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So, guuys whats everyones fave fantasy book at the mo???{i think this is what im meant to do. Im new(:}
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So, guuys whats everyones fave fantasy book at the mo???{i think this is what im meant to do. Im new(:}
Have to say that I am still loving Terry Pratchett…just keep finding him very funny. I’m not really a fan of the orcs and demons kind of stuff but love a good bit of humour and imagination.
I have recently re-read the final book of the Northern Lights Trilogy – am a huge Phillip Pullman fan (and of course was disappointed by the film!). I like the way he brings so many ideas and theories into his writing without making you feel weighed down by them. Would be keen to hear about any more recent fantasy books that people would recommend.
As a New writer I am stuck reading and re-reading my own work. They have been a wonderful experience. Creating a world that flows with the love and joy my children have provided me for so many years…
One day… The Finding will be at least an e-book…
http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=14001
Hi Bill,
Great to hear that writing Fantasy books can be as fun as reading them! Perhaps if you want to see your book as a printed version, you could give publishing on CompletelyNovel a try? Then maybe you could give a copy to your children? Happy New Year!
As a reviewer on another site I am inundated by would be ‘Rowlings’ many twears ago I wrote fantasy novels and had them published but they were called Science Fiction in those days. Today everyone seems to want to be a fantasy writer and I review the same old themes every week. Some are very good childrens stories, but I sometimes think that if adults read a lot of this stuff they must be rather simple attitude to life. Some are very well thought out but the majority depend upon dragons, awkward names for people, cities and planets. Same old stuff. This should start a debate don’t you think???
Colin – It would seem that age has provided you with a cloak of cynicism that protects you now from the joys of childhood. While it is not up to me to decide if this is good or bad, I am sure I would use it as a spell in one of my epic fantasies to get the populace to ignore the good stuff and fester on the evil so that I could control their minds and souls.
I however choose not to grow out of the delight and wonder of a good fantasy and like great inspirational movies I will continue to read and write them till my dying breath.
Consider this the first shot across the bow… hehehhehehehehe
Bill
I think it is definitely harder to impress people now with fantasy books as so much has been done with the genre – it seems difficult to be original. But if you are a damn good story-teller, then I think there should be room for you as an author in any genre, whether it is fantasy, crime, historical… Perhaps a problem for fantasy writers is that the world that they are creating, can take over from the plot and character development.
I think the reason why I like Terry Pratchett books so much is that the main focus is always the story, and the background just adds to it, rather than the other way around.
I’m new at this and also very young, but I have found my calling in writting fantasy romance books. I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing about the twilight soga, but I believe that is what inspired me to write. I also like reading the Nicholas Sparks books, those are fantastic! If there is anyway that you guys and gals could give me some insights on how to become a better writer, or just read my book and tell me what was good. Also, tell me what was bad or what I needed to fix that would be great.
Shea, I’m a rookie myself. But I’ve learned that I have to believe in my story being worth reading. I’ve poured a lot of thought and rewrites into my books. Most important was revising some of the storylines. In terms of advice; listen to audio books. Listen very carefully to the unabridged versions. You’ll find your ear and your stylecrafting after you listen to 2 different books or less. And the subject matter that you are writing is awesome. I was afraid to even approach a love scene or even a mating scenario. Keep your head up and handle your thang. I’m looking up your material now. Hopefully the both of us will find our way going forward. By the way, I liked Twilight. It got my daughter off my back for about 2 years.
That’s interesting…do you listen to audiobooks in preference to reading other books, in terms of developing a style. I hadn’t really thought of using that method. Does it depend on the voice reading out the audiobook though? I suppose lots of people have different styles of reading aloud.
Anna,
Sorry for the prolonged delay. But yes. I do listen to audio books quite often. I am a mailman in my day job and I love the mental stimulation and the different tenor of voices that are not my own. When I’m writing, I have tunnel vision and my characters come to life and tell me what direction we’re going to go that day.
Hi, I’m new to this site. I agree with the mental stimulation but I use audio books to make the most of my time. With being at uni I have to read a lot anyway, but found that the one hour car journey was being wasted until I discovered audio books. So far in the last few weeks I have gone through Frankenstein, Lady Audley’s Secret, Moll Flanders, Far From the Madding Crowd and at the moment have been brave enough to tackle James Joyce’s Ulysses. If I’d have attempted to read the book first I wouldn’t have been able to understand it, but by listening to it I am able to pick up on the different tones and what they sort of mean. Still very tough going though.
Hi Colin
I tend to agree with you judging from conversations over a number of years. It appears to me that many are not content with a tale that is fixedly based in terra firma but need something that is completely ‘out of this world’ or perhaps is ‘within this world but not part of it’.
Strange creatures, humans, as they say in Yorkshire, ’There’s nowt as queer as folks!’
An analysis of trends in writing and indeed TV and films over, say, the past 50 years would be a fascinating study but as most do not see the light of day via conventional publishing we would not see an accurate set of figures.
Personally fantasy does nothing for me and hasn’t since I were a boy but ‘whatever turns you’ on as they say.
Don’t be too critical, we are all a little different from each other. I doubt if a fantasy author would be interested in my factual historical interpretations although they may well find some interesting material to fantasise with there…
Harry
I read all kinds of fantasy—though not so keen on the hardcore techie sci-fi side of it. Terry Pratchett, Robin Hobb, Katherine Kerr, Robin McKinley, George RR Martin, the great Ursula LeGuin, Melanie Rawn—and on the YA side, Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce and Philip Pullman would be my top picks. I write children’s/YA fantasy and find it gives me a freedom which a more conventional historical or present day ‘real’ setting might not.
Lucy Coats http://scribblecitycentral.blogspot.com
http://www.lucycoats.com
Hi, I’m new to the site and an aspiring ‘epic fantasy’ writer. I haven’t actually read much fantasy. Pratchett’s ‘Colour of Magic’, Paolini’s ‘Inheritance’ trilogy (i.e. ‘Eragon’ et al), Whalen-Turner’s ‘The Thief’ and Funke’s ‘Inkheart’ are some of those that I’ve read but looking at my bookshelf there are more than I first thought! I should read more, I suppose. But something that I’ve found is that the way I write my own fantasy books feels very fresh… Maybe it isn’t! But it doesn’t feel very influenced by other writers… But it’s great to be learning all these names!
Anyway, one of the books that I enjoyed reading and made me feel so many wonderful emotions was Jasper Fforde’s ‘First Among Sequels’. I would definitely recommend it. I found it very original and very funny… You could liken it to Pratchett, I suppose, if you wanted to liken it to something.
Ross Meikle: http://meikle-crowning-glory.blogspot.com/
Ah – my sister keeps telling me about Jasper Fforde and I need to get round to reading ‘First amongst Sequels’. I think I would like his style from what I’ve heard.
Terry Pratchett offered some advice to Fantasy writers in the Writer’s Handbook which I saw a while ago (think it might have been a couple of years ago). One of his first points was that if you want to write it, you’ve got to read a lot of it so that you know about the rules that apply (and where they can be broken).
He also says that Fantasy should be taken seriously – i.e. include rules because if anything can happen, there is no real suspense.
“Use adjectives as if they cost you a toenail” is another of Terry’s suggestions and he also stresses that one should remember that writing a fantasy doesn’t absolve you from having to make the characters rounded, dialogue believable and the plots properly tuned.
Would be interested in what you, and everyone else think of those tips!
Well, to be diplomatic, I can see where he’s coming from! I understand that it must help to know the “rules” and “conventions” of fantasy…
But I also think that the more you read, the more you become… trapped… I think a writer would become very self-conscious about what they wrote, thinking “I can’t do that – Terry Pratchett did that” or “If I do that, it’s going to look like I’ve just copied Jasper Fforde”, etc. etc.
I understand Pratchett’s point about adjectives, but I think that would apply to all writing, personally… (I might stretch from toenails to fingernails as well though!) But I totally agree with his point about having rounded characters, believable dialogue and properly-tuned plots. That is essential, I believe. I think you could get away with a poor fantasy concept if you had really strong characters and a smashing story!
So I understand his pointers about writing for fantasy and I will take some of them onboard. But I wouldn’t go with everything he said!
Just to qualify, I do think it’s important to have some fantasy that you’ve read. There are certainly influences from Megan Whalen Turner on my own work. But I think too many books could stifle your own style.
And this is all hypothetical! I’m certainly no expert!!
I agree with what you all are saying. I like having heroes and sheroes too. I like to think that there are professionals that have all the answers as well. Fact is, they don’t. They have resources that I certainly don’t have. An editor would be primary.
Here’s my line;
I write the stories that I want to read about. I create the characters names and they tell me who and what they are. My stories are fresh and new instead of the same ole recycled madness that is reflected by the supposed pros. Several times I’ve read books and forgot who the writer was because I’d read books by others that seemed a lot like the current read. Just change the name. I’m fed up with that. People are different therefore stories must be.
In terms of plot, structure, storyline, yadda yadda yadda… they have to be clear and concise. That goes without saying for me. Take a look at writers of the past that are legendary today. So many new writers emulate them and their stories don’t hold up well. I think that’s because readers today are more sophisticated. They’re imaginations are saturated because they are used to seeing the same ole’ same ole’. So the challenge is newness. For example; Vampires are sexy as hell. Trouble is; do the nasty with them once and it’s great. But only that once. And the town runs out of people. Werewolves keep going and going and the town’s population grows. Interesting outlook, I think anyway. But that’s my premise. See what I mean?
Yeah – I think making sure that you are not trapped into thinking along previously trodden paths is something you need to be careful of. But at the same time…(to play devil’s advocate!) people often naturally come up with the similar ideas (there’s a very interesting piece by Malcolm Gladwell on that point, though it is more science related here ) so if you want to be original then maybe you need to know what else is out there.
But then again, if you have your own style and can give an interesting new twist to a familiar plot, I think that can be great too!
I am a big fan of Pullman’s trilogy too, I’ve even read Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North, both are great companions to the original three.
Now then … a recommendation, you can’t do better than the Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve. It’s not too far away from Pullman’s stuff, although still different. I have heard he’s a bit iffy about this, but this series is getting seriously thought of as Steam Punk. Not only is there the original trilogy, there’s the prequel of sorts – Fever Crumb, and now the follow up to that, A Web of Air. All are great reads, so do give ’em a whirl.
Hi Ben
Having just discovered the world of Kindle I have been catching up on books that have been on the wanna read list. Fave fantasy at mo is Lies of Lock Lamora- felt very fresh and well written. Sci-fi wise I am half way through Perdido Street Station (which I am pleased with given it’s substantial length). Astounding book (if a little slow to get started).
Cheers
Ross
CJ Cherryh’s “Ealdwood” (actually 2 books in 1 volume), it was written many many years ago but I only just discovered it. Wonderful style.
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