What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Guinevere]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Not like very many people could enjoy this recommendation, but Finnish fantasy is actually surprisingly good sometimes.

Unrelatedly, have people been reading Lian Hearn's semi-Japan fantasy series? I just found the third part of the trilogy from a library after having completely forgotten it exists... and I don't remember if it was good enough to really be worth a read.

I have read Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori" and found them very compelling and convincing, if a bit brutal. Certainly worth reading. (Btw, I just found out there is a sequel and a prequel to the trilogy!)

And I'm fond of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" too! (the illustrated copy, by all means!) though I even prefer the movie!

Obviously I don't know any Finnish fantasybooks, but I love Mika Waltari's historical novel "Sinuhe the Egyptian" (I wish I could find translations of his other books)

[Morthoron]

My daughter and I are reading through Gaiman's Coraline, and it's a hoot! It seems Gaiman has about the same contempt for adults as did Roald Dahl in an earlier generation. My daughter has gotten stuck on a few words when Gaiman polysyllabifies, but overall it's great read for a nine-year old. A bit creepy in spots, I suppose (particularly the 'other parents' eyes), but we've been enjoying it immensely.

[Gwathagor]

It seems no one has mentioned Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, though I'm sure some of you have read it. If you haven't, I highly, highly recommend it. It's like an alternate history of England in which magicians and fairies play prominent roles well after the Middle Ages, and has one of the best interpretations of the land of Faery that I've read. The book itself starts off sounding a great deal like a Jane Austen novel and continues that way for much of the book, but as the plot thickens, it grows more and more descriptive and brutal and dark. Anyway, super cool book, very imaginative, and because the movie adaptation is already underway, you only have a couple years to read it before the film hits theaters and ruins the story for you.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

It seems no one has mentioned Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell...

I had discussed JS & MR earlier in this thread...

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...&postcount=663

I came away from the book dissatisfied. It droned on far too long after a very promising start, and the characters became less and less interesting as the story advanced. Both Strange and Norrell both came off as a bit thick, and the allusions to imaginary books, although clever at the beginning, became an anchor no less heavy than the copious allusions found in Melville's Moby Dick (a novel I respect but despise all the same). As the Emperor told Mozart in the movie 'Amadeus', "There you have it -- too many notes."

I usually rate books on whether I would reread them (I do the same with movies). I would not reread this book.

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

I had discussed JS & MR earlier in this thread...

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...&postcount=663

I came away from the book dissatisfied. It droned on far too long after a very promising start, and the characters became less and less interesting as the story advanced. Both Strange and Norrell both came off as a bit thick, and the allusions to imaginary books, although clever at the beginning, became an anchor no less heavy than the copious allusions found in Melville's Moby Dick (a novel I respect but despise all the same). As the Emperor told Mozart in the movie 'Amadeus', "There you have it -- too many notes."

I usually rate books on whether I would reread them (I do the same with movies). I would not reread this book.

Oh, I'm glad to see that other people have read it. I'm sorry it bored you, though. As you're probably aware, Clarke did not intend for the footnotes to be published with the book, but simply wrote them for her own benefit and left them in when she sent the manuscript to the publishers, where she fully expected the footnotes to be excised. They are in no way essential to the story as a result and can be skipped over if one is in a hurry to finish the book. However, if one is willing to take the time to read them, they add a great deal to the sense of a larger, complete world that has, throughout its past several centuries, been deeply affected in every way by magic. I personally thought the footnotes were a lot of fun to read, particularly the legends and crazy anecdotes.

It is a long book, for sure, and is pretty slow during its first half. Once it gets moving, though, it's well worth the time invested.

[Thinlómien]

I just finished Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest and I'm happy that I decided to read it. Not only because it was a very good book (one of the best I've read this year), but also because I really seldom read science fiction and upon reading this book I realised I'd enjoy the genre a lot, because it can have such interesting ideas and also criticism of the way how humans treat each other and the nature.

[Bêthberry]

It might be Le Guin you are enjoying, Lommy, rather than the genre of SF, because she has a unique POV which not many other writers of SF follow.

JS and MR offers a unique alternate history, which is part of its charm. As Professor Fordim Hedgethistle once suggested, one can question some of the aspects of that alternative vision, but it is clever. As well, those who know Victorian culture might find a chuckle or two in it.

I'm still rather surprised that no one else has mentioned Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, especially considering that a comparison to Tolkien would be quite interesting.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Guinevere

I love Mika Waltari's historical novel "Sinuhe the Egyptian"

Indeed, a great read! It's 30 years or more since I read it - about the only truly fascinating book in my parents' bookshelves at the time - , but it made a lasting impression. "All temples are dark houses..."
Actually, now I think of it, this book did much to awake an interest in early civilizations and the dawn of history in my adolescent mind, and thus prepared the way for Tolkien. I always imagined Númenórean culture as more or less Egyptian in style.