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Post by King Gillibran on Oct 3, 2023 15:09:51 GMT
I just wonderered what other people here read in fantasy other than FF. I mostly read fantasy so have many favourites, the top are: Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini Dragonlance, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman and many many others. Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 3, 2023 16:11:02 GMT
Parody authors such as Terry Pratchett.
I tend to prefer SF authors such as Asimov, the kids' writer William Sleator, Hubbard, Herbert, Clarke Pohl etc. I also prefer Fantasy and SF films and telly.
I haven't read enough Fantasy, but from what I've read Moorcock is really good. I'm planning on reading Neverending Story after reading Dune and like Rowling's Cuckoo's Calling, I may write a review here when I'm done. I thought Rowling's Strike book was OK at best, but I keep hearing Ende is really good. Edit: I read C . S. Lewis's Chronicles Of Narnia as well, including The Magician's Nephew which was not filmed SFAIK; I thought it wasn't terribly subtle or sophisticated and preferred R. L. Green.
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Post by a moderator on Oct 3, 2023 16:39:47 GMT
Michael Moorcock is variable, but some of his stuff is very good.
I've read a lot of Terry Pratchett, a bit of Robert E. Howard, most of C.S. Lewis' fiction, several books by Tolkien, Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy...
Would Alan Garner's tales of contemporary teens getting mixed up with figures from myth and legend count? I've read a few of them.
Per Jorner's After the Campfires is excellent (though whoever wrote the blurb appears not to have got beyond the first page).
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Post by misomiso on Oct 3, 2023 20:43:19 GMT
I too was much more of a Sci-Fi reader than a fantasy reader. All the golden age writers, plus some of the modern ones. There was a great series called 'Sci-Fi Masterworks' back in the day and I read A LOT of them.
But on Fantasy, Terry Pratchett is of course amazing, Name of the Wind is great, Gentleman Bastards is really good (first book is the best), the Dragonlance series.
I made the effort to read some of the classics of Fantasy, and I found Conan surprisingly brilliant for something that was written ninety years ago, as was Fafhd and the Grey Mouser and the Dying sun stories. What really struck me about these was just how action packed they were and how much they 'moved'. Very exciting.
RPG sourcebooks and adventures were also always very good to read as well. A lot of them were very creative and very well written.
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Post by tyrion on Oct 3, 2023 20:55:47 GMT
Terry Pratchett gets another vote from me. David Eddings and Terry Brooks for easy going and familiar fantasy reading. Clive Barker's later works as they are more fantasy than horror.
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kieran
Baron
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Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 3, 2023 22:08:34 GMT
I'm a bit of a dabbler in various fantasy series.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series made me a reader. Prior to discovering them, I would very rarely finish novels. I've read them all and occasionally re-read them.
One exception to my general lack of reading as a child was Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea - still one of my favourites. Oddly I never read any of the sequels till I was an adult, and even then only the first two. Farthest Shore may be even better than Wizard.
I've read LOTR 3 times and it was only on the 3rd reading that I really got it. I now consider it a work of brilliance. I also like The Hobbit but reading The Silmarillion was a bit like chewing sand.
Terry Brooks' Shannara books were another favourite of my teens. I still enjoy them though haven't quite got round to reading some of the later ones. I also enjoyed his Landover books though they got a bit repetitive.
Robert E Howard's Conan stories are brilliant. I actually ended up collecting Conan pastiches and now own every single Conan book. Their quality is a bit, um, variable, but even some of the sillier ones are quite fun. I've read quite a few of Howard's other stories but they never quite grab me as Conan does.
Sticking with the more pulpy side of things, I also like Edgar Rice Burroughs a lot. His plots are weak but they have so much energy and imagination. I've read only a little bit of Moorcock but like what I've read. Sadly Fritz Leiber doesn't really do it for me - maybe I've read the wrong stories. Tanith Lee is a brilliant writer though her prose is so rich I find I read her work very slowly. I haven't read a huge deal of her work but love what I have read. My favourite work by her is one of her sci-fi books (Don't Bite the Sun) though rather than her fantasy work.
I enjoy Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. There's something to be said for being able to dive into something in a well-established and cosily generic world. Having said that I'm currently struggling through a fairly atrocious Ed Greenwood tome.
The sheer length of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time puts me off reading them but I have listened to most of them on audio-book. Excellent world-building though the 'battle of the sexes' stuff doesn't half get old. When it comes to other epic series, I've quite enjoyed the little of David Eddings I read. LE Modessit Jr's Recluce novels are interestingly offbeat and philosophical - like someone wanted to make a fantasy series of Plato's Republic. Won a stack of them on eBay and only read the first two but very impressed so far.
I've read 2/3 of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire but will definitely finish it at some stage. It's very engagingly written though the fantasy element is easily its weakest part. A similar series but with more fantasy and more of a religious tone is Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars. Her writing doesn't flow as well as Martin's but her world building is stronger and her work more thought provoking (imo). Other similar series by people like Mark Lawrence and Brandon Sanderson have sadly failed to grab me.
Looking at the more YA and children side of things, Harry Potter are engagingly written magic mysteries with colourful characters. The Chronicles of Narnia are great too (though like with Tanith Lee, my favourite Lewis novel is probably a sci-fi). Lewis Carrol was another author I actually liked as a child as was his American sorta-imitator L Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz may be the book I've reread most in my life. Diana Wynne Jones is incredibly clever and imaginative - personal favourite of hers would be Archer's Goon. I enjoyed the first two Twilight books though I understand why many hate them.
Recently I've branched into urban fantasy with Seanan Maguire's Toby Day books about a private detective who is half fairy. The third book in that series was absolutely brilliant and I hope the series continues in that vein.
I'm sure there's other series and authors I could mention, but I think I've created enough of a TLDR wall of text so I will shut up now.
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Post by Gabe Fandango on Oct 4, 2023 3:35:11 GMT
I'm mostly out of touch with newer fantasy books and authors since I haven't been reading a lot of fictional novels in recent years (last one I was aware of is probably Rowlings/Harry Potter).
I mostly remember them in terms of series first, followed by author. There are standalone books here and there, but I tend not to remember them too well.
JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the Silmarillian)
Terry Pratchett (Discworld novels, read the entire series)
Raymond E. Feist (Riftwar Cycle series. I think I missed out 1 or 2 of the novella in the Legacy series due to not finding them, but otherwise read all the rest)
Mercedes Lackey (all the series involving Valdemar/Velcarth, and Five Hundred Kingdoms...I think she's the only one I still occasionally look out for new books in the library these days)
David Eddings (Belgariad and Malloreon series), this is more or less my "entry point" to "adult" fantasy after "graduating" from the Enid Blyton and L. Frank Baum children's books.
Weis and Hickman (Dragonlance series. There are a lot of spinoffs, but I've only stuck to the ones written by the original creators)
Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time)
R.A. Salvatore (Dark Elf Trilogy. I am aware that he's also written other series around the same character, but somehow never got around to reading them)
C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia)
Avatar Trilogy (Forgotten Realms) plus 2 more books connected to them (Prince of Lies and Crucible). I think there were 2 or 3 different authors who split the 5 books between them, but I can't remember the specifics
William Goldman's Princess Bride (this is one of the only two standalone books I remember)
Michael Ende's Neverending Story (the other standalone)
Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness and Circle of Magic series)
Piers Anthony (Xanth series...just the old series of 9 books, not into the newer ones)
J.K. Rowlings (Harry Potter series)
K.A. Applegate (Everworld series)
James Mallory's Merlin series (this is the only book series I looked for after watching the movie adaptation first)
I guess I can count the various bits and pieces of Arthurian/Knights of the Round Table stories I picked up from time to time, but the authors and details are a haze in my memory. I did also read (Thomas) Mallory's compilation, but I'm not even sure if I completed them. They just didn't stick with me.
And of course, there are the other fantasy gamebook series...
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Post by King Gillibran on Oct 4, 2023 8:50:01 GMT
Wow very enthusiastic.
I think I will expand my list to be a bit larger.
Discworld, Terry Pratchett
Narnia, CS Lewis
Harry Potter, J.K.Rowling
Icemark, Stuart Hill
I am very into DnD and for Multiplayer probably prefer it to AFF.
I only ever play BECMI DnD and sometimes 1/2 E ADND.
The only worlds I read about or play in are Krynn, from Dragonlance. Mystara, (The main BECMI world.)
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 4, 2023 9:46:38 GMT
Raymond E. Feist (Riftwar Cycle series. I think I missed out 1 or 2 of the novella in the Legacy series due to not finding them, but otherwise read all the rest) The only book of his I've read is Magician but I was impressed with it. I like the way it starts off as an enjoyable but fairly generic fantasy (farm boy becomes apprenticed to a wise wizard) and then does a complete left turn about halfway through. |
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Post by misomiso on Oct 4, 2023 10:21:10 GMT
Wow very enthusiastic. I think I will expand my list to be a bit larger. Discworld, Terry Pratchett Narnia, CS Lewis Harry Potter, J.K.Rowling Icemark, Stuart Hill I am very into DnD and for Multiplayer probably prefer it to AFF. I only ever play BECMI DnD and sometimes 1/2 E ADND. The only worlds I read about or play in are Krynn, from Dragonlance. Mystara, (The main BECMI world.) Do you play BECMI or one of the modern retro clones?
Both lamentations of the Flame princess and Old School Essentials are great.
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 4, 2023 10:55:03 GMT
Raymond E. Feist (Riftwar Cycle series. I think I missed out 1 or 2 of the novella in the Legacy series due to not finding them, but otherwise read all the rest) The only book of his I've read is Magician but I was impressed with it. I like the way it starts off as an enjoyable but fairly generic fantasy (farm boy becomes apprenticed to a wise wizard) and then does a complete left turn about halfway through. I have Feist's Magician, which I understand to be his magnum opus for want of better terms, and will probably get around to reading it at some point. What I've heard is the later sequels to Magician become below-average and perhaps not worth reading (in contrast to say the Dune sequels and prequels). It's all heavily subjective - as I'm a slow reader I'll probably just read book one and maybe book two & then three depending if I have a high opinion like yours. I've also got his Faerie Tale which I may get into or not.
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Post by King Gillibran on Oct 4, 2023 11:31:57 GMT
Wow very enthusiastic. I think I will expand my list to be a bit larger. Discworld, Terry Pratchett Narnia, CS Lewis Harry Potter, J.K.Rowling Icemark, Stuart Hill I am very into DnD and for Multiplayer probably prefer it to AFF. I only ever play BECMI DnD and sometimes 1/2 E ADND. The only worlds I read about or play in are Krynn, from Dragonlance. Mystara, (The main BECMI world.) Do you play BECMI or one of the modern retro clones?
Both lamentations of the Flame princess and Old School Essentials are great.
Gary Gygax 1980s original books. I have some very old copies of both the red and blue boxes. |
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kieran
Baron
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Post by kieran on Oct 4, 2023 12:59:33 GMT
What I've heard is the later sequels to Magician become below-average and perhaps not worth reading I've heard good things about his collaborations with Janny Wurts. Speaking of which, I did read the first two of her Wars of Light and Shadow series which has extremely good reviews. While I can see a lot to like, it was just way too slow for me. |
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Post by Gabe Fandango on Oct 4, 2023 15:24:22 GMT
The only book of his I've read is Magician but I was impressed with it. I like the way it starts off as an enjoyable but fairly generic fantasy (farm boy becomes apprenticed to a wise wizard) and then does a complete left turn about halfway through. I have Feist's Magician, which I understand to be his magnum opus for want of better terms, and will probably get around to reading it at some point. What I've heard is the later sequels to Magician become below-average and perhaps not worth reading (in contrast to say the Dune sequels and prequels).
I personally think the series hit its peak during the books in which the stories are centred around Arutha and Jimmy the Hand. The later "generations" of protagonists just don't click as well with me. I don't think I'm the only one who felt that way, and I think that may be the reason the Legacy series (which went back to the time of those characters) were written. My personal favourite of the series is Silverthorn, even though it didn't have quite same epic length and scope as Magician. A Darkness at Sethanon is great, too. In a way, I do kind of like how, in the later series, those 2 tend to be portrayed as legendary for their accomplishments, and how their descendants or successors in their roles struggle to live up to that or fill the same shoes as the land they try to protect falls under increasingly dire conditions. The development of the nature of overarching threat spanning the entire series also didn't have quite the same allure to it either, by the time of the last 2 sagas or so. |
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Post by Gabe Fandango on Oct 4, 2023 15:29:39 GMT
I am very into DnD and for Multiplayer probably prefer it to AFF. I only ever play BECMI DnD and sometimes 1/2 E ADND. The only worlds I read about or play in are Krynn, from Dragonlance. Mystara, (The main BECMI world.) I'm likely in the minority (at least for readers of my generation), but I'd never gotten into classic tabletop RPG gaming. I was vaguely aware of the existence of DnD, but never played it. I know that a lot of FF fans (and authors too) are or were enthusiastic RPG campaigners at some point, but I was never one of them. Gamebooks were good enough for me. Even after I bought the FF and AFF handbooks on RPG, while I was mostly entertained by what I read in them, they never induced me to actually play them. |
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Post by outspaced on Oct 5, 2023 8:49:35 GMT
Roger Zelazny is an oft-overlooked author these days. His Amber Chronicles series is well worth reading, starting with Nine Princes in Amber (1970). Also, his sci-fi stories tend to be imaginative, creative, and somewhat experimantal. And as a plus, his books aren't too long, and he wrote a lot of short stories. Personally, I'm bored with all these multiple 1000+ page "series" that just tend to be the same story told again and again.
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Post by schlendrian on Oct 5, 2023 13:28:02 GMT
Lots of interesting suggestions here.I'm mostly Sci-Fi, but have read quite a lot of Fantasy as well:
When I was at what Brits would probably call High School (early 2000s), if you read at all you had to have read Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Wolfgang Hohlbein (German YA book author), to be considered a serious fantasy fan. Much else I read was German only, so I'll just chip in on some things:
Discworld - read in German, currently re-reading in English, that way I discover a lot of jokes that were untranslatable
quite contrary to kieran I prefer many of Howard's non-Conan stories (probably because I read them earlier). But yes, Burroughs is just fun to read...
Fafhrd as misomiso said, is just exciting all the time and has some really cool ideas have read Zelazny's "Lord of Light", but none of his fantasy stuff did read some Shanarra as a child, but remember next to nothing of it also: Dragonriders of Pern novels are a really relaxing comfort read, especially the bard novels, and Witch World is another nice series if you like a fantasy/Sci-Fi blend, which seems to have been pretty common in the last century and is basically non-existent anymore...
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kieran
Baron
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Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 5, 2023 13:57:59 GMT
if you like a fantasy/Sci-Fi blend, which seems to have been pretty common in the last century and is basically non-existent anymore...
It's strange how that genre seem to have fallen from grace (unless you count Star Wars I suppose). |
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 5, 2023 14:28:39 GMT
if you like a fantasy/Sci-Fi blend, which seems to have been pretty common in the last century and is basically non-existent anymore...
It's strange how that genre seem to have fallen from grace (unless you count Star Wars I suppose). I thnk after Star Trek and Lost In Space it wasn't much of a thing except for some commercially unsuccessful films in the eighties such as Willow, Krull and Dark Crystal seeking to capitalise on Star Wars. I guess better that than being ridiculously over-saturated like Superhero\Supervillain films, which might be overstaying their welcome. |
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Oct 5, 2023 14:40:54 GMT
it wasn't much of a thing except for some commercially unsuccessful films in the eighties such as Willow, Krull and Dark Crystal seeking to capitalise on Star Wars. Willow was actually mildly successful though it didn't really have any sci-fi elements. Krull did and was a pretty big flop - though if memory serves it was a bit rubbish! |
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Post by schlendrian on Oct 5, 2023 14:55:19 GMT
It's strange how that genre seem to have fallen from grace (unless you count Star Wars I suppose). Sad even, I'm very fond of that. Perhaps it doesn't fit bookstores being neatly divided into "Fantasy" and "Science Fiction" sections. |
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 5, 2023 15:03:08 GMT
it wasn't much of a thing except for some commercially unsuccessful films in the eighties such as Willow, Krull and Dark Crystal seeking to capitalise on Star Wars. Willow was actually mildly successful though it didn't really have any sci-fi elements. Krull did and was a pretty big flop - though if memory serves it was a bit rubbish! From checking you're right about Willow making money, so shame on me. The sci-fi link is probably because George Lucas directed it, and it's plot was pretty much 'Star Wars in a sword-and-sorcery setting'. Krull was very melodramatic like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, personally I wasn't a fan either.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Oct 5, 2023 18:03:19 GMT
Robert E Howard's books are often full of energy and action right from the outset. It is a great pity he died so young. I'm currently reading the three 'Swords of Shahrazar' short stories which are set in early Twentieth Century Afghanistan.
Other fantasy writers I am keen on have already been mentioned here - Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance. Terry Pratchett from time to time [though I am maybe only a third of the way through the books].
I'm also partial to the old Warhammer books set in the Old World books like Drachenfels, Gotrek and Felix, Konrad etc.
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books are on the shelf still waiting to be read as are Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories. One day I will get round to reading them.
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Post by schlendrian on Oct 5, 2023 18:26:03 GMT
Robert E Howard's books are often full of energy and action right from the outset. It is a great pity he died so young. I'm currently reading the three 'Swords of Shahrazar' short stories which are set in early Twentieth Century Afghanistan. Other fantasy writers I am keen on have already been mentioned here - Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance. Terry Pratchett from time to time [though I am maybe only a third of the way through the books]. I'm also partial to the old Warhammer books set in the Old World books like Drachenfels, Gotrek and Felix, Konrad etc. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books are on the shelf still waiting to be read as are Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories. One day I will get round to reading them. If you like Kafka, you are also going to like Gormenghast, they have very similar vibes. Don't read, if you are having a tough time in your life, though 
Dying Earth by Vance is good, but Lyonesse is an often overlooked gem I feel.
Haven't read the Warhammer books, should probably check them out one day...
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Post by hallucination on Oct 5, 2023 20:30:28 GMT
I read and enjoyed the riftwar trilogy as a teenager and recently re-acquired these, thinking I’d give ‘em another go. (I realise it’s a bigger series now, but I’ll start with the three first.)
Clive Barker’s Abarat, although intended for YA, is fun, and the hardcover edition with the full colour illustrations is amazing. I’ve not read his adult-intended works of fantasy, but some of his horror ones.
Currently reading the Rivers of London series (as keen forum members might remember from the Other Books subforum), very witty and (imo) well written urban fantasy crime novels
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Post by paperexplorer on Oct 5, 2023 22:48:28 GMT
I read more sci-fi than fantasy when it comes to novels. I just feel there is more scope to explore ideas and challenge common perceptions in a sci fi world.
A lot of fantasy also puts me off because of these bloated, 800 pages, 6+ book series that are the rage. Can't someone just write a tight,self contained novel?
I used to read Janny Wurts a bit. High fantasy, good writer, but 3 books into the Wars of Light and Shadow series I gave up. That was about 20 years ago and she's still writing the series. I don't have the staying power for that. I also worry there won't be a conclusion such as what was see with Robert Jordan and I also don't see Martin ever concluding Game of Thrones either.
Tim Powers is worth seeking out, particularly The Anubis Gates
Lois McMaster Bujold fantasy books also very good
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Oct 6, 2023 8:53:46 GMT
I also worry there won't be a conclusion such as what was see with Robert Jordan Wheel of Time was actually concluded. Jordan and his wife/editor picked Brandon Sanderson to finish the series using the notes Jordan left behind. I think with George RR Martin, he was suffering a bit with writer's block already which then increased tenfold when he saw the massive negative feedback to how the TV series concluded. |
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roidhun
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Posts: 78 
Favourite Gamebook Series: The Legends of Skyfall (Yes, really!)
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Post by roidhun on Oct 6, 2023 12:36:30 GMT
I haven't read that much prose fantasy, other than Tolkien. Science fiction novels are more my thing.
I tried reading a couple of Dungeons and Dragons books (Dragonlance I think) many years ago, but I gave up on them partway through because, at the end of the day, the plot was originally driven by a power struggle between good and evil gods (who were never seen in person) and you just knew that even if the protagonists who served the good gods were victorious over the antagonists who served the evil gods, the unseen masters of the latter would never be held to account and would just come back and try again in a few hundred years.
(That was what was so great about the early Lone Wolf gamebooks: you got to fight and kill higher and higher ranking bad guys as the series progressed and feel you were making a real difference. Ah, the sheer buzz from - effectively - nuking the Dark City of Helgedad! Shame about all the poor, oppressed Giaks and dumb, brainwashed Drakkarim grunts going up in flames with their Darklord, Xagash, Nadziran, Helghast and Vordak oppressors, though.)
I read the first two Gormenghast books once, but I never finished the rather anticlimactic third one. Mervyn Peake had some serious talent, but his magnum opus is pretty depressing to read.
I read Mort once, but nothing else from the Diskworld universe. I found Terry Pratchett to be... overrated.
Harry Potter, obviously. Nothing written by J. K. Rowling for older audiences. (The Casual Vacancy was a truly horrible feelbad experience. Never again.)
I liked the movie Krull, but it would definitely have benefited from a much larger SFX budget. I loved the fascinatingly weird Jim Henson movie The Dark Crystal. And the virtually-forgotten Masters Of The Universe movie is good for quite a few cruel laughs, mostly at the thought of how much Dolph Lundgren must cringe these days at the memory of his decision ever to appear in it now, even though I personally found his performance in it perfectly workmanlike. And you can really tell just what a blast Frank Langella had camping it up as Skeletor! I can well believe that it's one of his all-time favourite roles from his entire career!
I was one of the few people who actually really enjoyed watching Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brendon Gleeson and Geoffrey Rush camping it up as Horus, Set and Ra in Gods Of Egypt.
Probably my favourite movie of all time is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Pride, Prejudice And Zombies was quietly hysterical (I loathe straight-laced costume dramas and this was the perfect antidote to them).
I can't stand Edgar Rice Burroughs because of all the casual racism.
For SF books...
I read The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Heavy going, but worth it. Never read any more steampunk, although I was fascinated by the hallucinatory steampunk-ish fantasy world of Meanwhile City in the psychological fantasy movie Franklyn. I hate most cyberpunk, although the movies Blade Runner and Nirvana were good. (Harrison Ford is an overrated actor and Christophe Lambert an underrated one, IMO.)
Poul Anderson is probably my favourite author and the Dominic Flandry books definitely my favourite series by him (unsurpisingly, as they're the inspiration for my online name).
Larry Niven, especially the Tales Of Known Space Universe AKA Ringworld Universe. A few of the earlier works only from his buddy Jerry Pournelle, and of course their collaborative work The Mote In God's Eye and its sequel The Gripping Hand AKA The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye.
BattleTech/MechWarrior novels from the 1990s only. Nothing written since.
The various books written by Isaac Asimov that were set in the Eternity-Robots-Empire-Foundation Universe. Not the authorized works by other authors set in that universe. Most (but not all) of the many self-contained short stories by Asimov himself that weren't set in it.
Some (but definitely not all) of the books and comics set in the real Star Wars Expanded Universe that ended in 2013. Nothing from the non-canonical garbage Disney have been churning out since 2014, which emphatically does include the so-called Episode VII, VIII and IX movies, The Mandalorian and every other piece of bullshit the imbecile Mickey Mouse-worshippers ever have produced or ever will produce from now until the heat death of the universe.
An eclectic selection of stuff only from the Star Trek Universe (another seriously overrated franchise, IMO).
When I was younger and less discerning, the 12-book Time Wars series by Simon Hawke.
Assorted superhero comics from the 1970s, 80s and 90s only. Nothing since Infinite Crisis in 2006.
Generation One, Generation Two and Beast Wars/Beast Machines Transformers only. Nothing since. (The live-action-and-CCG movies are chuffing terrible beyond words.)
All kinds of other random odds and sods far too diverse to try to list!
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 6, 2023 12:45:02 GMT
I haven't read that much prose fantasy, other than Tolkien. Science fiction novels are more my thing. I tried reading a couple of Dungeons and Dragons books (Dragonlance I think) many years ago, but I gave up on them partway through because, at the end of the day, the plot was originally driven by a power struggle between good and evil gods (who were never seen in person) and you just knew that even if the protagonists who served the good gods were victorious over the antagonists who served the evil gods, the unseen masters of the latter would never be held to account and would just come back and try again in a few hundred years. (That was what was so great about the early Lone Wolf gamebooks: you got to fight and kill higher and higher ranking bad guys as the series progressed and feel you were making a real difference. Ah, the sheer buzz from - effectively - nuking the Dark City of Helgedad! Shame about all the poor, oppressed Giaks going up with their Darklord, Nadziran, Helghast and Vordak oppressors, though.) I read the first two Gormenghast books once, but I never finished the rather anticlimactic third one. Mervyn Peake had some serious talent, but his magnum opus is pretty depressing to read. I read Mort once, but nothing else from the Diskworld universe. I found Terry Pratchett to be... overrated. I reckon Terry Pratchett is overrated as well, so I'm glad I'm not the only one (when I last let this point be known, I was subjected to masses of Ad Hominem vitriol about how I couldn't write, wasn't clever, had lost the plot etc.). He's funny but his sense of humour is repetitive and not that intellectual. He seems to me like one of those people who 'likes praise' and doesn't always accept it when people don't agree 100% with him. I believe I did read one or two other Terry Pratchett, one non-Discworld, but the first of his books I read, the one I most enjoyed and remember, was Mort as well, coinicdentally. |
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kieran
Baron
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Post by kieran on Oct 6, 2023 12:54:31 GMT
I tried reading a couple of Dungeons and Dragons books (Dragonlance I think) many years ago, but I gave up on them partway through because, at the end of the day, the plot was originally driven by a power struggle between good and evil gods (who were never seen in person) and you just knew that even if the protagonists who served the good gods were victorious over the antagonists who served the evil gods, the unseen masters of the latter would never be held to account and would just come back and try again in a few hundred years. Not precisely true in Dragonlance's case. The good gods and evil gods do show up quite a lot and interact with the heroes and villains. |
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