Fantasy Masterworks: What do you think?

[Princess Ivy]

If we can sugest, I'd put forward Salt, by adam roberts. i was absolutly bowled over, and yet, thinking about it, it wasn't anything specific, just very well writen, and a fascinating concept.

 

[GOLLUM]

Phew I seem to be digging up some real beauties tonight...

Well just to show what a sad case I am I've read 31 of the 44 Fantasy Masterwork series listed by Knivesout. I think I need to get myself a life...

I'd certainly add Donaldson's Covenant series and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast sequence to the Masterworks list.

I could possibly see Erikson's Malazan series and possibly Martin being included in a list of this nature in the future but because they're true multi-volume affairs I don't know if they'ld be published in such a series...

 

[Brys]

I think they've done an excellent job of collecting some of the best fantasy that would otherwise be very difficult to obtain. I've read a shamefully small number of them, have a few more, but as I'm now just starting to do a bit more science fiction reading I'm basing it mainly on the masterworks series to start. Those I've read:
Fantasy:
Viriconium
First book of Lankhmar
Gloriana
The Drawing of the Dark
The Emperor of Dreams
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
The Book of the New Sun (both volumes)
Tales of the Dying Earth
Chronicles of Amber

In Science Fiction:
The Stars My Destination
A Scanner Darkly
The Forever War
(these happen to be my top 3 novels in science fiction as well)
A Canticle for Leibowitz
The Centauri Device


I have to say I disagree with your suggestions Gollum - not on the basis of quality, because they're all excellent, but on the basis of availability. It's very easy to find a copy of the Covenant series, or of the Malazan series or of the ASOIAF series, or even Gormenghast, and it looks like it'll be that way for some time - that's the reason Gormenghast and LotR weren't included initially (it says on the back along with Peake, Tolkien and others...). What is a shame at the moment is that there is The King of Elfland's Daughter within the masterworks series, but it's also unavailable, which kind of ruins the whole point of it being there.
In fantasy, I think seeing some of Tim Powers' out of print novels would be good and perhaps some Graham Joyce (maybe Requiem, which is surprisingly difficult to get)
In science fiction, I'd like to see it extended to some Russian and Eastern European authors as well, such as Stanislaw Lem and the Strugastky brothers (Lem may not be impossible to obtain, but there are AFAIK very few good translations), but also I think Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series should become part of the masterworks.

 

[Jay]

I have several of these,in there original editions and have the mastwoeks editions for ones I don't have. Regarding works I'd like to see (going on the premise of not seen a lot and often short printed) are some by James Blaylock and Charles de Lint. I wouldn't mind seeng something like Burrough's Cities of Nights collected (although maybe it doesn't qualify) some JG Ballard, maybe some works by Kuttner. What would be just essential would be a Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem quartet collected. Arthur Machen needs to be put out there!

If they came out with a limited run hardcover set I'd jump all over it.

I also want to add this is the ultimate christmas gift idea - I have bought a few sets for people and they love them

 

[Brys]

Of course - Edward Whittemore's Jersualem Quarter would be a great addition to the masterworks set.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm surprised to hear that The King of Elfland's Daughter is not readily available, since I've seen it quite recently in a bookstore. On the other hand, I've noticed that the larger chains show an admirable willingness to hold on to trade paperbacks these days, when they would have sent them back for credit after a very few months before.

*****

edit -- However, a quick check at the Barnes&Noble website, because I was curious, informs me that what I saw was probably the new Del Rey Impact edition, and that Del Rey has also brought out a new edition of The Charwoman's Shadow.

 

[Brys]

At Amazon.co.uk, the masterworks version has been unavailable for a while now (which just happened to coincide with the time that I was going to get it), and the other versions are occasionally available second hand. My local bookstore, while improving, still is pretty much hopeless for speculative fiction which isn't A) published in the last 20 years and B) a popular series with lots of marketing behind it.

 

[GOLLUM]

I have to say I disagree with your suggestions Gollum - not on the basis of quality, because they're all excellent, but on the basis of availability. It's very easy to find a copy of the Covenant series, or of the Malazan series or of the ASOIAF series, or even Gormenghast, and it looks like it'll be that way for some time - that's the reason Gormenghast and LotR weren't included initially (it says on the back along with Peake, Tolkien and others...). What is a shame at the moment is that there is The King of Elfland's Daughter within the masterworks series, but it's also unavailable, which kind of ruins the whole point of it being there.

OH shows how much I know... I didn't realise it was based on availability but assumed moreso on signficance or weightiness within the Genre, so thank you for that educational point.

I have a copy of The King of Elfland's Daughter and found it quite easy to obtain from my local fantasy specialist bookshop in Melbourne. This same shop also regualry stocks 75% plus of the SF and Fantasy masterworks series, so maybe I'm just being spoilt....

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Significance and weightiness within the genre AND whether or not the books are readily available elsewhere. The purpose of the series being to prevent these great works from slipping into obscurity.

But also, of course, choices would be dictated by whether or not the rights to publish the work were even available.

I do feel very lucky to live in an area where libraries and ordinary bookstores are quite good about stocking SF and Fantasy. There are a few specialty SFF stores, too, but they're a bit further afield.

Since it took me quite a bit of looking to come by an up-to-date list of all the books, I'm including the link for anyone who wants it:

http://webdev.lbsltd.co.uk/orion/browse-results.aspx?subID=8&cpage=0

 

[GOLLUM]

I do feel very lucky to live in an area where libraries and ordinary bookstores are quite good about stocking SF and Fantasy. There are a few specialty SFF stores, too, but they're a bit further afield.
Since it took me quite a bit of looking to come by an up-to-date list of all the books, I'm including the link for anyone who wants it:
http://webdev.lbsltd.co.uk/orion/browse-results.aspx?subID=8&cpage=0

Well I've read about 3/4 of those listed but own less than half myself, so one of my longer term goals is to accquire the entire Fantasy Masterworks set.

We only really have 1 specialist bookshop in Melbourne that stocks fantasy, sci-fi books, comics, art, dvds & videos and various figurines all associated with the SFF genres. Fortunately they're the best stocked shop in Australia other than their equivalent in Sydney and contain approx 75% of the Masterwork series at any one time.

Sounds as if you have a few more specliast SFF shops than we do though...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Sounds as if you have a few more specliast SFF shops than we do though...

We used to have five, plus a number of bookshops that specialized in genre fiction of all types (no non-fiction or mainstream). Some of these have disappeared, though. And the two that were still going the last time I looked are about 40 miles away in a city I don't particularly like visiting.

 

[Narainatar]

You should add a book by David Eddings, any will do seeing as how they are all classics- atleast they are in my own little world- they were the first books i started reading hardcore, i loved it.

 

[GOLLUM]

We used to have five, plus a number of bookshops that specialized in genre fiction of all types (no non-fiction or mainstream). Some of these have disappeared, though. And the two that were still going the last time I looked are about 40 miles away in a city I don't particularly like visiting.

Yes we had the same thing happen here, with a couple of other specialist shops starting up in the city that have now closed their physical premises although they're still able to do a trade via the internet. Presumably these problems come from running a bookshop that specialises in a specific genre. The one main shop that has been there for 30 plus years is still going strong because they've diversified by offering a lot of offshoots from the books as in figurines, videos, posters etc.. plus having a very extensive comic collection.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just coming back to this topic, I found an interesting blog last week which is dedicated to reviewing the SFF Masterworks titles:
SFF Masterworks

 

[antiloquax]

I've read John Gardner's Grendel. It is excellent. I wouldn't necessarily have thought of this as a "fantasy" book. It's a masterful retelling of part of the Beowulf legend from the pov of Grendel. Very much worth seeking out.

 

[GOLLUM]

Just coming back to this topic, I found an interesting blog last week which is dedicated to reviewing the SFF Masterworks titles:
SFF Masterworks

Complementing Brian's post here is the old SF Site I've often used as a handy reference/insight to many of the early SF and Fantasy Masterwork books...

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/orion01.htm

 

[Fried Egg]

Just coming back to this topic, I found an interesting blog last week which is dedicated to reviewing the SFF Masterworks titles:
SFF Masterworks

Yeah, I used to follow that blog and it was an interesting project that they set out on but; look at the last time it was updated. It looks like it's stalled to me.

And that blog was only reviewing the SF masterworks series, not the fantasy masterworks series referred to in this thread.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Some of the fantasy masterworks are reviewed - though I do tend to find more of the SF books.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yep the SF Site did review Fantasy and SF Masterworks. As I suggested it was an old site that featured many of the earlier Masterworks and still the most comprehensive Masterwork site I know of (in terms of number of books reviewed).