What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[River Jordan]

Other than LotR, what other fantasy literature do the rest of you read? I like:
CS Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia"
Madeleine L'engle's "The Time Quartet"
and Richard and Wendy Pini's "ElfQuest".

Elfquest, unlike the others which are books, started out as a comic book graphic novel, and has seen many different incarnations from comics and books to full colour graphic novels and now a movie is in the works. Any other EQ fans here? That's where I got the name "River" from, my ElfQuest fan-days back when I was in high school...


Your friendly neighbourhood elf, *River*

"You have nice manners for a thief and a liar." Smaug

[zifnab]

I personaly enjoy reading Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

-The Chronicles
-The Legends
-The Death Gate Cycle

And I will like to read The Darksword Series. Actually I have some books on my shelf which I will be reading in the near future.

-H.G.Wells:The Time Machine
-Dan Simmons:Hyperion
-MW & TH:Well of Darkness
-Terry Brooks:The Sword of Shannara

And I remember that I used to have a few Elfquest comics, I will have to check my collection to see if I sold them or if they're still in the boxes.

[Maltagaerion]

Well lets see here...

I'm up to book 6 of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series.

I have just about everything by Terry Brooks including his latest one of the Shanarra series "Antrax" (which is in the to-be-read pile)

I have the new Dune books including the latest one "House Corrino" (which is also in the to-be-read pile)

I have a plethora of Star Wars books but there ended up being so many of them I had to stop reading.

Although its not fantasy, I also have a ton of WW2 era books (mainly technical stuff as I do like to build models)

[Rosa Underhill]

Lessee, I read so much it's almost hard to decide what to mention and what not... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I've read the Death Gate Cycle and the Chronicles of Narnia. I'm a huge fan of the Chronicles of Prydain. I like (gasp) Harry Potter, too. I highly recommend Frank Peretti's "The Oath" or "Piercing the Darkness". And there was a really cool book by Bill Myers called "Eli" about what it would be like if Jesus were born in our time.

Thanks to Tolkien, I've aquired a renewed interest in C.S. Lewis, so I've started reading some of his more theological works like "Mere Christianity" and "The Screwtape Letters."

*runs over to bookshelf* "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" by Michael Crighton as well as Joanne Bertin's "The Last Dragonlord". And the Redwall books by Brian Jaques! There's more, lots more, but that should do it for now. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I have read Chroniclas of Narnia.I am going to Read the Shanarra stuff.But on your guys opinion are they good books?I am in the middle of Avaryan Rising and I have also read the Fionavar Tapestry.All very good books.

[bryniana]

I was never much of a fantasy fan...however there have been three authors that I have been drawn to and have enjoyed. They are C.S. Lewis, Stephen Lawhead, and Tolkien. It is intersting that I tend to have such a distate for Christian allagory--but yet thoroughly enjoy Lewis and Lawhead (particulary the Pendragon series).

[River Jordan]

Yes, a couple of years ago, I started getting into the Star Wars novels (also being a big Star Wars fan, and looking forward to the new movie, Episode II, coming out this spring!). The Star Wars novels were based on the storyline after Return of the Jedi, but now they've got so many dozens of them, it's hard to keep up, with different authors, storylines, characters, etc. so I kind of stopped. There were some good ones, though!

Your friendly neighbourhood elf, *River* http://www.angelfire.com/bc/YMF

" Murderers and elf friends! Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to dark holes filled with snakes, and never let them see the light again!" The Great Goblin

[Samwise]

Per River Jordan:

"The Time Quartet"

By this you mean "A Wrinkle in Time", "A Wind in the Door"...etc? Or some other books?
I've read The Chronicles of Narnia also.

"If I hear 'not allowed' much oftener I'm going to get angry."
Sam Gamgee

[Samwise]

Oh, yes, and how could I forget...Isaac Asimov's...I don't remember what the series is entitled, but it begins with "The Caves of Steel", and is about a cop named Elijah Baley and his humaniform robot partner, Daneel Olivaw.

"Oh, please, Mister Gandalf! Don't turn me into anything unnatural!"
Sam Gamgee

[River Jordan]

Yes, the "Time Quartet" is the series of books by Madeleine L'Engle including:

A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
& Many Waters

I read them originally when I was a child, and re-read them this past summer!

- Your Friendly Neighbourhood Elf, *River*

[Samwise]

Ah yes...
"A Wrinkle in Time" was read to my class by my 4th grade teacher. Out of them all, I enjoyed it the most. I couldn't "get into" Many Waters...don't recall why--it seemed to drag or be to wordy or something for me. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

"I made a promise, Mister Frodo! 'Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee,' Gandalf said;
'Don't you leave him! "
Sam Gamgee

[zifnab]

Originally posted by River Jordan:
The Star Wars novels were based on the storyline after Return of the Jedi, but now they've got so many dozens of them, it's hard to keep up, with different authors, storylines, characters, etc. so I kind of stopped. There were some good ones, though!
[/QB]

I totally agree with about the Star Wars Novels. I read a few of them, when I was down I went to get some more and saw tons more on the shelf! So I kind of gave them a long break. I liked them, but it became too much too keep up with. To be honest the only things I really remember about them was, I believe, Princess Leia had some Jedi twins, and good ole Uncle Skywalker was training them.

[Mister Underhill]

Star Wars novels are an occasional guilty pleasure of mine also, though so far the only ones I have found bearable were the X-Wing series, especially those by Mike Stackpole. As far as fantasy literature goes, I always enjoyed Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales – he has a lively, literate, old-timey pulp style that’s irresistible, even if the stories aren’t exactly what you’d call “deep”.

There’s so much dreck on the fantasy shelves these days that it’s hard to sift through it all and find something good. For tales of adventure I prefer tried-and-true authors like Kipling, R.L. Stevenson, and Sir Richard Burton, who write about worlds that are so different from our modern day reality as to seem like fantasy.

[ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: Mister Underhill ]

[Rosa Underhill]

<<There’s so much dreck on the fantasy shelves these days that it’s hard to sift through it all and find something good>>

(I haven't a clue how to make the little 'quote' box appear, but Mister Underhill said that above!)

Yeah, no kidding! *coughAnneMcCaffreycough* That's been my biggest problem with fantasy; I love it but there really is a lot of-pardon-crap out there. You can't even go to the book store and pick up something just out of curiosity's sake; you never know what you might be reading.

That's why I like Tolkien so much and Lewis: nothing questionable by my standards.

Steven Lawhead rules! I forgot about him! I've only read one of his books but it was awesome! Hey, bryniana, you might want to give Frank Peretti a try. He's more of a Christian horro/fantasy writer, but once you get into his books, they're really good!

[River Jordan]

When I was in high school, I read about a dozen or so of Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" novels as well, but haven't read any more since. Also, I have read most of Frank Peretti's fiction stuff - This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, The Oath, The Prophet, and The Visitation. Good writing - masterful story-teller, excellent at weaving different seemingly unconnected storylines together...a real page-turner!!

Your friendly neighbourhood elf, *River* http://www.angelfire.com/bc/YMF

[Samwise]

Per Rosa Underhill:

I highly recommend Frank Peretti's "The Oath" or "Piercing the Darkness".

Never read The Oath, but I really enjoyed "This Present Darkness", the prelude to "Peircing..."
BTW, to use a "quote", I copy and paste what I want to quote, then click "QUOTE" under "URL" below. (it works even if you can't see the little grey box, like I can't now.) Put what you want quoted between the two QUOTE tags.

*Frodo and Sam walking across a feild*
*Sam stops*
*Frodo turns* "Sam, what's the matter? "
*Sam* "If I take another step, I'll be farther from home than I've ever been."

[River Jordan]

The Oath is a really neat one - of all of Peretti's works, this particular one is an allegory (although not noticably or overtly so). It is the tale of a town that is plagued by a dragon, and how the different people deal with and respond to it. I haven't read it for a couple of years, but remember quite enjoying it!

Your friendly neighbourhood elf, *River* http://www.angelfire.com/bc/YMF

[Lostgaeriel]

I don't read very much fiction, let alone "fantasy fiction", but I enjoyed the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.

I guess Douglas Adams' books would be described as Sci Fi, but they are my faves: the 5-book Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" - which I heard on radio first - well not the original broadcast or the rebroadcast - it must have been the recorded version! (Inside joke - see the Radio Scripts.) And his Dirk Gently sci fi mystery books.

Also enjoyed Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, and Bill the Galactic Hero series.

My alltime favourite "serious" sci fi book is Carl Sagan's Contact - far better than the movie. (Of course I had to read it because I've read most of his other books. I'm more into classic lit and non-fiction.)

[Kuruharan]

In general agreement with most everyone else, I also really enjoyed C.S. Lewis and Stephen Lawhead. Although I have to admit that my favorite Lawhead books are not really "fantasy" per se. My all time favorite of his books is Byzantium, which is more along the lines of historical fiction, but I also really enjoyed the Empyrion books, which is science fiction. Science fiction is kind of fantasy I guess.
I read some of the Terry Brooks Shanarra series. I liked them, but alas, I got bogged down and gave up.
R.L. Stevenson's Kidnapped is also one of the best books ever written IMHO.
I also seem to have a need for a Star Trek fix in my literary life from time to time.
(cringes in embarassment)
I also have a voracious appetite for some fellow named Tolkien (oddly enough). [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Rosa Underhill]

I also seem to have a need for a Star Trek fix in my literary life from time to time.
(cringes in embarassment)[

Aw, don't be embarassed! I'm watching "Star Trek: Voyager" right now, (I love this show). 'Tis no embarassment to be a Trekkie, or even a quasi-Trekkie.

I forgot to mention the Ratha books by Clare Bell; hard to find but very excellent to read. Also, Merideth Ann Peirces Firebringer trilogy. Also hard to find but well worth the trouble. And have I mentioned Patricia C. Wrede's "Enchanted Forest Chronicles" yet? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] (No, I'm not a bookworm, not at all! What? You say there's something beyond books? Pshaw! How silly, that's just preposterous! *picks up book and reads*)

[Birdland]

Hello. I mostly lurk here, but couldn't resist this thread.

"Merlin" books, especially Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and the Last Enchantment. And of course, T.H. White's The Once and Future King.

Prince Ombra - by Rodrick MacLeish -A young boy is born with the heart shared by all heroes throughout time, (Frodo included [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img])so he can battle the Ultimate Evil.

Little, Big - by John Crowley - Multi-generation family living in a house surrounded by the magic of Fairie.

Gormanghast Trilogy - by Mervyn Peake - A dysfunctional noble family threatened by a traitor in their midst. Very dark and weird.

Wicked - by Gregory MaGuire - A retelling of the Oz stories, told from the point of view of The Wicked Witch of the West.

Winter's Tale - by Mark Helprin - The history of New York City set in an alternative universe. Only way I can think to describe it.

Lastly, almost anything by Peter S. Beagle, especially The Last Unicorn. (Which, BTW, is being made into a live-action film, set to be released in 2003. Yippie!!!)

[River Jordan]

I must confess to watching a little Star Trek myself - I watched The Next Generation on TV when I was in high school, and the past couple of years had gotten into Voyager before it went off the air. I never liked Deep Space Nine, and I never got into the new one Enterprise, either. However, I haven't read any of the Trek books.

Hey, this is a pretty good discussion topic, isn't it? (If I do say so myself - it's the first discussion I started, being a new resident "in the Barrow-downs"...anyways, cheers!

- Your friendly neighbourhood elf, *River*

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Since several of you have mentioned sci-fi TV, I'll add this, even if it is slightly off topic:
Star Trek is better watching than most of what's around, but for Tolkien lovers try Babylon 5 - it's more epic, not as static, very fascinating and has plenty of Tolkien references.
Back to what's really important in life - books - C.S.Lewis' sci-fi trilogy has lots of deep thinking in it. There's a line in Perelandra that still sends shivers down my spine: "My name, too, is Ransom."

[Fenrir]

I'd forgotten Gormenghast! I've read that and almost enjoyed it. It's so weird though.
Gormenghast was on television a couple of years ago. It had Christopher Lee playing Flay.
A great series of fantasy novels that were inspired by the Mabinogion are Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain."
Great read. My father read them to me when I was very young. I re-read them not long ago and was pleased to still find them wonderful.

[ArwenBaggins]

i like (this is just a brief list,fyi):

C.S. Lewis- "Chronicles of Narnia"
H.G. Wells- "The Time Machine"
J.K. Rowling- "Harry Potter"

Remember! That was a BRIEF list!!!


[img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

[Kuruharan]

I'd forgotten about Babylon 5. I watched the show and I've read some of the books. I really like the Centauri as a race and Londo Mollari as a character.
The show was good, but on the whole the books were just okay. Not that I didn't like them, but they aren't some of my all time favorites.

[Birdland]

Well, time to make a list and start hitting eBay!

[zifnab]

Originally posted by Birdland:
<STRONG>Lastly, almost anything by Peter S. Beagle, especially The Last Unicorn. (Which, BTW, is being made into a live-action film, set to be released in 2003. Yippie!!!)</STRONG>

This is off topic, but wasn't their a cartoon "The Last Unicorn", about 15 years ago. I remember watching it, I was just curious if it is the same as the book/moive you mentioned.

[Birdland]

To Zifnab: (sorry, still getting the hang of the board; haven't figured quotes out yet.)

Yes, there was an animated version in 1984. This is a new live-action film. For info got to:http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/index.htm.

Please, Mr. Moderator, don't turn me into something un-natural for going off-topic!

[Yaish]

For Tolkien fans (any here?) I would suggest Elizabeth Moon's "The Deed of Paksennarion" as well as the pre-quel books, Oath of Gold and Liars Oath. Very Tolkienesque feel, yet not a rip off. Great main charactor in all the books that you can really get behind. "Deed" (really a trilogy) is by far my favorite fantasy books, even over "Rings".
Also good is the Bazil Broketail series by Christopher Rowley. I truly endorse these books for everyone to read.
Another good fantasy series is David Drakes "Lord of the Isles". Its four books so far, and I have only read three. Excellent books though.
For Sci-fi I would suggest David Webers "Honor Harrington" books, and there are a ton of them out by now. Also anything bu Robert Heinlein, though I suspect much of this crowd wont like him. He tackles social/ethical/religious issues in his books with consumate skill and not comimg off as preachy. His view is mostly the atheist/humanist one though, so perhaps C.S. Lewis fans wont like him much.
Harry Turtledove also writes some excellent books, both in the fantasy and sci-fi realm. His "Misplaced Legion" and Videssos novels are excellent fantasy. He also wrote "Werenight" and its sequels, also excellent books. For Terry Pratchet style humor from him try "The Case of the Toxic Spelldump" All of Turtledoves alternate history is very good too, though I confess to not having read much of it.
God I love books! I could go on, but I'll stop here.
Oh, one more. Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series. Again, excellent.

[Samwise]

The Oath is a really neat one -It is the tale of a town that is plagued by a dragon, and how the different people deal with and respond to it.

Hm. I may pick it up one day. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

LOTR Moment (IV) (Moria)
Orcs are everywhere
Samwise whacks one with a pot
gets..."the hang of this!" [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Copyright 2002 S. Uffelman

[Samwise]

BTW, welcome to the 'Downs, Birdland !

Watching LOTR
The edge of my seat
hands tearing up a napkin
I liked that movie!

Copyright 2001 S. Uffelman

[Samwise]

Per Birdland:

Yes, there was an animated version in 1984. This is a new live-action film. For info got to:http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/index.htm.

Oh, boy. I remember that. Another one that made me cry in spots... [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Please, Mr. Moderator, don't turn me into something un-natural for going off-topic!

L-O-L! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Rosa Underhill]

A great series of fantasy novels that were inspired by the Mabinogion are Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain."

Oh...my...goodness! Someone else other than me and the friends I've forced to read them hs read the Chronicles of Prydain?! *jaw drops*

Okay, I'm not an Anne McCaffrey fan much these days, she really bugs me now, but I'll say this: when she and Elizabeth Scarbourgh team up they can spin a good yarn! I highly recommend "Powers That Be", "Power Lines" and "Power Play". It's a trilogy about a sentient planet. Very spiffy.

And Jane Yolen's "Sister Light, Sister Dark" was awesome. "White Jenna" was good, too, but not as good. And the Pit Dragon trilogy just rocked! Oo! Can't forget James Gurney's "Dinotopia" (boy, I hope Hallmark doesn't kill it when they make a tv movie).

"The Last Unicorn" is going to be live action?! Wow... *faints* [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Kuruharan]

I read the Chronicles of Prydain once long, long, long ago. I think that it was back in fifth or sixth grade or maybe both. My English teacher at the time had a thing for them. Don't really remember very much about them, but weren't they based on Welsh mythology to a degree or something like that?
That was about the time I developed my chronic addiction to Tolkien so forgive my if my memory is a bit hazy.
Not that I have an addiction to Tolkien or anything...no...I can quit anytime I want to...really! I'll just never want to.
(Who would?)

[NotHomeYet]

I am rather fond of the small series of books that spun off of the computer games Myst, Riven: The Sequel to Myst and Myst III: Exile. The first one, Myst: The Book of Atrus is a spectacularly written novel, enjoyable even if you haven't the foggiest idea what the games are about. The authors paint vivid pictures in your mind and come up with astoundingly original metphors and simlies, comparing silk to the underside of a leaf or seeing the reflection of stars in a pool to "swimming in the sky". You care very deeply for the characters, even the "evil" ones (such as Gehn), as they are shown to have soft spots just like everyone else.

Okay, I'm done rambling now. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Birdland]

Originally posted by Rosa Underhill:
<STRONG>

Oo! Can't forget James Gurney's "Dinotopia" (boy, I hope Hallmark doesn't kill it when they make a tv movie).

Ooooh! "Dinotopia"! I forgot that one. Where's my list...?

"The Last Unicorn" is going to be live action?! Wow... *faints* [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]</STRONG>

Yep. And Mia Farrow doesn't sing on this one!

[Birdland]

Originally posted by Samwise:
<STRONG>BTW, welcome to the 'Downs, Birdland!
</STRONG>

Thank you. Anyone out there know how to translate "Birdland" to Quenya?

[Maltagaerion]

NotHomeYet said...

I am rather fond of the small series of books that spun off of the computer games Myst

I have all three of those books, Book of Atrus, Book of Ti'ana, and the Book of D'ni. Very cool, and cool looking (especially the hard covers) books [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by Kuruharan:
<STRONG> Don't really remember very much about them, but weren't they based on Welsh mythology to a degree or something like that?
</STRONG>

That's what I said. "The Mabinogion" is a book of Welsh Myths from the Middle Ages. That's a good read too.