bit of a boring question, but can anyone recommend me a book?

[Halloween Jack]

hi all

i used to read fantasy years ago and i'm looking to try a few now, trouble is, i think i'm a bit fussy. alot of books i read then i didn't really like.

so i was hoping to describe what i like and don't like and see if anyone had any good recommendations.

my favourites are the thomas covenant books (i've just read the new one and can't wait for the next) and LotR.

what i haven't enjoyed is terry pratchet, the shannara books, the series with enchanter's end game in it (that really was poor), and quite a few others that i can't remember. the wheel of time is ok, but a bit waffley and too cliched.

i think i'm looking for quite a dark, brooding adult series with a bit of depth and cleverness about them . i loved the psychological and philosophical undertones of the covenant books and this is what i'm really after. i also like books with a rich history like LotR and i did like this aspect of the magician series. things that put me off are fantasy cliches and poor attempts to describe cultures (seems to happen alot in towns if you know what i mean) like so-and-so, the hard working smith and whats-his-face the jolly inn keeper. not sure i've explained myself there, but it's the kind of twee dialogue between annoying characters that the wheel of time and many other fantasy novels are guilty of, at least in my mind. on the other hand i like the darker side of wheel of time, there's just too much waffle.

anyway, i too have waffled. to cut it short, can anyone recommend a book like the covenent series? or perhaps something else i might like?

thanks

 

[Leto]

Do you mind if some of your fantasy is set in current reality and not only on an imaginary world ? If not,have a try at the Talisman serie by Peter Straub and Stephen King.

Other than that, an good try could be my own personal favorite, the Black company by Glen Cook. Guaranteed cliché-free, some good laugh ahead, and an adult and dark tone all the way.

 

[The Master™]

Picky or what?!?!?!?

Some of the L E Modesitt Jnr books, I've found are good... Saga of Recluce...

Then there is The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind...

 

[erickad71]

You could also try the series A Song if Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The first book is called A Game of Thrones.

 

[Halloween Jack]

thx guys i'll check those out.

 

[Sirathiel]

You might also like Tad Williams' Memory, Sorroy and Thorn trilogy. If I remember correctly it has it's dark moments, superior world building, no clichés (at least you won't find any elves, dwarves etc.).

I enjoyed them very much, the plot multiplies into many strands to be reunited at the end. In my opinion it's a master's work...


EDIT: An by the same author I can also recommend 'War of the Flowers'. It's a standalone which takes on the faerie world and destroys any clichés you might have had about it. It's also quite dark, I think.

 

[Mark Robson]

Try Juliet E McKenna's Einarinn series. This is deep, well developed, unpredictable and far more of an adult read than some of those you did not enjoy. McKenna does not shy from killing off her major characters, nor does she cringe from their sexual preferences. I think you'd probably enjoy this.

 

[The Master™]

Before (or in the absence of) Devilishgirl: Jacqueline Carey's Kusiel Series... Kushiel's Dart is the first... Very sexual in context... But a little heavy going...

 

[Mark Robson]

Very sexual in context... But a little heavy going...

Slight understatement about the heavy going there, Master!

 

[dwndrgn]

Or anything by China Mieville, Ricardo Pinto's Chosen series or Tim Powers. All three have darker and original themes, Powers usually has a fantastic twist on our own real world.

Additionally, if you are feeling in the mood for something really out there I'd recommend Vurt by Jeff Noon.

Enjoy!

 

[Halloween Jack]

just been reading some reviews of these books and they sound great. i think i'll pop down to the bookshop now.

thx again guys

 

[hodor]

You could also try the series A Song if Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The first book is called A Game of Thrones.

I second that!

 

[tonic]

Any Neil Gaiman books are dark though they aren't series they are still amazing as singles.

Also Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire books are some of my favourites, they are a series and are as far from cliché as you can get. They are complex and he doesn't shy from killing either, the battles are some of the best I've ever read and I've read a ton of fantasy.

 

[hodor]

Any Neil Gaiman books are dark though they aren't series they are still amazing as singles.

Also Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire books are some of my favourites, they are a series and are as far from cliché as you can get. They are complex and he doesn't shy from killing either, the battles are some of the best I've ever read and I've read a ton of fantasy.

I can't wait to dive into Erikson's series.. I just have two more books to finish and then in I go. I have heard good things about them.

 

[Bea]

1. The "Otherland" series by Tad Williams--reads like fantasy although it's actually scifi (virtual worlds...). Four long books, hard to put down once you start. The first is called Otherland:City of Golden Shadow.
2. Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. His "Wandering Fire" trilogy written in the 80's (the first is The Summer Tree) is your basic parallel universe adventure (as in the One Tree) with a hint of Arthurian reference. His later works are different, all set in a world and historical setting almost like our own...Byzantium, Provence etc but not quite--a bit dark and thought provoking (and enough sex that I haven't pushed it at my teen readers yet, but sensitively done & integral to the plot). Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, Sailing to Sarantium are some of them.
No elves (nobody but Tolkien can pull that off).

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You might try "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson, if you can find it. It's an old one that gets reissued from time to time. It's dark and brooding enough for anything, includes themes of fratricide and incest, and the writing is gorgeous.

It also shows that somebody besides Tolkien could indeed pull off Elvish characters. Anderson's are as savage and terrifying as they are beautiful. Not a jolly innkeeper in sight.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Thanks for that. I'm a big fan of Anderson's sf work (which I think is superior to that of many better-known contemporaries, such as Heinlein), but have been looking for a good entry-point to his fantasy work. The Broken Sword seems like something I'd like.

 

[Halloween Jack]

thanks for all your responses. anderson does sound good. i actually quite like elves, it's just if they're dreadfully written they grate a bit. i still can't quite describe what i like. in some ways i do like fantasy cliche (just where is that accent? ) like the thomas covenent books could been seen as having alot of unoriginal concepts, but somehow donaldson made them work. i do quite like magic swords, quests etc too. i dunno maybe you've just got to find a writer you get on with. on the grand scale of fantasy writing i'd place donaldson at one end and eddings at the other.

i've bought the first book of the malazan empire now, so hopefully that'll be good. after 20 pages the writing style seems alot better than some i've read, but i hope it's not too political. shame about the cover though, i had a few friendly digs from my wife when it turned up in the post.

anyway, all the best guys, thx again.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You're welcome, Halloween Jack.

Knivesout, "The Broken Sword" is very different from anything else I've read of Anderson's. He wrote it when he was quite a young writer, though you wouldn't guess that it's an early effort, the prose is so polished. It's all very grim and elemental. As I know your tastes to be eclectic, I think you might like it a lot -- just don't expect much similarity to Anderson's science fiction.

 

[Grawgos]

Have you read the Thieves world series? The original is out of print, but is being released in omnibus editions, the first one is all ready out, "Theives World:fisrt blood". Lynn Abbey has brought the series back a few years ago with her book "Sanctuary". There two more books out in the new series and a few of the original authors have returned and a few new authors like Dennis L. McKiernan, Steven Burst, Rayomond E. Feist and others have joined the cast. They are pretty dark and gritty books. Give them a shot, I think you will enjoy them.