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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Mar 23 2014, 2:33pm
Post #1 of 43
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Which fantasy series other tha Lotr do you enjoy?
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Any of these?
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BlackFox
Half-elven
Mar 23 2014, 3:00pm
Post #2 of 43
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I also chose "Other" - The Chronicles of Narnia.
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Patty
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 3:12pm
Post #3 of 43
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I am NOT a big fantasy fan. My love of Tolkien probably just goes to show how much he is in a class by himself.
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Arwen's daughter
Half-elven
Mar 23 2014, 3:18pm
Post #4 of 43
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That could be quite a long list for some of us!
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I voted for Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Hunger Games. All of which I've read and enjoyed.
I would add from my own personal list: Dresden Files, Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Stephen King's Dark Tower, and Robin Hobb' Farseer series off the top of my head. As the thread progresses I'll surely be remind of more, though 
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Elskidor
Rohan
Mar 23 2014, 3:37pm
Post #5 of 43
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Harry Potter sticks out, but I find it leagues behind Tolkien. I am not a huge fan of most fantasy available for movies, and I simply have not read a great deal of fantasy that I enjoy. The genre really needs some new and fresh blood.
Final Fantasy stories and numerous other video game RPGs offer some of the greatest fantasy stories out there. I really think Final Fantasy, especially, should branch out to have books written and movies filmed covering their stories for those that just don't play games. Their stories are so fantastic that it's a shame they are limited to just the gaming community.
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Misto
Lorien
Mar 23 2014, 3:46pm
Post #6 of 43
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I like everything Tolkien (the volumes I've read, anyway), loved Harry Potter and enjoyed Song of Ice and Fire well enough. And that is also my entire experience in the fantasy sector. Most fantasy books don't seem appealing to me for one reason or other.
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malickfan
Gondor
Mar 23 2014, 4:29pm
Post #7 of 43
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I recently tried re-reading the series for the first time in three or four years, I gave up halfway through GOF. Although they remain fun reads with great characters and inventive plots, there were a little too many plot holes (I'd also forgotten how unpleasant Ron became in the later books...) and clunky writing for my liking, It didn't seem quite as impressive as when I was growing up.
I guess Tolkien's exacting standards affected my memory a little.
That said they remain great books (in some ways) and I can see why they remain so popular.
Other than that, I remember enjoying 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'The Keys to The Kingdom' series alot, though I have only read parts of both, but it's mainly just Tolkien.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 4:38pm
Post #8 of 43
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Other:
- Discworld
- The Dresden Files
- The Chronicles of Prydain
- John Carter of Mars
- The Chronicles of Amber
- The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser
- The Belgariad
- Conan
- The Dragonriders of Pern
- The Elenia (Sparhawk the Churchknight)
- The Book of the New Sun
- ElfQuest by Wendy and Richard Pini
- Bone by Jeff Smith
- The Cthulhu Mythos
- The Forgotten Realms
- Thieves' World
- WIld Cards
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Magpie
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 4:48pm
Post #9 of 43
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I'm curious... how many of those are considered young adult novels?
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I'm not familiar with a lot of them so I'm not sure.
Mine would predate most of those - although I do enjoy Harry Potter.
Darkover and Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Arthurian series by Mary Stewart
Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
Many (but not all) of the Pern novels by Anne McCaffrey
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
and a couple of shared universe series (by multiple authors) that I really enjoyed: Borderlands (created by Terri Windling) and Thieves World (created by Robert Lynn Asprin).
I'm currently rereading a book by a once-local author Emma Bull set in the Borderlands universe called "Finder".
And I just got a boxed set of GRR Martin's first four books - with our Sean on the box cover - brand new, still wrapped in plastic - at the thrift store for 3.99. yeah! But I've only read the first one (prior to this) so I can't list it as favorite until I read more.
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Magpie
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 4:50pm
Post #10 of 43
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and I think met the author once when he was in town.
Another Thieves World fan. I'm considering going back to some of those novels and rereading them.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 4:52pm
Post #11 of 43
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Still hoping for animated films for Bone and/or ElfQuest.
Add to my list: Neil Gaiman's Sandman and the Eternal Champion series by Michael Moorcock (especially the Elric Saga).
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Mar 23 2014, 5:02pm)
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Magpie
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 4:57pm
Post #12 of 43
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There's a lot of bad fantasy out there
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We (the Mister and I) went through a poor phase where we ate a lot of spaghetti with tomato-based spaghetti sauce. It got so I couldn't put spaghetti sauce in my mouth. Just the thought of it made my cringe.
Well, there was a point where reading fantasy was kind of the same for me. I was an obsessive reader and I loved fantasy but I ran across so much bad fantasy that I would walk through our local sci-fi / fantasy book store and not be able to find one book I wanted to buy. I took to picking up the book and reading the first two pages. If they had these long unpronounceable names... I put it back down because it was usually an indication of a poorly written derivative novel. I think a lot of them were attempting to emulate Tolkien with his created languages (and resulting names).
Now, I'm much more likely to read urban fantasy than I am traditional Elves and Dragons fantasy. Charles DeLint never fails to please me. Back in the day, I loved Kate Wilhelm, too. I often wonder how to categorize the Dresden Files. It's a bit horror, I think. A bit fantasy. A lot detective and mystery. But it's rooted in Urban Fantasy.
(This post was edited by Magpie on Mar 23 2014, 4:58pm)
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Mar 23 2014, 5:04pm
Post #13 of 43
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I always wanted to read these!
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Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
All your ideas were great! However the only set I found that was not used of this series I have read reviews about complaining that it is abridged? Any ideas where I could find a better version.
http://www.amazon.com/Mabinogion-Tetralogy-Evangeline-Walton/dp/1585675040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395594237&sr=8-1&keywords=Mabinogion+tetralogy
See what I mean?
*cookies all around *
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Mar 23 2014, 5:42pm
Post #14 of 43
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Dresden Files, The Old Kingdom, Hunger Games, The Strain and a bit of Twilight on occasion.
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Mar 23 2014, 5:47pm)
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Arwen's daughter
Half-elven
Mar 23 2014, 5:43pm
Post #15 of 43
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I was a long time sci-fi reader and had a hard time finding my footing in fantasy
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I discovered LOTR when the movies came out, which was college age for me, and picked up some of the oft recommended fantasy series out there and hated them. I tend to stick to the fringes of fantasy these days: humor, steampunk, urban fantasy, or one-off novels by writers like Neil Gaiman. The long, sword and sorcery series out there just tend to rub me wrong.
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elaen32
Gondor
Mar 23 2014, 6:57pm
Post #17 of 43
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I think I'm much the same, Patty
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My love of Tolkien is really the exception rather than the rule as far as fantasy goes. I do enjoy HP, partly due to associations of reading it with the kids and I loved Narnia in the past. Other fantasy books I have tried, have not really appealed- I have a couple on my Kindle that I have yet to read- maybe I will enjoy them more...
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Patty
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 7:00pm
Post #18 of 43
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I guess it all depends on how fantasy is defined. I love all the Marvel comics movies I've seen. I've become a big Marvel fan.. If that's fantasy, I'll have to count that in too.
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Magpie
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 7:20pm
Post #19 of 43
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to quote from Wikipedia: The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions. While some details may hark back to older Iron Age traditions, each of these tales is the product of a highly developed medieval Welsh narrative tradition, both oral and written.
So, unless you speak medieval Welsh (and heavens help me, I knew someone who could), you're going to have to read a translation. And each translation will have admirers and detractors.
Evangeline Walton adapted the stories of the Mabinogion into novels - she didn't try for a direct translation. So that may be where you're getting the 'abridged' criticism. I couldn't find the word 'abridged' on the page you linked me to do so I can't tell how it was used.
But I suspect the novels you can find by Walton will not be an abridged version of her novels. They aren't that long to begin with! http://ecx.images-amazon.com/...BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Again, from wikipedia: Lloyd Alexander's award-winning The Chronicles of Prydain, which are fantasies for younger readers, are loosely based on Welsh legends found in the Mabinogion. Specific elements incorporated within Alexander's books include the Cauldron of the Undead, as well as adapted versions of important figures in the Mabinogion such as Prince Gwydion and Arawn, Lord of the Dead.
I would suggest you get Walton's books from the library and give them a try. I suspect they would be a bit more accessible than any translation you find. I have a translation by Jeffrey Gantz that, if I read, I read too long ago to remember much about (the downside of piling up the years). You can see a larger list of translations at wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion
Be prepared to research how to pronounce all those names in Welsh!
My great-grandfather was from Wales, although it's not yet clear if he was actually of Welsh blood (he has an English surname and I haven't researched that line of my family yet). And I have an interest in all the Celtic nations (Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany) and a keen interest in folklore, legends, and myth.
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Elskidor
Rohan
Mar 23 2014, 7:42pm
Post #20 of 43
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If Marvel is considered fantasy
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Then I would count many X-Men comic arcs in the mix of favorite fantasy, along with Highlander and LOST. I have not seen Game of Thrones to rank it.
I don't really consider Marvel or LOST as true fantasy, but they do have fantasy elements.
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Meneldor
Valinor
Mar 23 2014, 8:03pm
Post #21 of 43
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The fine folk here at TORN introduced me to John Flanagan.
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His YA fantasy series Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband Chronicles are a lot of fun, even though I'm far from YA-hood.
If you're interested in real old-school fantasy, I'd recommend Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (which is one of the magnificent books blamed for driving Don Quixote into chivalric madness.)
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Kim
Valinor
Mar 23 2014, 8:28pm
Post #22 of 43
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Harry Potter plus a few others
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Harry Potter is the one I will go back and re-read multiple times.
I like Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Septimus Heap and Game of Thrones, though those may end up being read only a couple of times.
I also re-read the Narnia books a lot when I was a kid, but not really much as I got older.
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Annael
Immortal
Mar 23 2014, 11:35pm
Post #24 of 43
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Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" series
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as good as LOTR, with better dragons.
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ryouko
Lorien
Mar 24 2014, 12:56am
Post #25 of 43
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Disc World isn't here. Nor is Narnia. And there is also Artemis Fowl.
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