Well, when HerenIstarion first put me on to Pratchett, he suggested I read them in order as some of the books are dependent on previous Discworld info.

However, I have jumped around too. I love Witches Abound, which is, I think the last in the Witches Trilogy, which includes Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters. I am desperately waiting my turn for the latter two from the library, not that I don't think they are worth buying, but if I parcel out my pennies wisely, they go farther. ;)

Witches Abound is a hilarious parody of all kinds of witch, fantasy and fairy tale lore. Try fighting against a happy ending, will you? Try fighting against story itself, will you? Think that the girl doesn't always have to get the handsome prince? Throw in some voodoo magic, mancats (he's hilarious), werewolves, vampires, dwarves, and uncooperative magic wands and you've got one of the most humorous takes on fantasy going.

For most imaginative with a twist of unsettling eeriness, my money is still on Gaiman.

I started on a Witches book with Terry Pratchett and it put me right off for a long time. About 2 years later I picked up Guards Guards and have been hooked ever since, even on the Witches books. Definitely worth reading!

Techinically there is an order Firefoot, but you can really read them in any order, as they are also themed in a way.

That's true to some extent, but really you can get a good grasp of the characters without having read their introductions, and there is often a mini-summary at the beginning of the book as the story unfolds so you get to know enough of the history to be going on with.

Sorry to be stubborn, but read the sci-fi novels of Iain M. Banks. You don't crave for others after reading them... :)
(And yes, you are frustrated when he does not write a sci-fi novel in a year X...)

Unimaginable fantasy, incredible characters, especially female (that confessed also by my female-feminist friends who dig the books wholeheartedly), never really know what's going on and the worlds are just astoninshing!

I really liked a The Lost Thingymawhatsits of Shamarra, I also enjoyed The Chronic Sisters of the St Thomas Convent of Unbelievers. The best however were Hairy Potter and The Prisoners on a Razorban closely followed by Potty Harry and The Goblin's on Fire.

P.S. I did'nt think much of Potty Harry and The Philanderer's Stoned

Oh, you are quite right that Banks (by any name) is a superb writer of great stories, great characters, entirely unique take on everything, whether he writes under "M" or not. Consider Phlebas was one of the best reads I'd had in along time, and I'm currently on Feersum Endjinn. He does something incredible to and with language and his power of invention is awesome. It might just be me, but possibly I prefer his "mainstream" stories--Whit and The Wasp Factory, which more probably to me belong under the rubric distopia.

Which raises the point of why I hadn't mentioned him... Most of the authors named here I think belong to a particular kind of Fantasy, one that I would call a sub-genre of the larger category of Speculative Fiction, which to me combines both science fiction and fantasy, all kinds of fantasy and not simply the fairy kind mainly represented here.

But let's not split hairs or definitions! There could well be dwarves in space I have not read of--or have forgotten. It's a sad state that reading new books sometimes pushes older ones out of the memory pool. ;)

Thanks to those of you who responded. It helps. :)

I've read some of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, but I just couldn't get into them.

One series I absolutely loved was His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I'm not exactly sure if you would classify that as fantasy, though. I'm not sure how else you would group it in that case.

I see I'm about the 10,000th person to mention Terry Pratchett, but I still have to. I read Good Omens and thought that that was a "wickedly excellent book" (to quote my 7th grade book report), and then my friend turned me onto the Discworld Series. Yet another awesome set of books.

I haven't read much Neil Gaiman, but I did read American Gods, and as soon as I turned it back in to the library, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a copy of my own. It was that good.

Mmmm, The Wasp Factory. That has to be in my all time top ten books. What an incredibly horrible, disturbing, but yet somehow magical book!

Bringing it back to my current favourite, Gaiman, I'm nearing the end of the Sandman series now, and I'm stunned by the scope of his writing, which seems to veer from horror to fantasy to sci-fi to satire. I think they might fit under Bethberry's category nicely.

I used to be very sceptical about comics and graphic novels and wonder how they could possibly be classed as literature but I've realised I was simply blinkered as they all demand a 'script' which must be as well written as a traditional novel in order to provide a compelling read. And the breadth of Gaiman's own reading is immediately clear in Sandman - not many 'comic books' venture into scripture, Roman history and ideas about gender, but he throws just about anything and everything into the plot. I find his knowledge and imagination as intimidating as I find Tolkien's.

Everyone should read them, but they aren't cheap, I warn you. :eek:

Tell me about it. Let's see... if each one is roughly $20 (no idea what that is in pounds or euros) and I've bought 11 Sandman graphic novels (the 10 in the series plus Endless Nights), then I've spent $220 on the Sandman. Wow.

Would I spend more? Of course! They're worth it, though, because you can read them again and again.

Yep. That's some deep stuff. Speaking of ideas about gender, my favorite character in the whole series is probably Wanda (NOT Alvin). :D

It's bad enough that the core series is so expensive, there are even more peripheral books that you can buy! I've got hold of Death:the High Cost of Living, and the Sandman Companion too. Some of the add-ons are actually written by Gaiman, but there seems to be a whole Sandman Library that Vertigo comics do too, written by other writers, including stories about Thessaly and so on. Kind of a library of 'official' fan-fics, I suppose. ;)

I've heard tell that Gaiman wants to release a single volume of all the Sandman stories - now that would be amazing, and would probably break your arms too. :eek:

I loved Wanda too! There's some interesting stuff about the character in the Sandman Companion that's worth reading (if you've not already got a copy that is!).

Must continue this babbling... but having read a lot of Guy Gavriel Kay lately (A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan and currently The Last Light of the Sun), I must say he's advancing to my favourite writers. I love the way he writes and I love his characters. He has tradegy, but not too much or syrup-like. I heartily recommend.

I don't actually. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. An "official fanfiction" book I highly recommend is the Sandman: Book of Dreams (I believe it is called). It has some lovely stories about all the characters of the Sandman, including a really good one about Cain and Abel (ahhh, nothing like twisted brotherly love).

Books, books and more books!
 

Oh... this thread is so huge I've had distinct trouble wading through it all and have given up prior to the end!
I thought I'd mention some of the stuff I've appreciated from my collection, apologies if they've been discussed before.

I think one of the great things about Tolkien is that once you've read the books, in my case at around the age of 8 or 9 I believe... They set you on a path of appreciating really creative, well thought out writing, in no matter what genre you prefer to wade. The downside to this (if you see it as a downside that is) is that it can make you a lot more picky about what you spend your money on... which sometimes can be somewhat frustrating when you've run out of current favourite authors and have to go looking for new ones! Here's some of mine, and I hope it might help anyone that is perhaps in that situation :)

William Gibson is a must for anyone interested in the more cyberpunk end of things.... he in fact pretty much created cyberpunk all on his own.

Neil Gaiman has been mentioned a lot here I note, but I thought I'd bring him up anyway, simply because he is probably the only author whom I can quite honestly say I find myself checking regularly on, to see whether there's been a new release... he is creating some incredibly unusual and enthralling stuff, not least of which were the Sandman series.
For those of you who are graphic novel fans by the way, I've recently started purchasing the Sandman spin off series Lucifer, which though not written by Gaiman is very much in his vein of thinking (think gods, devils, unseen universes, social commentary, dark humour). Well worth a read!
Oh and if you really want to find out where the origin of the wave of these sorts of adult graphic novels is, see if you can find yourself a copy of Watchmen... it was I believe the first of this kind, with a very unusual twist on the usual superhero scenario.

Orson Scott Cards "Ender" series is also well worth a read, another one with plenty of social commentary, set in a future galaxy where we're about to be destroyed by an alien race (or are we?) Sounds like a cliché I know, but very well written!
Shame the man himself is something of an outspoken character really…

I've not heard anyone mention the Dan Simmons Hyperion cantos which I'm quite surprised at?

And last but by no means least what about Peter F Hamilton? His night's dawn trilogy is stunning.... and you can't really fault any of the Minstar stuff (I forget the name of the series :eek: ) either.

Oh there's so many more!!!!!! I just love reading :)

Beware of the Canonicity thread then. Or arm yourself with some nurofen and a stiff drink before attempting. ;)

I've been tempted by Watchmen too, mainly as Alan Moore was a major source of inspiration for Neil Gaiman (hark at me, I'm turning into some sort of fan-gurl). But another good one is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which I got cheaply a while back - it's way, way better than the film!

I watched the film of Sin City a few weeks back and I really enjoyed it. Has anyone read the books? I know they're not fantasy, but...

David Gemmell dies at 57. here

I have to admit I've never read any of his work, but for others who have this is tragic news. Let me know his best novel.

Maybe that'll be my next comic endeavor, then, because I liked the movie a lot... and if the comic is even better, that makes Enca a happy girl.

Dust
 

That is indeed tragic news, for 57 is yet still in the prime of years. I'm sure Gemmell has stalwart fans among people here at the Barrow Downs and I'm sure that in particular Squatter ahd his friend Palando of the Blue Robe will be saddened to hear of Gemmell's passing. They can probably speak best to his finest work.

I have read but two of his books, Midnight Falcon of the Rigante series and White Wolf. He had a way with history and fantasy; his fans are legion; that I have not read others speaks more to time's intemperate chariot than to any disinterest on my part.

Barrow Downs has a tie-in with the fantasy of Gemmell, for a Rohan game tried once to see if Gemmell's style could be merged with Tolkien's. If any are interested you can take a look at the game Betrayal of Trust.

I am reading Harry Potter...again... :p

I am sure that some of you have read Eragon and Eldest. Really good stuff.

I'll have to read Eragon again before the movie comes out. As I recall it was an okay premise, with some characters that weren't all mind-bendingly dull, but was marred by a clunky narrative & clumsy names. I would like to see what sort of writer Paolini matures into, though.

I've spent the past couple of weeks reading the Wheel of Time series. *claws face* I've currently started The Book Where Nothing Happens. If you do happen to pick up this long and somewhat-less-than-stellar series, be prepared for a long list of indistinguishably-named confusing minor characters and pompous, prejudiced, controlling, intolerant, smelly, overbearing, evil, witchy, excruciatingly aggravating women. Too bad Asmodean died.

I need to write me a fantasy that doesn't have a flawed boy-hero who tries to avoid his destiny. Or Aes bloody buttered onions Sedai.

Talon of the Silver Hawk is the last fantasy book i've read so far..., its a great story and i want to get the sequel

Gil, the sequel was pretty good too... I believe the third one is also out but I have yet to read it.

Let's see....well, I'm still a huge Shannara series fan (Terry Brooks), though I long finished reading all the books. Perhaps I should start reading other novels besides Shannara by Brooks....

I finally got around to reading The Chronicles of Narnia last year before the movie came out. I absolutely fell in love with the books. I sure did miss out in my childhood.

I also read a book called The Assassins of Tamurin by SD Tower some time ago. Great book- I'd recommend it. :)

I recently bought Eragon and it is next on my list of books to read. I haven't really been reading that much this summer- it's not like I don't have enough unread books on my shelf. I've just got to get myself out of the lazy mode... :rolleyes:

My two brothers constantly talk about the Wheel of Time series, they keep joking how the series goes on and on and the author might not finish the series before he passes away (hes 70-something i beleive)

The Bible and the Koran .

And regretably they cause more grief than LOTR .

Come on, everyone likes R.A. Salvatore. Dark Elf Trilogy, Icewind Dale, Legacy of the Drow, Hunters Blades, among a couple others. Fascinating author.

Ah, yes. I've owned both The Dark Elf Trilogy and Icewind Dale Trilogy for years now, but for some reason I never got around to reading them.

I really need to stop buying new books and read the ones I already have. :rolleyes:

Brinniel, I have that same exact problem. I buy like three books at once, and the next time I get to reading them is a year afterwards. I must have 10 books that I have had for a while that I still have yet to read.
P.S. Read the Hunter's Blades trilogy. Too exciting to put it down!!!

Me too. I blame those good offers in Waterstones. And I see a new Bill Bryson book is out so it won't be long before I'm tempted to buy that!

However, I'm now re-reading His Dark Materials again after all the Pullman debate, so I can make some more informed comments. And it's a great read anyway, despite what people say. I'd forgotten what a great character Lyra is!

Yeah, that debate prompted me to reread HDM.

Interesting how it has two such powerful female characters, Lyra and Mrs. Coulter, with Mary Malone being an interesting one two. ;) At least, I enjoyed her more in Book III this time.

Do! We bought it a few weeks back and while I've barely started it since my dad has been hogging it, he highly recommends it.

It does go on and on - though he's not quite sixty yet. He does have a rare blood disease. He says the next book will be the last, though it looks to be long in the writing

Narnia

I've lately read the three first parts of The Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. They're quite fascinating. The characters are well-wrought and the events interesting.

I know how to quote! Booyakah!
 

How long has it been out for? It sounds good, but then again, it will probably end up in the I-have-yet-to-read stack
:rolleyes: :D

This weekend, I read the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, and am just halfway through the Tawny Man trilogy by the same. I picked them up because I think someone on this thread recommended them. Yes. Um.

I can also recommend them - it's a different kind of fantasy than I've encountered before. About a boy/man caught up in events long foretold, yet it doesn't get too preachy nor does the boy/man "come into his own" with ease or a sudden predictable showing-up of magic. If that makes sense.

I also read teh dreaded HP series a month or three ago. I was pleasantly surprised, I expected it to be more childish or "insidious" in some way. The main problem I had with it was that Harry's a stupid wilfull git.

I confess recommending them. :) I just love them and very much agree with your points here. (Yes, they do make sense, at least to me.)
There has been four books (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows) this far, the first was published in 1996 and newest last year. There are still three books to come.
It's epic fantasy, including plotting, drama, warfare and complex relationships. Furthermore the books not the most cliché-rich stuff out there and they have a certain sense of reality in them. One thing I love about the author is that all his major characters don't survive alive or have a happy life. Besides, the book doesn't have clear good and bad, which I see (in most books) as a very good thing.

Agreed Oddwen. All that yelling too, most irritating. Well worth reading the books all the same though as you say.

There is a writer known for his eerie stories and illustrations which move ominously between realism and fantasy, a children's writer. I don't think anyone here has mentioned him, but the depths of irony and perilous fantastic events in his work are worthy of adult note. I've borrowed my current sig from one of his books, the absolutely rivetting The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Go read and look. Peer hungrily. Be stimulated.
Chris Van Allsburg

I have just finished The Wizard of Earthsea from the Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin and I didn't like it much. The Tombs of Atuan looks abit more promising but I shall have to finish it to give a final verdict.