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What are some of your favorite fantasy books?
What are some of your favorite fantasy books?
As I've said in other threads I really am not fond of how all the best fantasy books seem to come in long series. I'll be in a book store looking at what appears to be a really great fantasy books, only to learn that it is Book 4 out of a 6 book series.
So what do you think is the best fantasy book out there? Ok, series too. Or how about fantasy authors?
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Besides Tolkien, I don't delve into the fantasy universe much. A few years back, I discovered Jack Vance. Some of his work is classified as science fiction but much of it is much more closely aligned with fantasy. It's unusual stuff and it takes a while to get into his wavelength, but he pays great dividends. This book is just fantastic.
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My introductino to fantasy was through David Eddings, so i tend to lean toward series of books.
Terry Goodkind is good. Sword of Truth.
Robert Jordan. Wheel of Time.
Extra long series, but my pick for directing people to fantasy lit.
Too bad he died before he was able to complete his series.
Stephen King, Dark tower series, has ups and downs, but portions of this series are outstanding.
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What he^ said. Plus some of the Warhammer books. That fantasy world has been around for 30 some years, so it's in many ways the original. Good authors write the books as well, though some are a bit shoddy.
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geo wrote:
Besides Tolkien, I don't delve into the fantasy universe much. A few years back, I discovered Jack Vance. Some of his work is classified as science fiction but much of it is much more closely aligned with fantasy. It's unusual stuff and it takes a while to get into his wavelength, but he pays great dividends. This book is just fantastic.
The works of Jack Vance are quite fun to read. Probably not as good as Lovecraft, but definitely part of the same stock. I have a strong affinity for Dunsany and McDonald. But I still think that when it comes to fantasy, Tolkien is god.
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Quote:
"As I've said in other threads I really am not fond of how all the best fantasy books seem to come in long series."
See, I'm the exact opposite. I love when my favorite books end up being part of a series.
That said, "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull is one of my favorite fantasy novels and that's a stand alone. And I love almost everything by Charles de Lint, series or standalone novel.
ETA: Thanks, Chris!
Last edited by hmchappy on Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hmchappy
You should stop clicking the top box next to "Disable BBCode in this post" because this is causing your actual "BBCode" code to appear. You are asking the system to not recognize or use BBCode, but then in your post you use it, so the system shows the actual code instead of doing what the code is designed to do.
Make sense? Look at your above post and then edit it by unchecking that box. Then resubmit your post. It will then look better.
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But back to your point. I know what you mean about enjoying your favorite fantasy books in series. I guess what I'm referring to is when I am in a book store looking through the fantasy books and I see one that looks really great. When I pick up up I then notice that I need to read 4 books to get to this book in the series. Well, I was excited about Book #5's description and cover and not be the other books in the series.
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Chris,
I may be in the minority, but I have to agree with you. Just because a fantasy book is part of a series is no indicator of the quality of the series. There are many reasons why a book series is published, but not all of them involve whether the series is actually good or not. I think you can easily run into a problem where books 1-4 are hardly worth the time it takes to read even if the author finally hits his/her stride by book 5 and manage to make something of a series. I think readers have been conditioned to read fantasy series, thus ensuring huge profits for the publisher. Whether or not these books are worth their salt is a whole 'nother subject.
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Hmmm, I love anything in the "Forgotten Realms" or "Eberron" sections of DnD. R.A Salvatores works are some of my favorites. I also love Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover".... all of the books in it. My hands down favorite though is "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
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Oh, Chalker, I remember reading Midnight at the Well of Souls in '93 and though it was a great book. I need look into his other books(only read the Well series.)
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I am a huge fan of character development and the best writer for this that I've found in a fantasy genre (or maybe period) is George R. R. Martin. A friend of mine got me reading the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (yes, I know) but I found it so compelling that I raced through them like a plate of cookies. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin has several other series that he works on (none of which I enjoy so much) and he has put off completing his next book for who knows what reason. I highly recommend reading his Ice and Fire series though because he breaks a lot of molds with it and draws the reader into the characters fully. I have to say that its my favorite series of all time.
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