Fave Fantasy Authors Thread!
06-16-03, 07:45 PM
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Jadow's Fantsay Authors Thread!
OK OK OK, here I'm gonna spew off on some of my favorite fantasy authors. Feel free to add coments, or aggree/ disaggree with me.
1. George R.R. Martin - I think he is the best fantasy author alive at the moment. His Song of Ice and Fire series is simply superb. The characters are incredibly complex, and the books can be quite intimidating, and frankly, to really understand what's goin on, they need to be read more than once, which I consider a little bit of a drawback. I also think he has a few too many characters too follow. Still great though.
2. Raymond E. Feist - Raymo as I call him, what can I say. He got me started reading fantasy after I played the computer game Betrayal at Krondor. I used to think he was the best fantasy author, but the last couple books in the Serpentwar series, and then the 3 books that take place around the time of the games Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor really took him down a notch in my book. I think Ray was going through some personal issues during the 6 years or so he wrote those 5 books, but he came back STRONG with Talon of the Silver Hawk, book one of the Conclave of Shadows series, that book was top notch, and put Feist back in my good graces.
3. David Eddings - I started off really liking Eddings. I think Belgarath is simply a great fantasy character. And his books are a fun read. But, he got sequelitis. His Mallorean series was basically a rehash of the Belgariad, and it really wore me out. Now his wife is listed as co-author on all his new books, and frankly, I think he's hooked up to a respirator somewhere, and his wife is cranking out books with his name, and cashing the royalty checks, while the quality has gone way down.
4. Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman - I lump them together because all the books of theirs I read were cowritten. I thought their first two Dragonlance series of books were great, but Dragonlance started making too many books by too many different people and I couldn't keep up.
5. Terry Goodkind - read a couple of his books, liked em, but they weren't good enough to keep me coming back.
6. Robert Jordan - UGH, I liked the first couple books of his, but man I kept reading them, and realizing, "I'm reading hundreds of pages AND NOTHING IS HAPPENING." Man this guy is like a machine he can type so many words and write so little. Totally gave up on him.
7. Tolkein - wrote 4 great books, and a lot of other stuff that wasn't so great. LOTR and the Hobbit are pure greatness though.
8. JK Rowling- Incredibly readable. Her books aren't a tough read, there's no challenge there. But they are damn entertaining, and I am really looking forward to Order of Phoenix. A breath of fresh air in the fantasy realm. Bless her billion dollar soul.
If you're a tru fantasy book fan, you should know where my namesake "Jadow" came from!
1. George R.R. Martin - I think he is the best fantasy author alive at the moment. His Song of Ice and Fire series is simply superb. The characters are incredibly complex, and the books can be quite intimidating, and frankly, to really understand what's goin on, they need to be read more than once, which I consider a little bit of a drawback. I also think he has a few too many characters too follow. Still great though.
2. Raymond E. Feist - Raymo as I call him, what can I say. He got me started reading fantasy after I played the computer game Betrayal at Krondor. I used to think he was the best fantasy author, but the last couple books in the Serpentwar series, and then the 3 books that take place around the time of the games Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor really took him down a notch in my book. I think Ray was going through some personal issues during the 6 years or so he wrote those 5 books, but he came back STRONG with Talon of the Silver Hawk, book one of the Conclave of Shadows series, that book was top notch, and put Feist back in my good graces.
3. David Eddings - I started off really liking Eddings. I think Belgarath is simply a great fantasy character. And his books are a fun read. But, he got sequelitis. His Mallorean series was basically a rehash of the Belgariad, and it really wore me out. Now his wife is listed as co-author on all his new books, and frankly, I think he's hooked up to a respirator somewhere, and his wife is cranking out books with his name, and cashing the royalty checks, while the quality has gone way down.
4. Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman - I lump them together because all the books of theirs I read were cowritten. I thought their first two Dragonlance series of books were great, but Dragonlance started making too many books by too many different people and I couldn't keep up.
5. Terry Goodkind - read a couple of his books, liked em, but they weren't good enough to keep me coming back.
6. Robert Jordan - UGH, I liked the first couple books of his, but man I kept reading them, and realizing, "I'm reading hundreds of pages AND NOTHING IS HAPPENING." Man this guy is like a machine he can type so many words and write so little. Totally gave up on him.
7. Tolkein - wrote 4 great books, and a lot of other stuff that wasn't so great. LOTR and the Hobbit are pure greatness though.
8. JK Rowling- Incredibly readable. Her books aren't a tough read, there's no challenge there. But they are damn entertaining, and I am really looking forward to Order of Phoenix. A breath of fresh air in the fantasy realm. Bless her billion dollar soul.
If you're a tru fantasy book fan, you should know where my namesake "Jadow" came from!
06-19-03, 01:11 AM
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Weis and Hickman would be tops for me.
JKR would be a very close second.
I have the first two Martin novels but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.
JKR would be a very close second.
I have the first two Martin novels but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.
06-19-03, 06:31 AM
#5
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Based on an earlier thread on this forum I'm really enjoying the Anita Blake vampire killer series.
Tolkien, King, Allen Dean Foster and JK Rowling are all good.
I have to include King as he often creates parallel worlds and ties them all in together...
Tolkien, King, Allen Dean Foster and JK Rowling are all good.
I have to include King as he often creates parallel worlds and ties them all in together...
06-19-03, 07:32 AM
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I gotta agree with you on Jordan.
I absolutely loved the Wheel of TIme, until I realized that nothing was happening..
They'd progress about 1 foot per book it seemed, I gave up after Book 5 or 6.
I absolutely loved the Wheel of TIme, until I realized that nothing was happening..
They'd progress about 1 foot per book it seemed, I gave up after Book 5 or 6.
06-19-03, 07:53 AM
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Eddings - I agree with the initial assessment, that everything he writes is just a re-hash of the Belgariad. I'll take it a step further - the over-use of phrases. Everyone "murmers" to each other. Everyone likes to say "be nice" to each other. Everyone looks at someone else "critically." Every time Garion gets mad at his aunt, and then he's sorry, "Everything was all right again."
While there's some entertainment in the stories, David and Leigh Eddings are very poor writers. Their editor is even worse for allowing these things to happen over and over.
Weiss & Hickman. Love 'em. Hickman's a total psychotic now, from what I hear. Some kind of paranoid "all the book writers are out to get me" type of nut.
Robert Jordan - No thanks, I don't need to read a series that requires me to read and learn a 30+ page dictionary / encyclopedia to understand what's going on.
Tolkein - give him credit for setting the stage for modern fantasy, but the man was SO DULL! I tried reading "The Hobbit." I gave up in disgust after reading page after page after page after mind-numbing page describing the inside of a house.
Alan Dean Foster - love his early Spellsinger books. I haven't been able to pick up the later ones where it's the son of Jon-Tom, and the kid now raps his spells.
R.A. Salvatore - I'm surprised no one else has mentioned him yet.
While there's some entertainment in the stories, David and Leigh Eddings are very poor writers. Their editor is even worse for allowing these things to happen over and over.
Weiss & Hickman. Love 'em. Hickman's a total psychotic now, from what I hear. Some kind of paranoid "all the book writers are out to get me" type of nut.
Robert Jordan - No thanks, I don't need to read a series that requires me to read and learn a 30+ page dictionary / encyclopedia to understand what's going on.
Tolkein - give him credit for setting the stage for modern fantasy, but the man was SO DULL! I tried reading "The Hobbit." I gave up in disgust after reading page after page after page after mind-numbing page describing the inside of a house.
Alan Dean Foster - love his early Spellsinger books. I haven't been able to pick up the later ones where it's the son of Jon-Tom, and the kid now raps his spells.
R.A. Salvatore - I'm surprised no one else has mentioned him yet.
06-19-03, 09:13 PM
#10
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Tolkien - anyone who doesn't like the dry style of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings should try his novella "Farmer Giles of Ham."
Other Authors:
Terry Pratchett - Initially writing the Disworld series as a brilliant parody of the fantasy genre, the books eventually evolve into ones with well developed characters and interesting plots, as well as staying damn funny.
Neil Gaiman - A tremendous talent that is able to weave multiple myths and legends from all over the world into incredible original modern fantasy.
Harlan Ellison - A writer of 'speculative fiction,' some of which is fantasy, some of which is science fiction, but all of which goes straight for the throat and doesn't let go.
Other Authors:
Terry Pratchett - Initially writing the Disworld series as a brilliant parody of the fantasy genre, the books eventually evolve into ones with well developed characters and interesting plots, as well as staying damn funny.
Neil Gaiman - A tremendous talent that is able to weave multiple myths and legends from all over the world into incredible original modern fantasy.
Harlan Ellison - A writer of 'speculative fiction,' some of which is fantasy, some of which is science fiction, but all of which goes straight for the throat and doesn't let go.
06-19-03, 09:27 PM
#11
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As a die hard fantasy fan I recommend Tad Williams. The Dragonbone Chair series is THE BEST I have ever read. On a lighter note J.V. Jones’ The Baker's boy (the Book of Words series, I think) is also phenomenal.
