Yes. Gloucester Cathedral, last Summer.

Luinalatwen, if you look back a bit, there are several opinions of the Eoin Colfer books, mainly Artemis Fowl, but also the Wish List. Have you read the most recent one?

As for the HP books... The reason for that is because they very often hook you. I read The Order of the Phoenix (by the way, has anyone else noticed that the front cover is really completely useless and only related to the title rather than the actual book?!) in about two and half days, but only because I read them until about 1 or 2 O'Clock in the morning. I lost a heck of alot of sleep over that book...

They are excellently written, and when you think about it, despite the fact that she has certainly, ahem, 'borrowed' ideas from several authors, something you really can't ignore, she has got ideas of her own, and by mixing these and her flowing writing and strong, mysterious plot lines, along with a very, very well developed sense of irony, she has created a cult. You can see why.

Well, I agree, HP books do hook you, but so does other books!

I think the main reason is that it's "easy" reading. LOTR is kind of "heavy" and "deeper", if you know what I mean. HP is a book for children and it's therefore natural to have less deatails than books for adults.


Wwll, I don't think that it's only Rowling "borrowing" things from other authors. All writers need inspiration and I think many of them get them from other books and therefore from other athors.

That's all for now! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Hi all,
Second post on here, usually just lurk and read, but this one got me.

Alot of you may not be old enough, or have looked back far enough, to catch some of the earliest Sci-fi/fantasy of A.A. Merritt, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard and of course H.G. Wells, all of whom preceeded Tolkien. Burroughs was contempory with him.

These are just a few I grew up reading and was well hooked before I ever saw LOTR.

I have read so many good sci-fi/fantasy over the years I can't begin to list them all. Andre Norton, Marrion Zimmer Bradley (Witch World series as well as the 'Mists of Avalon'), Gordon Dickson, Poul Anderson, David Eddings, Piers Anthony (Adept set), Elizabeth Moon (just finished rereading the Deeds Of Paksennarion), Melanie Rawn's 2 trilogies for a few for you to check out.

Just started 'The Silver Call' one of Dennis McKiernan's Mithgar novels, obviously and acknowledged by him as being greatly influenced by Tolkien, but very well done and hard to put down.

Anyway enough for now. Just had to put in something from an 'OLD' fantasy/sci-fi reader. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Yes, but I'm not talking about things like using centaurs and mandrake roots, both of whom are creatures of myth, and are therefore, you could argue, created by others. Frankly, that would be ridiculous. No, what I'm talking about is when she has used some thing which are very close to, to take a topical example, Lord Of The Rings. Sauron is often referred to as the Dark Lord; Voldemort is always referred to in exactly the same way by Snape. Grima Wormtongue was a traitor in Lord of The Rings; one of the four animagi, Peter aka Wormy, betrayed Lily and James Potter.

I disagree on the point of details. Her writing isn't like that of a primary school child who has just discovered adjectives, true enough, but its certainly nowhere near spartan on that front either. She has quite a good balance I think. The descriptions she gives her characters are quite memorable really, such as that of Sirius Black when he was fifteen- "His hair flopped into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance that James and Harry's could never manage." (I'm sorry if that quote is a few words out, I wasn't using the book. Its in the chapter named Snape's Worst Memory if you really feel the need to check- I just find the HP books easy to quote after a first reading) This description, and the others around Sirius, weren't very long, and were relatively quite simple, I suppose, but the words are very well chosen to fix that image in your head. I have a photographic memory, and when I just think of a character, especially one with a description in the Order Of The Phoenix, I can immediately come up with a clear image of them (apart from Voldemort, for some reason I can't place him).

And her use of irony, in the last chapter of the fifth book for example, is far from childish.

[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I blew it there!

Andre Norton, Marrion Zimmer Bradley (Witch World series as well as the 'Mists of Avalon'), Andre Norton wrote the 'Witch World' series, Bradley wrote the 'Darkover' novels. Got in too big of a hurry there! [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Anyway thats fixed and there are so many more out there to explore, check out as many as you can, I'm sure you'll find many that will suit you all.

Brian Jaques, CS Lewis, Terry Brooks( probably a lot of people here who dont like him) and madaline L'engle are some of my favorites

I read the Xanth series, by Piers Anthony. They are pretty cool, because they take names of objects from our world and give them a literal meaning in the world of Xanth. For example, (sorry if this has been done before...I'm too lazy to go back and check. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]) a burr will make you very cold if you touch it, and water chestnuts are nuts filled with water. Ha ha.

Also good is the Dark Portal series, by Robin Jarvis. I read these too long ago to give a description. And who can forget C.S. Lewis. Narnia, Narnia, Narnia! NARNIA!

Where do all of you find the time?
For me it seems that I have barely enough time to get through the books just by Tolkien. Though I just did read The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, which I read because it was a book that was suggested long ago in elementary school to me and I had just never had got to reading it. I enjoyed it immensely, but I have never gotten to the library to get the second and third books in the series. Which even though I have been forgetful about it I really want to read them.

This area of literature is so broad, that when you go to the bookstore you just don't know what direction to go towards. But I will try my best to read as much as I can.

I always read before I sleep, I can't sleep properly if I haven't! And if I'm far enough into a book, I usually stay up and finish it... Harry Potter for example, read it in two days, hardly slept at all that weekend!
JK Rowling didn't give the illustrator any details at all about what the story was, she only gave him an idea of what she wanted on the cover and that was it, I think she was afraid that they would spill the beans and make a profit by ruining the story...

Anyway, back on topic I started reading this fantasy series by Isobelle Carmody, I don't think their very famous and I've only read the first book (Obernewtyn...Took me a while to realise how to pronounce it) and its really quite good but my friends tell me that the rest in the series are much better.

Other than this series, Harry Potter and LoTR of course I haven't really found any other fantasy or even sci-fi books that have caught my eye. I did try to read a Star Wars book but it bored me out so quickly I haardly got through the 2nd chapter... [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Oh, well that was very bleedin useful. Poor guy, come to think of that, what was he supposed to do?

Yes, Amanaduial the archer, I totally agree with you here. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I would say that the details are more "worked out" in Tolkien's books. When you think about it, Tolkien used many many years on his works. Rowling didn't use that many I think. I also feel that each character has more detailed and "deeper" history in LOTR. Characters in HP has history too, but I don't think thay are developed that much as Tolkien's character.

I think you misunderstood me. I have never said that she writes childish and her books are like that. I'm only saying that HP is originally a children's book. I saw an interwiew with her, where she said it herself. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Then again, I heard some stuff about LOTR. It was said that Tolkien first told the story to children as a "good night" story, but I don't know if that's true. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] So would that make LOTR a children's book? I don't know the answer, I only feel after reading the HP books a couple of times each, and LOTR too that LOTR is much "deeper" and detailed.

EDIT: My 450th post!!!! yay
[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ July 08, 2003: Message edited by: Orofaniel ]

I would not say that I have read much fantasy at all, never liked the genre at all. It seems to me that Tolkien is not fantasy at all, no, indeed it is according to himself a historical novel about a prehistorical Europe and it seems silly to ignore that. What one has got to keep in mind is that it is supposed to be a tale, a tale from a time when magic was held possible to exist and seemed like a natural part of the microroom world, the empirical world. In those days the own views were very tiny for most people compared to todays epic views. In many years people will say the same about the today faraway parts of the universe, the proximity to those will then seem natural. We have got to put htings in a perspective, even thoguh there is really only one person who has published works on the aspects of room in earlier times, and he has not been translated. To get back to the subject, I have read fantasy but what I did not like is that they felt very much as constructions, developed by mind, and not like the works of Tolkien by heart. No disrespect to other fantasy writers, but Tolkien is still the best and will be as long as he is the only one that understands this.

Messy post, it was a while since I was on an internet forum and I guess it is pretty obvious.

Welcome to the Downs, Mans.

Ditto that, Beruthiel, ditto that.

I enjoy a lot of Terry Brooks and R.A. Salvatore. I reccomend "The Cleric Quintet" Series by R.A. Salvatore, "The Icewind Dale Trilogy" and the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.

Dossiers on Middle-East weaponry.

Alternatively, Senseless Acts of Violence, the majority of Ballard, Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, and on an almost entirely unrelated note, The Dark by John McGahern, a superbly written book, which I have just completed for the second time. A further plethora, with which I choose not to tire you.

[ July 08, 2003: Message edited by: Rimbaud ]

About time I post in this thread. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Fantasy is the only genre of books I read for fun anymore, and I've come across some good ones.

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Yes, I'm another HP fan, but I find those books so enjoyable. And I think I got my family hooked on it. My mom read Book Five not long after I finished and my sister (who never reads) is currently reading the book. Now, only if I could get them hooked on LOTR...

Shannara series by Terry Brooks: I am a huge Shannara fan. I've read every single Shannara book that exists and am currently reading The World of Shannara, which is basically the history and background of people, places, and objects in the Shannara series. The author's next addition to the series comes out in September.

The Obsidian Chronicles by Laurence Watt-Evans: This isn't the best trilogy I've read, but I have found it quite fascinating. It's certainly different than the other fantasy books I've read. I'm still awaiting the third book, which comes out in September.

The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice by Deborah Chester: These books were fairly good, though I found them a bit dull at times. The Chalice ended up being my favorite out of the three, because it seemed to have a little more action in my opinion.

Redwall and Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars!

I have read: the Chronicals of Narnia, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Dune, and The Hitchhickers guide to the galaxy. O.k., so maybe some of these aren't fantasy, but Sci-fi is pretty close.

To echo Horse-Maiden, Narnia, Narnia, Narnia! NARNIA!!! Brian Jaques, C.S. Lewis, Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising Sequence,) Bruce Coville (The Unicorn Chronicles,) Emily Rodda (Australian author of Rowan of Rin,) Gail Carson Levine (The Princess Tales, The Two Princesses of Bamarre.) The list goes on and on. And I still read nonfic sometimes! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Hope I inspired someone to look up these great books/authors, even though they can't compare to Tolkien for passion and depth! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

~Kates~

I like the Redwall books(Brian Jacques) and Eoin Colfer's stuff(the Artemis Fowl books). Tamora Pierce is also okay. Another good author is Garth Nix.

I know many people like Robert Jordan, but I am boycotting his work because he has totally plagerized words Tolkien made up. These include calma, galad, Moria, Hurin, Eldar, and Andor. I'm not faulting those who do read The Wheel of Time, but I won't myself.

hey man it is just another point in our favor the man respected tolkien enough to put his work in his own. i personally am anne mcaffery Pern brian jaquces is cool and so is Terry Brooks i also enjoy david gemmel and some stephen donaldson oh my word i forgot HP anyways add it

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: william ]

Hmmmmmm...fantasy books, come to think of it, my other reading is scattershod and in lots of different genres, although I must be counted among the HP thralls [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] . When Order of the Phoenix came out I stayed up almost til dawn reading it each night for a couple days...haven't read much fantasy besides Tolkien lately. Another old favorite is Mervyn Peake's "Gormenghast", also "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban (see sig quote) could be sci-fi or fantasy and is kind of like a primitive post-apocalyptic Huck Finn, I suppose. Also read "Shibumi" by Trevanian, not fantasy, but interesting philosophically, also a autobiographical recollection of C.S. Lewis' early life, "Surprised by Joy" wherein he recounts the steps in his life that led to his acceptance of Christianity. Less recently: Fritz Leiber's Swords series and about everything else he ever wrote, lots of H.P. Lovecraft, lots of Star Trek novels back when there was only ONE motion picture and one series....Dune series up to 6th book, but then quit 'cause it was getting silly, read Dragonlance novels like bon bons a long time ago to get through a research paper on dinitrogen complexes...ah, but you didn't need to know that! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Oh yes, and Clark Ashton Smith, who was one of the most lyrical fantasy writers I've ever read! Especially one called "Genius Loci," about a particular spot in a forest with strange powers...
I'm sure there are others but I can't remember them right now!

Cheers,
Lyta

Been a long time since I posted here. Some of the later threads brought up memories.

I remember reading a lot of H.G. Wells' work in High School, and hearing that upon hearing "War of the Worlds" after it had already started on the radio, many people thought that Earth REALLY was being invaded and that they were listening to a news broadcast.
While I never read the entire thing in a class, once a requirement was to read an excerpt from Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles". It was one chapter, titled something like: "Usher: April 2005". I think Bradbury may have meant it to cross a bit with his Farenheit 451, as it had to do with books being "against the law". Very creepy it was, but a good short story on its own.

I enjoyed His Dark Materials Series thinga mo-bob(The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). I think those are my favorite besides LOTR. I also like HP and The Chronicles of Narnia. That's all I can think of at the moment.

i highly recommend the wheel of time books...but some of the names are cheesey! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
also...Phillip Pullman's(sp?) books are my fav. too!

[ August 03, 2003: Message edited by: Eglaladiel ]

I did it in three days without losing sleep. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I really don't mind if people copy names, as long as they don't copy the plot, I don't care.

I like:
Narnia
Redwall
Forgotten Realms by R. A. Salvatore
The Belgariad
Watership down
The Book of Night with Moon
The Claidi Journals
The Wrinkle in Time series
Nightworld
and a lot more that I can't think of right now.

I am currently reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it's fun!

[ August 03, 2003: Message edited by: Elennar Starfire ]

I never thought of myself as a Fantasy fan, but looking at my books, I guess I sort of am haha. Of course I like Lord of the Rings, but I really enjoy the books by Madelaine L'Engle *A Wrinkle in Time*.

I'm a big Harry Potter fan too. I've read all those books, although I was very very disappointed in this last one. I didn't feel it went anywhere; that prophecy was pretty useless...no offence J.K.Rowling haha.

I'm also finishing Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy *A Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass*. I highly recommend them - they are quite interesting!!

[ August 03, 2003: Message edited by: Vardadurwen ]

I mainly read fantasy/fiction, but now I can't think of any really good titles. Isn't that the way it is? [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Anyway, I really like Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander. I especially liked Alexander's Westmark Trilogy. I thought it was very well written and thought provoking.

I've never really read Harry Potter, just one chapter that freaked me out. I watched the first movie and I thought it was rather boring. No offense, HP fans. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Narnia's good, too. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Hmmm... I like the Redwall series, by Brian Jaques. They're pretty long books, but easy reads. Thy're directed toward kids younger than me, but hey. They're still good. I'd say they're for all ages, even though the concept sounds little kid-ish. I actually haven't read them in a while...

I like Harry Potter, too. ...Yep. My friends are into Anne Rice. I dunno if vampires are considered fantasy, but... yeah. I haven't read any of her books but I'm sure my friends will beg me too. Of course they haven't read any Tolkien... I sense a deal coming on... [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

Just picked up Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. It shall grace my dorm room like a paean to a not-entirely-lost childhood. And who cares if the Dementors are reminiscent of the Nazgul? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I simply adore The Narnia Chronicles. They're stunning, and they're not as conventional as some fantasy works, as in the storylines. They're quite inventive and original.
Other than that, I'll have to say Harry Potter, simply because they're such cheerful books.

I started reading books by Dale Brown and there was this book called "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" or something like that, which I really really want to read. If you are interested in that kind of stuff, modern religious fiction/mysteries are really good. Just read "The Da Vinci Code" by Dale Brown, that man is amazing!

Other authors that I recommend are David Gemmell and Raymond E. Feist, along with my second-favorite author, Mercedes Lackey. Her Elemental Masters series is very very good.

I guess neither Manstein's or Zhukow the great's memoirs count as fantasy... Even if the latter was fantastically impressive! Well anyway, I read little or no fantasy... actually none at all since I don't count Tolkien as fantasy, of course I have read some earlier but no, not one whole book, they tend to bore me too much for me to keep on reading them when I have got so much funier things to read! Anyone else having this emotion?

Måns

i read everything that deals with fantasy. i was curious if anyone has heard of the other robert jordan. some critics say he is a better author than tolkien and im also agreeing with them because he is a really good author

I LOVE fantasy books.

My favorite series, besides LOTR of course, is the Dark is Rising. It is a terrific and fascinating set of books written by Susan Cooper. There are 5 books in the series. It is not, though, about sorcerers, etc., but a moving series about Light against Dark, where the main characters are trying to stop the dark forces of the world from taking over the earth. I LOVE IT! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Another good fantasy book is called, Ella Enchanted. I really like that book too.

Has anyone ever read these books before?

I'll have to check out Susan Cooper's books.

I have been reading Glen Cook's Black Company series and have finished the first four. Like the Silmarillion, the first one is a bit hard to start, but after getting through the first couple chapters it went well. Even learned a new card game from these books. I am currently reading Bleak Seasons, which is book 1 of the 'Glittering Stone' series. May be a bit dark for some who prefer the lighter Tolkienesque fantasy, but well worth the read in my opinion. Kudos to Moonbiter who prompted me to started reading them a few years back, though I didn't start until last year.

First of all, I absolutely love Harry Potter. I read the first book in about 24 hours. I lost a lot of sleep over that book. The Third one is my absolute favorite, and I really dislike the End of the Fifth book because of it. (Saying no more here). But I would recommend them for Anybody who likes to read fantasy.

I also love the Dark is Rising Series. It is absolutely fascinating how the author mixes Welsh legends, and a lot of fantasy and other cool little bits of history together. It is a really, Really good series. I would recomend it to anybody.

I am currently reading anything of Michael Crichton's. I got hooked when I read the Andromeda Strain for the first time and I just keep Reading them. I am currently reading the Terminal Man for the first time, Besides reading the LotR books for the 15th time. I like to read three or four books at once. It is actually quite fun.

Lets see, other books That are my all time favorite are: The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. (Funnily enough those are written kind of like the Lord of the Rings, exept for in a more kid kind of way.), The chronicals of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, And anything written by Patricia C. Wrede or Gail Carson Levine. I could give you a million more if I wanted.

Yes, I know I've already posted on this thread, but there are a lot of titles that I forgot to mention.

The Westmark Trilogy by Lloyd Alexander is superb. It doesn't have magic or dragons, or anything else in a normal fantasy book, but it does take place in a land that does not exist so I thought I'd mention it. Compared to Tolkien, Alexander isn't "hard food" but he's still good.

I read a particularly good Star Wars trilogy in my avid SW fan days. They are by Timothy Zahn and are called

Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command

But of course "Star Wars" by Lucas is the best... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Another one of my favourites is The Faerie Queen by Edward Spencer. Now I know that is just one big poem and allegory at that, but it still has seductresses, dragons, the pure lady (Una) and, above all, knights! And faeries of course!

The Wrinkle in Time books are also good too, as has been said above.

Ah yes, fantasy books [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] . There are quite a few I could mention, but I'll just mention my favorites here:
-The Immortals series and The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. They are much "lighter" reading than Tolkien, but fun and well written. Something I would strongly recommend to girls. There is another series I have yet to read by Tamora, The Protector of the Small, which I hear is also very good.
-The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I won't go into depth because I saw it was mentioned before, but they are some of my all-time favorites, and I never tire of reading them.
-The Phantom Tollbooth: My absolute FAVORITE book! I don't know why, but it is on the top of my list. More of an elementary level read but wonderful all the same.
-Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen: Next to the Tollbooth and Tolkien's works, these are the best. Very well done by Garth Nix. They appear to be long (well Lirael anyway being 700 pages or so) but I read each in a period of 2 days. Couldn't put them down, not even to eat! A fantasy series you'll remember.
-Inkheart: I'm reading it right now, and I truly adore it. It's all about the love of books...and you should read it to find out more.
-On my list: On my booklist at this time are Eragon and The Thief Lord, which were recommended to me by friends who know good books.

Have fun reading!
~Arcuwen

I also read a lot of fantasy... what else is there?

I read a lot of Terry Pratchet... his stuff is awesome! Eric Van Lustbaders stuff is phenonimal... if you like japanese history etc, you'd love them. I read other things of course... but these are the fantasy series I follow... lots more, but these are the most recent authors that I enjoy [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]


WOW- 100 posts [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Osse