is why it usually gets shelved with Young Adult fiction). The reason it is worth checking out is how it goes from a pretty standard fantasy story in the first book (an alternate Earth with a somewhat Victorian flavor) to something that is much more. The religious aspect is there, Pullman seems to have a serious thing against organized religion, but it doesn't get in the way of a really good story (and there are sentient armored polar bears!!!)

I really disliked those books, I thought they 'borrowed' far too much from CS Lewis's Perelandra series (and consequently Paradise Lost, although Pullman does acknowledge this latter influence). I also very much got the impression that he hadn't got the story or the character arcs mapped out for the entire series when he began the first book. The first chapter of the first book almost reads like it's from a different novel. The story felt very stretched by the end of the last book, with new characters being flung in to pad it out.

Just my opinion though, and not a popular one :)
 

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