Advice on Fantasy Books for my mother.

[Captain_Swoop]

She likes 'Epic Fantasy' style stuff. David Eddings, Terry Brooks etc.

She wants some suggestions for similar authors.

I don't do Fantasy much so I can't help but, I told her I know people who can.

Any suggestions folks?, I don't know any better bunch of folks to help.

[crescent]

Tad Williams writes some pretty good "High" fantasy, although his female characters tend to be weak, and he's fairly derivative of Tolkien.

Look for his "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" books and and "Shadowmarch" books.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik is fun.

[Captain_Swoop]

She likes derivative of Tolkien and weak female characters.

She doesn't like lots of names and exposition. She likes action, wizards, dragons and a lack of long 'fantasy' names and back story exposition.

She tried the D+D stuff 'Forgotten realms' and 'Dragonlance' but she thinks they are boring with too many names and waffle.

[Myriad]

Various old stuff:

Dennis McKiernan: The Iron Tower trilogy, The Silver Call duology (These are so derivative of Tolkien that the duology, written first, was originally intended to be a direct sequel to Lord of the Rings, and when the Tolkien estate didn't allow that, the trilogy was written to be so much like LotR that the already-written duology, with a few names changed, could be a sequel to that instead.)

Guy Gavriel Kay: The Fionavar Tapestry (This is infinitely better than anything else mentioned in this post, but it still has enough dragons action wizards etc. that your mother will like it, if she doesn't mind poignant heroic sacrifice.)

That Eragon series, maybe? Its almost as bad as Terry Brooks so she'll probably like it.

The two great kids' "Chronicles Of...:" Prydain (Lloyd Alexander) and Narnia (C.S. Lewis). Why not?

[theprestige]

Kingkiller Chronicles?

Game of Thrones?

Seconding the Guy Gavriel Kay.

[Nowhere Man]

The Earthsea books by LeGuin, maybe. Jack Vance's Dying Earth stuff too.

Fred

[Captain_Swoop]

Originally Posted by Myriad

Various old stuff:

Dennis McKiernan: The Iron Tower trilogy, The Silver Call duology (These are so derivative of Tolkien that the duology, written first, was originally intended to be a direct sequel to Lord of the Rings, and when the Tolkien estate didn't allow that, the trilogy was written to be so much like LotR that the already-written duology, with a few names changed, could be a sequel to that instead.)

Guy Gavriel Kay: The Fionavar Tapestry (This is infinitely better than anything else mentioned in this post, but it still has enough dragons action wizards etc. that your mother will like it, if she doesn't mind poignant heroic sacrifice.)

That Eragon series, maybe? Its almost as bad as Terry Brooks so she'll probably like it.

The two great kids' "Chronicles Of...:" Prydain (Lloyd Alexander) and Narnia (C.S. Lewis). Why not?

She thinks CS Lewis is for Kids. She doesn't really like Lord of the Rings, it's too slow and boring.

But, some of the other are worth a try.

thanks

[Captain_Swoop]

Originally Posted by Nowhere Man

The Earthsea books by LeGuin, maybe. Jack Vance's Dying Earth stuff too.

Fred

Good suggestions, but she has read them already. thanks.

[Brainache]

Raymond E Feist's 'Magician' was OK. The later books in the series left me cold.

[Captain_Swoop]

Originally Posted by Brainache

Raymond E Feist's 'Magician' was OK. The later books in the series left me cold.

She has all of them, they are a fave .

[Trebuchet]

I was going to suggest Pratchett but he doesn't really fit the profile and she's probably already done that anyhow.
Classics? L. Sprague DeCamp etc?

[mkg]

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (14 books, I think) would keep her going for a while. Certainly the first in the series (The Eye of the World) is worth a read - some of the others drag a bit, but you're hooked by then.

[Darat]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

She likes 'Epic Fantasy' style stuff. David Eddings, Terry Brooks etc.

She wants some suggestions for similar authors.

I don't do Fantasy much so I can't help but, I told her I know people who can.

Any suggestions folks?, I don't know any better bunch of folks to help.

Pern series by Mccaffery - I know strictly speaking they are science fiction but they really fall better into the fantasy genre.

[Dave Rogers]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

She likes derivative of Tolkien and weak female characters.

She doesn't like lots of names and exposition. She likes action, wizards, dragons and a lack of long 'fantasy' names and back story exposition.

Not fantasy exactly, but has she tried Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels? Start with Dragonflight; she'll either be hooked by the end of chapter 1, or forget it.

Dave

ETA: Great minds think alike...

[Wudang]

Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy?
Peter Brett's Painted Man series? SWMBO is a big fan.
A bit dark and violet if she's okay with that Joe Abercrombie First Law trilogy. Some wonderfully realized characters

[Wudang]

If you have Amazon Prime K T Davies' Dangerous to Know and its successors are a fun free read on Kindle Unlimited. Some scatological language - think Deadpool.

[The Great Zaganza]

Farseer Trilogy by Robbin Hobb
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...n_s_Apprentice

Liveship Traders Triology by the same author
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45100.Ship_of_Magic

I love Brandon Sanderson's books (all of them), but they tend to get technical with their systems of Magic - not sure your Mom would like that.

[alfaniner]

Piers Anthony's Xanth series goes on forever, but I found the first six or so books to be enjoyable.

[The Great Zaganza]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Kingkiller Chronicles?

Game of Thrones?

It's a bit mean to recommend book series which the author will never finish.

[Wudang]

Originally Posted by mkg

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (14 books, I think) would keep her going for a while. Certainly the first in the series (The Eye of the World) is worth a read - some of the others drag a bit, but you're hooked by then.

I usually re-read books a lot but the thought of having to read books 7-11 puts me right off. If they ever produce an edited version down to say 8 books I'd buy that. YMMV.

[theprestige]

The R. E. Howard Conan stories, for real.

[Wudang]

Paul Edwin Zimmer's Dark Border - first 2 books. The Lost Prince and King Chondos' Ride. The latter 2 I didn't enjoy so much.

I'd be surprised if they didn't at least partially inspire Gemmel's Legend.

[Disbelief]

I second Jordan's Wheel of Time, though like was said the middle books drag.

Glen Cook's Black Company is pretty entertaining.

[theprestige]

Lies of Locke Lamora?

[Wudang]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Lies of Locke Lamora?

AKA Scott Lynch's The Gentlemen Bastards books. The first is definitely the best.

[theprestige]

Originally Posted by Wudang

AKA Scott Lynch's The Gentlemen Bastards books. The first is definitely the best.

Yes indeed it is.

[Pacal]

Originally Posted by mkg

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (14 books, I think) would keep her going for a while. Certainly the first in the series (The Eye of the World) is worth a read - some of the others drag a bit, but you're hooked by then.

I've read most of the Wheel of Time series and I recommend the first three. After the first three the series has a truly massive case of verbal diarrhea and utterly outrageous padding. There are entire novels in which basically nothing happens and they are written in some of the most turgid dull prose ever put to paper. It seems obvious to me the Jordon decided to expand and enlarge the series in order to extract more lucre from his fans. The result being many, many pages of boredom. Also Jordon and his publishers began to show what can only be called contempt for the fans by prolonging the series beyond any sense to the point of idiocy.

The result is that some of the later novels in the series are among the worst fantasy ever written.

For reading I recommend the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. It is very well written and quite strange.

[Skeptic Ginger]

Why weak women???

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fantastic trilogy.

[jimbob]

I liked Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World series

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...e_Anvil_of_Ice

[theprestige]

Originally Posted by Pacal

I've read most of the Wheel of Time series and I recommend the first three. After the first three the series has a truly massive case of verbal diarrhea and utterly outrageous padding. There are entire novels in which basically nothing happens and they are written in some of the most turgid dull prose ever put to paper. It seems obvious to me the Jordon decided to expand and enlarge the series in order to extract more lucre from his fans. The result being many, many pages of boredom. Also Jordon and his publishers began to show what can only be called contempt for the fans by prolonging the series beyond any sense to the point of idiocy.

The result is that some of the later novels in the series are among the worst fantasy ever written.

For reading I recommend the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. It is very well written and quite strange.

Ironically, I found Gormenghast to be like Wheel of Time, only more so -- endless chapters of inconsequential padding.

[ElMondoHummus]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

She doesn't like lots of names and exposition. She likes action, wizards, dragons and a lack of long 'fantasy' names and back story exposition.

Aw, crud, scratch my recommendation for Katharine Kerr's Deverry Cycle then . The "long 'fantasy' names" part will kill her enjoyment. So would the "back story exposition". A good deal of the entire series is exactly that. But, I still think it's possible she might like at least the first book or two.

[abaddon]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Kingkiller Chronicles?

Game of Thrones?

Seconding the Guy Gavriel Kay.

The GoT books are likely to intensive.

[abaddon]

Dark materials maybe? Coopers novels perhaps.

Hard to know where to pitch it.

[abaddon]

U. K LeGuin even?

[jimbob]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

She likes 'Epic Fantasy' style stuff. David Eddings, Terry Brooks etc.

She wants some suggestions for similar authors.

I don't do Fantasy much so I can't help but, I told her I know people who can.

Any suggestions folks?, I don't know any better bunch of folks to help.

Probably not a good place to recommend Richard Morgan's "Land Fit for Heroes" trilogy

What I find a hilarious (and accurate) review by Joe Abercrombie

https://www.joeabercrombie.com/2008/...steel-remains/

Quote:

Now, I read very little fantasy these days, and my knowledge of the genre is pretty pathetic. I can remember a couple of years ago when The Blade Itself came out I had a review that described the book as having a “Vancian reminiscence.” “Vancian?” I asked my editors, with one eyebrow raised. “That’s right, like Jack Vance.” “Jack Vance?” I asked with both eyebrows raised. They looked at me as if I’d asked who Elvis was. I’ve read Tolkien, course. Dragonlance, Eddings, bit of Jordan, guilty as charged. Martin, Moorcock, and LeGuin, yes. But more recently, you can pretty much forget it. Bakker, not a word. Erikson, not a peep. Mieville, not a sausage.

Quote:

This is a good book. It may very well be part of a really great series. It’s an extreme book, a challenging book in all kinds of ways – themes, content, and style. It reaches the parts most epic fantasies don’t reach and many fantasy readers may not want to have reached. Morgan seems to say to them – tough ****, and you’ve got to greatly admire his bollocks in doing so. No-one could accuse him of moving into fantasy in order to take the easy commercial path. NO-ONE.

Quote:

What else can I compare it to? It has the explosive violence of, well, Richard Morgan (only about twice as explosive), the moral ambiguity of vintage Moorcock (but about three times as dark), with the explicit sexual content of Martin (only about ten times more explicit, and I’m not kidding), the harsh language of Scott Lynch (times about 1,000,000). If those things put you off, really, don’t bother. The first couple of pages will probably give you a bit of mouth sick. The lyricism of Patrick Rothfuss? Not so much. The languid descriptions of Robert Jordan? No. The charming rural laughs of Eddings? No. No. No.

As an aside -

it is related in some way to the Universe of Altered Carbon - or the last book in the series

[theprestige]

The Dresden Files. The epic fantasy gets off to a slow start, and there is a bit of exposition from time to time (gets a bit repetitive if you read the books one after the other), but very little fantasy name stuff. Even then, the more fantastical creatures generally go by easy English nicknames.

[theprestige]

C. J. Cherryh.

[pgwenthold]

Wings of Fire by Tui Sutherland any where close to what you are looking for?

[Molinaro]

The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

It is a 7 book story that is very high fantasy and very epic.

I have re-read it every two years for the past 10 years. And I will keep re-reading it. It is the best fantasy story that I have ever read.

Pretty much all my rpg video game character names over the past ten years have been named after characters in those books.

[Roboramma]

Originally Posted by theprestige

The R. E. Howard Conan stories, for real.

You beat me to it, but at least I can second this.

I'd also like to very strongly recommend The Ramayana, and specifically the translation by Ramesh Menon that I recently read. It may not exactly qualify as fantasy, any more than say the Iliad or the Odyssey do, but then aside from real people having believed these stories to be real, it's not much different. The story is about a ten headed demon who rules the three worlds (basically heaven, hell and earth) and is invincible to all gods and immortals but whose distain for humanity led him to overlook them, and Rama, the man who is destined to kill him.
The demon king is portrayed as a somewhat heroic if evil figure. Their final fight scene full of celestial weapons and everything is amazing.

Menon's translation puts it into thrilling prose and cuts out the repetitive and digressive storytelling that I think was probably present in the original (at least that's how the Mahabharata was). It's really a riveting read.