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Scifi and Fantasy Forum: Sci-Fi and Fantasy General Discussions: Any recomendations for a good fastasy novel?
Any recomendations for a good fastasy novel?
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hi there, i'm just getting into fantasy writing for the first time in ages and i'm not really sure where to look for reviews on books and authors.
so i was hoping if i give an indication of what i've enjoyed and what i've not, i might get some pointers as to what i may enjoy.
firstly i'm after fantasy rather than sci-fi, i had a big sci-fi faze before this one.
so these books a read as a teenager so they might not be quite as good as i remember but here goes...
lord of the rings: loved it, in fact all the middle earth books, loved the depth.
the chronicles of thomas covernent: great stuff, i guess this is what i'm after, one of my favourite books. i like the dark nasty themes mixed with the historic depth and the fact that it could all be in his mind, that psychological edge won me over.
shannara books: didn't like. didn't like the writing style, had no edge and too stereotypical fantasy.
ditto for some series, i forget now, but it included 'enchanter's end game'. and also terry pratchet.
at the mo' i'm reading wheel of time, and i kinda like it, but it's hardly a classic. i find this kind of fantasy rather corny. i like the world, history and concept but they take back seat to rather obvious, by the numbers characters, and a bizarre obsession of the difference between the sexes. although i've made it to book 5 so it must be doing something right.
so, i dunno, i guess i'm after something quite dark, intelligent but fantastical. with some really weird peoples and places.
any recomendations?
Posted By:  chowder Jul 30, 2004 - 09:12 am |       | Have I got a great book for you. Well, okay, maybe I'm a bit biased because it's by one of my favourite authors.
Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'.
Here's the blurb on the book jacket:
"Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew."
The characters are great and the book is a thoroughly satisfying read.
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip Dick. (The movie "Bladerunner" was based on it.) It rules. An early cyber punk masterpiece.
"ditto for some series, i forget now, but it included 'enchanter's end game'."
That would be The Belgariad by David/Leigh Eddings.
Halloween_Jack, I've never read any fantasy book like what you're looking for, but that's the kind of novel I'm working on right now.  It's sort of dark, but it's not outrageously dark like those ridiculous horror books which I hate.
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just testing. i thought i responded last night but it's not there...
anyway, thx chowder that sounds right up my street. i'll check it out. it sounds a bit like 'only forwards' by martin marshall smith. one of my favourite books , quite sci-fi, funny, dark and very, very surreal.
thx neurolanis, yeah that's a good book, also 'the mann in the high castle' same author.
ehlana, that's it, the belgariad, sorry to offend anyone but that was probably the worst series of books i've ever read. so i'll avoid david eddings.
thx for your input all.
cheers.
| Posted By: truename Aug 01, 2004 - 05:45 pm | | a child stands staring out at the great sea, the air is thick with moisture and life. the waters lap gently on the shore and the youth is mesmerized by pulsating vibrance of life. time to test the waters. the unknown has frightening concequences on the human mind. what enteraction shall we play.
ok that was a rammble, sorry my first post, fantasy books, that is the direction we seek here. I personally enjoy tolkiens work (masically is creation of world, language, and people astounds me) i remember liking some terry brooks but not vividly, i ate up the wheel of time series (excellent cultural and personal interaction). still seeking the next book and testing the waters
| Posted By: Bmat Aug 01, 2004 - 06:02 pm | | Welcome to SV, truename!
| Posted By: Dora Aug 27, 2004 - 03:03 am | | Hello all,
I guess this post is a little old but it seemed like a good place for my first post.
Some books that you might enjoy with lots of history background and sort of dark (in my opinion) are the series “A song of ice and fire” by George R. R. Martin. The last book of the series should also be out very soon.
I’m looking forward to meeting you all.
Dora
| Posted By: Bmat Aug 27, 2004 - 03:10 am | | Hello, Dora, welcome to Speculative Vision!
Thank you for the recommendation. 
| Posted By: Hyperion Aug 27, 2004 - 06:56 am | | Halloween_Jack
If it is fantasy that you're after specifically, then I would suggest you look into William Horwood and the Duncton Moles series.
They are truly wonderful tales of fantasy relating to the lives of moles within, and around the Duncton Wood.
It is not children's writing but very much adult fantasy, and it is wonderful, at least I think so anyways.
The Duncton Moles Books have been the only fantasy I have ever truly enjoyed, with the exception of wind in the willows and the willows in winter.
I am very much the scifi addict, and am a prolific reader and watcher of anything scifi, but as far as fantasy writing goes, I only ever enjoyed the Duncton Moles series of books.
I very much recommend them, they have in their plots, love stories, wars, political struggles, the fight against good and evil, a little bit of rare magic, and allot of wonderful visionary fantasy.
Hyperion The Despised
Yes, the first Dunction Wood mole novel (the only one I've read) is quite good.
| Posted By: Magus Sep 13, 2004 - 02:45 pm | | How'd I ever miss this one?
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, The Song of Sussannah, The Dark Tower)
Or basically everything I've read so far by Stephen King is good, although not everything is fantasy. But seeing as how Neurolanis recommended Sci-Fi here, I can streatch it so far as the supernatural is concerned.
Also, The Last Castle Rock Story: Needful Things is an awsome Stephen King book, the best individual work of his I have yet read.
The Lord of the Rings by: J.R.R. Tolkien, best book ever written!
Harry Potter, but you probably read that already.
| Posted By: Pannion Mar 25, 2005 - 12:52 pm | | Hero/s die - the blade of tyshalle by mathew woodring stover
the black company series by glen cook are all pretty graphic and dark.
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