What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Not wishing to sound like a chauvinist, but I found Mists of Avalon dreadfully boring and devoid of humor. I prefer T.H. White's retelling of the Arthurian cycle in The Once and Future King. Mary Stewart's Merlin series (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, etc.) is interesting in parts, but is rather somber, and tends to meander later on in the series.

It's going to be impossible to express without it coming out all wrong, but Mists of Avalon seemed to have that hippy Glastonbury feel about it. Maybe the best way I can describe it is that it was a bit 'trippy'

I'd forgotten about the Mary Stewart ones - I read those not long after reading LotR for the first time and they stood up to the incredibly fussy taste I'd developed!

I've got Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book here, so I'm about to see what that's like...

I got The Lost Girls for Christmas - it's very good, and very, very, very adult.....Oh, and one I have to thank Pio for is The Fables - I finally read the first one last year and it was amazing! I'm trying to find the second one now...

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I got The Lost Girls for Christmas - it's very good, and very, very, very adult.....

Define "good."

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

Define "good."

Good as in good Art. It's basically an adult imagining of the adult lives and 'adventures' of Alice, Wendy and Dorothy - approach with caution if easily (or even averagely) shocked (and short of cash - they're rightly not cheap, mass market books).

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Good as in good Art. It's basically an adult imagining of the adult lives and 'adventures' of Alice, Wendy and Dorothy - approach with caution if easily (or even averagely) shocked (and short of cash - they're rightly not cheap, mass market books).

It's pornography, essentially.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

It's pornography, essentially.

I wouldn't say so, as it's not created with the same intent in mind.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I wouldn't say so, as it's not created with the same intent in mind.

Bethberry bites her tongue to avoid saying anything about the difficulties with authorial intention.

Originally Posted by Morth

Not wishing to sound like a chauvinist, but I found Mists of Avalon dreadfully boring and devoid of humor. I prefer T.H. White's retelling of the Arthurian cycle in The Once and Future King. Mary Stewart's Merlin series (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, etc.) is interesting in parts, but is rather somber, and tends to meander later on in the series.

Since this has been quoted liberally by several Downers, I might as well chime in to see if we can set a Downs record for most quoted post comment.

Also, not wanting to sound like a chauvinist, I too found MoA heavy going, in much the same way I dislike most of Atwood. The dogmatics are just too, well, dogmatic and I can take only so much knocking on my skull before my reading skills are numbed senseless.

Have never read Mary Stewarts' Merlin series so I'll take a look at them and maybe even a relook at TH White, as it's been years and years. . .

But for new current fantasy, I found The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss quite fascinating, especially from the perspective of a Tolkien read. The debt is there, but this is no mere pale imitation.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Bethberry bites her tongue to avoid saying anything about the difficulties with authorial intention.

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

Not according to Alan Moore.

Excellent! We could have a bit of a post-Barthes style fight on our hands here over this one

As the masterful Harry Hill says, there's only one way to find out...

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I wouldn't say so, as it's not created with the same intent in mind.

Not according to Alan Moore.