Some Good Fantasy Novels

[ArotosMarkos]

Really, this topic DOES need to be a staple of the UESP Arts Forum. Either way, as the vast majority of Forum-Goers are clearly Fantasy Freaks like myself, I figure it would be prudent to come here like many have before and place inquiries as in to what books I should look into purchasing at my next trip to the Bookstore.

At the moment, I'm just finishing Patrick Rothfuss's Name of the Wind, and I must say, I would strongly recommend it to any and all Fantasy Fans. It's the kind of book you read and just want nothing else but to discuss it with anyone and everyone.

With that aside, what do you all say? Any ideas, reccomendations, suggestions?

[azuarc]

I've mostly just stuck to the really well-known stuff. Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, and such. However, there is one book that I will put forth that's a little different. I'm going to tell a story in the next paragraph before talking about the actual work, but the name of the book is The Stone and the Flute by Hans Bemmann.

I used to go to school in a college town. One day a friend persuaded me to go with him to a local paperback trader for the first Goodkind novel, which I acquired that day, but while in the fantasy/sci-fi section, I saw this large book with vivid red letters staring at me. "The Stone and the Flute." It was one of the few hardcovers, and there was something strangely different about the tome that drew my interest. I didn't buy it. I went back to that store a few more times for Goodkind's sequels, and still didn't buy it, but I did take it off the shelf and look at it. It seemed modestly like nothing in particular. Eventually I dropped out of school. Two years later I returned and lived in an apartment a block away from this paperback trader. I went in one day for amusement's sake, and subconsciously went straight to The Stone and The Flute. After staring at it, perplexed, I finally decided this was destiny and took it home with me. It took me well over a year to finish reading it, since I ended up doing maybe 30-40 pages in a burst, and then not picking it up again for a month.

However, the story itself is quite interesting. Not standard "fantasy"....it reads more like a fairy tale. The tone of the novel, remarkably, manages to keep that same feel throughout the work while simultaneously being very adult at the same time. If I ever had to read a book at night to put my high schooler to bed, this would be the book. It seems so simple, so naive, so nonchalant on the surface, but after you take a moment to ponder on some of the lines in the novel, you realize that it was constructed very carefully to be a work of literature. The hardback version is some 900 pages, and spans the travels of a man throughout his life, predominantly in his twenties, but not exclusively. The protagonist's name is Listener, both an appropriate and ironic name for him, since he ends up being a traveling fluter, but is unable to follow in his grandfather's footsteps of living harmoniously for want of ability to filter out the white noise in his life.

The book was originally written in German, as Stein und Floete. The translator did an absolutely amazing job, as while I have no idea if anything was lost in translation, there's an amazing amount of little nuances and undertones that were preserved, as well as the general feel of Bemmann's writing. I'm fairly confident this isn't one you'll have heard of, or that anyone else on the forum will recommend. I'm betting my "review" of it probably didn't particularly turn you on to it, either. You'll just have to trust me when I say that this book is better than any surface-level description will lead you to believe. I don't remember the exact ending of the novel, but this story isn't about the ending. No, that is far from all.

[Mattbott]

Really, this topic DOES need to be a staple of the UESP Arts Forum.

i'd agree with you there

I tend to avoid books thicker than about 1 1/2" because in my experience any good story can be told very quickly and I have seen dozens of authors start off writing 200 page books but ending up trolling out 1000 page masterpieces which were 200 pages of story and 800 pages filler. It seems to be the fate of writers who get successful. There are exceptions of course but I am wary of the fact that in my book shop the fantasty section contains most of the thickest novels around. It may seem flippant but as a very general rule it is a good guide. Perfection, after all, is not when you can add nothing extra to book. Perfection is when there is nothing more you can take away from it

i am reading Neuromancer (again) by William Gibson, the new non culture/sci fi book by Iain Banks and The Conan Chronicles, a new collection of Robert Howards tales including the essay on the lore of the land. I know they're not all strictly fantasy in the swords and sorcery sense, but I have found reading a good balance between types of story can feed into the fantasy side of things. And good ideas span the genres. I'm also going to the book shop this week to try and pick up another book or two. I'll let you know if any of these books are good, I usually have two or three on the go at a time.

[Sonixboom]

dune, frank herbert

-Sonix

[Venger]

Well, there are several. For starters Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle. This book series is an exception to the 1 1/2" thick rule. I have read it through a good dozen times and it has never grown old.
There is also a series called Ranger's Apprentice that I find much to my liking. The author, John Flanagan, has an excellent sense of humor that is transferred into each book providing many good laughs. These books are particularly good because of there simple nature. Often times a book will have a deep plot with twists and all that mumbo-jumbo. Ranger's Apprentice is also a masterfully pace series, with no filler. I highly recommend these books to young and older readers alike.

[dag71]

I feel I must agree with Venger, rangers apprentice was so good I read the first four books in four days, The inheritance cycle is one of my favorites as well

[Drethelis]

Check out some of the stuff from the Warhammer series. My favorites are Knight of the Realm by Anthony Reynolds and The Ambassador Chronicles by Graham McNeil.

[Venger]

Ever consider the World of Warcrafts books? I have never read any my self, but have heard good things about them.

[Jpot]

I feel I must agree with Venger, rangers apprentice was so good I read the first four books in four days, The inheritance cycle is one of my favorites as well

I love the Inheritance cycle, can't wait for the 4th, but judging by a past thread I created here, we're a minority.
Does Ender's Game qualify? Because that was a great book, as was Ender's Shadow.

[Venger]

There was a Inheritance book 4 thread?! COOL! I'd be willing to restart that.

[Jpot]

I had a thread about the Inheritance cycle, in general, but it got shot down pretty quick. People don't like Paolini's writing, I guess, or are just jealous of the fact that a fifteen year old not only finished a major novel, but got it published, and made a load of monies off of it.

[Sonixboom]

i am reading ''ringworld'' by larry niven. Thus far its a pretty good book

[Spiney]

One of my favourite fantasy books ever is The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett.

i am reading ''ringworld'' by larry niven. Thus far its a pretty good book

That is my most FAVE sci-fi book ever.

[Mattbott]

Yeah, Ringworld is brilliant, hugely influential

someone should make a computer game out of it. There used to be a Ringworld RPG, but that's disappeared from existence now, it seems

[Spiney]

Yeah, Ringworld is brilliant, hugely influential

someone should make a computer game out of it. There used to be a Ringworld RPG, but that's disappeared from existence now, it seems

One of the books in the series is "Ring World: Engineers". The whole book is about the math and thoery of whether such a gigantic structure could accutally be possible. Its fasinating stuff.

[Venger]

I had a thread about the Inheritance cycle, in general, but it got shot down pretty quick. People don't like Paolini's writing, I guess, or are just jealous of the fact that a fifteen year old not only finished a major novel, but got it published, and made a load of monies off of it.

People didn't like Paolini because he was a successful author at fifteen?! Hmm... Maybe I should rethink my career.

[videogmer314]

I wouldn't have such a problem with the Inheritance trilogy cycle if Brisingr was the end of the series. But it isn't.

[Venger]

Why do you say this videogamer?

[videogmer314]

Why do you say this videogamer?

I hate it when people say they're going to end something, but then they don't.

[Cylo]

Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser.

If you haven't read Fritz Leiber yet, and you like fantasy, then there's something wrong with you D<

[Lord Umarth]

It's got to be the god of literature; Professor Tolkien! also Terry Pratchett's books are just unbeatable (if that's a word )

[Leilah]

Terry Pratchett's books are just unbeatable

This is true. I've now read all of his books but one, and the ones Ive read, I've read over and over and over.

[Lord Umarth]

Yeah, he's a great author, it's a shame about the alzheimer's , which one haven't you read?

[Leilah]

At least he's doing everything he can to slow down the Alzheimer's. I haven't been able to get my hands on Folklore of Discworld. It was on my birthday list last year but then Unseen Academicals came out right before and I got that instead.

[Lord Umarth]

Yeah, and he's donated a lot of money to related charities.
I bought unseen academicals, but i haven't read it yet, i've had loads of books to read for school, so they've halted my recreational reading, only a few more month and i'll be able to read good books for once was Unseen academicals good?