No love for the Liveship trilogy?
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Favorite Fantasy Series (High or Low)?
- Thread starter Vortigern99
- Start date
Another vote for the works of Guy Gavriel Kay, I haven't read his most recent yet, but aside from that, Tigana, Lions of Al Rassan, A Song for Arbonne, and his more recent books (forgetting titles, it's been a long time since I read them) were excellent.
I enjoyed The Fionavar Tapestry as well, but it wasn't nearly as good as his later work.
I enjoyed The Fionavar Tapestry as well, but it wasn't nearly as good as his later work.
No love for the Liveship trilogy?
No love for the Rain Wilds Chronicles?
I said it in another thread, Robin Hobb is a very underrated author. I love her books.
It would be very hard to say which of her series I love the most, but it'd be either Liveship Traders or Soldier Son.
I actually rather like the Sword of Truth series. But I have understood that it's very popular to dislike them, mostly because of the ideology that the author tries to promote. I'm not a Randian or objectivist, but, as I said, I still liked them, despite the ideology being in your face a bit and the countries of strawmen people.
Goodkind said he had a particular ending in mind, which he was writing towards, and it showed. Although the series wouldn't be in my top fantasy series list, the ending blew my mind and was well worth the reading of all the books.
Them tooNo love for the Rain Wilds Chronicles?
I need to read Soldier Son. That's set outside the Elderlings universe, correct?
I think Liveship would be the top of my list as well. The characterization in that trilogy is just phenomenal. Though the ending to The Tawny Man was pretty dang powerful.
Praktik
Philosopher
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Martin is and always will be #1 for me...
However lately been LOVING Daniel Abraham's "Long Price Quartet" - a fantasy series with a bit of an Asian medieval feel, instead of a european one - so its a refreshing kind of setting... very intricate characterization and believable dialogue and human interaction. Not everything is explained and there is mystery!
Aside from that after thoroughly enjoying the first three Erikson novels I found enough to like in most of the subsequent ones despite the fact he needs an editor - BADLY
Richard Morgan's turn to fantasy is worth a read, The Steel Remains - bit of an adult take on fantasy with some vivid characters and a very tough, cold political world (which I love).
Lynn Flewellings trilogy starting with the Bone Doll's Twin was an innovative take that played with gender roles in a really satisfying way....
And If I'm slumming it? I can pick up a David Gemmell book now and again..
However lately been LOVING Daniel Abraham's "Long Price Quartet" - a fantasy series with a bit of an Asian medieval feel, instead of a european one - so its a refreshing kind of setting... very intricate characterization and believable dialogue and human interaction. Not everything is explained and there is mystery!
Aside from that after thoroughly enjoying the first three Erikson novels I found enough to like in most of the subsequent ones despite the fact he needs an editor - BADLY
Richard Morgan's turn to fantasy is worth a read, The Steel Remains - bit of an adult take on fantasy with some vivid characters and a very tough, cold political world (which I love).
Lynn Flewellings trilogy starting with the Bone Doll's Twin was an innovative take that played with gender roles in a really satisfying way....
And If I'm slumming it? I can pick up a David Gemmell book now and again..
Praktik
Philosopher
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I reluctantly picked up the first of the last three WoT books written by Sanderson - my nostalgia is overcoming my deep bitterness at what Jordan did to his world, and I am enjoying being back there...
But if I am ranking where WoT sits it almost feels like I'm racing through a Gemmell book - being spoiled by the adult take from a few different authors the WoT world feels distinctly juvenile...
But if I am ranking where WoT sits it almost feels like I'm racing through a Gemmell book - being spoiled by the adult take from a few different authors the WoT world feels distinctly juvenile...
IDB87
Illuminator
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And If I'm slumming it? I can pick up a David Gemmell book now and again..
That reference really punched home to my nostalgia.
Yes. And it's a bit different from most typical modern fantasy settings. It has the feel of the American frontier, around maybe the 16th/17th century. I highly recommend it.
Ooh, sounds fun. And slightly similar to Sanderson's "Alloy of Law", which is definitely not a bad thing to be compared to
I love Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Faith of the Fallen may be my favorite book. However, every time I've mentioned it people go on and on about how much it sucks, usually people who haven't read them (or skimmed them) or who object to the author having a point of view (SoT has NOTHING on the Dune series when it comes to over-emphasis on philosophy). Even people who like the series have to take pot-shots, apparently. Hardly worth it, just to say something no one cares about anyway.
My point is, this is a self-selecting group. You don't want to hear about people enjoying Goodkind, and people who do don't bother to speak up.
On-topic: The Enchanted Forest Chronecles would be another favorite of mine. The second one....well, the author probably turned in the wrong draft for a few chapters. But the rest was simply awesome. Twisted fairytales and wizards who melt and a female king of the dragons (they like to keep things simple).
gumboot
lorcutus.tolere
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Hrm...
Robin Hobb - I've read Farseer, Tawny Man and Liveship Traders and all would place amongst my favourites.
Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Bitterbynde
Russell Kirkpatrick - Fire of Heaven
George RR Martin - A Song of Ice And Fire
I've found myself more inclined to historic fiction more recently, particularly relating to interpretations of the Arthurian legend. Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles blow away anything in the fantasy genre as far as sheer scale and scope.
Robin Hobb - I've read Farseer, Tawny Man and Liveship Traders and all would place amongst my favourites.
Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Bitterbynde
Russell Kirkpatrick - Fire of Heaven
George RR Martin - A Song of Ice And Fire
I've found myself more inclined to historic fiction more recently, particularly relating to interpretations of the Arthurian legend. Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles blow away anything in the fantasy genre as far as sheer scale and scope.
I almost posted about how I read Wizard's First Rule when I was 14 and loved it. I read the next couple of books as they came out and I enjoyed the second somewhat, but sort of lost interest at the third.
I don't know what I would think of Wizard's First Rule if I were to re-read it now: it's been a long time. But I was very into it at the time.
The best thing about it for me though was that I gave it to a girl I was into to read and, in spite of never having read fantasy before, she really liked it too. Enough that she read a few more books I gave her, though she didn't like any of them as much as Wizard's First Rule. I was short, extremely shy, nerdy, and just weird. My most socially accepted hobby was playing D&D. She was the object of the admiration of most of the guys in my grade. So that connection was a big thing for me... We didn't speak that much beyond it, I never knew what to say, but 18 years later I still remember the look on her face when she returned that book to me and I asked her if she'd liked it.
Anyway, back on topic. That last bit was personal enough that it's why I didn't post this the first time, but it's just the thing I remember when I remember that book, might as well share.
Whoa, dude throw in "The Book of Swords Series" by Fred Saberhagen and "Thieves World" and our Library would be the same.
Darth Rotor
Salted Sith Cynic
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My book of swords books disappeared during a move. Grr.
Hobb's Soldier's Son was both too long, and went a bit bizarre by the time she finally got the third book done. The second two books needed serious liposuction. (heh, there's a bit of a pun imbedded in that comment)
That said, it worked out well enough.
Having been at a military academy I was pleasantly surprised at how well she set up the environment for that with her re creation of a primative West Point built for her world.
Her attempt to dove tail sword and sorcery into America on the High Plains, and an aristocratic social form was difficult, but she more or less pulled it off. What she didn't pull off was her rantish coverage of fat people, race/ethnic friction, and migration. One can't be all things to all people.
She's a good writer, but I have not yet gone for Rainwild. After three books of the Liveships, I wanted to go back to the Six Duchies. Fitz and the Fool are so much more engaging.
Hobb's Soldier's Son was both too long, and went a bit bizarre by the time she finally got the third book done. The second two books needed serious liposuction. (heh, there's a bit of a pun imbedded in that comment)
That said, it worked out well enough.
Having been at a military academy I was pleasantly surprised at how well she set up the environment for that with her re creation of a primative West Point built for her world.
Her attempt to dove tail sword and sorcery into America on the High Plains, and an aristocratic social form was difficult, but she more or less pulled it off. What she didn't pull off was her rantish coverage of fat people, race/ethnic friction, and migration. One can't be all things to all people.
She's a good writer, but I have not yet gone for Rainwild. After three books of the Liveships, I wanted to go back to the Six Duchies. Fitz and the Fool are so much more engaging.
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Vortigern99
Sorcerer Supreme
Regarding Goodkind's Sword of Truth, I haven't read them. My wife has read and re-read them all several times, and loves them while reserving some criticism for the lengthy "preaching" the author indulges in at times. I tend to trust her literary judgement; we share a similar taste and she is highly critical of sub-par writing.
Together we've watched the two seasons of the TV series, which IMO is mostly excellent and vastly superior to most live-action fantasy fare out there. Sometimes she explains how the books are different, and in general it sounds even better than the show.
For these reasons I find it hard to believe that Goodkind's series "sucks" or that it's somehow "the worst books [insert name of JREF member here] has ever read". I'll reserve judgement till I actually read them, but I think that it's probably a question of personal aesthetics and ideology, rather than an objective analysis of the writing.
Together we've watched the two seasons of the TV series, which IMO is mostly excellent and vastly superior to most live-action fantasy fare out there. Sometimes she explains how the books are different, and in general it sounds even better than the show.
For these reasons I find it hard to believe that Goodkind's series "sucks" or that it's somehow "the worst books [insert name of JREF member here] has ever read". I'll reserve judgement till I actually read them, but I think that it's probably a question of personal aesthetics and ideology, rather than an objective analysis of the writing.
The show is a bit of a sore spot for a lot of fans. Rather than translate the books to the screen Sam Raimi decided to remake Xena/Hercules, but with SoT as the backdrop. The resulting show wasn't bad, but it wasn't what we'd been hoping for.
Part of the issue may be that there's a bit of a, let's call it "rivalry", between SoT fans and Song of Ice and Fire fans. Some of the members from the Westeros website made a habit out of trolling the Goodkind forums, and there were incredibly long threads (like, several times longer than the Shroud thread) discussing how much they all thought Goodkind's books sucked.
I dunno if that actually has anything to do with the opinions of posters here, but it's certainly a possibility.
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Some of the less-well-known but pretty good fantasy series I like:
The Boreal Moon Tale by Julian May
The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony
The Tales of Einarinn by Juliet McKenna
The Sword of Shadows by JV Jones
And while I recognize their many flaws, I still like the early Terry Brooks series (before he did his own world to death over and over), the first couple of Raymond Feist series (before he just gave up and stole directly from World of Warcraft. Seriously. Lifts physical descriptions of characters, races, cities, everything. Blizzard could totally sue him into the ground if they ever found out, which they won't, because nobody's reading Feist any more), and the first few David Eddings ones (the third time he tried reusing the same characters under different names in another world I gave up on him. Try harder, dude. Although I'll always love him for being the first fantasy author I encountered who was willing to write dialogue in ordinary speech instead of trying to be medieval or whatever the hell).
The Boreal Moon Tale by Julian May
The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony
The Tales of Einarinn by Juliet McKenna
The Sword of Shadows by JV Jones
And while I recognize their many flaws, I still like the early Terry Brooks series (before he did his own world to death over and over), the first couple of Raymond Feist series (before he just gave up and stole directly from World of Warcraft. Seriously. Lifts physical descriptions of characters, races, cities, everything. Blizzard could totally sue him into the ground if they ever found out, which they won't, because nobody's reading Feist any more), and the first few David Eddings ones (the third time he tried reusing the same characters under different names in another world I gave up on him. Try harder, dude. Although I'll always love him for being the first fantasy author I encountered who was willing to write dialogue in ordinary speech instead of trying to be medieval or whatever the hell).