What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Brimstone Goldenwing]

I don't ready that much (always playing video games) but some fantasy books that I enjoyed reading are Dragon's Blood, Dealing with Dragons, The Last Battle, and The Hero and the Crown [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I'm trying to kick myself into reading more books..always playing video games (BAD BRIMSTONE! BAD!)..

[ April 14, 2002: Message edited by: Brimstone Goldenwing ]

[Manelwen]

Marion Zimmer Bradely.
Ursela LeGuinn
Meredith Ann Pierce

Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel Trilogy is trippy. Lots of six winged vampyres and soul drinking.

[Samwise]

Manelwen, hullo and welcome to the "club"! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
~your friendly neighborhood gardener.

For some time Frodo and Sam managed to keep up with the others, but after a while they lagged behind. Sam's cut was burning like fire, and his head felt light. In spite of the shining sun the wind felt chill. He shivered.

[Lush]

Heh, I read the newspaper every day. Does that count?

[Maluriel]

I read Animorphs (even though it's ended, don't know if that counts) I read the Lost Years of Merlin and any of Bruce Coville's fantacy series. I also write my own novels about a fantacy land called Forest Everlasting that I've been working on for about five years. I'm writing a God moralled novel called Fallowing Truth right now, it's a fantacy about a quest, so look out for it when I become a famous author! My pen name is Kat DeLaney.

[Ahanarion]

Finally someone else who likes the Lost Years of Merlin.

[dragongirlG]

I've also read Animorphs. It was good.

Another good book:
A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels by Madeline L'Engle

[Nevfeniel]

A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels by Madeline L'Engle

Ooh, I love those books! At first, I thought that A Swiftly Tilting Planet was boring, but since Sep. 11, I've been able to relate to it a little better.

[Thalionyulma]

Aside from JRRT's works I like Raymond Feist tales of Midkemia. (RF must have been greatly influenced by JRRT, he even calls the elves "edhel")

also enjoyed several books from DragonLance & Forgotten Realms (sorry forgot the authors). And how about Katherine Kurtz(?), the one about Pern and dragons.... also about the stories about Gwenydd & Derynis (I can't believe I forgot the author! sheeez!)

I've controlled myself not to get the other books mentioned (like Merlin's, and the ones by Jordan) because I drive myself crazy waiting for the next books availability... [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

OK, I'm new here, and I'm not english so forgive me for any wrong translation of titles please.
I've read "the wheel of times" -serie, the "Shannara" books, many books about Pern (sorry for that), Harry Potter, The "Death Gate" books and various others (which titles or authors I don't remeber anymore).
I also like reading the books that come from Magic: The Gathering.
And I've seen the animation-version of "The last Unicorn" which I thought was absolutely fantastic

[Samwise]

mîrlos, hullo! Always glad t' see another newbie! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Be welcomed an' post lots!

Sam looked up into the pale sky, fearing to see hawks or eagles hovering over them with bright unfriendly eyes.
"You do make me feel uncomfortable and lonesome, Strider! " he said.

[Birdland]

Welcome Mîrlos!

Just curious: did you read the books in English, or were they translated into French?

Hope you've read "The Last Unicorn", too. Not to be missed!

[KingCarlton]

Where the heck was this thread hiding for so long....man, I almost started another one.
Let's see now, ever since I could read by myself (around the first grade)I have been reading comic books and fairy tales.
Enid Blyton's books fascinated me very much in those early innocent years and I loved to read about Superman leaping tall buildings etc.
I went on to read The Chronicles of Narnia as I grew older and then got a hold of Tolkien's works at the age of 12.

These are the authors that are my all time favourites( including the ones previously mentioned), in no particular order.

Arthur C Doyle
Robert E Howard
Edgar R Burroughs
Edgar Allen Poe
H.G.Wells
G. Rider Haggard
Isaac Asimov
Arthur C Clarke
Michael Crichton
Robert E Michener
George Orwell
Jerome K Jerome
John Byrne
Richard and Wendy Pini
George Lucas


And I still read comics to this day, in fact I have a huge collection.

Cheers !

[Firefoot]

A question I've been meaning to ask all you Pratchett fans for a while - I see the books at my library, and there are SO MANY of them... is there a certain order you're supposed to read them in? I haven't been able to find a clear answer to this on my own...

New recommendation - "Avalon" by Stephen R. Lawhead. I enjoyed it quite a lot (and it happens to be another book I picked up because of this thread... ).

[Encaitare]

The very first book in the Discworld series is The Color of Magic. I don't think the order in which you read them matters that much... I read the Color of Magic, and after that just picked the ones that looked interesting. I would recommend The Truth, that's one of my favorites.

[Bêthberry]

Well, when HerenIstarion first put me on to Pratchett, he suggested I read them in order as some of the books are dependent on previous Discworld info.

However, I have jumped around too. I love Witches Abound, which is, I think the last in the Witches Trilogy, which includes Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters. I am desperately waiting my turn for the latter two from the library, not that I don't think they are worth buying, but if I parcel out my pennies wisely, they go farther.

Witches Abound is a hilarious parody of all kinds of witch, fantasy and fairy tale lore. Try fighting against a happy ending, will you? Try fighting against story itself, will you? Think that the girl doesn't always have to get the handsome prince? Throw in some voodoo magic, mancats (he's hilarious), werewolves, vampires, dwarves, and uncooperative magic wands and you've got one of the most humorous takes on fantasy going.

For most imaginative with a twist of unsettling eeriness, my money is still on Gaiman.

[Kath]

I started on a Witches book with Terry Pratchett and it put me right off for a long time. About 2 years later I picked up Guards Guards and have been hooked ever since, even on the Witches books. Definitely worth reading!

Techinically there is an order Firefoot, but you can really read them in any order, as they are also themed in a way.

Well, when HerenIstarion first put me on to Pratchett, he suggested I read them in order as some of the books are dependent on previous Discworld info.

That's true to some extent, but really you can get a good grasp of the characters without having read their introductions, and there is often a mini-summary at the beginning of the book as the story unfolds so you get to know enough of the history to be going on with.

Thanks for the welcome.

To answer your question, Birdland, I've actually read these books in two languages.
Most of them were Dutch (my native language), but some were available in English (like those Magic books and the Elric - sage by Micheal Moorcock).

Since so many of you seem to like these Narnia (? sorry if I didn't remeber it correctly) books, I think I'll try to locate them.

Thanks for all the good recommandations!

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

I also love the Myst series... the book of D'ni is particularly thought provoking. I can't believe more people haven't mentioned Lewis's Space Trilogy... Perelandra is the most hauntingly beautiful thing I've ever read. Madeline L'Engle is a great Fantasy read, and not only the time quartet... The Arm of the Starfish and a Ring of Endless Light both get me every time. Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker "trilogy" can hardly be left out, nor can Gayle Greeno's Ghatti's Tale, which is also a trilogy (Finder's Seekers, Mindspeaker's Call and Exiles Return), has anyone read that? Also I love the good old Shannara books, if you haven't yet read Antrax I highly reccommend it. Another series I get into is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels. THey get a bit repetitive at times and I wonder how many times Richard Rahl can possibly be counted on to save the world... but...

Myst is good. I've been meaning to read the Dragonriders of Pern books. And I love the Xanth books -- they're so funny, but they really are nothing like Lord of the Rings. There's no comparing anything to LotR! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Samwise]

Sophia the Thunder Mistress and Rohansangel, welcome! Please make yourself at home! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
~your friendly neighborhood gardener.

LOTR (Movie) Moment (III) (Second Breakfast)
Pippin stops to cook
Aragorn says there's no time
Apple hits a head.

Copyright 2002 S. Uffelman

[Samwise]

Edgar Allen Poe
Isaac Asimov

Ooh--creepy as the ones we read in school were, I enjoyed Poe's works, too.
And Isaac Asimov--what would my senior year of High School been without the series that began with "The Caves of Steel..." [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

LOTR (Movie) Moment (II) (Moria)
Nine Walkers enter
Frodo's sword glows with blue light
door barred--Orcs coming!

Copyright 2002 S. Uffelman

[Samwise]

Ever read Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles"? There's a chapter in it called "Usher:2005"--about this guy who wants revenge and takes it Poe-style....very freaky. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

LOTR (Movie) Moment (IV) (Moria)
Orcs are everywhere
Samwise whacks one with a pot
gets..."the hang of this!" [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Copyright 2002 S. Uffelman

[ESTEN]

The books that I read are far to many to list all here, but i will give you some of the ones that I enjoy:
Adventures in Wonderland, and trough the looking Glass
The Foundation series
Islandia
The Dune series
Shanarra
and anything dark and twisted, Poe, Hathorine, S. King, A. Rice, want to know anything more just ask [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

[The Silver-shod Muse]

The first novel I ever read (when I was five) was by C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The other six followed shortly after and I was infatuated with every one of them. It almost makes me jealous that everybody has read them because those books have always been my own personal little world, something like an early Middle Earth [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I can't believe that more people havn't mentioned Jules Verne's books! They may be outdated now, but if you consider the age in which they were written, they're incredible! Especially 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo reminds me of a demented Gandalf).

The Dinotopia picture books are great (I'm not ashamed to say that I read picture books!) That psuedo-Australian continent seemed so real to me for so long! Everything made so much sense in Dinotopia (even though the name is cheesy)...

C.S. Lewis' Malacandra and Perelandra books rock!!! They are sure to bring on an attack of Weltschmerz, though if you don't know the Bible it may be difficult to make some connections.

All in all I believe it's a pretty bleak world out there for fantasy after reading Tolkien, the father of the genre. My eye twitches uncontrollably every time I read a Tolkien spin-off, and there are plenty of those. Right now I am sloughing into the jungle of bizarre stuff that precedes Tolkien's fantasy era (i.e. Jules Verne's books)in a desperate attempt to escape those post-Tolkien writers that should be shot for plagarism.

[NyteSky]

I haven't read through all the posts so I'm sorry if any of these have already been said.

David Eddings- my favorite,
Tad Williams
and Patricia C. Wrede- she has some funny ones and some serious ones, both good

I highly recommend those to anyone who likes fantasy. Excellent authors. But of course Tolkien remains the Master.

[Tarthang]

The first book I ever read was the Hobbit in fifth grade and LOTR within two years and since (and reread around 100 times for these four books), plus many of Tolkiens other works since.
Finished Lewis' Narnia Chronicles by eigth grade.
Other authors read include: Robert Jordans (IMO best author next to Tolkien)Wheel of Time Series (nine times through in it's entirety to date). Robert Asprins Myth series among others. The first half of Piers Anthony's Xanth series. Most of David Eddings works (he wrote what I consider two nine book series but can't recall the names).
Dave Mcfarland (??) Rune-lords series to date. Many of Alan-Dean Foster's works (all of the Pip & Flinx series to date). Stephen Kings Gunslinger series to date plus some of his other works. Anne Rices Witches series. Weiss and Hickmans Dragonlance series (plus many Dragonlance by other authors)plus the another series (can't recall the name but was mentioned in an earlier post for this thread. Many of the various Forgotten Realm series. George R.R. Martins series to date (again can't recall the name but was also mentioned earlier). Melanie Rawns Ambrai and Dragonstar/scroll series. Some of Katherine Kurtz's Deverry series. Many of L.E. Modessit's works. Andre Nortons Witchworld series. Dennis L. McKiernans Mithgar series (hasn't been mentioned yet and has a strong Tolkienish feel).
Authors I've read but am having trouble recalling the series names include: Burroughs, Orson Scott Card, Maggie Fury, Stephen Donaldson, Tad Williams, Cristopher Stasheff, Jennifer Roberson, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brookes and a great many others whom I can't recall.
As you can tell, I read a lot, especially series books. Unfortunately I'm at a point where I walk into a bookstore to see if any of these authors has released a new book to a currently ongoing series, and usually leave empty handed.

[Tarthang]

Sorry, after reading through the posts, I lost the original thread and just started listing authors and associated series. To answer the original question "what else do you read besides LOTR (/Tolkien)?", I would have to answer pretty much anything sci-fi/fantasy. Especially the fantasy and in series form. I have just reread the earlier posts and refreshed my memory for other authors and their series, I have read. to keep this post briefer I will add only the authors whose names I missed from my first post. Joel Rosenberg, Elizabeth Haydon, (some) Anne McCaffrey, Douglas Adams, Gayle Greeno, "Harry Potter", Marion Zimmer Bradley, Cristopher Rowley, (some) Michael Moorecock, Raymond E Feist and I'm still missing quite a few authors names. BTW I only buy books to read, as I mentioned previously (I think), I reread books when I can't find anything new.
My apologies if my posts are overly long. I work a swing shift and am currently at work trying to stay awake (gravy-job with little to do most nights).

[Cimmerian]

Books about Heroic Dark Fantasy with a dash of horror and a lot of gore. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

[JenFramp]

Lostgaeriel- Douglas Adams is awesome..

I am suprised that no one has mentioned this particular author, however he is a bit before our time...George Macdonald..I highly recommend him and I think all of you should go out and buy a George Macdonald book..A good one would be "Lilith"...George Macdonald was one of C.S Lewis' cheif influences

Mary Brown's "Pigs Don't Fly" and "Dragonne's Eg".

Oandanel

[Samwise]

A big "HI!" to all you new folks! Do stay and be sure and post lots!
~Samwise

"Begging your pardon," said Sam, "I don't think you understand my master at all, "

[Manelwen]

I just stumbled across this wonderful series by a superb author by the name of Terry Goodkind. He writes a series called 'The Sword of Truth' It is one of the funniest and best things I have read in a while. There are a lot of things in it that would make a Tolkien fan laugh until their face turns red. I know I did. Zedd reminds me of a goofy Gandalf. He...er...makes a lot of men's 'precious' Vanish...

-Manelwen

[Lady_Báin]

I've read the chronicles of narnia and am rereading them for the second time,( my favorit is the silver chair but a close secound would be the voyage of the dawn treader Nevfeniel [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]) i've read a wrinkle in time, the last vampire series by pike, lotr, the hobbit and various other vampire books.

HEY Amyrlis where can I get the Chron. of Narnia with the cover like your picture PLEEZ tell me i've been looking for those kind for ever and can't find it anywhere [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] thanks in advance [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Kalessin]

For obvious reasons I should say Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet. However, I would also like to cite Jose Luis Borges (author of many fantastical fictions), and The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende (loosely based on the magical tale-telling of Scheherezade) as being among my personal favourites - neither author perhaps part of the 'fantasy' section at your local bookshop, but (in a wholly original way) certainly part of the same realm of imaginative narrative, and perhaps closer in truth to Tolkien than many of the obvious imitators. Although majoring in SF, Brian Aldiss and Ray Bradbury have also written many ingenious and entertaining stories that qualify as fantasy. And for me, The Little Prince by Antione de Saint Exupery is a profound and moving work of fantasy.

I also enjoy thoughtful workings and re-working of 'true' myths and fairy tales - versions of the essentially tragic Cuchulain stories from Ireland, or Angela Carter's dark perspective on the traditional Perrault fairy tales, or Oscar Wilde's beautiful stories - highly recommended!

Ah, the list is endless ... but as you may have seen from my "rant" about fantasy elsewhere, I'm not a big fan of the standard genre-fillers. To each his/her own [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] But I'm sure there is plenty of good stuff that I haven't got to yet, and this thread is a useful shortcut [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Peace

[piosenniel]

one of my favorite books is 'The Magus' by John Fowles. Jam packed with all sorts of archetypal characters.

[Dain]

Well, there are lots of good books listed here, and I've read some of them. Frank Herbert's Dune is brilliant, David Edding's series about Ender is good, though "Ender's Game" stands out and you don't have to read it as a series. Robert Heinlein has some very good books (loved Starship Troopers) and some very strange ones (never finished Stranger in a Strange Land). And I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Philip K. **** , who wrote a lot of short-ish, strange, brilliant science fiction, including Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep, which was the basis for the equally brilliant Blade Runner (though they are very different). C. S. Lewis' Narnia series is a must-read, though it's been years since I have.

I haven't found so many "fantasy" authors who really stand out. The stories are usually fun, but never quite satisfying... I keep going down to the bookstore and looking at all the pretty books and their intreguing titles, but can never figure out what to read. I'll look into some of the recommendations here, thanks!

Oh, so I can't write Philip K. **** , can I? How annoying. His name is D I C K, does that work? And even the titles of his books are just brilliant... can't beat old-school sci-fi.

[ April 16, 2003: Message edited by: Dain ]

[Ainaserkewen]

I read Harry Potter before LOTR. It's silly and funny.
But I've never liked Fantasy bofore either of them, I read mostly teen romances(I know, I know) and comic books(GO GARFIELD)
Now that I've read LOTR, I'm eager to read other Tolkien works and other Fantasy too. Can anybody recomend anything good?

[Guo Si]

Lately I've been reading more Eastern literature. I'm almost finished with The Four Great Chinese Classics (or something close to that). These are composed of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin. Journey to the West, and A Dream of Red Mansions.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical fantasy about the time when the Han Empire dissolved. Out of it came the three empires of Shu, Wu, and Wei. Its an excellent book, with more battle, intrigue, and treachery than you can shake a stick at.

The Water Margin is set in the time of the Northern Song Dynasty. Its about 108 bandits who fight against the corrupt government to help restore the Emporer's court to honor. Eventually they end up with an amnesty, but are killed by rival nobles anyways.

Journey to the West is about a buddhist's journey to India to obtain some holy scriptures. With him are three divine monsters. Its really good, even though I haven't finished it yet.

A Dream of Red Mansions is the only one I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Its about court life in the late 18th century, and the decline of the feudal estates.

Other books I've read include the Harry Potter series and numerous other's who's names elude me now.

[Rumil]

Aha, Guo Si, the Journey to the West must surely be the book which was adapted for TV in the 70s as the series 'Monkey'. I'm sure all UK Downers of a certain age will fondly remember Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy and the rather confusing (boy or girl?) Tripitaka. I think the series was made in China and dubbed into English - great fun. I confess to having tried to read the book once but given up, perhaps the translation wasn't up to scratch.

The Water Margin was also said to be a great TV series, but sadly not broadcast in my area at the time.

OK, on to the books. As many have said, I find it difficult to nominate good fantasy authors. The Eddings books are OK for a relaxing read, but rather shallow perhaps. I still love Terry Pratchett, for bringing the whole genre down a peg. Has anyone read any of Lord Dunsany's books, fantasy which pre-dated Tolkien? I'd be interested to hear your opinion as I haven't tried them yet.

In the Sci-Fi a long time favourite of mine was the fantastic Douglas Adams (now sadly missed) who wrote the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and others (though never enough). Also Philip K. **** , K.W. Jeter and William Gibson, used to be a big Asimov fan too. Iain M. Banks is currently a favourite, anyone who can write a book consisting in art of e-mails between spacecraft and make it a gripping read (Excession) has my vote. 'Consider Phlebas' is probably the best one to start with. (By the way, Banks and Jeter contain 'adult' themes, so I couldn't recommend them for some of our younger members - or at least don't get caught!).

I'll have to put a word in for the clasics of course. Odyssey and Aeneid are surely essential for the 'heroic age' and the Mabinogion is full of weird and wonderful things from my own cultural background!