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Wheel of Time and other quest fantasies
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<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8480479" data-attributes="member: 59082"><p>To respond to my own questions:</p><p></p><p><strong><u>What are some examples of truly good "Tolkienian fantasy?"</u></strong> </p><p>First and foremost, <strong>Tolkien</strong> himself, although while I love <em>Lord of the Rings, </em>I am more a fan of the Legendarium as a whole - as presented through <em>The Silmarillion, </em>but also various other bits and pieces, such as: the <em>History of Middle-earth </em>series, his<em> Letters, </em>the One Ring wiki, and the recent <em>The Nature of Middle-earth. </em>In my opinion, Middle-earth is still unsurpassed in terms of the "aesthetics of world-building." Others have perhaps done it with as great detail or effectiveness in terms of setting, but none have done it so beautifully.</p><p></p><p>I only read a few books, but <strong>Steven Erikson's </strong><em>Malazan Book of the Fallen </em>is a tremendous work of fantasy, although may be fudging it a bit in terms of being "Tolkienian." But it has the depth of world-building, if the emphasis and style is rather different.</p><p></p><p><strong>R Scott Bakker's </strong><em>Prince of Nothing </em>series is, in some ways, a 21st century, almost nihilistic--or at least dark--take on Tolkienian fantasy.</p><p></p><p>I haven't read it in years, but I imagine <strong>Tad Williams' </strong><em>Memory, Sorrow and Thorn </em>series still holds up well. In some ways, it started the popularity of the "Big Fat Fantasy," the first book--<em>The Dragonbone Chair--</em>published in 1988, a couple years before Jordan's series began. I haven't read the more recent series.</p><p></p><p>I already mentioned <strong>Robert Jordan </strong>in the original post, but would re-mention him here. As I said, I think in many ways, <em>The Wheel of Time </em>is the culmination of Tolkienian fantasy that dominanted the market during the 80s.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>What are your favorite "Tolkienian fantasies?" </u></strong></p><p>Growing up, I absolutely loved <strong>David Eddings' </strong><em>Belgariad </em>series. It seems rather crude compared to Tolkien in terms of world-building and aesthetics, but it was just a fun read, with many colorful characters.</p><p></p><p>And of course, <strong>Dragonlance </strong>- another childhood favorite. When I tried re-reading a couple decades later, I could barely get through the first book as the prose was so amateurish, although I remember it improving by book 2. </p><p></p><p>One more, before this gets too long (there are others): <strong>Raymond Feist's </strong><em>Riftwar Saga, </em>another very popular series. I read and enjoyed the original quartet of books (or trilogy, if you go by the original printing), and then finding that my interest diminished with later books and I only read a few more.</p><p></p><p>I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but oh well. I mainly started this thread to hear from you all. I showed you mine, now show me yours ;-).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 8480479, member: 59082"] To respond to my own questions: [B][U]What are some examples of truly good "Tolkienian fantasy?"[/U][/B][U] [/U] First and foremost, [B]Tolkien[/B] himself, although while I love [I]Lord of the Rings, [/I]I am more a fan of the Legendarium as a whole - as presented through [I]The Silmarillion, [/I]but also various other bits and pieces, such as: the [I]History of Middle-earth [/I]series, his[I] Letters, [/I]the One Ring wiki, and the recent [I]The Nature of Middle-earth. [/I]In my opinion, Middle-earth is still unsurpassed in terms of the "aesthetics of world-building." Others have perhaps done it with as great detail or effectiveness in terms of setting, but none have done it so beautifully. I only read a few books, but [B]Steven Erikson's [/B][I]Malazan Book of the Fallen [/I]is a tremendous work of fantasy, although may be fudging it a bit in terms of being "Tolkienian." But it has the depth of world-building, if the emphasis and style is rather different. [B]R Scott Bakker's [/B][I]Prince of Nothing [/I]series is, in some ways, a 21st century, almost nihilistic--or at least dark--take on Tolkienian fantasy. I haven't read it in years, but I imagine [B]Tad Williams' [/B][I]Memory, Sorrow and Thorn [/I]series still holds up well. In some ways, it started the popularity of the "Big Fat Fantasy," the first book--[I]The Dragonbone Chair--[/I]published in 1988, a couple years before Jordan's series began. I haven't read the more recent series. I already mentioned [B]Robert Jordan [/B]in the original post, but would re-mention him here. As I said, I think in many ways, [I]The Wheel of Time [/I]is the culmination of Tolkienian fantasy that dominanted the market during the 80s. [B][U]What are your favorite "Tolkienian fantasies?" [/U][/B] Growing up, I absolutely loved [B]David Eddings' [/B][I]Belgariad [/I]series. It seems rather crude compared to Tolkien in terms of world-building and aesthetics, but it was just a fun read, with many colorful characters. And of course, [B]Dragonlance [/B]- another childhood favorite. When I tried re-reading a couple decades later, I could barely get through the first book as the prose was so amateurish, although I remember it improving by book 2. One more, before this gets too long (there are others): [B]Raymond Feist's [/B][I]Riftwar Saga, [/I]another very popular series. I read and enjoyed the original quartet of books (or trilogy, if you go by the original printing), and then finding that my interest diminished with later books and I only read a few more. I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but oh well. I mainly started this thread to hear from you all. I showed you mine, now show me yours ;-). [/QUOTE]
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