What other fantasy books do YOU read? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Salacia Deloresista · 02-21-2006, 08:05 AM

I started one of the Dragonlance books (I don't remember which one it was) on the recommendation of a friend, but somehow I could never really get into them. I found a better book half-way through the Dragonlance one and I still haven't finished reading it.

Encaitare · 02-21-2006, 01:34 PM

Perhaps it's more science fiction than fantasy, but I'm in the middle of reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and all I can say is that it's amazing. Wholly recommended.

alatar · 02-21-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Encaitare

Perhaps it's more science fiction than fantasy, but I'm in the middle of reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and all I can say is that it's amazing. Wholly recommended.

Jules Verne. Cool. Can remember buying a copy as a youngster for a quarter (dollar), and possibly still have it. I'd add to the list "Journey to the Centre of the Earth." Another 'classic' author of note (at least to me) is H. G. Wells, and you'd do ahh...good..by reading his works such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds.

And need I mention Poe?

02-21-2006, 10:58 PM

I really like Barbara Hambly's earlier works, The Darwath Trilogy & The Ladies of Mandrygn. The internal logic of magic in her universe is the best I've read.

JennyHallu · 02-22-2006, 08:08 AM

Honestly, if I'm not reading Tolkien, my fancies tend to lean to Sci-Fi.

For example, while I enjoyed Tad Williams' Osten Ard trilogy, I found Otherland to be much better.

I've read fantasy by Orson Scott Card: Enchantment, among others. My favorite OSC, however, will always be Ender's Game.

Sometimes I fear that fantasy authors get too caught up in cashing in on Tolkien. Fantasy novels just feel like long strings of Tolkien clones, but without the depth, and the magic, that gives Middle-Earth its fascination. I have occasionally been fascinated by other fantasies, but I can't think of any off the top of my head that have the power to hold me in the same way.

EDIT: One major exception: Steven Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle is amazing (the first book is Taliesin, if anyone's interested in finding it). However I have tried a science fiction tale by the same author and have never read a worse thing in print. I also have a soft spot for Mercedes Lackey, though I am sure her novels will rot my brain.

Salacia Deloresista · 02-22-2006, 09:16 AM

I must have been in a really good mood a few days ago when I added Tad Williams to my list of favorite authors. I read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and the Otherland series, and by the end of both of them the only thing I felt was sick and frustrated. They've got some good spots, but mostly I just found them to be long. Very long. Much longer than they had to be. I read them because they were big and cheap (-ish) and I was starved for anything fluently English. I'll give Williams credit for them being ok, but I will never, ever read them again.

Ender's Game rocks my world. Ender's Game and the Shadow series. The rest of the Ender's series was amazing, but a little hard to deal with. Bean is my hero.

I read a couple of books over the summer that had me dorking out for months, they were that good. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and it's sequel Children of God were absolutely........I'm speechless just thinking about them. Definitely worth looking up. Larry Niven's Ringworld series wasn't half bad either.

JennyHallu · 02-22-2006, 09:35 AM

I have a thing for long books, probably, at least in part, because I read very fast. I enjoyed Ender's sequels very very much. I found the philosophy he goes into in them really seemed to have a strong element of truth. But you can't look at them in the same light as you read Ender's Game. It's the same character, maybe, barely, but it's not the same story. It's about something else.

02-22-2006, 08:08 AM	#5
JennyHallu The Pearl, The Lily Maid Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In my luxury Barrow, snuggled up in a pile of satin pillows, eating fresh fruit. Posts: 1,628	Honestly, if I'm not reading Tolkien, my fancies tend to lean to Sci-Fi. For example, while I enjoyed Tad Williams' Osten Ard trilogy, I found Otherland to be much better. I've read fantasy by Orson Scott Card: Enchantment, among others. My favorite OSC, however, will always be Ender's Game. Sometimes I fear that fantasy authors get too caught up in cashing in on Tolkien. Fantasy novels just feel like long strings of Tolkien clones, but without the depth, and the magic, that gives Middle-Earth its fascination. I have occasionally been fascinated by other fantasies, but I can't think of any off the top of my head that have the power to hold me in the same way. EDIT: One major exception: Steven Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle is amazing (the first book is Taliesin, if anyone's interested in finding it). However I have tried a science fiction tale by the same author and have never read a worse thing in print. I also have a soft spot for Mercedes Lackey, though I am sure her novels will rot my brain. __________________ <=== Lookee, lookee, lots of IM handles! Last edited by JennyHallu; 02-22-2006 at 08:14 AM.

02-22-2006, 09:16 AM	#6
Salacia Deloresista Pile O'Bones Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: in a state of confusion Posts: 22	I must have been in a really good mood a few days ago when I added Tad Williams to my list of favorite authors. I read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and the Otherland series, and by the end of both of them the only thing I felt was sick and frustrated. They've got some good spots, but mostly I just found them to be long. Very long. Much longer than they had to be. I read them because they were big and cheap (-ish) and I was starved for anything fluently English. I'll give Williams credit for them being ok, but I will never, ever read them again. Ender's Game rocks my world. Ender's Game and the Shadow series. The rest of the Ender's series was amazing, but a little hard to deal with. Bean is my hero. I read a couple of books over the summer that had me dorking out for months, they were that good. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and it's sequel Children of God were absolutely........I'm speechless just thinking about them. Definitely worth looking up. Larry Niven's Ringworld series wasn't half bad either. __________________ Some may carve through wood and stone to find a thing of beauty, while some may chase their cause around the world for love or duty

02-22-2006, 09:35 AM	#7
JennyHallu The Pearl, The Lily Maid Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In my luxury Barrow, snuggled up in a pile of satin pillows, eating fresh fruit. Posts: 1,628	I have a thing for long books, probably, at least in part, because I read very fast. I enjoyed Ender's sequels very very much. I found the philosophy he goes into in them really seemed to have a strong element of truth. But you can't look at them in the same light as you read Ender's Game. It's the same character, maybe, barely, but it's not the same story. It's about something else. __________________ <=== Lookee, lookee, lots of IM handles!

02-21-2006, 08:05 AM	#1
Salacia Deloresista Pile O'Bones Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: in a state of confusion Posts: 22	I started one of the Dragonlance books (I don't remember which one it was) on the recommendation of a friend, but somehow I could never really get into them. I found a better book half-way through the Dragonlance one and I still haven't finished reading it.

02-21-2006, 01:34 PM	#2
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 1,814	Perhaps it's more science fiction than fantasy, but I'm in the middle of reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and all I can say is that it's amazing. Wholly recommended.

02-21-2006, 10:58 PM	#4
Carhilion Guest Posts: n/a	I really like Barbara Hambly's earlier works, The Darwath Trilogy & The Ladies of Mandrygn. The internal logic of magic in her universe is the best I've read.