Anyone read fantasy?

[Barbs]

what are some good recommendations? let's swap reviews...

[kimpossible]

You mean elves, sorcerers and magic, right? My current favorite is William King's Slayer series (TrollSlayer, SkavenSlayer...). An oldy but goody for me is the dark elf series by R.A. Salvatore, but I dislike the rest of his work. For dark fantasy/horror I like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books but she's gotten way bizzare lately. I think she needs a shrink. I tried reading her series with the Seelie and UnSeelie Sidhe but it got too off track for me. It read like she's going through a midlife crisis and dammit she's going to take the rest of us with her.

There is one series I've heard of that I would to read but haven't yet. The first book is called the Ill-Made Mute. I would recommend the Slayer series though - it's a total hoot. The protagonist is a poet/fencer thrown into heroic situations but is written to feel like a normal guy.

[Barbs]

i'm not so much into elves, dwarves, mages, etc. i prefer the historical setting with plays on the time period with a scattering of magic.

i've heard good things about the ill made mute but have yet to read it. cecelia thorn-dart i believe.

i have the r.a. salvatore series sitting on my bookshelf but i just cant' seem to get into it. i'm not into dark/horror.

for something very different, i would recommend kushiel's dart & book two kushiel's chosen. it's a bit of historical, magical and s&m too! very very interesting...a little sexually dark but definitely different and entertaining.

[SunWuKong]

i used to be very into fantasy/sci-fi books when i was in junior high and high school. then i grew out of that and i was very into asian american novels. and now for the past few years all i've been reading are non-fiction books. history, sociological stuff, biographies, etc - usually asian related.

[kimpossible]

What is the setting of Kushiel's? It sounds interesting and I'm always on the look out for a new writer. We have a ton of fantasy books here (my husband is a bigger fan of it than myself) but I just don't like most of them.

You've probably read Mists of Avalon, but if you haven't that's one I would recommend. There's one more by Peter S. Beagle - I think it's called The Innkeepers Song.

[Barbs]

setting of kushiel's is a blend of christianity and paganism...intrigue.....sex...set in some pseudo-european time....

very very interesting i thought.

[kimpossible]

Just read a synopsis on Amazon. Barbs, have you read the Beauty series by A.N. Roquelaire (Anne Rice under a pen name)? I'm bettin you have.

[Barbs]

actually, i skimmed it once at the bookstore but it was a bit dark for me. i'm not really into sexual s&m books at all. kushiel's was the first and only one i read but it was mostly by chance because it was more in the fantasy genre than anything....

it's not all about s&m. it's also an adventure story...including magic, intrigue, politics, travel, geography, etc.

[artsfartsyjanet]

I haven't read fantasy since I was in grade school. I only watch it on television. ;)

[Saiko]

I used to be so into fantasy. I still find it pretty interesting. Anne Rice's novels are good. Her literature isn't so amazing, but her stories are so interesting. I used to read some of Anne McCaffrey's novels too, and a couple are can't-put-book-down-intriguing but some are a bit boring. I only read her Dragonriders of Pern series, but the plots were all a bit repetitive. It's always the dragons defeating the "threads" and getting the crap beaten out of them but still winning. Right now, I like morbid novels. Still into fantasy, but not terribly into it. I don't read so often anymore. The last book I read was Les Miserables (not fantasy but awesome) and that was about 2 or 3 months ago.

[bigwong235]

how come no one's mentioned the lord of the rings trilogy + the hobbit??? :o too popular i guess...

i really like the mossflower series books by brian jacques. i know they're kiddie and really light reading and all, but it's entertaining.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Saiko@Aug 14 2002, 11:31 AM
I used to be so into fantasy. I still find it pretty interesting. Anne Rice's novels are good. Her literature isn't so amazing, but her stories are so interesting. I used to read some of Anne McCaffrey's novels too, and a couple are can't-put-book-down-intriguing but some are a bit boring. I only read her Dragonriders of Pern series, but the plots were all a bit repetitive. It's always the dragons defeating the "threads" and getting the crap beaten out of them but still winning. Right now, I like morbid novels. Still into fantasy, but not terribly into it. I don't read so often anymore. The last book I read was Les Miserables (not fantasy but awesome) and that was about 2 or 3 months ago.
hahhah yeah the dragonriders of pern series get a bit redundant. same thing happens in almost every book.

[achtungbaby]

Originally posted by Saiko@Aug 14 2002, 09:31 AM
Her literature isn't so amazing, but her stories are so interesting.
I think she had one compelling book -- "Interview with the Vampire"...and maybe it was only 'cuz it was a very different vampire genre. After that, he books went into the toilet.

[achtungbaby]

BTW...once I've completed modifications to the site...we should have a better section for writing/reading reviews...

[Barbs]

some others to try out:

sara douglass (the wayfarer redemption series): she's an australian writer. excellent excellent work--

george r.r. martin: the sword series

elizabeth haydon: the rhapsody series

guy gavriel kay: most of his books

am currently reading: tad williams: the dragonbone chair

[OHTotoro]

George R.R. Martin is pretty damn awesome...

A couple of my favorite authors are Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan. Sword of Truth series and Wheel of Time series, both still in progress.

[kimpossible]

Barbs > Thanks for the Kushiel's suggestions. I have them in my library queue. As soon as someone else is done with them they're all mine.

[Barbs]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Aug 19 2002, 03:07 PM
Barbs > Thanks for the Kushiel's suggestions. I have them in my library queue. As soon as someone else is done with them they're all mine.
Yay!!!

Stay with the book for the first 100 pages even if it seems slow, weird or a bit of both. It really is VERY worth it.

YAY!

[Barbs]

Originally posted by OHTotoro@Aug 19 2002, 08:52 AM
George R.R. Martin is pretty damn awesome...

A couple of my favorite authors are Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan. Sword of Truth series and Wheel of Time series, both still in progress.
do you have any idea when the next george r.r. martin book's coming out? i've been on pins and needles waiting for it!!

robert jordan's amazingly and scarily prolific. sometimes i don't have the patience to read 20 volume series, you know what i mean?