[MissMelsWell]

fenris1011 on Feb 21 2009, 12:36 PM, said:

If you look fantasy I would suggest Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons.

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Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is awesome.

Whenever I see Jordan and Wheel of Time mentioned, I can't help myself... I HATE his writing and think he was a hack. LOL. I know lots of people love his books though.

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Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is alright. I think he is obsessed with rape, though.

I liked Gooddkinds first 3 books, then I was done with him. He was a little like Jordan and at some point the story was just going nowhere and seemed to lose all point, I could have cared less about the characters, and the series turned in to a big snore.

for whatever reason, I never feel any connection or care at all about any of the characters in either of those authors books. I think that's what I'd call, poor character development.

I know tons of people would argue me on that point though.

[thebluevalentine]

How about the original story, I Am Legend?
It's actually very good, very different from the movie with Will Smith. I thought it was incredible

This post has been edited by thebluevalentine: 05 March 2009 - 02:27 AM

[Katkev.]

Ok thanx for your help!!!!

[CausticGnostic]

For fantasy:

Roger Zelazny's Amber series; the first book is "Nine Princes in Amber," but you can now buy the whole series in an omnibus edition. This is truly my all-time favorite fantasy series, by a masterful storyteller.

C. J. Cherryh's Fortress series; the first book is "Fortress of Owls." She's one of my favorite authors; I've got everything she's ever written and cannot recommend her highly enough.

Elizabeth Hayden's Symphony of Ages series; the first book is "Rhapsody."

Robin Hobb's Assassin series; the first book is "Assassin's Apprentice," and her subsequent Ships series, first book of which is "Ship of Magic."

Simon Green's Nightside series. I can't remember which one is the first one, but they're all short, quick reads, livened up with madcap action and Green's quirky British humor.

Jim Butcher's Dresden FIles novels.

For historical fiction:

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, set during the Napoleanic Wars. (Naval fiction)

W. E. B. Griffin's Brotherhood of War series; "The Lieutenants" is the first book; and his Corps series, too, set from WWII to Vietnam. (Military Fiction)

Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series, set during the Napoleanic Wars. (Naval fiction; you may not be able to find this series; for a long time he was available only in the British Commonwealth.)

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series.

Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe series (Napoeleonic Wars) and his Archer series (Seven Years War). (Military fiction)

Wilbur Smith's Ballentyne Family series, which takes place in South Africa, from its colonial beginnings up to the collapse of Apartheid.

Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series, set in Egypt from the later 19th century through WWI. It's a series primarily written for women, with a hefty dose of ather tongue-in-cheek romance, but Peters is such a wonderful writer and her characters are so lively, they're a fun read for anybody who likes a good "archeological murder mystery." The first book in "Crocadile on the Sandbank."

This post has been edited by CausticGnostic: 30 April 2009 - 09:07 AM

[MissMelsWell]

LOL CG, you like a lot of the same authors I do. I too love CJ Cherryh's Fortress series and have read it a couple of times.. they are some of my more dogeared books because I re-read them a lot lol. I'm also a fan of Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Hayden. Since I haven't read the other two you mentioned, I'll have to pick those up! Cool!

You should try the Fiest novels if you haven't read those already... they're really fun.

[TheResearcher]

MissMelsWell on Mar 5 2009, 03:12 AM, said:

Whenever I see Jordan and Wheel of Time mentioned, I can't help myself... I HATE his writing and think he was a hack. LOL. I know lots of people love his books though.

Thank god I'm not the only one. It was terrible reading all 11 of those books

@OP:
Well, there's always War and Peace for historical fiction. It's immense. For fantasy go for David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist, Joseph Delaney, Tolkein, Rowling and Jennifer Fallon. I would recommend more but all my books are at my other house so I don't remember all the authors.

[CausticGnostic]

MissMelsWell on May 4 2009, 10:17 PM, said:

LOL CG, you like a lot of the same authors I do. I too love CJ Cherryh's Fortress series and have read it a couple of times.. they are some of my more dogeared books because I re-read them a lot lol. I'm also a fan of Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Hayden. Since I haven't read the other two you mentioned, I'll have to pick those up! Cool!

You should try the Fiest novels if you haven't read those already... they're really fun.

MissMels:

If you mean Raymond Feist, I've read his "Riftwar" series and enjoyed it--although I was a little miffed that he didn't continue developing the super-magician character (can't remember his name off-hand), but let him lapse in favor of the younger "action"-type characters. I've also read several of his sequals, such as "Prince of the Blood," etc.

Have you read any Sean Russell? I thought he was an awesomely talented writer, but I haven't seen any of his novels in years; they may be out of print now. The first book of his I read was "Under the Vaulted Hills," which was excellent. It had a sequel (can't remember the name, sorry!); and then he came out with his "Swans' War" series. The first book is "The One Kingdom."

I'm also fighting my way through the extremely erratically published series by George R. R. Martin, "Game of Thrones," "Feast of Ccrows," etc. Although clearly high-quality fiction, Martin's fantasy is so hard-edged as to anger a reader who invests too heavily in any of the characters, because he'll spend two novels developing a character you really like, only to kill him or her off at the end. I think he's just being vicious for viciousness' sake, but--what the hey!--he's the author!

Some older works I've re-read recently are Dennis McKiernan's "Iron Tower" and his "Hel's Crucible" duology. Although his intentionally archaic diction and rather stilted dialogue can be irritating to a reader with more modern tastes, I really like his feisty little warrows and pysks! But I'm not a fan of his latest "fairy tale" novels.

Also, David Drake (better known for his excellent military sci-fi) has in recent years been writing an engaging fantasy series--the "King of the Isles" series--which has some really interesting characters.

[CausticGnostic]

TheResearcher on May 5 2009, 07:22 AM, said:

Thank god I'm not the only one. It was terrible reading all 11 of those books

@OP:
Well, there's always War and Peace for historical fiction. It's immense. For fantasy go for David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist, Joseph Delaney, Tolkein, Rowling and Jennifer Fallon. I would recommend more but all my books are at my other house so I don't remember all the authors.

Researcher,

No, you and MissMels weren't alone is hating Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. I thought it was a great premise that wasn't carried out well. Jordan spent far too much time--every damned chapter, in fact!--describing in agonizing detail what everything looked like and what all the characters were wearing, only to set up a brief conversation. I think Rand al'Thor is the wimpiest "hero" every invented! I once sent Jordan an angry e-mail demanding that he kill off about four-fifths of the insufferable female characters he'd foisted off on his readers and that he get back to the truly interesting characters from the first novel and develop them! Needless to say, I didn't receive an answer frmo him. After the first two or three novels, the Wheel of Time got stuck in a big deep rut, and Jordan never hauled it out. Then he had the nerve to die without ending the ridiculous story!

This post has been edited by CausticGnostic: 07 May 2009 - 08:15 AM

[MissMelsWell]

CausticGnostic on May 7 2009, 12:59 AM, said:

MissMels:

If you mean Raymond Feist, I've read his "Riftwar" series and enjoyed it--although I was a little miffed that he didn't continue developing the super-magician character (can't remember his name off-hand), but let him lapse in favor of the younger "action"-type characters. I've also read several of his sequals, such as "Prince of the Blood," etc.

I think I've read all of Feists books. For some reason I just love him. His writing just has a nice cadence for the way I read. The Riftwar Saga is just so much fun.

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Have you read any Sean Russell? I thought he was an awesomely talented writer, but I haven't seen any of his novels in years; they may be out of print now. The first book of his I read was "Under the Vaulted Hills," which was excellent. It had a sequel (can't remember the name, sorry!); and then he came out with his "Swans' War" series. The first book is "The One Kingdom."

Wow! Those don't sound at all familier, I might have some shopping to do! Awesome!!

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I'm also fighting my way through the extremely erratically published series by George R. R. Martin, "Game of Thrones," "Feast of Ccrows," etc. Although clearly high-quality fiction, Martin's fantasy is so hard-edged as to anger a reader who invests too heavily in any of the characters, because he'll spend two novels developing a character you really like, only to kill him or her off at the end. I think he's just being vicious for viciousness' sake, but--what the hey!--he's the author!

I read the first few of Martin's books and really liked Game of Thrones, and the second one too... but I got into the third one and you're right, Martin is so hard that I began to struggle with his stories. They are somehow in your face and he does have a tendency to kill off his characters fairly gratuitously. LOL.

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Some older works I've re-read recently are Dennis McKiernan's "Iron Tower" and his "Hel's Crucible" duology. Although his intentionally archaic diction and rather stilted dialogue can be irritating to a reader with more modern tastes, I really like his feisty little warrows and pysks! But I'm not a fan of his latest "fairy tale" novels.

I'll have to look into these as well! Great! I'm always on the search for stuff to add to my library!

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Also, David Drake (better known for his excellent military sci-fi) has in recent years been writing an engaging fantasy series--the "King of the Isles" series--which has some really interesting characters.

ah yes, Ive read Drake and a few of his Sci-Fi novels. he's a very very good writer.


I think another one of my other favorite Fantasy series is by Jennifer Roberson; the Del and Tiger Volumes. She has both a great sense of adventure AND a clever sarchastic sense of humor. The story really centers around Tiger, his magic sword and his cantankerous horse and his entanglement with Del, a tough and semi-sour Northern Ice Princess. If this story had ships and pirates, they'd be swashbucklers. LOL. They are just fun, not much more than that, but really very enjoyable, action packed with some fantastic head-slapper moments that are histarical. I'd totally recommend them for light fantasy reading.

[Wolf MacCanine]

If you want Fantasy novels,I'd say take a look at the many books written about a "world" created by Mr. Ed Greenwood for his gaming group back in the day. You can find them under the general title of the "Forgotten Realms" (usually right next to other books based on the Dragonlance game world,or the newest one,Eberron),and there are a multitude of writers who have contributed to the series as a whole. Some of these authors have written for other worlds as well,such as R.A. Salvatore,who has also written for "Star Wars"...as well as his own creations.

You can find a list of authors,series,compilations and stand-alones here in this PDF file: http://ww2.wizards.c...NovelsGuide.pdf

Other than that,I'd suggest Alan Dean Foster's "Spellsinger" series,and anything written by R.A. Salvatore outside of his Forgotten Realms works.

[AtlantisRises]

As far as historical Fiction goes, if you want something that is very good but also slightly different I wouild recommend Harry Turtledove.

He writes what is called alternative history and his vision is breathtaking. He has got a few books out the and should be in any decent library

[MissMelsWell]

AtlantisRises on May 7 2009, 11:55 AM, said:

As far as historical Fiction goes, if you want something that is very good but also slightly different I wouild recommend Harry Turtledove.

He writes what is called alternative history and his vision is breathtaking. He has got a few books out the and should be in any decent library

I agree with Harry Turtledove, I think I've read all his books. He's a very gifted writer. He has nice pacing, interesting concepts, vivid characters and he's a terribly organized writer. Good choice AR!

[pippamich]

The best book I've ever read by far would have to be "Good Grief" by Lolly Winston.
It's about a woman who's husband of three years dies from terminal cancer. She has a mental breakdown for the longest time and ends up quitting her job and moving to oregon with a friend to try and pick up the shattered pieces of her life. While there she starts her own bakery and gets involved with the big brother/ big sister thing and meets a 13 year old punk-ish girl to befriend.
The story it witty and charming and has captured my heart. <3

[CausticGnostic]

Wolf MacCanine on May 7 2009, 06:41 PM, said:

If you want Fantasy novels,I'd say take a look at the many books written about a "world" created by Mr. Ed Greenwood for his gaming group back in the day. You can find them under the general title of the "Forgotten Realms" (usually right next to other books based on the Dragonlance game world,or the newest one,Eberron),and there are a multitude of writers who have contributed to the series as a whole. Some of these authors have written for other worlds as well,such as R.A. Salvatore,who has also written for "Star Wars"...as well as his own creations.

You can find a list of authors,series,compilations and stand-alones here in this PDF file: http://ww2.wizards.c...NovelsGuide.pdf

Other than that,I'd suggest Alan Dean Foster's "Spellsinger" series,and anything written by R.A. Salvatore outside of his Forgotten Realms works.

I'm with you about Salvatore. I've read quite a few of his novels, and there are few writers who can describe a fight or battle the way he can! I guess it's all his martial arts training. I really loved the Druzzt, dark drow, stuff, although there are so many Forgotten Realms novels, it's daunting to start reading them. I prefer series written by one author, with a single vision fleshed out in that author's personal style. For the same reasons, I've generally avoided the Weiss/Hickman stuff, which is simply so voluminous as to be forbidding.

[Wolf MacCanine]

CausticGnostic on May 8 2009, 04:51 AM, said:

I'm with you about Salvatore. I've read quite a few of his novels, and there are few writers who can describe a fight or battle the way he can! I guess it's all his martial arts training. I really loved the Druzzt, dark drow, stuff, although there are so many Forgotten Realms novels, it's daunting to start reading them. I prefer series written by one author, with a single vision fleshed out in that author's personal style. For the same reasons, I've generally avoided the Weiss/Hickman stuff, which is simply so voluminous as to be forbidding.

Well,with the Realms novels,each series makes up a part of the whole. One doesn't necessarily need to read all of them (I haven't yet,and there are some that I've left alone because they haven't interested me). I am glad though,that the Realms has such a wide variety of authors adding to it all,since no one author could possibly flesh out such a huge world with so many wonderful characters and give the world itself so much detail without taking a very long lifetime to do it all. Although...I do have to admit that R.A. Salvatore is a very prolific writer who happens to have provided quite a bit of "Realmslore" on his own. By the way,a friend of mine went to a book signing by Salvatore back in the late 90's. While there,someone asked Salvatore how he came up with such vivid fight scenes in the novels. Salvatore's reply was plain and simple,he watches and participates in the sport of...Hockey.

Now,if one wishes to have recommendations made as to which authors and series in the Realms novels would be choice reading material to start with,I could provide a good list from the ones I have in my collection,and the ones that I had the good fortune to borrow from friends. Like I said,each author helps bring something new to the Realms. It all comes down to the reader on how much of the world they wish to read about. Very few of the novels or series tie into other stories,and when they do,it's usually only a small mention here & there (usually with a small explanation so that one doesn't need to go pick up the other series).

As for the Weis/Hickman books,I read the Dragon Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Twilight,Dragons of Winter Night,and Dragons of Spring Dawning),but could go no further. I just could not get into the Dragonlance world. The books were a bit on the bland side (with small sections that actually caught my attention for a short period),and could not keep me interested. I ended up giving those books away.

This post has been edited by Wolf MacCanine: 08 May 2009 - 07:00 PM