[Mithfânion]

I feel like reading another big epic again but I am, quite surprisingly, having trouble finding one that meets my demand. I'm not talking about anything extraordinary here, I'm looking for a cool hero, a wise old mentor, dragons, Unicorns, forms of magic, special artefacts, impressive cities, buildings, imaginative things etc. Preferrably with other races.

Now, I'm already familiar (in varying degrees) with JRR Tolkien, GRR Martin, Steven Erikson, Hobb, Eddings, Marco, Brooks and have gathered enough information on Jordan, Russell and Dragonlance.

What have I missed folks, is there something new out there worth trying, some epic fantasy? It needn't be a finished series per se.

Thanks in advance http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited January 16, 2002).]

[Rob B]

Have you tried Michael Moorcock? Though his novels in and of themselves are thin, when they are put together for The Eternal Champion by White-Wolf books, they are quite big.

You could start with his Elric books. I just finished Hawkmoon and it had most of what you are looking for: Magic, impressive cities/buildings, imaginative things, fantastical creatures, cool hero. On his Web site, John Marco cites Moorcock as one of his favorite writers.

Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun has most of the elements you're looking for as well.

I can't remember from some of your other posts, and you don't mention them here, but Tad Williams and Stephen R. Donaldson?

Matt Stover's OVERWORLD books would be considered Epic as well, there's magic, imaginative things, other races and probably the coolest "hero"

[Mithfânion]

Hi Fitz http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

I've read two Elric omnibus volumes, "Elric of Melnibone" (which contains the same stories as "Song of the Black sword" , which is the American omnibus) and "Stormbringer" which also had six stories, amongst wich were Stealer of souls, Stormbringer and Revenge of the Rose.

I felt Moorcock's world was too muddled for my taste. It all felt so inconsistent, too many things that didn't connect for me. Aside from that I could never care for Elric, though he's not a character you'll forget. Still, I find all the praise for him exaggerated. They meet interesting characters and all, but it never felt like a good traditional epic to me. It was, for lack of a better word, an awkward experience.
I did like Corum though, so perhaps Hawkmoon is worth it. Still, they inhabit that Multiverse of his, I really don't like that world. I like a world with some solid history (like Martin, Erikson), myths (Tolkien).

Book of the New Sun seems interesting, have it on my shelf but I've been putting it off because it's always said to be so enormously literary.

Tad Williams is an excellent idea, as you may recall you answered me in a thread I started about him a short while ago. He's definitly on the to read list.

Donaldson was way too dark, gloomy and miserable for me. The land is nice but Covenant's an ass. Uninspired. Perhaps Mordants Need is much better but that doesn't qualify as an epic.




[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited January 16, 2002).]

[Rob B]

It took me a couple of tries to get into Elric myself...However, Hawkmoon is not as dark as Elric

[Warewolf]

Mith,

I wholeheartedly second Fitz's recommendation of Tad Williams. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy was outstanding!

I'd like to tentatively recommend Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince series. It's got cool heroes and bad@$$ dragons, an imaginative magic structure, politics, cool places, etc., but no "other races."

How about Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow? There are 6 or so books out so far and it's definitely of epic scale. Lots of magic, tragic heroes, interesting magic, cool wizards/mentors, centaurs (I think), but, again, no "other races."

You mentioned Dragonlance...how about Forgotten Realms? Salvatore's Drizzt series is outstanding. Great hero, cool artifacts, epic scale, definitely "other races" (dwarves, elves, dark elves, goblins, gnomes...), and definitely some impressive cities (Menzoberranzan (sp?), the dark elf city, definitely qualifies for that one!).

Have you read Weis/Hickman's Death Gate Cycle? It has everything you mentioned except unicorns.

And, since you didn't mention him, my first recommendation would be Goodkind, if you have the heart to read it despite all the bashing he takes on these boards http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif I love that series.

[fluffy bunny]

Try Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionwar Tapestry.

I also liked Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince series when i read them as a teenager, and my brother enjoyed the death gate cycle (I never got round to reading them though).

Salvatore's dark elf trilogy is worth checking out as well.

The next one doesn't exactly fit ur requirements, but have you read the chronicles of the raven books by James Barclay?

I'm also going to recommend redwall, even though it shouldn't be in answer to ur plea, recommendation purely on the basis that redwall's a good book.

Actually, come to think of it, a very close set of books to your request is the chronicles of narnia (C.S. Lewis), but I've got the feeling that you have already read them.

[This message has been edited by fluffy bunny (edited January 16, 2002).]

[ChrisW]

Have you tried Kate Elliotts "Crown of Stars" series? It has most of the things you mentioned.

[Mithfânion]

No, haven't tried that one, nor the Deathgate cycle.

what about these Renshai books by Zucker Reichert?

[DarthV]

I don't think the Renshai trilogies would fit your bill. No dragons, unicorns and little magic in the first trilogy. Nice twist of Norse mythology though. Good reads.

[SusF]

Who wrote the Renshai books? What are the titles? They sound interesting. I love twists on Norse mythology.

Susn