Fantasy book suggestions

By the way, if you ever get a chance to read a complete version of the thousand and one nights, do so. I don't know if it really qualifies here, but the stories range from engaging to just plain hilarious.

But make sure it's complete. They often cut out all the good sex, which makes up about half of the stories.

Plus it's informative. For instance, I learned that "daughter of my uncle" means wife. ;)
 
Roboramma said:
By the way, if you ever get a chance to read a complete version of the thousand and one nights, do so. I don't know if it really qualifies here, but the stories range from engaging to just plain hilarious.

But make sure it's complete. They often cut out all the good sex, which makes up about half of the stories.

Plus it's informative. For instance, I learned that "daughter of my uncle" means wife. ;)
Click to expand...

The Richard F Burton version is great. Caused quite a scandal at the time, because he left all the naughty bits in. And very poetic they are, too.
 
Arkan_Wolfshade said:
The quandry I have is, I enjoyed Gaiman's Neverland, but then I found out he's a Scientologist
Click to expand...

*wail* :eek:

You HAD to drop a turd into my complete Sandman collection, did you? Not to mention the brilliant kid's books (see avatar...). Damn it, I'm pretty sure this information will lessen my enjoyment of his future writings.
Or am I just an idiot for letting an author's associations (even former ones) affect my evaluation of their literary abilities? I just feel that fiction reading involves trusting the author with manipulating you, and, well, some of that trust just got a bit tainted.
 
Floyt said:
*wail* :eek:

You HAD to drop a turd into my complete Sandman collection, did you? Not to mention the brilliant kid's books (see avatar...). Damn it, I'm pretty sure this information will lessen my enjoyment of his future writings.
Or am I just an idiot for letting an author's associations (even former ones) affect my evaluation of their literary abilities? I just feel that fiction reading involves trusting the author with manipulating you, and, well, some of that trust just got a bit tainted.
Click to expand...
Surly the whole point of sceptical organisations such is the JREF is that people can reject former irrational beliefs and move on.
Whilst there may be an argument that supporting current Scientologists because that money would eventually find its way back to the Co$, there is no good reason to reject the works of an artists, because that artists was a former scientologist, especially if those works where produced after his split with scientology and have therefore never even come close to supporting scientology.
I really don't see your problem, Gamin may have been a scientologists, but is certainly not one now, he's moved on, why cant you? :)
 
I would stronlgy recommend avoiding the Wheel of Time until he finishes the blasted things. His latest books (IMHO) fall prey to having too many damn threads of story going on at once, so much so that the last book barely spent two chapters on any of the dozen main characters, and it was INTRODUCING new major characters as it went along. I suspect he's infected with the dreaded Lucas Syndrome, where no editor can dare tell him to trim it up a bit, cut out all those goofy bits and move the story along.

I'd unvote for the pern books, mostly because I couldn't finish anything past the first. Maybe they'll be to your taste, they weren't to mine.

I found the "Unbeliever" series interesting, and I finished the two existing trilogies with some amount of meh. Good ideas, mixed results, sort of puttered out at the end.

Standard vote for Martin.

A vote for... hang on, got to get her name right.. Shoot can't remember. Fantasy books, very Celtic. Dealt with repeated lives and constantly switches time periods. A great read, highly recommended except that the time-shifts and names prevent light skimming. Darn... totally drawing a blank on how to even search for it.

Feist's Riftwar saga. Pratchett's discworld.
 
Last edited:
Tirdun said:
Oh, and Katherine Kerr was the author I was trying to remember. The Deverry series is excellent, but no good for a casual read.
Click to expand...

Minor correction: It's Katharine Kerr. I wouldn't mention it, except that misspelling really frustrated my internet searches at one point. BTW, she has a new Deverry book coming out in ~April.
 
Gah, thanks. I haven't read past the first set, they got a bit hard to track down and I was distracted by other reads. Now I'll have to catch up.
 
Tirdun said:
Gah, thanks. I haven't read past the first set, they got a bit hard to track down and I was distracted by other reads. Now I'll have to catch up.
Click to expand...

She's got, I think, 2 more books to go to wrap up the series, one of which is partly written. Note that the publishers have gone out of their way to make on long series appear to be several different 3-4 book series, so it's hard to figure out what order to read them in. To clarify this, there is a list up on the official website for them.
 
brodski said:
I really don't see your problem, Gamin may have been a scientologists, but is certainly not one now, he's moved on, why cant you? :)
Click to expand...

You're probably right. It's purely an emotional thing, I guess. I remember feeling the same way about Heinlein, when after a long and enjoyable sequence of his earlier writings I stumbled upon Lazarus Long, Hys Dickhead Attitudes Explored. Since Heinlein so clearly identifies with that character, I felt that all the time I had been in the hands of a person I'd rather avoid; went off him for a long while.

Ah, well. Someone who can write something like "Cards from a Vampire Tarot" must be worth reading in any case :)
 
Jorghnassen said:
OK, I love the concept of fantasy, but I hate 99% of what's been produced in the genre.
-Nothing long or strongly epic, which are the bad side effects of Tolkien's influence. I want something that's over in one book (that could be an anthology of short stories BTW),
Click to expand...
You are greatly limiting yourself here. I can't think of much decent fantasy that's over in one book. So, since your constraint is irrational, I will do like most others have and ignore it. :D

The only one-book fantasy novel I'd recommend is War of the Flowers by Tad Williams.

* A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (vol. 1 is A Game of Thrones) - Seriously, it's too amazing to ignore. Best fantasy by far, and realistically medieval too.
* Some have mentioned The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I'll second it and add the Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogy by the same author. It's better to read these trilogies (9 books total, but the series is finished) in order, to fully appreciate how everything ties in. Plus, you'll feel less depressed if you read the end of the Tawny Man trilogy than you would have been after the Assassin books (which has a very sad ending). :D The books aren't overly huge, so it can be read quite rapidly.
* Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams. A finished series also, if it helps.

TimmyBerry said:
While this stuff isn't over in one book.. Try Robin Hobb's "Assassin's apprentice" series. Very relaxing-bath-and-cup-of-tea-esque.
Click to expand...
Heh, yeah. I always get an urge to make myself a cup of hot tea with honey in it when reading her books, especially the Tawny Man. I swear, everytime characters sit together for a meal or just get together before going to sleep, tea is involved. :D
Curnir said:
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
Click to expand...
I like your taste, sir. For hack-n-slash D&D stuff, Elaine Cunningham's books are quite superior to the norm.
Curnir said:
As a devout Jordanite I consider you a Darkfriend. (written as a joke)

I love the Wheel of Time series. (sincere)

I keep on preaching the merits of Rand and his friends, but nah.. :D
Click to expand...
Um, I recant the above. *spits on Jordan*
Seriously, I could rant for hours at how bad it is, yet I keep reading it, because I'm too far in the bloody series to quit now. Gah!
 
Piers Anthony's first 2 Xanth books (although the 2d one builds on the first in some ways, each is pretty self-contained). The rest are mostly a lot of silly puns, frankly.
 
Morrigan said:
* Some have mentioned The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I'll second it and add the Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogy by the same author. It's better to read these trilogies (9 books total, but the series is finished) in order, to fully appreciate how everything ties in. Plus, you'll feel less depressed if you read the end of the Tawny Man trilogy than you would have been after the Assassin books (which has a very sad ending).
Click to expand...
Yepp I was bawling like a baby at the end of all the tawny man books, especially Fool's Fate (Tears of happiness mind you)
Heh, yeah. I always get an urge to make myself a cup of hot tea with honey in it when reading her books, especially the Tawny Man. I swear, everytime characters sit together for a meal or just get together before going to sleep, tea is involved. :D
Click to expand...
Aye, tea is a very common element in most fantasy worlds. And I am a self confessed tea-o-holic
I like your taste, sir. For hack-n-slash D&D stuff, Elaine Cunningham's books are quite superior to the norm.
Click to expand...
Why thank you, that's most kind.
Um, I recant the above. *spits on Jordan*
Click to expand...
Hey..*sulks*
Seriously, I could rant for hours at how bad it is, yet I keep reading it, because I'm too far in the bloody series to quit now. Gah!
Click to expand...
And I could discuss WoT, plot twists, characters, foreshadowing etc for days.
I am a Jordanite after all.
But I am not a Jordanite fundamentalist. Book 1-6 are the best, after that Jordan (May he finish the series) overextended 'himself' (book 7-10 + the prequell). But Book 11 is pretty good.

My top five favourite fantasy character list:
1. Arya Stark
2. Matrim Cauthon
3. Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully
4. Fitzchivalry Farseer
5. Jon Snow
 
Mat is overrated, and I have no idea who Archchancelor Whoever is, but otherwise a good list. ;) I'll add Tyrion to that, because he's way too cool.
 
Morrigan said:
Mat is overrated, and I have no idea who Archchancelor Whoever is, but otherwise a good list. ;) I'll add Tyrion to that, because he's way too cool.
Click to expand...

Tyrion's my favorite character in Martin's series, and I was so miffed at the fourth book and Tyrion's absence. I like Dany, too.

I liked the first book of Judith Tarr's The Hound and the Falcon series, but have not read the other two. Except it's about a monk who finds out he's actually an elf, and has a crisis of faith, so it might not fit your list of restrictions. But it's not a fluffy read at all--actually rather dark.

Le Guin's Changing Planes is excellent and self-contained.

Why do fantasy authors seem to always do multi-volume works? Because world-building is hard. When you've built a nicely complex, deep, multi-faceted world, why on earth waste it by using it for only one story?
 
slingblade said:
Why do fantasy authors seem to always do multi-volume works? Because world-building is hard. When you've built a nicely complex, deep, multi-faceted world, why on earth waste it by using it for only one story?
Click to expand...
And because publishers like it. Once you have sold someone the first book in a series, they tend to want to buy the subsequent ones. Bookshops are more likely to want to stock something that looks like a proven seller.
 
Mojo said:
And because publishers like it. Once you have sold someone the first book in a series, they tend to want to buy the subsequent ones. Bookshops are more likely to want to stock something that looks like a proven seller.
Click to expand...

True. One-trick ponies aren't good money-makers in any field of endeavor. With so many people writing decent (maybe not great, but decent) works, and with desktop publishing bringing more and more writers to the field, a publisher will pay more attention to a new author who already has three or four books under his/her belt, ready to print or nearly so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom