Favourite fantasy/sci-fi novels!

:blush:

Maybe you all consider the series a bit childish, but how about Brian Jacques Redwall series? Those were my favorite books a couple of years ago, before I found my all time faves Tolkien, Sayers, and Doyle. My especial favorite was Lord Brocktree. And what about Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz? i know those are considered for younger kids but I'm fifteen and I love reading them over and over again. Call me eccentric, but hey, I claim protection under the altar of bookworm-ism. :lol: :lol: i love those books!

Kudos for mentioning Michael Moorcock, one of my favorites, but dont forget
Fritz Leiber and his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Im posting to thank you all for helping me discover some great fantasy. Im not a avid reader and up until last year, had not read a lot of fantasy, but always liked the stories. Anyway, this thread was responsible for many of my discoveries, and wanted to share what I thought of them. Thanks everyone!!!!

Terry Brooks: Shannara series: Quite readable and enjoyable. Only complaint is that he seemed to borrow allot of ideas from others.

David Eddings: Fine work! Can see well why he's so popular! Wonderful characters!

Raymond Feist: Riftwar Saga: Another good one! Particular liked his ideas about the creation of "all that is" when the story got into the time trap thing.

Terry Goodkind: Highly addictive!

C.S. Friedman: Coldfire Trilogy: Have to say that this one I hold as my favorite thus far. More originality here than most of the others. Superb! Highly recommended!

George R.R. Martin: Well written and original, but too much political drama and not enough pure fantasy for my tastes.

Robert Jordan: Does anyone really think he can wrap this one up with one more book? Seems like to much ground yet to cover. Anyone know how his health is?

I'm not sure if he was mentioned here, and he's not always fantasy (known for his sci-fi more often) but Orson Scott Card has written some very good fantasy books. It's crazy how he manages to sneak in those thinly veiled mormonism, even into fantasy. His writing still interests me, even though.

While reading this thread, I mentally flipped through my list of books.
The books/authors that stuck out the most were:

Guy Gavriel Kay -- Most people when thinking of his work think Fionovar, but my personal favorites are A Song for Arbonne (absolutely amazing novel modeled around 11th-12th century Provence) The Lions of Al-Rassan (a book based on Moorish Spain) and Tigana (roughly based on renaissance Italy).

Roger Zelazny
The Amber chronicles are what comes to my mind first in terms of Fantasy, but he also wrote some absolutely amazing other works such as A Night in a Lonesome October, Lord of Light (sci-Fi), Call me Conrad (re published as This Immortal), and his Madwand series starting with Changeling. I love this guy's work.

George R. R. Martin
Top notch author who really pushes the limits of what people expect out of fantasy. I guess the real hype about his work is the fact that he doesn't paint a black and white picture, and instead creates a world so real in terms of attributes to the point where one can relate to it.

Jacqueline Carey
Kushiel's Legacy is excellent, and on the front you got it wrong, the first one is Kushiel's Dart, not Chosen.

David Gemmel's work really stands out as excellent. It's terrible that he died this summer with so much work unfinished.

My conclusions from my list appear to show that due to the unbelievability, and the extreme amount of katharsis attached to the fantasy genre, that different treatments in a genre such as magic realism, or in classical literature seems to be far more effective/affective.

Oh, and almost forgot Ursula K. Le Guin, though I love her sci-fi more than her fantasy.

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Originally Posted by jim1961

Im posting to thank you all for helping me discover some great fantasy. Im not a avid reader and up until last year, had not read a lot of fantasy, but always liked the stories. Anyway, this thread was responsible for many of my discoveries, and wanted to share what I thought of them. Thanks everyone!!!!

Terry Brooks: Shannara series: Quite readable and enjoyable. Only complaint is that he seemed to borrow allot of ideas from others.

David Eddings: Fine work! Can see well why he's so popular! Wonderful characters!

Raymond Feist: Riftwar Saga: Another good one! Particular liked his ideas about the creation of "all that is" when the story got into the time trap thing.

Terry Goodkind: Highly addictive!

C.S. Friedman: Coldfire Trilogy: Have to say that this one I hold as my favorite thus far. More originality here than most of the others. Superb! Highly recommended!

George R.R. Martin: Well written and original, but too much political drama and not enough pure fantasy for my tastes.

Robert Jordan: Does anyone really think he can wrap this one up with one more book? Seems like to much ground yet to cover. Anyone know how his health is?

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Latest report on Jordan's health is that he is having a full recovery. It appears that he has stepped over this high obstacle in his life.

P.S. half your list appears on my garbage list.

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Originally Posted by JBI

Latest report on Jordan's health is that he is having a full recovery. It appears that he has stepped over this high obstacle in his life.

P.S. half your list appears on my garbage list.

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Keep in mind that my list you refer to is only what ive read and gathered from this thread. Its not my all time favorite list. Im also in a discovery phase in finding whats out there, and determining what I really like, and dont.

MY all time favorite list would be something like:

C.S. Freidman - Coldfire Trilogy
Mary Stewart - Merlin
Guy Kay - Tigana
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time
Anne McCaffrey - Pern
Patricia McKillip - Quest of the Riddlemaster Trilogy
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth Series
Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Juliett Marillier - Sevenwaters Trilogy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBI

Latest report on Jordan's health is that he is having a full recovery. It appears that he has stepped over this high obstacle in his life.

P.S. half your list appears on my garbage list.

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Robert Jordan died september 16, 2007

I will admit I enjoyed the Wheel of Time series. I will also admit that I thought it was getting slow and boring in the later books. although I thought he did a really good job with A Knife of Dreams. I just wish he hadn't died. I want to know what happens to Mat and Thom my two fav characters.

since i last posted i've read plenty of series and would like to add the bitterbynde saga to favourite fantasy series. :thumbs_up :thumbs_up

My favorite fantasy book (if we consider it as fantasy) is Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon".

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite fantasy. I haven't read much more fantasy apart from that.

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Originally Posted by amalia1985

My favorite fantasy book (if we consider it as fantasy) is Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon".

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:nod: thats a very good book.

I don't think I've posted in this thread yet so I will now:

George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has to be my favorite. Top-notch material and by far the greatest character builder I've ever read.

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Originally Posted by Niamh

:nod: thats a very good book.

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Thank you so much, Niamh. I knew you would like it!!;)

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Originally Posted by andave_ya

:blush:

Maybe you all consider the series a bit childish, but how about Brian Jacques Redwall series? Those were my favorite books a couple of years ago, before I found my all time faves Tolkien, Sayers, and Doyle. My especial favorite was Lord Brocktree. And what about Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz? i know those are considered for younger kids but I'm fifteen and I love reading them over and over again. Call me eccentric, but hey, I claim protection under the altar of bookworm-ism. :lol: :lol: i love those books!

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O.o Call it coincedence but i have to agree that the Redwall series Very awesome and that Lord Brocktree is one of my favorites, too :banana:

I also would like to throw in the Bartimaeus Trilogy:thumbs_up , it really puts you in a world where it's a multiple first peson experience. The conflict in the story is incredible and it seems like you're right beside the person (or djinn :lol: ) every time you start to read it. While it takes a little while to get into, once you start reading it you can't put it down! :banana:

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Originally Posted by DragonScale101

Let me think for a second- I'm in the middle of a Charles de Lint book and loving it, and I also really loved Thief Lord (Cornelia Funke), Twilight (Stephanie Meyer) LOVED Blood and Chocolate (Annette Curtis Klause) and the Harry Potter books are always good. This will make some of you gasp or even faint, but I can't STAND C.S. Lewis OR Tolkein.

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*GASP*:eek: *FAINT*:sick: *BAWL*:bawling: I know i'm doing things out of order but i tend to read things like this backwards and i haven't posted 4 a while either.

The answer is yes, Idril, it's both Sci-fi and fantasy :banana:

Chrysalids takes it for me, but my fave fantasy character was probably Raistlin from Dragonlance

Philip Pulman's books are very good. I am hoping they don't ruin them with the new movie coming out.

Most likely they will, most other movies have. Take Lemoney Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, THe movie did it almost comepletely out of order and added some things while they took out other, more important parts:flare: !!!! And also the lord of the rings moveis, just not so much scene adding.:(
:banana:

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Originally Posted by DragonScale101

Hey! This seems like a good way to introduce myself. My favorite fantasy author specifically is probably Charles de Lint, but I also like Cynthia Voigt alot, though some would argue that she's not really fantasy.

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i just got finished reading a Voight book, and you know what burns me up:flare: about her? The fact that she doesn't let you know what number the book is in a series! I just read The Wings of a Falcon, got to the end of the book at the author's note and what did I find out? IT'S THE THIRD BOOK IN A TRILOGY!!!!!!!!!!!!:rage: For those who haven't read this trilogy it's: (first) Jackaroo, (2nd) On Fortunes Wheel, and (3rd) The Wings of a Falcon. It's the third series that i've started on by reading the third book. The first being The Lost Years of Merlin series, The second the His Dark Materials trilogy thanks to my stupid assistant librarian, and now, of course, this one.:banana:

You're probably sick and tired of favourite-lists, but I could't help myself!

Well, personally the only fantasy/sci-fi novels I've read is Lord of the Rings, the four A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and all the Hitchiker's stories. I've also read a lot from Lovecraft.
I'm also about to read The Hobbit, Children of Hurin, and The Silmarillion, but I'm on the lookout for some other epic stuff, hence why I'm making this thread.

I'm always on the lookout for quality stuff, specially nice-binded Deluxe/Collector's Editions, as I'm a sort of collector of books (well, I like to see my self as one anyway). So, post your favourite fantasy/sci-fi novels, and don't burn me on the fire!

Would be nice if you knew if the novels in your lists has been published in deluxe or nice hardcover editions. If so, do alert me.

My favourite fantasy saga is James Clemens "Banned and Bannished" , (five books starting with Wit'ch Fire). I just loved it from page one. The fantastic heroine and her companions. It has elves, dwarves and many more creatures and men.
Also a very good trilogy would be the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop. Very classy but different, compelling and dark fantasy. Haven't read anything remotely similar to this book.

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Originally Posted by cracking muse

Philip Pulman's books are very good. I am hoping they don't ruin them with the new movie coming out.

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l love these books as well they are great. I liked the first movie but I have heard that they are not going to be doing any more:flare:

Sorry for going a bit off-topic, but can anybody recommend me any spacetravel sciencefiction? I have tried Lessing's Canopus archieve but not really my cup of tea.

we ll obviously the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy!

Frank Herbert, Dune

My all time favourite fantasy series would have to be The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I got really peeved when they butchered it in the movie:rage:

Gormenghast trilogy

Man, am I glad someone unearthed this thread, because it was fun to peruse.

Some of my favorite sci fi/fantasy authors are

JRR Tolkien -- The epic scale of his stories, the colossal struggle of good and evil, the imperfect characters called to do deeds greater than themselves--there is a part of me the always yearns to be there.

CS Lewis -- I love Naria, but his Space Trilogy is truly thought-provoking.

Anne McCaffrey -- As much as I love her accounts of Pern, it was the Ship Who Sings and the books in that series that cemented her place in my heart.

Tad Williams -- His Memory, Sorrow, Thorn "Trilogy" [Book 1- 300 pages, Book 2-- 400 pages, Book 3-Part I -600 pages, Book 3-PartII - 600 pages--seriously dude, just call it a series] is exquisite and his War of the Flowers was very unique.

David Weber -- He is a madman when it comes to volume, but his Honor Harrington series and his Safehold series both have me captivated. A writer who is very thorough and deliberate with his technology.

H. Beam Piper -- The Little Fuzzy books are endearing and his (unfinished) Lord Calvin of Otherwhen series and short stories have endeared him to me since high school. Not enough to shell out $50 + a book for the completion of the series as written by other authors, but still a lot.

There are tons more books I love (some of real worth, others not) and tons more I hate or simply don't care for (some of real worth, others not). I find the genre ( both sci fi and fantasy) amazing. It is often used for pure escapism and a story for the sake of enjoyment, but also has the unrivaled potential to be used for exploring the human condition or delving into the soul or that sort of stuff.

Besides Tolkien, Robin Hobb. I see she is quite high on the list in the OP and the tag is totally accurate. She writes character based fantasy. Exceptionally talented at developing totally real characters. I read the Farseer Trilogy and I found myself hating and loving Fitz (narrator, protagonist) with equal measure at every chapter, sometimes more frwquently. But don't be lulled into a false sense of security: her plots get thicker and intricate towards the conclusion. But not in a bad way, only to a degree that's just right.

She has a passion for this fantasy lark and boy it really shows. Read her.

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Originally Posted by underground

i really liked the first book, but the the other two came across as, uh, pointless. what is up with the weird creatures and whatshername in the last book?

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Yeeea I felt that. He was trying to forcibly push some metaphor or allegory onto us with excessive and endless discriptions of this frankly ridiculous cast of creatures and just, yea, he abandones the story a bit.

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Originally Posted by EAP

George R.R. Martin [The most critically acclaimed (among fantasy buffs anyway) fantasy writer on Internet]

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'A Game of Thrones' was excellent and I have 'A Clash of Kings on my shelf and cannot wait!

Philip Pullman's books are great, but I particularly like Philip K. Dick's novels. Amazing **** :D Best sci-fi novel EVER.

Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker.

Neil Asher and Iain M banks are my favourite Sci Fi authors at the moment. Jo Halder is good too. The only one I've read by him is the Forever war, but it had some interesting comments and speculations on social issues.

The "Hainish Series" of novels and short stories by Ursula Leguin. They are truly wonderful and profound.

Robert Holdstock-Mythago Wood/Lavondyss is beautiful and haunting but also slightly depressing at times.
Gene Wolfe-Soldier Of The Mist-ditto.

Whoa that's a really long list XD If it's science fiction then it's obviously Philip K. Dick because no one can beat him :) When it comes to fantasy; I've never read Lord of the Rings before but I'm sure it's a really great epic trilogy. I love the movie and how it's extremely detailed; and many people tell me that the movie still leaves out a lot of complex characters. Alice in Wonderland was very good and thought-provoking; better than I expected as I've always seen it as a Disney happy-go-lucky story, and I was VERY wrong when I read it.

Darren Shan is awesome; his books are meant to be for young readers so his language is extremely simple, however his stories are awesome.

Oh yes C.S. Lewis, Susan Cooper, and Philip Pullman are also amazing!

KJ Parker is great, particularly The Folding Knife and The Scavenger Series. Very little actual 'fantasy' in her work funnily enough. Some of her work is a bit of a slog though.

Sorry for the necromancy.

Adrian Tchaikovsky FTW