Has anything touched you like TC?

[Frostheart Grueburn]

Well...I fear I'm going to be repeating others, but.... From the common stack: Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter.

Probably obscurer (?) works:

-<i>Sinuhe the Egyptian</i> and <i>Mikael Karvajalka</i> by Mika Waltari. 15 years have trudged past since I last immersed into these, so my views might change, should I re-read them sometime soon. Semi-historical fiction with bitter, sarcastic undertones by a bygone Finnish author.
-<i>Bartimaeus Trilogy</i> by Jonathan Stroud. YA fantasy, kind of an antithesis to Harry Potter, but rather equally complex.
-<i>The Discworld</i> series by Terry Pratchett.

From the ponderous world of ancient epics (holy halibuts on a pogo stick, someone actually reads these XD):

-The Kalevala
-Poetic Edda
-Beowulf. I own a copy that features parallel prints of Old/Modern English texts. I'm probably a hopeless geek, but letting your mind wander about in the mists of the original verses just gave a whole new depth to the world of Merovingian heroes and monsters. Swedish skills also help a tad.

TC in itself, however...I don't believe I've ever cried so much due to the tragedies of fictional characters as during both my first and second readings of the Second Chronicles.

[peter]

I run the whole fantasy gamut from Brooks 'Sword of Shannara' at one end to The Chrons of TC at the other and by and large like it all. Series always tend to start well and then struggle a bit in the latter books. It is easier for me to say what I don't like when it comes to the genre. Dark Tower did not work for me. Ghormenghast neither. Ursula le guin's Earhsea was OKish as was Gemmels work. My favorites tend to be TLOTR, TC, Sword of Shannara ( ): I like elves and dwarves and wizards and quests. (I have also read the Dragonbone chair and the Weis and Hickman D&D type stuff). Have I missed anything that you guys think might fit the bill.

[illender]

i first read tc when i was about 14 or 15 years old. before that i too had been a big fan of lotr, the martian chronicals, earthsea, narnia, and so on. i dont know if it just takes a specific mindset to become hooked or what but i find that every time i read a new book all i do is compare it to tc. i knew that no other book would draw me in like this one after i read that special page where the name nom is uttered. just gave me shivers down my spine

[Cambo]

Other novels have touched me, but none to the same extent as TC. Honourable mentions must go to such works as Gormenghast, LOTR and Siddhartha. But compared to the effect reading the Chrons for the first time...not even close.

[illender]

i guess this is somewhat off topic but since so many of us feel that nothing compares to the first time reading this series....what do we do when its done. could be a long time or never for another like this to pop up. makes me wish i could wipe that part of my memory so i could reread everything

[Orlion]

i guess this is somewhat off topic but since so many of us feel that nothing compares to the first time reading this series....what do we do when its done. could be a long time or never for another like this to pop up. makes me wish i could wipe that part of my memory so i could reread everything

Interesting you should mention this, since in my case, the Chronicles impacted me more on the re-read a few years later than the first time around.

Sure, I loved it after finishing it the first time, and it was one of my favorites. But it didn't become the pinnacle to me until I re-read it.

[Cambo]

Yeah, the re-reads are pretty crucial for me as well. The first reading was an intensely visceral experience for me- all emotion. Re-reading any book allows me to really mine the text, engage on an intellectual level as well as emotional. And in the Chrons, there is a lot to mine for.

[lmyhcsf]

Hmmm...is that the same guy who's finishing Jordan's series?

Yeah. But Elantris and his Mistborn trilogy are 10x better than Wheel of Time--and have more pace. Well, just having pace is more pace than Wheel of Time.

rcfHow I agree with the "pace" of WOT but still looking forward to see how it ends up. With the whole Chronicles I was always so overwhelmed with how much sheer anguish, pain and suffering that TC goes through. Really depressed me the first time through. But now I must be on my 10/11 so it cant be all that bad can it

I will def give theMistborn tri a go, (thanks 4 the heads up), too busy with my SF at the mo.

[DaliMe]

Harry Potter.

I would never think to compare the two stories, but you know, I do understand you about Harry )

[feanor]

Ayup All...

Most certainly.

The cruel sound of 'Leper Outcast Unclean' is how I felt I was to others sometimes when Younger. But remembering that 'There is also Love in the World' Bought me back from that. And on 'Loss' Salthearts 'Ashes' poem Conveys it Perfectly... A beautiful Poem.

[ussusimiel]

TCTC has always been the tops for me emotionally. LOTR got me into fantasy and for great story-telling and mythmaking I've never read anything to touch it. It didn't move me the way TCTC did/does though (although I always find the end of the film of 'The Return of the King' very touching).

Another fantasy that I found good Raymond Feist's 'Magician' and the follow up ones he did with Janny Wurts, 'The Empire Trilogy' are worth a go. Otherwise, it's mostly second-rate fare. It makes me appreciate SRD all the more

u.

[feanor]

Ayup Ussusimiel...

What always struck me about TC was how Emotionally charged he was ALL the time, and how he animated everyone about him with it. I often used to wonder how he didn't just drop dead of Apoplexy, let alone Leprosy. I appreciate that 'Survival' is a very strong Impulse, but at times, Wooh ! It strikes me that even in dreams, you can relax too...

[Holsety]

I cried once, I am pretty sure, reading the scene where Mhoram defeats the Raver in The Power that Preserves. However, it is POSSIBLE I held back my tears. I do not remember...but I like to say that it made me cry, for if I held it back, I cried in my heart.

Recently I thought about the fact that the universe could not, even while I was awake, possibly concentrate all its love on me, even though I feel that in some twisted sense I love all the universe. That made me cry.

I have cried at other times, in other places, in other lands,

But what has made me most cry is belieiving I did not live up to my parents expectations.