[Shehzad]

Donaldson... now there's an author. Until I read his books, I thought Tolkien was as close to perfection as it got. Donaldson made me re-evaluate that decision. He's a master of both fantasy and sf, and I'm about to begin the Gap series for the 3rd time.

[mikey101]

Tolkien is the best- obviously- I mean, what is there to think about!!!!

[Giarc]

I'm with Mikey, Tolkien rules the fantasy genre IMO. Donaldson never really got me going I'm afraid. His books were simply overly angst-filled IMO....admittedly I haven't read the gap series though.

[Road-Killer]

DONALDSON! DONALDSON! DONALDSON!
There is no argument, he rules the sci-fi, and fantasy genre.
Im itching to read a new book of his but he hasn't put any out in ages so i guess i'll have to wait.

But Tolkein is also one of my all time favourite, he...just rocks.

[Shehzad]

Well, there is fine contrast between Donaldson and Tolkien. Tolkien excels in world-building, there is no question about it. There is no one in fantasy who can even come close to the sweeping grandeur of Middle-Earth. On the other hand, Donaldson had managed to capture the thoughts, dreams, hopes, intentions, motivations and ideas of TWO characters... something that Tolkien did not even attempt to do. (obviously, that is not to his discredit, since that wasn't his style). He's just a different sort of writer, and IMHO, I prefer Donaldson. Let's keep the thread alive though. What do the others who have read both Tolkien and Donaldson have to say?

PS Has anybody got any news about Donaldson's Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant?

[Road-Killer]

Just a word on the Final Covenant Chronicles.
I read some where on the net the he wasn't writing a the final chronicles. i personally hope he does, but who is going to be the main character? linden could i guess, but then it would seem that he would be writing it for money, not any particular purpose.
what are anone elses thought?

[Eventine]

I would be very, very, very happy to see another Thomas Covenant book set in the land.
Maybe a prequel about Kevin - I always thought that maybe he was someone from our world passed into the Land like Thomas Covenant.

As far as news on the final chronicle, I just heard that he was considering writing it, not that he'd actually started or anything.

And for the arguments in the thread, Dune is easily the SF equivelant of Lord of the Rings (apart from being the first).

[Lady Fox]

I agree with lots of you, there are many good fantasy authors out there. I guess my favs would be:
Jordan - Wheel of Time
McCaffrey - Pern series
Rawn - Dragon series (2) and Exiles
Feist - Krondor series
Bishop - Black Jewels Trilogy
Lackey - Valdemar series

[Lani]

It is kinda difficult to pick a fav. There are always different kind of fantasy.
I would say that my favourite author is Zelazny. He wrote long time ago(and unfortunately he is dead), but I think he wrote the most intriguing books of all. One could never guess what would be the next turn and the style was very nice as well.
To think more I can give other authors I liked best in some periods of time.
David Eddings is one of them. The Belgariad series are very nice, but a little too similar to other books of the sort(the typical quest of the hero to save the world). But Eddings's series Elenia and Tamul are much more better IMO. It is much more complicated and it has a fine sense of humor. I enjoyed it a lot.
There are other authors I liked: Weis&Hickmam,Tad Williams, Donaldson and others. Most of them have some strong points and some weak ones. They are good for different tastes and periods of time.
By the way, lots of people admire Tolkien. I always admired the way he did his world and made all the details too, but I don't think I would like to reread LOTR.

[Shehzad]

Hmm... Tad Williams, another good author. The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series is a fantastic variation on the all-too-common theme of "boy grows up to be a hero" The ending is right out of the top drawer, too.

Has anyone read anything by Michael A. Stackpole?