Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / General / A new book series
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Ryan Klein Registered user Because I said so is why! Last page view: 1865 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes and 38 seconds ago. |
I'm reading the shannara books now. www.shannara.com Terry Brooks never fails to captivate me with that series. Wheel of time and lotr fans should check it out |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes and 45 seconds ago. |
I have. I like them; they're better than most fantasy. Even if the first one DOES seem just a bit plagiarized off LOtR. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Ryan Klein Registered user Because I said so is why! Last page view: 1865 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes and 38 seconds ago. |
thank god they aren't ALL that obvious. |
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Andor Drakon Registered user uummm... ElDeR cHaOs GoD? Last page view: 7511 days, 5 hours, 2 minutes and 19 seconds ago. |
Second best books ive ever read. (LoTR is best, WOT sucks) ChAoS iS cOmInG! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
I dunno. Terry Brooks has never really done it for me. His stories just aren't . . . tight . . . enough for me. There are always a few too many plot holes, continuity errors and or "Out of the Blue" scenarios. I like Jordan's Wheel of Time series. For Fantasy, I'd also recommend: Jacqualine Carey - "The Sundering" (bilogy) Harry Turtledove - Videssos Cycle (quadrilogy) Orson Scott Card - Magic Street Guy Gavriel Kay - Fionavar Tapestry (trilogy) - Tigana Stephen R. Donaldson - Reave the Just and other tales (anthology of short stories) - Daughter of Regals and other tales (anthology of short stories) - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (trilogy) * Very Dark * Only the original 3 books Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Series (one book so far) Cecilia Dart Thornton - The Bitterbynde (trilogy) * Slightly disappointing closure at the end. Tad Williams - The Shadowmarch series (Two books, so far) - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (trilogy/quadrilogy) * Plagiarized from "The Lord of the Ring" but not dumbed down and more than enough originality to stand on its own. * Unecessary Epilogue at the end. Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere - Coraline * A children's book Stephen King: - The Shining - It - Pet Sematary - The Stand - The Dark Tower (Septology) * A little self absorbed towards the end, but I like the actual ending. - Skeleton Crew (anthology of Short Stories) David Eddings: - The Belgariad (Pentology) * Only the original 5 books Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman: - Dragonlance Chronicles (Trilogy) * Only the original 3 books Lyndon Hardy: - Master of the Five Magics Raymond E. Feist: - Fairie Tale C.S. Lewis: - The Chronicles of Narnia (septology) Lloyd Alexander - The Chronicles of Prydain (pentology) George F. MacDonald - The Princess and the Goblin * A children's book - The Princess and Curdie * A children's book J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter (pentology, so far) * I admit that I cannot explain why I enjoy these books, plot holes and all. Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time (Decology, so far) George R. R. Martin - Song of Ice and Fire (Trilogy, so far) J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) * A bit slow at times, but, credit where credit is due, he founded a Genre. - The Hobbit Tier II Fantasy: Terry Brooks - The Sword of Shannarra (Only the first book) * Okay, fine. Yes, it is a Plagiarized, dumbed down version of "The Lord of the Rings" but I still enjoyed it Terry Pratchet - Discworld Series * They are silly, but enjoyable, and there are a some truly funny gems in there. Not enough to move the entire Series to Tier I, but enough to keep it in Tier II. - Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman) * The funniest book I have ever read [Edited 1 time, last edit on 11/2/2009 at 11:23 (GMT -5) by Caladriel] |
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Mishka Registered user Hopeless Last page view: 6330 days, 1 hour, 13 minutes and 27 seconds ago. |
Terry Pratchett: - The discworld series - Also written a book with Neil Gaiman.*good* "Faugh!" snorted Tahngarth. "Why would it make a meal out of something like you?" Squee looked relieved. "No," he continued, "you'd make a much better toothpick." |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett co-wrote Good Omens, one of the funniest books I have ever read. I suppose it does fall under "Fantasy." The discworld books were fun, but I do not know if I would put them at the top. I never really lost myself within any of the novels. |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes and 45 seconds ago. |
Goodkind, Wizard's First Rule and the series it's a part of... Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Eeew. IMHO, I feel Goodkind is to Jordan what Brooks is to Tolkien, but with more plot holes, continuity errors and "Out of the Blue" scenarios . . . plus liberal helpings of misogyny. I haven't bothered to read it after book 3 (I only read up to book 3 because I had bought all three before travelling, and had nothing else to read in the plane and hotel) |
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Duke Ravage Registered user Gravebane Zombie Last page view: 5873 days, 12 hours, 6 minutes and 29 seconds ago. |
George R.R. Martin has a good series going. Personally I think the first of his series is the best, but they're all pretty good. ivan.sourceforge.net |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 8 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 45 seconds ago. |
I happen to like the Goodkind books... It's not like I have a lot to compare it with, I've only read Tolkien and Pratchet when it comes to fantasy (well that and played a mud inspired by the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant trillogy), but I liked them a lot. They are original (from my POW anyway), wich IMHO is a big pluss, no orcs or elves or dwarves or -- well there are dragons, but you get the point, and I kinda like the world he created. It's not as fleshed out as Tolkiens work, but still very good. Granted you do get a lot of extremely unlikely coincidences, but I think that's sort of the intention, the hero been the seeker of truth, bringer of death, pawn of prophecy, first "real" Wizard for 3000 years and all that jazz... The biggest problem is that the hero become so darm Über powerfull (a thousand horsemen charging him is barely a distraction if he's in the right "mood"), that he has to keep inventing these wierd unlikely scenarios to keep things exciting, or do as in some later books, simply keep the "main" character in the background most of the time and give you the storry mostly though someone else'es eyes... Well ok there are probably a lot of things to put your finger on, but I still like it :P Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Jurne Registered user Last page view: 6875 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes and 33 seconds ago. |
Just about anything Stephen King writes I like :-) and I like Shannara, and Xanth LoTR was kewl, except I had to skip paragraphs when I got bored :-P Oh, and the Wizard in ______ are good books :-) You wish to kill me? Good thing I brought my psychic hamster named Hamster with me... |
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Möwe Registered user Last page view: 6819 days, 6 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds ago. |
I like very much the books by Robin Hobb. The Farseers (Trilogy) The Liveship Traders (Trilogy) Great books. |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Re: Goodkind Yeah, the main character does become a bit too all-powerful, infallible and righteous for my tastes. It is not a good sign when I start rooting against the hero. I won't detail plot weaknesses that I see -- I'd need more than 20 lines to list it all . . . for just the first book. Goodkind steals from Robert Jordan. He does not steal the story, like Brooks does from Tolkien -- so at least Brooks' story makes sense -- Rather, all his plot elements and fantasy creations (at least in the first 3 books I read) are taken from The Wheel of time. Still, it is the misogyny that made me stop reading. I am nauseated by what I feel are Goodkind's r@pe fantasies in these books. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 6/25/2003 at 11:33 (GMT -5) by Caladriel] |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Jan: I would love to get your opinion on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, but ten 1000+ page books may be a lot to ask. However, if you have the chance, you should read Stephen R. Donaldson's first Choronicles of Thomas Covenant (Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, The Power that Preserves). If you would like originality and deep, moving fantasy, this is for you. |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
What about Science Fiction? I think it is even rarer to find quality Science fiction. My picks: Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos * Only the first two books: Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. These are the best SciFi books ever written. The last two are the among worst. Don't ask me how. In any case, the last two or also unnecessary to the story. Stephen R. Donaldson - The Gap Series (Pentology) * The first book is gratuitously violent, but this is used well to impact the story in the latter four. David Brin - The Uplift Saga (Sextology, so far) * The first is stand alone and so-so. All the rest build on the second (The last three are a trilogy) - Kiln People Tad Williams - Otherland (quadrilogy) AE Van Vogt - Slan Orson Scott Card - Ender's Saga (Quadrilogy) - Ender's Shadow * Only this book, the first in the series. The rest were very disappointing. - The Worthing Saga Robert A. Heinlein - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Peter F. Hamilton - Fallen Dragon * A cheesy ending, but I didn't see it coming. A very good book. A beautifully rendered non-linear tale. Isaac Asimov - Foundation * Only the first book (maybe the first half of the Foundation and Empire) The series went downhill from there. Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama * Only the first book in the series - The Space Odyssey (Quadrilogy) H. G. Wells - The Time Machine - War of the Worlds [Edited 1 time, last edit on 5/22/2009 at 12:33 (GMT -5) by Caladriel] |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 8 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 45 seconds ago. |
Yeah I've been meaning to reat the Choronicles of Thomas Covenant since forever, I used to be a builer on a MUD based on the books, but I had neaver read them (some people kept ranting about why the Bloodguards where armed with swords for some reason, and I never did figure out what a Ur-Vile was (deamons, orc-equivelent or just a evil human tribe)). I just haven't been eable to dig them up in origianl form (I hate translations if I understand the original language) at an affordable price... Anyway about the Sci-fi, haven't read a lot of sci-fi actualy. I've read the Babylon 5 Technomage trillogy, and liked it. I mean there are a thousand things to put your finger on if you want to critizice, but I liked it. Maybe beeng a rabid B5 fan helps ;P So far the only "original" Sci-fi work I've read was Peter F. Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction trillogy + his collection of short storries "A second chance at Eden". I rely liked those too, if you can get past the slightly -- untraditional, storry line (in the trillogy) and graphic sex and violence bits, it's a very good series. The author create a very detailed and "realistic" universe (or at least there is a good "explanation" for everyting, I rely hate it when sci-fi just present you with some amazing technology and no explanation of how it works or even what it does, or takes stuff like hyperspace or whatever for granted and never bother explaining how they get from one solar system to another). Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
YOU GAVE THE BLOODGUARD SWORDS?!?!?! My Goodness! Hadn't anybody ever read the series? The Ur-Viles are just . . . Ur-Viles. Rather unpleasant, non-human beings. They are not Demonic, but neither were they orcs. They are just one of the races in the Land. They, and the . . . Waynhim? . . . were created by a bodiless race known as the Viles. The Ur-Viles try to recreate the evil knowledge of the Viles, while the Waynhim try to make up for the evil of their creators. Wow, a Thomas Covenant MUD. Was it possible to get the white gold ring or the Illearth stone? How about the Staff of Law or Earth Blood? What powers did you give them? [Edited 1 time, last edit on 2/22/2006 at 15:54 (GMT -5) by Caladriel] |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Re: Peter F. Hamilton I'm afraid I only read the first book. I also thought the Universe was incredibly intricate and original. Unfortunately it does have that whole unecessary sex thing. The sexual exploits of the hero with the ruler of that living spaceport were unecessary, but the universe and story were good enough to make up for that. Unfortunately, there are also the misogynistic and abusive scenes. Even accepting the actions of satan worshippers possessed by demons from a hell-like dimension, there is no excuse for the colonist girl forced into sexual servitude to get to the main city. You should read Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap Series. He also creates a wonderful, original, detailed universe. The brutality in the first book is a bit gratuitous, but the violence the characters experience shapes them, and impacts the entire line of the story. It is not just there for violence's sake or to let you know "So and so is not a nice guy." It comes back to haunt and affect the characters. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 6/26/2003 at 10:02 (GMT -5) by Caladriel] |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 8 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 45 seconds ago. |
Don't blame the sword thing on me, I didn't build that area :P I generaly just cruised around and fixed obvious bugs like shop keepers poping new items all the time untill the game run out of memory and stuff like that. Also made a generic newbie area, cause it was kinda rought to get started when I first joined... The Imms had some stuff like white gold rings and stuff, don't think they where available in the game. Remember some "sharp wooden pikes" beeng the best weapons around though... The whole thing was just a work in progress thing. Never had a lot of players, 90% of the time I was the only one on :P I think it's still up, actualy (don't have the adress right here) but the player files where wiped so I'm no longer an IMM there :( Basicaly they just renamed fighters to Giants, Wizards to Woodhelvenin, Clerics to Stowndown(something), rogues to Ravens or Ravers or some such and monks to um, whatever those guys who don't use weapons where... There where no classes your "race" determiend all your skills and spells, and if you reached level 50 you could "dual class" into a Highlord or something like that (only for scertain races), pluss you had two evil races, the Ur-Viels and one other I can't recall the name of... Pluss they had some anoying body part system where you could loose limbs when taking dammage, especialy anoying to take poison damamge and suddenly loose your right arm :P So after most battles you had to pick up all the weapons, gloves, boots and stuff that had fallen off durign the battle (how you managed this with no arms is a mystery) and worm yourself back to a healer :P Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds ago. |
So you could lose body parts, but continue to fight. I guess it was just a flesh wound. :-D |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 8 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
Yeah, well if you lost the weapon hand you lost the weapon (and rings and gauntlest) on it too, so your dammage would be vastly reduced, but yeah, you could fight (less effective) and move (with higher fagigue cost) even with no limbs :P It was always great fun to sort out everyones equipment after a big fight, weapons, shields, torches, rings, gloves and boots from various players and NPC's would be strewn around the room... Anyway I guess it's about time I pick up a few new books while I wait for the next "Sword of Truth" or Discworld installments, and this thread have given several good suggestions. It just anoy me that the book stores increasingly stock hard cover translations instead of soft-cover originals now that fantasy literature is "in" thanks to the Harry Potter and LoTR media hype... But if I put my mind to it it should't be to hard to track them down :P Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
Yep, near-immortal, near-invincible heroes must be awfully annoying for the author. Pitting a civilian halfling against a near-invincible dark lord is much more fun. :) Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 8 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
In the first few books he doesn't realise his powers, or is held captive by one power or another for most of the books. Then there is the plague that he was powerless to stop (well they do find a cure at the end, but the spell nearly kill him). Then there was the incident that stripped ALL magic from the world (well his sword still worked, but he had to leave that behind in his stronghold seeng as it's special magic would interfere with the transport device he used to get where that book took place), so in that book he was fairly vulnerable (he still had enough power to reverse that "spell" in the end though). Then there was the sorceress who trapped his wife in a spell (you know the what happens to me happens to her kind of thing) and forced him to serve her or his wife would die. But beeng the goodie goodie that he is the sorceress ended up realising how wrong she had been to serve his enemies that she ended up joining him instead (inciding a revolt against the Evil emperor in his capital in the process). Then we get to see the world though the eyes of some of the hero's half siblings who are imune to magic (due to a special link to the keeper of the underworld) and are beeng tricked into thinking the hero is out to kill them so they join forces with the "evil empire", but again when they finaly confront the hero they end up realising what a great guy he is and join him too (well the one big dumb murdering oaf of a half-brother end up getting crippeled by one of the hero's boddy guards and are left to die (if the hero had killed him it would have been the end of the world). All in all the hero always have his hands tried either by magic (or lack thereof) or curcumstance or contience or both most of the time. You do kinda have to wonder how many more "limiting" scenarios the author can come up with to keep things interesting. I mean there are a large number of well developed secondary characters that he can threaten to make things interesting (even kill of a few once in a while to keep you on your toes never quit knowing if everyone will survive), but it's difficult to make people believe that the hero himself is actual in any real danger at any time... Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
It's a lot like the way super-hero comics are being written lately, because the authors don't have enough foresight to keep their characters vulnerable. Superman, for example, couldn't even fly in the first few strips... recently he's been seen shrugging off nuclear bombs. And so, they must manufacture near-godlike villains so there'll actually be a plot... Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Lamaros Registered user The sieve Last page view: 7379 days, 11 hours, 11 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
Peter F. Hamilton's 'The Night's Dawn' series was quite good, if only because it's so long. I think some of the criticisms you level against it are fair, but to say it's bad because it accepts the actions of Satan worshipers is a very limited view. It's a book, it's not the bible, it presents something in an unbiased (mostly) way and leaves it to the reader to decide. Perhaps I think that Quinn Dexter was stylish and had some great lines, but he was also portrayed as retarded and quite mad. The main character, who most of the sex and misogyinistic behavior revolves around, is not always portrayed in good light and the book itself (through the mouths of other characters and his concience) makes comment of this. The actual writing is not always all that smart, but it's very entertaining (it'd make a terrific movie, it's a very stylish story), and often very clever with it's inventions. George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series goes close to being the best fantsy series I've ever read. I found LotR to be a hard read. The world of middle earth is an amazing creation, but the storytelling itself is cliched (in a literary sense) and often slow going. I stopped reading it for months at one point because I was so bored of it. Reality, much as one might like to deny it, has sex, violence, satan worshipers, and all manner of things in it. When a book details with a certain subject that would typicaly involve itself with these things and they are absent it is conspicious. I insert a quote from George R. R. Martin : " I don't know that I agree that anything in the book is "gratuitous." What I try to do, when I write, is to put my readers there, to immerse them in the story rather than just tell them about it. To do that, you need sensory input, and a lot of it - sights and sounds and also feelings and smells and tastes. A few people have said that there is gratuitous violence, but how else to tell what a battle feels like? Others have talked about gratuitious sex, but the same answer applies, in my mind. And for that matter, I have also been accused of gratuitous description of clothing, gratuitious feasting, and gratuitious heraldry. " There is a spectrum of human behaviour that is lacking in Tolkien, which makes the books terribly romantic and immature (part of their charm). Not everything is good and evil but instead, as George R. R. Martin likes to say, "shades of gray." My opinion, anyway. p.s I read 'A Quantum Murder' by Peter F. Hamilton, I personaly think it's better than 'The Night's Dawn' series, even though it's the only (and middle) book in another series. p.p.s 'Dune' is the best SF book, ever. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 8/16/2003 at 04:25 (GMT -5) by Lamaros] |
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Lavos Registered user Cardiovascular Endurance Last page view: 7306 days, 21 hours, 1 minute and 53 seconds ago. |
For anyone who is a bit younger, and enjoys fantasies, there is a series out by Brian Jacques called Redwall. Its a great series for younger kids, i used to read it when i was about 11-12, and its the first in a series of about 15 books. Kind of long for the younger readers. I still find myself reading them, 4 years later. (: |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3966 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
Not just younger kids. I'm 20 and I still like them... just because the main characters are animals doesn't mean they're not just as good as any adult book. Ever read Watership Down? That's a classic with animal characters... Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Lamaros Registered user The sieve Last page view: 7379 days, 11 hours, 11 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
Or Animal Farm. And I read alot of books when I was about 11 that I found very complicated and didn't understand fully until I read them again when I'd grown a bit. I still found them highly enjoyable (and educational) though. |
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Caladriel Registered user ReGiStErEd UsEr Last page view: 4907 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds ago. |
I loved Watership Down. Animal Farm, for all its depth and meaning, was very depressing (but then, so was Stallinist Russia) I thought Redwall was cute, but it never quite grabbed me. The anthropomorphism (sp?) of the animals didn't quite pull me in. Aside from Watership Down my other animal favorites are Wind in the Willows and The Secret of Nimh (Would The Chronicles of Narnia count?) |
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