Which epic fantasy writer writes the best prose, in your opinion?

I would have to say the Robin Hobb is an author who can reel me in with whatever she is writing. I would read the phonebook if she wrote it.
 
OK, I didn't think of putting in Wolfe as I was thinking more beauty than sophistication. Otherwise for me he's number one. China Mieville also deserves a mention.
 
I will go with both Tolkien and GRRM. I really enjoy reading each author's writing. The stories are great as well, but I enjoy the way they are told, which is what keeps me coming back to them.
 
The Procrastinator said:
I'm going to be boring though and plump for Tolkien. I've reread LOTR I don't know how many times, and yes I know a lot of people find him boring, but I find his writing style a lovely balance of art, history, whimsy and grit, expression and restraint. I love that his prose style varies so much between the Hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion - that functional mastery he displays still captivates me.
Click to expand...

I would go further and say that the style of prose varies considerably even within LotR, depending on the sort of character (and the level of their development as they grow as people) whose eyes we are seeing with. Tolkien was very careful with his choice of prose, as is shown by the amount of alterations and revisions seen in the History of Middle Earth books....

As for Howard: To be honest, Howard's prose is a bit problematic. He can be exquisite, even prose-poetic, at times, and then, within the same tale, turn to some egregiously slipshod writing. At his best, his prose is quite evocative; but he far too uneven for me to class him as master of prose, I'm afraid.

And yes, I'd include McKillip, Wolfe (and, for that matter, several others) as much better prose writers within the field than some who have been mentioned....
 
j. d. worthington said:
I think I'd have to go for one of the older writers, and among those high up would be Dunsany, Eddison, Smith, and Lovecraft.
Click to expand...

Clark Ashton, or E.E."Doc", j.d.?..

I'm going for JRRT as well. I've lost count of the number of times I've read his book, and it never fails to impress me that he can change styles from, say, rustic comedy to "high" English with such felicity and smoothness.
Add that to the engagement of his characters, and the way you're pulled in to the story, and he's got to rank number one...
 
pyan said:
Clark Ashton, or E.E."Doc", j.d.?..
Click to expand...

CAS, definitely not "Doc". He was a dear man, from all accounts, and a marvelous storyteller, but his prose is... hardly sterling. Also, I didn't even think of him in this context, since we're dealing with fantaisistes, and he was a writer of sf....

I'm going for JRRT as well. I've lost count of the number of times I've read his book, and it never fails to impress me that he can change styles from, say, rustic comedy to "high" English with such felicity and smoothness.
Click to expand...

I'd say this goes to what I was saying earlier. To continue to use Tolkien as an example (CAS fits this too, as do Lovecraft and several others): I don't think people realize how versatile Tolkien's prose is, either between the various works or even within the context of LotR. The earlier portions of that tale are written in a light, almost comic vein, slightly bumptious one might almost say -- these are (supposedly) taken from the chapters which Bilbo wrote at least part of, and reflect more of the tone of his own book, The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again; the tone gradually changes as Frodo was supposed to have taken over, becoming more sober, even somber, in tone and word-choice; the "high" tone becomes more and more prevalent as those in close contact with Gondor, Rohan, and their ancient customs and traditions had more input into the work; and finally we return to something resembling (but not identical to) the approach in the earliest portions of the book, as we reach the part which Sam was supposed to have put in order.

Each reflects not only the milieu in which it is set, but also reveals character, in tone, word-choice, and rhythm and sentence structure. These were things Tolkien was intensely aware of, as they formed not only a great interest of his, but also had much to do with his work as a philologist, both in the sense of a literary scholar and a student of historical linguistics ("The study of linguistic change over time in language or in a particular language or language family, sometimes including the reconstruction of unattested forms of earlier stages of a language"). It is exactly the sort of thing he brings to other works, such as the collection of verses published as The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (especially in his introductory note there, where he traces the original documents -- by internal evidence -- to certain personages of the Third Age or earlier) and even, to some degree, with "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Smith of Wootton Major".

The same is true -- albeit from a different perspective -- with Clark Ashton Smith, who was primarily a poet, and whose tales are an extension of that in many ways. His prose style varies radically from the slightly bookish but nonetheless overall terse and modern "The Return of the Sorcerer" to the arcane usage of terms, structure, and tone in "The Double Shadow" -- or the almost racy, ironic approach of "Something New".

Good prose -- really good prose, not simply serviceable or transparent prose -- not only flows well, it defines character and setting, sets a mood, reflects the internal logic of the world it represents, and consists of very careful choice in phrasing, rhythm, and structure in order to do this.

This is the reason I can think of few modern writers who truly fit the bill of writing "the best prose" -- it may be clear, it may be lucid, but it does not meet the other criteria long recognized for truly great prose writing -- not just "pretty prose", but prose which very carefully serves a myriad of purposes and is deliberately and thoughtfully chosen for that reason.
 
j. d. worthington said:
I would go further and say that the style of prose varies considerably even within LotR, depending on the sort of character (and the level of their development as they grow as people) whose eyes we are seeing with. Tolkien was very careful with his choice of prose, as is shown by the amount of alterations and revisions seen in the History of Middle Earth books....

As for Howard: To be honest, Howard's prose is a bit problematic. He can be exquisite, even prose-poetic, at times, and then, within the same tale, turn to some egregiously slipshod writing. At his best, his prose is quite evocative; but he far too uneven for me to class him as master of prose, I'm afraid.

And yes, I'd include McKillip, Wolfe (and, for that matter, several others) as much better prose writers within the field than some who have been mentioned....
Click to expand...

Thats why i rate Vance as my favorite. Howard is as you say prose-poetic at times and evocative but uneven at times. He is almost unbeatle at his best though to me. He can do different kind of prose styles.

Few authors have made me smile just cause of interesting prose or a metaphor.

As you say in your later longer post further down in this page "best prose" doesnt have to be about how pretty it is. The ones i like most are rarely very pretty but very creative,sophisticated.

I dont have alot of experiance with the really high quality prose but i must say Lord Dunsany is the most creative prose i have read. I forgot what story i was reading when i read his prose :D

I hope Mckillip,Wolfe are real good prose wise cause you said its hard to find modern fantasy writers that have really good prose. Thats why the old masters dominate my favorite prose writers list.
 
Would the Odessey count? I don't remember what translation I read but I was in awe of the magic the words created, the prose was so vivid.

The Iliad in homeric greek is also just breathtaking!
 
In epic fantasy, Bakker and Martin, easily. Kay is also up there. If it's fantasy in genral, then Vance and Mieville.
 
I had forgotten Kay until I picked up The Lions of Al Rassan last night. I would call his prose beautiful. It evokes so much that I can only whisper "beautiful". Exceptions for Kay to that beautiful prose are his first stuff, namely the Fionavar Tapestry, and his latest, Ysabel, which I think he rushed greatly (it was very disappointing, imo).
 
Having said that w.r.t. Prose, Fionavar remains one of the standout series in the '80s for me when I was growing up. I have got a lot of Kay's work, he's a wonderful writer.
 
Yes, Fionavar Tapestry was a great series, but it is a bit dated these days. Kay explored a lot of fantasy themes with those books, and I found it a really interesting tool box of fantasy. Without a doubt, it was well-written, but Kay transcended Fionavar in leaps and bounds with the books he wrote after it, namely Tigana and A Song For Arbonne, and then The Lions of Al Rassan. Fionavar stands out as one of the most beautiful and articulate epic fantasies of the 1980's, for certain, as its competitors were Dragonlance, Shannara and The Beglariad/Malloreon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
G Epic Fantasy novel Promotions 9
Extollager Why Sauron is definitely a serious depiction of evil, not just a stock fantasy-baddie JRR Tolkien 26
Overread Seeking something new and Epic for fantasy Book Discussion 7
D (Found)High/Epic Fantasy about some Dark Sorcerer Book Search 8
Stuart Suffel Epic Fantasy Revised opening chapter 740 words Critiques 16

Similar threads


Back
Top