Harry Potter Et Al

[pbleighton]

Just finished the last Potter book. I thought it was by far the best book of the series. Harry Potter grew up, and so did the books.

 

I'd like to give and solicit suggestions for fantasy books. Potter was, of course, inspired by Lord Of The Rings, which IMO is still the best. Some others from my reading:

1. His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass (a movie coming out in December), The Suble Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), by Philip Pullman. Terrific - mixing alternate history, John Milton, and particle physics.

2. The Wheel Of Time (starting with The Wheel Of Time, 11 going on 12, if the author (Robert Jordan) can survive cancer). A huge canvas.

3. The Tales Of Einarinn (5, starting with The Thief's Gamble), by Juliet McKenna. Many echoes of it's mythical history within itself.

 

Any others?

 

Peter

[hrothgar]

Hmmm

 

I though that the Deathly Hallows was the one of the weaker books in the series. (Which is not to say that I didn't devour the day it released)

 

In the case of fantasy, I tent to prefer the classics:

 

Lord of the Rings

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

Silverlock

The Cthulhu Mythos

 

At lot of the more recent stuff strikes me as overly derivative. However, here are a few authors who have capture my attention of the years.

 

Tim Powers: Probably my favorite urban fantasy author. I'm particularly fond of Last Call and Declare.

 

George RR Martin: A Game of Thrones is the best epic fantasy series out there right now.

 

James Blaylock: I always laugh when I read "The Last Coin"

 

Steven R. Donaldson. You either love the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant or you hate it. I really liked these books...

 

Michael Shea: Nifft the Lean is really wonderful

 

Steven Erikson: The Malazan Books of the Fallen is an interesting spin on a motiff that Glen Cook ran with back when he was written the "Black Company" Books.

 

Karl Edward Wagner's "Kane" stories

 

Mythago Woods by Robert Holdstock

[macaw]

Old fantasy series, which is fabulous if you can find it as it is out of print:

 

E.R. Eddison, a contemporary of Tolkein, wrote the "Zimiavian Trilogy" which consists of:

Mistress of Mistresses

Fish Dinner in Memison

The Mezentian Gate - this one is unfinished but published anyway, and you can see how this type of story is constructed - fantastic!

 

C.S.Lewis has a recommendation on the back of the books which reads as follows:

 

"a new literary species, a new rhetoric, a new climate of the imagination... These books are works, first and foremost, of art. And they are irreplaceable."

 

He also wrote "The Worm Ouroboros."

 

These are the best fantasy books I've ever read. Eddison was into classic Greek mythology and wove it into these works. He has a richness of detail that's amazing.

[Quantumcat]

The last Harry Potter book would be much improved if it had wandered over the viewpoints of everybody else during the year, not just Harry. I found their wanderings from campsite to campsite quite boring. It was a waste of a few chapters. I'd much rather be hearing about what the family and the Order were doing and what was happening at the school (the one page explanation from Neville near the end wasn't very satisfying). I'm sure the book would be much better and more exciting if she'd done that. I know that all the other books were almost exclusively from Harry's point of view but there's nothing wrong with breaking that trend to make the book more exciting. What do you guys think.

[mike777]

I am going upstairs to read the last 50 pages now with a nice white wine.

 

I know Peter insists on my sourcing so I have tried to find some stuff on the www. :)

 

I think the book is great.

 

I read all the Donaldson books. Covenant was ok. I know it won alot of awards. Lukewarm here.

 

Look forward to your postings. I have not seen any books in this area that I have wanted to read in a very long time, years or decades.

 

Off the top of me head here are some all time favourites of mine from years gone bye.

Amber series.

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/classic/sfw2621.html

 

Riverworld series.

http://www.foremat.com/riverworld/

 

 

My all time fav book from childhood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrinkle_in_Time

 

Best fiction book in last 25 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer

 

Some other oldies

Foundation series

Anything by Heinlen

http://www.literature-map.com/robert+a+heinlen.html

[Winstonm]

I know that all the other books were almost exclusively from Harry's point of view but there's nothing wrong with breaking that trend to make the book more exciting. What do you guys think.

 

You have to remember that first and foremost these books are children's literature (not to mean childish but directed toward a young reader). It is the norm to use single point of view in this type literature.

[jikl]

No mentions of Goodkind and Pratchett?

 

Sean

[Quantumcat]

I did like Pratchett a lot when I was in early high school. They are directed towards a younger audience too but contain about 500 characters each book and usually skip from place to place?

 

I don't usually read fantasy but one book I really liked was the Stone and the Flute (I think it was originally german) terribly sad and extremely meaningful.

[hrothgar]

No mentions of Goodkind and Pratchett?

 

Sean

Pratchett is quite good. I very much liked Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids. I still read all his boos, even if I don't buy them in hardcover.

 

As for "Terry Goodkind". I thought that we were focusing on good fantasy, not second rate B + D with passing mention of wizards.