Fantasy? (2 Viewers)

[Josie]

Originally posted by Inhuman
that's why i bought all my carmody books

A new author who i can't remember the name of wrote a book called The Aware. It's very good, sucks you straight in and next thing you know you're disappointed as all hell that she hasn't written the rest of the series yet

Argh, thats what I hate about reading series that are in the process of being written.
Then again, i hate writers who make a silly little ending for each book for a story that is really one huge story over like 5 books.
Anyone read Tad Williams, Otherland series?

 

[Ziusudra]

Northern Lights = Philip Pullman... I've finished it, and will begin Subtle Knife soon! I put a thread about Garth Nix in the wrong section, oops... but yeah, good to see people actually have read those books, they are great.

 

[glitter burns]

Originally posted by Seabiscuit
Oh and btw... is it normal to like Isobelle Carmody and Tamora Pierce books and others like them if u're aged Year 12 and above? Because my library has those books in the children's section, and i'm like the oldest person who goes into it.. apart from the parents of the 5 year olds.. and i feel really strange borrowing those books... (or any books from there)

I think Tamora Pierce books are kids books, but most of Isobelle Carmody's (with the exceptions of books like Greylands and the Doorway series) are for an audience of just about any age.

 

[PaleReflection]

Originally posted by Ziusudra
Northern Lights = Philip Pullman... I've finished it, and will begin Subtle Knife soon! I put a thread about Garth Nix in the wrong section, oops... but yeah, good to see people actually have read those books, they are great.

When you finish Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass, you might want to check out another book by Philip Pullman recently released, Lyra's Oxford. It's about Lyra's adventures after the trilogy and also has some stories about other characters' adventures. I don't have it because no book stores near me have gotten it in yet, but it's supposed to be really good!

 

[fingolfin101]

Where's Tolkien? Goodness i've read others like eddings and brook and douglas and feist and nothing in my oppinion compares!

I invite you all to read the Silmarillion and discover what i found to be the only fantasy with life detached from the author's own ego. It is mythic and immense!

It is too descriptive? what? Look at the amount of dialogue compared to actual narrative progression in eddings.

But I must admit i very much liked Magician by Raymond E Feist.

Who else is akin to me, in an almost religious treating of tolkiens works?

 

[ameh]

The very first I read was Bluebeard...absolutely the most disturbing tale...and still is...

 

[Josie]

Originally posted by fingolfin101
Where's Tolkien? Goodness i've read others like eddings and brook and douglas and feist and nothing in my oppinion compares!

I invite you all to read the Silmarillion and discover what i found to be the only fantasy with life detached from the author's own ego. It is mythic and immense!

It is too descriptive? what? Look at the amount of dialogue compared to actual narrative progression in eddings.

But I must admit i very much liked Magician by Raymond E Feist.

Who else is akin to me, in an almost religious treating of tolkiens works?

Haha, Tolkein goes without saying. Silmarillion is pretty damn cool, and I admire anyone who goes to such lengths to create a world, its people, its languages, its myths, geography etc etc... I'd have a religious fanticisim for it if I had the time .

 

[Blackalicious]

I LOVE the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody (Aussie author !)

 

[fingolfin101]

At the Byron Bay writers fest i saw an interesting session between 3 young adolescent writers - carmody was one of them... But i didn't like obernewtyn much...

 

[chaz04]

elizabeth haydon

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! there's 5 books in the rhapsody series and a fith one coming out in like the next 3 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have only read the first one, and im not too happy about Ashe, but that could be because i need to read the rest, but with the way the book ended i thought it was like the end, no series, just with a few loose ties.
ok the 4th book is called - Requeim for the sun
5th - Elegy for a lost star

They look soooooo good but do u know how hard they are to find in the crappy area of the riverina. Im going to have to have a hard look in the wagga library

 

[KfWang]

thank god for this forum..
ive just gone through my third run of Wheel of time, and as much as i love the series. the ninth and tenth book go absolutly NOWHERE...
ive also worn out Magician (Feist) now, but its so damn good ill go through it again in a few days..
i think that Magician was TOO good, and it left one feeling a little empty with the sequals..

I dont think ive noticed Anne McCaffrey (not sure about spelling) mentioned here. Shes a really good author who wrote the Dragons of Pern series, and also the series about a group of humans taken as slaves to another palnet, and how they settled in the planet and did all this stuff..(just have a mental block.. cant remember the series name)

 

[cheesegrater]

w00t RJ has said no more prequels before he finshed main sequence books, also he said he should be finshed in 2 more books, next book due for 2005 'knife of dreams'.
www.dragonmount.com

to the guy that said terry goodkind is good, i tihnk the series went downhill ppretty fast after the second book, his mind wouldnt get out of the gutter, and what sort of a heros name is richard!! lol

 

[PinkCupcake]

How about the black jewel's trilogy by Anne bishop one of my favourites I really recommend it if you like action packed fantasy not adventure ones

 

[billbro]

Well I haven't read through the whole thread rather just glanced at the pages but seems like all the authors I like have been mentioned. Personally my favourite fantasy novel would have to be "Magician" it is sheer brilliance and greatly prefer it to LotR.

One thing I would like to know, is what makes Belgariad that great of a series? I'll concede I only recently started reading them since a teacher suggested it (waiting to get Castle of Wizardry). So far I find the books kind of lacking, in terms of an intriguing plot and the explanation for concepts relatively slow for example Eddings explaining why they don't frequently use magic and the concept around it, is really fleshed out slowly through each book.

Anyway maybe I will form a more accurate conclussion after I've finished the series and not freezing.

 

[toryn]

Originally posted by billbro
Well I haven't read through the whole thread rather just glanced at the pages but seems like all the authors I like have been mentioned. Personally my favourite fantasy novel would have to be "Magician" it is sheer brilliance and greatly prefer it to LotR.

One thing I would like to know, is what makes Belgariad that great of a series? I'll concede I only recently started reading them since a teacher suggested it (waiting to get Castle of Wizardry). So far I find the books kind of lacking, in terms of an intriguing plot and the explanation for concepts relatively slow for example Eddings explaining why they don't frequently use magic and the concept around it, is really fleshed out slowly through each book.

Anyway maybe I will form a more accurate conclussion after I've finished the series and not freezing.

I so agree with you, on both counts: "Magician" is fantastic (though I don't recommend you read every book in the series+spinoffs; takes a VERY long time), and Belgariad was pretty lame. Not bad, but I personally believe it's undeserving of the praise people give it. Especially after you read the Mallorean, Elenium, Tamuli and Althalus the Thief (or whatever it was) and realise the plot is exactly the same in each. (Read the Rivan Codex to find out why - he has a formula.)

The Saga of the Exiles by Julian May was so hard for me to put down, though it crosses into sci-fantasy a bit.

 

[Ribbon]

I have read the magician series and alot of other fiest books and by far the best (actually my fav. series of all time I would say, closely followed by isobelle carmodys darkfall series... though I am annoyed at how long she takes to write books!) is the serpentwar saga... it was absolutely awesome.

Other greats a isobelle carmody obernewton, maggie furrey aurian series and the shadowleague trilogy, and freda warrington the amber citadel (I havn't read the other two books in the trilogy yet).

after hearing the praise it got in this thread I will definitely have to read his dark materials!

 

[Saul]

Originally posted by Orange Council
The Ill-made Mute, by Cecilia-Dart Thornton, is surprisingly a book with sophisticated diction. Some of the words found in this book you will never have heard anywhere else, guaranteed. And a few you won't even find in a normal dictionary. ^__^ Tintinabulation, anyone? ANYWAY, i know the diciton doesnt make a book good, but this book is good too. It won the amazon best book of 2001 award, and prolly a few other awards which i can't remember at the moment. Its an awesome read.

BTW, one last thing, go and read "a fable in blue" by Saul. It can prolly be found in the extension 2 english forum. I like it cause it is simple, sweet, has a good moral, and a nice ending. Very nice ending. ^__^

hehe, you may have written this 7 months ago - but thanks all the same.

 

[KfWang]

ah magician.. it was the BOMB!!!...

i think that if any book comes close to challenging Tolkien's it is most definitly Magician by Feist, it's so bloody good in all aspects, character develpment, actions and mystery ^^

and it doesnt drone on as much as Tolkien does in some parts of his novel

 

[Silver Rose]

I LOVE David Eddings!

But yes... they certainly do follow the formula, and I think the Elenium/Tamuli series is better than the Belgariad/Mallorean. The characters are just slightly more... life-like.

 

[billbro]

Originally posted by toryn
I so agree with you, on both counts: "Magician" is fantastic (though I don't recommend you read every book in the series+spinoffs; takes a VERY long time), and Belgariad was pretty lame. Not bad, but I personally believe it's undeserving of the praise people give it. Especially after you read the Mallorean, Elenium, Tamuli and Althalus the Thief (or whatever it was) and realise the plot is exactly the same in each. (Read the Rivan Codex to find out why - he has a formula.)

The Saga of the Exiles by Julian May was so hard for me to put down, though it crosses into sci-fantasy a bit.

I actually didn't really read until a few months ago when my uncle convinced me to read "Magician". I have actually already read all of Raymond E. Feist's novels excluding the empire series which I have so far only managed to obtain the first book. I don't actually agree that reading all his works, takes a very long time to read because while his collection is extensive each book is relatively short. In my opinion his books aren't really that long by that I mean personally at most they took me a few days to complete. I do concede however that his other publications aren't as great as "Magician" though I still found them very enjoyable. I found the developement of the characters through each series and the cohesion between the books quite intrigueing. Also his lastest series which I believe is "Conclave of Shadows" is shaping up nicely.

Im currently reading through Belgariad and I'll get to the other series by David Eddings eventually but first I need to get a copy of Castle of Wizardry of the Belgariad. I can't seem to find the book but hopefully I can borrow it off the teacher who suggested I read the series. (just realised im repeating myself )