I need some novels recomendations...

[Dogfacedgod]

You should look into anything by Tad Williams as well. The trilogy, "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" is as epic as you can get. "Otherland" is more sci-fi-ish but is just amazing.

[MILAMBER]

Originally posted by Memnoch: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Dreamer128: The Empire trilogy which Feist wrote with Janny Wurst is probably some of his best work. Though it makes more sense if you read the Riftwar books first. I don't recommend buying any of the Krondor books. I don't know a single person who actually liked them.

I'm having some difficulty getting into Feist to tell you the truth...maybe it's because I had just finished with GRR Martin's hard-hitting ASOIAF series, which had incredible depth. I read Magician after that (the fact that the typeset they used was terrible didn't help) and found it very fluffy and lightweight compared to ASOIAF. It wasn't *bad*, it just seemed to suffer in comparison.

I'm reading the second book now (Silverthorn) and it's a bit better. I heard that the Serpentwar saga was the best one, but I wanted to read the whole thing in chrono order. </font>[/QUOTE]Actually, Silverthorn is the third book. Magician Master is the second book. Could that possibly account for part of the problem?

Unfortunately I'm horribly biased towards Feist. They were my first fantasy books and hold kind of a special place in my heart.

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by MILAMBER: Actually, Silverthorn is the third book. Magician Master is the second book. Could that possibly account for part of the problem? Unfortunately I'm horribly biased towards Feist. They were my first fantasy books and hold kind of a special place in my heart.

Milamber, it was only in the US that they split Magician into Magician:Apprentice and Magician:Master. In OZ we've only got the one book called Magician, and it's about 800 pages. So my sequencing is right. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I guess if I had done Feist before Martin I wouldn't have a problem - Feist isn't bad by any means, but Martin was (is) just awesome. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[antryg]

You might also try Garth Nix's Abhorsen books. They are not earthshaking but I found them to be a good read and liked the tension between magic and science as they rub against each other in his created world.

I would strongly second reading Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" series. Every one of the books have been great. Her character development is extrodinary.

[Tar]

Originally posted by antryg: I would strongly second reading Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" series. Every one of the books have been great. Her character development is extrodinary.

Well there's 2 books of her valdemar series that I didn't really like or take to. One is Brightly Burning as althought the character development is good,I felt that the ending is too abrupt and the plot is too weak; the other is Take a Thief, I know this book is about the life of Skif but I wish there were more parts involving Heralds, it is not as involving as her other valdemar books.


ROFL and speaking of Mercedes Lackey, its seems that she's now into writing romance as well:
http://www.mercedeslackey.com/books/godmother.shtml

[ 06-05-2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Tar ]

[Sneeki Two]

Steven Brust's "Vlad Taltos series" is decent. Just finishing off the last of them myself.

Just my 2.

[Thoran]

LOTS of good recommendations here (I think I've read just about every author mentioned so far, not a bad one in the group).

Thin on Sci-fi though, so I'll add an author that I'm quite enamored of but who seems to be fairly obscure. C. J. Cherryh. She seems to be most interested in xenopsychology, the interrelationships of various (and often VERY different) intelligent species. Her technology is imaginitive and she builds a very structured technology basis for her stories (she loses it in the details on occasion though IMO).

Her Faded Sun trilogy I had a tough time putting down. I'm currently reading her Chanur series and it's also very entertaining.

[dafan]

Originally posted by Rimjaw: Anything by Robin Hobb. 'Nuff said.

yeah she's magnificent

[dafan]

actually you should try Eric van lustbader's "the ring of five dragons" it's really good

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Memnoch: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by MILAMBER: Actually, Silverthorn is the third book. Magician Master is the second book. Could that possibly account for part of the problem? Unfortunately I'm horribly biased towards Feist. They were my first fantasy books and hold kind of a special place in my heart.

Milamber, it was only in the US that they split Magician into Magician:Apprentice and Magician:Master. In OZ we've only got the one book called Magician, and it's about 800 pages. So my sequencing is right. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I guess if I had done Feist before Martin I wouldn't have a problem - Feist isn't bad by any means, but Martin was (is) just awesome. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]I've realised where I think Feist's books fall down in relation to Martin's (or Tolkien's for that matter) - Feist spins a very good story in a world rich in detail, but the names he uses aren't particularly evocative. His characters seem everydayish, with names like Megan, Locklear, Jimmy, Tomas, etc. The only evocative name he used was Milamber, and the bloke isn't even called that anymore!! [img]graemlins/awcrap.gif[/img]

And the placenames...some of them are good, like Krondor, Salador, Rillanon...but then he has some real strange ones like Tyr-Sog, Bas-Tyra, LaMut, etc. It's almost like he just randomly put some phrases together to come up with the names - they don't bring up an image in your head.

Martin comes up with some really evocative people and place names - eg Ser Gregor Clegane, Ser Arthur Dayne, Danaerys Targaryen, Winterfell, Starfall, Dragonstone, the Wall...