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Perdido Street station was very bizarre. I liked the book. I spent a lot of the book just amazed at Mieville's creativity. And naturally I was even more impressed when I found out he's in grad school too!
If you don't mind characters that take a little while to get used to then you should give it a shot.
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What about Night Watch, Tom? I enjoyed it more than I have most of his recent efforts, including Theif of Time. Generally different in tone, but a very good read.
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Anyone who remembers me (only a few probably) will find the next part of this post very, very predictable.....I love Guy Gavriel Kays' books; I believe I own all of them.
I highly reccommend the Fionavar Tapestry books (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road, in order). I found The Summer Tree to be a very moving book, so much so that I went out and bought the next two in the series, even though the last was only available in hardcover.....and at that time I only owned five or six hardcover books. I have never regretted it either. If you love Celtic-based high fantasy, this series is a must read...
Tigana is a wonderful read, one of the best stand alone books I have ever read. It is based loosly (very loosly) on a pinnisula modeled after Italy, in a fantasy setting, of course. Also god was The Lions of Al-Rassan, based loosly in a desert culture similar to the Arab-muslim culture in Africa and the Middle East.
I loved the Robin Hobb books, at least the Farseer books, and the Tawney Man. The Liveship Traders were very interesting in concept, but I felt let dowm by the writing a bit. I liked them, but didn't love them.
I also really like Laurell K. Hamilton's series, especially the Anita Blake series (it starts with Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Dammed). These books are great, but are a little different from my normal reading habits. I usually read just fantasy (or the classics, but that's another thread ), but the Anita Blake stories are different. Have you ever noticed that when an author tries to combign genres, say mystery with fantasy, the result usually isn't very good buy the standards of either genre? This is the exception to the rule. Hamilton combigns supernatural/horror with detective/mystery, all in a magical setting that loosly resembles our own. She also doesn't ignore the moral ramifications of actions, something that most authors are guilty of, and she isn't preachy. She doesn't push a specific religion, as a matter of fact her books are non-denomanational to a fault, but she looks at situations that are potentionally morally corrupting and shows the concequences of those actions, both good and bad. Most of all, her characters grow and change, both for the good and for the bad, with each book.
I also love George R.R. Martin's books, and as of yesterday the release date for A Feast of Crows is still April of this year. I can't wait!
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*grin* The two of you, between you, managed to zero in on my error.
What I would have said, had I access to my brain, is that Night Watch (****) was a return to the quality of the earlier guards books, and Thief of Time (***) was a decent Death book that borders on being a standalone. The reason I got my wires crossed, of course, is that Night Watch is highly dependent on both Small Gods and Thief of Time for the bigger picture.
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I just read Peridio Street Station, and I found it to be a good, if somewhat different read.....good overall concepts, but the writing was slow paced in spots. I will probably read The Scar next, whenever I feel like reading Meville again.
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I agree with Kwea about Laurell K. Hamilton. He told me for months that I should read this series because I would like it. I ignored him and when a friend told me about these books that she couldn't put down and loaned me one of them (actually the first 3 in one volume), I found that i had the same problem. I couldn't put the damn things down. They aren't anything I would normally read... I like smutty romance novels (mindless entertainment!), not fantasy or sci-fi. Yet she combines fantasy,mystery,action, and smutty romance novel very well. I can't wait to read more of her stuff!
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I have not gone to B and N yet, but I am going today. Thanks to the helpfulness of this group, I am now totally bamboozled as to what to get. I went into mourning for a couple of days after finishing MSAT(it feels cool to do that) I really felt that Maegwin was going to return from the dead. Poor Eolair! He was my favorite character. I knew she wouldn;t, and I would have thought it hokey if she had, but dang it...
I am reading The Da Vinci Code now and loving it. It will tide me over until I can choose.
Question: if I do make a list of everyone's favorite fantasy novels/series, could we archive it? I find them so helpful, and then I come back and they are buried too deep to find.
[ March 09, 2004, 10:24 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
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Well, I picked the first three books of "Game of Thrones." I also got a Peter Trmemayne book(Celtic mysteries featuring the kick-a** Sister Fidelma), a Captain Underpants book for my son, and "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" for my daughter. I even got four bucks back from the 50 dollar card. I feel great!
It was a tough choice, but I made it. Thank you all for your suggestions. I am, at least, going to copy thses pages for future reference.
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I think you'll really enjoy those books, they are some of the best fantasy I have ever read, and I read a lot.....
I just went through my books, and my book collection is now well over 700 books! Probably 650 of those are fantasy, from LOTR (in a red leather bound collectors edition) to Martin, Kay to Roberson, and Llyodd Alexander and Susan Cooper......HP I-V....just to name a few...you get the picture....
If you ever want more suggestions, feel free to ask me. Not that my suggestions are perfect, or anything like that, but I am very, very well read in the field, and I LOVE to discuss fantasy novels with others who enjoy them. It's one of my passions, fed by the fact that I go through about 3-5 books a week....I even worked at B&N for 3 1/2 years just to feed my addiction...
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"I LOVE to discuss fantasy novels with others who enjoy them. It's one of my passions, fed by the fact that I go through about 3-5 books a week"
My favorite part about hatrack is that I can freely discuss fantasy novels. It is like a sigh of relief. there are very few people who really get it.
As for your collection, do you have some sort of databas with the books in it? In my classroom library, I have all the books in Exel, so the lids can go in and sort the data so they can pick a book in by genre, author, and a short dscription. I am eventually going to add a review section. A friend of mine's computer-head som made me a cool program, too, but the Excel was easier to put the books into.
So, Kwea, make a list and send it!
Again, COULD we archive such a list? Can archives be added to?
Liz
PS Check out the Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne! History-mystery, and very interesting info on the early Catholic Church in Ireland.
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I had a list, but that was years ago, and even if I could find it the list would be very outdated. Now that I have a computer again I might do a new list, but it's not real high on my to-do list right now. I can, and will, discuss fantasy at the drop of a hat though, with anyone who cares (and sometimes with those who don't if they aren'y careful!) to do so.
What are some of your favorite stories? I love Tolkien, of course, and Guy Gavriel Kay; but I also loved easier reads such as Joel Rosenberg's Warrior books (The Sleeping Dragon, The Silver Chain, etc.). They are fluff, but thoroughly entertaining. Tom Dietz wrote a very well thought out Celtic/Amerindian series that I really enjoyed, starting with Windmasters Bane and continuing with Fireshapers Doom. I use to like Eddings, but then I realized he just kept writing the same stroy over and over again, just changing the names and settings a bit. I still like him a bit, but find his writing very simplistic.
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I liked the first Eddings series, but I got really bored with his sense of humor.
My favorite books/series are usually the ones I just finished, so right now it is "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn."
Have you read any of Sean Russell's works? If not, please ignore anything Tom Davidson has to say about him.(hee hee) I just love his stuff, especially "The Initiate Brother" and "Gatherer of Clouds."
One of my very favorites was C.J. Cherryh's "Fortress" series. (which, actually, has a similar feel to Sean Russell's new high fantasy trilogy, I just realized)I also enjoyed "The Faded Sun," which is more sci fi. However, I did not love the Morgaine series so much.
I am also an Arthur Legend Addict, and a middle reader fantasy addict. I use my teaching job as an excuse to read these books, some of which are my very favorites("Chronicles of Prydain," "The Dark is Rising," etc) Liz
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Charled De Lint has created some powerful female characters in his attempt to mix music, art, and modern city life with goblins, fey, and myth. All of his books are stand alone reading, though they fall into two different main worlds.
Raymond Feist created a good true fantasy series with his Magician series. Then he "Dragonlanced" it, creating more books than his world required. They are OK, but do not meet with the first series power, or the second series--the "Daughter of the Empire" series, that he wrote with his daughter I believe.
Then there is the Alvin Maker series. I forget the author's name, but it takes place in some silly named town-- Hat-trick? Hot-rack? Tacky Ha? It will come to me later.
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Amen to the Song of Ice and Fire suggestions. I finally got around to reading them and right now I'm nearing the end of A Game of Thrones. Great stuff so far.
One of my favorite series is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Some of the books are much better than others, though, and lately he's been slipping a little bit into the Jordan syndrome of stringing out your series as long as possible (but not near as bad).
Posts: 134 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Rhaegar, Got it! That was the series I picked up yesterday. I called the whole series by the first book's name, though. How disrespectful of me! Liz
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:In a sentence: It was everything fantasy should be and I didn't finish it.
sarah:
quote:Perdido Street station was very bizarre. I liked the book. I spent a lot of the book just amazed at Mieville's creativity. And naturally I was even more impressed when I found out he's in grad school too!
If you don't mind characters that take a little while to get used to then you should give it a shot.
I think that these two reactions to Perdido Street Station are very telling. The work is a mish-mash of steam punk and fantasy with apocalyptic undertones -- very cool, imo. As Sarah, mentions it contains some great world-creation stuff. His various species (all humanoid but some seem to be have hybridized with other fauna -- there are insectoid, bird-like and amphibian species as well as 'normal' humans) are well thought out and interesting. The setting -- the Byzantine, belching, dense city of New Crobuzon -- is compelling and adds to the action and plot development. The writing is very good, very evocative. The characters are complex with layers of motivations for doing the things they do. And Mieville is not afraid to put them through the ringer. There are some surprises. Overall, I think it succeeds -- it's a very good piece of speculative fiction.
At the same time, I think I could best describe the narrative as thick -- much like the city it takes place on. Mieville's prose tends to be dense in places -- I wouldn't say overwritten, but he certainly doesn't hold back on the detail. There is plenty of plot and lots of action, but it is slow to develop. The book requires patience. I think that it's patience that is rewarded, although there's part of me that doesn't quite like the way the main action is played out -- which basically comes down to the main characters fighting some super powerful entities. I think I like the characters and the setting better than the plot.
I would still recommend it. It's a well-written, daring achievement in the field, and it has it's moments.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Okay, I'm a little freaked out by the intense way both Xavier (and now Rhaegar) have insisted that all Hatrackers must read and worship the Song of Ice and Fire books, even so, I have decided to pick up A Game of Thrones, so far so good.
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Did anyone ever read a kids' fantasy called "Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet?" That was the second book, but I can;t remember the name of the one that came before it.
It was awesome. I read it as a youngseter in the 70's, then found it by accident at a BEd and Breakfast. I begged the owners to let me have it, and they did.
Two little boys build a rocket. There is a sort of mushroom-headed dude, Mr. Tyco Bass, who is from this mushroom planet.
Anyone?
[ March 10, 2004, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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It's been a long time since someone has completely stumped me, but you just did. I have never heard of it, not even a whisper.
I like Sean Russell, but I understand why some people don't care for his writing style. Some of his stuff was very slow paced; I felt like it had some really cool visuals but not much happened.I have read all of his books, and I like his latest, but the Brootherhood books were by far his best work. In my opinion, of course.
Have you read any C.S. Friedman, in particular the Coldfire trilogy? I loved them, they were some of the best books I have ever read. The world was fresh, and the magic was very complex. The first book is Black Sun Rising, then When True Night Falls, and it concludes with Crown of Shadows. I just started to reread Crown of Shadows tonight (for the 9th or 10th time) and I really like it a lot. I read some of her earlier work, and while it was well thought out and I liked some of the storyline I wasn't all that impressed with the writing style. These three books hang in there with anything I have read.
Yes, I have read the Fortress series by Cherryh, and I liked the characters a lot. The books were very good, much better than the Moraine books. Keep in mind that the Gates series was begun 20-25 years ago as short novellas, and the novel form that you probably read was a modern grouping of a couple of those put together in one volume. That is why they don't flow as her more recent books do.
Speaking of old school books, have you read any of the Amber books (9 Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, etc.) by Roger Zelazney (sp?)? They hold up very well considering they were written 20-30 years ago, and he wrote a second series in the same setting years later that I enjoyed a lot.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I was really into the Amber series for a while, but i got tired of it. I think I have about six of the books. i also liked Michael Moorcock, especially the Elric Saga and the Messiah at the End of Time. Now, I can't stand it! Go figure.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Not suprising, as those two authors began repeating themselves. I LOVED The Eternal Champion , but I got tired of him after reading all 6 of the Corum books.
Also, they wrote most of those 30 years ago, and both of them had come from the serial magazines, so they weren't as polished as the newer writers. Their concepts are still amazing though, particularly when you conside that they were writing in a void. What I mean by that is that the were truly original, and no one else (or at least not many) were writing the same types of stories back then.
I love Andre Norton's Witch World novels because of their depth, but they aren't seamless compared to today's authors. They would write, and then later on they would write more, and have to edit the later stories to remain internally consistant with their earlier works. The market is so much more developed today that a lot of publishers are looking for multi-book series, so authors can often graph and plan out more than one book at a time. Or they can plan a whole series plot development and story arc so that not only does each book have a start, the building of tension, and then a resolution, but the whole series does as well! That is why the older group of writers work seems to move in fits and starts.....from beautiful to boring in the same book....
The later Amber books were easy reads, but I loved them even better than the frist series. You should read some of his stand alone works, they are brilliant. This Immortal and Lord of Light come to mind right away....
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Perdido Street Station...I read it a few weeks ago, and I still don't know what to think. Really, I loved it. There's a sort of invented slang in the gigantic city where it takes place, and I still have occasions where I think in this made up language. It's a sprawling, steampunkish, urban fantasy sort of novel.
Posts: 1744 | Registered: Jul 2001
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It's funny. I don't think i would like Perdidio Street Station now(just from the descriptions)I also think I would dislike Elric and The Messiah at the End of Time, now. About the only constant in genre over my life has been high fantasy, and a good, funny, lit novel like "Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man" and "Quite a Year for Plums." Other than those styles, I tend to read myself out of genres. Hard sci fi is not really interesting to me, anymore, and I used to love it. I don't really know why.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:The later Amber books were easy reads, but I loved them even better than the frist series. You should read some of his stand alone works, they are brilliant. This Immortal and Lord of Light come to mind right away....
My personal all-time favorite Zelazny is his short story, "For a Breath I Tarry," which draws inspiration from a different tradition.
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I read Robert Newcomb's The Fifth Sorceress It's boo one in a series and It was really good. But it's a new series and only has one other part out right now. I saw an outline for the books and I thin k there are like six of them planned. If you don't mind waiting I would definately recomend it.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I finally picked up Jack Whyte's The Skystone, the first of his Arthurian legend series last week. I'd added it to my list when this thread was new, but had never managed to find a copy. Good stuff. The second doesn't seem to be quite as strong as the first, and some of the sex in it seems a bit...tiresome and irrelevant actually, and the exposition is a little less clean than it was in the first book, but it's still good enough that I'll read the third.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I'm just about done with Tad William's Otherland series. I have enjoyed it, but it's starting to seem like work getting through the 4th book. It seems like he dragged it out much farther than it needed to go.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Funny this thread came back to the surface.
I have a total dilemma right now. I am two books in to the Rhapsody series(Elzabeth Haydon) and loving it. Sean Russell's third book of The Swan Wars trilogy is due at my house any day. I have been waiting for it for two years.
What do I do? I really am stumped. I guess if I waited this long...but then again, I might rush through book 3 of Rhapsody to get to Russell.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Try the Duncton Tales series by William Horwood. They're about moles (!), a la Wateship Down, but are extremely powerful stories, and quite beautiful, about the nature of good and evil and the struggle to stay true (classic fantasy themes), and are very well written. Horwood's also written 'one-offs' like "The Stonor Eagles", "Skallagrigg", and "Callanish" which are interweavings of fantasy and reality. He has a beautiful writing style.
Posts: 867 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Robert Newcomb's The Fifth Sorceress is the worst fantasy I've ever read. I gave it 250 pages and then chucked it, it's very badly written, cliche ridden and don't waste your money, please.
Posts: 867 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I think it is coming tomorrow! I am not a fast, but rather a steady, reader, and since I am home recovering from an illness, time is on my side.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Traviler, I wanted to try that series but no one I know has read it. I take it you liked it?
I have read most of May's Series, and I found them to be very good. I got tired of it after a while....I thin the last book I read was Jack the Bodiless, and then I stopped. I REALLY liked the first three books though, I thought they were very well written.
I got a cpoy of The Princess Bride for Christmas, and am reading it now. I love the movie, but have only skimmed the book in the past, so I am looking forward to finishing it.
My next book will probably be more Russell, the book Liz is waiting for at her home now.
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(this is completely off topic, but it did remind me....Elizabeth, did you get what I sent you or did it go to the hospital instead or did stupid Amazon not include my note, or did stupid Amazon not even get it to you? Just checking and hoping that it's not lost somewhere in snail mail space... )
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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), but the Anita Blake stories are different. Have you ever noticed that when an author tries to combign genres, say mystery with fantasy, the result usually isn't very good buy the standards of either genre? This is the exception to the rule. Hamilton combigns supernatural/horror with detective/mystery, all in a magical setting that loosly resembles our own. She also doesn't ignore the moral ramifications of actions, something that most authors are guilty of, and she isn't preachy. She doesn't push a specific religion, as a matter of fact her books are non-denomanational to a fault, but she looks at situations that are potentionally morally corrupting and shows the concequences of those actions, both good and bad. Most of all, her characters grow and change, both for the good and for the bad, with each book.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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