recommended fantasy books?

[Satine]

If you're looking for a 'girl-oriented' Fantasy, try Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Not sure whether to classify it as fantasy, but I would say it's more fantasy than pop fiction for sure. I think guys would enjoy it just as much, but I know that I'm fairly new to the whole genre and I WANT to get into the more heavy fantasy series' and such, but this was a good start for me. Baby steps, people...but no, really...I'm glad this thread is going because now I can start a massive new list of stuff I want to read. Thanks, a lot folks. My bank account loves you.

[Nightshade]

yep Beauty and Rose daughter. both beauty and the beat but Beauty was the first one 1970's and the one the Disney film is based on.
Hero and the Crown is another good book I think Ill actually go reread that later tonight. The only book I havent read of hers yet is Blue Sword but unfortunatly thats out of print

The redwall books are a bit gruesome arent they, I eventually gave up on that series after reading the one about Martin the warrior.

[Nightshade]

humm satine Wicked is a rehahing of somthing else isnt it ?? Actually thats a point I LOVE rehashings of legends/fairy tales etc I love nowing the background and being able tos ee all the twists in the story so if anyone has any idea of anymore of these please id love to kow about them.

Satine if your going for baby steps start with Tamora pierce or Mercedes Lackey easy enugh slide into the genre since Im not sure all of their books fully "qualify " as such. Actually com eto think of it Tamora pierce has begumn to wear thin as Ive got older so depending on your age you may not like them at all. (they are classified as young adult books).
Time travellers wife is Fantasy if you ask me but Its not classified as such in library (ours at least) because it is more about their relationship then the slight time travelling fluke.

What defines a Fantasy/scifi any way??

[underground]

hmm... i've read wicked, but it's not really the kind of fantasy i have in mind. interesting, though, albeit somewhat strange and illogical. but hey, it's based on an equally-strange book.

i was going to get some of the redwall series, but just because there are so many books in that, i was led to believe it might not be so good after all. but maybe i should give it a shot.

as for tamora pierce, i made an attempt at one of her books (the one with the twins), but i couldn't get myself through it. maybe it's too...girly? or the language is too contemporary? or maybe the picture on the cover is too "cheapy"? i don't know.

ooh, yes, i know there's a sequel to eragon, but it's probably not in the library yet, and i'm too cheap to get myself a copy.

currently reading peter pan.

[Nightshade]

underground twins???
Was one trying to be a knight or was it another one.
Because if its not the first one with alana then the book your talking aboout is somthing like the 9th book in the circle of magic series which just is as good as the tortall series and the second tortall series ( the immortals series has got to be the best , or maybe the new Trickster duo is good.
I didnt like eragon but I d know the sequel came into our libabry lat week (i had to stamp it)

[Satine]

humm satine Wicked is a rehahing of somthing else isnt it ?? Actually thats a point I LOVE rehashings of legends/fairy tales etc I love nowing the background and being able tos ee all the twists in the story so if anyone has any idea of anymore of these please id love to kow about them.

Time travellers wife is Fantasy if you ask me but Its not classified as such in library (ours at least) because it is more about their relationship then the slight time travelling fluke.

What defines a Fantasy/scifi any way??

Ok, trying to cover all the great points you made here.

1) Yes, Wicked is a rehashing of sorts, but I found it a fascinating spin on an old story, and I think Gregory Maguire did a FANTASTIC job of it. I didn't find it cheesy at all. Very well thought out, put together, and completed. He IS coming out with the sequel to Wicked called "Son of a Witch" in October, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Picks up after the death of Elphaba and tells the story of what became of Liir, her son...should be good reading.

2) Never thought of Time Traveler's Wife as a fantasy, at least not in the traditional sense. Always saw fantasy's as sword-fighting, battle between good and evil, lots of crazy characters and back-stories going on, some of them finished and some of them hanging when the story is done...that type of thing. TTW seems more like a sci-fi novel to me...takes place in modern day Chicago and basically reads like a traditional fiction novel with the twist of time travel.

3) What classifies Fantasy/Sci-Fi? Well, many say that Fantasy/Sci-Fi shouldn't even be classified together, which is a valid argument and probably very true. I think anymore, with writing styles evolving so much and the bar being set not only higher, but in different directions all-together, it's hard to put a lot of the newer books into categories at ALL. I mean, the bookstores have to do it, so they put a lot of books in places I don't think they should BE, but they don't have much choice.

Both Wicked and Time Traveler's Wife are classified as "Fiction" but they are more fantasy than anything else. I also think that readers that shy away from the Fantasy/Sci Fi section would probably never pick up either book if they had been classified as such, and so they are put into "Fiction" to get more exposure. That's my my two cents, although I realize that I wrote a whole lot more than that in this post!!

[Rosalind]

The first Redwall books are good, but the more recent ones are...not. But the thing is, I think it's a series you have to get hooked on in about the third grade to really appreciate. Yes, I got hooked. But if you do want to give them a shot, go for it. They're great sick day reads.

*winces at Tamora Pierce critique* I agree, the writing in 'Alanna' is very weak, but there's something endearing about the plot and characters, and it was Ms. Pierce's first novel. You can really see the improvement--by the time you get to 'Lioness Rampant,' the fourth one in that quartet, it makes some great reading. Like Nightshade, though, I'm especially fond of the Immortals quartet. On the other hand, I didn't like the Circle books nearly as much, but 'The Will of the Empress' is definately heading in an upward direction. Oh--and yeah, whose idea were those covers, anyway??

I'm not sure if these have been reccomended yet--I'd read all four pages, honest, but it's just all this homework... Anyway, Underground, have you read Jane Yolen and Diana Wynne Jones? Sounds like you'd like 'em. They're both quite prolific, just go to the library and you're sure to find something. Patricia C. Wrede, as well--her Enchanted Forest Chronicles are best known, but I highly, highly reccomend 'Mairelon the Magician.' It's a perfect mix of magic, adventure, history and humour.

I second your recco of Robin McKinley, Nightshade. You know, I really enjoyed 'The Hero and the Crown,' but I was never able to get into 'The Blue Sword.' But good luck finding it!

[erywth]

I'd really reccomend Garth Nix's trilogy that starts with 'Sabriel'. I can't remember whether it has a name though.

[Matilda]

Dunno if you count this as fantasy, but I think the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer are really good. Much funnier than terry pratchett if you ask me. I absolutely love the character holly short

[R.Daneel]

Some must-reads for the Martin fans:

Malazan books, by Steven Erikson
and
Prince of Nothing books, by R. Scott Bakker

Both fairly new, and of the more gritty and intelligent type.

Orions Masterworks releases are also excellent, both sci-fi and fantasy.
Check it out here

[Charles Darnay]

If you truly want a great fantasy series.... one that has all the fantasy elements, is unbelievably addictive, and extremely funny.... try David Eddings' "The Belgarid" and "Malloreon"

[Panurge]

I'd like to jump in and recommend any of the 'Lankhmar" books written by Fritz Leiber. He invented the term 'Sword and Sorcery', but reading his work you would never guess that he actually predated the largely generic fantasy writing which dominates the market nowadays. He writes in a grand, eloquent style (his parents were members of a Shakespearean troupe...) but simply and beautifully paced. There is enough action to keep even the most bloodthirsty satisfied, but shot through with touches of philosophy and knowing humour. His creativity is startling (particularly considering the time at which he was writing) and the characterisation of his two main leads (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) is convincing and deftly handled. I must stop now because I'm slavering onto my keyboard, which I only bought yesterday...

Also, as a fan of fantasy who started out reading Tolkien, TH White, Robert E Howard, Lord Dunsany et al, I would recommend turning to some of the sources of these great authors. Books like 'The Mabinogion' and the various Norse sagas can be just as gripping, with the added advantage that the author generally believed and lived in the world he is describing.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

If you like your fantasy with a little more depth, I can recommend "Little Big" by John Crowley and the Viriconium books by M. John Harrison.

These show just how good 'genre' fiction can be. But if you're just looking for another Tolkein clone, forget them.

Btw. Who said Pratchett isn't serious in an earlier post? He is hilarious, yes, but there are serious issues discussed in all of his books underneath the jokes.

[Theshizznigg]

I found the Dragon Prince books by Melanie rawn to be a good read, also Harry Harrison is a fairly good Sci Fi writer, Most of the time.
I loved Sir Arthur Conan Doyles, Edward Challenger Stories, especially the Poison Belt.
the Tolkien books were bad, but the Chronicles of Narnia were better,
I tend to put books like that under fantasy, and space thrillers under Sci Fi.
Atermis Fowl, was a good book, as were the Harry Potter books, I loved Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, Dr.Jekyll and Mr, Hyde was also good.
The Myth series by Robert Aspirin was also good.
Can't think of anymore at the moment though.
I prefer reading historical books, so I can't say I have a large selection of just Sci Fi Books.

[Whifflingpin]

Ursula Le Guin's five Earthsea novels deserve a mention in this thread. Written 1968, 1972 & 1973, and then 1990 and 2001, they do show great variety in many ways. The first three were, I think, intended for children - at least they are in the Puffin series - but the fourth, "Tehanu" is much darker and full of pain.
All of them fantasy - all, possibly, "coming of age" stories - all poetic - all demanding thought - all entertaining.

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