Fantasy Fans?
Fantasy Fans?
Hey all. I was just curious to see if any of my :spyder: -brethren like to read fantasy novels. I've been a fan since reading The Hobbit & LOTR in my early teens. That has now progressed to Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Just wanted to see who likes the genre and what books, in particular, you all would recommend. :)
LOTR
Titus Groan
The Wyrm Ouroborous
Song of Fire and Ice
Conan
Narnia
and many more.
By about twelve I had read every SF & Fantasy book in the Charleston County Library. I spend more time rereading old favorites than reading new stuff in recent years. LOTR and The Hobbit must be read every year.
Titus Groan
The Wyrm Ouroborous
Song of Fire and Ice
Conan
Narnia
and many more.
By about twelve I had read every SF & Fantasy book in the Charleston County Library. I spend more time rereading old favorites than reading new stuff in recent years. LOTR and The Hobbit must be read every year.
Our reason is quite satisfied, in 999 cases out of every 1000 of us, if we can find a few arguments that will do to recite in case our credulity is criticized by someone else. Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
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DeathBySnooSnoo
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Oh yeah I'm a big fan...and I don't read as much as I used to but I still manage a couple dozen a year or so.
I had always skipped over the Wheel of Time series but am getting into that now, about to start Book 5.
I am a HUGE Conan fan.
Authors I like:
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Clive Barker
Fred Saberhagen (The Swords Books)
Jack Whyte ( The Skystone series)
Lloyd Alexander - young adult stories but when I was 10...The Prydain Chronicles were the best books ever.
The list could go on and on.
I had always skipped over the Wheel of Time series but am getting into that now, about to start Book 5.
I am a HUGE Conan fan.
Authors I like:
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Clive Barker
Fred Saberhagen (The Swords Books)
Jack Whyte ( The Skystone series)
Lloyd Alexander - young adult stories but when I was 10...The Prydain Chronicles were the best books ever.
The list could go on and on.
On the hunt for...
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darkstar29
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- Location: North central Ohio
You can't go wrong with GRRMs SoIaF. It's fantastic. I think it transcends anything currently in the fantasy genre.D1omedes wrote:Hey all. I was just curious to see if any of my :spyder: -brethren like to read fantasy novels. I've been a fan since reading The Hobbit & LOTR in my early teens. That has now progressed to Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Just wanted to see who likes the genre and what books, in particular, you all would recommend. :)
I loved the Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
Also RA Salvators' trilogies covering Drizzt Do'urden.. They're just fun reads..
A few others: Tad Williams, Angus Wells..
Robin Hobb. Her Farseer trilogy, and Tawny Man trilogy are some of the best, IMO..
I hate to break this to you, man.. The Wheel of Time grinds to a screeching halt after book 5.. It's great through the 5th book, then just nose-dives into complete boredom.. Seriously, it seems like he realized he could make more money by needlessly dragging the series out..DeathBySnooSnoo wrote:Oh yeah I'm a big fan...and I don't read as much as I used to but I still manage a couple dozen a year or so.
I had always skipped over the Wheel of Time series but am getting into that now, about to start Book 5.
I am a HUGE Conan fan.
Authors I like:
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Clive Barker
Fred Saberhagen (The Swords Books)
Jack Whyte ( The Skystone series)
Lloyd Alexander - young adult stories but when I was 10...The Prydain Chronicles were the best books ever.
The list could go on and on.
Terry Goodkind did the same thing to The Sword of Truth series.. The first 3 are excellent, though..
I walk away slow tonight,
and cut through the air
with a curse, like a knife.
and cut through the air
with a curse, like a knife.
Wow, great to see some fellow fantasy afi's. :D
Sequimite - The Hobbit really launched my passion for fantasy. LOTR elevated my expectations and has been a major part of my reading life (if that makes sense). I have yet to re-read them (there is so much else I have yet to get caught up on) but I plan on doing so eventually. That leather bound edition of LOTR on Amazon really has my eye.
Death - Conan series? I haven't encountered it. Is it for young adult readers?
darkstar - Man, you've read a lot of what I have. The Dragonlance series was great (even if a bit shallow). Robb's Farseer trilogy was another great series that offered a surprising amount of depth. I have yet to read her Tawny Man trilogy but I may give it a shot. I have heard of R.A. Salvatore but have not given his books a read yet. I'm not sure if I have to be familiar with D&D to fully understand his novels. And you're right, Martin's ASoIF is some ground-breaking stuff. His writing is so good that it shoots down my hopes of ever writing one day, haha. DoD was not on par with the earlier books but I can't criticize it because his writing is so good. What did you think?
Has anyone read the Belgariad or Mallorean series by David Eddings? I remember I tore through them in high school. So fast in fact, that the librarian knew me by name since I was at her desk returning and getting the next book so frequently.
I am just about to finish Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series. I downloaded the sample of book one some time ago and initially was not sold. I decided to read the whole chapter and by the end of it, I was hooked. The pacing is excellent, as is the character development. His setting, dialogue and nuance could use work but as a whole, his books are easy to read and very entertaining.
Has anyone checked out Brandon Sanderson? He's shaping up to the next big author for fantasy. He is a prolific writer and his Mistborn series is excellent. From what I've read, he is finishing up the Wheel of Time series and so far, the fans seem to be pleased with what he has done. I am excited for his epic story arc, the Stormlight Archive. I'll probably be picking up The Way of Kings next. :)
Sequimite - The Hobbit really launched my passion for fantasy. LOTR elevated my expectations and has been a major part of my reading life (if that makes sense). I have yet to re-read them (there is so much else I have yet to get caught up on) but I plan on doing so eventually. That leather bound edition of LOTR on Amazon really has my eye.
Death - Conan series? I haven't encountered it. Is it for young adult readers?
darkstar - Man, you've read a lot of what I have. The Dragonlance series was great (even if a bit shallow). Robb's Farseer trilogy was another great series that offered a surprising amount of depth. I have yet to read her Tawny Man trilogy but I may give it a shot. I have heard of R.A. Salvatore but have not given his books a read yet. I'm not sure if I have to be familiar with D&D to fully understand his novels. And you're right, Martin's ASoIF is some ground-breaking stuff. His writing is so good that it shoots down my hopes of ever writing one day, haha. DoD was not on par with the earlier books but I can't criticize it because his writing is so good. What did you think?
Has anyone read the Belgariad or Mallorean series by David Eddings? I remember I tore through them in high school. So fast in fact, that the librarian knew me by name since I was at her desk returning and getting the next book so frequently.
I am just about to finish Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series. I downloaded the sample of book one some time ago and initially was not sold. I decided to read the whole chapter and by the end of it, I was hooked. The pacing is excellent, as is the character development. His setting, dialogue and nuance could use work but as a whole, his books are easy to read and very entertaining.
Has anyone checked out Brandon Sanderson? He's shaping up to the next big author for fantasy. He is a prolific writer and his Mistborn series is excellent. From what I've read, he is finishing up the Wheel of Time series and so far, the fans seem to be pleased with what he has done. I am excited for his epic story arc, the Stormlight Archive. I'll probably be picking up The Way of Kings next. :)
Same here. I'll go see every LOTR movie they make, buy the DVD and then watch it again, but i'm too busy/lazy to read the book. Although i do love reading reference material or anything i can learn from like auto/computer repair etc. I also consider most forums to be a good source of reference info so i count that towards reading :DBlerv wrote:Love the genre. Not much of a reader admittingly though.
Just voicing as much support as possible!
All SE all the time since 2017
~David
~David
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DeathBySnooSnoo
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- Location: Toronto Canada
That is disappointing...I am enjoying them so far.darkstar29 wrote: I hate to break this to you, man.. The Wheel of Time grinds to a screeching halt after book 5.. It's great through the 5th book, then just nose-dives into complete boredom.. Seriously, it seems like he realized he could make more money by needlessly dragging the series out..
Terry Goodkind did the same thing to The Sword of Truth series.. The first 3 are excellent, though..
I struggled with the Sword of Truth series. The first book was going well up until certain point where it sort of veered off and IMP never recovered, and then the second was weaker than the first. I stopped after that. I think that if Goodkind had a stronger editor it would have been a much better series.
No. Conan stories were written in the 1930s. They are pulp stories, much like Tarzan. Simple stories but IMO written in a way that really evokes the imagination, much more so than any of the long winded series that we have been talking about (wheel of time, sword of truth LOTR etc), but they are all quite short. After the authors death, many other writers have written Conan storoes, Robert Jordan being one...and they are more novel length stories, but are not the same as the originals.D1omedes wrote: Death - Conan series? I haven't encountered it. Is it for young adult readers?
On the hunt for...
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darkstar29
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- Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:14 pm
- Location: North central Ohio
I put Salvators Icewind Dale trilogy, The Dark Elf trilogy, and Legacy of the Drow series in the same boat as Weis and Hickmans Dragonlance books. In other words, their fun as **** to read, have characters you care about, and they don't tax you with the vocabulary, or needless fluff. They're just solid, easy and quick readers.. Also, Drizzt is one bad mutha! :DD1omedes wrote:Wow, great to see some fellow fantasy afi's. :D
Sequimite - The Hobbit really launched my passion for fantasy. LOTR elevated my expectations and has been a major part of my reading life (if that makes sense). I have yet to re-read them (there is so much else I have yet to get caught up on) but I plan on doing so eventually. That leather bound edition of LOTR on Amazon really has my eye.
Death - Conan series? I haven't encountered it. Is it for young adult readers?
darkstar - Man, you've read a lot of what I have. The Dragonlance series was great (even if a bit shallow). Robb's Farseer trilogy was another great series that offered a surprising amount of depth. I have yet to read her Tawny Man trilogy but I may give it a shot. I have heard of R.A. Salvatore but have not given his books a read yet. I'm not sure if I have to be familiar with D&D to fully understand his novels. And you're right, Martin's ASoIF is some ground-breaking stuff. His writing is so good that it shoots down my hopes of ever writing one day, haha. DoD was not on par with the earlier books but I can't criticize it because his writing is so good. What did you think?
Has anyone read the Belgariad or Mallorean series by David Eddings? I remember I tore through them in high school. So fast in fact, that the librarian knew me by name since I was at her desk returning and getting the next book so frequently.
I am just about to finish Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series. I downloaded the sample of book one some time ago and initially was not sold. I decided to read the whole chapter and by the end of it, I was hooked. The pacing is excellent, as is the character development. His setting, dialogue and nuance could use work but as a whole, his books are easy to read and very entertaining.
Has anyone checked out Brandon Sanderson? He's shaping up to the next big author for fantasy. He is a prolific writer and his Mistborn series is excellent. From what I've read, he is finishing up the Wheel of Time series and so far, the fans seem to be pleased with what he has done. I am excited for his epic story arc, the Stormlight Archive. I'll probably be picking up The Way of Kings next. :)
I forgot about the Belgariad :o That's another great series.. I never could get into the Mallorian, though..not sure why.
I walk away slow tonight,
and cut through the air
with a curse, like a knife.
and cut through the air
with a curse, like a knife.
The great thing about Conan is that, unlike the movie, there are no moral pretensions. Conan is a thief, a killer for hire, he's out for number one and there is no number two.
One of the things I love best about LOTR is the ending. I will admit that when Frodo and Samwise are slogging through Mordor I get a little bored and skip ahead.
One of the things I love best about LOTR is the ending. I will admit that when Frodo and Samwise are slogging through Mordor I get a little bored and skip ahead.
Our reason is quite satisfied, in 999 cases out of every 1000 of us, if we can find a few arguments that will do to recite in case our credulity is criticized by someone else. Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
Check out the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. IMHO, his stuff is much better than Martin (or Tolkien, for that matter... always found LoTR to be pretty overrated). Probably the first fantasy author to take the genre in a different direction since Jordan. As an added bonus... he actually FINISHED his series :p . Unlike SOME authors who'd rather go to conventions and sign autographs than write :p .
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
- Theodore Roosevelt
"I twisted the knife until I heard his heart-strings sing."
- Jim Bowie concerning Maj. Norris Wright
- Theodore Roosevelt
"I twisted the knife until I heard his heart-strings sing."
- Jim Bowie concerning Maj. Norris Wright
FWIW I disagree that the books get boring after book 5. Yea there is a period of less action around then, but it doesn't last very long. Keep reading :)DeathBySnooSnoo wrote:That is disappointing...I am enjoying them so far.
I struggled with the Sword of Truth series. The first book was going well up until certain point where it sort of veered off and IMP never recovered, and then the second was weaker than the first. I stopped after that. I think that if Goodkind had a stronger editor it would have been a much better series.
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cubsfan1969
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If you liked those, you would probably also like The Elenium and The Tamuli by the same author.D1omedes wrote: Has anyone read the Belgariad or Mallorean series by David Eddings?
I agree : both series turned into cash cows, and gradually lost their initial appeal. I liked the Sword of Truth better, but eventually stopped reading it after the 5th (or 6th?) book.darkstar29 wrote:The Wheel of Time grinds to a screeching halt after book 5...
Terry Goodkind did the same thing to The Sword of Truth series...
Speaking of swords, let's not forget Fritz Leiber, who invented the Sword and Sorcery genre with the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser...
I'm a big Fritz Leiber fan but swords and sorcery literature goes back at least to the middle ages and probably to the oldest writings we have, Gilgamesh, from the Sumerians.juggler wrote: Speaking of swords, let's not forget Fritz Leiber, who invented the Sword and Sorcery genre with the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser...
Our reason is quite satisfied, in 999 cases out of every 1000 of us, if we can find a few arguments that will do to recite in case our credulity is criticized by someone else. Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
gotchajuggler wrote:I just meant that Fritz Leiber was the first one to use the Sword and Sorcery catchphrase. But the genre itself is indeed much older.
I've read the Fahfred and Grey Mouser series as well. I got hooked on Leiber when I read his 1951 story, "A Pail of Air".
Our reason is quite satisfied, in 999 cases out of every 1000 of us, if we can find a few arguments that will do to recite in case our credulity is criticized by someone else. Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
-
DeathBySnooSnoo
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- Posts: 3660
- Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:30 pm
- Location: Toronto Canada
Did you read the skystone by jack whyte and the following books?alerin wrote:George RR Martin A Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings etc...
Terry Brooks Shannara series( the first three for me)
Jack Whyte Uther started it for me
I read LOTR once a year for the past 20+ years, can't get enough
On the hunt for...