[OT] Which do you think are the best fantasy novels/authors?

[mmu1]

The great books of fantasy? That's a bit of a tough call, a lot it hasn't exactly stood the test of time yet... Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, definitely, but others mainly fall into "Books I think are great, but not necessarily great western literature." category:

Edit: Not necessarily in this order, but I'm too lazy to re-write the whole list...

George Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire"

Steven Brust's "Jhereg" series

Tim Powers' "The Drawing of the Dark", as well as Anubis Gates, and Last Call (the latter are modern fantasy, but fantasy nonetheless)

Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" trilogy

Ursula LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea"

Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" and "American Gods"


Now, given that this is, after all, a discussion board and the point was brought up...

I think Rowling's books are ok as children's fantasy, but something that's turning out to be about as formulaic as Scooby Do is barely literature, never mind great...

Salvatore... I remember reading some other fantasy writer's introduction to one of Salvatore's Drow novels, in which the writer said something along the lines of "There are many worse things that you can be called than a solid, workmanlike writer." when describing "Bob", and I thought, "Hmm, that is probably one of the nicer ways of calling someone a hack."
While I wouldn't mind having him as a DM, he is an extremely formulaic writer, capable of creating only the most shallow characters (whose thoughts he needs to spell out in page after page of internal monologue, because otherwise we'd never realize what was going on inside these cardboard cutouts), and with a horribly repetitve vocabulary to boot. Not to mention his painfully tedious tendency to fill up several pages with blow-by-blow description of sword swings...

 

[LGodamus]

I see a lot of people saying such and such is a hack or this and that series is just junk ....one thing we should all remember is that a book, any book fantasy or otherwise, can only measure its merit in what it means to the people who read it. So just because you think some one is a hack, doesnot mean they do not have true literary merit. Remember, alot of critics say other than Tolkien that all fantasy books are just so much filler and folks with badly conceived names.

 

[mmu1]

I see a lot of people saying such and such is a hack or this and that series is just junk ....one thing we should all remember is that a book, any book fantasy or otherwise, can only measure its merit in what it means to the people who read it. So just because you think some one is a hack, doesnot mean they do not have true literary merit. Remember, alot of critics say other than Tolkien that all fantasy books are just so much filler and folks with badly conceived names.

Not true... In the vast majority of cases, it's objectively possible to say whether someone is a good writer or not, at least technically speaking. Style, vocabulary, the ability to convey feeling, pacing, etc. - all that good stuff matters. So even if the critics are right, you can divide it into well and badly written "filler".

 

[drothgery]

Guy Gavriel Kay (especially with Tigana and The Sarantine Mosaic duology) is probably the best fantasy writer today by 'literary' standards. And I like his books, but he's not my favorite author. He and Tad Williams have the same flaw though; they often write such beautiful prose that you don't realize that what they've got the characters doing doesn't make any sense until you stop and think about it.

My favorites are Robert Jordan (I love politcal intrigue, big epic fantasy series, and intersting puzzles) and Steven Brust (Vlad is just cool, and Khaarven even more so). I didn't far with the Game of Thrones (too depressing; almost no one to like), but I liked Cook's Black Company and Erikson's even more bleak Mazalan the Fallen series. Pratchett ranges from mildly funny (his earliest books, and some of the newer Rincewind books) to great fun (most of the Discworld) to funny with a point (Small Gods, Hogfather, The Truth).

 

[Tsyr]

Honestly, am I the only person who has read and liked the Deryni books? I mention them here and on RPG.net when the topic comes up, and no one has ever seconded the suggestion...

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

No Tsyr, you are not the only one. Katherine Kurtz was my favorite author and I love her Deryni novels. Heck my name on the boards is from Alaric Anthony Morgan, Duke of Corwyn. My favorite of all her novels is The King's Justice. I'm looking forward to her Childe de Morgan trilogy starting next year.

But after reading the first 3 novels of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, he has become my favorite author.

Btw I would have posted sooner but I just saw this thread.

I also like Tolkien, Moorcock, Eddings, and Clancy... whoops though not SciFi/Fantasy I like Clancy too. Plus there are some others.

 

[Sulimo]

Beyond the usuals who've already been mentioned, I'd add Terry Pratchett, C.S. Lewis & Fritz Leiber. And whilst I probably wouldnt call him great, I'm still a huge fan of Ray Feists stuff. Someone else I would mention is Lord Dunsany...I really liked the King of Elfland's Daughter.

 

[Capellan]

For me, Lord of the Rings has always been, and will always be, the fantasy novel.

I'll also second the votes for Pratchett's Discworld books. For humorous fantasy, you can't go past them.

For younger readers, I'd heartily recommend Tamora Pierce's work. They're a great introduction to the genre and - for my money - she's ten times the writer J K Rowling is.

Unlike some others, I won't share my personal list of "hacks", as I don't want to step on too many toes, and I think I would

 

[Berk]

My personal favorites, not because they are great literary works of their time, but because when I pick them up, I can't put them down until I am done with the book. Tolkien, all of his books. Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, mainly for their Death Gate Cycle series, awesome freaking series. And Salvatore, not because of the Drizzt books, Drizzt is a freakin wuss anyway, but because of the Cleric Quintet. Caderly rocks!!

 

[wallshot]

lets see how many fires i can start with this one...

i like McKiernan....and yes i realize that warrows are hobbits with longer ears and bows...yes i realize that Utrini are just and earth version of an Ent, yes i know that Ruks and Holk are orcs and Uruk-hai...doesnt change the fact that i still like his work

i like the way that they span ages...that something U read about in the 1st books he ever wrote had such a huge impact later on, or that if only the heroes in one book could have held onto something, the heroes that come hundreds of years after them could have had an easier time....i like the ages spanning epics
IMO, his works are worth a try...

yor opinion is most likely to vary