Fantasy Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[the_faery_queen]

i may think about it, if they annoy me, of course. but if someone has repeatid thoughts about hitting someone, with no cause, then that says a lot abotu them. and as a writer, i have no say, i disagree. there are some things that never enter my mind, raping a character is one of them. it just never does. i never think of it, would never write it. so for me, if a writer writes about it a lot, in detail, taht says a lot more about them, than anything else. it shows that their imagination goes that way a lot, and that worries me. that someone will think about rape and abusing women in so many different ways. and it worries me even more if said rape adds nothing to the plot. if someone needs a reason for a man to go on a revenge kill (waylander for instance) then yes, raping his wife and killing her and his son, that may pop into your head. that's a reasonable thing to jump to. BUT to suddenly have lots of rape and abuse, that doesn't add to the plot, well, how and why do they think of that? why do they feel the need to write it? i just can't understand it myself, thinking of all these ways to abuse women, and not one of them adding anything to character or plot, that says a lot more about the writer than the world, in my opinion.

here i am mostly talking about goodkind. he's the only writer i have come acorss to have an unusual amount of rape and abuse of women in graphic detail. other writers when they have it, the odd account, for the most part, a link can be reasoned out as to WHY they did it. there might have been better ways for them to acheive the same purpose, but ultimately there is something. but if you're thinking of similiar things over and over, and those things are negative towards one type of person, that says a lot abotu you.

that's just what i think anyway.

 

[Azathoth]

I've never read anything by Goodkind, but maybe he throws in all the rape to show how brutal and lawless his fantasy world is; I mean, rape and violence against women was common back in medieval times (still is), so maybe he's just trying to add realism.

Or maybe he's just a sicko.

 

[GOLLUM]

Well, I wish I had stopped at four, but it took me seven. Same with Jordan, seven seems to be the magic number for me. I'm glad that GRRM is gonna end his at six, maybe seven. Else, I don't think I could make it. -g-

Well for me it was only .5 with Goodkind and not because of any abuse to women per se, it was just a crap book IMO. With Jordan I've put on hold at No .9 although I skiped through bits of 10 as I was told very little happens here but I won't read the last few properly until the series is completed. There's way too many quality writers out there for me to waste my time on him at the moment.

 

[ladyflorange]

Ah come on, you guys! David Gemmell has to be on there somewhere!! He is the king! If you read nothing else, you have to read White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day..although I agree, Feist, Goodkind and the others are also good.

 

[Redactor]

Hugh Cook's 'Chronicles of an Age of Darkness' series. Best fantasy series ever.

1. The Wizards and the Warriors
2. The Wordsmiths and the Warguild
3. The Women and the Warlords
4. The Walrus and the Warwolf
5. The Wicked and the Witless
6. The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers
7. The Wazir and the Witch
8. The Werewolf and the Wormlord
9. The Worshippers and the Way
10. The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster

I recommend starting with either book 1 or book 4 (The Walrus and the Warwolf is a book everyone must read once before they die).

It doesn't matter what order the books are read in. They're not consecutive - they're concurrent.

 

[Adasunshine]

Thankyou! I am the only fantasy reader in my social group (and am therefore wrongly labelled a geek (I've taken the test)) and before I got this PC, I had to search high and low for good recommendations in this genre!

Praise the lord for chronicles and the internet!!!

xx

 

[GOLLUM]

Praise the lord for chronicles and the internet!!!
xx

Amen to that...

Glad you could join our little Brotherhood...

 

[seerdon]

Hey - haven't posted on here for absolutely yonks. Not sure if anyone's mentioned Anselm Audley in here, as I haven't trawled through all 8 (!) pages, but if not, then I would recommend him. His trilogy is written in a style that is likely to appeal more to teenagers, like me, but they are very political and very involved and totally absorbing, and I hope can be appreciated by fantasy readers in general. Perhaps someone could give him a try and tell me what they think?

 

[WizardofOwls]

I am a huge fan of Charles DeLint. He writes urban fantasy, and his books are excellent IMHO. I also enjoy Dennis L. McKiernan and Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. Also enjoyed the Books of the Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

1. 1. The Sacrifice
   2. The Changeling
   3. The Rival
   4. The Resistance
   5. Victory

Two other books were set in this world, a duology called Black Throne


1 The Black Queen
2 The Black King

Most of my other favorites have already been mentioned (Melanie Rawn, Raymond E. Feist, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Robin Hobb)

 

[Rahl Windsong]

For LE Modesitt Jr you forgot to mention his Spellsong Cycle its 5 books and I thought they were pretty good. The story starts with a woman from earth who was somehow (cant remember) transported to this world where songs are magical and she being an accomplished opera singer makes her very powerful. Good story as always from Modesitt Jr.

Spellsong Cycle

The Soprano Sorceress
Spellsong War
Darksong Rising
The Shadow Sorceress
Shadow Singer

 

[ladyflorange]

This has been so useful to me! And you guys have recommended some really good books! Before I found this site I mainly read only Gemmel and Eddings, but since then I've branched out so much, and I'm so glad. Thanks again!

 

[ladyflorange]

I have a question about Goodkind - I've only read Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears, but why is the woman always the one in trouble although she's supposed to be so powerful? I really liked Wizard's First Rule, but Stone of Tears seemed kind of silly and just too far beyond anything approaching believability. I agree with people - he's not kind to his women.

 

[GOLLUM]

I have a question about Goodkind - I've only read Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears, but why is the woman always the one in trouble although she's supposed to be so powerful? I really liked Wizard's First Rule, but Stone of Tears seemed kind of silly and just too far beyond anything approaching believability. I agree with people - he's not kind to his women.

Unfortunately I couldn't even get past the end of Wizard's First Rule...EEEKKK. Just not my cup of tea so can't contribute much here!

 

[Morkarden]

I just picked up the first three books in the DragonLance chronicles for a total of 7 bucks, brand new, mismarked! I'm halfway through the first and am just curious what you all think about this series?

I'm pretty new to the fantasy books. I have been reading fantasy for about 14 months now and so far i have read all of Jordans published WoT series, all of Goodkinds published SoT series, couldn't get past Terry Brooks Wishsong of Shanarra I was so bored, so I moved onto Salvatore and have read The Dark Elf Tilogy, The Icewinf Dale Trilogy and the Legacy of the drow. I have also read Eragon and Eldest with my nine year old son. Jordan is ok, Goodkind is great but I'm unsure of Salvatore...should I keep reading his series? Does it get stale? Thanks from the rookie.

 

[GOLLUM]

I just picked up the first three books in the DragonLance chronicles for a total of 7 bucks, brand new, mismarked! I'm halfway through the first and am just curious what you all think about this series?

I'm pretty new to the fantasy books. I have been reading fantasy for about 14 months now and so far I have read all of Jordans published WoT series, all of Goodkinds published SoT series, couldn't get past Terry Brooks Wishsong of Shanarra I was so bored, so I moved onto Salvatore and have read The Dark Elf Tilogy, The Icewinf Dale Trilogy and the Legacy of the drow. I have also read Eragon and Eldest with my nine year old son. Jordan is ok, Goodkind is great but I'm unsure of Salvatore...should I keep reading his series? Does it get stale? Thanks from the rookie.

Well I've read a lot of fantasy including all of the authors you mention. I don't like Goodkind much but Brooks is OK but still pretty generic fantasy, mind you it didn't stop me from reading everything he'ld writtenat the time. I'm not a fan of Paolini but I appreciate he may appeal to younger audiences. As far as Salvatore goes I've read a number of his books including what I think are his best 2 series, namely his original Icewind Dale trilogy and Dark Elf trilogy which you've read. Salvatore is very good at describing fight scenes but as far as character and plot development go there's not a lot to recommend him IMO. To answer your query, Yes the remaining books I've read beyond these 2 trilogies are along fairly simliar lines really. Robert Jordan is probably the best of that bunch, at least for my tastes because he focuses very much on EPIC fantasy which I particlalry enjoy although his latter books have lagged somewhat in terms of plot development, a common criticsim of his later work but he's the only one you've mentioned here that I'm sticking with to the bitter end. I read most of the Dragonlance stuff by Weiss and Hickmann in my younger days but my tastes in literature have very much moved on from there. Other than their original Dragonlance trilogy you mention, which BTW I manged to pick up for a couple of dollars Australian in Hardback first edition from a garage sale YEH! I think their best work is the seven book series DeathGate Cycle. It's a bit different from their standard fare and I quite liked it. Dragonlance is OK but having my time again I probably wouldn't revisit it as I feel I can do a lot better these days. As far as Brooks goes his best work for me was his Running With The Demons trilogy, so you may want to check that out. Very different from his Shannara books.

OK, now I don't mean this as a criticism but more as an observation in that I notice most of the authors you mention write fairly generic fantasy, which I found after a while wasn't enough as I craved something a little more original. I don't know if you're after specific recommendations or not but I can easily provide you with a list as long as your arm, so let us know if you're after something a bit different to what you've so far been reading or check out this current thread you're in. It really depends upon what type of story you like and if you prefer more happy style endings to those where things often don't work out neatly etc... One excellent series is the fanatsy Masterworks series which currently features 44 "classics" of the Genre spanning the last 100 odd years. Plenty of interesting stuff in that lot I can assure you.

Hope this answers your query...

 

[Morkarden]

OK, now I don't mean this as a criticism but more as an observation in that I notice most of the authors you mention write fairly generic fantasy, which I found after a while wasn't enough as I craved something a little more original. I don't know if you're after specific recommendations or not but I can easily provide you with a list as long as your arm, so let us know if you're after something a bit different to what you've so far been reading or check out this current thread you're in. It really depends upon what type of story you like and if you prefer more happy style endings to those where things often don't work out neatly etc... One excellent series is the fanatsy Masterworks series which currently features 44 "classics" of the Genre spanning the last 100 odd years. Plenty of interesting stuff in that lot I can assure you.

Hope this answers your query...

Thanks for the info. I have read most of this thread and have decided to start on Steven Erickson's series.....but I would like just a few more reccommendations for something that has a little more bite to it. Thanks again.

 

[Brys]

Of those of similar quality and scope to Erikson, read George RR Martin and R Scott Bakker's series, and possibly JV Jones' Sword of Shadows and Greg Keyes' Kingdom of Thorn and Bone. As for a more recent epic fantasy novel, I'd recommend Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. As Gollum said, check out the fantasy masterworks series for a lot of really excellent fantasy. And if you want some less traditional fantasy, look at Jay's list (on the first page of this thread).

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for the info. I have read most of this thread and have decided to start on Steven Erickson's series.....but I would like just a few more reccommendations for something that has a little more bite to it. Thanks again.

Well if you're after something with a bit of bite you could do worse than Erikson. It's not easy to follow the first book but things do pick up by the end of the book in terms of loose ends being tied up, so you get an idea of what's happening, just have to be persistent with it. Basically my fav series of all time. The other series Brys suggests are pretty much the ones I'd go for and also throw in Paul Kearney's Mark Of Ran and maybe Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn albeit a little more traditional style fantasy also then maybe followup with some of the Masterwork series and Jay's suggestions. Plus maybe check out the series I mentioned for Brooks and Weiss and Hickmann.

Hope you like them.....

 

[Rahl Windsong]

Aye I still would laugh if I read anything said by Tasslehoff and I quite liked Raisltin but I think the series I liked more then Dragon Lance was the Sovereign StoneTrillogy by them.

Rahl

 

[hedgeknight]

Another plug for the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman - just a great read! I loved it all.
Salvatore's books all sound the same after awhile - Crystal Shard trilogy is his best IMO.
Morkarden, for a different twist, try some military fantasy by John Marco - the Tyrants and Kings trilogy, starting with The Jackyl of Nar - great stuff!
-g-