Fantasy-books-royale

[Sushiman70]

I'd have to say my favorite fantasy books are Terry Pratchetts, though Tolkien isn't half bad.

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

I love to read personally. I have read nearly all the works of J.R.R. Tolkien including LOTR, the Silmarillion, and the children of Hurin.

Isn't that nearly all the works of Tolkien you've named right there? Not counting The Hobbit. If you haven't read it, please do. It's a charming book, and not nearly as mind-numbing as The Silmarillion, which reads more like an encyclopaedia of "bob son of bobson son of bobsonson son of bobsonsonson did this with jim son of jimson and..." zzz.

I want to know what everyone else thinks, and if there are some notable ones I left out please mention them.

You've barely even scratched the surface. As mentioned by someone else, start with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. He died on book 11, but his family are finishing book 12, so you'll have time to read them all before they release the final. Then read the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy, all by Robin Hobb. Continue with Otherland, by Tad Williams, and pretty much any other book by Tad Williams too. I can specifically recommend Shadowmarch, The War of the Flowers, and The Cats of Seroster (a children's/teen's book). Orcs by Stan Nichols is a must, as is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. If you want some nice light reading, read The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan, it has a few nice characters but it's depth could be a bit better. If you want some humorous fantasy, read all of the Discworld books, they're come highly recommended by me and many others, and if you want to read something challenging, read the Dune series by Frank Herbert, and the Mythago Wood series by Robert Holdstock. You could also give The Merlin Codex by Holdstock a try, it's a nice take on Merlin, also featuring Jason, the Argo, some of the Argonauts, and rampaging Celts. Can't really go wrong with a combination like that. Finally, if you like fantasy with an element of history, read The Earth's Children series by Jean M Auel. That woman is obsessed with sex, but the stories are quite gripping, and her research about how ancient humans and their ancestors lived cannot be faulted.

These are the favourites from my own collection, I had missed quite a few out because I'm lazy, but that list should keep you going for years. YEARS, I tell you!

 

[Archonsod]

Never rated Orcs. Seemed like a pretty pale imitation of Grunts to me, minus all the good bits.

 

[Moss]

Awesomeness from Llandy, especially the recommendation of Robin Hobb.

You forgot "The Merlin Series" by Mary Stewart though, one of the most essential classics.

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

Never rated Orcs. Seemed like a pretty pale imitation of Grunts to me, minus all the good bits.

I found it to be quite interesting, but also quite two-dimensional. It doesn't have the same sort of depth that most of the other books on my list have, but I included it anyway because it's an interesting read, full of violence and gore and depravity.

 

[G36E]

You've barely even scratched the surface. As mentioned by someone else, start with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. He died on book 11, but his family are finishing book 12 12, 13 and 14.

Fixed. And hilariously, I'm not kidding in the least.

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

God dammit, I wish they'd just let the bloody series end. This is dragging on worse than Stargate SG1. They should have ended it before they had to resort to using the Ori as an enemy.

 

[Moss]

Yup. Thankfully books 12, 13 and 14 are just three chunks of book 12. Better I suppose than forcing people to wait three times as long to start reading it.

Still, I doubt I'll ever get around to reading it, seeing as I'd probably make myself read through the entire series again.

 

[tommylaw]

Rather surprised George R. Martin's saga wasn't up there, myself...

Me too...

 

[Cymro]

Beowulf was an interesting read, although the chap did seem to get far too many weapons and coats of mail during the course of his adventures.

"bob son of bobson son of bobsonson son of bobsonsonson"

Unless there's some sort of a curious time paradox going on here, shouldn't it be bobsonsonson son of bobsonson son of bobson son of bob?

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

"bob son of bobson son of bobsonson son of bobsonsonson"

Unless there's some sort of a curious time paradox going on here, shouldn't it be bobsonsonson son of bobsonson son of bobson son of bob?

Haven't you ever heard of the Grandfather Paradox?

That Tolkien, damn his wily time-travelling ways.

 

[pentagathus]

Out of the ones on that list twould be the hobbit (LOTR is pretty good, Silmarilions is as Llandy described and I haven't read much else of his) but that is definitly not my favourite "epic" fantasy. I'm not sure what it is but Tolkein is certainly far away from that spot.
@Llandy
I thought Orcs was alright (due to the violence and the fact that it isnt "Orks r eebvil staby staby stab em") but the fact that few of the band died (or any other tragic things happening to characters) made it hard for me to "feel" it. Whats the point in reading something about people you don't care about? (unless violence is involved of course.)

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

@Llandy
I thought Orcs was alright (due to the violence and the fact that it isnt "Orks r eebvil staby staby stab em") but the fact that few of the band died (or any other tragic things happening to characters) made it hard for me to "feel" it. Whats the point in reading something about people you don't care about? (unless violence is involved of course.)

That is partially why the story is somewhat 2-dimensional and lacking depth. Although the characters are given thoughts and motives, you can't really relate to them. They lack any sort of passion, and their actions are quite alien. And somehow, I doubt that killing more of them off would have made it any more believable.

 

[Lost-Lamb]

Never rated Orcs. Seemed like a pretty pale imitation of Grunts to me, minus all the good bits.

I found it to be quite interesting, but also quite two-dimensional. It doesn't have the same sort of depth that most of the other books on my list have, but I included it anyway because it's an interesting read, full of violence and gore and depravity.

Hell, the promise of unicorn horn dildos more than makes up for any amount of shoddy writing and other inanity. I'll be sure to read it one day.

 

[Merlkir]

Orcs were dreadful. And I really really don't recommend reading the Elves books. Actually, if you liked Orcs...Elves are even worse though.

One day I'll read all WoT books and finally finish that series I stopped reading after book 9 or so. It's even worse that they split almost all the books in 2 or 3 parts in the czech version so there are like three bookshelves of just WoT in my dad's room.

 

[Ronan]

Orcs were dreadful. And I really really don't recommend reading the Elves books. Actually, if you liked Orcs...Elves are even worse though.

One day I'll read all WoT books and finally finish that series I stopped reading after book 9 or so. It's even worse that they split almost all the books in 2 or 3 parts in the czech version so there are like three bookshelves of just WoT in my dad's room.

Orcs was quite awful. I think the latest finnish WoT book was the 25th.

I personally would recommend Glen Cook's Black Company. It's nice that people actually die and that there's no resurection stuff at least not this far. I'm fed up with all that ****.

 

[Anarion]

No love for Robert E. Howard and his amusingly politically incorrect but manly stories of Conan of Cimmeria?
"Crom, woman! *Some point of discontent*"

 

[Archonsod]

That is partially why the story is somewhat 2-dimensional and lacking depth. Although the characters are given thoughts and motives, you can't really relate to them. They lack any sort of passion, and their actions are quite alien. And somehow, I doubt that killing more of them off would have made it any more believable.

The top review for it on Amazon sums it up pretty nicely for me:

The idea of telling a fantasy quest from the perspective of everyone's favourite monsters - the orcs - is a good one. Shame then that Mary Gentle got their first and that Stan Nicholls produced such a poor outing.

One might have hoped for something that has wit, flair, zip and a degree of satire on the traditional fantasy story. Instead what one gets is a poor example of a traditional fantasy 'epic quest' with dull orcs replacing dull humans in the role of heroes.

There are a number of problems with it. Firstly, this isn't really a book about orcs at all; the 'orcs' are entirely human but with extra tusks. There is nothing about them that makes one think that they are actually a different race of creatures. They do not seem to display any of the attributes that orcs traditionally do in fantasy stories - indeed their leader turns out to wish for a world where orcs can live in peace and harmony. For footsoldiers of evil they are remarkably tame (nor, in case you are wondering, is this in anyway played for comedy value, which might have been interesting). To complete the recasting of orcs as something quite different, they are set up as guardians of the world's magic against the evils of the incoming humans with their monotheistic beliefs - essentially the white man's conquest of America.

Secondly, the plot is weak. It is a 'collect the plot coupons' style adventure. Calling your heroes orcs does not excuse making every other part of your story a retread of sub-Tolkein fantasies.

Finally, the writing is terribly flat and uninteresting. It contains nothing in the way of characters one might actually care about. And, as already mentioned, there is no humour to inject any spark or interest into the book.

 

[Ursca]

I didn't mind Orcs too much. My main objection was that the orcs were 'Generic proud martial race attuned to nature' rather than, well, Orcs. It wasn't even particularly morally ambiguous. The orcs were the good guys. Phneh.

 

[Bismarkpwns]

I am on book 4 (I think?) of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I am getting disapointed by the repetativeness though.