Why have all the fanesy books i've read on recommendation from enworld sucked?

[theburningman]

I'm still (half-seriously) convinced that Robert Jordan originally intended to write a traditional trilogy for WoT but when he saw how much money he was making, he decided to milk it for all it was worth. Look at the ending of the third book. Yay! Rand slew the main villain! Wait a sec, no he didn't, it was just one of the villain's powerful lackeys!

Grr.

No proof for that of course, but as soon as I started reading the fourth book, the thought entered my head and refuses to leave.


To Olive:

Robin Hobb? Oh yeah! I definitely recommended the Farseer books to all and sundry. Don't know about any of the others, but I think Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest are wonderful (although the latter was a little weak compared to the first two). If anyone has read the Tawny Man book yet, I'd like to know if I should pick it up.

GRRM? Oh. My. God. If only he was getting the kind of press that Jordan has been getting for the last 10 years. He sure as hell deserves it a lot more.



I humbly suggest Transformation by Carol Berg. I still can't say why I picked it up in the first place; I had no recommedation to go on, and the cover art, while well done, didn't particularly grab me. BUT, it is one of the most interesting fantasies I've read since the aforementioned authors. Do yourselves a favor.

I also recently bought The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold because I enjoyed her Miles Vorkosigan books and wanted to see what she could do with fantasy. I'll let you know.

Has anyone on here read any of Sara Douglass's Starman books? Anyone else think she has the most irritating writing style next to Jordan? I had to put the book down because the epithet "old man" was used on ever other page when the main character got annoyed with his guide.

 

[Mistwell]

Let me pipe in and say that 1) I intend to read the rest of George Martins books as they come out just to find out what happens, however 2) based on reading everything he has written up until now, I am not all that happy with this series anymore. I feel nothing in common with almost any of the characters anymore, sympathize with almost nobody, and can no longer identify a "hero" character anymore other than perhaps Jon Snow, who is not in it all that much at this point (though there is hope he will become a dominant character in the future). I feel almost everyone in this series is immorale (yes, even given the context of their lives), and I am no huge moralist.

I know others will disagree with me - that's fine. But let it be said - some people do not like this series all that much, and wouldn't loudly reccommend it to their friends.

I could suggest dozens of authors I do like, but I will stick to one. ANYTHING by Connie Willis is well worth reading. Best best sci/fantasy/modern fiction author on the market right now, in my opinion.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Lord of Light by Zelzany - This is such a wonderful book. Have read it year after year.

JV Jones, she is an enjoyable read.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

Lord of Light by Zelzany - This is such a wonderful book. Have read it year after year.

I once read it three times - back to back to back. When I finished, I immediately turned to the beginning and started reading again.

I don't have the vocabulary to praise Lord of Light highly enough.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I tried to read the first one. I got halfway through the book and I depised almost every single character. I finally gave up because I cannot continue to read a book where if every character died a horrible tortured death I really wouldnt care at all.

As always, check out George R.R. Martin... he's three books into one of the best modern fantasy series, IMO (though the stuff with Daenerys (sp) really bores me to tears for some reason).

-F

 

[King_Stannis]

I'm still (half-seriously) convinced that Robert Jordan originally intended to write a traditional trilogy for WoT but when he saw how much money he was making, he decided to milk it for all it was worth. Look at the ending of the third book. Yay! Rand slew the main villain! Wait a sec, no he didn't, it was just one of the villain's powerful lackeys!...

I'm gonna say this in Jordan's defense. I think, like Martin, they did envision their respective series' as trilogies. But after writing the first few books, I think both realized that they have a hell of a lot of story to tell. So, increasing the books is not NECESSARILY a problem. Now, GRRM seems to have the blueprint in his head. In essence, the book that is coming out soon - "A Feast for Crows" -is superfluous because it was going to be told in flashback in "A Dance with Dragons". However, Martin realized that too much time would have elapsed and there would have just been too much told via flashback/backstory. It would have confused the reader, so he deemed it better to give the 5 year period he originally wanted to skip a book of its own. But at least you can see the gears turning in his brain. The man seems to have a plan and, presumably an endgame.

Jordan seems to have - as many have pointed out - just been dragging his story out of late. It's not nearly as tight as it was in books 1-3, though I'll confess my information for books 7-10 come from my wife - a victim of "Jordan's Syndrome". But others have said so, too. Endless sniffs, sighs, wry smiles, braid tugs and arms-folded-under-breasts. Too many descriptives of past events, not giving the reader credit for reading the series from the start - having to suffer character histories told ad nauseaum.

I kind of discount the profit motive - after all, that's how writers make their living. It's just that Martin seems to have found the happy medium of being able to publish 3-4 more future bestsellers while (hopefully) keeping his story tight, fresh and getting it resolved. Jordan seems to have drastically lost his focus and left many former fans out in the cold and wondering why they bothered to begin a series that started with such promise.

Jordan's books will be bestsellers too, but his star is on the wane while Martin is really feeling the love.

 

[Pielorinho]

I tried to read the first one. I got halfway through the book and I depised almost every single character. I finally gave up because I cannot continue to read a book where if every character died a horrible tortured death I really wouldnt care at all.

That's a shame, considering the number of horrible tortured deaths in the series.


Daniel

 

[Mallus]

Olive...

...you probably have enough reading to last you awhile, but here goes...

The Iron Dragons Daughter by Michael Swanwick {I'm surprised noone's mentioned this already} There might be a cybernectic dragon on the cover --ignore that for a minute, though its literally a character-- but don't let that fool you. To say it transcends the several genres it belongs to is a vast understatement.

Also check out The Stations of the Tide by Swanwick. Its pure SF, and beautiful.

Soldiers of Paradise by Paul Park. There are two more volumes, Sugar Rain and The Cult of Loving Kindness, but the first is the oddest, and best, IMHO.

You like Banks, huh? Have you read his non-Culture SF novel Feersum Endjinn? I thought it was quite good. Even the phonetically spelled portions...

And joining the chorus, I don't think you can get better than Martin's SoIaF right now. They're such a great read, and hopefully a shot in the arm to the dramatically moridbund fantasy genre.

I also like Feist and Eddings. So sue me. Eddings Belgariad reads like an epic level D&D campaign starring the cast of Friends. For some reason this works for me. And Feist is enjoyable. I like his later series better. He grew as a writer, and his characters are charming.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

What? No one extolling the virtues of John Norman's Gor books?


On a more serious note, "one person's trash is another person's treasure." Or, to put it another way, "there's no accounting for taste." "Different strokes for different folks." "Free to be you and me." All that stuff.

Assenpfeffer - you have managed quite short yet also insightful commentary. Nice list!

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller is very good. I bought the sequel (St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman), but I haven't been able to bring myself to read it. Yet.

 

[Capellan]

Re: Olive...

The Iron Dragons Daughter by Michael Swanwick {I'm surprised noone's mentioned this already} There might be a cybernectic dragon on the cover --ignore that for a minute, though its literally a character-- but don't let that fool you. To say it transcends the several genres it belongs to is a vast understatement.

Oh! I'd forgotten this novel. It's got literally hundreds of wonderful ideas in it. Sadly, I don't think the whole ever quite manages to be the sum of its parts, but it is still a fine read.

As for the GRRM vs Jordan debate, and whether it is fair to compare them, as someone said - it's all a matter of opinion. I consider Jordan a money-milking hack with no sense of pace or direction. I don't - currently, though that could change - consider GRRM in anywhere near so poor a light. However, like Jordan, he is writing a sprawling, multi-volume fantasy novel with a massive cast of characters (each of who gets the narrative lead at different times) and many dark tones. There are enough similarities there for me to suggest any Jordan-hater think twice about plunging into GRRM.

Oh! Memory, my memory, why do thee forsake me? How could I forget John Wyndham? The Chrysalids, The Midwich Cuckoos, Day of the Triffids, Web ... so much good stuff.