Recommend a fantasy book to a sceptic
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Well, as has been pointed out, there is Terry Pratchett. I love Robin Hobb personally, though to get the full effect of the series and see how everything fits together, you'll need to read four trilogies, one of which isn't finished yetthe Dept of Science said:
Neil Gaiman writes great fantasy, and his books aren't usually very long. Try Neverwhere, which is only a couple of hundred pages. Or, for the ultimate literary tag-team, Good Omens. Co-written by Pratchett and Gaiman. It's a wonderful book, and not particularly long.
Sword of Truth starts out with some interesting ideas(bit cliche though). It gets a bit repetitive too. As well as this, the authors personal philosophy often shines through. There's also a bit of a morality gap. The protaganist does some things that are pretty despicable, but they are justified because he is the good guy. Also, there's an evil chicken. After a few, I really started disliking the books. Which is a shame, because they started out looking promising.
I don't think it is out on this side of the pond atm but I may be wrong. You Yanks tend to get books a bit earlier than us. Is your analysis there on the first or second book? If you are talking about the appearance of the spider then I do kind of agree and I do think the book was overly climatic. For me it was the unmasking of the Grey King when the book went a bit to generic. I still throughly enjoyed the book and thought it was pretty original though.Steve Butts said:
Thank you both for letting me know though.Yagharek said:
My new years resolution was to read more (the only resolution in my entire life I've stuck with), and have been averaging out at about 1/week. Before this year I was very poorly read, so I'm trying to go through lots of classics and get a bit of each genre in.ironduke88 said:
The problem is, when someone recommends me a book thats 600 pages long, I think "well, I could read that, or I could read the Great Gatsby and Mrs Dalloway and Catcher in the Rye and Of Mice and Men".
Hmm less than 300 pages
Stephen Donaldson - the Thomas Covenant series. (probably the most metaphysical, the main character isn't even sure if the world he is in is real. The first 3 are shortish)
Michael Moorcock - any of the eternal champion novels (they tend to be a bit pulpy though, but the Elric books are short)
Tim Powers - Anubis Gates and The stress of her regard (Set in the Victorian era, Bryon and Keats turn up)
Jack Vance - Rhialto the marvelous (any of his work will do but Rhialto is probably the most accessible)
Stephen Donaldson - the Thomas Covenant series. (probably the most metaphysical, the main character isn't even sure if the world he is in is real. The first 3 are shortish)
Michael Moorcock - any of the eternal champion novels (they tend to be a bit pulpy though, but the Elric books are short)
Tim Powers - Anubis Gates and The stress of her regard (Set in the Victorian era, Bryon and Keats turn up)
Jack Vance - Rhialto the marvelous (any of his work will do but Rhialto is probably the most accessible)
Gardens of the moon by Steven Erickson , its a master piece none of this pussy happy fantasy crap this book can be very dark at times then extremly funny the next, the book is set in a unique world with huge backstory and lore all ready in place all crafted by the author and has a brillant and original take on magic
This is true. There are a lot of excellent shorter books. However, you are missing out if you don't read beyond a certain length.the Dept of Science said:
Another couple:
Most books by Guy Gavriel kay. Most are pretty long though. Maybe start with Lions of Al-Rassan. Or the Sarantine Mosaic books.
The Gormengasht trilogy by Mervyn Peake. Some are put off by the prose, which can be rather heavy at times. Starts with Titus Groan(around 350 pages). I have all three in a 950 page omnibus, so they're not that long. They are also quite acclaimed outside of the genre(really they're not very fantasy at all. It's a story about a gothic castle, and it's residents. It's wierd, filled with odd characters(who sometimes seem a bit like caricatures), but pretty good). Not very fantasy like, so not a great introduction though.
I also believe Donaldson had a lot of acclaim outside the genre for his Convenant series(the first trilogy at least). The main character can be a bit whiny at times, and it does have an improbably named umambigious bad guy. However, Convenant isn't really your usual unambigious good guy, and the main bad guy is mainly off-screen-the books are more about Convenant and his interactions with the fantasy world that he has found himself in.
I enjoyed the Old World books by Garth Nix, but I was a lot younger when I read them(I think they are aimed at YA) so I'm not sure if I would now.
A song of Ice and Fire(starting with A game of thrones) is a dark and gritty world. The fantasy aspects aren't particularly prominent, at least to start with. I liked it, so would second peoples recommendations for it. There are books I prefer, but I think that's just a matter of taste-there's not much wrong with the series.
Edit: Sorry for the double post.
I enjoyed the Old World books by Garth Nix, but I was a lot younger when I read them(I think they are aimed at YA) so I'm not sure if I would now.
A song of Ice and Fire(starting with A game of thrones) is a dark and gritty world. The fantasy aspects aren't particularly prominent, at least to start with. I liked it, so would second peoples recommendations for it. There are books I prefer, but I think that's just a matter of taste-there's not much wrong with the series.
Edit: Sorry for the double post.
Ok, by the looks of, Neil Gaiman and Joe Abercrombie seem to be the ones to go for. I'll probably go for American Gods because it is the only thing recommended that I had heard about before this thread, then maybe move onto some of his other stuff.
While Song of Ice and Fire and Gardens on the Moon look interesting, as I said in an earlier post, my New Years Resolution for this year was to read more, as at 19, I realised that I was nowhere near as well read as I would like to be. I've been averaging about 1 book a week (the longest so far being Crime and Punishment at about 600 pages) and have been trying to focus mainly on the classics and also getting a good range in.
So when I see a series of 7 books, averaging 1000 pages each, I think to myself "well, I could read that, or I could read The Great Gatsby and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Breakfast of Champions and Catch 22 and On the Road and maybe 20 other books".
While Song of Ice and Fire and Gardens on the Moon look interesting, as I said in an earlier post, my New Years Resolution for this year was to read more, as at 19, I realised that I was nowhere near as well read as I would like to be. I've been averaging about 1 book a week (the longest so far being Crime and Punishment at about 600 pages) and have been trying to focus mainly on the classics and also getting a good range in.
So when I see a series of 7 books, averaging 1000 pages each, I think to myself "well, I could read that, or I could read The Great Gatsby and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Breakfast of Champions and Catch 22 and On the Road and maybe 20 other books".
While not under 300 pages, the Icewind Dale trilogy is amazing. It is written by R.A. Salvatore and follows the story of a dark elf named Drizzt that has left his homeland to live on the surface. It is epic, emotional, funny at times, and always enjoyable and fun. I actually care about the outcome of the characters.
