Books Fantasy Reads

Edgar Allan Pillow said:
Nope, haven't read any. They were on a completely different plot line to the TV series iirc. I liked the series very much and didn't bother with the books.
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Same here. I absolutely love the mythology of the Stargate World.

I finished Season 8 of SG1 yesterday and around 14 episodes of Atlantis. With only two seasons of SG1 left, I was checking out what else is there connected with the Stargate Universe and found that there are a bunch of books published connected with the Stargate World. Wanted to see if you had read them.
 
Just finished the Tawny Man Trilogy.....Robin Hobb is so damn good. I won't lie, I cried a couple of times while reading through this series. "My dream was dead in my arms" is probably one of the saddest lines I've read. Fitz and the fool have to be two of the best written and crafted characters in any fantasy series. Just pure brilliance. The ending couldn't have been any more satisfying if she tried. Some might say it was too perfect but feck it; if anyone deserved that it was Fitz! The only thing that spoiled it was my knowledge that there are three more Fitz books to come. I'd have been content if Fitz had been left well alone after that ending. Also, I do think Patience is a very underused character. Or maybe she's more charming because she's underused. Really like her though.

After I had read the Farseer trilogy, one of my complaints was that the world building was lacking. But 9 books into her world and Robin Hobb has built up a truly incredible world full of detail and loads of wonderful characters. For me, only GRRM rivals her when it comes down to sheer emotional impact of her work.
 
Going to pick up Broken Empire or Earthsea up next. Anyone read either of them?
 
Fall of Light
Kharkanas Trilogy Bk 2 (Malazan world)

Nice read. Lots of philosophical thought by the characters, but brings out the events to a head awaiting the final book. The ending was a bit abrupt and anti-climatic and I wait to see which direction the story takes in the final book.

Gives a lot of background on K'rul and opening of warrens, Hood and his fight/ascent to being lord of death, friendship between Rake and Brood, Draconus and Mother Night etc...and gives some hints on a 'builder' (of Azath houses, I presume) who is probably the most mysterious character in the world.

Interesting to get the information though I did rush past many of the philosophical wanderings by the characters.
 
Akash said:
Going to pick up Broken Empire or Earthsea up next. Anyone read either of them?
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Broken Empire is quite good. Lawrence is the closest thing we have to Abercrombie.

The protagonist there is awesome. And as unique character as you're ever going to see.
 
Revan said:
Broken Empire is quite good. Lawrence is the closest thing we have to Abercrombie.

The protagonist there is awesome. And as unique character as you're ever going to see.
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Finished reading the Prince of Thorns. A bit disappointed tbh. The narration and Jorg himself is quite good but the book suffers from next to no build up or background to some of the events.
 
Akash said:
Finished reading the Prince of Thorns. A bit disappointed tbh. The narration and Jorg himself is quite good but the book suffers from next to no build up or background to some of the events.
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I kind of agree. Personally, I found each book in the series getting better than the previous one (a bit like The First Law) though it seems that there is no consensus at that (unlike First Law where everyone agrees on that).

I definitely liked more King of Thorns, with the Emperor of Thorns being my favorite on the series.
 
Revan said:
I kind of agree. Personally, I found each book in the series getting better than the previous one (a bit like The First Law) though it seems that there is no consensus at that (unlike First Law where everyone agrees on that).

I definitely liked more King of Thorns, with the Emperor of Thorns being my favorite on the series.
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First Law was the opposite. All build up and nothing happening. I actually thought the 2nd book was the best and the 3rd one a massive letdown.
 
Akash said:
First Law was the opposite. All build up and nothing happening. I actually thought the 2nd book was the best and the 3rd one a massive letdown.
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If you didn't like The First Law then don't talk with me. I don't have time for people as evil as that.
 
Okay guys recommend me some fantasy titles? Fan of LOTR, Dresden Files, Potter and His Dark Materials here.
 
Red Ryan said:
Okay guys recommend me some fantasy titles? Fan of LOTR, Dresden Files, Potter and His Dark Materials here.
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Mistborn is amazing and my personal favourite. Powder Mage is very good too, as is the Bartimaeus Trilogy.
 
Revan said:
Yeah considering that he likes simple juvenile books, Mistborn would be fine.
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Let's be honest, just because Mistborn doesn't have the same ridiculous depth Malazan or WoT has doesn't make it simple or juvenile.citd a perfect starter book for the fantasy genre.
 
Waldner said:
Let's be honest, just because Mistborn doesn't have the same ridiculous depth Malazan or WoT has doesn't make it simple or juvenile.citd a perfect starter book for the fantasy genre.
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It's is pretty simple and did have a juvenile feel to it.
 
Waldner said:
Let's be honest, just because Mistborn doesn't have the same ridiculous depth Malazan or WoT has doesn't make it simple or juvenile.citd a perfect starter book for the fantasy genre.
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It is both simple and juvenile. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, and it is definitely a good start (or a good jump point from kids books like Potter to more serious stuff), but still it is juvenile, with average to bad writing, cliche secondary characters and humorousness humor. It has a nice story (recycled many times since LotR), nice twists and both Kelsier and Vin are awesome.
 
Gol123 said:
It's is pretty simple and did have a juvenile feel to it.
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Revan said:
It is both simple and juvenile. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, and it is definitely a good start (or a good jump point from kids books like Potter to more serious stuff), but still it is juvenile, with average to bad writing, cliche secondary characters and humorousness humor. It has a nice story (recycled many times since LotR), nice twists and both Kelsier and Vin are awesome.
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I'd disagree and say juvenile and simple is anything along the lines of Harry Potter, Bartimaeus etc. Doesn't mean they're not good books of course. Mistborn isn't along the lines of any of the heavier stuff but it does have more depth to it than those two above. It serves as a great entry to anyone wanting to get into the genre. Easy-reading doesn't mean juvenile or simple.
 
Waldner said:
I'd disagree and say juvenile and simple is anything along the lines of Harry Potter, Bartimaeus etc. Doesn't mean they're not good books of course. Mistborn isn't along the lines of any of the heavier stuff but it does have more depth to it than those two above. It serves as a great entry to anyone wanting to get into the genre. Easy-reading doesn't mean juvenile or simple.
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Disagree. It's basically the last Harry Potter book.
 
Waldner said:
I'd disagree and say juvenile and simple is anything along the lines of Harry Potter, Bartimaeus etc. Doesn't mean they're not good books of course. Mistborn isn't along the lines of any of the heavier stuff but it does have more depth to it than those two above. It serves as a great entry to anyone wanting to get into the genre. Easy-reading doesn't mean juvenile or simple.
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Agreed.

I'd even hesitate to call Bartimaeus juvenile. Despite the age of the character there's great depth to those books.
 
Gol123 said:
Disagree. It's basically the last Harry Potter book.
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Maybe in the very basic theme and general, rough story angle and telling yeah. However the fact it spans 3 books alone says that it is far more complex and deep.
 
Akash said:
Agreed.

I'd even hesitate to call Bartimaeus juvenile. Despite the age of the character there's great depth to those books.
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I love Bartimaeus. Would love it to be made into a film.
 
I only just discovered this thread. Read a lot of fantasy over the years.

Just finished Mythago Wood, surprisingly good. Very rich and immersive take on the role of myth in human consciousness.

My main recommendation in fantasy, outside the usual suspects, would be The Broken Sword by Paul Anderson. It's a hard roller coaster into the mythic world of anglo-saxon Britain. Like many of the old s&s authors this isn't good vs evil, but an epic of honor, loss, vengeance and all that jazz.
 
Red Ryan said:
Is anybody else into urban fantasy?
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I loved Dresden Files.

Looked for something similar and ended up with Iron Druid Chronicles. Not as good (as in story/depth/characters) but a fun world and it's so enjoyable for a light read. If you want a break from serious reading, this is it.

Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko has been in my radar for quite some time now, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
Red Ryan said:
Anyone tried China Mievelle, Paul Cornell or Ben Aaronovitch novels?
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China Mieville:
Thought Perdido Street Station was very good, The Scar ok and Iron Council not so good (it just seemed to drag and drag and never end).

Haven't read the others.
 
Picked up Death Masks by Jim Butcher, the first Mistborn book and the third part of the Dark Tower by Stephen King yesterday.
 
An Autumn War
(Long Price Quartet #3)

After a short break from first two books, took this up over the weekend and finished it just now. Just like the previous two books, this evokes a lot of conflicting emotions. The concepts is nice and the writing style is soap opera'esque. I find astonishing similarities between his writing and Quentin Tarantino movies. They don't actually describe the event, but moves the story through the emotional interplay between the main characters. Still withholding judgement on this as it is a very novel way of writing, but feel it dilutes the oomph factor of major plot events.

Balasar Gice is a interesting character. Flawed, grey and brilliantly written. Driven by revenge, cloaked in righteous justice and eventually forced into a change by fate....it's poetic justice (irony intended) at its best. But despite this, I still feel his character was underdeveloped and left to readers imagination to fill in the gaps....a complaint I have with all the major characters in the book.
 
Just finished reading Diana Wynne Jones' The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. It's a glossary of all cliches one encounters in a typical fantasy series. It's witty, satirical and fun to read. A couple of gems -

PANCELTIC TOURS are normally taken separately from the rest of Fantasyland. Here the MAP will be of only one COUNTRY, which has a Welsh name, and shows TOWNS called things like Dun Bhlaioinaidbth (pronounced Dublin) or Glas Uedhaoth (pronounced Glasgow) and rather more MOUNTAINS. The Tour will, however, take place in the usual way, except that PORRIDGE will largely replace STEW and there will be rather more MAGIC. But the WEATHER will be a great deal worse. When it is not raining, everywhere will be hidden (shrouded (OMT)) in MIST. If you go on one of these Tours, you will not always find it easy to know either what is going on or what people are talking about. The Mist seems to get into everyone's brains.

PANCELTS are frequently red-haired. They wear plaids and have NAMES you must consult the glossary in order to pronounce. By the Rules (pronounced GEAS) which govern them, they have to call ELVES Shee (pronounced Sidhe) and refer to the ENEMY as Shadow. Otherwise they are nice people who drink a lot of the water of life (pronounced Uisce) and love to tell you LEGENDS by firelight. They also fight a lot and rather well, since both men and women train hard from the age of ten. But there is no such thing as an ordinary PANCELT. Each of them is either a MAGIC USER or a BARD or a Druid (pronounced like a sneeze), or sometimes all three (in which case you pronounce it Merlin). They are governed by strong and beautiful QUEENS called things like Maebdh Aeiolaien (pronounced Mad Eileen) or strong and serious KINGS called, for instance, Daibhaeaidhaibh MacAeraith (pronounced Dave Mate), and they appear to worship the Welsh Bard Taliesin. It is in this Bard's honour that they all sing so much, even more than the Shee/Elves do. And, like the Elves, they are prone to go on about how very much better things were in the Old Days, when a HERO could walk in one day from Caer Dibdh to the sea by taking a shortcut through Tir n'an Og (pronounced The Many-Coloured Land).

UNPLEASANT STRANGER is a Tour COMPANION whom no one likes or trusts. Usually the Stranger is male and neither young nor old. He can be either sly and ingratiating or gruff and taciturn (OMT), and sets everyone’s back up and teeth on edge. He will be dressed well but unremarkably. His hair will be dark. This piece of COLOUR CODING often, but not invariably, makes it clear that the Stranger is a SPY for BANDITS or for the DARK LORD, but in his case you have to wait and see. If he is a Spy for Bandits, then you will not have to wait long; if for the Dark Lord, then you have him for most of the Tour. But in some cases he is a dispossessed or long-lost KING, embittered by his past, in which case you will have misjudged him. A fairly sure rule of thumb is to look at the Stranger’s hair. If it is greasy, he has to be a Spy. If it is simply unkempt (OMT) or greying (OMT), or both, he is on the side of GOOD and the Dark Lord is his personal ENEMY; he will be a great help in the Final CONFRONTATION by drawing the Dark Lord’s attention to himself while the rest of you work at SAVING THE WORLD.

OMT - Official Management Term

Written in the style of a dictionary.
 
MichaelKorleone said:
Just finished reading Diana Wynne Jones' The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. It's a glossary of all cliches one encounters in a typical fantasy series. It's witty, satirical and fun to read. A couple of gems -

PANCELTIC TOURS are normally taken separately from the rest of Fantasyland. Here the MAP will be of only one COUNTRY, which has a Welsh name, and shows TOWNS called things like Dun Bhlaioinaidbth (pronounced Dublin) or Glas Uedhaoth (pronounced Glasgow) and rather more MOUNTAINS. The Tour will, however, take place in the usual way, except that PORRIDGE will largely replace STEW and there will be rather more MAGIC. But the WEATHER will be a great deal worse. When it is not raining, everywhere will be hidden (shrouded (OMT)) in MIST. If you go on one of these Tours, you will not always find it easy to know either what is going on or what people are talking about. The Mist seems to get into everyone's brains.

PANCELTS are frequently red-haired. They wear plaids and have NAMES you must consult the glossary in order to pronounce. By the Rules (pronounced GEAS) which govern them, they have to call ELVES Shee (pronounced Sidhe) and refer to the ENEMY as Shadow. Otherwise they are nice people who drink a lot of the water of life (pronounced Uisce) and love to tell you LEGENDS by firelight. They also fight a lot and rather well, since both men and women train hard from the age of ten. But there is no such thing as an ordinary PANCELT. Each of them is either a MAGIC USER or a BARD or a Druid (pronounced like a sneeze), or sometimes all three (in which case you pronounce it Merlin). They are governed by strong and beautiful QUEENS called things like Maebdh Aeiolaien (pronounced Mad Eileen) or strong and serious KINGS called, for instance, Daibhaeaidhaibh MacAeraith (pronounced Dave Mate), and they appear to worship the Welsh Bard Taliesin. It is in this Bard's honour that they all sing so much, even more than the Shee/Elves do. And, like the Elves, they are prone to go on about how very much better things were in the Old Days, when a HERO could walk in one day from Caer Dibdh to the sea by taking a shortcut through Tir n'an Og (pronounced The Many-Coloured Land).

UNPLEASANT STRANGER is a Tour COMPANION whom no one likes or trusts. Usually the Stranger is male and neither young nor old. He can be either sly and ingratiating or gruff and taciturn (OMT), and sets everyone’s back up and teeth on edge. He will be dressed well but unremarkably. His hair will be dark. This piece of COLOUR CODING often, but not invariably, makes it clear that the Stranger is a SPY for BANDITS or for the DARK LORD, but in his case you have to wait and see. If he is a Spy for Bandits, then you will not have to wait long; if for the Dark Lord, then you have him for most of the Tour. But in some cases he is a dispossessed or long-lost KING, embittered by his past, in which case you will have misjudged him. A fairly sure rule of thumb is to look at the Stranger’s hair. If it is greasy, he has to be a Spy. If it is simply unkempt (OMT) or greying (OMT), or both, he is on the side of GOOD and the Dark Lord is his personal ENEMY; he will be a great help in the Final CONFRONTATION by drawing the Dark Lord’s attention to himself while the rest of you work at SAVING THE WORLD.

OMT - Official Management Term

Written in the style of a dictionary.
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I quite like the sound of that, might have to look into picking it up.

I finished the second Wheel of Time book, like the first it's pretty damn good but with some annoying elements. There were a few plot points that didn't make any sense to me but I can't remember them off the top of my head. Bought the third, but not feeling in any hurry to start it. I think I might take a break and finish something else from my backlog.

Speaking of which, I finally finished Star Wars: Kenobi. Basically Obi Wan arriving on Tatooine to start his new life and it becoming a bit of a western or even a reverse Crocodile Dundee scenario. It's quite good even though pretty much everyone but him is a throwaway character. It's no longer canon and that's why I'd originally abandoned it.
 
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