Downers' Famous Fantasy Five

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

What are you talking about Gwathagor? Do you call the Greek Gods real? Do you believe in Cyclopes'? That stuff is no more real than Lord of the Rings. Trojan war may have been real, but not all the Gods, magic, and monsters that Homer puts in his book.

OF COURSE IT'S REAL! Do you think Homer just MAKES STUFF UP? Why are gods, magic, and monsters no longer plausible? What happened to us? Why COULDN'T there have been giants on the earth? What reason do you have to not believe "that stuff" existed?

Fate was God, the gods were demons, magic was magic, and the monsters were dinosaurs (and demons). It's fairly straightforward.

EDIT: Wildcats of Kilkenny? Why did I put that in there?

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

OF COURSE IT'S REAL! Do you think Homer just MAKES STUFF UP? Why are gods, magic, and monsters no longer plausible? What happened to us? Why COULDN'T there have been giants on the earth? What reason do you have to not believe "that stuff" existed?

Fate was God, the gods were demons, magic was magic, and the monsters were dinosaurs (and demons). It's fairly straightforward.

EDIT: Wildcats of Kilkenny? Why did I put that in there?

I like how you say these things Gwathagor! Demons, demons, and even more demons! Being a Christian I do believe in Demons, but some people don't! And yes I do believe in Demons and Dragons too!( yes I did say dragons)


Anyway,I don't read much fantasy except for Tolkien... there is a bunch of newer fantasy out now that seems nockoffish(I make up words) well from what I've heard!

1: Lord of the Rings... I LOVE hobbits... well and for other reasons too! That is why I'm on the Barrow-Downs people!

2: The Chronicles of Narnia: I remember when I was like five or so my mom read them to me and in the last book I got freaked out because of the one God thing Tash (I think that was his name) anyway the picture in our book scared the living daylights out of me! I think I should read them again...


Well as I said I don't read much fantasy, but Harry Potter was banned by my mom (because it had witch craft in it or something) otherwise I would have probably read it...

But if you call the Illiad fantasy, I've never read it, but I've seen many adaptations of it... Of course I'm still young and I can take some books off of this book list! They probably would be good reads!

~TGEW

[THE Ka]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

OF COURSE IT'S REAL! Do you think Homer just MAKES STUFF UP?

Well, if you look at it from the Aristotle perspective of literary critique, that could be easily supported. Considering that Homer was said to be 'blind', which symbolistically gives of the impression of a developed 'inner eye/sight', Aristotle's method could argue on the behalf of his poetics and epics by saying they emphasis the 'universal' (nature of everything, human nature...) which is seen as something nearer to the 'ideal' of Greek philosophy (according to only Aristotle, of course). So, unlike Plato, he's fine with showing the flaws of heros and gods, as long as it furthers the underlying message of character improvement and polishing the coal into diamond, etc.
Sort of like this: "writers of great dignity imitated the noble actions of noble heroes; the less dignified sort of writers imitated the actions of inferior men."

On the other hand, if you had Plato take a gander at it, he might take Homer's works and stomp them into oblivion because poetic works are the 'flit of imagination' and thus the threat of a 'state and ideal completely of logic morality and reason'. As long as the poets 'behave' and celebrate only the completely falseless of the Platonic state of reason, then Plato seems okay.


Sorry, I have a slight amusement in playing devil's advocate.

Though, that is a good topic to bring up reguarding familiar works.
Particularly though, The Odyssey is an amazing work. Lovely use of puns and development, plus the wit. I admire the Cyclops scene most of all, and the brief adventures of 'Nobody'.

~ Ramble for rambling Ka

[Gwathagor]

Plato was grumpy.

However, I could have fun with the idea that imagination is essential to morality and reason, as well as the preservation of the state.

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

OF COURSE IT'S REAL! Do you think Homer just MAKES STUFF UP? Why are gods, magic, and monsters no longer plausible? What happened to us? Why COULDN'T there have been giants on the earth? What reason do you have to not believe "that stuff" existed?

Fate was God, the gods were demons, magic was magic, and the monsters were dinosaurs (and demons). It's fairly straightforward.

Thank you Gwathagor! I've never thought about it like that before, thanks for proving me wrong!

[ninja91]

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
3. The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore
4. The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini
5. Forgotten Realms books from the early 1990's and

No explanation yet...need to check my Tribal Wars account!!!

*Not very groundbreaking, but they were some of the first fantasy novels I ever read. They're a bit close to me, although most are far from a masterpiece.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

OF COURSE IT'S REAL! Do you think Homer just MAKES STUFF UP?

*walks in, whistling* It's very probable Homer did not even exist... *walks away, whistling*

Anyway, to be on-topic, does SF count? Probably not, but just to be sure. (There are things however, that are SF, but in fact are better classificated as fantasy among my picks, but I am asking about pure SF here.)

[Gwathagor]

Regardless...

[arcticstorm]

1. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
This is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche's older sister.

2. Descent into Hell by Charles Williams
This book by the second inkling on the list is a theological fantasy that deals with the themes of redemption and condemnation through the use of supernatural elements such as dopplegangers and ghosts. Certain concepts from Zoroastrianism and some images from Dante weave their way through the entire story.

3. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The third inkling in the top three spots. I do not need to explain this book.

4. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson.
This series is also fairly well-known so I don't need to explain here either.

and Finally,

5. The Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbot
This is a medieval journey tale about an Irish monk who searched for the land promised to the saints. His journeys around the Atlantic have such elements as having easter dinner on the back of a whale, a monk being taken by a demon and bursting into flames, and Judas Iscariot sitting on an Iceberg so that he could be released from his punishment one day each year. Some, like me, consider the story to be a fantastic retelling of actual events. Although maybe not as much a fantasy as the others, I would still classify it under this genre.