Fantasy Recommendations for the Unenlightened 2

[GOLLUM]

Welcome Ozymandis, nice to see another Peake fan on board....

[Brys]

Originally Posted by Ozymandias

I don't know if it's been mentioned (and shame if it hasn't) but the Gormenghast novels are brilliant. The author, Mervyn Peake, ranks right alongside Tolkien as the twentieth century's greatest fantasy writer. And his prose is absolutely gorgeous.

Yes I agree - Gormenghast is brilliant, and Peake is the best fantasy writer I can think of. Perhaps even the best writer. I wouldn't say he ranks alongside Tolkien - he's a long way above Tolkien in almost every way.

Welcome to Chronicles - it's always good to see more Peake fans. Far too few people seem to actually have read Gormenghast.

[hedgeknight]

For humor enthusiasts, I recommend John de Chancie's (sp?) Castle Perilous series - very funny and very entertaining.

And I'll echo what others have stated, TONS of great reads here and it will take the rest of my life just reading those listed here! How pleasant that thought is.
-g-

[Ozymandias]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I look forward to posting here.

[Nesacat]

Mervyn Peake is wonderful. The books are brilliantly detailed and imagined and all the characters are so real they could be walking around in front of you playing their roles. Welcome Ozymandias.

And Gormenghast castle itself is someplace I'd like to live in.

[SpaceShip]

Thanks all you guys. I'd get to the end of a favourite author and then wonder where to start looking for the next. With the lists posted here I reckon I might get through some of them by the time I'm about 350 years old. But who cares - I don't reckon I'll die of boredom with all this lot to choose from.

[j. d. worthington]

Just a quick welcome to the Chronicles. Hope you enjoy your stay, and look forward to your input.

[Nesacat]

SpaceShip ...am almost afraid sometimes to look in these lists. I always endi up making lists of more books to buy. There's reading for several centuries in here definitely. Welcome to the Chronicles.

[T5.2]

I can recommend the Guin Saga.
A japanese fantasy about a man in a leopard mask...filled with evil dark (and literally rotten) lords, ghosts and colorfull settings.
There are almost 100 books in the original series, but so far only 5 have been translated to english.
Thay can be found at vertical-inc.com.

[Somebloke]

Originally Posted by Brys

Gollum gave a good selection there. Pratchett is one of the best comedic authors in fantasy and one of the few authors who almost exclusively write this. Be careful where you start though - some of his earlier novels weren't very good and he has a tendency to draw out a story slightly beyond its natural length. The Colour of Magic, despite being the first book, isn't a good starting place. Try instead perhaps Guards! Guards!, which is hilarious.

Fritz Leiber and de Camp+Pratt are very good humourists as well. Another I would add is Jack Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth. The first book, the Dying Earth, is a collection of quite serious, quite dark short stories. But the next two books are some of the best comedy in fantasy there is - the Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga.

I personally think that The Colour of Magic is an absolute must for anyone who's a fan of Ron E. Howard, as it is so clearly a perfect take of the Conan character.

[Foppish Knight]

I'd like to add Shardik by Richard Adams. A great book, written without all the usual cheesiness that accompanies fantasy. Also, his complete lack of "world-building" was refreshing. If you get bored of detailed explanations of worlds and their geography, culture, etc. (such as could be found in a D&D game), and would rather be just immersed in a totally foreign, and disorienting, setting--try it.

Anyone know of any books along the same lines?

[Nesacat]

Foppish Knight ... you might want to give Stephen Baxter's Mommoth Trilogy a try. Sounds like they might be what you'd like. I've them and Shardik and loved them all.

[Who's Wee Dug]

Originally Posted by Somebloke

I personally think that The Colour of Magic is an absolute must for anyone who's a fan of Ron E. Howard, as it is so clearly a perfect take of the Conan character.

And the other dubious character is a pastiche on Fritz Lieber's Grey Mouser.

[Nesacat]

Wingless: A Fairly Wierd Fairy Tale by Paro Anand. With equally wierd illustrations by Atanu Roy.

So, Chutki isn't born perfect.

She's born wingless. So what ... you may ask. So are most of us. Well, she's a princess, the much-awaited baby of the King and Queen of the Heavens, so it's a BIG so what!.

Rejected by the un-angelic angels up there, her parents smuggle her out of Heaven. Now begins the journey to Earth and the many adventures to find her a new, loving home of not too much and not too little.

As Chutki grows up does she find out what het true origins are? Does she get rejected from where she belongs and accepted where she doesn't?

The illustrations are quirky and very whimsical. It's all in black and white and every living thing right down to the tiniest mouse has a pair of wings. Except this baby princess whose back is absolutely bare.

The tale also manages to look at several social issues. When the King and Queen set out they mean to find a rich lavish home for their daughter and then they see that the rich home are not necessarily loving homes. The find homes where daughters are a burden and unloved.

We see angels turn into demons wanting to kill the child; not listening to the voice of reason but allowing themselves to be goaded into anger by one with an ulterior motive. And you have people who manage to find a place for themselves in the world, quirky though they may be.

It's a simple yet complex book and it tells us that we can all fly without wings. I love the illustrations. They are complex and detailed and he never forgets the wings.

[nettle]

I recommed

Tales of the Otori by Liam Hearn
book 1 Across the nightingale floor
book 2 Grass for his pillow
book 3 Brilliance of the moon

i am not sure if it is fantasy