Thread: Fantasy

Not sure what kind of fantasy fiction anyone else likes, but I loved Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet. She followed this with The Immortals series then The Protector of the Small series. Just recommending it because I fell in love with them all.

Other good fantasy books are from Raymond Feist - he meshes different worlds so well!

And if you haven't read Jean M Auel's Children of the Earth series then you are missing out (if you like that kind of thing of course)

isabo x

If you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

Being something of a major fantasy buff I'll list off a list of books I'll go ahead and list a scant handful of books I think anyone who considers themselves fantasy affectionados should read.

1. George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire Series : This series is tops of my list, and has been for as long as it's been on the shelves. The characters are more realistic than any other fantasy novel I've read to date, and the plot has more twists and buttonhooks than any suspense novel I've ever read. Best of all the books actually get better as the series gets longer!

2. Greg Keyes' The Briar King : This gem I found quite by accident, and man was I suprised. Keyes hits you from an unusual direction with this book, and his characters while archtypical to be sure in the sense that they fill traditional fantasy roles, have been painted in such fine detail that you stop thinking of them in that sense almost immediately. This book is the first of a new series and I'm anxiously awaiting the follow up.

3. J.V. Jones' A Cavern of Black Ice: Great story, great characters, great worldbuilding, and a bare bones system of magic that even the characters don't quite understand. Jones' first series The Book of Words impressed me as a first attempt. It had amazing potential. Her stand alone novel The Barbed Coil was an amazing feat. All of the drama and detail of a epic series in one book. But A Cavern of Black Ice takes the prize. The only gripe I have is that the British have the second novel in print already but we Americans do not.

I have many more books to add to this list, but rather than wax poetic in my fanboy voice at nothing I'll keep my cake hole shut until some of you folks let me know you'd like to hear more.

Hey Bartleby,

Please go ahead & list more - I'm already on the ones you mentioned >sheepish grin< I'm a bit of a book nut & fantasy is my fave. Just spent a week reading the whole Raymond E Feist collection again. He's got flaws along the way sure but his writing is still fantastic in my opinion. Merges two worlds brilliantly. His best work was definitely the earlier ones in the series but he just released Talon of the Silver Hawk (Conclave of Shadows Book One) which did everything to live up to Feist's name. I'm looking forward to King of Foxes (Conclave of Shadows Book Two) which is out over in England during autumn.

I also really like Tamora Pierce - strong female characters tend to dominate the plots. Oh & I also just read Jean M Auel's Earths Children Series which was not so much fantasy but it had all the ingredients - definitely recommend it.

Well I've babbled on with my likes for a while so feel free to list your other faves & it might shut me up for a while cos I'll most likely be reading them.

thanks
isabo x

Isabo~


While I'm not suprised that you've read Martin or Jones, I must say that Keyes was a suprise to me. Have you read any of his "Age of Unreason" series. Excellent stuff while nnot exactly fantasy. I'll be getting around to posting more reccomendations a little later on. Thanks for reading.

Hiya Bartleby,

No I haven't read Keyes but will definitely check those out. Look forward to the next list >grin<

l8ter
isabo x

Isabo and whoever else is lurking~


Be sure to read Keyes. At least The Briar King because it really is head and shoulders above most of what is currently on the shelves. The Age of Unreason series is a good series but probably not to everyone's tastes.

This list is going to be shorter than the last one due to time constraints but I'll pop of a pair of good reads in the genre.

1. Charles De Lint is always a good choice if you want to try something different. The only way I know to describe his writing is that it is urban folklore. De Lint has a knack for injecting fantastic elements into a modern setting unlike no other. I would reccomend either The Little Country or Memory and Dream if you are looking for a novel or Dreams Underfoot for an excellent collection of short stories.

2. Robin Hobb is another excellent choice. Her Farseer series about an orphaned bastard who takes on the role of assasin is excellent, and it's sequel series is just as good. The characters are a little more two dimensional than some of the other series I've mentioned, but the world and it's unique perspective on magic are exceptional. The best part of Hobb's work is the fact that her plots are rarely typical, she keeps the reader guessing.

Well that's all I have time for tomight. Enjoy.

Originally Posted by Andrew

If you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

The only problem I have with jordan s his insistence on regurgitating facts half way thru his books just to extend the numbers.
otherwise excellent series

It may not be a historical series, but Ender's Game is a great book, as well as the sequels. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Don't read Ender's Shadow until you're done with the series though!

Happy Reading!

Hi yad4u

Who is the autor to Ender's Game?
Just so I can look for it more easily >grin<

Thanks
Isabo x

Originally Posted by Isabo

Hi yad4u

Who is the autor to Ender's Game?
Just so I can look for it more easily >grin<

Thanks
Isabo x

Ender's Game and the rest were written by Orson Scott Card. He also has a really good fantasy series called Alvin Maker, it starts with the book Seventh Son. He has several (at least dozen other books) both science fiction, and fantasy as well as some biblical reinterpretations and the like. (He's a strong mormon.) He has also written at leasta couple of books on the art of writing, but i've never run across them personally.

Thanks

Isabo x

I'll check it out.

The Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan, has changed my life forever, even though I've only read The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. Have to pay for blasted school books, so I can't blasted buy The Dragon Reborn...

Try the library its free.
Its a good series but he does waffle in the later books.
Get past book 5/6 and its tosh mostly