Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums - View Single Post - Fantasy Recommendations for the Unenlightened 2

Brys · 29th March 2006, 04:26 PM

Continuation of above:
Then there are the authors who have written one or two books I really love, but I haven't read much else of, for one reason or another: James Thurber's The 13 Clocks, Willam Goldman's The Princess Bride, Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, Barbara Hambly's Stranger at the Wedding, A. S. Byatt's Possession,

Most of my favourite books have already been mentioned in previous
lists.

However I would like to add Jennifer Fallon's 'The Demon Child Trilogy'.

Anne McCaffrey is another good author, especially if you like dragons!

Maggie Furey wrote two very good series. 'The Shadow League'
and 'The Artefacts of Power'.

Kate Jacoby is another author not mentioned very often.
Her 'Elita Sagas' are very well written.

Stardust is fantastic-- especially the original version with beautiful color illustrations by Charles Vess!

Would anyone consider A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain to be classic Sci-Fi or Classic Fantasy??? In fact, has anyone ever read it, or just watched the two movies, like me???
i have missed this place and all of you greatly. I've sorta had my hands full. I highly recommend Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince trilogy. I was absolutely captivated.

If you like heroic fantasy I recommend David Gemmel as a good starter, I can never get enough of his books.

Mercedes Lacky
Maggie furey

David Eddings

Chris Bunch (although he stuff is a bit tedious and takes some slogging to get through)
Richard Knack
Edo Van Belkom

Don Perrin
Tanith Lee

some books by Guy Gavriel Kay (Gollum has mentioned only his Fionavar series, and Kay has written 6 more books, 4 of them standalones: Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun, and the Sarantine Mosaic duology). I'd recommend every one of them, but maybe I'm not being very objective here as Kay is one of my favourite authors (hence my username). I'll say only that these books, unlike the Fionavar Tapestry, are based on European countries' culture like ie. medieval France in Arbonne or Bysanthium in Sarantium. But then, there's a little magic in there as well, and I especially enjoyed Kay's characters.
- some science fantasy books (thanks, Kelpie, for the word ) i.e. C. S Friedman's The Coldfire Trilogy. I'd recommend as well other novels by this author (they're SF, so I'm not mentioning them here)
- CJ Cherryh novels: the Morgaine Saga (a science fantasy) and The Ynefel/Fortress novels: there are already 4 of them, with the fifth volume to come in 2006: both of these cycles are superb, though completely different;
- and now I'd have to add Steph Swainston as well: 2 novels as for now, The Year of Our War and No Present Like Time, hopefully with more to come, as the story is unfinished.

Richard Lee Byers (War of the Spider Queen)
Thomas M. Reid(War of the Spider Queen)

Ann Rice (Vampires related)
Mad Arab-Necronomicon (thats all they call him in the book and since there is no author stated...I would say this is a must read)
Peirs Anthony

I cannot believe no one has mentioned Harry Turtledove. Anything by him is worth reading from the colonization/worldwar series (more sfi) to the darkness series and the (What if) historical fantasys. David Drake has also written some good fantasy beside his military sf. Philip Jose Farmer, Rick Cook, Eric Flint, Linda Evans and Jack Vance are all well worth a look. To finish I would also recommend The War Gods Own, Oath Of Swords and Wind Rider's Oath by David Weber. To check out some writers you may not have read before go to baen.com and check out the free library lots of books by loads of Authors in every format except pdf. It dosent cost anything and you can always buy the book(s) if you like them
Clark Ashton Smith
HP Lovecraft

My favorite Lovecraft works and probably some of his most famous include:

At The Mountains Of Madness
Shadows Over Innsmouth
Rats In The Walls
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Color out of Space
The Call of Cthulhu
Dagon
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Shadow Out of Time
The Horror at Red Hook
The Nameless City
The Dunwich Horror

Hugh Cook's 'Chronicles of an Age of Darkness' series. Best fantasy series ever.

1. The Wizards and the Warriors
2. The Wordsmiths and the Warguild
3. The Women and the Warlords
4. The Walrus and the Warwolf
5. The Wicked and the Witless
6. The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers
7. The Wazir and the Witch
8. The Werewolf and the Wormlord
9. The Worshippers and the Way
10. The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster

I recommend starting with either book 1 or book 4 (The Walrus and the Warwolf is a book everyone must read once before they die).

It doesn't matter what order the books are read in. They're not consecutive - they're concurrent.

I am a huge fan of Charles DeLint. He writes urban fantasy, and his books are excellent IMHO. I also enjoy Dennis L. McKiernan and Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. Also enjoyed the Books of the Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

1. The Sacrifice
2. The Changeling
3. The Rival
4. The Resistance
5. Victory

Two other books were set in this world, a duology called Black Throne

1 The Black Queen
2 The Black King

For LE Modesitt Jr you forgot to mention his Spellsong Cycle its 5 books and I thought they were pretty good. The story starts with a woman from earth who was somehow (cant remember) transported to this world where songs are magical and she being an accomplished opera singer makes her very powerful. Good story as always from Modesitt Jr.

Spellsong Cycle

The Soprano Sorceress
Spellsong War
Darksong Rising
The Shadow Sorceress
Shadow Singer

Okay, I've read through this thread again, and been doing some thinking about what I like and have come up with a few more recommendations. I've read quite a bit of fantasy over the years, so many of these may be out of print, but they were favorites nonetheless.

Lawrence Watt-Evans: the "Lords of Dus" series: The Lure of the Basilisk, The Seven Altars of Dusarra, The Sword of Bheleu, and The Book of Silence.

Elizabeth Moon: THE DEED OF PAKSENARRION: Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, Oath of Gold. THE LEGACY OF GIRD: Surrender None, Liar's Oath

Midori Snyder: the Oran trilogy: New Moon, Sadar's Keep, and Beldan's Fire.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Fey: The Sacrifice, The Changeling, The Rival, The Resistance, Victory. The Black Throne: The Black Queen, The Black King

Dennis L. McKiernan
Mercedes Lackey
Charles de Lint

Emma Bull: War for the Oaks

Lynn Abbey's Rifkind books: Daughter of the Bright Mooon, The Black Flame, Rifkind's Challenge (NEW!)

Anne Logston: Shadow, Shadow Hunt, Shadow Dance, and Dagger's Edge, Dagger's Point, Greendaughter, Wild Blood

Jennifer Roberson: Shapechanger, The Song of Homana, Legacy of the Sword, Track of the White Wolf, A Pride of Princes, Daughter of the Lion, Flight of the Raven, A Tapestry of Lions, PLUS a new trilogy!!!! From Jennifer's website: I'm happy to say I will be writing three new Cheysuli novels. These will be set in the timeframe of the original eight books. The first will tell the tale of Carillon and Finn in exile from Homana, fitting between Shapechangers and The Song of Homana. The second will be a prequel to the series, the story of the romance between Hale and Lindir and how it triggered the qu'mahlin. The third and last will be set in Erinn and Atvia, relating the adventures of Keely and Corin as they settle into their new homes far away from Homana.

Holly Lisle: The Arhel Novels: Fire In the Mist, Bones of the Past, The Mind of the Magic

David Weber: War Gods Series: War God's Own, Oath of Swords, Windrider's Oath

Michael Reaves: The Shattered World, The Burning Realm

Jane Yolen: The Books of Great Alta: Sister Light, Sister Dark, White Jenna, The One-Armed Queen

Patricia C. Wrede: The Lyra series: Shadow Magic, Daughter of Witches, The Harp of Imach Thyssel, Caught In Crystal, The Raven Ring
Jennifer Fallon
Maria V. Snyder
C.E. Murphy
Christie Golden

I'll try and make it a bit easier to read soon - just a list of authors.

(PS can a mod of these forums sticky this please?)

29th March 2006, 04:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
Brys Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 809	Re: Fantasy Recommendations for the Unenlightened 2 Continuation of above: Then there are the authors who have written one or two books I really love, but I haven't read much else of, for one reason or another: James Thurber's The 13 Clocks, Willam Goldman's The Princess Bride, Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, Barbara Hambly's Stranger at the Wedding, A. S. Byatt's Possession, Most of my favourite books have already been mentioned in previous lists. However I would like to add Jennifer Fallon's 'The Demon Child Trilogy'. Anne McCaffrey is another good author, especially if you like dragons! Maggie Furey wrote two very good series. 'The Shadow League' and 'The Artefacts of Power'. Kate Jacoby is another author not mentioned very often. Her 'Elita Sagas' are very well written. Stardust is fantastic-- especially the original version with beautiful color illustrations by Charles Vess! Would anyone consider A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain to be classic Sci-Fi or Classic Fantasy??? In fact, has anyone ever read it, or just watched the two movies, like me??? i have missed this place and all of you greatly. I've sorta had my hands full. I highly recommend Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince trilogy. I was absolutely captivated. If you like heroic fantasy I recommend David Gemmel as a good starter, I can never get enough of his books. Mercedes Lacky Maggie furey David Eddings Chris Bunch (although he stuff is a bit tedious and takes some slogging to get through) Richard Knack Edo Van Belkom Don Perrin Tanith Lee some books by Guy Gavriel Kay (Gollum has mentioned only his Fionavar series, and Kay has written 6 more books, 4 of them standalones: Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun, and the Sarantine Mosaic duology). I'd recommend every one of them, but maybe I'm not being very objective here as Kay is one of my favourite authors (hence my username). I'll say only that these books, unlike the Fionavar Tapestry, are based on European countries' culture like ie. medieval France in Arbonne or Bysanthium in Sarantium. But then, there's a little magic in there as well, and I especially enjoyed Kay's characters. - some science fantasy books (thanks, Kelpie, for the word ) i.e. C. S Friedman's The Coldfire Trilogy. I'd recommend as well other novels by this author (they're SF, so I'm not mentioning them here) - CJ Cherryh novels: the Morgaine Saga (a science fantasy) and The Ynefel/Fortress novels: there are already 4 of them, with the fifth volume to come in 2006: both of these cycles are superb, though completely different; - and now I'd have to add Steph Swainston as well: 2 novels as for now, The Year of Our War and No Present Like Time, hopefully with more to come, as the story is unfinished. Richard Lee Byers (War of the Spider Queen) Thomas M. Reid(War of the Spider Queen) Ann Rice (Vampires related) Mad Arab-Necronomicon (thats all they call him in the book and since there is no author stated...I would say this is a must read) Peirs Anthony I cannot believe no one has mentioned Harry Turtledove. Anything by him is worth reading from the colonization/worldwar series (more sfi) to the darkness series and the (What if) historical fantasys. David Drake has also written some good fantasy beside his military sf. Philip Jose Farmer, Rick Cook, Eric Flint, Linda Evans and Jack Vance are all well worth a look. To finish I would also recommend The War Gods Own, Oath Of Swords and Wind Rider's Oath by David Weber. To check out some writers you may not have read before go to baen.com and check out the free library lots of books by loads of Authors in every format except pdf. It dosent cost anything and you can always buy the book(s) if you like them Clark Ashton Smith HP Lovecraft My favorite Lovecraft works and probably some of his most famous include: At The Mountains Of Madness Shadows Over Innsmouth Rats In The Walls The Case of Charles Dexter Ward The Color out of Space The Call of Cthulhu Dagon The Whisperer in Darkness The Shadow Out of Time The Horror at Red Hook The Nameless City The Dunwich Horror Hugh Cook's 'Chronicles of an Age of Darkness' series. Best fantasy series ever. 1. The Wizards and the Warriors 2. The Wordsmiths and the Warguild 3. The Women and the Warlords 4. The Walrus and the Warwolf 5. The Wicked and the Witless 6. The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers 7. The Wazir and the Witch 8. The Werewolf and the Wormlord 9. The Worshippers and the Way 10. The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster I recommend starting with either book 1 or book 4 (The Walrus and the Warwolf is a book everyone must read once before they die). It doesn't matter what order the books are read in. They're not consecutive - they're concurrent. I am a huge fan of Charles DeLint. He writes urban fantasy, and his books are excellent IMHO. I also enjoy Dennis L. McKiernan and Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. Also enjoyed the Books of the Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The Sacrifice The Changeling The Rival The Resistance Victory Two other books were set in this world, a duology called Black Throne 1 The Black Queen 2 The Black King For LE Modesitt Jr you forgot to mention his Spellsong Cycle its 5 books and I thought they were pretty good. The story starts with a woman from earth who was somehow (cant remember) transported to this world where songs are magical and she being an accomplished opera singer makes her very powerful. Good story as always from Modesitt Jr. Spellsong Cycle The Soprano Sorceress Spellsong War Darksong Rising The Shadow Sorceress Shadow Singer Okay, I've read through this thread again, and been doing some thinking about what I like and have come up with a few more recommendations. I've read quite a bit of fantasy over the years, so many of these may be out of print, but they were favorites nonetheless. Lawrence Watt-Evans: the "Lords of Dus" series: The Lure of the Basilisk, The Seven Altars of Dusarra, The Sword of Bheleu, and The Book of Silence. Elizabeth Moon: THE DEED OF PAKSENARRION: Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, Oath of Gold. THE LEGACY OF GIRD: Surrender None, Liar's Oath Midori Snyder: the Oran trilogy: New Moon, Sadar's Keep, and Beldan's Fire. Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Fey: The Sacrifice, The Changeling, The Rival, The Resistance, Victory. The Black Throne: The Black Queen, The Black King Dennis L. McKiernan Mercedes Lackey Charles de Lint Emma Bull: War for the Oaks Lynn Abbey's Rifkind books: Daughter of the Bright Mooon, The Black Flame, Rifkind's Challenge (NEW!) Anne Logston: Shadow, Shadow Hunt, Shadow Dance, and Dagger's Edge, Dagger's Point, Greendaughter, Wild Blood Jennifer Roberson: Shapechanger, The Song of Homana, Legacy of the Sword, Track of the White Wolf, A Pride of Princes, Daughter of the Lion, Flight of the Raven, A Tapestry of Lions, PLUS a new trilogy!!!! From Jennifer's website: I'm happy to say I will be writing three new Cheysuli novels. These will be set in the timeframe of the original eight books. The first will tell the tale of Carillon and Finn in exile from Homana, fitting between Shapechangers and The Song of Homana. The second will be a prequel to the series, the story of the romance between Hale and Lindir and how it triggered the qu'mahlin. The third and last will be set in Erinn and Atvia, relating the adventures of Keely and Corin as they settle into their new homes far away from Homana. Holly Lisle: The Arhel Novels: Fire In the Mist, Bones of the Past, The Mind of the Magic David Weber: War Gods Series: War God's Own, Oath of Swords, Windrider's Oath Michael Reaves: The Shattered World, The Burning Realm Jane Yolen: The Books of Great Alta: Sister Light, Sister Dark, White Jenna, The One-Armed Queen Patricia C. Wrede: The Lyra series: Shadow Magic, Daughter of Witches, The Harp of Imach Thyssel, Caught In Crystal, The Raven Ring Jennifer Fallon Maria V. Snyder C.E. Murphy Christie Golden I'll try and make it a bit easier to read soon - just a list of authors. (PS can a mod of these forums sticky this please?)