Fantasy Book suggestions

[Richards]

If you're more interested in dialogue than description, you need to grab up a Jack Vance book -- his dialogue is unmatched by anyone else I've ever read. I'd suggest his "Dying Earth" series: The Dying Earth (a series of short stories), The Eyes of the Overworld (a novel), Cugel's Saga (a sequel novel), and Rhialto the Marvelous (a series of much longer short stories). Other than probably wanting to read book two before book three, you can read them in any order. They take place on an Earth millions of years in the future, where magic has been rediscovered and the general consensus is that the sun could die out any day now. The Dying Earth series also has the distinction of being the source of the "fire and forget" magic system from D&D -- also known as "Vancian magic" for obvious reasons. Likewise, you can see the original source of IOUN stones in the last book.

Johnathan

 

[Gronin]

I've mentioned it before but if you haven't read it, read Amazon.com: A Canticle for Leibowitz (9780060892999): Walter M. Miller Jr.: Books. It's a classic all gamers should know and even non-gamers will love.


Perhaps you have read Poul Anderson's Broken Sword and/or Three Hearts and Three Lions (if you haven't, you should), but maybe you haven't checked out his take on Hrolf Kraki's Saga (check out the reviews).

I'll second the "A Canticle for Leibowitz" and I might just have to and grab it out of the book shelf and read it again --- it's been a while. I first read it as required reading for a university course --- Anthropology Through Science Fiction ---- wow that was a while ago.

I would also second the Poul Anderson recommendation. I might have to add some of his to my own list.

Other possibilities..... Barbara Hambly -- one of my favourites if Dragonsbane.

Mike Stackpole's Dragoncrown War Cycle or The Night Angle Trilogy by Brent Weeks (both of these series are a bit dark --- don't know if that matters)

For lighter stuff Lawrence Watt Evans --- Misenchanted Sword.

 

[Dioltach]

Have you read The Lies of Locke Lamora?

 

[Bedrockgames]

Have you read The Lies of Locke Lamora?

No I haven't read that one.

 

[Baron Von Mandrick]

I feel your pain. It's hard to find fantasy that finds new ways to tell a story and fits into your criteria for what you want out of a book.

The problem I have is that I'm looking for a new fantasy book or series, but I'd really like something that focuses on a group of heroes working together even if one is kind of the main guy. Fellowship of the Ring did it. A lot of the Dragon Lance novels did it.(I thought they were passable, but not great).

Even though it's not really a fantasy the Three Musketeers did it.

Maybe it's the gamer in me that wants to read about a party of people who tackle the problems. It's hard to find any really good fantasy, but especially one that's about group of heroes working together.

 

[Thanee]

If you do not have a strong dislike for modern fantasy (as in a fantasy setting that mirrors a rather modern society), maybe Stan Nicholls Quicksilver Trilogy is something to give a try.

Amazon.com: stan nicholls quicksilver

Bye
Thanee

 

[IronWolf]

The problem I have is that I'm looking for a new fantasy book or series, but I'd really like something that focuses on a group of heroes working together even if one is kind of the main guy. Fellowship of the Ring did it. A lot of the Dragon Lance novels did it.(I thought they were passable, but not great).

Even though it's not really a fantasy the Three Musketeers did it.

Maybe it's the gamer in me that wants to read about a party of people who tackle the problems. It's hard to find any really good fantasy, but especially one that's about group of heroes working together.

Seriously - take a look at Plague of Shadows by Howard Andrew Jones. It was a very fun read. I just wish it was a multi-part series instead of a stand-alone novel!

 

[RainOfSteel]

I don't remember the page counts of the hundreds of novels I have read, but here is my list.

In no particular order.

• The Amber Novels ~ Roger Zelazny
  • Nine Princes in Amber
  • The Guns of Avalon
  • Sign of Chaos
  • The Hand of Oberon
  • The Courts of Chaos
• Chaos Series ~ John C. Wright
  • Orphens of Chaos
  • Fugitives of Chaos
  • Titans of Chaos
• The Lord of the Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkein
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
  • The Two Towers
  • The Return of the King
    • The Hobbit
    • Unfinished Tales
    • The Silmarillion
• The Deed of Paksenarrion ~ Elizabeth Moon
  • Sheepfarmer's Daughter
  • Divided Allegiance
  • Oath of Gold
• The Riftwar Saga ~ Raymond E. Feist
  • Magician
  • Silverthorn
  • A Darkness at Sethanon
• The Belgariad ~ David Eddings
  • Pawn of Prophecy
  • Queen of Sorcery
  • Magician's Gambit
  • Castle of Wizardry
  • Enchanter's Endgame
• The Seventh Sword ~ Dave Duncan
  • The Reluctant Swordsman
  • The Coming of Wisdom
  • The Destiny of the Sword
• The Dragaera Cycle (Jhereg, etc.) ~ Steven Brust
  • Jerheg
  • Yendi
  • Teckla
  • Taltos
  • Phoenix
  • Orca
  • Dragon
  • Isola
  • Dzur
• The Saga of the Eternal Champion (21+ Novels) ~ Michael Moorcock
  • Erekose
    • The Eternal Champion
    • The Silver Warriors
    • The Dragon in the Sword
  • Hawkmoon
    • The Jewel in the Skull
    • The Mad God's Amulet
    • The Sword of the Dawn
    • The Runestaff
    • Count Brass
    • The Champion of Garathorm
    • The Quest for Tanelorn
  • Corum
    • The Knight of Swords
    • The Queen of Swords
    • The King of Swords
    • The Bull and the Spear
    • The Oak and the Ram
    • The Sword and the Stallion
  • Elric
    • Elric of Melnibone
    • Sailor on the Seas of Fate
    • Weird of the White Wolf
    • The Vanishing Tower
    • The Bane of the Black Sword
    • Stormbringer
• The Riddle of the Stars ~ Patricia A. McKillip
  • The Riddlemaster of Hed
  • Heir of Sea and Fire
  • Harpist in the Wind
• The 1st and 2nd Deryni Trilogies ~ Katherine Kurtz
  • Deryni Rising
  • Deryni Checkmate
  • High Deryni
  • Camber of Culdi
  • Saint Camber
  • Camber the Heretic
• A Wizard of Earthsea ~ Ursula K. LeGuin
• The Magic of Recluce ~ L.E. Modesitt Jr.
• A Spell for Chameleon ~ Piers Anthony

 

[Crazy Jerome]

The Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust fit your criteria to a T. Start with Jhereg, though note that the series is not done yet, and is not written in chronological order. If this bothers you, you may want to wait for it to be done.

I happen to like his other series, set in an earlier time in the same world. But these are deliberately written flowerly, in the voice of a pedantic scholar imitating the supposed words of the historical period that he chronicles. One of the reasons that I like it is that it is a parody of other authors writing that way. (That isn't all it is, but it is that.) But I'll grant this kind of sideways criticism mixed in with an actual story is rather an acquired taste.

Stay away from Harry Turtledove. His stories are sweeping "histories" of whatever world and period he wants to convey. His dialogue stinks. I like alternate history, and don't mind reading narrative history (real or imagined), but his dialogue is to be endured, not enjoyed.

Eddings one good skill is dialogue. It is best shown in the Belgariad. If you want to finish the story (some say "repeat the story") with the Mallorean after that, you know what you are getting. The two three book series (Elenium?) after that are more of the same--with better dialogue and characters in some places, but also starting to show Eddings distressing lack of imagination elsewhere. It's a wash if you like the Belgariad. But after those stories, Eddings goes downhill so fast you'll need a parachute to survive the fall.

Prachett is great. Period. Douglas Adams is most known for Hitchhikers, which is better than I remembered. I'm rereading it right now. But his best, to my mind, is still the two Dirk Gently detective novels.

 

[Deset Gled]

I often find myself liking the idea of fantasy much more than I like actually reading fantasy novels. I can certainly comiserate with your dislike towards meandering plotlines and too many characters (often with bad dialogue).

I recommend using short stories to separate the good authors from the bad. Reading short stories will give you a taste of an author's style without the major time investment of a novel. You should be able to find a number of short story collections in print; the "Years Best Fantasy" series has been in print for about a decade now, and there are other variants. If you have a Kindle or ereader, you can also download a lot of short stories from aspiring authors.

I also highly recommend Peter S. Beagle. Try this collection that he edited: [url=<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peter-S-Beagles-Immortal-Unicorn/dp/0061052248/" target="_blank" title="Amazon"><img src="images/misc/amazon_icon.gif" border="0" alt="Amazon" />Amazon </a>