My Favourite Fantasy Books Of All Time

[Self]

I've made a pact with myself - no more reading unfinished series'! I haven't read book 11 from wheel of time, only finished 2 of erikson, the 1st bakker, up to date with GRRM - but will not touch any of them again until its all released!
I understand peoples criticism of WOT, but to me Jordan was a breath of fresh air at a time when I was finding it hard to find something that I liked. I HATE Nynaeve, & there are certainly other aspects of the series that a good editor should have gone to town on, but I LOVE the general story and can't wait to see how it ends.

 

[Kookamoor]

but to me Jordan was a breath of fresh air at a time when I was finding it hard to find something that I liked.

I totally understand that. It's probably similar to why I like Goodkind and you don't - just picked him up at different times in our reading lives and it appealed. If I were to pick up, say, the Belgariad now for the first time I may find it cliched and the language simplistic (as many fantasy readers do). But because I read it when I was younger and just getting into fantasy I adore it.

 

[direstraits]

GRRMartin is actually my favourite new author. I'll prove I'm not just jumping on his wave of popularity - I LOVE ROBERT JORDAN ALSO - further proof required - JORDAN IS BETTER THAN ERIKSON - but Martin has moved alightly ahead of Jordan at this stage.

As for Le Guin - I read Wizard of Earthsea in year 7 for school. I remember liking it, but having read JRRT LOTR already, I think I wrote it off as inferior. Might have to pick it up again one day if I can find it & revisit it.

There's nothing wrong with jumping on the bandwagon of someone who's actually good, though. If I learnt about GRRM here, read him and found him excellent, I'd sing a christmas carol here in TBF.

As it were, I read GRRM long before I joined TBF, and I'm glad I found so many GRRM kindred spirits.

I loved the early Jordans... the books moved at a very good pace and his writing was wonderful. For example, I liked the way he described Blademaster sword fight scenes with style names; I thought that was great. I liked his visualization of tapping into the Source.

But as everyone here has said before - he rambled in the later books. I've stopped halfway throught the 8th book, and will only probably continue when everything's out, just like you.

But I'll read GRRM as and when he comes out. I can't wait.


ds

 

[manatherindrell]

I understand how people stopped reading wot halfway through the series. I heard a rumor that Jordan was stalling the books because he had a contract for a certian amount. I just want to let you know that in his latest book Jordan seems to have decided that it was time to stop stalling. There is plenty of action and the story is worthy of being alonside the first few books in the series.

 

[Occlith]

Partial list of favorites:

The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Daughter of Regals and Other Tales - Stephen R. Donaldson
The Silmarillion - JRR Tolkien
The Well of the Unicorn - Fletcher Pratt
The Charwoman's Shadow - Lord Dunsany

 

[Self]

There's nothing wrong with jumping on the bandwagon of someone who's actually good, though. If I learnt about GRRM here, read him and found him excellent, I'd sing a christmas carol here in TBF.

Hey Direstraits
Totally agree there's nothing wrong with discovering a good author through a site such as this. That is not what I was referring to. It seems to me that some authors who are popular with forum readers NEVER seem to have a bad word written about them.

For an author to be liked by everyone goes against the law of nature. Take GRRM for example - I can't understand anyone not liking him, but they do exist. Their voice does not tend to be so loud however, as they attract mobs of howling fanatics with lynch ropes. There also appear to be other readers who like to be seen to run with the popular mob. If an author is popular - they like him.

By pointing out that I liked Jordan, who appears to attract mobs with burning torches, I was merely trying to say that I am a genuine GRRM fan, by expressing I would not be backwards in coming forwards if I wasn't. Sites like this have led me to great discoveries of authors and new work also.

 

[Aragorn]

Here are my favorites under this category.

1. The whole Redwall series.
2. The Lord of the Rings series
3. The Star Wars books.


These are all of the books that come up to me at the time.

 

[ChiMel1592]

1. Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time
2.Dinotopia: The World Beneath
3.The Dinotopia Digest books
4. The whole Warriors series by Erin Hunter
5. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel TV tie ins
6. Keeper of the King and His Father's Son by Nigel Bennett and PN Elrod (I haven't gotten to read the third one, Seige Perilous, yet)
7. The Dinoverse series by Scott Ciencin
8. Jurassic Park and The Lost World, Michael Crichton

 

[F.M.Thompson]

Reply

Try the books of Marion Zimmer Bradley-"The Mists of Avalon," an Arthurian legend treatment, is very well done, and the best I have yet to read. There is something about that particular legend that I find intriguing-compelling too.
I have read that the whole Merlin thing is misunderstood. A "Merlin" was a kind of priest/teacher and not someone's name. I believe that you will enjoy this book. Frederick

 

[veggiedog]

As a younger kid: Redwall series
As a prepubescent kid: Earthsea
As a teenager: Lord of the Rings
As an adult: ???Not there yet!???

I feel like I should be reading some of the uppercrust-type fantasy all of you are talking about, but I'm not sure I'm ready for all the gore and sex I'm afraid of encountering...I feel like a little kid . I don't normally focus on fantasy (I'll pretty much ready anything that has a good storyline) and don't feel very well-read. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? YOU'VE MADE ME DEPRESSED!!!!