You guys may have already hashed this out (if so, direct me to the thread), but I was just reading OSC's most recent column, and I was wondering how many of these other authors he mentions, you have read. I'm thinking of branching out (away from OSC) and checking out some other literature. He mentions Jack Whyte, Dave Wolverton, Sean Russell, and Anne McCaffrey.
Which one should I start with first?
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Octavia Butler and Ursula K. LeGuin. Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
He has also praised Ursula K. LeGuin, Steven Gould (not the scientist), George R. R. Martin, Tolkein, Lousie McMaster Bujold (IIRC), Robert Jordan, Asimov, Heinlein, and Tad Williams (IIRC). Oh, and Nancy Kress, I believe.
Of those, I would personally recommend Kress and Gould. And the classics, of course.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Beaten by AK.
What I mean by saying I recommend Kress and Gould is that if you like Card and want similar but different stuff, then those two can be very similar to him at times.
Hmm . . . Butler . . . I wonder if I was wrong about Bujold, then.
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
Octavia Butler is good. She seems to be a little obsessed with an American economic catastrophe, which makes me worry a little bit ( ), but her writing can't be beat. My favorite piece by her is the short story "Speech Sounds" in the collection Future on Ice (edited and prefaced by OSC himself, wow!).
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I like Speech Sounds, but it's always seemed more like the first chapter of a really great book than a short story, somehow.
Butler reminds me more of Card than any other writer I've read. Kress has some similarities to Card, and I love her work, but somehow her character's don't feel quite as "there" as Card's or Butler's.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
He also likes Tamora Pierce. The series he mentions is billed as young adult, but I thing regular adults would enjoy it as well.
I've read it once and I think it is a series worth buying as well as checking out from the library.
AJ
Posted by Jexxster (Member # 5293) on :
Since Tad Williams got mentioned I just felt the need to pop in and recommend him to everyone. His "Otherland" series is a fantastic, fanciful romp through the terrors of a virtual world too big for its britches.
But his trilogy "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" is a real high mark for epic fantasy. Next to Tolkien's masterpiece I have never read epic fantasy that moved me nearly in the same way. His characters were incredibly believable, the world is rich and vibrant, and the prose is powerful. You could do much, much worse, but not much better than his work.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
So have none of you read the Sean Russell he praised so highly? Or have you read that author and didn't like it?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Sean Russell is remarkably underwhelming, compared to both Williams and Martin. For that matter, so is Anne McCaffery. OSC's taste in fantasy is not necessarily epicurean. Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
*stares, open-mouthed like a big goober*
He likes... Jordan. So does my husband. I, on the other hand, kept re-reading the first eight pages of the first novel, then falling asleep only to awaken with no memory whatsoever of anything that happened in the oft-repeated 8 pages.
The Oversoul obviously wants me to stay away from Robert Jordan. Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I haven't read Russel (although he's on my list, thanks to Elizabeth rather than OSC), but I can say that I've read McCaffrey fairly extensively, and don't care for her work. I loved it when I was in late grade school, but it just doesn't really hold up when I reread it as an adult.
Posted by Jexxster (Member # 5293) on :
I loved Jordan up until about book 6. Then the salt lost its savor.
I have force-read 7,8, and 9, but 10 keeps eluding me, much to my pleasure.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Yes, my stars, do not read Jordan.
Actually I just picked up the Runelords by Farland, and the first page has some pretty high praise by OSC. He even says he cried at the ending, and that Farland deserved his tears.
I don't particularly trust OSC's recommendations after the one he gave Jordan, but I'm 250 pages in and its pretty good. Not mind-blowingly good like Martin, but good.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"OSC's taste in fantasy is not necessarily epicurean"
My first reaction to this statement was: "So?"
Then, I really started to wonder what an epicurean taste in fantasy would be. Can you elaborate, Tom? I am not really looking for a list of authors you feel are worthy, but rather a set of criteria for good fantasy.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I practically started to read fantasy with Tamora Pierce's 'Song of the Lioness' series, and for years they were my favourite books. I read them between the ages of seven and nine, though, so I'm not so sure about adults reading them. The first two in the series are definately better for younger people, and the second two are better for older people. (I guess that makes sense...) I own all four books.
Some Anne McCaffrey is really good, and some I picked off the shelf, read a bit of and put back immediately. Her Pegasus series (not the "in the future of the future" ones, but the actually Pegasus series) is good, especially Pegasus In Flight. I also like her Landing Series, 'Freedom's Landing' etc. The Pern series is sporadically good, in my opinion. Some books really shine, others are confusing and dull, although I re-read one recentluy and it suddenly made a whole ton of sense. I read most of these in grades seven and eight.
I'm pretty sure I have read at least some of Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn epic... although I don't actually remember the plot. Long, long books series', however good they are seem to always lose me somewhere along the line. Perhaps it's because I am impatient.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
My favorite Anne McCaffrey novels were "Dinosaur Planet" and Dinosuar Planet Survivors." No idea why, really.
Of the Pern series, I loved the "Dragonsinger, " "Dragonsong," "Dragondrums, books.
And, Teshi, some of my favorite fantasy is young adult fantasy. I use the excuse that I am reading books to see if my students might like them, but the truth is, few of them like fantasy, and I am just feeding my own enjoyment.
I do need a good fantasy series, though. It has been a while. Maybe Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn."
Dang. Every time we do this, I mean to write a list!
[ September 12, 2003, 05:13 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
David Farland is the pen name for Dave Wolverton, who is the author OSC said he liked. I also recommend that series. I've met Dave. He's a pretty nice guy.
OSC has since taken back his praise of Jordan. Well, at least Jordan's recent work. OSC had the same reaction I did. At first the Wheel of Time series was great. Interesting, imaginative world development with some cool storylines working up.
Then Jordan got bogged down. I haven't read the last 3 or four books. He seems to have really lost sight of the ending. He drops storylines for entire books, if I remember correctly, one was lost for two books. He says that he has an actual plan, but it sure didn't seem like it. If he is following his plan, then he really didn't learn the lesson on cutting down your narrative.
George R. R. Martin is fantastic.
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
Robert Jordan has this amazing imagination. His world-building skills are unsurpassed. The things he pulls out of his brain leave me flabbergasted. However, he can't actually write to save his life. I will keep reading the series to find out what happens, but I will do it wincingly.
Martin is really good. I don't have any real complaints.
Tad Williams' Otherland series is truly mind-blowing. It's not fantasy, really, but it sure feels like it is while you're reading it. The only series I cherish more is Tolkien, and the older I get the more I suspect that's just because of the pleasant associations it carries for me.
UofUlawguy
Posted by ae (Member # 3291) on :
quote:Robert Jordan has this amazing imagination. His world-building skills are unsurpassed. The things he pulls out of his brain leave me flabbergasted.
Just a suggestion: try China Mieville. Perdido Street Station, or The Scar.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I'm in the middle of Perdido Street Station, so far it seems like really good literature, but not so good writing, if that makes any sense? I have a feeling the world building would be amazing if he would take a break to clue me in once in a while. I'm just hoping this world will make sense to me by the end.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
The first book of the Wheel of Time series, eight pages past the prologue... Posted by Jexxster (Member # 5293) on :
Olivet,
I forced myself to get through it with the hope it would be the end all of fantasy it had been pitched to me as.
Now it is more like the never ending fantasy. Ugh.
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
I liked McCaffrey's Crystal Singer series, as well as the first Pern trilogy, although it was quite a while since I read either, and the memories I retain of Crystal Singer (probably not its real name, too drunk and lazy to check) suggest that it may well have been my youth. The rest of Pern was indeed "sporadically good." Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You know, it's remarkably hard for me to come up with a list of traits that I think are common to "good" fantasy novels that don't also occur in "bad" fantasy novels.
It's like erotica vs. smut -- I know it when I see it, but there's a fine line in there (probably in the execution).
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I'm a little dismayed to learn that I'm not on the list!!!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tom, I guess I am just looking for a better critique of Sean Russell than a comparison to authors I have not read. I would not really compare him to high fantasy writers, anyway, even his current trilogy, which is, well, supposed to be high fantasy. He is different, and I really like his dreamy, sort of vague characters. Maybe I am wallowing in the luxury of adulthood, where I can read books and not critique them beyond "liked it and finished it" and "got halfway through and put it down." Unfortunately, the latter has been winning out lately, and I am not sure why. I need a good, meaty fantasy series. Would you suggest Williams or Martin?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
If you want "meaty," go with Martin. He practically redefines the term. Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Elizabeth and Bob, you should delete your posts. Then Tom would be saying:
quote:It's like erotica vs. smut -- I know it when I see it, but there's a fine line in there (probably in the execution).
If you want "meaty," go with Martin. He practically redefines the term.
--Pop
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: few of them like fantasy, and I am just feeding my own enjoyment.
Most of the adults I know turn their nose up at any type of fantasy, so my viewpoint is a little skewed.
The Song of the Lioness series I know by heart and therefore I no longer need to read them. I just have to think them. Alanna the first adventure, beginning. "That is my decision, we need not discuss it."
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Papa, I cannot side with Evil Bob the Post Deleter, who did this to me on another thread. I forget which one, but I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. He would just come back at me a hundred fold.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
), but her writing can't be beat. My favorite piece by her is the short story "Speech Sounds" in the collection Future on Ice (edited and prefaced by OSC himself, wow!).
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Jordan. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
I have a feeling the world building would be amazing if he would take a break to clue me in once in a while. I'm just hoping this world will make sense to me by the end.
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)