Need advice on Salvatore

[Canaris]

I am a 45 year old, with an almost 27 (!) year history in reading Fantasy and sometimes Sci-Fi.

Mainly though, it has been Fantasy that had me hooked.
Mind you, I have had a period of almost 4 years in which I could not pick up a fantasy book. To many Wizards, Dwarves and woman complaining about how they look.

But, out of the blue "it" has come back, meaning my lust for fantasy.

Now, I want to be careful and do not want to read something which will put me off forever, so therefore I have opened this threat.

Out of reasons unknown to myself I have never read anything of Salvatore. I am keen on trying him, but also fear he is more in the childish Fantasy league.

Therefore I would like to how you would describe him and what is to be recommended as the guys has written so much.

I like it gritty. I like it martial and above all I need good prose.
I like GRRM and Hobb.
I definitely do not like Gemmel or Drake

 

[...]

I am a 45 year old, with an almost 22 year history in reading Fantasy and sometimes Sci-Fi.

Mainly though, it has been Fantasy that had me hooked.
Mind you, I have had a period of almost 4 years in which I could not pick up a fantasy book. To many Wizards, Dwarves and woman complaining about how they look.

But, out of the blue "it" has come back, meaning my lust for fantasy.

Now, I want to be careful and do not want to read something which will put me off forever, so therefore I have opened this threat.

Out of reasons unknown to myself I have never read anything of Salvatore. I am keen on trying him, but also fear he is more in the childish Fantasy league.

Therefore I would like to how you would describe him and what is to be recommended as the guys has written so much.

I like it gritty. I like it martial and above all I need good prose.
I like GRRM/ Feist/ Hobb with flaws
I definitely do not like Gemmel or Drake

Salvatore is definitely young adult. I grew out of these books when I was in my late teens early 20's. If you like GRRM, Feist, Hobb you could try Erikson or Bakker. Both of these authors are gritty, although they are a bit darker than Hobb or Feist. If you are looking for good prose you might want to check of Guy Gavriel Kay.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

above all I need good prose.

If this is your #1 priority then Salvatore is not the guy for you, as his prose varies from "workmanlike" to "oh god my eyes they bleed they bleed." There are other good qualities about his books, but the writing itself is not and has never been among them.

 

[Canaris]

JUst realished how much time has gone by.

When I saw that I had written ... gritty Fantasy and... Feist... I knew I had grown old.

Anyway , it was a hell of a good read..... 25 years ago

 

[Cymric]

Salvatore's prose may not be the best but his stories are well thought out (the non-wotc ones anyways) If you are intrested in Salvatore but want well constructed prose i would suggest reading his non forgotten realms stuff. Start out with the woods outback which in a way is slightly autobiographical.

But if you want higher quality stay away from the forgotten realms stuff, while i read it and enjoy it from your post i take it you may not

 

[Jon Sprunk]

I would suggest Glen Cook, especially The Black Company. His newer series (Instrumentalities of the Night) is a good read, too.

I also enjoyed Abercrombie's The First Law series for its grit and superb characters.

 

[Bastard]

Haven't read them, but what about Malazan and Prince of Nothing? Seems like books you might be interested in.

I'm not a good judge of prose, so I won't go into that, but those seem like gritty adult oriented fantasy. Maybe the Godless World too.

The Gentlemen Bastards is a fun book, that can get violent (and gross)... it's got a bit of an Ocean's 11 feel to it at times.

The Acts of Cain and The Steel Remains also might be up your alley.

But again, haven't read... just going by the impressions I've gotten around.

 

[kater]

As said above I don't think Salvatore would be right for you, though if you do consider Feist gritty you may be ok. Most of the opinions above I agree with - Black Company (Cook), Malazan (Erikson), First Law (Abercrombie), Prince of Nothing (Bakker) - I'll also throw in anything by Matthew Woodring Stover because he really writes well and James Barclay's work as he likes killing all his main characters whilst dooming his world over and over

 

[Winter]

If it wasn't for the bit about prose, then I would happily recommend Cook alongside everyone else. However, from what I have seen over the years, Cook's prose tends to be a recurring complaint when it comes to his work. For getting back into fantasy, I am not sure I would recommend this, but I would definitely recommend reading it afterwards.

Salvatore's novels are what got me into fantasy and though I praise some of his earlier works in the Forgotten Realms, I would not recommend them at this time. His DemonWars books--set in a world of his own creation--are another story, as they are quite a large step away from his work in the Realms. They have the requisite grit and martial, but I am afraid the prose may not be up to par. They were never my cup of tea to begin with, but there are a good many people I know that have enjoyed them.

There is also Salvatore's The Crimson Shadow trilogy and though they are my favorite of his novels, they are pure cliche and not so high on the adult or gritty scale. They may score the martial, but they fail in the prose. This is the thing with Salvatore though, if you are looking to read his novels, then you can't go in expecting great prose. You're just not going to find it. I am a fan of his and have read just about his books, so I am not just saying this out of the "kindness" of my spiteful little heart.

Oh, and for the love of whatever you believe in, stay as far away from his Saga of the First King series as you can. That was a series that started well, but quickly turned horrible.

---

I very much agree with Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, as well as R. Scott Bakker and Joe Abercrombie. I am going to throw in Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, just because I can.

 

[DurzoBlint]

Maybe the Godless World too.

While I enjoyed the first half of The Godless World, I am not sure that I would recommend it as it sort of fell apart towards the end. However, it is gritty and at times the prose is fairly decent.

I would go with Erikson, Bakker, or Abercrombie if I were wanting gritty.

 

[Canaris]

OK. That’s it for me. I’ll die without having read a Salvatore book. Seems my gut feeling did not do me wrong after all.

Thx for writing here!.

What amazes me is the vast volume of new Fantasy novels and authors there are nowadays.

I have ordered now a Abercrombie (the blade itself) . I had never heard of him , but from what I have read here , it could be my cup of tea.

 

[LeStat]

Homelend is nice
The cristal shard is good book
Silent blade is ok

But i would recommend following

1) Joe Abercrombie- no.1 pick (It was all Lynch this, Lynch that - come on people get serious, this guy is better)

1,5) Brent Weeks could be option no. 2

2) Steven Erikson and Mathew Wooding Stover -don't go ther before reading something else, leap 2 great

2,5) Paul Cearney - this guy is goooood, but not so popular, don't know why... at least first 3 books ...

btw. Kay is Ok , but Hobb is overrated, Hobb/Friedman/and what is the name Rapsody series were must drop series, I would reather go with Kushiel -series or K.J. Bishop - Etched city!!



3) alan campbell, stephen Hunt, Marya V. Sneider - This I read this month so it is fresh in my memory

4) R.S. Bakker, - ambivalent about this one... Great and frustrating ...

5) greg keyes...

 

[saintjon]

Erikson fits the bill almost perfectly based on what you're saying.

I would throw my hat in with Stover as well. Stover does sort of a similar thing to Salvatore but does it better IMO. The Acts of Caine don't offer much of a "martial" feel though, more of a scrappy blast of ultraviolence right to your solar plexus.

You might want to give The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay a try also. Very martial, not insanely gritty but not unrealistic either. Above all though I defy you to find more beautiful prose. Kay is pretty much on his own level when it comes to mind-blowing prose.

 

[fluffy bunny]

I think it's been said before but I think Salvatore may be a little too 'warm' for your tastes and the books whilst readable won't wow you with prose. That said, I personally wouldn't say some of his work isn't too different in tone from early Hobb although it appeals more to younger readers.

On the other hand what was it that you didn't like about Gemmell? He wrote 'heroes' living in extraordinary times better than most.

Abercrombie and Lynch's work may be up your alley. Abercrombie has a tendency to sacrifice fast plot for character development. Lynch's flash forward, flash back takes some getting used to but it all comes together well.
Alternatively as Kater's alluded to, Stover's Heroes Die may be worth it if you want an evil book.

Moorcock's variable but when he's on top form, his prose can be thought provoking yet whimsical. For adventuring prose, also check out Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun - sure it's not everyone's cup of tea but if you can get past the dense language you'll love it.

 

[EsotericForest]

After Tolkien...Salvatore was the next author to get me further into fantasy. Don't get me wrong, he has written some good books, that I have enjoyed...but if you don't want the more cliche fantasy story...DON'T read his material. It's the typical, elves, dwarves, halflings, and saving the world story, you probably want to avoid. Good if you can just enjoy the story...they're still a fun, light read from time to time.

 

[Seegee]

I hadn't read Salvatore until recently. I managed to find the 3 Spearwielder books in the one book and while I will finish it (I've read the first 2) I'm only doing it out of sheer bloodymindedness. I have to admit to being disappointed. There's so little genuine action and inventiveness or originality shown. I won't be reading any more of this particular author. As we say down here: 'he's not much chop.'