where is the gritty realism in fantasy ?

[woodsman]

Abercrombie is definitely gritty, I'm not sure about explaining things quite so much, but then, I haven't read much of him. Erikson will be confusing for the first few books. His magic system is well thought out though.

 

[Connavar]

Dobbs: I would also suggest you try Tim Powers. His books contain gloriously far-fetched magical concepts, but worked out with an attention to detail that borders on the obsessive. His best works are the ones set in modern times; they read like bestselling thrillers with a lavish helping of secret-history and weird magics thrown on. Try LAST CALL or EARTHQUAKE WEATHER (I think THE ANUBIS GATES, while fun, is not as tightly structured as these, being more or less a strung-together phantasmagoria at times). It doesn't hurt that Powers has also worshipped at the altars of Hammett and Chandler and writes a mean suspense tale, leavened with vivid characterisation.

Interestingly, Powers states that some of his ideas on how to make the mechanics of magic work came from reading Leiber, who as JDW above points out, was very meticulous about these things.

(I still say that the sort of realism you seem to be aiming for is not necessarily what makes for a good fantastic tale - fantasy, like horror and mystery is a genre that is based on the effects you get by disturbing or skewing the established order of things (reality as we know it in fantasy and horror; society/law and order in a mystery). For me it's not the explanations that make for compelling fantasy - how do you explain a dream? (Freudians need not apply) - but how well the strangeness of that disruption is depicted, with the right mix of subtlety and vividness. A lot of what I call entrenched secondary-world fantasy loses its fantastic impetus for me from the fact that it plays too closely to its own rules, with nothing seeming truly fantastic once you know those rules. But this is no more than a personal declaration of taste.)

To conclude all I can say to your question is try Vance; try Powers. I believe their works will still resound with readers long after much of the stuff that currently weighs down the shelves in the fantasy racks in the bookstores is lost and forgotten. Or you may find an epic fantasy series that suits you better; there is no shortage of recommendations in that direction. Good luck!

I welcome your return extra much after reading those recommendations of two authors i feel are so original and what i love fantasy about

Seeing people all the time mentioning few hyped epic writers in these forums in every fantasy recommendation thread i feel like the sole champion of authors like Vance,Powers.

New fantasy books on the shelfs isnt all there is to this type of fantasy.

 

[rojse]

I'd add my recommendation to the list of people mentioning David Gemmell, but I'd recommend the Rigante series, starting with "Sword in the Storm", instead of "Legend". I particularly like the efforts that Gemmell goes to to show that the main characters are not simply heroes doing good deeds.

 

[Jon Sprunk]

For simple "gritty realism" blood, dirt, death, and a sense you almost feel the heat and smeel the carnage try Glen Cook's Black Company books. The best of what they are.

One of my all-time favorites.