Weasel | 30 Aug 2016 12:05 p.m. PST |
Old-fashioned tales of treasure hunting (Conan, Fafrd and the grey mouser) Dark and fatalistic? (Moorcock) Epic high adventure? (Eddings or Tolkien) Whimsical magic? (Vance) Morally grey adventures in a grey world of grey greyness? (GRR Martin) "Romantic" fantasy? (in the literary meaning of the term. Aka Dragonlance) Or something else entirely? |
Winston Smith | 30 Aug 2016 12:30 p.m. PST |
All of the above, but not all in one. Just leave out the elf songs. "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard! But first, let's sing some very long songs!" |
Weasel | 30 Aug 2016 12:40 p.m. PST |
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mad monkey 1 | 30 Aug 2016 12:44 p.m. PST |
Take or leave any one of the suggestions above. Just depends on what mood I'm in. |
Dynaman8789 | 30 Aug 2016 12:46 p.m. PST |
> "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard! But first, let's sing some very long songs!" Don't forget the half page to page long descriptions of a knott on a tree that has no bearing to the story. |
USAFpilot | 30 Aug 2016 12:52 p.m. PST |
All the above, as long as the writing is good. By the way, the poems and songs in Tolkien's works are some of the best parts. Gimli's poem: (hope it formats) The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dum.
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and windless Mirrormere;
There lies his crown in water deep.
Till Durin wakes again from sleep. |
boy wundyr x | 30 Aug 2016 1:22 p.m. PST |
Heroic fantasy (ala Conan, Kull, Imaro) are my first choice, epic fantasy is probably second but nowadays where everybody's doing trilogies or more, then it has to be really good. Then other stuff depending on how good it is. Vance I like, Dragonlance was ok for the first trilogy even though you could see the D&D rules showing through sometimes, never really could get into Moorcock except for his VSF. |
Bill Rosser | 30 Aug 2016 1:23 p.m. PST |
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Bill Rosser | 30 Aug 2016 1:23 p.m. PST |
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The Gray Ghost | 30 Aug 2016 1:36 p.m. PST |
Old-fashioned heroic fantasy. but I also like Whimsical as found in many kids books. I have a personal liking for Moorcock's style but not many others can pull it off. |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 30 Aug 2016 1:39 p.m. PST |
Sunny side up. Or scrambled. +1 USAFpilot |
thorr666 | 30 Aug 2016 1:39 p.m. PST |
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Robert666 | 30 Aug 2016 2:31 p.m. PST |
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rmaker | 30 Aug 2016 2:32 p.m. PST |
I just finished Michelle West's The Hidden City. An excellent fantasy book that doesn't really fit any of those categories. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and her other books as I track them down. Dragonlance was ok for the first trilogy even though you could see the D&D rules showing through Well, DUH! That would be the point! |
kallman | 30 Aug 2016 2:43 p.m. PST |
As others have state well written and engaging. |
Mooseworks8 | 30 Aug 2016 2:43 p.m. PST |
I'm pick on fantasy fiction. Only certain settings and authors. I will look at some outside my normal range but only if there is something that drawn me to the book like a review, recommendation, etc. |
Saber6 | 30 Aug 2016 3:17 p.m. PST |
Howard or Moorcock Magic that has a price |
Zargon | 30 Aug 2016 3:41 p.m. PST |
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chuck05 | 30 Aug 2016 5:02 p.m. PST |
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Dynaman8789 | 30 Aug 2016 5:05 p.m. PST |
Dragonlance was ok except for the all the exclamation points. as in "As they walked across the ledge the fire leapt in the sky!" (not an actual quote from the book, I think). Use prose and not punctuation to denote such things. |
Brian Smaller | 30 Aug 2016 6:08 p.m. PST |
Given my eyesight – I like my novels in large print editions. |
John Treadaway | 31 Aug 2016 1:37 a.m. PST |
Written by Tolkien… John T |
IanKHemm | 31 Aug 2016 2:45 a.m. PST |
I like most types of fantasy but very few authors as most just regurgitate what has come before. Tolkien, Moorcock and Howard are, easily, my favorites. I like Tolkien's saga like style, Moorcock's imagination and Howard's savagery. But I also really like those tales that are very firmly based in the realm of Faerie: The Brooken Sword and The King of Elfland's Daughter come to mind. I also enjoyed Tad Williams' Shadowmarch series because it had this element to it. |
Mardaddy | 31 Aug 2016 6:15 a.m. PST |
I like my fantasy novels immersive but not tediously so. Authors that brush over details that would get me immersed or that sacrifice story going too far in descriptors turn me off. The various "Books of Swords" series started fine for 1-3, but got tedious with all that followed. I do enjoy the whimsical as well, but I know what I am getting into, and do not mind not getting immersed so long as it entertains – the Spellsinger series comes to mind. |
Landorl | 31 Aug 2016 6:24 a.m. PST |
I kind of like the epic stories. I'm not much into the darker, grittier stuff like Game of Thrones. I like to root for some good guys. |
21eRegt | 31 Aug 2016 8:21 a.m. PST |
Depending on mood and where I am in life, all of the above. That said, Tolkien and Moorcock remain my favorites. |
Tgerritsen | 31 Aug 2016 7:11 p.m. PST |
I'm not terribly picky on it. I read them for fun, not enlightenment. I hated the songs and poetry in Tolkien. I really found other works by him outside of the Lord of the Rings to be superior. He told the Hobbit in one slim book and loved it. I had to drag myself through the Twin Towers. I love Moorcock, Howard, Martin and Cook. I avoided Vance and Donaldson (I read one chapter of White Gold Wielder, put it down and never came back). I found Terry Brooks to be only mildly ok. I loved CS Lewis as a kid, but was bored by McCaffrey and Ursula K Leguin. I enjoyed the first three Dragonlance books but as a rule I avoid fiction based on game or media settings (I made an exception or the Dragonlance trilogy only after becoming friends with Margaret Weis- I thought it would be rude not to make exception for her). I can't point to any one type that I enjoy. I like well written novels for the most part, and want something I can enjoy rather than something I have to study. I do enough of that in my day job that I want something I can just consume for my fun. |
Major Mike | 31 Aug 2016 7:37 p.m. PST |
David Bishoff and his Gaming Magi Trilogy that started with The Destiny Dice. |
Der Krieg Geist | 26 Sep 2016 1:35 p.m. PST |
with ketchup on a Kaiser roll, and a side of Cajun curly fries…….. oh wait….:) |
Der Krieg Geist | 26 Sep 2016 1:37 p.m. PST |
Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock and Jack Vance style |