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Current fantasy reads

Litany

Litany

Active Member
What are you reading in the world of fantasy? What have you just finished reading? Was it good? Was it pants? Did it fill your heart with joy or woe? ANSWER ME! :mad:

I'm nearing the end of Revelation by Carol Berg, it's the second in the Rai-Kirah trilogy, yes, the ubiquitous trilogy. The first book was pretty good. It told the story a slave stripped of his magic and left serving an arrogant ne-er do well of a prince. Some nasty old demons come along to possess people and do generally naughty things and of course our skinny little slave has to sort things out.

The second book follows the slave chap again, and trying not to include too many spoilers, it's essentially the same book. He's got a different captor, and he's being held in a different place, and he has a different battle to fight, but it's the same bloody book. I've already got the third book sitting in my to read pile and I'll be most disgruntled if it's just more of the same.
 
Well I was going to continue lurking but your avatar always gets a giggle out of me, Litany reminds me of one of those horrid romance book covers from the 50's and 60's.

The last fantasy read I had was "Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson this was the first fantasy book I'd read by him and I came away with a good feel for the book. It's about a Dane by the name of Holger Carlsen who after being struck in the head while fighting Nazis on a beach wakes up in a strange forest naked. Upon exploring his surroundings he comes across a horse named Papillon, clothes, armor, weapons and a shield bearing the crest of three hearts and three lions all which fit him amazingly well. So begins his journey for the identity of the owner of the horse and the mystery of where he is and how he got there.
 
Well, I'd rather it made you titter, but a giggle will have to do.

The only book of Poul Anderson's I've read was Ensign Flandry. It had a furry cat woman in it, and you just can't knock that sort of thing. It's quite a rip roaring little adventure, but more sci fi than fantasy, so I suppose I've already ruined my own thread. Oh woe. :(

No! Furry cat women are everyone's fantasy. I am saved.
 
I've been reading Kelley Armstrong's four 'Women of the Otherworld' books - these are a fantasy/horror hybrid and exceptionally good. I love the snappy dialogue, the sex and the interaction between the characters - which happen to be well-fleshed out and realistic with proper motivations for doing things.

I'm planning to read Juliet E McKenna's Einarinn series next - her first quintet of books. I read the first three a little while ago and thoroughly enjoyed them (finding that they avoided many of the cliches from other series). Now I've picked up the last two so I'll give the series a read in its entirety.
 
Ben Holiday said:
Well I was going to continue lurking but your avatar always gets a giggle out of me, Litany reminds me of one of those horrid romance book covers from the 50's and 60's.

The last fantasy read I had was "Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson this was the first fantasy book I'd read by him and I came away with a good feel for the book. It's about a Dane by the name of Holger Carlsen who after being struck in the head while fighting Nazis on a beach wakes up in a strange forest naked. Upon exploring his surroundings he comes across a horse named Papillon, clothes, armor, weapons and a shield bearing the crest of three hearts and three lions all which fit him amazingly well. So begins his journey for the identity of the owner of the horse and the mystery of where he is and how he got there.
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I have that Three Hearts and Three Lions on my TBR!!! I read his other fantasy Broken Sword and was very impressed with it. It was very dark working of Nordic myth. The writing in it was really beautiful.
 
magemanda said:
I've been reading Kelley Armstrong's four 'Women of the Otherworld' books - these are a fantasy/horror hybrid and exceptionally good. I love the snappy dialogue, the sex and the interaction between the characters - which happen to be well-fleshed out and realistic with proper motivations for doing things.
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I've read the first book in this series and loved it. Still not got around to buying the others in the series. But considering I have over 80 books that I want to buy of authors/series I am following that isnt really a surprise :D

I am reading King Rat by China Mieville and so far it's pretty good
 
SillyWabbit said:
I have that Three Hearts and Three Lions on my TBR!!! I read his other fantasy Broken Sword and was very impressed with it. It was very dark working of Nordic myth. The writing in it was really beautiful.
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I'll have to track that one down if it comes anywhere close to the way Three Hearts & Three Lions was written it will be a must read for me.
 
Sharon Shinn brings a great blend of fantasy and sf mixed with complicated characters in her Samaria series about angels. Archangel is where you start. She also has a wonderful standalone book My Summers at Castle Auburn, which is medieval-tinged fantasy. The lack of feline-furred ladies doesn't deter me from recommending Shinn! ;)

O
 
Oberon,

I concur with your recommendation for Sharon Shinn's Samaria novels - I think they're all excellent. I just have the blues because she never really took off in the UK and so I can't get a copy of her most recent book in that series (Angel-Seeker). When I've got some spare cash, I'll have to import through Amazon...
 
The Shinn angel books are good, but they are truly romance stories underneath. No offense :D I like the concept, though.

Currently just starting on the new Terry Brooks Shanarra book. Had to go back and re-read the last one to refresh. It'll take a while - I've got too much reading in my history and C++ classes.
 
lets see... recent fantasy reads... these are the books i've started and finished in the last 2 or 3 weeks:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Idlewild by Nick Sagan
Proteus Manifest by Charles Sheffield
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson (reread it)

ummm... i think that's it... wait... and The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh (all three books in one volume so i kind of count it as one book)

that's it... right now i'm probably going to start reading Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein... but i'm really waiting for The Runes of the Earth to come out on Oct. 14... that's the first book in the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson.

(i know some of those are sci/fi and not fantasy but i thought i'd post them anyway) ;)
 
I thought the Thief of Always was great and have been a big fan of the Faded Sun trilogy for many years I always try to force it and Rusalka into other peoples reading lists.
 
Once I finish off this weird one I'm reading I'll be starting one maybe by an Aussie author; Louise Cusack, Destiny of the Light. I wasn't reccommended this so I'm not sure if it's good but it sounded interesting. It's about a portal to a secret world from our own that only one woman can find and open, in a nutshell.....anyone read it? :confused: :p
 
I read Poul Andersons Three Lions and three Lions last night too. It was good, but i didn't particularly empathise with any of the characters. It was refreshingly short and to the point thought, unlike Kushiel's Dart, which i finally finished this week. At first i thought it was very good, then just good, then OK, by the 700th page i just wanted it to end. Could easily have been written as 2 or 3 books, just when you think the heroes have done their part, they set of on another quest (which is conviently solvable by offering to indulge in S&M with everyone Phedre meets along the road. :rolleyes: )
 
reading "The Outstretched Shadow" by Mercedes Lackey and somebody else
its actually not bad so far...somewhat different than your run o' the mill fantasy
 
Yobmod said:
I read Poul Andersons Three Lions and three Lions last night too. It was good, but i didn't particularly empathise with any of the characters. It was refreshingly short and to the point thought, unlike Kushiel's Dart, which i finally finished this week. At first i thought it was very good, then just good, then OK, by the 700th page i just wanted it to end. Could easily have been written as 2 or 3 books, just when you think the heroes have done their part, they set of on another quest (which is conviently solvable by offering to indulge in S&M with everyone Phedre meets along the road. :rolleyes: )
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I have to agree with you about Kushiel's Dart, but I thought the 2nd and 3rd books where much more accomplished. Two of the best books I read last year.
 
I'm actually just getting to the end of Kushiel's Dart and so far it's been pretty good, but I can see your point in that it could have been cut down considerably without losing much as far as the story goes. But I've found that most anything Tor FantasyÓ publishes tends to be worth a read. I mean, look who they've put out: Robert Jordan, Juliet Marillier, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Haydon...the list goes on. I only wish David Eddings would convert...
 
I'm reading the third book in the Rai-Kirah series, Restoration by Carol Berg. This one actually a different plot to the first two, only the main character seems to have gone a bit bonkers. Most of the loose ends are being tied up, but with only 20 pages to go she's running out of time to fix them all, so I think there's going to be some ends left open. Much better than the second book in the series, but still lacking when compared to the first. Plus it's getting a bit weird now. The main flaw with Berg's writing is that she doesn't seem to be able to keep hold of her characters when they walk off the page. Out of sight, out of mind. If the main character isn't there to watch them and interact with them it's like they don't exist.
 
I've read Stardust - Neil Gaiman. I really enjoyed this story. Although it is a very short book, it is very well written. This is my 2 Neil Gaiman book on his own and I really like his style.
 
@Bernard: I liked Stardust, too. What's the other book you read? Neverwhere? That's what I read and I liked it even more than Stardust!!

Anyway, I'm reading Márquez now, but tomorrow, when amazon hopefully delivers my new books, I'll start right into part 2 of the Guardians of Time trilogy by Marianne Curley - The Dark!!!
 
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