Search results

On apostrophes - they can be used well, eg by Steven Erikson or R Scott Bakker, who at least use it to emphasise differences in culture. Clemens just puts them in almost at random, in a faint hope that people won't notice he's just copying others. In some epic fantasy, this is sadly the case...

It's why I put the Wasp Factory in the category of books to be aware of to read at a later date. PKD's a great author, but I don't really know much about his short stories.

Where to start? It's difficult - if you haven't read much yet, it's probably best to start with some of the slightly easier, less literary fantasy. Here's a simple list, split into different subgenres: Young Adult fantasy: The Borribles trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti His Dark Materials by...

Very true - almost indistinguishable in fact. Eddings stated in a recent interview that there's a dormant thief in his mind. It's why he doesn't read much other fantasy. But he can't help but read his own work, and the results are evident - he steals from himself.

Gormenghast is simply the best fantasy series ever written IMO. Peake's use of language and atmosphere is unmatched, and add to that he comes up with a cast of brilliantly eccentric characters and a Machievellian plot. Definitely worth reading, a series about the castle Gormenghast and it's...

Lankhmar is absolutely great for humour - personal favourites being the stories "Bazaar of the Bizarre" and "Lean Times in Lankhmar". Also check out Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance, which are some of the best humorous fantasy I've read. Another I can think of is Michael...

Terry Goodkind is a constant source of hilarity. His interviews are priceless and his actual writing, if looked at in the right way, can be very humorous. Of course the humour is unintentional, but when Goodkind starts writing about Richard walking along a path half way up a sheer vertical cliff...

I've read the first three novels of the Banned and Banished series, but I couldn't bare anymore. I thought Wit'ch Fire was just about ok - on the level of Eddings, which is to say, talentless, unoriginal, terrible characterisation, but for all that, somehow readable and entertaining on a basic...

I didn't think Feist's Magician was that bad. Sure, it was very flawed, it wasn't entirely original, but it had some good parts and I think it's clear he's more original than Brooks (the Kelewan part at least). Perhaps I was just lucky to read Feist as one of the first fantasy authors I read...

Ainulindale's listed the best epic fantasy, but a few others of note include: JV Jones' Sword of Shadows series (it actually looks like it's going to get finished now!) Greg Keyes' Kingdom of Thorn and Bone Brandon Sanderson's Elantris - this is one of the best single volume epic fantasies...

I've only read the Onion Girl by de Lint so far, but it was brilliant! One of the best fantasy novels I've ever read, undoubtedly, and I'll definitely be looking to get more novels by him.

The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce The Light Ages by Ian R Macleod (there is a sequel, but not in more than a sense than the Scar is a sequel to Perdido Street Station) - and this has been justly compared as an equal achievement to Mieville's PSS. The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint As for a...

I thought Gardens of the Moon was a pretty good start, and I especially liked how Erikson treated the reader as intelligent by not explaining everything. Some characters were interesting, others entertaining (I know lots will disagree with me, but I love Kruppe), others clearly homages to other...

Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword - 8 R Scott Bakker - The Darkness that Comes Before - 8 R Scott Bakker - The Warrior Prophet - 9 Charles de Lint - The Onion Girl - 9 Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon - 7 Steven Erikson - Deadhouse Gates - 9 Steven Erikson - Memories of Ice - 9 Steven...

Doesn't look like I'll be much helpd in recommending novels, because I thought Magician's Guild was a pretty awful novel. But a decent Young Adult series is the Borribles trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti.

Now how to avoid repetition? For fantasy: I haven't seen Graham Joyce or Charles de Lint mentioned, so I'll recommend them. Add to that Ian R Macleod's the Light Ages - equal to Perdido Street Station IMO. Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series. For Science Fiction: Anything by...

I agree with that, but I think that the novel's been done a disservice by it being consistently described as New Weird, when to me it seemed just to be an epic fantasy with some originality in it. It's still one of the best debuts I've read.

It's my favourite epic fantasy series at the moment - Erikson may not be a master at prose, but he certainly has some very powerful moments, and he's an expert at contrasting the tragic with the hilarious. And the best thing is that the books keep improving and he's still writing them very fast...

Surprised Ainulindale didn't mention it - The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick (probably not what you're expecting, though). Other than that, Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Erikson's Malazan's series, I can't think of many decent fantasy novels with dragons in.

Difficult to do a top 5, but to do so, I'll avoid all epic fantasy. Current favourites: 1) Mervyn Peake 2) Ian R Macleod 3) China Mieville 4) Charles de Lint 5) Graham Joyce