Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

I voted Martin and Hobb. Those are the two best authors I have read, hands down.

I started reading the WoT books when they were on book 7 or so, so I got the first one, liked it, then picked up the next 5. And read em all in a relatively short period of timeMistake. I would say books 1-3 were good, or at least worth reading. After that though...it became like the Everquest of fantasy literature. Incredibly diminishing returns with more and more demands on the reader. Also like EQ, I continued to buy the books even after I realized I wasnt enjoying them, just kind of hoping it would get better. It hasnt. I stopped reading at book 8, but I think I have 9 and 10 somewhere.

Another series that started out promising, for me anyway, but ended up crappy was the Sword of Truth books. Kind of corny from the get go, but very much a page turning experience for me. Then the series just got weird, with all of the domination/sex innuendo. Not too mention boring as **** in the recent books.

I want to pick up the Malazan books, but I am having a hard time finding a decent hardback copy of the first one here in the US. I despise reading paperbacks, especially the mass market small ones.

I hadnt heard about a Runelords movie. Thats cool. The books were just ok though, IMO. I liked the first one a lot, but then the series just kind of got corny to me. Still, more fantasy books into movies is a good thing. I would kill to see some of my Favorites adapted to the big screen.

olaf

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

No mention of The Worm Oroborus by ER Edison?

While not 'good' per say. It's an original gangsta.

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

And then there's the grandfather of Sword And Sorcery Tales, Fritz Leiber.

I just ran across a new edition of his four Swords Of Lankhmar collected books, which means they're avaiable.

If you ever wanted to know where Pratchett got his initial ideas from (read Colours Of Magic after that, and you'll see what I mean), what the codeword "Fafhrd" in Baldur's Gate II meant and why every serious author mentions Leiber in a foreword of his books, well, here's the time. They're great, light read.

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Also try to consider that some of us have real lives and we do not have unlimited amounts of time to spend on chasing down obscure books.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Obscure books?! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif It took me all of _TWO_SECONDS_ to search for and find his books on amazon.com, where I found Mythago Wood used for $.99. It took me about a minute to determine my local small town library has Mythago Wood on the shelf.

If you're having trouble, you haven't tried -- this isn't an insult, it's the truth. Let me guess, you didn't even try looking in the library? The public library in Houston even claims to have it...

[ January 24, 2004, 00:47: Message edited by: Jasper ]

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

hi everybody, not a real big fantasy fan here, but im wondering why no one has mentioned Gene Wolfe/Book of the New Sun?
also, wouldnt Lovecraft fit into this discussion, considering Dominions 2 has an entire race based on his work?

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

Steven Brust is also very good.

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

Lovecraft is more horror than fantasy, though what the difference between the two is I don't know.

One other that hasn't been mentioned, possibly for the same reason, is Stephen King with his The Dark Tower series. Best books King has written, and that makes them pretty damn good.

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I didn't mention them in my post for the possibly same reason, despite having read a couple of them in the Last month or so.

Wasn't sure if they'd be considered fantasy, horror, or sci-fi.

Also read a Clive Barker book not too long ago that was almost certainly fantasy, but I forget what it was called. And it felt like it was maybe aimed more at children (though it was still an enjoyable read).

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I rather enjoyed the Belgariad (I didn't have the courage to go through much of the rest of their writing, though - he does write in tandem with his wife). It was rather fun, in a parodic, ultra-stereotyped way. Kind of like Pratchett, only I'm not too sure it's intended in the Eddings' case.

Voted for Martin; would have added more if I had noticed one could go "more than one" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Favorite fantasy author
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I didn't know Egan had a home page, but of course I should have guessed.

He's clearly my current favorite SF writer, though I don't know whether his works can really appeal much to someone with no or little scientific education... some of his ideas are pretty weird developments on interesting scientific facts or theories. Fortunately, both I and my girlfriend are scientists, so we can enjoy his books http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif