[milamber_reborn]

David Eddings
Tad Williams
George R R Martin
Roger Zelazny
Sara Douglass
Goodkind (first name?)
Robin Hobb
Stephen Donaldson
Guy Gavriel Kay
Kate Elliot
Anne McCaffry
Gene Wolfe
James Barclay
Terry Pratchett
J K Rowlings
Margaret Weiss
Hickman (first name?)
Terry Brooks
Katherine Kerr
David Gemmell
Stephen Erikson

These are a list i have compiled of authors i have not read and would like to from reading old posts. Any other suggestions would be great. I'm determined to read most of them.

Information i'd like: eg. Gritty, action-packed, heavy romance, heavy violence, detailed, light on detail, elves and dwarves type story or different, setting etc.

[This message has been edited by milamber_reborn (edited February 02, 2002).]

[bir]

im not really good at describing so ill just fill in the blanks http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif
Terry Goodkind and Tracy Hickman
Well Goodkind is full of romance and heavy on violence (really heavy)he does not use elves or dwarves which normal fantasy books use
he uses prophecies and the like

Rowling for me is a very good writer. harry potter may have been branded as a childrens book but i clearly think that the plot is awsome. she twists the plot so much that its practically impossible to guess the ending.she has a great imagination. She uses humor in her writting and its very easy to read

i have only read one of brooks books and it was angle fire east. i didnt like it that much. it was a modern day fantasy concerning deamons. i heard his shannara series is good though, i surely hope so

i have only read weis and hickmans short stories so i hav no comment

i have 2 of martins books but i still havent read it (finishing book reports for school)i hear hes action packed though and he kills his characters without ressurecting them LOL http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif its something like fantasy + politics

[Bond]

milamber_reborn I presume you like Feist. I would recommend Weis and Hickman as the most similar to Feist among those authors I've read. Their defining works porbably still are their Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends books. Their Rose of the Prophet Trilogy is also a winner and The Death Gate Cycle might be good too. The other series might be disappointing though.

David Eddings is a somewhat more simplified and more linear Feist. I've heard Brooks compared to Eddings.

Rowling's language in Harry Potter is superficially as simple but I think she excels more in giving depth to her words and the objects in her world. Not standard sword and sorcery fantasy a la Tolkien either. Has a whimsical touch a la Travers's Mary Poppins and Dahl's Willie Wonka generously mixed. Their works probably have more in common with Harry Potter. Rowling's fantasy world is an invisible part of our world not a separate one.

I'm surprised you didn't mention Robert Jordan. If you said whether you liked him or not and why I could give better advice on Goodkind and Martin, and the others could fill you in on Erikson. Your thoughts on Tolkien would also help.

My general impression is that people who enjoy Feist tend to enjoy Weis and Hickman, Eddings, and Jordan and tend to shy away from those authors who attempt to approximate Tolkien's heavier style and tone.

[This message has been edited by Bond (edited February 02, 2002).]

[lukaspriest]

George R R Martin's books take place in a land of political turmoil and subtle magic. This is dark stuff. He's ruthless with characters, so don't get too attached. His works are VERY violent, quite sexually explicit, and just plain awesome. These books have some interesting history to them which explain current fueds. A must read.

Robin Hobb wrote the Farseer Trilogy (I have yet to read the Liveship Traders) and it was fantastic. It was the first time I'd read a fantasy series written from a first-person perspective. Whats amazing is that she wrote the series from a male point of view...and did a wonderful job doing so. These books too are somewhat political, in that they deal with the inheritance of a throne. Magic is somewhat limited. Most interesting is the main character's training to be an assassin and his mentor. Way cool. I loved these books. Somewhat violent, wonderously entertaining.

I read Weis and Hickman several years ago, and they were good. Most notable of their works would be the Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends, and their DeathGate Cycle books. Quite good. They dont really scream any of the attributes you listed, as in, they're not really dark or violent or anything...but they are heavy in fantasy elements as their names imply. (Dragons, dwarves, elves, etc) Pretty good...but I'd definitely spring for one of the other two I mentioned.

[Sammie]

Put really simply:

I haven't read any of:
Sara Douglass
Stephen Donaldson
Margaret Weiss
Hickman (first name = Tracey?)
Kate Elliot
Stephen Erikson
Katherine Kerr

Tad Williams, I have only started Otherland Bk 1, and Gene Wolfe I have oly started Shadow and Claw, but a fair summary of both seems to be "Dark and 'wordy'" Prose is good - but not very easy to read - almost like they're trying too hard.

J K Rowling has written a series of books for children. This doesn't mean they aren't enjoyable - but they are a little simplistic both in terms of plot and prose.

Goodkind (Terry, btw), McCaffrey and Eddings all seem to write a more teenager orientated, less adult, and less original, in terms of plotline, fantasy. Still to some tastes, but Eddings epecially can come across as almost infantile, and very 'clean'. No one you like will die - i can guarantee you that, at least. Light reads, all, but personnally i still enjoy them!

Rather more gritty and realistic and, IMO, better written all round are GRRM's books and Barclay's 'Chronicles of the Raven'. GRRM's plot convulution's in ASoIaF have to be read to be believed. Barclay and GRRM's others are more straightforward, yet very well written. These books are for grown-ups!

Also more adult reads are GGK's Tigana (only one of his I've read) - with flowing prose and a plot that can only be desscribed as 'smooth', and Robin Hobb (only read Liveship), who again has a very easy to read style. Neither goes for a paricularly complex plot, but nor is the ending in plain sight long before you get there.

Terry Pratchett is, IMO, hilarious - esp his earlier discworld stuff, and the City Watch books. Often has very cynical approach to human nature. And a nice, readable, style of writing. If you pick the City Watch or the books about the Witches, you get a good plot, too.

Roger Zelazny I'll leave to someone whose read more of his stuff, as he seems to have quie a versatile style.

Terry Brooks and David Gemmel i'll leave to s'one else cos i think they're both utterly talentless - and not everyone agrees.....

Thus ends my summary.....!


[This message has been edited by Sam82 (edited February 02, 2002).]

[Lani]

David Eddings - quite a bit of action, some humor, a bit of romance, easy read, usually only about humans and Gods.

Tad Williams - lots of action, only little bit of romance, though many interesting non-sexual relationships, easy to read, average amount of violence, some interesting non-human characters (not typical). Highly recommended.

George R.R. Martin - very realistic, a whole lot of action, lots of unpedictability, more sex than romance i'd say, quite detailed, lots of violence and other mature themes, no elves, dwarves, etc.

Roger Zelazny - Excellent writer!!!(IMO http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif) Quite a bit of action, somewhat detailed depending on the book, almost no romance, sophisticated language, some violence varying on a book, very creative plots with twists, fantasy bordering with sci-fi, no elves etc.

Havn't read Sara Douglas

Terry Goodkind - lots of action, very easy to read, heavy and sappy romance, lots of violence, not too detailed, everything depends on magic, humans only.

Robin Hobb - fair amount of action, semi-detailed, good language, some romance, average amount of violence, mostly hero fantasy. Some books that she wrote as Megan Lindholm have elves and magic and many other creatures.

Can't really say anything about Stephen Donaldson or Guy Gavriel Kay.

Kate Elliott - lots of action, fair amount of romance, quite detailed, some violence, some elves and other magical races, quite a bit of attention to magic and politics.

Anne McCaffrey (based on Pern series) - sci-fi bordering fantasy, life on a planet, attention mainly on dragons and humans, quite a bit of action, average amount of details, not too much violence, some romance.

Can't say anything about Gene Wolfe,
James Barclay, and Terry Pratchett.

J.K Rowling - very magical world, somewhat detailed, not much violence, no romance, quite a bit of action, very entertaining.

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hichman - not very detailed, some war scenes and violence, a bit of romance, lots of different races, magic, typical D&D fantasy.

I didn't read Terry Brooks.

Katherine Kerr - semi-detailed, not too much violence, not much romance, some magic, revolvs around two main races, pretty typical fantasy world.

David Gemmel - lots of action, average on details, some romance but not too much, only Earth magic, different civilization levels presented, easy to read.

Can't say anything about Erikson.

Hope my descriptions helped.

[Bond]

milamber_reborn, I have just read some of your comments regarding Jordan and will give this advice: lay off books 7-9. Books 7, 8, and the first half of book 9 are much more descriptive and slow harking back to the pace of book 1 of WoT. Only in the latter half of book 9 does the pace start to pick up again. In the meantime I suggest starting A Game of Thrones by Martin. Probably the closest thing to Jordan's WoT I'm aware of in terms of ambition and convolution though you should know the blood, sex, and brutality will increase markedly. Maybe you should add James Clavell to your list of authors to read if you like this kind of stuff even if he isn't fantasy per se.

[JohnH]

Then again he may well like aCoS, tPoD and WH . Since he seems to like WoT, I don't think he will make much sense of the series if he jumps right from LoC to thesecond half of WH.

Part of many gripes I have seen concerning the latter books in the series, really seem to stem from Jordan not specifically addressing what they wanted to see. Delayed gratification causing some of the frustration. Having all three books to read may alleviate this problem (one I never really had).

[ChrisW]

yeah don't stop reading them. 7,8 and 9 are all great books http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif.No slow down as far as i'm concerned. But I will say that I enjoyed them more the second time I read them.

[Bond]

Considering WH ends pretty well I guess continuing won't be too much of a letdown. I myself don't find CoS and PoD bad but they were more frustrating given they left one on a down note and a year or more away from a continuation. If it wasn't for the Darlin romance I think CoS would have been very disappointing and I still think it my least favorite WoT book. All that time spent describing the goings on in Ebou Dar was grating.

[This message has been edited by Bond (edited February 03, 2002).]