Yes, quite a few of us have read The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, check out these threads for further discussion:
LORD FOUL'S BANE - Discussion opens 1 November Lord Foul's Bane is, of course, the first book in the trilogy.
I started Donaldson...
or just do a Search as the books have been discussed VERY extensively in a number of threads.
I read the first two chronicles back in the late 70s/early 80s and again in the late 80s. I tried to reread them earlier this year. I pushed through "Lord Foul's Bane" but couldn't finish "The Illearth War". I remember loving them, but it seemed I had to work to hard to read them this time. Maybe my attention span is just shorter now. Or maybe I'm conditioned by society to want easy and instant gratification now, and I didn't get that from Donaldson's books.Originally Posted by Pug of Crydee17
does Covenant ever stop being a whining prick of misery?
Yes. Near the end of the first trilogy, Covenant basically starts taking control of his life/responsibility and in the second trilogy, he has his moments of misery(not sure, if I would categorize it as whining), but he definitely takes charge.
good, i guess I will keep reading then
There are only two not yet mentioned epics I can come up with.
I'll add J.V. Jones' A Sword of Shadows trilogy. Though she doesn't seem to be publishing the third book in the series for a while the first two were phenomenal in and of themselves.
I'd also consider trying Sean Russel's The Swans' War which IMO is good if definitely not one of the best. Some really fascinating parts, but also some truly uninspired ones (I was especially disapointed by the last 12 pages or so).
win a signed copy of The Twins
head down to Gary Wassners forum for details
Last edited by werewolfv2; December 9th, 2005 at 11:09 AM.
Im new here so im not exactly sure wat to write for a reply... actually, dis is my first time on a forum... nv mind im getting off topic.
I would reccomend David Zindell. His Lightstone thing is more or less about good guy goes on a quest to save the world thing but with a few very nice twists.
I found Katherine Kerr's Deverry series to be highly absorbing and original. I thoroughly enjoyed all eight books. And if you want a really good story but nothing too heavy, with enjoyable characters and a bit tongue-in-cheek, you can't go past David Eddings The Belgariad and The Mallorean. Great books, lots of fun.
A more recent single volume epic fantasy that I strongly recommend is Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. It seems at first to be a traditional fantasy, but it subverts the assumptions in a lot of ways, has some great ideas in it and some amazing characters. The writing style isn't consistently good, but towards the end it's definitely reached a high level of competence.
Highly original and gritty fantasy from a little-known author. Roughly 10% of people react with violent dislike.
More, however become ardent, evangelical fans.
Cook avoids the pitfall of Jordan and Goodkind (where the protagonist becomes so powerful that most of the writing seems to be finding ways to avoid using his power).
He does this by having each book written from the perspective of a different character (the books aren't consecutive, they're concurrent).
Thus over the course of about 30 years, the different protagonists, each with different objectives, carom about the world struggling for control of various artefacts of power.
The series is cynical - there are few heroes, and those are morally ambiguous.
The series is realistic - some say 'squalid' in places.
Hugh writes to push his readers and himself in new ways. This is why he loses popularity with people who want more-of-the-same in their fantasy series.
hey. i'm new to this thread, but i feel i must give my opinions.
first, Jordan.
the eye of the world is extremely boring. after that it does get better, but not greatly. the series is very slow moving to the point where sometimes you just want to skip to the good parts. i read up to halfway through the fifth book before i stopped. i do plan on starting over sometimes, just later.
Martin.
a song of ice and fire is better in my opinion. it's much easier to get hooked on most of the characters. in TWOT, i really only wanted to read about certain people, in ASOIAF, there is very little that doesn't interest me. six factions battling over a crown, and a bastard that is perhaps my favorite character thus far (Jon Snow). You even find yourself liking certain characters that you wouldn't think you would, like tyrion lannister. sometimes i have to wonder how information gets spread so quickly (even given the ravens, how does one faction get info about another faction without betrayal?) good political intrigue series, but lacks the monsters of say something like the forgoten realms or dragonlance (which isn't necessary, but makes the world feel more magical).
a series i haven't seen in here yet is the rhapsody trilogy by elizabeth haydn. can be slow at times as well, but not a bad read really.
i've heard nothing but good things from my friends about tad williams, eddings and feist. if all else failes, the classics are always worth a revisit - dragonlance's chronicles and legens, or almost anything by salvatore
hullooo ppl. the one fantasy epic that cannot be ignored is winnie the pooh. gotta love that 100 acre woods. and hunny.
ok, seriously, i have become a devourer of fantasy over the last few years and have come across some interesting stories. I loved LoTR and the Silmarillion, n of course the hobbit.
The WHEEL OF TIME series was so addictive but now that book 11 is out, im strugglin to get back into it coz i cant remember whats goin on. but i highly recommend. i won't read Goodkind kind coz he is a jordan copycat... or so i have heard. eddings BELGARIAD was fairly good too.
now to some relatively recent and unheard of books:
The QUICKENING Trilogy by Aussie author Fiona McIntosh was fantabulous, it was so simple in so many ways but that just made everything that occurred so much more dire. i say: READ IT.
Gemmell's RIGANTE series shat all over so many other books ive come across, especially if u like heroic fantasy. even if u didnt, u will when u read these books, theyre awesomely wowing.
I have also enjoyed reading ERAGON and have just started the second book ELDEST... i recommed reading these as Eragon is a fantasy coming to screen this december (2006), and i love fantasy on film. it aint gonna be another dungeons and dragons b grade flop, but right up their with LoTR, if it pays hommage to the books.
thatz all i got for the mo.
Last edited by wallaby_rap; June 12th, 2006 at 08:35 PM.
I can't believe they are making a movie out of Eragon !?!
even so the books are really completely and utterly brilliant!
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