TIME's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

[Sacrosanct]

My thoughts:
The Phantom Tollbooth doesn't deserve to be on here.

Why not? It's iconic, extremely popular (especially for the time), and was quite enjoyable.

No Eddings, Feist, Katherine Kerr, Terry Brooks either.

This list is clearly garbage then. There's a reason some of those authors are not only extremely highly regarded, but people gobbled up their books when they were written.

Coincidentally, the final book in the Shannara series arrived two days ago after starting in 1977.

 

[Zardnaar]

Why not? It's iconic, extremely popular (especially for the time), and was quite enjoyable.


This list is clearly garbage then. There's a reason some of those authors are not only extremely highly regarded, but people gobbled up their books when they were written.

Coincidentally, the final book in the Shannara series arrived two days ago after starting in 1977.

Shannara was a bit hit and miss but Wishsong or Elf Queen were quite good.

Eddings a bit repetitive if you read him a lot but one if the Sparhawk books perhaps?

Tad Williams I don't recall any of his either or Mercedes Lackey.

 

[Sacrosanct]

This is a good and thorough critique of the problems with the list:

Out of Time, or Why is the "100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time" list so incoherent?

A publication has unveiled a list called “ The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time .” Predictably, it has been published to howls of complain...

thewertzone.blogspot.com

Indeed.

"Time’s editors based on key factors: originality, ambition, artistry, critical and popular reception, and “influence on the fantasy genre and literature more broadly.”

Now let's ignore those books and authors that has arguably the most influential works and/or were received the best among the population...

 

[Sacrosanct]

Tad Williams I don't recall any of his either or Mercedes Lackey.

If you haven't read Tad Williams, you're missing out. Starting with Dragonbone Chair, that series is a very good series IMO.

 

[Zardnaar]

If you haven't read Tad Williams, you're missing out. Starting with Dragonbone Chair, that series is a very good series IMO.

I've read them I don't recall seeing it on the list.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I've read them I don't recall seeing it on the list.

Oh, sorry. I misunderstood what you were saying. My bad. In that case, the list is even worse lol

 

[Mercurius]

I'd put the odds we'll ever see Doors of Stone at maybe 20%. And even if we do, every plot point or decision made in the book someone doesn't like is going to carry the undercurrent of "Well, he never really knew what to do with this book, and he had to put out something, so that's why this is like this." The ideal of what Doors of Stone could have been if written by a hungry, inspired Rothfuss is going to be one of the great "what-ifs" of fantasy fiction.

20% may be a bit low, especially when there's so much money involved. But the whole thing is a bit of a mystery. From browsing a few online threads, it seems that the consensus is roughly split between two camps: those that think it will never come out, and those that think it has become so long that it will be split into two or three books.

 

[Cadence]

One of the reasons I still haven't read The Name of the Wind is that I find it hard to start a trilogy before the last book is published. Stuff like this is exactly why I don't do that (often).

I loved the first one... and then the second had some things that I wasn't as much of a fan of. There are several authors out there where I think the first, personal, small scale book comes out well... but then they move on to the bigger cosmology and it can be hit or miss. And some are good at writing some aspects of interpersonal relationships, and not others. :-/

I think Name of the Wind would be well worth reading from an inspirational persepctive, even if one never read the second one, or the third never comes out. (And I really liked the Slow Regard of Silent Things which ties in).

 

[Cadence]

20% may be a bit low, especially when there's so much money involved. But the whole thing is a bit of a mystery. From browsing a few online threads, it seems that the consensus is roughly split between two camps: those that think it will never come out, and those that think it has become so long that it will be split into two or three books.

I think it's easy for me as a consumer to forget how hard artistic ventures can be. No one is surprised when a band is a one (or two) hit wonder, or if they only have one good album. A lot of poets will have some really good poems in anthologies... but trying to read through a collection of just their stuff is hard. And all comic book fans are more than aware that almost all good runs come to an unceremonious end no matter how legendary the writer. What if musicians promised x good songs or albums well in advance, or poets x good poems, or comic writers x good issues. And then the threads got lost and it wasn't up to what you wanted. :-/

 

[Mercurius]

I think it's easy for me as a consumer to forget how hard artistic ventures can be. No one is surprised when a band is a one (or two) hit wonder, or if they only have one good album. A lot of poets will have some really good poems in anthologies... but trying to read through a collection of just their stuff is hard. And all comic book fans are more than aware that almost all good runs come to an unceremonious end no matter how legendary the writer. What if musicians promised x good songs or albums well in advance, or poets x good poems, or comic writers x good issues. And then the threads got lost and it wasn't up to what you wanted. :-/

No doubt. I'm sitting on a 220k novel that I haven't even tried to get published, and that took me about 15 years to write (mostly fiddling and procrastination). I can only imagine when deadlines, expectations and money gets involved.

Ultimately we don't know why Rothfuss hasn't finished it. Life is complex and messy. But I can also understand why his diehard fans and his publisher are frustrated, especially when the original plan was to publish the three books in concurrent years from 2007-09.