Fantasy Novels

[Zhoreb]

In 2 weeks I will leave for a holiday to the lovely Island of Fre... ehh, Gran Canaria.
15 days without work, and Fredian. What was I thinking? ;D
I read a lot, and even more when on holidays. But I'm almost out of things to read. So I was wondering if you could recommend a few authors...

I have read most, if not all, novels of authors like Feist, Jordan, Goodkind, Gemmel, Anthony, Farland, Hobb, Donaldson. Of the more ancient fantasy, well, can't remember a lot of names, but at least Tanith Lee, Tolkien, some Jack Vance, AE van Vogt.

I need a few thousand pages on a average holiday, but for the first time I've no idea what to get...please give me some pointers on what to buy.
Oh one more thing; I don't particulary like the DnD novels, Salvatore being a questionable exception.

Thanks...

[Spathic]

the DND novels are, by and large, sewcond rate.... Some of the dragonlance books aren't bad though... especially Legend of Huma...

I just finished the Feist MIdkemia books (read them in timeline order rather than published order) and am reading random Harry potter books (they are not bad really) until i find something else...

I hate Jordan though, he started off strong and then trainwrecked with long winded plodding books later in the series... I stopped at 7 or 8 because the story stopped moving appreciably and so much time was spent with characters i can't stand...

i'd be interested to see what is suggested....

[serpitus]

This kinda seems obvious with the story behind freidian but The chronicles of Thomas covenant by Stephen Donaldson were excellent. Nice twist with with the main character being a complete anti-hero. I recommend it. Also The works of Terry brooks and the shanara series. There was a book called "Villians by Necessity" by Eve forward that was a great read. World's all good and we gotta bring the balance back to the other side. The "Heros are A master thief, Master Assassin, and a druid" Need any more I got lots to chose from.

[Silentus]

Well, lets see... whos missing from that list... (focusing mostly on Sci-Fi)

Anne McAffree writes some decent Sci-Fi stuff - little weak on fantasy genre though. Crystal Singer and Doona series both worth reading.

Steven Brust wrote some reletivly short fantasy novels about an assasin that were decent (first one was called Jhereg). Not great, but quite entertaining reads.

If you can deal with slow moving plots (like Donaldsons and Jordans) take a look at the trilogy Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars - think the author Kim Stanly Robinson. Very good Sci-Fi IMO

If you've only watched the groundbreaking (but hideously boring) movie of 2001 (Arthur C Clark), dont be scared of the book. Unlike the movie, it's very good. Same goes for Contact (though the movie wasnt quite so mind-numbing).

I know you mentioned Anthony, but for any out there reading this dont base your opinions on his childrens Xanth series (which is impossible to read as an adult) - Read 'Bio of a Space Tyrant' - excellent series. His Incarnations of Immortality series is also one of the more interesting concepts - execution is inconsistant though.


-- Edit ---

Almost forgot:
Orson Scot Card has some good stuff too...
Enders Game - Excellent, the rest of the series isnt really worth reading (or at least the next 3 - thats as far as I took it). I forget the series name, but the one with the first book called "The Memory of Earth" Is pretty good

Robert L. Forward's 'Dragon's Egg' is also one very interesting Sci-Fi story (not about dragons - about life forms on the super high gravity of a neutron star.

[Hanah]

Here's hoping this doesn't turn into a 'my book list is cooler than your book list' debate but I'll throw in my thoughts anyway:-)

I don't read a lot of fantasy novels... I do indulge occasionally but they aren't my preferred reading material. A couple of items that are on my to-read or recently read list though....

Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory (currently reading it)
Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chavalier
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (one of my favourites)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Baudolino by Umberto Eco (on the to-read list)
Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyui Choi (on the to-read list)
The Blind Watch-Maker by Richard Dawkins

I also read quite a bit... hopefully something on this list is of interest to you.

Hanah
... hey have fun on your holiday

[MitzaVolchenko]

Jack of Shadows and anything of the Amber series by Roger Zelazny

MZ Bradley-historical fiction is better than the Darkover series, but thoroughly worth the read (special kudos to The Firebrand).

Stainless Steel Rat Chronicles by Harry Harrison (you will understand me all the better for knowing that my longest running nickname is DiGriz)

Run from the Donaldson Covenant series...once you start you have to finish and it is pure HELL in the last 3 books.

Phil K thingy-if you can handle him

Piers Anthony-Native to Florida and awesome in all things

Mercedes Lackey-excellent high fantasy

Joel Rosenburg-DnD gone live in a fun way

Dandelion Wine-Bradbury

On the more serious side and mind expanding-Krishnamurti, and if you have never suffered the joy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I have to give it a thumbs up.

Other than that I am currently reading the 13th printing of Black's Law Dictionary, but I can't really say that is vacation reading.

[Cain Thuryn]

I have a pretty big library here and these are a few of my favorite authors.

Take a look at:

Terry Brooks - Recently released 2 books that have complete sections of his works inside Sword, Elfstones, and wishsong of Shannara in one. and the heritage series in another.

Katherine Kurtz: Try her Deryni series if you can find it. Start with Camber of Culdi.

David amd Leigh Eddings: The Redemption of Anthalus is a good read. Also look at the Belgariad books as well.

Although not Fantasy try:

Brian Lumley: The Necroscope series of books.

Anne Rice: The Vampire Cronicles

Have a nice trip!

[TravisBrumm]

Right now in English we're reading A Separate Peace (Not bad). But my favorite authors would have to be Orson Scott Card, good choice Silentus, Robert Heinlein, Terry Brooks, Kevin Anderson, Frank Herbert (Dune and non-dune), and William Gibson. They're all very good, check out The Difference Engine and IDORU, I think they're both Gibson.

[JoScMa]

I usually like anything written by Peter David. He writes a lot of Star Trek novels, and I like his writing. Another great author I really enjoy is Neal Stephenson. One book I read from him that was awesome was Cryptonomicon. It's a must read. It also has a sequel called Quicksilver.

[Severian]

I have a good one, at least ones I enjoyed reading. The author is Gene Wolfe. There are 3 books. One is called The Sword and The Citadel, another is Shadow and Claw, and Book of the New Sun. I liked these.

[Silentus]

Before this thread officially fades into oblivion, I felt a need to post this...:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Sprial arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this; most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

And so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.

And then, one thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.

Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it the Earth was unexpextedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace by-pass, and so the idea was lost forever.

If you dont all know what this is from, you need to loose your irrational fear of the printed word and get a library card immediately!

[MitzaVolchenko]

So Long....

***Great suggestion!***

...And Thanks for All the Fish!

[Phoenix]

*grabs bablefish and sticks it in ear*

[serpitus]

What was the answer to the question again?

And never underestimate the white mice!

[Silentus]

I believe the answer you seek is 42.