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If I wanted to get lost forever...

AlphaOmegaX

New Member
What fantasy book would I read? What is, in all of your opinions, the best fantasy book ever to be written on the face of the planet. I want to read the book that I will compare many other books to. Suggestions? Thanks.

~Josh
 
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, and I'd consider Edward Whittemore's Jersusalem Quartet and M. John Harrison's Viriconium to be up there as well.
 
Without a doubt, I think the world of Earthsea is wondrous, and if I were to get lost in a fantasy land, I think I can do much worse than this place. I'd learn magic from Roke, rub shoulders with great magicians, learn to speak in the Old Tongue. When I graduate, I'd sail to the far islands and make friends with dragons (and look cool doing it), plus I'd pick up some exotic pets like an otak.

All adventure and no rest makes Jack a tired boy, so I'd also trek around villages in places like Gont for some R & R, help the odd villager. Hmm... not too bad.

Besides Earthsea, and if you're in the mood for something more complicated and less fairytale-ish, I'd pick up and read Guy Gavriel Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan, Tigana or the Sarantium Mosaic. I've said it many times here, and converted many people (yay!) to the works of this incredible writer. Simply wonderful, wonderful stuff.

ds
 
You don't want to get me started... I have WAY too many favorite fantasy books... but here goes...

Wheel of Time By Robert Jordan
The Shannara series By Terry Brooks
The Deed of Paksennarion By Elizabeth Moon
the prequel to that, The Legacy of Gird
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey... although that could also be considered Sci-fi...
The Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster

I think I'll stop there for now... I have a ton of others though...
 
I'm reading book one of The Wheel Of Time epic and it isn't quite capturing me as I want it to. This Earthsea thing sounds good :) More suggestions still???

~Josh
 
Ainulindale said:
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, and I'd consider Edward Whittemore's Jersusalem Quartet and M. John Harrison's Viriconium to be up there as well.

You've said it all - though I've still got to find a copy of Whittemore's Jersualem Quartet and stop getting distracted by seeing other books that I want.
 
AlphaOmegaX said:
I'm reading book one of The Wheel Of Time epic and it isn't quite capturing me as I want it to. This Earthsea thing sounds good :) More suggestions still???

~Josh

It is a bit slow until you get into it, and get to know who is who. It gets better, Trust me.
 
Roheryn said:
It is a bit slow until you get into it, and get to know who is who. It gets better, Trust me.
I've also heard that halfway through the series it gets kind of dull. Next.

~Josh

P.S. Gormenghast has gone right to the top of my list :)
 
the land of Ferun
its the Forgotten Realms' setting
but what makes it so good are its people and cultures

I often visit
talk to your travel agent
 
stigmaticman said:
the land of Ferun
its the Forgotten Realms' setting
but what makes it so good are its people and cultures

I often visit
talk to your travel agent


:D :D :D :D :D
 
I just finished The Thousand Orcs by RA Salvatore last nite. I couldn't put the book down. It's a part of a Trilogy called The Hunter's Blades. It has good battle scenes and very humorous at certain parts....made me laugh quite a bit! At a few parts it may be dull(You get that with any book), but the author does a good job at pulling you in and keeps you reading.

Just a suggestion!!-Read slow when you get to battle scenes and look up what you don't know on wikipedia (vast amount of info, but watch out for spoilers!!)

Towards the end the author sets the main character up for the next book in the trilogy-The Lone Drow, but keep an open mind as to why he wrote it that way. At the end you will see how much stronger the character is becuz of that. Hope you enjoy if you read!

I've also read 2 of the Dragonriders of Pern books....very interesting and new concepts! It will put dragons in a whole new perspective for you.
 
Hmmm. Well, thanks everyone. I don't know where I'll find time for all these great books. More suggestions are still welcome!

~Josh
 
If you want darker fantasy, try Kushiel's Dart. The novel's set in a world remarkably similar to 1300-1400's Europe. It's a great story, although the heroine's a courtesan who has a high toleration for pain. That could be a problem if you don't like sex scenes, though I thought they were handled with class.
 
AlphaOmegaX said:
It sucks that I can't find what I want. Stuff by Mervyn Peake!

~Josh

Try looking on Amazon. It's where I got mine (though my bookshop did have one copy. Literally).
 
My recommendations would be Magician By Raymond E Feist and The War Of The Flowers by Tad Williams. Magician is brilliantly written and Feist's world of Midkemia is easy to get lost in, the characters are imaginative and the imagery is excellent. War of the flowers is, kind of, about someone who gets lost in another world; it is an addictive read and the characters are excellent.
 
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