So a friend just posted a long list of his favorite books on facebook. I don't have the patience or memory for that--but I do want to do a few posts about the best books out there, categorized by genre.
The first genre, my favorite, is fantasy. Fantasy authors seem to like to write in series, so here are the best series in fantasy that I'm aware of.
1. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"
2. George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones"
3. Robin Hobb's "Assassin's Apprentice" (a follow-up series, also excellent and what I'm currently re-reading, is "Fool's Errand")
A warning on Martin--he's pretty graphic.
All three series have great plot, characters, and writing style.
Some LDS writers on Hobb and Martin (Tolkien needs no recommendation):
Orson Scott Card:
"Robin Hobb...arguably set the standard for the modern serious fantasy novel."
"the...excellent heroic fiction of...Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin..."
Plus two more detailed (and raving) reviews of Hobb's work here and here. Yeah. OSC's a huge Robin Hobb fan.
Brandon Sanderson:
"Robin Hobb...in my opinion writes far better than I do myself."
"George R. R. Martin (is) probably the most skilled epic fantasy writer on the market right now."
This stuff (unlike most the fantasy I read as a teenager) will stand the test of time. It's not just good fantasy. It's good literature.
Any other recommendations?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I've always liked the work of Brooks, but that probably comes from the fact that it was my first major foray into fantasy. His more recent works are all page turners for me, but as I was reading the most recent Shannara book, I realized that while momentarily engrossing, I can't remember much of the stories past the first two books. It amounts to as much as 'popcorn' flicks do. A lot of flash and sizzle, but nothing lasting.
I loved those books as a kid. I tried reading some of them while in college and couldn't stand them.
Kind of reminds me of the movie "The Neverending Story." Sigh.
Post a Comment