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Caldazar

you nailed it thats where I picked up my name. I loved those books but I really really really want to read the last one. (shame she hasnt written it yet) thats the most frustrating thing as a reader when you read a great series and have to wait forever to read the next one. I think book 2 in the series came out sometime in 1996.

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list one favorite fantasy book or series. I want to expand my horizons. Leave out the Narnia series, Terry Goodkind SOT series, Tolkien LOTR series, Wheel of Time series and Shannara series as I have read those.

I want to order something before I finish what i'm reading now...

thank you ">

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I'm with Ambrai on this one. ONLY ONE?!?!?!

Raymond E. Feist - Riftwar/Serepent War series'. (don't do the Krondor books, that's just a friendly warning)

Ray Feist/Janny Wurts - Empire series

David Gemmell - Drenai series and Jon Shannow series (mainly Jon Shannow one)

Robin Hobb - Assasin/Liveship and now Tawny Man series'.

Oh, and seeing as how you've read the Shannara books, you might have read the Word and the Void ones as well... but if you haven't.. they're rather spiffy as well.

Asteroid B-612

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Sorry bluebutt I cant just list one series there are to many ot there some slightly off the beated track are

Jenifer Fallons demon child series: Medalon, Treasons keep and harshini

Anne Bishops black jewels series: daughter of the blood, heir to the shadows and queen of darkness

Melawnie Rawns dragon prince series: dragon prince, the star scroll, sunrunners fire

I think i better stop there. all of the series are completly differnet from each other in style and hope that helps

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If you haven't already:

Robin Hobb Assassin Series - you can read all four in one blitz unlike me feeling bereft until next book came out. Incidentally (name dropping about to occur), Robin emailed and said she has delivered and put to bed book 2 of Tawny Man and has moved straight on to book 3. Our wait lessens!

When you've read these, have a break and read one of the best fantasy books ever written called "Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Back to Hobb and read Liveship series.

Back to GGK and read everything he's written.

Must say I'm a fan of BattleAxe by Sara Douglass and she highly recommends an American book called Kushiel's Dart which she raves about but apparently it's brutal and not everyone's cuppa.

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Definitely try Sara Douglass. (Threshold esp)
Robin Hobb... yes. (Assasin/Liveship/Tawny Man)
Isobelle Carmody. (They might be childish, but they are really good - Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, Ashling, The Keeping Place)
Anne McCaffery. (Sci fi, but still have a little of fantasy in them, esp her Pern series)
Katharine Kerr. (Start with Daggerspell... she's a personal favourite of mine)
Dunno if you've read Harry Potter... she's also a good one to read.
Yup, Raymond E Feist/Janny Wurts, great stuff. (Empire series)
Jennifer Fallon is also another good author.
David Eddings... now he's a good one for a very very light read... with lots and lots of laughs. I personally like them very much but some people I know don't like them at all. (The Belgariad, The Mallorean)

Alright, that should keep you going for a while. ">

Hi Fiona! I'm very sorry but I haven't read Betrayal as yet, it's on my 'to-read' list though! I got to admit, though, that I didn't like the Fionavar Tapestry by GGK. (I only read two... I couldn't struggle through a third) Don't know why I didn't like it, it just didn't appeal to me I guess.

Yes, Sara's been going on for a while about Kushiel's Dart, I must read it when it is released over here! It sounds so interesting... I hope Pan hurries up with it!

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Hey, Spiky, I was gonna ask you at the water fight if you had read Betrayal. Guess I don't hafta now.

I can't believe I forgot Isobelle Carmody, but I don't know if they're available in America.... they should be though.

You're right about David Eddings. His were the books that got me hooked on fantasy and I still love the Bagariad and Mallorian, the other ones (Ellenium or whatever) are good but a basic rehash of the other books. And Athalus was such a repeat of characters that I couldn't even make it half way through...

Asteroid B-612

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I was shocked with Althalus, only one major surprise through the whole book! Elenium and Tamuli are alright, but nothing beats Belgariad and Mallorean.

As soon as I posted that post, I remembered that Bluebutt comes from America and I don't think half of those books are in the states yet. (Is Robin Hobb over there?)

I don't think Carmody's in the states as yet but she better hurry up with her next book! I'm dying to know what happens to Rushton and Elspeth!

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Yup, I think the next Obernewtyn book will be her last. I don't know how she's going to fit all the loose ends in there, plus Elsepeth's quest, which she hasn't even started!

Oh, don't want to give away any spoilers but what happened to Elspeth's tattoo?! (I have a few theories which I thought would be solved in the Keeping Place but they weren't.)

It's been way too long since I've read The Keeping Place, I've forgotten most of the things that happen in it. If Isobelle's going to wait another year by the time it comes out, I'm going to have forgetten who Elspeth is!

(Oh, Bluebutt, Isobelle has written numerous stand-alones which I fully recommend, if their in America, of course. The Gathering, Green Monkey Dream, Greylands, Scatterlings... I think you might like Green Monkey Dreams, it's a book of short stories which are very weird and wonderful. If only everyone had access to this book, the world would be a better place!)

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I have to admit that I haven't gotten around to reading any of Isobelle's other books, except the Legendsong one... (nicks off to check title) ...Darkfall, which was good, despite what I have heard a lot of people say about it.

Possible spoilers...






Re: Elspeth's tattoo. I thought the explanation was that the big red birds (can't remember their names) had taught her body how to heal itself when they healed her legs at the end of Farseekers, and therefore it healed the tattoo 'wound'.

I thought the Keeping Place was really good in that it was different from the others, going into deeper detail of the daily routine at Obernewton. Really satisfied my need for extensive knowledge about their every day lives. Must get in read them all again before the next one comes out.... Oh well, popular opinion say I have time.

Asteroid B-612

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I think the next Obernewton book is going to be the last, Elspeth will go on her quest and hopefully Matthew will come home and Dragon will remember her past and all that sort of stuff. It's gonna be a BIG book. And I think someone said it won't be out for another year at least....

Yeah, Robin Hobb is available in America. I think that's where it was originally published.

Asteroid B-612

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Hey there,
Apparently, IC's just finished book 5, it's the last, and it will come out in Aus in about august. Book 2 in the Legendsong will be coming our next year, BUT to all those wondering who the dreded destroyer is, (I don't think this is too much of a spoiler, more a frustrating question) I have a friend who was an IC website, and she was there, well, aparently the destroyer is..... NOT ARIEL!!!!! <grrrr> Hoe frustrating is that? That's all they were told!! Okay, so the series may be a little on the other side of young adults, but it's still good.

If you want to know more, you can go to the website.

Dragonsbane is great, can't remember the author though <hehe> ahem, sorry.

Ahh well, I think that's it

Satine0071

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Hi SpikyD...you are not the first nor will you be the last to say you just couldn't get on with Fionavar Tapestry. I think it's one of those tales which falls into the loved it/hated it type category. But Tigana is one of my personal benchmarks for a great story. It set me off on this path.

As for not reading Betrayal! - after taking oxygen I am now fully recovered and able to say (in a most mature fashion) thank you for putting it on the "must get around to that one" list ">

Actually I really do jest. I am still in the state of "gobsmack" that anyone is reading it. Hope I never lose that joy.

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Whoo hoo!!! Good smilie Ambrai!!

Hey, another person who has discovered the wonderful world of Anita Blake! How many have you read?? I've read all 8, waiting for number 9 which should be out this year....

I read the Fionavar Tapestry books years ago... long before GGK became really well known. I can't really remember my impressions of them, but I'm sure I did enjoy them. Started Tigana after someone recommended it (rammed it down my throat actually), but didn't much past the first couple of pages... too engrossed in my own stuff. Oh and I think L. Hamilton came along at that point too. ">

Asteroid B-612

Edited by: Abadarse  at: 2/3/02 1:57:24 pm

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Ive just read the first four and yesterday went out and bought 5 through 9 so I have some serious reading ahead of me.

I actually read Hamiltons latest book a kiss of shadows first and really enjoyed it so thought I should check out the anita books. I think it took mer a while to discover and like them casue I am not usually a fan of first person in books but somehow these ones just grabed me and are very addictive.

One of my bosses at work gave me a very strange look after seeing me reading one at my desk though

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Well, I should think your boss would give you an odd look if he/she caught you reading at work. ">

I'm in the middle... well nearly finished, Kiss of Shadows and I must say that at the moment, I am preferring the Anita Blake books. So much goes on in them compared to this one. Hamilton managed to pack more action into a much shorter book with the Anita ones than she did with KoS. I mean, it took three chapters for them to walk up a path to the front door!! But all that to the side, I am enjoying reading it...

I usually really enjoy first person (Obernewton, Farseer) and I bought a book once based entirely on the tiny snippett of text in the front cover... the first person naration really caught me. I liked the plot and writting.. pitty about the actual story. Read like a prepubescent boy's fantasy.

Asteroid B-612

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Some other suggestions of books to read are:
Katherine Kurtz - Chronicles of the Deryni - has a religious theme but not bad....

Michael Moorcock - endless champion series - seems that way at times as it is made up of about 20 books dealing with different champions that all tie in together......

Another series that is quite interesting is the thieves world series.....based on an idea where different authors write short stories about characters in the city. They may interact with each others characters but not kill them off. First few books were good and is interesting to see people dealing with characters not of their own making......Thieves world is edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey in case you are interested.

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Steven Eriksons "Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen" series is a must read"> . The first book is "Gardens of the Moon". Gardens is kind of hard to start as it has a lot of characters and there is a lot of infomation to take in. Stick with it and you won't regret it. "Deadhouse Gates" is book two and it's about five times better than Gardens. "Memories of Ice" is book three and is about as good as Deadhouse if not slighty better. This is a planned ten book series. Its a truely EPIC story. I would describe Eriksons style as a cross between Jordan and Martin.

Hrm Ambria i'm surprised you didn't mention Rawn's "Ruins of Ambria" series"> . Thats her best work imho but I guess it would be mean to get people to read it and then have to wait 5 years for book three. That damn cliffhanger ending sooks!

Short list of authors I didnt see mentioned.

J V Jones
Chris Bunch
K J Parker
Kate Elliott
Tad Williams
Stephen King (Dark Tower series)

Edited by: Caldazar at: 2/23/02 3:48:48 pm

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Hiya Caldazar!! Good to have your voice here. ">

A horrible oversight on our part (or my part, as I see it) that King's Dark Tower series was not mentioned. Perhaps if he got his arse into gear and published the next book it might be in the forefront of my mind. I can't wait for it... I need my Roland fix.

Um, Chris Bunch was kinda mentioned, in a 'not naming names' kinda way. I read the 'Seer King' and while I really enjoyed the story line and the writing style (being first person), I really got turned off by the overt sex scenes. I might be a prude, but it just read like he needed an excuse to put all his fantasies into a book.

Asteroid B-612

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Yeah I was a bit shocked at the sex scenes myself but atleast he isnt crude like Martin. The books don't really need the sex scenes but heh maybe he's trying to get some of the Mills and Boon crowd into fantasy"> .