recommended fantasy books?

[dshadowplay]

One thing daily reading with my neighbor's kid taught me is that there's lots of YA stuff that an A can enjoy as well, though as always Sturgeon's Law does apply.

i'm not really trying to imply that YA is 'bad' just that i am not going to read it anymore than i would read western or mysteries, to me YA is like a whole different genre because i know that its oriented to be kid friendly and thus kinda scews the way character interactions happens and such. i mean for frick sake The Chronicles of Narnia had Santa Clause in it! i did enjoy the movie though, heh.

ah the Farseer trilogy,
~SPOILER~
that stable master in those books (don't remember his name) was like FitzChivalry's father, he basically raised him and taught him morality. at the end when the stable master and Fitz's girl thought that Fitz was dead they got together. now i know that realistically back in medieval times that may have been regular but the author played upon mostly updated emotions for the majority of the trilogy. it felt pretty weird to me anyway. even with that aside though the last part of the last book was written differently than the rest, from about the time they started following that magic road i would say. the resolution to those raiding ships was kinda just summarized in the end and it felt like that should have been a fourth book. also it ended as if that was the end of FitzChivalries story and i highly doubt that the author had plans to continue writing about him.


similarly the Dragonlance books by Weis and Hickman had a pretty clear end after the Legends trilogy.
(that Raistlin horse gets beaten alot!)

Thomas Covenant: blargish
~SPOILER~
the whole time the guys like, oh i can't believe this is real, and, oh let me rape young girls even though i'm some writer from America. apparently it was real enough for him to get his bone on! cerealy though, i have confused a dream for reality but i have never confused reality for a dream (except for maybe when i become too intoxicated) and this premiss wears thin fast to me. its my understanding that there are supposed to be deeper meanings and themes with this series but i am really only interested in the storytelling and i found it to be pretty lame, and if the story’s not entertaining than what am i spending my leisure time on it for? this is another one of those books where someone from earth has to save fantasy land too, why can't they have their own heroes? (actually it might have been earth being saved too i stopped halfway through)

i actually read all but the last of the Elric books cause a library where i lived at the time had the whole saga. the first Elric book was best, mostly because its where everything is introduced. even the first book i hardly recommend though, unless you have nothing but time on your hands. of course many seem to have a high opinion of the Elric series but i thought it was pretty overrated. this series was when i decided to stop reading sequels simply because i started a series. i realized there are just too many things to do in life to feel like you have to complete something even if your not enjoying it.

[WyattGwyon]

I may have missed something, but I could only find one mention of Mervyn Peake's masterpieces, the first two books of the Gormenghast Trilogy, Titus Groan and Gormenghast. (I always advise against even picking up the third book, Titus Alone.) These are of the same era and stature as Lord of the Rings, but almost no one seems to know them. (The exception in this thread was Chris 73, who made a brief mention.)

Two other masterpieces seem to have escaped detection in this thread: China Miéville's amazing Perdido Street Station and John Crowley's strange and brilliant Little, Big.

All three of these recommendations are like no other fantasy you have read.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

All of those are going in my wish list, Wyatt. I've been meaning to read Perdido Street Station for a while (I've read The City and the City and want to read more by Meiville). I haven't heard of the others you mentioned, but Titua Groan looks especially interesting. Why do you say to not even pick up the third book? I hope they're all self-contained stories, at least to the point where they don't end completely unresolved, like A Song of Ice and Fire.

Also, I'll add something to the list even though I'm only halfway through it, and this one DEFINITELY belongs in the category of "like nothing you've ever read," regardless of genre, and that book is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's not fantasy in the classical or regular sense, but I don't know of any other genre that may fit it--maybe horror mixed with black comedy, but there definitely fantasy elements. It's a mind****, to say the least.

[WyattGwyon]

All of those are going in my wish list, Wyatt. I've been meaning to read Perdido Street Station for a while (I've read The City and the City and want to read more by Meiville).

Perdido Street Station is the first and best of several novels set in a particular fictional world. The Scar and Iron Council are sequels exhibiting (IMO, obviously) a drop off in quality—not so drastic a decline as the Dune series, however.

I haven't heard of the others you mentioned, but Titus Groan looks especially interesting. Why do you say to not even pick up the third book? I hope they're all self-contained stories, at least to the point where they don't end completely unresolved, like A Song of Ice and Fire.

The first two books have a beautiful symmetry and the end of the second could have been a perfect ending, though one begging for a sequel. The third book introduces bizarre, futuristic, sci-fi elements that have no reasonable connection to the world of the first two books. To this day I wish I had never laid eyes on it. I believe Peake was well into his terminal illness (Parkinson's?) before he finished it and I can't help but think he lost his judgment along the way. I know it will be impossible for those reading the first two books, which form a completely unified narrative, to restrain themselves from picking up the third, but I had to sound the warning anyway.

Also, I'll add something to the list even though I'm only halfway through it, and this one DEFINITELY belongs in the category of "like nothing you've ever read," regardless of genre, and that book is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's not fantasy in the classical or regular sense, but I don't know of any other genre that may fit it--maybe horror mixed with black comedy, but there definitely fantasy elements. It's a mind****, to say the least.

Thanks, I'll look for it.

[Babyguile]

Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb

Apart from that, I also recommend Jonothan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. That book dropped like a bomb here in the UK: a very refreshing and original, charming and wity tale. It's very English and very Dickensian. It's not action-packed mind.

And lastly, His Dark Materials. This book is relatively unknwon in America, which doesn't suprise me in the slightest. It's a smart YA novel, very intelligently put together, absolutely superb plot. It literally gave me my imagination when I read it as a teen; I owe so much to these amazing books.

But on Robin Hobb: she writes books at a very fast rate. There are now multiple books you can read of hers as a first book, without getting lost because of a need to read prequals. Those books are: Assassin's Apprentice, Ship of Magic, Shaman's Crossing. I wouldn't recommed reading any others as a first book as they cut mid-way through series.

[OrphanPip]

There's a fairly good Gormenghast mini-series from the 90s made by the BBC, it's only 4 episodes.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb Robin Hobb

Apart from that, I also recommend Jonothan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. That book dropped like a bomb here in the UK: a very refreshing and original, charming and wity tale. It's very English and very Dickensian. It's not action-packed mind.

And lastly, His Dark Materials. This book is relatively unknwon in America, which doesn't suprise me in the slightest. It's a smart YA novel, very intelligently put together, absolutely superb plot. It literally gave me my imagination when I read it as a teen; I owe so much to these amazing books.

But on Robin Hobb: she writes books at a very fast rate. There are now multiple books you can read of hers as a first book, without getting lost because of a need to read prequals. Those books are: Assassin's Apprentice, Ship of Magic, Shaman's Crossing. I wouldn't recommed reading any others as a first book as they cut mid-way through series.

The His Dark Materials trilogy is actually pretty popular here. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be surprising if they weren't--not sure what you're implying. I read the first and didn't find anything special about it and didn't bother reading the second two.

[WyattGwyon]

There's a fairly good Gormenghast mini-series from the 90s made by the BBC, it's only 4 episodes.

Yes, I've seen that. I wish it had continued through the second book, though I imagine a big budget might have been required to pull off the flooded castle scenes and such. Actually, it could make a great movie series with all of the stunning visual imagery.

[Drkshadow03]

The His Dark Materials trilogy is actually pretty popular here. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be surprising if they weren't--not sure what you're implying. I read the first and didn't find anything special about it and didn't bother reading the second two.

They're so unfamiliar here in the U.S. that they're only the 8th most banned/challenged book of the previous decade.

[chokipokilo]

[
The first two books have a beautiful symmetry and the end of the second could have been a perfect ending, though one begging for a sequel. The third book introduces bizarre, futuristic, sci-fi elements that have no reasonable connection to the world of the first two books. To this day I wish I had never laid eyes on it. I believe Peake was well into his terminal illness (Parkinson's?) before he finished it and I can't help but think he lost his judgment along the way. I know it will be impossible for those reading the first two books, which form a completely unified narrative, to restrain themselves from picking up the third, but I had to sound the warning anyway. .

Thought I'd point out that, while I agree with this assessment, the third book was still very much incomplete and that may be why it doesn't seem to make as much sense.

For those interested in the conclusion to the tale (and you will be after reading the first two books) there's a new work out by his wife based on his work called "Titus Awakes" that, while reportedly not the same quality of writing, does give some degree of closure to the saga, which was originally slated to be 7 novels in length.

[Babyguile]

They're so unfamiliar here in the U.S. that they're only the 8th most banned/challenged book of the previous decade.

How does this show the books are well-known by American readers? Surely the consequence here is the books do not get into the schools and libraries because of Christian groups worrying about the atheist messages of the books.

From my experience, no-one in the US had heard of the books before the movies came out. The books have always been hugely popular in the UK.

[Drkshadow03]

How does this show the books are well-known by American readers? Surely the consequence here is the books do not get into the schools and libraries because of Christian groups worrying about the atheist messages of the books.

From my experience, no-one in the US had heard of the books before the movies came out. The books have always been hugely popular in the UK.

Nope. In order to be tallied as a banned/challenged book it has to be purchased and on the shelves already in libraries. A challenged book is one that has been asked to be removed, while a banned book is one that went through a lengthy process and was removed from the library collection. So in order to be so frequently challenged the books must be fairly prevalent on library book shelves across the country.

Before this forum I used to spend time on a strictly fantasy literature forum. Trust me, most of the American members knew about the Pullman books long before the movie came out.

You also implied in your original post on this topic that the book is STILL obscure in the U.S. Meanwhile, glancing at my public library's catalog, it has a whopping 12 copies in the system.

In 1997, the first book in the series was nominated for the American Booksellers Children's Book Award. So how obscure could it possibly have been?

[Babyguile]

Nope. In order to be tallied as a banned/challenged book it has to be purchased and on the shelves already in libraries. A challenged book is one that has been asked to be removed, while a banned book is one that went through a lengthy process and was removed from the library collection. So in order to be so frequently challenged the books must be fairly prevalent on library book shelves across the country.

Before this forum I used to spend time on a strictly fantasy literature forum. Trust me, most of the American members knew about the Pullman books long before the movie came out.

You also implied in your original post on this topic that the book is STILL obscure in the U.S. Meanwhile, glancing at my public library's catalog, it has a whopping 12 copies in the system.

In 1997, the first book in the series was nominated for the American Booksellers Children's Book Award. So how obscure could it possibly have been?

I don't find your points very convincing at all. Bear in mind I never said the books were obscure in America; I said they were less well-known. I think the point still stands. The books came third in the Nation's Favourite Books in the UK. I don't think America can compete with that!

In fact, I might read those books again...

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I don't think anyone was contesting that they're more popular here or even as popular, just that they are popular, which they are. How would you know, anyways? Are you in America?

[Drkshadow03]

I don't find your points very convincing at all. Bear in mind I never said the books were obscure in America; I said they were less well-known. I think the point still stands. The books came third in the Nation's Favourite Books in the UK. I don't think America can compete with that!

In fact, I might read those books again...

Then you would be wrong if you think your point still stands. All my points speak to its relative popularity in the U.S.

To quote you directly: "And lastly, His Dark Materials. This book is relatively unknwon[sic] in America, which doesn't suprise[sic] me in the slightest."

"Relatively unknown" doesn't translate into "less known"; it translates into "obscure" in the context of the sentence as you wrote it. You could replace that word with your two and not change the meaning of the sentence. If you meant less known in the U.S. than in Britain like you're claiming all of a sudden, then you did an extremely poor job in conveying that.