Heroic Fantasy

[balon!]

What are your favorites? Which ones would you recommend? What made you love them? What didn't you like, and why? Which characters are your favorites? Who made you want to pick up that mop and slay the demons rampaging through your kitchen? Where are the princesses and maidens in distress? The dragons, demons and other assorted evildoers to battle? I sure as heck can't find them. I want magic mirrors, ancient swords, speaking spirits, singing wells, wizards, the Dead, haunted towers, Mountains, Slayers, Pimps.... Pimps? Maybe a nice girl to bring home to Mom. Anyway, shields, gemstones and crowns on mummified Kings.

Gimme the good stuff. And no skimping on the blood and guts. I want crushed skulls, dammat!

[lurch]

..Conan...

[balon!]

..Conan...

mmm. Good choice. I've read through all the Howard, but so far I haven't touched any of the posers. He is a bloodthirsty warrior amongst blood thirsty warriors. Is Jordan or Sprague de Camp any good?

[lurch]

Whoaa there sir...Sorry if i implied that i actually Read any of the Conan series. I was simply going by the Cover Art...and a movie or two that had the gubernator as Conan...Lots of bludgeoning and lurid women . Great stuff of epic fantasy.

[balon!]

Whoaa there sir...Sorry if i implied that i actually Read any of the Conan series. I was simply going by the Cover Art...and a movie or two that had the gubernator as Conan...Lots of bludgeoning and lurid women . Great stuff of epic fantasy.

haha well, anything else from the poster-side of things look interetsing? I haven't seen BeastMaster since I was kid... time to dust off the VHS tapes.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

Jordan - hmmmm, how to describe him. Well, I only read the first three books, and each book seemed to end exactly the same way - Rand defeats the dark one. Then it seems to all start over again. I got frustrated, so I stopped. Several of my friends say that as the books went on, they got bigger and bigger, but less and less happened. I remember thinking that he writes a full notch better than Terry Brooks and David Eddings, but f course does not approach the depth of someone like SRD.

I enjoyed everything by Weis and Hickman, and the first few series by Eddings, as light reads go. I tolerated Forgotten Reams stuff like the Avatar trilogy, Dark Elf Trilogy, etc... mostly, though, SRD ruined me for good - by which I mean meaningful - fantasy. Many people here have recommended Steven Erikson, and I still have a copy of Gardens of the Moon, but have yet to break that 100-page barrier that is supposed to make it un-put-down-able.

dw

[balon!]

I finshed Robin Hood today. He was a boyhood hero of mine, and I'm glad I revived him. Saving Maid Merrian, burning Evil Hold. He's awesome.

[stonemaybe]

David Gemmel (is it David?) writes superb heroic fantasy. oops that should be wrote, he passed away in 2008 I think. All his main characters are ...well, heroic! Withstanding sieges all by themselves etc. Plenty of blood and gore too, iirc.

In fact, now that i think of it, I may have to do a re-read.

[balon!]

Yeah! Gemmel is really good. I've only read his Rigante series, but I LOVED them. He did a really good job of making his character come to life for me.

[Kil Tyme]

Balon, I think you will find much of what you are looking for in Moorcock's "Elric" series, who is one of my fav fant characers. Much blood and guts, demon swords, dark towers, strange lands with a never ending line of dark evil bad guys; even some very cool good guys. The whole Eternal Champion theme is part of most of his characters (Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, Count Brass, etc). Elric is actually another anti-hero, I believe. The first 6 books of the Elric series is in my top 5 of Fant series. Moorcock started writing some Elric books in the last decade that take place inbetween the orgional 6 books, but I don't think they are as good; stick with the orgional 6 Elric books if you do read them.

Never read Conan; I keep forgetting to look for those books.

[Menolly]

A Proposed Moorcock Reading Order

...for the die-hard Moorcock fan...

[danlo]

Yeah I'll take Elric, Conan, The Worm Oroborus, The Song of Rolan, Orlando Furioso and King Kull and throw the rest out the window,

[Zarathustra]

Many people here have recommended Steven Erikson, and I still have a copy of Gardens of the Moon, but have yet to break that 100-page barrier that is supposed to make it un-put-down-able.

dw

Don't get me started! I have pissed off Luci enough on this subject already!

I had to try this book twice. I think it was around the 100 page mark that I got stuck the first time, and then I literally couldn't remember a damn thing so I started over. After finishing the whole book, I still can barely remember a thing . . . except my frustration over how much I couldn't stand it. I literally hated this book. I couldn't find one redeeming quality about it. I'm trying not to be harsh, but I have to be honest.

However, Donaldson praises this author, and apparently subsequent books get better. I still feel too burned to give him another chance. Maybe I'll check it out of the library.

I love George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. If you haven't read those, get busy, man! It's a modern classic! Bakker's Prince of Nothing series is amazing--simply breathtaking it's so freakin' original and intelligent. You can definitely tell this was written by a guy who is getting his Ph.D in philosophy. There isn't a single flaw until the disappointing ending . . . but apparently there is more coming.

A series that few have read--but is still one of my favs from the 80s--is Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series. This one petered out to a disappointing end, but the first 4 books are amazing. Those alone are worth the investment of time. The set-up sounds lame, but where the author takes this series is entirely unexpected. They are a group of college students playing a fantasy role-playing game. Unbeknownst to them, their "dungeon master" is a high level wizard from the world they are exploring in their game. On a crucial night (I can't give away the reason why), he sends them to this land. They have all the powers, characteristics, and even the look of the characters they were playing. A dwarf (crippled guy from the real world), a cleric, two wizards, two thieves, and a swordsman.

Like I said, it sounds lame. But it's bloody brutal. And real. And amazing--especially when they have the chance to go home . . . god, I don't want to give it away. All the reasons this series transcends that simple set-up are massive spoilers. Just check it out. I think I just talked myself into rereading it. It's 100 times better than Dragonlance, David Eddings, Sword of Shannara--all that crap that came out of the 70s-80s. I'm serious. A forgotten gem.

[CovenantJr]

Yeah! Gemmel is really good. I've only read his Rigante series, but I LOVED them. He did a really good job of making his character come to life for me.

A lot of people really rate the Rigante series, but to me it seems to be among his weakest work. Personally, I'd recommend Knights of Dark Renown (stand alone), Waylander (first of a trilogy) and Wolf in Shadow (first of a trilogy).

[Avatar]

I think I was still a bit too harsh about Gardens of the Moon. It's unfair to say there wasn't a single redeeming quality. There were a few characters I liked (though, honestly, I can't remember their names). I liked the scenes with the thieves on the rooftops. It seemed like an interesting system of magic was developing.

Don't feel bad Malik...I only enjoyed GotM on the reread, after reading the next 3. Once I'd read those, I went back and GotM was much better. Poor showing for the first book of what's become a most enjoyable series.

As for Heroic Fantasy, I can only second Cj's recommendation...Gemmel has far better books than the Rigante series, (although I do enjoy those too.) Any of the Drenai books, or the "Sipstrassi Stones" books are brilliant, and although not very fatasy-like, I can't recommend Troy, his final series, enough.

--A

[CovenantJr]

Any of the Drenai books, or the "Sipstrassi Stones" books are brilliant

One of the things I like about both the Drenai and Sipstrassi books is the way they tie together as a history (or two histories). In many of the Drenai novels, Druss is a figure of ancient legend, while in turn Waylander is an old legend in Druss' time. Similarly, books like Last Sword of Power and Bloodstone are set so far apart as to be in different worlds, but tied together by the Stones.

The aforementioned Knights has possibly my favourite Gemmell magic system, though, which immediately scores it points.

[Wyldewode]

I love reading threads like this because it gives me new things to add to my must-read list. Like I need more books on that list. Anyway. . .

I'd heartily recommend the Chronicles of Prydain. It's a wonderful series that is fun and original while building on Welsh mythology. I've read the series a dozen times and never get tired of it.

Another good series is the Hound and the Hound and the Falcon series by Judith Tarr. I only discovered it about a year ago, but I'm already to reread it.

And if you enjoyed LOTR or Narnia, then you can't go wrong with anything that the Mythopoeic Society (they study Tolkien, Lewis and fantasy and mythic literature) has awarded --list under this link.

[Krazy Kat]

The War of Powers by Robert E Vardeman and Victor Milan is a fun read.

For the wierd and the wonderful and sheer horror, it has to be A.A.Attanasio
The Zotl are the stuff of darkest nightmares

And even if it means being expelled from Kevin's Watch, Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the world. Genius.

[Menolly]

Another good series is the Hound and the Hound and the Falcon series by Judith Tarr. I only discovered it about a year ago, but I'm already to reread it.

Brother Alf!!!

[Wyldewode]

Brother Alf!!!

Yeah. . . I really like his character. I like pretty much all of the characters she put in those books.