I'm looking for a new good series to read. Wondering what people's favorites are out there...

Things I recommend:

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes

I have a soft spot for the Sword of Truth series even if it has gone the way of Ayn Rand.

I'm a huge sucker for anything touched by Simon Green. It's pulpy, I know, but I looooove it.

At the urging of my fiance I recently finished the ten books of the Nine Princes in Amber series by Roger Zelazny.

Lastly (it's kind of girly fantasy) but I really just enjoyed Cast in Shadow and Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara.

So what else do people recommend to read? These aren't the only things I've read, but they really stick out to me right now,

If you are looking for a light read, I loved the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, but I love puns so if you are not into puns you probably won't appreciate the books.

But by and large I was suprised at how much I enjoyed some main stream books such as Salvator Inspired War of The Spider Queeen series.

A few that I didn't see listed that I enjoyed quite a bit;

The Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg
-Basically a gamers dream. Playing in a table top rpg and then waking up to find yourself as your character in the game. Rather large series that is still being added too.

The Keepers of the Hidden Ways series by Joel Rosenberg
-A very norse feel and approach to gods and communities. Very well written fight scenes and interesting twists in the story.

The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony
-Jumping between dimensions of modern day earth and a fantasy world where magic is around. Problems come when people start crossing into each. I believe this one is six books in all.

Just a few series I would suggest. I can't suggest just one or two books, they all are well written IMHO.

The Northern Lights series by Philip Pullman isn't too bad. It is kind of what I'd describe as sci-fantasy.

Kind of like junk food, but for me it has that old school MASTER flavor.

It has two that come after that are also good, though less so in the third one.

I did like this one very much back in the day - I was a lot younger, not sure how much I'd like it now, but I have very fond memories - and I liked the idea that he had to keep going from school to school, being a dilletante (sp?), but ending up as he did. (Don't want to give anything away.)

The Book of Swords series was very entertaining by Fred Saberhagen. I'll also second Dragonlance series.

>The Book of Swords series was very entertaining by Fred
>Saberhagen. I'll also second Dragonlance series.

Of Dragonlance, the chronicles were probably the most of my liking. There are plenty of good dragonlance books, though. The story about draconians was pretty good too.

Also, some non-Dragonlance works of Margaret Weis have been pretty nice reading. For example, Death Gate Cycle series presented some interesting worlds.

Well to keep myself with an original thought...
Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony was good overall. The last couple aren't as good as the first five, but still I found them all enjoyable.

I liked Eragorn and Eldest by...umm I think his name is Paoloni. Also, you might want to look at David Eddings(or maybe I am just weird liking his works).

But, unfortunately, I like most anything fantasy and I don't have a discriminating eye for that sort of stuff.

-Alenysi

>Also, you might want to look at David Eddings(or maybe I am just weird liking his works).

I'm pretty much omnivorous with fantasy books too. Edding's books were what got me started in reading the genre(I got Belgarath the Sorcerer as Christmas present and then wanted to know how the story continued). The Eddings books are something that are hard to let go of when you start reading(the text is easy to read too).

Some excellent fantasy in my opinion:

Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin.

Discworld books by Terry Pratchett(they are somewhat fantasy parody style, these are wonderful reading. Somehow he managed to make pretty much every page of the books funny without spoiling the story). Each book has a different story, so while they do have some chronological order, reading a previous book is usually not a prequicite for understanding the next one.

Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Dragonlance chronicles by Margaret Weis. Rest of the Dragonlance books aren't quite as good as that.

The Dark Elf trilogy by RA Salvatore. Salvatore's concept of evil deep underground elves and their society makes quite interesting background for the story(though from biological standpoint, it makes no sense that these elves have white hair and black skin).

And many other books, many of which are mentioned elsewhere in the thread. Of the ones mentioned, Song of Fire and Ice and Pratchett's Discworld are probably the most enjoyable reading.

It's not a series, but I'd recommend Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's a pretty great book.

Also, the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card is decent. The first three books anyway (Seventh Son, Red Prophet, Prentice Alvin).

I haven't read the other responses so if this is duplicative, forgive me.

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. He has several stand alone books, a duology, and a trilogy, so you can pick what you prefer. He's just a terrific writer.

If you liked the Amber series, try Lord of Light, also by Zelazny, one of my all-time favorite books.

The whole Deryni collection by Katherine Kurtz is good.

The Darwath trilogy and subsequent books by Barbara Hambly.

Harry Turtledove's tetralogy starting with the Misplaced Legion - a roman legion magically transported to another world. Excellent series.

Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords.

The Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson. The first trilogy is the best, the second good but not as good.

The Raymond Feist Midkemia books, starting with Magician: Apprentice are generally good, some more miss than hit, but the first two, the Magician books, are solid.

The Thieves' World series from back in the day had some great stuff. They were co-edited by Lynn Abbey and Robert Aspirin, with lots of great authors contributing.

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglass Adams. Everyone forgets that the writer of the Hitchhiker's guide wrote other stuff, some very funny and good indeed. This is my favorite of those.

And in that same vein, the various Garrett, P.I. series by Glen Cook, starting with Cold Copper Tears or Sweet Silver Blues, I forget.

Lastly, it's cyberpunk, which I don't usually love, but.... Richard Morgan's last three books about the character Takeshi Kovacs, first book being Altered Carbon. Very well done.

There are many more of course, but this should get you started, certainly with all the other posts as well. I only have the benefit of having been reading fantasy books for some time, about 30 years now. Enjoy!

I was going to add the Elric books by Moorcock but I see others have mentioned it. I add my voice to those in support.

Not mentioned below, that I saw, were a few more I have now remembered and am upset I forgot:

China Mieville's Perdido Street Station was terrific. It's more sci-fi than fantasy, but it really straddles the two in many ways, and the writing is excellent, so I feel comfortable mentioning it for you.

Also sci-fi but a great pulp-y read: the Pip and Flinx novels by Alan Dean Foster. Started in the '70s and he still puts one out every few years now. The early ones in particular are fun reads, starting with For Love Of Mother - Not, The Tar-Aiym Krang, Orphan Star, The End of the Matter, Flinx in Flux and Bloodhype.

The Runelords books by David Farland were excellent in idea, if only good in writing. In a field of commonly derivative quests and mythology, Farland came up with something actually unique, in my experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. First book is The Sum of All Men. Definitely worth the read.

Similarly, another interesting series with an original (if not entirely unique as Farland in concept) premise and magic system, are the King's Blades books by Dave Duncan, starting with The Gilded Chain, and then Lord of the Fire Lands, and then three or four more after that. These are particularly good if you like excellent sword fighting and some very good character development.

Mickey Zucker Reichert has one of my two favorite northern mythology series, hers being the Renshai trilogy, starting with the Last of the Renshai. Very fun, if a teensy bit facile every now and then when dealing with Colbey, one of the main character's abilities.

The other fun northern (though southern for many of its books, you'll understand if you read) sword and sorcery series is by Jennifer Roberson and starts with Sword-Dancer. Excellent books with two main characters, a woman and a man, with fleshed out characters and sometimes poignant interactions.

Sheri S. Tepper's old, old, old series, The True Game, which starts with King's Blood Four. The other truly unique convention for magic and power, I read this around the same time I read the Riddlemaster of Hed series that has elsewhere been mentioned (and which I also endorse) and loved it. Definitely worth reading. It follows a boy, and her next series takes place in the same world, but following a girl, who makes you question everything you read in the first series. Excellent world building and internal consistency as I recall.

Lastly, I feel obliged to mention one of my all-time favorite reads, and by far the oldest of any mentioned here: Le Morte D'Arthur. The King Arthur story as originally (well, mostly) written by Sir Thomas Malory. Sure, it's from the 15th century, but on the upside you know it's what the author wanted; they didn't need Microsoft Word editing back then.

After you finish reading all these suggestions, sometime in 2017, let me know and I'll add to the list....*

*I'm jealous of you in that I remember the joy of reading many of these the first time and having that somewhat sad feeling when you finish the last page because the book's over. I think these are some great reads.

>The Runelords books by David Farland were excellent in idea,
>if only good in writing. In a field of commonly derivative
>quests and mythology, Farland came up with something actually
>unique, in my experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. First
>book is The Sum of All Men. Definitely worth the read.

I agree with you to a large degree here, and I'll add that the first book seems much, much better than each succeeding book to me. I always had the feeling that he had to spend a lot of time reworking and refining the first book to get it published, and then once it was, the pressure on him was more to produce sequels quickly rather than well.

I remember being excited, reading the first book the first time, that he had created this wholly original and cool magic system, and then further that he's showing "innovation" with the same basic ideas/principles later even in the same book. (For example, the serpent ring.) And then... that's basically it. Each book thereafter becomes more and more about elemental magic, which we've seen a thousand times, and less and less about his unique system. (I also prefer Raj Ahten as a villian to the reavers.)

Still, that first book is pretty great.

I liked the forcibles concept much more than the earth king concept. There was enough of the former to sustain the rest of the series, but none was as good as the first. That wowed me.

Have you read most of the others I mentioned? I didn't know you read this stuff, too.

n/t

I refused to read them for a while, but once I read the first book I got hooked and had to steamroll the series :p

Other than that, I haven't read a fantasy book in 6 years or so. Raymond E feist's riftwar books were the last I read, but those were good.

Also, I remember enjoying Tad Williams the memory, sorrow and thorn series (although I was like 15 at the time, maybe I would'nt like them as much now).

Oh, I did read 'the alchemist' by some Paulo Coelho lately. It's a really short book, but very good.

I did the same thing...refused to read the stupid books...then picked the first one up in a docter's office outta sheer boredom...and got hooked...bleh...

More on the subject, if you can get past George Lucas' horrendous writing style, the sequals to "Willow" are pretty interesting. Bah...the books are back at my old house, and I don't remember the exact titles offhand...but it was something to do with "moon"...heh...just ask for sequals to willow...

just another warning...i don't know if it's just my distaste for the way he writes, or if they truely were written that badly...they take some effort to get into...but, once your in...it's all good.

The old X-Men writer. Lucas just came up with the story.

Ok, so that's not fantasy, but I don't read fantasy.


G.

Better than Clancy. Except his new First Team stuff, which is pulp, but still a good read. Vortex is my favorite.

Ah, I haven't seen the First Team stuff yet.. I need to check it out.

I loved Red Phoenix and Cauldron the best... man, I read Red Phoenix
on the plane ride to basic training and I remember thinking to myself,
"Please don't send my ass to South Korea!"

Good Stuff.


G.

nt

"New payment options w/ Iron Realms"

Dread Empire - Glen Cook
Black Company - Glen Cook
King Chondo's Ride & The Lost Prince - Paul Edwin Zimmer

Cenotaph Road, Sorcerer's Skull, World of Mazes, Iron Tongue, Fire and Fog, Pillar of Night - Cenotaph Road series by Robert E. Vardeman.

(The above are Dark Fantasy)

The Darwath Trilogy - Barbara Hambly
All the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books - Fritz Leiber

Anyway...the list is longer than I write.

Eshval's email
BlackMarquessa@gmail.com

Eshval's slightly off-center (unofficial) blog.
http://blackmarquessa.blogspot.com/
Carnivàle
http://cirquecarnivale.wordpress.com/

"Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown
(great book about someone trying to blow up Vatican(sp) City, and the Illuminati)

"Blue Nowhere" by Jeffery Deaver
(about a man obsessed with online gaming who goes around killing people)

"Memnoch the Devil" by Anne Rice
(believe it or not but this was actually a good book. Only Anne Rice I've ever read but I still liked it. Its a retelling of biblical history from the devil's point of view as he tries to get Lestat to join him)

And if you have ever heard of Vampire Hunter D then I would definitely read that series. (only 2 that I know of are out)

They're probably not really what you were thinking of when you asked for help but I haven't read too many books and those were ones that I liked the most.

Enjoy.

"Then hunger proved more powerful than grief." - Count Ugolino and the Tower of Hunger

My mom read that and the silmarillian while she was pregnant with me. I was doomed to nerdness from conception

I tried to read the Shannara series because I have read Magic Kingdom for Sale and I LOVED his three book The Word and the Void series (Whatever you call it) and after that I picked up the first book of the Shannara series and I just couldn't drag myself through it. So boring, so warlike technical, so nonsensical to me, I dunno. Really dry I guess, so I haven't picked up any of the rest of the series, even though I imagine it gets better as Terry Brooks becomes a more experienced writer.

nt

I really enjoyed the Wheel of Time for the first 6 or so books....but my god did it start dragging after that. It honestly felt like he was never going to end it.

first novel, with its Terry Brooks-style purple prose and stock heroes, the series developed noir-fantasy themes and increasingly complex plot structures that I absolutely love. Mixed with a sprinkle of allusions to Norse mythology, Arthurian legend and a quiet acknowledgment of the fantasy canon, this series contains some of the best novels I've read.

Unfortunately, as a series I think the Wheel of Time struggles to maintain both focus and forward progress as its axles groan under its own weight. Since the Source has become cleansed and the Final Battle has yet to occur, what should feel like suspense is more like a feeling that Jordan is getting paid by the word: the storyline has become so bloated with characters and subplots as to make the 18 month wait between books to require an eidetic memory or a user-created reference sheet, the text's glossary being nearly worthless after the second novel.

So..he better pony up the last book and the other two to the prequel before kickin it! That sounds bad, but man am i waiting.

Aaron

Coincidentally, I was just browsing his forum yesterday when I found out about his health problems. Not looking good at all. Sounds like his treatment wasn't very successful. He said that without the treatment he has a life expectancy of 1 year. Book 12 isn't due out until 2008, so not too promising and he has stated that if he dies before the last book is done, nobody else will finish it. Here's to hoping that he can prove the doctors wrong.

I like Neil Gaiman's work as well. American Gods is a virtual masterpiece.

King's Dark Tower series, though, as Isildur mentioned, King tends to wrap up ALL the plot holes.

Anything by Weis and Hickman. I find their books enthralling.

I love Neil Gaiman. American Gods was good, though it's a hell of a book to tackle. Anansi Boys was a much easier, funner read I thought. A lot less complicated though.

I've tried to read King before, not that series, and I find him a little too literal. Might pick up that series, though, it seems to come highly recommended!

Couple of my recommendations off the one book shelf I can see from this computer:

Personally I think Lord of Light is Zalazny's best work, but he has a couple other stand alone books that are pretty good. I think that anyone who is going to be an Imm here should read this book. While you are on the Z's, there is a Russian writer (I want to say Zamyatin, but I am probably butchering the spelling) who wrote We, a pretty interesting Russian writer meets Orwell type book, more Sci fi than I think you are looking for.

I also agree with the comments on Brust, although I think he has gotten a bit verbose in his later works. The first few in the Vlad series were quite brilliant. I personally find Eddings and Brooks to be a bit derivative. David Gemmell was quite a good writer, sad to say he passed this summer.

If you haven't read any Terry Pratchett, I recommend him. There are a lot of layers in his works and to me they are a bit like grown up Piers Anthony Xanth books.

Personally I like some of Silverberg's old stuff, the Valentine series was nice and he has a few other good books, both SciFi and fantasy. Orsen Scott Card has some brilliant books, and some crap imho - the Ender books and the Alvin Maker ones are excellent, the others are hit and miss. For a blend of fantasy/SciFi, look for Varley's Titan/Wizard/Demon series, which although somewhat influenced by Clarke's Rama books, are still really interesting psychological studies.

I personally really enjoy pulp from the 50s or so, and while Moorcock was great (and a little later) don't forget about Burroughs, Leiber, Haggard, Lovecraft and Baum (frankly if you have never read the original Wizard of Oz books, you are missing out.)

For female writers, LeGuin is incredible in terms of someone you have to read several times to figure out what she means. Morgan Llewellen is really nice for her historical and Irish bends, and I don't think she has written a bad book. She has some nice fiction for kids also. I like the Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patricia MacKillip. The first few Dragonrider of Pern books are good, but they get old fast to me. Paula Volsky came recommended to me by Yano, and though I only read one of her books, I liked it.

Doing so always inspires me to roll up an assassin.

Uncoincidentally, these were one of my big inspirations for neo-assassinate. (Not that I'm the only person who had design input there, but, you know.)

Although, I'm several years behind on these now.

I wholeheartedly agree. This is still one of my favorite fantasy series even if a few of the books in the middle aren't as good as the best books in the series.

And if you want something really interesting from Brust (who is likely my favorite fantasy author these days), check out his book entitled To Reign In Hell.

- The Paisley Giant

P.S. Yes, it really is the guy that used to play Ishmael.

P.P.S. Entropy forever!!!

How can you go wrong? Cowboy Feng's Spacebar and Grill is a decent read if you are looking for something different by Brust

My favorite genre is Forgotten Realms in the AD&D world. Some of my favorites include -

Dark-Elf Trilogy through the current trilogy - RA Salvatore

Cormyr saga - Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb

The Songs and Swords trilogy - Elaine Cunningham

Elminster Trilogy - Ed Greenwood

All are good reads (to me at least) and are epic-scale sagas of Forgotten Realms adventures.

The Robert Lumley series Necroscope. Its vampire stuff but its pretty cool. There like 15 of em, and they follow the story pretty good. I think you will like them.

Sara Douglas series: The Axis Trilogy and Wayfarer Redemption Triology. These were pretty cool too. Really well written, and good fantasy storyline.

If you like more dungeon and dragons stuff. I have to recommend as my all time favorite Forgotten Realms series. The War of the SPider Queen. There are about 5 or so in the series. Extinction, Redemption, ect. It takes place as Lloth withdraws her devine aid to her priestess' and the males use this chance to uprise. Demons, duergars, shadow dragons, liches, cool mage fights...this series kicks ass and is a fun read. Most of the Forgotten realms books are written by talentless hacks and you can read one of their novels in a few hours...This series is much better than the rest of the crap they put out.

You cant go wrong with Raymond Feist either for an easy read.

Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man.

n/t

Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man.

Simon R. Green is brilliant. I love him <3

If I had to recommend something pretty epic, I'd go with Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel series, starting with Kushiel's Dart. Definitely girly fantasy, which isn't my cup of tea, but I loved it anyway. Weird.

If I had to recommend something gritty and brutal but a damn good read, I'd go with Matthew Woodring Stover's Blade of Tyshalle. This is more male-oriented, but I think you'd enjoy it anyway.

Umm... funny... well, I'm drawing a blank on anything as funny as Simon Green. Sorry =(

In her odd way, I always got a kick out of Ester Friesner's also rather pulpy comedic fantasy. It's awesome to see another Simon Green fan out there - most people look at me like I'm mildly crazy when I mention he's one of my favorite authors!

I'll check out those other two, I'm girly in some ways, but I also dig the guyish stuff. Thanks!

Read LOTR (duh) if you haven't yet.

I read King's entire Dark Tower series last year. Meh. But I know several other people who rave about it.

Could go back in time a little bit (since you read the Amber books) and check out Dragonriders of Pern, or maybe Moorcock's Elric books.

Then there's the Martin/Jordan stuff.

>Read LOTR (duh) if you haven't yet.

I prefer the movies, actually.

Love Tolkien's worldbuilding and story ideas... for the most part, hate his actual writing. I honestly have an easier time reading the Bible, and I'm not what you'd call a person of faith.

>I read King's entire Dark Tower series last year. Meh. But I
>know several other people who rave about it.

I liked the first four books, but at this point I think I'll need to reread them all to finish the series. I got away with not doing that when 4 came out since it's pretty much all flashback, but I read the first three books half my life ago.

Worth doing to see the end of it, you think?

>Could go back in time a little bit (since you read the Amber
>books) and check out Dragonriders of Pern, or maybe Moorcock's
>Elric books.

I have a love-hate relationship with Moorcock. On one hand, I'd strongly wish for more complete novels and less a series of loosely coupled short stories, many of which I don't think are that good.

On the other hand, I feel like every dark fantasy since Elric is basically trying (and failing) to live up to the coolness of Elric, from the twisted nature of his society to what a dark character he is. You've got a guy who's Chaotic Evil or damn near to it, who is continually and personally responsible for the worst kinds of destruction of everything he cares about... and that's the hero. Every time you sort of start thinking, "Nothing worse could happen to Elric", it does, and it's always his fault.

I haven't read anything since that even is in the same order of magnitude as that... anyone?

>I prefer the movies, actually.

I thought the movies were a little cheesy, and didn't really deserve the Oscar hype. Not that I'm totally gaga over the books, I'm just that ambivalent towards the films.

>Worth doing to see the end of it, you think?

I dunno. They get progressively weirder. King takes the easy way out and uses some techniques that let him have happen pretty much whatever he wants to have happen. It's like Q in the ST:TNG series. The character exists just so the writers can create all manner of bizarre story lines.

Also, you may take issue with the ending.

>I have a love-hate relationship with Moorcock.

I read them in high school, which is to say 15 years ago, so I'm hard-pressed to remember much about them. I know I enjoyed them at the time.

Some other ideas of "highly regarded" (or at least "popular") fantasy (none of which I've read):

Stanek's "Kingdom and the Elves" books. (These were highly rated when I did a search at Amazon.com a while back. The most common criticism is that they're a little too "kiddy".)

Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" books.

Le Guin's "Earthsea" books. (These are really short.)

Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" books. (I started reading these last year and got bogged down in the middle of the 1st book. Also, they're less "fantasy" and more "historical fiction".)

Friedman's "Coldfire Trilogy". (Someone on Dio's recommended these.)

Howard's "Conan" stories.

>I thought the movies were a little cheesy, and didn't really
>deserve the Oscar hype. Not that I'm totally gaga over the
>books, I'm just that ambivalent towards the films.

It probably doesn't hurt that the bar for fantasy movies is set so low by years of horrible fantasy movies.

Still, I find that in book form, Tolkein has a lot to say about things I don't find very interesting and very little to say about things that could potentially be interesting. For example, there's considerably more text about the mating habits of hobbits than the battle of Helm's Deep. I think the movie does a better job of reversing that ratio.

>I dunno. They get progressively weirder. King takes the easy
>way out and uses some techniques that let him have happen
>pretty much whatever he wants to have happen. It's like Q in
>the ST:TNG series. The character exists just so the writers
>can create all manner of bizarre story lines.

I never got into Star Trek in any form. . . just never interested me very much. I assume that some inherent survival instinct declared that tacking that on to everything else would increment my geekery score to the point of being unable to breed.

>>I have a love-hate relationship with Moorcock.
>
>I read them in high school, which is to say 15 years ago, so
>I'm hard-pressed to remember much about them. I know I
>enjoyed them at the time.

An awful lot of the stories are of the form "Elric is wandering around, happens across some sort of problem, and solves it by summoning forth one of the many Gods that serve him for some reason. You've never heard of this particular God before in the books, and you never will again."

Or to put it in a different context, a lot of the stories are of the "Monster of the Week" genre, not unlike non-main-plot-arc episodes of the X Files.

All that being said, it doesn't get much better anywhere than the Elric stories I really like -- it just feels like there's a lot of bland filler.

>Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" books.

I managed to finish the first one of these, but just couldn't make it farther -- I find the protagonist alternatingly bland and extremely unlikeable, and not in a good way.

>Le Guin's "Earthsea" books. (These are really short.)

Never read these, but her "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" (I may be butchering the name slightly) is one of my favorite short stories. I probably should check those out.

>Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" books. (I started reading these
>last year and got bogged down in the middle of the 1st book.
>Also, they're less "fantasy" and more "historical fiction".)

I did enjoy Cryptonomicon, but I wasn't sure I wanted to read more about some of the same characters. I'll probably read these someday, but I'm always a little wary of Stephenson (though I mostly like his works) because his books have a tendency to abruptly run out of pages without having reached an ending.

>Friedman's "Coldfire Trilogy". (Someone on Dio's recommended
>these.)

I read the first two books a few years ago and liked them; somehow never picked up a copy of the third. They're actually pretty good and there's a sort of anti-hero character that I enjoyed.

They occupy that strange territory between sci-fi and fantasy, though. Strange alien life-forms that approximate magic or something along those lines.

>It probably doesn't hurt that the bar for fantasy movies is
>set so low by years of horrible fantasy movies.

True. Maybe Jackson's Halo movie will win Best Picture by virtue of the fact that comic book movies are typically so atrocious.

>I never got into Star Trek in any form. . . just never
>interested me very much.

The "Q" character is this guy who can basically do anything. Alter the fabric of reality, go back and forth in time, pop in and out anywhere in the known universe, etc. He's got all the powers of God, but acts like Loki. Anyway, the writers use him to do stuff like send the crew of the Enterprise back to midieval times, etc. Crazy stuff they could never do without a Q-like character.

>Never read these, but her "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"
> I may be butchering the name slightly) is one of my favorite
>short stories. I probably should check those out.

They're super-short. Like 150-200 pages each.

>but I'm always a little wary of Stephenson
> though I mostly like his works) because his books have a
>tendency to abruptly run out of pages without having reached
>an ending.

I just didn't get into the story much. I will say this, though: he writes at a very high level. He actually used some vocabulary I wasn't familiar with. Not that I'm Mr. Vocabulary, but I'm reasonably intelligent and read alot, and it's fairly rare that an author will use a word where I just have no clue.

And yes, Gerald Tarrant is a god damn great anti-hero. I think that the trilogy is Friedman's attempt to combine fantasy and sci-fi. In essence to 'explain' the fantasy ideals, mainly magic and gods and such.

They are damn good reads.

I'm geussing Dance with Dragons should be coming out next year. Also if you are one of the few who haven't read it, Robert Jordan is alright for the first 5ish books.

Terry Brooks is another fantasy writer but imho he kinda sucks.

If you're at all into historical fiction, I recently read a great book called Tai-pan by James Clavell. It's set in the amidst a bunch of British opium traders and it is a real classic. If you like George R.R. Martin you'll like this book.