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Post by fergusflatnose on Jan 19, 2007 23:35:30 GMT
Elminster = Fizban = Gandalf (=blah)
I think each fantasy world has a char like this. Kind of a bastion of hope/invincible/good type person. I realize Fizban is a god in diguise but Elminster and Gandalf pretty much are too. I liked reading about Raistlin much better than any of the others for the simple reason that he seems more real to me. Nobody is "pure good" like the others seem to be portrayed and as a result they come off as cartoonish to me. Legends is one my favorite trilogies in this genre because of the way that Raistlin is portrayed as a human being with inner conflicts like the rest of us.
On a side note, any of you that ejoyed "Legends" I highly recommend "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin. Best series by far in the fantasy genre IMHO. So real it will make you cringe.
peace
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Post by archmage on Jan 20, 2007 0:03:45 GMT
I wholeheartedly second his suggestion. George Martin is an excellent author and certainly worthy of reading. I know Funky too likes his work. We talk a lot about fantasy novels.
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Post by Delfestra Ruinvorn on Jan 24, 2007 0:08:45 GMT
Really? What else do you recommend?
Personally, I'm a fan of David Eddings, among other things.
Also, while for a younger audience, Tamora Pierce's books set in the world of Tortall are quite well written.
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Post by archmage on Jan 24, 2007 15:53:00 GMT
I also recommend Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga and C.S. Friedman's The Hunter Series.
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Post by Ironfang on Jan 24, 2007 16:18:06 GMT
I also recommend Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga and C.S. Friedman's The Hunter Series. I have good things about the Riftwar saga and think that will be my next adventure.
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Post by MurphysLawAgain on Jan 24, 2007 18:35:57 GMT
A few other fantasy classics that really repay a read --> Any of the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance (imho he does decadent wizards and tricky rogues better than most). Look for "The Eyes of the Overworld" as a good place to start. The Fafhrd and Mouser books by Fritz Leiber. Great page turning adventure with unusual heroes. The Elric books by Michael Moorcock. Epic, fall of the universe stuff. Heavy metal fans will recognise references here.... but don't let that put you off
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Post by dynneroth on Jan 31, 2007 21:20:48 GMT
Eddings's "The Belgariad" and Feist's "Riftwar Saga" are great. I started The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson a long time ago and never finished, but I thoroughly enjoyed them as well. And for something lighter and a little different, Robert Aspirin's Myth series is hilarious. And in the "not-quite-medieval-fantasy" category, Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series is good. Fred Saberhagen's Swords series was really good too.
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Post by dragonlance007 on Jan 31, 2007 23:46:11 GMT
Reading The Bronze Chronicles by Tracy and Laura Hickman right now. The world(s) are very well done and ,even though I am only about to be finished with the first in the triligy, I think it is very well writen.
The Bronze Chronicles :
The Mystic Warrior The Mystic Quest The Mystic Empire
~DL
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Post by FunkySwerve on Feb 1, 2007 1:58:55 GMT
I liked the Belgariad, though it was a little light for my tastes. Covenant was just so unlikable as a protagonist that I also stopped partway through the first. Funky
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Post by dodrudon on Feb 1, 2007 2:36:00 GMT
Belgariad and the Incarnations of Immortality series =D!! Finally someone with my tastes! Yeah, the Belgariad was a little lighthearted, and a little unrealistic, cuz after 4 pages (spoiler alert) when someone dies (/spoilers) everybody's back to joking around again. It's still good to relax though.
Incarnations of Immortality though, is it at 7 books? There's a book for all the incarnations (Chronos, Thanatos (death), Gaia, Fate, Mars), then one for God (I think), and one for Satan, which was my absolute FAVORITE. I'd recommend reading all six of those JUST for that last book, it's a complete change of view, makes you doubt your sanity, Piers Anthony constructed that so masterfully. The ending was a little disappointing, but it was worth it.
Another series by Piers Anthony are the ones about Phaze, a curtain between a high-tech world and a mirror magic world. Very good read, very interesting, especially if you're into scifi and fantasy, best of both worlds.
And I'm looking at the Ads by Google, and it says David Brin, who has some good books too, like the Practice Effect.
And if you don't feel too old, read William Sleator. He writes for middle school age kids, but the concepts he presents in books are rather deep, too deep to be fully enjoyed by middle schoolers, like House of Endless Stairs.
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Post by FunkySwerve on Feb 1, 2007 3:09:05 GMT
Brin has some good book as well, though they are all sci-fi as far as I know. Read 5 or 6 of em. The Phase books are know as the Adept series iirc, with the Blue Adept and Juxtaposition being two of them. Much better than the Xanth books. Funky
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Post by dodrudon on Feb 1, 2007 6:02:21 GMT
Ah thank you! Couldn't remember the names. The Xanth books, I loved those so punn-err, funny! The puns sort of took a life of their own, they created a very interesting and unique world, no matter how cheesy it was
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Post by dynneroth on Feb 1, 2007 14:17:02 GMT
Every time I see Blue Adept and Juxtaposition I think I should read them. You guys just confirmed it. The Belgariad was a little light, and now that I think back on it I didn't like the character of Covenant so much because he was so bitter, but from what I remember the imagery was excellent. Also, were Vampire of the Mists and Knight of the Black Rose as good as I remember?
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