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Book advice? Fantasy.
Wassermelone
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I'm a bit of snob as far as it goes. Which makes it hard to like a lot of the fantasy genre. I do love a cheesy page turner sometimes but I'm probably not going to buy em. I would love to read more. I love love reading, I would love some help!
Fantasy(ish) authors I like:
China Meiville
Jeff Vandermeer
Brian Sanderson is competent and fun.
George RR Martin (naturally)
Joe Abercrombie
Fantasy authors commonly suggested that I can't stand. Theres probably others as I remember them:
Robin Hobb. Ugh.
Fantasy(ish) authors I like:
China Meiville
Jeff Vandermeer
Brian Sanderson is competent and fun.
George RR Martin (naturally)
Joe Abercrombie
Fantasy authors commonly suggested that I can't stand. Theres probably others as I remember them:
Robin Hobb. Ugh.
Wassermelone on
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My apologies, It was a poor attempt at being facetious. I'll edit it out.
I'm just mostly a picky git.
i.e. not the YER A WIZARD, HARRY!! kind of books
personally I'm a big fan of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series (and I know a lot of people here are as well)
Erikson has woven a buttload of stories, characters and lore together which (while i occasionally get a little lost) are really fun to read; the characters do things i imagine real people would, war is not really glamourised in the books, and the characters aren't all black and white
Another book I've just finished is The Company by K J Parker, which is kind of a fantasy novel
It focuses on a group of ex-soldiers who, out of respect for and belief in their old commander, follow along with his plan to start their own little society on a remote island
There is no magic in it or anything as far as I can remember, but the place names and so forth are all fictional. Really good read though, it's a standalone novel but i'll defintely be on the lookout for anything else by the author after reading it
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http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=pchodgell
Her first two books(God Stalk and Dark of the Moon) have just be rereleased in mass market form from Baen as The God Stalker Chronicles. Give it a whirl.
I also just re-read Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. I still think it's pretty good, even if it does have several chestnuts of the genre. For a series that is nominally about magical swords, there's actually very little magic in it.
Also, peruse your local library and pick things at random, even if you start in the middle of s series. It doesn't cost you anything and you can discover authors you might otherwise ignore.
Also, there's a whole thread about Fantasy in D&D that will turn up if you search, it's probably slipped towards the back pages of the forum by now.
R. Scott Bakker is somewhat similar to GRRM and has a series as well as a standalone.
While I really enjoy Erikson, he has problems with writing style and his books have a unedited feel to them which I think turns a lot of people away.
David Gemmell is I would say the embodiment of cheesy popcorn fantasy and should be available at the library.
KJ Parker is also good with the gritty, no magic world though there's normally multiple disturbing twists in the books and to many coincidences to be realistic.
Though it doesn't really go with any of the authors you mentioned Pratchett is always amazing and highly recommended.
edit: It might also help to say why you like each author on your lists, since some like Sanderson have a lot of authors that are fairly similar and none of them really relate to the others.
I really enjoyed this book, a lot.
I know a lot of people dislike him, but I think he's fantastic, so I'd recommend anything by Stephen R. Donaldson. I think he does a really amazing job with characterizations.
A friend recommended Gene Wolfe to me recently, but I haven't read anything of his yet so I can't speak to the quality beyond other people liking him.
I'm reading it now and, so far, i'm really enjoying it.
I'm pretty sure Rothfuss was involved in a spat in the Writer's Block a while back.
Gene Wolfe, especially Book of the New Sun.
Jack Vance's Lyonesse.
Obviously, if you've never read it, Gormenghast.
Arthur Machen's short stories.
Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar
Anything by Tim Powers.
Also thoroughly agreeing with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, or anything else by Susanna Clarke.
Neil Gaiman seems almost too obvious to mention, but if you haven't read him...
Can't guarantee all of the above will be to your taste, but they represent the best of most styles of fantasy between them.
Also un-recommending Feist. If you didn't like Hobb, you won't like him either.
Patricia Kennealy (or Kennealy-Morrison):
The Keltiad (a series of books that melds the idea of high tech, magic, and the Celtic mythos.)
Brent Weeks:
The Way of Shadows (Very little magic, low tech, high violence story of a street rat training to be an assassin.)
I read my friend's copy and it was one of my favourite books ever, but I never remember the name of anything that isn't on my bookshelf
The "spat" Rothfuss had in the writers' block was more him misunderstanding the general tone of the place, i.e. people say what they think regardless of whether someone says "be gentle to me".
He posted a rant of sorts, but it basically boiled down to "man why are you being so harsh, the guy asked you to sugar-coat it". With a lot more angry words, admittedly.
BUT he is an awesome author despite his big neckbeard
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Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is also amazing fantasy set in the modern world!
Seconding Steven Brust, although it doesn't really seem to fit in with what you listed, it's different enough that it might work out.
The Malazan books are excellent.
The Name of the Wind is the best fantasy debut I've ever read. I can't recommend it highly enough.
It had GRRM's approval on the cover at least.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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Steven Erikson just good quality and large scale low fantasy.
Glen Cook's Black Company books. More low fantasy and a big inspiration for Steven Erikson's work.
Patrick Rothfuss, Only one book of his series out so far but it's pretty refreshing stuff if you read a lot of fantasy
R Scott Bakker, pretty in depth story telling.
James Barclay's Raven books are quite good fun.
I've also just churned through Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Shadows of the Apt' which is an interesting take on different races of people bonded to insect archetypes yet still very human.
The Thomas Covenant books can be pretty hard reading but I feel are well worth stickign with as they have some clever concepts.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Mark it zero!
The man knows how to write epic heroes.
There is a lot of disdain for WoT on PA. Personally I think there are much better books to be reading.
Personally I think WoT is amazing. The character development over the books is something special in any book series, not just fantasy. Plus Robert Jordan's attention to detail paints a vivid picture of the surroundings.
Almost anything by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman (together usually) is creative fantasy world-building at its finest. Very fantastical but incredibly well thought out with a lot of memorable characters. They started Dragonlance with the Chronicles and Legends trilogies. One of my favorite series is the Death Gate Cycle. Plus you've got to love one character showing up in lots of their worlds with a slightly different name.
I loved the Dark Tower in the beginning but thought it turned into shit for the last 2-3 books.
L. E. Modesitt Jr's Magic of Recluse series was quite good for me. Cool to read a series that spans generations.
I'm finishing up the very last (released) book right now, Soliders Live. I haven't been bummed for a series to be over in a looooong time, but I am sad this one is about to be. I'm not sure if I expect it to end on a cliff-hanger (and make me even more sad) or not. I do know Cook has two unreleased (maybe unwritten for all I know) books in the series, A Pitiless Rain and Port of Shadows (I really love his subtitles). The last real updates I can find on those were in 2005 so I'm not holding my breath.
But definitely check the series out. They set a mood that nothing else has really been able to replicate. Also, it reminds me of Myth.
And while his Black Company series is SO awesome and probably one of my favorites at this point, his other stuff I've read is TERRIBLE. I read through the Dread Empire omnibus "A Cruel Wind" which, for having such great names, were torture to read. The first part was good enough but the following two I could barely tolerate.
Eyes forever focused, on the sanguine, metal dawn.
I don't know if I keep wanting to read WoT because I love the series or because I've read like 11 books and don't want to have wasted that time, but honestly I don't need to hear about the shifting of skirts or every detail of what someone is wearing anymore.
I also suggest Glen Cook's stuff.
I would have loved omnibus editions when I bought the later Black Company books. Man.
Anyway, I'd toss in a recommendation for those too. Cook's Garrett books are good too, at least mostly. I think they're a better attempt at 'urban fantasy' (blergh) than the drivel Jim Butcher excretes, but I'm probably in a minority there.
About The Lies of Locke Lamora: The second book shows a really worrying lack of new ideas. There's a lot of same old, which is bad for only being a second book. I did think the first one was good fun, and it's a fast read anyway. The second one isn't terribly either, but you start seeing the limitations of the writer.
Lastly, obligatory PA fantasy recommendation: Bridge of Birds (Barry Hughart). Just do it.