I’m running out of stuff to get out of the library. 8p I’m currently wolfing down Tom Holt books (I don’t think they’re awesome, but they’re nothing if not entertaining). I was actually going to write a thread about them when I realized probably no one would care. 8p I’m almost finished everything he’s wrote, though. Anyone have some recommendations for me?
Here’s my tastes: I don’t usually like “serious” fantasy or sci-fi, because generally those are overbearing and/or incredibly boring. (For example, I read the first chapter or two of one of the Wheel of Time books and returned it the next day.) I do like comic fantasy (e.g. Pratchett), but that’s hard to do well. I also generally like urban fantasy (real-world setting with fantasy elements). However, I’m not averse to real-life fiction as well if it’s well done and interesting (I’ve read some Grisham and Ludlum, for instance).
Piers Anthony has a comic fantasy series, Xanth, that I read several books in a while back and enjoyed quite a bit. There’s currently 29 books in the series, and he’s still writing more. It’s a lighthearted look on fantasy in general. I’d give some examples, but I don’t feel I could do the series any justice, Piers Anthony just writes in his own style so well. It’d probably be better to tell you that for whatever reason our school library purchased several of his books, and they became quite popular only a short time after they had been put on the shelves.
<A href=“http://www.hipiers.com/” target="_blank">Here’s his web site.</A> It’s not much of a looker, and neither is he, but the books are all that really matter, and they’re quite good.
If you’re going for Xanth (and they’re really cool, sort of like a different Pratchet :P) then get his earlier books. His later books start show that he’s running out of idea and moving into R-rated stuff
Originally posted by Cless Alvein If you’re going for Xanth (and they’re really cool, sort of like a different Pratchet :P) then get his earlier books. His later books start show that he’s running out of idea and moving into R-rated stuff
As I correspond regularly with Mr. Jacob, I can tell you right now that there is definitely no shortage of ideas for Xanth or any of his other works. What you have to understand is that most of Piers’ more ambitious works (such as Volk, Bio of a Space Tyrant, Tatham Mound, and the GEODYSSEY series) are more along the lines of the things he’d like to write, and thus, he puts more work into them. However, since Xanth is his major cash cow because it sells so well, he sticks to that, and a vast majority of what makes it into those books are fan suggestions.
Now, to answer Cidolfas’s question, if you’re looking for a wonderful combination of funny/serious fantasy, I would recommend anything by David Eddings and Robert Asprin’s Myth series. For fiction, I’d recommend anything by Clive Cussler and all of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series.
Read Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. One of the best books ever IMO, even though it’s a little bit on the serious side. It just has a way of sucking you in, and then keep you there until it releases it’s grip on you… Fairly short and easy to read, too. =)
Oh, and read HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy if you haven’t, already. IT KICKS ASS!!!
Points to authors in signature I love everything by those authors. Robert Asprin is good, the Myth Series is hillarious and so is Phule’s Company. I’ve read almost everything by the Eddings, and the Belgariad and Malloreon are really good (two series, starts with the Belgariad). The Chrestomanci Quartet by Diana Wyane Jones is another good series. Anything by Tamora Pierce is good. I definately recomend Piers Anthony’s Xanth books.
Heh, I should have mentioned what I’ve already tried.
I have read plenty of Piers Anthony, and I’ve hated it all. It’s a shame, because he does have good ideas, but he’s a terrible writer. He writes like a robot. “and-then-this-happened-and-then-there-
was-a-problem-and-then-this-was-the-
solution”. And as was mentioned, he’s an extremely sick puppy.
I’ve read most of the Myth series too, and while they’re okay for fluff, they also tend to grate on me after a while… I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s because the lead character is such a sop. 8p
I’ve also read all the Dirk Pitt books by Cussler, but I’m not sure if I should branch out into his later books.
I’d appreciate if you guys could give a description of the writers you’re mentioning, since I can’t tell if it’s serious fantasy or regular fiction or what. ^^;
If you’re looking for comic fantasy, then you should try Hitchiker’s Guide. If you like that, you’ll love the other books that Douglas Adams wrote like Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agence and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. As Pierson mentioned, Robert Rankin’s a good author when it comes to comic fantasy. If you’re just looking for a plain comedy book, then I’d recommend Tom Sharpe.
Piers Anthony’s Xanth series isn’t exactly his crowning achievement. If you want some stuff by him that is actually gasp good writing, I’d check out the Incarnations of Immortality series, starting with “On a Pale Horse.”
David Eddings writes mainly fantasy, but Regina’s Song isn’t, Piers Anthony said in the author’s note in Crwel Lye that the Belgariad is like Xanth only without the puns. Tamora Pierce is a fantasy writer as is pretty much every author in my signature. I still say that Robert Asprin’s Phule’s Company is pretty good, it’s a little science fiction, but at the same time not and there are three more Phule books after it.
Diane Duane. The “Support Your Local Wizard” trilogy. That’s a good urban (or suburban in this case) fantasy. Pretty deep, and I loved it. If only I vcould find it…
By the way, it predates Harry Potter by at least ten years.
You may like some of the things by Roger Zelazny. Try <i>A Night in Lonesome October</i>. It’s difficult to recommend what to read by him for you. His crowning achievement is the Chronicles of Amber, but however good, it’s not comic fantasy. He does have a bunch of lighthearted shorter novels, though, so as long as you look around the Z section in the library I’m sure you’ll find one or two.
Sci-Fi:
I, Robot - Issac Asimov
Dune - Frank Herbert
2001 Space Odessy (Can’t remember who wrote it)
Fiction:
Michael Chrichton -Jurassic Park
Michael Chrichton - Lost World
Michael Chrichton - Andromeda Strain
Michael Chrichton - Air Frame
John Grisham - The Pelican Brief
John Grisham - The Client
John Grisham - The Chamber
John Grisham - The Rainmaker
Thomas Harris - Red Dragon
Thomas Harris - Silence of the Lambs
Upton Sinclair - The Jungle
Hubert Selby Jr. - Requiem for a Dream
Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Catch Me (Can’t remember who wrote it, nobody well known)
Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
Fantasy:
Brian Jacques - Redwall
Brian Jacques - Mossflower
Brian Jacques - Matimeo
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series
The Harry Potter Series
Short Stories:
The Mask of the Red Death - Edgar Allen Poe
The Cask of Amontiallado - Edgar Allen Poe
A Tell Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe
Children of the Corn - Stephen King
