[Liselle]

Hi! I am reading the 4th volume of WoT, at the moment, and it seems to me that I am the only one who is not reading the last one, or has even finished it. So I would like to know if there are any very important series that starts right now, and that I should read, in order to have read everything in time and to partecipate in your discussions...?

[BlakeHyde]

Well, I wouldn't call them 'important,' but I would like to recommend a few series to you.

A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, more forthcoming)
The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest)
Deverry, by Katherine Kerr (Starts with Daggerspell, I believe)

Some series that I don't personally care for that are generally popular are Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series, anything by Terry Brooks (he's horribly verbose), and anything published by TSR. Also, Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic series isn't as good as her Farseer trilogy.

HTH. HAND.

[This message has been edited by BlakeHyde (edited November 18, 2000).]

[Macros]

Terry Brooks is verbose but Robert Jordan is the king when it comes to verbal diarrhea.

What is the point of this post? Nothing much, except to point out the above. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[BlakeHyde]

I hold R.Jordan a little higher than Brooks, actually, because Jordan at least has the decency not to recycle other peoples' plots. Sure, his books are one huge pile of conflicting plots with no relation to each other, but read the Sword of Shannara and then go back and reread the Lord of the Rings. A little resemblance I can forgive, but direct parallels?

[Lady Fox]

Well, Liselle, it's hard to answer your question because I have no idea what you have and have not read. There's a lot of good fantasy out there that is currently in the middle of a series. I encourage you to continue with WoT because I think it's a good series, even if some of the books are not as interesting as the others. For example, Path of Daggers was a real disappointment to me, but Winter's Heart is awesome. You get used to Jordan's books being so good and then something that is less than spectacular (PoD) is even worse. Some good fantasy series that I would recommend include: (* indicates series completed)
Sword of Truth - Terry Goodkind
Black Jewels trilogy* - Anne Bishop
Liveship books - Robin Hobb
Fionavar Tapestry* - Guy Gavriel Kay
Sarantine Mosaic* - Guy Gavriel Kay
The Book of Words* - J.V. Jones
Cavern of Black Ice - J.V. Jones
Crown of Stars - Kate Elliott
Song of Fire and Ice - George R.R. Martin



[This message has been edited by Lady Fox (edited November 18, 2000).]

[allanon]

Well,I think that the Greatest series are Riftwar and Serpentwar...

[FitzChivalry]

Yes, the riftwar saga by Raymond E. Feist and also The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny are good series to read.

[Rob B]

Robin Hobb is amazing, as many have pointed out.

One not mentioned is Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams comprising:
1.) The Dragonbone Chair
2.) Stone of Farewell
3.) To Green Angel Tower (split into to books for paperback)
One great thing about this series is that Williams has completed the series. He has taken the traditions of fantasy; added his own literary voice and has really told a wonderful story. Ending is a bit predictable, but it is what it is.

Stephen R. Donaldson The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever is great, too. The first book is Lord Foul's Bane. Warning though, it is not for the weak of heart; if you can get past a main character that, for the most part is a real @$$hole, and does some less than heroic things in the beginning, then you should like it.

'nuff said.

[This message has been edited by FitzFlagg (edited November 19, 2000).]

[Sojourn]

Very sorry for going off topic here , but I can't help but notice BlakeHyde's comments about Brooks' books being less credible than Jordan's on the basis that Brooks' 'Sword of Shannara' directly parallels Tolkien's LoTR. It never ceases to amaze me how hardly anyone brings up the (IMHO) VERY obvious parallels between WoT and LoTR. An inexhaustive list of such blatant rip-offs:

1) Shaitan, evil sorceror with no true physical form bent on world domination. Sauron, evil sorceror with no true physical form bent on world domination.

2) Shayul Ghul, bleak desolate wasteland populated by monsters and the evil forces of Shaitan.
Mordor, bleak desolate wasteland populated by monsters and the evil forces of Sauron (with a slight geographical relocation).

3) The Two Rivers, quaint rural region whose hardworking, unassuming country folk are inexplicably drawn into great events.
The Shire, quaint rural region whose hardworking, unassuming country folk are inexplicably drawn into great events.

4) Myrrdrall, the dark lieutenants of Shaitan who wield considerable power and radiate fear like a weapon.
Nazgul (Ringwraiths), the dark lieutenants of Sauron who wield considerable power and radiate fear like a weapon.

5) Shienar, the border realm defending the known world from the terrors of Shayul Ghul, with two mighty fortresses, Fal Dara and Fal Moran, guarding the pass called Tarwin's Gap.
Gondor, the border realm defending the known world from the terrors of Mordor, with two mighty fortresses, Minas Tirith and Minas Ithil (now Minas Morgul), guarding the pass into Mordor.

6) Padan Fain, a wretched treacherous creature corrupted by the evil power in Shadar Logoth.
Smeagol Gollum, a wretched treacherous creature corrupted by the evil power of the One Ring.

I could probably come up with more, but that might make me sound like a nit-picky fussypot (if this post hasn't already done that... ^_^). Thank you for your patience. Just needed to let off that little bit of steam.

IMHO... ^_^

[Rob B]

Hey, didn't we go over all this Tolkein stuff in a couple of other post? http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif Just Kidding, so here I go with my hypocritical rant...

It is hard NOT to draw parallels between Tolkein and the majority of Epic Fantasies; especialy where the Bad Guy is rarely (if ever) seen.

While I think Brooks is more blatant of a Tolkein rehashing than Jordan, I do recognize the fact that Brooks brought in A LOT of fantasy readers when he published Sword of Shannara. The main difference I see between Shannara and LOTR is that Shannara takes place on a future Apocolyptic Earth. The characters are SO Similar IMHO; So Here are my Brooks/Tolkein parallels: Sword/Ring; Frodo/Shea; Gandalf/Allanon (mysterious mages); Sauron/Brona (both previously were 'good guys' who turned to the dark side); Sam/Flick; Skull Bearers/Nazgul; Balinor/Aragorn; Orl Fane/Smeagol.

Jordan also admitted to giving the beginning of The Eye of the World a Tokein-ish feel. Similarly, Jordan brought in just as many new fantasy readers with The Eye of the World (and WOT, in general). On this basis alone, these two authors are pretty important to fantasy. I think there is a good deal more originality to WOT, than Shannara. I also think Jordan's characters have MUCH more depth and believability than Brooks, or to a degree even Tolkein. Then again, he has been writing the same characters for 9 books now, and a novella.

That said I did enjoy the first 2 Shannara books, I just had a really hard time looking past the blatant recasting of LOTR on the post-apocolyptic Earth.

Back to the topic, Liselle, give Sword of Shannara/Brooks a try, if for nothing else because it is considered a book important to the genre for bringing in a bunch of new readers to fantasy, and to form and share your own opinion.