195 replies to this topic

[Interceptor]

I'm a third way through Joe Abercrombie's first novel The Blade Itself and I have to say I'm really impressed. This is a fantasy that throws all the common (these days) tropes out the window and brings something refreshing to the plate. The characters are realistically drawn, the descriptions are vivid and the plot moves at a steady pace. I think I've found a new favourite author to go along with Steven Erikson.

I can't agree more. I just finished the second book in this trilogy, Before They Are Hanged, and the series is fantastic. The battle descriptions are excellent, and the characters complex and brutal. REH would have loved Logan Nine Fingers, the Bloody Nine. This barbarian is very similar to Conan, but he is not as intelligent or as smooth with the ladies as our favorite Cimmerian. However, he does get himself into plenty of fixes that he only extricates himself from using extreme violence and brute force. Say one thing for Logan Nine Fingers, he'd a bad-ass. I highly recommend these books. Also, Joe Abercrombie has two new books set in this fantasy world...Best Served Cold and The Heroes. Both have received excellent reviews so far. I'm really excited about this guy as a new author.

[NobleSavage]

the ten thousand by michael curtis ford

...it's not exactly a "fantasy book" but a historical novel on the "anabasis"..
one of the most epic ,yet real, adventures of all history..kinna like the gates of fire on the 300 by stephen pressfield..

at the end of the peloponesean war, 10000 greek mercenaries (amongst them xenophon,member of the circle of socrates ,like plato and alcibiades) in the service of Cyrus, march against his older brother,emperor Artaxerxes..after an epic fail (lol) they get lost in the vast persian empire ,strangers amongst enemies ,without a patron or supplies,yet still not without hope or a leader..xenophon is given the opportunity to shine and the "anabasis" ( = marching on) begins ..through blood,snow,rocks and sand he will try to lead his companions to the aegean sea..i'd really love to see a movie adaption of this one..

http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Novel-Ancient-Greece/dp/0312980329/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300274345&sr=8-1

[TheDarkslayer]

I'm a third way through Joe Abercrombie's first novel The Blade Itself and I have to say I'm really impressed. This is a fantasy that throws all the common (these days) tropes out the window and brings something refreshing to the plate. The characters are realistically drawn, the descriptions are vivid and the plot moves at a steady pace. I think I've found a new favourite author to go along with Steven Erikson.

I can't agree more. I just finished the second book in this trilogy, Before They Are Hanged, and the series is fantastic. The battle descriptions are excellent, and the characters complex and brutal. REH would have loved Logan Nine Fingers, the Bloody Nine. This barbarian is very similar to Conan, but he is not as intelligent or as smooth with the ladies as our favorite Cimmerian. However, he does get himself into plenty of fixes that he only extricates himself from using extreme violence and brute force. Say one thing for Logan Nine Fingers, he'd a bad-ass. I highly recommend these books. Also, Joe Abercrombie has two new books set in this fantasy world...Best Served Cold and The Heroes. Both have received excellent reviews so far. I'm really excited about this guy as a new author.

I finished the blade itself a few weeks back. Great writing. Bloody Nine was pretty cool, but Glotka stole the show. I can't wait to get my hands on the next installment.

[Skullface]

the ten thousand by michael curtis ford

...it's not exactly a "fantasy book" but a historical novel on the "anabasis"..
one of the most epic ,yet real, adventures of all history..kinna like the gates of fire on the 300 by stephen pressfield..

at the end of the peloponesean war, 10000 greek mercenaries (amongst them xenophon,member of the circle of socrates ,like plato and alcibiades) in the service of Cyrus, march against his older brother,emperor Artaxerxes..after an epic fail (lol) they get lost in the vast persian empire ,strangers amongst enemies ,without a patron or supplies,yet still not without hope or a leader..xenophon is given the opportunity to shine and the "anabasis" ( = marching on) begins ..through blood,snow,rocks and sand he will try to lead his companions to the aegean sea..i'd really love to see a movie adaption of this one..

http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Novel-Ancient-Greece/dp/0312980329/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300274345&sr=8-1

Read this book,borrowed it from a friend...liked it, got me own copy...its good enough to reread. A movie would cost an arm and leg to make...but it would be cool.
I wonder what J.M. Roberts would think of it?
Well JMR?

[Officer Aggro]

Condemnation by Baker is pretty darn good too

Definitely! I assume you read the entire War of the Spider Queen series then? It's rare that a set of books captivates me like that series did. I would HIGHLY recommend those books to anyone interested in dark elves. What was especially interesting was the fact that most of the main characters were evil, and their interactions with one another were often pretty entertaining from a reader's perspective.

Sadly I haven't read them all. I am definitely interested. I agree that all the characters being bad makes it
interesting. They're good characters too. I am especially enjoying how the wizards are ranked in the various
houses, the big houses always have cool backup wizards...sweet! I am now reading the Watercourse trilogy by
Philip Athans and truly loving it. The next book in the Spider Queen series will definitely be Annihilation by
Athans. His book Savage Caves (as T.H. Lain is a ton of fun too) Athans has become a favorite of mine, I would
love to read a Conan or Solomon Kane by that guy.

Just make sure you read them in order since Annhilation is book five in the series. The story would be pretty confusing if you jumped around.

And speaking of wizards, Pharaun is definitely a favorite of mine. Very few males can get away with being such smartasses in front of the priestesses.

[SwordOfCrom]

The WITCHER series was also made into a 13 episodes TV series starring the main actor that also starred in Polish epic STARA BASN. I havent read the books but the TV series was good. I'M not really interested in an animated computerish version though.

[Zula]

I read a lot of Warhammer 40k, especially the Horus Heresy series as well as anything by Dan Abnett. I picked up Consider Phlebas, as well as The Red Wolf Conspiracy...that was pretty good...

[Rockamobile]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers . One of the best time travel novels ever written .

[Rockamobile]

The Reign Of Wizardry by Jack Williamson

The Dark World by Henry Kuttner

[deuce]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers . One of the best time travel novels ever written .

LOVED that novel. Powers has done a lot of excellent work. He's a vocal fan of REH, HPL and CAS, to boot. An author with good taste.

[Rockamobile]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers . One of the best time travel novels ever written .

LOVED that novel. Powers has done a lot of excellent work. He's a vocal fan of REH, HPL and CAS, to boot. An author with good taste.

Equally Good is Tim Powers book The Stress of Her Regard

[Rockamobile]

James Stoddard's The High House and it's sequel The False House both quite good .

H. Warner Munn Merlin's Ring

[deuce]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers . One of the best time travel novels ever written .

LOVED that novel. Powers has done a lot of excellent work. He's a vocal fan of REH, HPL and CAS, to boot. An author with good taste.

Equally Good is Tim Powers book The Stress of Her Regard

The title is from a Clark Ashton Smith poem. CAS was big on lamias/vampires/femme fatales.

[Rockamobile]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers . One of the best time travel novels ever written .

LOVED that novel. Powers has done a lot of excellent work. He's a vocal fan of REH, HPL and CAS, to boot. An author with good taste.

Equally Good is Tim Powers book The Stress of Her Regard

The title is from a Clark Ashton Smith poem. CAS was big on lamias/vampires/femme fatales.

Of interest The Third policeman by Flann O'Brien . It fits into the Horror Fantasy Category. it's quite a wild read.

[Dave the Rage]

I am a long-time fan of Lloyd Alexander's five-book Chronicles of Prydain. It's generally marketed to young adults, but it's a marvelous read at any age--high adventure with remarkably well fleshed-out characters in a world that borrows heavily from Welsh mythology. It's also a remarkable series because each of the books is a terrific and complete novel in its own right--while there's a strong overarching plot, it doesn't feel like reading a single very long serialized book.
The individual volumes are
I. The Book of Three
II. The Black Cauldron (inspired a godawful Disney flick by the same name)
III. The Castle of Llyr
IV. Taran Wanderer
V. The High King

The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley, is one of my all-time-favorite high-fantasy novels I've ever read. Bonus: It has an ass-kicking female protagonist. Double-bonus: she swears like a sailor and kills dragons.

Faerie Tale, by Raymond E. Feist, is somewhere between urban fantasy and horror. It's scary as hell and one of the few novels I've read that gets the old terrifying fairy folklore right on. I've heard that there's a sequel, but I can never seem to find it.

The Dark Is Rising sequence, by Susan Cooper, is awesome. Again, it's marketed toward a YA audience, but it still rocks my world.

And while I haven't gotten too far into the series, I'm enjoying the hell out of the first book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Fun stuff.

Thanks for reminding me of these awsome books. I read these as a kid and they are indeed worth having on the shelf. Taran the Wanderer lol, brings back fond memories for me.

If not already mentioned, Perdido Street Station is one book that has stuck in my mind for 10 million reasons, fantastic fantasy of a strange kind indeed.

LINK TO BOOK

[Rockamobile]

Empire of the East By Fred Saberhagen

[Gibush]

Are there any definitive collections, the way there are with Howard, Lovecraft, Leiber, Moorcock?

Dunsany doesn't have any big omnibus's of his short stories, it seems... and I can't find much on that front for Smith, either. I've never read them and I'd like to.

Maybe I should post this on a forum dedicated to one of them rather than here, I don't know.

[Doug]

Hi!
These here about covers it.
The 2 bison books are Arkham house reprints.
Nightshade editions are completre but fairly expensive.
The Gollancz collection is great but harder to find.
The "Best of" is good but doesn't cover as much as the others.

Take care.
Doug


http://www.nightshad...uct_detail&p=88

http://www.amazon.co...30378154&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co...0378154&sr=8-11

http://www.amazon.co...pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.sfsite.com/08b/ed134.htm