I am just getting into fantasy reading for unknown reasons. Can you recommend some good books? And no Harry Potter, no Unfortune Events, no child fantasy books.
What's a good place to start if you want to read fantasy books?
DON'T LET THE NAME OF THE WEBSITE FOOL YOU!
Mary Stewart: A Walk in the Wolf Wood
Howard Pyle:
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Story of King Arthur and His Knights - There are several collections of stories about King Arthur.
C. S. Lewis:
The 7 volume Chronicles of Narnia is a tale of good against evil with very definite Christian influences. Lewis was an atheist who because of his friendship with Tolkien became a Christian. This strongly affected his writing.
The seven books are as follows:
The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle.
Also by C. S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce.
Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass
James Patterson:
Maximum Ride Series - The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, and The Final Warning.
Meg Cabot:
Mediator Series - Shadowland, Ninth Key, Reunion, Darkest Hour, Haunted, and Twilight.
Chris D'Lacey:
The Fire Within, Icefire, Fire Star, and The Fire Eternal.
Donita K. Paul:
Dragonspell, Dragon Quest, Dragon Knight, Dragon Fire, and Dragon Light.
Elizabeth A. Lynn:
Dragon's Winter and Dragon's Treasure.
E. E. Knight:
Age of Fire Series - Dragon Champion, Dragon Avenger, and Dragon Outcast.
Brian Jacques:
Redwall Series - Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall, Salamandastron, Martin the Warrior, The Bellmaker, Outcast of Redwall, The Pearls of Lutra, The Long Patrol, Marlfox, The Legend of Luke, Lord Brocktree, The Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, and High Rhulain.
Stephenie Meyer:
Vampire Romance - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.
Joanne Harris: Runemarks
Juliet Marillier: Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret
Edwin A. Abbott:
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (The sequel, Sphereland is by Dionys Burger. It is possible to purchase both in one volume.)
J. R. R. Tolkien:
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Two Towers, and The Return of the King; Silmarillion; also Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
George MacDonald:
Phantastes and At the Back of the North Wind
D. J. MacHale:
Pendragon Series - Merchant of Death, The Lost City of Faar, The Never War, The Reality Bug, Blackwater, The Rivers of Zadaa, The Quillan Games, The Pilgrims of Rayne, and Raven Rise.
Christopher Paolini:
In the first book, Eragon, a young man finds a mysterious blue stone in the forested mountains above his home in Alagaesia. Along with his blue dragon, Saphira, Eragon is stumbling about because things are happening to him which he does not understand. His inner goodness and common sense enable him to muddle through and he has some help from a couple of humans and some dwarfs. In the second book, Eldest, the dwarfs, elves, humans, Eragon, and Saphira have joined forces against evil. Eragon and Saphira have begun training to understand and improve their skills. A new, red dragon makes an appearance. I've been told that in the third book a golden dragon will appear. It has just been announced that the third book, Brisingr, will be available on September 20, 2008. Originally planned as a trilogy, Paolini has recently decided that there will be four books in his Inheritance Cycle.
John Beachem:
Storms of Vengeance is John's first novel and I've been told that it is part of a series of 8 to 10 books. There is a murder mystery to be solved. Who did it and why? There is a mythical Lorradda Stone to locate. There are three parallel stories as we follow the actions of three different groups of people. There are also some ogres, two elves, several sorcerers, a troll, and one very impressive river monster. The book ends with a cliff hanger. One reason that young people gave for liking Harry Potter was the detail in the stories. They will find plenty of detail here as well. The title of the second book in the series will be The Hunter and the Marked.
David Eddings:
There are three stories in Volume I of The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, and Magician's Gambit. Volume II of The Belgariad has two stories: Castle of Wizardry and Enchanters' End Gambit. If you are looking for grand adventure and plenty of detail it is here. Some may object to the slow progression and limited action of this tale. A sorcerer and his daughter, a sorceress, have gathered together a group of individuals to fight evil. It seems that the particular make-up for this group is necessary based upon an ancient prophecy. The group includes: the Nimble Thief, the Man with Two Lives, the Blind Man, the Dreadful Bear, the Knight Protector, the Horse Lord, the Bowman, the Queen of the World, and the Mother of the Race that Died. A young boy named Garion, who was raised by his Aunt Pol, is caught up in all of this, though he doesn't know why. But then, is she really his Aunt? There is so much detail that I have not as yet confirmed there are no mistakes in the mapping of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed The Belgariad and look forward to reading the sequel, The Mallorean.
The Mallorean Volume I: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, and Demon Lord of Karanda by David Eddings
The Mallorean Volume II: Sorceress of Darshive and The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings
Polgara, the Sorceress by David Eddings
Belgarath, the Sorcerer by David Eddings
Terry Pratchett:
The Wee Free Men - Tiffany Aching and a clan of six inch tall blue men attempt to rescue her brother and stop an invasion from Fairyland.
A Hatful of Sky - The second Tiffany Aching novel.
Wintersmith - The third Tiffany Aching novel.
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld)
Other books in the Discworld Series - The Colour of Magic, Witches Abroad, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Thief of Time, Small Gods, and Mort.
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: Good Omens
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman:
Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy - Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning.
Dragonlance Legends Trilogy - Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins.
Jonathan Stroud:
Bartimaeus Trilogy - The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate.
Isaac Asimov:
Though Asimov is usually thought of as a science fiction writer, Magic is a collection of his fantasy short stories.
Jim Butcher:
The Dresden Files - Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Knight, and Small Favor.
Terry Brooks:
The Sword of Shanarra, The Elfstones of Shanarra, and The Wishsong of Shanarra.
Mercedes Lackey:
The Mage Winds Trilogy - Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury.
Velgarth Series - Exile's Honor, Exile's Valor, Take a Thief, Arrors of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall
Diana Tregarde Trilogy - Burning Water, Children of the Night, and Jinx High.
Roger Zelazny:
The First Chronicles of Amber - Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos.
The Second Chronicles of Amber - Trumps of Doom, Blood of Amber, Sign of Chaos, Knight of Shadows, and Prince of Chaos.
Richard Adams: Watership Down
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Bob Chapman: Visitors
David Gemmell: Waylander and In the Realm of the Wolf
Libba Bray: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Raymond E. Fiest:
Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master
The Riftwar Saga - Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon.
Krondor's Sons -Prince of the Blood, The King's Bucaneer.
Serpent War Saga - Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King, Shards of a Broken Crown.
Riftwar Legacy - Krondor: The Betrayal, Krondor: The Assassins, Krondor: Tear of the Gods.
Honored Enemy: Legends of the Riftwar
Conclave of Shadows Saga - Talon of the Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, Exile's Return.
Dark War Saga - Flight of the Nighthawks, Into a Dark Realm, Wrath of a Mad God.
Raymond E. Fiest and Janny Wurts:
Empire Trilogy - Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, and Mistress of the Empire.
Dave Farland:
Runelords - The Sum of All Men, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Wizardborn, The Lair of Bones, Sons of the Oak, and Worldbinder.
Dean Koontz:
Odd Thomas Series - Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, and Odd Hours.
Robin Hobb:
Farseer Trilogy - Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest.
Liveship Traders Trilogy - Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, and Ship of Destiny
Soldier Son Series - Shaman's Crossing, Forest Mage, and Renegade's Magic
Patricia A. McKillip:
The Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind, Riddle Master's Game, and Riddle of Stars.
Susanna Clarke: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell
George R. R. Martin:
A Song of Fire and Ice Saga - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance of Dragons, The Winds of Winter, and A Dream of Spring.
Glen Cook:
Annals of The Black Company Series - The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose, The Silver Spike, Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, Bleak Seasons, She is the Darkness, Water Sleeps, and Soldiers Live.
Steven Erikson:
Malazan Book of the Fallen Saga - Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, The Bone Hunters, Reaper's Gate, and Toll the Hounds.
R. Scott Baker:
Prince of Nothing Trilogy - The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought.
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Gene Wolfe:
T
Reply:I have answered this question so many times, I decided to dedicate a web site to answer this question. Here it is:
http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com
Included is a list of only the best sorcery fantasy books, grade reading level, a short review of each book along with a brief summary of adult content. There is also a "Readers' Choice" list of favorite books, and a list of heroine sorcery fantasy books, plus a full review of "The Golden Compass".
Since you are just starting out, I will offer these recommendations:
1) Don't refuse "child fantasy" books simply because they are written for children. Some of the most enjoyable works of fiction are written for children (for example, The Jungle Books)
2) In my opinion, you should read the following (in this order) to "get your feet wet" in well-regarded, classic fantasy
a) The Hobbit by Tolkien
b) The Sword in the Stone by White
c) Steinbeck's Arthur book
Burton's 1,000 Nights is also a grand classic of fantasy, but is very long.
I hope this helps.
Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/
Reply:Hey you should read The Giver. I read it in 6th grade and really liked it. I look into more for u though.
Reply:For actually getting your hands on a book, I would go to the library or amazon.com. (But I don't think that's what you were asking)
But, actually talking about books, I would start with David Eddings' Belgariad series. When I started reading fantasy, I read that series, and it was 100% entertaining and, even now, some of my favorite books. They're awesome--they have the total fantasy taste to them, but have humor that makes you want to keep reading.
Reply:Try the library
Reply:"The Forest House" by Marion Zimmer Bradley
"The Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula LeGuin
Reply:You might want to try Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series and most of Piers Anthony's books, starting with the Xanth Series or the Apprentice Adept series. Other good choices would include the Narnia books by CS Lewis, Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini as well as The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien, if you haven't already read those.
Other authors to consider: Neil Gaiman, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks, Ursula K Leguin.
Reply:Or Amazon, if you have access to the internet (which I assume you do, seeing as you have a Yahoo account and posted this question). Anyway, Amazon is great for finding fantasy books.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment