Kevin's Watch

Sorry for the delay, guys. First week at my new job, and I've only been able to catch a few minutes here and there.

Kil Tyme wrote:Balon, I think you will find much of what you are looking for in Moorcock's "Elric" series....... Elric is actually another anti-hero, I believe.

I think I've heard of Elric before, but it was back when I was only into Sci-Fi so it didn't appeal. Time to pick it back up, I think.

Malik23 wrote: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.

I've tried RR Martin before and had a similar experience with you and Erickson. And Erickson is just too...epic for what I want right now.

Malik23 wrote: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.

I never thought that this would pop up. As far as I was concerned I was the only person still alive who knew about this series. I only own the first book right now, but in an hour I'm going out to see if I can rustle up the later books in the series.

CovenantJr wrote: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 wrote: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

I dont know why I've never pursued any of this other works before. In hindsight it seems obvious, but I guess that's just how I read. I tend to skip around from author to author a lot. Reading a bunch of books by one person isn't my style. But these are going on my list as well. I really liked Gemmel's style, so I'm looking forward to these.

Wyldewode wrote:I'd heartily recommend the Chronicles of Prydain........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.

The Prydian stuff looks good to me. Narnia is okay, but I find that I can only get through the third book or so. It just gets repetitive for me.

Krazy Kat wrote: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.

Haven't heard of Vardeman or Milan but Radix is one of the only books I always put in my ever changing "top 5" lists. Attanasio came along at the same time as SRD. They changed my worldview and life.

Of course JRRT gave me the first fix, so I won't have to mention LoTR, I guess. But this would count as epic fantasy rather than heroic, does it? (I have never been good at labelling things, same with music. I only need two categories - things that rock and things that suck)

I also enjoyed:

Fred Saberhagen - Book of Swords
Philip Rosé Farmer - World of Tiers
Lawrence Watt-Evans - Lords of Dûs series
Fritz Leibner - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
Michael Moorcock - Elric

Haven't read any fantasy for quite some years. SDR brought me back to it and obviously I still enjoy it as much as a teenager (on a higher intellectual level of course. )

He finished the 700+ page omnibus in the one day, even though he went to school and had homework.

Fred Saberhagen - Book of Swords

Fred's great. I was sad when he died last year. He finally did finish up the Swords series, but nothing ever topped the first 6.

Finished An Heir Apparent, and although I loved the series, I have no urge to go any further. It was a DAMN good read, and well worth the reread of the first, and the next three as brand new buys. I love finding new fiction!

I think I move on to the Gemmel stuff next.

Just finished the first Druss book, by Gemmel. Had to get them down from the attic at the weekend cos of this thread. good stuff. Light on plot, heavy on heroics!

*Double post doesn't care*

Am now on third of Gemmel's Troy books - wow they are good! I've always loved the Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid, and these books take such an arsey-versey look at the situation that they are unputdownable. Halfway through third book and we haven't even reached the Siege of Troy yet! As always, Gemmell's heroes are superb, but in this series he really goes a few layers deeper than he does with his heroes in the Drenai and Rigante books. Wasn't there a thread round here somewhere about female heroes? Look no further than Andromache.

This series has definitely jumped into my top five. (Thanks for the recommendations, Av!)

Glad you enjoyed them.

--A

How about the John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs? It's been close to 30 years since I read them. They were LOTS of fun!

DukkhaWaynhim wrote: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.

Guess you never read it, eh? Since you haven't posted in the forum... Ah well, different strokes. No, Malazan is nowhere near the philosophical and/or psychological journey of my other favorite fantasy books. TCTC, Neverness, Earthsea... But it's well beyond anything other than Tolkien in the depth and breadth of the world that was created. The different races, cultures, and histories are simply extraordinary. Then there's the magic system, and its deities. The first four books in particular are as good as anything I've ever dreamed of reading. But many people don't think GotM measres up to 2-4. And I guess it doesn't. Not because it's not great, but because it's not as mind boggling as the others.

Stonemaybe wrote:Just finished the first Druss book, by Gemmel. Had to get them down from the attic at the weekend cos of this thread. good stuff. Light on plot, heavy on heroics!

I keep getting th urge to re-read Knights of Dark Renown, but I don't have it here. It's possibly my favourite Gemmell novel, partly because it has 'first album heard' syndrome* and partly because the mechanics of the world ('magic' by colour, etc) are handled well IMO.




*i.e. my first experience of a band/author/whatever tends to define them for me, and results in the first of their work I encounter remaining my favourite.

Oh wow! There's MORE Gemmell?

There's loads of Gemmell.

If you like the Greek stuff, and haven't already, you could read Lion of Macedon.

CovenantJr wrote:There's loads of Gemmell.

If you like the Greek stuff, and haven't already, you could read Lion of Macedon.

And Cj has tried discussing him several times. Look in this thread Stone.

CovenantJr wrote:There's loads of Gemmell.

If you like the Greek stuff, and haven't already, you could read Lion of Macedon.

That was the first Gemmel I ever read, and it remains one of my favourite. The sequel, Dark Prince was alright, although not quite as good.

StoneMaybe wrote:Oh wow! There's MORE Gemmell?

31 novels, and 3 books of short stories in fact. I have 16 or so of them.

Rereading the other thread, I think I'll reread Wolf in Shadow next. Jon Shannow does rock.

--A

Avatar wrote:

CovenantJr wrote:If you like the Greek stuff, and haven't already, you could read Lion of Macedon.

That was the first Gemmel I ever read, and it remains one of my favourite. The sequel, Dark Prince was alright, although not quite as good.

Dark Prince was more far-fetched and fantasy-like. I really liked it, until I read Lion of Macedon (I acquired them in the wrong order). It's still not bad, but Lion is far better.