Is there life in fantasy after Tolkien?

[Teresa Edgerton]

I do have Tales Told Before Tolkien. While I was impressed by the selection of authors, I seem to remember that in some cases I felt they had written stories that were more representative (and more likely to have influenced JRRT) than those included. The example that comes most readily to mind is Clemence Houseman. Her story "The Were Wolf" would have been a much better choice than "The Drawn Arrow." But the notes at the back have been very, very helpful in terms of turning up interesting new (old) writers.

[The Ace]

Yes, as long as Americans aren't allowed to do it.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by The Ace

Yes, as long as Americans aren't allowed to do it.

Now, wait just a cotton-pickin' minute here......

[KiwiBird]

there is still room for improvement, i mean he is a bit of a prude, and his storyline follows a too predictable path, its like from this point to that one and yo already know basically what is gonna happen. okay there are bits of chunks , but basically they go from on end to another illiminating first saruman treat to rohan and then sauron threat to the whole 'good' world.

the indepth characters are and the backgrounds are amazing though, still i can not help but feel that parts of the silmarillion and what happened with Numenor through the ages more interesting then LoTR in itself.

[stinking_dylan]

Originally Posted by Esioul

I think writers these days try to get away from Tolkein, there is so much fat fantasy around which attempts to copy him to some extent, or at least doesn't bother to make anything new up. Personally, I'm interested in the genre because I like reading interesting and weird things, and reading the same things over and over again just isn't interesting or weird enough for me.

I agree entirely. The only fantasy saga I really enjoyed was Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. The other sagas I've read I'd hardly even call fantasy, they just use a Tolkienesque world as a canvas to write a soap... Nothing very imaginative or wierd, so I wouldn't call them fantasists.

Modern fantasists I enjoy would be Michael Moorcock, Tanith Lee, Clive Barker, Terry Pratchett, David Gemmell, Ursula Le Guin and to a certain extent Stephen King. I'm about to experiment with Neil Gaiman, as what I've heard about him sounds like something I'd enjoy.

[Aeris]

I am so glad I found this thread. I have been thinking the same thing ever since I read Terry Brooks' Shannara books. The first time I read The Sword of Shannara, I really liked it. However, when I re-read it (or started to, at least), I felt gypped. Not only was the storyline almost identical to LoTR, but some of the material felt big-headed....almost like he just liked to hear himself talk.

Lately, I haven't been exploring the fantasy genre as much as I would like to, but some of the books that I've read and enjoyed that are fantasies that DON'T copy Tolkien, are:

-Any book by Patricia C. Wrede. I feel like she doesn't get enough recognition for her works. Her Enchanted Forest Chronicles are quick reads, but very funny and original and entertaining. Her Lyra novels are equally entertaining, but have more depth and history behind them. The characters are delightful, and all of the races are believable. I cannot stress enough how much I love this author. I read and re-read her novels because they are so GOOD!!!

-Brian Jacques. I have only read Redwall by him, but the moment I finished it, I wanted to flip back to the beginning and start over again. I read it when I was younger and enjoyed it, and I read it again recently and enjoyed it as much if not more. Excellent author. Excellent book. All around excellence.

[Storm Centurion]

I am surprised more people don't mention Peter S. Beagle.

While I credit Tolkien with exposing me to fantasy for the first time ( as an adult) Beagle is my favorite author hands down. He is always original. His characters are unique in a way you don't usually find in fiction, especially fantasy.

I find the Innkeeper's Song and Giant Bones to be my favorite stories. Giant Bones is a collection of stories that takes place in the same un-named world as the Innkeeper's Song.

The Last Unicorn, Tamsin and A Fine and Private Place are also terrific stories.

[jackokent]

I stumbled across the Last Unicorn quite by acident and thought it was amazing.

Tolkien was great but others are brilliant too. There's a Wagner thread posted up earlier and many people asked the same question "is there life in romantisim after Wagner" Of course, there is always room for improvement. As some people have said, Tolkien did have his faults such as his description of women.

[Telperaca]

But then, Tolkein did produce a whole world with history...

Kind of makes you wonder if he did anything else...