Book that just blew your mind....

[Tanaros]

Classics aside (LoTR, Thomas Covenant, Gormenghast, Lankhmar, Earthsea), the book that I read recently and that really blew my mind is Jacqueline Carey's duology The Sundering (Banewreaker and Godslayer). At first I was put off by the fact that it is essence the retelling of the LoTR story from the point of view of the bad guys, but when I saw the recommendation on GRRM's blog. I read it. And I was blown away. The book is much more than what i thought it would be. First and foremost I loved the characters (hence my nick); Ms. Carey's writing style is exquisite - perfect for epic fantasy - the description of tragic events in the ending nearly brought tears to my eyes. Also, it was very thought-provoking. Long after, I was thinking about the book and the fact that history is written by the winners so who can be sure what is the real truth. It still occupies my mind.

[tdnewton]

Classics aside (LoTR, Thomas Covenant, Gormenghast, Lankhmar, Earthsea), the book that I read recently and that really blew my mind is Jacqueline Carey's duology The Sundering (Banewreaker and Godslayer). At first I was put off by the fact that it is essence the retelling of the LoTR story from the point of view of the bad guys, but when I saw the recommendation on GRRM's blog. I read it. And I was blown away. The book is much more than what i thought it would be. First and foremost I loved the characters (hence my nick); Ms. Carey's writing style is exquisite - perfect for epic fantasy - the description of tragic events in the ending nearly brought tears to my eyes. Also, it was very thought-provoking. Long after, I was thinking about the book and the fact that history is written by the winners so who can be sure what is the real truth. It still occupies my mind.

Thanks a lot, now I have to add it to my reading list. I loved Kushiel's Dart but I had a hard time jumping into the 2nd book because they are so [ungodly] long. Even so, her style is very engrossing and it sounds like it translates well to an even more "fantasy" instance. Cool.

Oh yeah, and Jacqueline Carey is my friend on Facebook

[Randy M.]

I think that at different ages we find different things mind-blowing. When I was a teen, the Ballantine paperbacks of H.P. Lovecraft's stories awed me. I was more tolerant of his stylistic peculiarities than I probably would have been 10 years later, and his imagination had a drug-like effect on me; I found his stories not only frightening, but exhilerating as they forced me to think in cosmic terms. On rereading, I'm still mostly impressed, but not all the stories work for me like they once did.

In my late teens, early 20s a friend all but force-fed me LOTR and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. Again, completely floored. The scope of Tolkein's work awed me in its detail, in how exactly he had imagined his settings, characters and events, as did his ability to convey the sense of a long history behind his characters and their societies and cultures, while his themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, loss and love were somehow more accessible to me than they were in books with more contemporary settings. Clarke's book offered a different kind of scope, glimpses of the vastness of the universe of which we are only a very small part (really, in a way, it's only a little different from Lovecraft in this respect).

The books I've read recently that I would characterize as mind-blowing were Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith and The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison. The former is made up of a series of short stories connected by taking place in the titular country, near the end of the life of the world. The latter shows a great compassion for flawed characters not much different in age or circumstances from myself, and how they cope with an experience they shared when young that they can barely admit to themselves much less express in words.


Randy M.

[Esmenet]

The Road-Cormac Mccarthy because I had to stay up and finish it in one night and it managed to make me depressed for a week straight
The Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogy- Robin Hobb because the characters left a lasting imprint on my life ( i named my dog beloved and i'm getting a tattoo of the fool)

[Andols]

I think that at different ages we find different things mind-blowing. When I was a teen, the Ballantine paperbacks of H.P. Lovecraft's stories awed me. I was more tolerant of his stylistic peculiarities than I probably would have been 10 years later, and his imagination had a drug-like effect on me; I found his stories not only frightening, but exhilerating as they forced me to think in cosmic terms. On rereading, I'm still mostly impressed, but not all the stories work for me like they once did.

In my late teens, early 20s a friend all but force-fed me LOTR and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. Again, completely floored. The scope of Tolkein's work awed me in its detail, in how exactly he had imagined his settings, characters and events, as did his ability to convey the sense of a long history behind his characters and their societies and cultures, while his themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, loss and love were somehow more accessible to me than they were in books with more contemporary settings. Clarke's book offered a different kind of scope, glimpses of the vastness of the universe of which we are only a very small part (really, in a way, it's only a little different from Lovecraft in this respect).

The books I've read recently that I would characterize as mind-blowing were Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith and The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison. The former is made up of a series of short stories connected by taking place in the titular country, near the end of the life of the world. The latter shows a great compassion for flawed characters not much different in age or circumstances from myself, and how they cope with an experience they shared when young that they can barely admit to themselves much less express in words.


Randy M.

I completely forgot about childhoods end. one of the most amazing short works ever.

[Singularity101]

Actually now that I think back.. I believe 'The Giver' was my first piece of fantasy that opened my mind to the genre..

[Fred Gallney]

Three books that REALLY blew my mind away; are complete masterpieces are:

The Fellowship of the Ring - because a band of unlikely heroes in a sleepy village discover that darkness and evil are gathering in the world outside their borders. They find that the only way to vanquish it is to set out on the "Heroes Quest". besides that, this book was just amazing because the Ring-wraiths were depicted exceedingly well, and when the first black-rider went past the hobbits in the very shire itsell, it sent a thrill of fear up my spine. The Ring-Wraiths in the other two books were not as exciting - they became background enemies for the most part and now that we knew what they were it wasn't so exciting for fearful.

Also, the scenery, characters, and especially Rivendell, Moria and Lorien were just stunning and described with beautiful clarity - also the movie enhanced and actually brought these description to life!

Gandalf the Gray will always be my favorite, however Gandalf the White had his moments.

The Eye of the World - This book is the first wheel of time novel and is frankly the best and shows the potential for a thrilling and fast-paced series. it stuck to the main plotline (the battle between good and evil) and the sense of pure evil pursuing rand and his companions is evident.

The Wizard of Earthsea - this book brought a new meaning to the fantasy genre whilst drawing upon known and common elements. it showed that humans and all creatures are good and evil but it is the path in life that we take that ultimately decides which we are. it was entertaining and frightening when ged was pursuded diligently by the Shadow.

[kalam007]

A Song of Ice and Fire blew me away too but for me the one that sets the standard on how I judge books would have to be the A Tale of The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson.
I've read a Lot of books and besides Martin I can't think of any other author who can rival Steven Erikson.

ps. Erikson dedicated ATOTMBOTF to Glen Cook's Black Company

[Bear]

For something recent, I'd have to say McCarthy's The Road. That book really hit me, then stuck with me for a long while after. It was genuinely horrifying at times, and got me teary-eyed more than once. McCarthy's writing always takes me a little time to adjust to, but it's always worth it. The Road is my favorite from him.

[Ranke Lidyek]

The Road:

"The world was grey; dust and ash everywhere. He looked at the boy. I'm scared, the boy said.
I know.
The night was black. Oh, God. God. I hate you, God. There was dust and ash everywhere.
I dreamed about a penguin, the boy said.
I know.
I'm scared.
Me too.
The road was black.

THE END."

[sic's mom]

I've heard so much about "The Road" that I do want to read it. But everyone seems to agree that it is a depressing book, so I will just have to wait till I am in the mood for something like that. I read that Viggo Mortensen is playing the lead role in the movie. Well he can do angst well, so I will probably have to see the movie also.

Now on to the topic at hand. Book that blew my mind. Well, I have only been reading fantasy for about eight years now. There have been so many books that have made me think about them for days after I finished. Probably the most recent would be The First Law trilogy by Abercrombie. These books just really blew me away. I read all three this year and I even ordered LAOK from oversees and I never do that. But I just had to see how it was ending. Can't wait for "Best Served Cold" but that isn't until July here in the states. But honestly the series that probably did the most "mind blowing" for me was ASOIF. I know we have all said what a "god" Martin is and are all anxiously awaiting Dragons. And there is a lot of chatter that is angry at Martin for waiting so long. But I can wait. Unlike some I loved all four of the books. I think Crows was necessary. I read all four somewhat closely, haven't had to wait for any until now. But Crows was a quieter novel and after Storm I think it was needed. What Martin did for me was make me realize that these stories don't always have to have a happy ending. Until I read this series they always had. The good guy always wins and evil is always vanquished. Martin changed that for me. He may not have been the first in the genre, but for me it was. I love the grey world he writes, everything isn't black and white. Don't get me wrong, I still love the good guy books where evil is vanquished, but Martin will always have a place in my heart that shows the fantasy world isn't always black and white.

[LuBu]

1. Even though the intelligentsia regularly slams Jordan, I unequivocally believe the entire WoT series is mind-blowing.

Whether or not the progression of the main plot-lines slowed considerably later in the series, the scope and detail of world-building and character development is breathtaking.

Prior to Jordan, I never enjoyed re-reading books. I read fiction and fantasy to experience wonderment and the "new." As I have a very good memory, re-reading something just doesn't do it for me.

But Jordan is spectacular . . . there is so much tight complexity . . . it is like a puzzle where one can read for clues, think a bit, and then *derive* conclusions about what actually happened, what has to happen in the future, etc. With Jordan, there is just so much room for thought inspired by the pages, but off the pages.

2. I recently finished Erikson's MBoTF series. It took me about 4 books to even get a sense of comfort with whatever the hell was going on. The dude simply makes no effort to introduce you to his world. Regardless, I was fascinated the whole way through . . . and Karsa Orlong may be my favorite character ever.

3. I'm not too proud or pretentious to admit that the entire Harry Potter series blew my mind. What a neat and original concept.

4. Michelle Sagara's (West's) Sunsword Sextet was pretty engrossing, poignant, unique, and refreshing. It's the first and only fantasy series which I've read that has such a concentrated blend of elements of far-eastern culture. It totally worked for me.

5. I have to give Butcher props for Codex Alera. He *actually* pulled off Romans plus Pokeman.

[Seak]

2. I recently finished Erikson's MBoTF series. It took me about 4 books to even get a sense of comfort with whatever the hell was going on. The dude simply makes no effort to introduce you to his world. Regardless, I was fascinated the whole way through . . . and Karsa Orlong may be my favorite character ever.

Does it really take that long to get into that series? I just started Gardens of the Moon and I have that going on. I can't stop reading, but I really have no clue what's going on. I thought for sure it'd be done after this book.

It's really well written and I'm really intrigued, but completely clueless.

[LuBu]

Does it really take that long to get into that series?

I started getting into it somewhere near the middle of the first book. But, yeah it took about 4 books for me to get a sense of familiarity and comfort with Erikson's style.

At some point one begins to trust him to resolve what would normally be considered main plot-lines, but then one ultimately realizes that what would normally be considered the "main plot-lines" are really just secondary brush-strokes intended to paint the "real" story, which is much larger in scope.

I just started Gardens of the Moon and I have that going on. I can't stop reading, but I really have no clue what's going on. I thought for sure it'd be done after this book.

It really started making a lot more sense to me when I realized the books are more about world-building than the particular stories of individuals. Erikson tells us about the characters primarily to inform us about the larger workings of the world, rather than about those characters.

Remember, these books and this world were devised as the setting for an RPG.

It's really well written and I'm really intrigued, but completely clueless.

Believe me, I just finished the last book and *still* have a strong case of the WTFs.

[collar]

The first one for me was Hyperion. Altered Carbon more recently. Fantasy wise I would say all of the Bakker books.

Have to agree about Hyperion, one of those books that you put down at night and just lay there with eyes open, unable to sleep because you're thinking about it. Leaves such a massive impression on the reader.