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.
Charles De Lint = very good
Have you read either Onion Girl or Forests of the Heart?
Can't say I am a fan of either Stephanie Meyer or Annette Curtis Klause. Inkheart (Cornelia Funke) was pretty nice though.
A nice thing about de Lint is that his books don't have to be read in a specific order. The books set in Newford are about the interesting residents, with each story being told from another character's point of view.
I read The Onion Girl and liked it quite a bit. I used to think Jilly Coppercorn was a bit of a flake, albeit likeable. That book really gave her some depth and was very emotional for me to read.
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Wait a minuet. Isn't 1 Euro worth $1.25 US? If They Are, than u payed (carry the one, minus 3, devide by pie [mmm, pie. *munch*], eat a pie cake.) $3.25 US!Originally Posted by Niamh
Wow. that ain't bad at all.
Last edited by #57; 12-28-2006 at 03:05 PM. Reason: spelling
#57
i recieved the first two books today. They were about £5.50 with postage and packaging= E6.87= $9.16 apprx. To buy those books in a shop over here they'd cost about E11.75 (Around $15.66). I got me a bargin on amazon!
"Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
W.B.Yeats
"If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
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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.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
Kudos for mentioning Michael Moorcock, one of my favorites, but dont forget
Fritz Leiber and his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
"Well, God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are fools, let them use their talents."
- Feste, Twelfth Night
"...till human voices wake us and we drown."
- Eliot
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?
Last edited by jim1961; 02-23-2007 at 01:56 PM.
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.
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.
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
Last edited by jim1961; 05-11-2007 at 05:28 PM.
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.
"Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
W.B.Yeats
"If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
my poems-please comment Forum Rules
My favorite fantasy book (if we consider it as fantasy) is Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon".
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free.
-Goethe
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite fantasy. I haven't read much more fantasy apart from that.
com-pas-sion (n.) [ME. & OFr. <LL. (Ec.) compassio, sympathy < compassus, pp. of compati, to feel pity < L. com-, together + pali, to suffer] sorrow for the sufferings or trouble of another or others, accompanied by an urge to help; deep sympathy; pity
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