David Eddings or J.R.R Tolkien

[Thadlerian]

Well there's plenty but for EPIC fantasy you should try Steven Erikson's Malazan series, Roger Zeleazny's Chronicles Of Amber, George RR Matin's Song Of Ice and Fire sequence, R Scott bakker's Prince Of Nothing trilogy, Stephen Donladson's Crhronicles Of Thomas Covenant, JV Jones Sword Of Shadows trilogy, Greg Keyes Kingdom Of Bone and Thorn quartet, Kate Eliott's Crown Of Stars series, Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series, Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, Paul Kearney's Sea Beggars series, RA Salvatore's Ice Wind Dale and Drak Elf trilogies, Ed Whittemore's seminal Jerusalem quartet and Ian Irvine's View From The Mirror Quartet. There's more but this is a good start.....

Whoa, take it easy! They guy's just been through Jordan, Brooks and Goodkind. Jumping straight at Martin, Erikson, and especially Bakker might give him a shock. A good one, but shocking nevertheless.

I suggest Donaldson as a warm-up.

 

[j d worthington]

Of the two choices, I'd recommend Tolkien. There are a lot of things the "classic" has the other doesn't, among which are a meatier prose style and deeper set of emotional resonances. Eddings is much more surface, less substance. Sort of the difference between a candy bar and a steak -- both enjoyable, but one tends to be more nutritious.

I'd also like to put in a word for Fritz Leiber (especially the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series), Poul Anderson (The Broken Sword, Three Hearts and Three Lions, The Merman's Children, Hrolf Kraki's Saga, etc.), Jack Vance (especially his Dying Earth stories), Michael Moorcock (especially the Elric and Erekosë/John Daker tales, and Blood), several of Andre Norton's Witch World books, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series. Most of these are shorter volumes, though some make up an extensive series (such as the Witch World); you might also want to try out A. Merritt, William Morris, Lord Dunsany, and George MacDonald....

 

[murphy]

Whoa, take it easy! They guy's just been through Jordan, Brooks and Goodkind. Jumping straight at Martin, Erikson, and especially Bakker might give him a shock. A good one, but shocking nevertheless.

I suggest Donaldson as a warm-up.

More warm-up books. Dave Duncan's King's Blades and King's Dagger books, Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.

 

[brent.bennett]

Ok is it Conan by Robert Howard, or Conan by Robert Jordan? Or is this the same person? Oh yeah, and thanks guys this is all very enlightening. This is an awesome forum

 

[brent.bennett]

Alright I've got it. classic to nonclassic is kind of like a candy bar to a steak. I've never read a classic, so, forget Eddings, I've got that established lol. I will indeed give him a wide berth. And I will take the majority of the advice and go for a classic. Yes, theres Tolkien, I own the Hobbit and the Lord of the rings. Is there a suggested true classic epic that I should try before Tolkien?

 

[murphy]

Ok is it Conan by Robert Howard, or Conan by Robert Jordan? Or is this the same person? Oh yeah, and thanks guys this is all very enlightening. This is an awesome forum

They're talking about the Robert Howard Conan. He was the originator, Robert Jordan came years later.

 

[Fried Egg]

Ok is it Conan by Robert Howard, or Conan by Robert Jordan? Or is this the same person? Oh yeah, and thanks guys this is all very enlightening. This is an awesome forum

Lots of people carried on the writing Conan stories after the original author, Robert Howard, died. Thus I would suggest reading the original stories and if you love them so much that you just have to have some more (which is quite likely), then check out some of the follow ups. I hear they vary in quality although I cannot say from personal experience as I haven't read them.

 

[GOLLUM]

Whoa, take it easy! They guy's just been through Jordan, Brooks and Goodkind. Jumping straight at Martin, Erikson, and especially Bakker might give him a shock. A good one, but shocking nevertheless.

I suggest Donaldson as a warm-up.

Let's face it I'm a scary guy....

 

[Werthead]

Ok. I'm sensing the majority of people would go for Tolkien. Would anybody suggest a series even better then Tolkien and Eddings?

George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (starting with A Game of Thrones) is probably the only series even vaguely in this area. He's effortlessly streets ahead of Eddings and a close match with Tolkien. Martin has much better characters and history, whilst Tolkien has much better mythology. Tolkien probably just edges it for The Silmarillion, the greatest fantastic work of the imagination ever published (IMO).

 

[Gothic_Angelica]

I'd say Edding's only because its not as serious as Tolkien.

 

[Jack]

Eddings!!!!! You philistine!
Come away from yon big nasty pit of all evil – Namely – Run away screaming! Ha ha!
Would say Tolkien, but it is classic – and reasonably dated so ummm, modern fantasy it is then?
You may like Trudi Canavan for the magic, though Melanie Rawn has magic plot and more importantly ‘dragons’!
Steven Erikson is probably my all time fav in modern fantasy so far – But it depends on if you like ‘Dark’ and gritty with a military flavour (The humour is outstanding as well), a word of warning though like Dante – Abandon all hope of free time, they are incurably plot driven, though if you have read the never ending story – I mean the wheel of time, sorry about the over sight, you should be ok.
You could always try Robin Hopp, Katherine Kerr, L.E. Modesitt, Martin or Kate Elliott, good staple stories one and all.
Or if you are more into word smithing, Cecilia D. Thornton is yah lady. She is my twins fav, not my cup of tea though, she does in a way put Tolkien to shame though on the world building front.

- Potter!!!! Run away!!!!

 

[Nesacat]

Eddings is a much simpler read. I read it when I was in school and it was a good read then. It's not worked the same magic on re-reads though I still like some of the characters.

Tolkien has more depth and it's a book that grows with you. If you had to choose only one then Tolkien. Otherwise why not one, then the other, then delve into some of the other suggestions. Erikson is good. Conan is amazing and you could pick up the Centenary Edition for a very good price.

And yes ... stay away from Harry Potter!!!

 

[Crazihors]

I've read the first book of the Belgariad and Lord of the Rings, and I find Tolkein much better - Eddings seems somehow false to me; the whole thing of steak vs. chocolate bar - great description, btw.

I'd read Tolkein before Eddings any day, although i'm planning to read Queen of Sorcery before i tackle The Fellowship of the Ring again, but I'm going to have to put a word in for my so far favourite author, Kristen Britain, who writes the Green Rider books; they're good if you want a fresh fantasy novel, and each story (although long) is nicely rounded off instead of having a 'to be continued' feeling on the last page

 

[Rosemary]

I've read Eddings and enjoyed them all. Some memorable characters in most of his books.

For me though Tolkein certainly is the better writer, with storyline and characters.

 

[bookfan]

I've only read Belgariad and LotR for their respective works, and Eddings' Belgariad is a lot eaiser to get into for me. I never got into LotR; I just kind of trudged along the entire trilogy. Even then, I didn't really like Belgariad anyway.

 

[Gav]

Yes, theres Tolkien, I own the Hobbit and the Lord of the rings. Is there a suggested true classic epic that I should try before Tolkien?

Before Tolkein? You will forgive me for seeming a llittle astonished but as you seem to be into "modern fantasy", and as they seem to draw from Tolkein's books, then read LOTR first. After that try your hand at the Silmarillion (once you get past the first chapter it's excellent).

In terms of "classical epics" where to start - there are LOADS (and we could spend ages discussing them in general)

There's the ring cycle (The ring of the Nibelung* (sp?) | aka Der Ring des Nibelungen) and then there's Beowulf, or perhaps the Iliad? These are all what you might call the forefathers of modern fantasy. Or pick up a book of norse mythology in general (seeing as you are talking about Tolkein...).

Hell - even the Bible! As I've mentioned The Book (tm) then I might as well mention the Epic of Gilgamesh.

IN any case just read LOTR. You can always catch up on the other stuff later on. Some of this is not easy reading. Someone once told me that Beowulf was better in Anglo Saxon - I told him where he could stick it.

*Arguably THE predecessor to LOTR.

 

[j d worthington]

Well, when LotR was first published, one of the few books it was compared to was E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros; I would highly recommend that and his so-called "Zimiamvian trilogy": Mistress of Mistresses, A Fish Dinner in Memison, and The Mezentian Gate (even though the last was unfinished at his death, he has a detailed outline and several chapters scattered throughout that he had written... including the concluding portion of the novel). I would also recommend Fletcher Pratt's The Well of the Unicorn, which is a wonderfully multifaceted book -- epic fantasy, political novel, horror tale, philosophical novel, romance... which has also been compared to Eddison's Worm, and which takes its origin from Lord Dunsany's play "King Argimēnes and the Unknown Warrior".

Though it has some terrible flaws, Lin Carter's Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" is a good introductory guide to the tradition Tolkien was working in, provides a nice bibliography of influential works, and get into some of the writers who were immediately influenced by him to some degree. Some of the scholarship is shaky, and certainly Carter's "analysis" is amateurish... but it can nonetheless provide a wonderful introduction to a very rich vein of literature, and shouldn't be too difficult to track down (it went through numerous printings, as I recall).

 

[Jack]

‘Beowulf was better in Anglo Saxon - I told him where he could stick it’.


Good call I belive, my twin got much greef while doing her archeology course – Much to her ire I may add – Woman scourned and all that, trust me it was scary to be around. I think one was a paper that included Beowulf, the other major one being how the British or whatever where Basque, whatever way the wind blows, I’m afraid I don’t share her zeal for the subject. Anyway she said if I remember rightly its Scandinavian and about as English as a – Long dead thing, well dont ask me, writers block or somesuch? She was a bit more colourful, but it would not be polite to say ha ha! With you on the Iliad, loved that book when I was young - I'm going to have to go buy it now!

And I’m with JD on the classics, few better than E. R. Eddison, getting hold of his books maybe a pain in the posterior though.

 

[Connavar]

I also read Archeology last year. My fav part was the class about Norse Mythology and the stories of the old North.

Beowulf was mentioned of course . Its funny the Eadgils from the poem was buried in Huge mound in Gamla Uppsala which is the old town of Uppsala and is like 10 mins from where i live. Some of the characters were real people.

Not shocking they think its anglo-saxon, the brits take everything from Scandinavia as their own cause of the Saxon history.

According to my teacher the tale is from oral tradition and is older than the anglo-saxon written version. Its the Scandinavian version of Homer's stories

 

[Thadlerian]

OK, so far in this thread, four posters have misspelled Tolkien's name (always "Tolkein"), two of them consistently. See this thread for complete understanding of my grievance. What is it about this name? Do we type I and E so fast that the latter is highly likely to slid in front of the former, in posts otherwise more or less free of typos? Why is the idea that the name is actually spelled this way so hard to kill?