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Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-10-03 6:39 PM (#14382 - in reply to #14274)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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kabouter - 2016-09-06 6:09 AM

Just finished part 5 of the series. And I must admit that it's going downhill after part 1. I still enjoy the main story line, but the books are filled with repetitions and rehashing of previously explained items. I guess with some good editing you could probably tell the same story in half the amount of pages. What I did like was the fact that it still feels like one big story, the seeds for the next book are always in the previous one. But on an emotional level the books are becoming rather bland. Most everyone become a caricature, the heroes are all good, the bad guys are plain evil. Counting the number of pages in total for the eleven books of the series I'm now halfway so I guess I still have a long way to go...

Well, you're certainly chewing through them, but I think I might skip them then. Or I'll leave it at Part 1. Everyone's read it (but me) and I wanted to know if I should invest the time. Thanks for the review, I appreciate it!

kabouter

Posted 2016-10-12 1:21 AM (#14417 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Now finished with part 9, so still 2 books to go. My complaints remain, the books are still overly long with lots of repetitions from previous books. The books have a kind of formula where they start rather slow, build up a bit and then have a somewhat forced rushed ending. Still somewhat curious how Terry Goodkind is going to wrap things up.

kabouter

Posted 2016-10-26 1:39 AM (#14497 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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And I'm done. After 112 days I've finished reading the eleven parts (and the somewhat related short story prequel). Which also means I'm finished with this particular reading challenge. I would certainly recommend the first novel. But threat the other parts with caution. Perhaps the series is better read not in one go (as I have now done), but rather spread out in time, one book per two months or something like that.
Now it is time for a new challenge :-)

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-02 5:40 PM (#14896 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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I've finally gotten around to starting this challenge, and it's a great start. Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson's compiling and retelling of a great Northern epic, is the best book I've read in the past 12 months. It is part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, a series which has never steered me wrong. This is a great book and a great start to the challenge. I'm happy to be on board.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-01-05 5:17 AM (#14950 - in reply to #14896)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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JohnBem - 2017-01-02 3:40 PM

I've finally gotten around to starting this challenge, and it's a great start. Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson's compiling and retelling of a great Northern epic, is the best book I've read in the past 12 months. It is part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, a series which has never steered me wrong. This is a great book and a great start to the challenge. I'm happy to be on board.

That's great, John! Glad to have you with us!

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-07 2:49 PM (#14989 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Thanks Sable! And now I've finished book number two in the challenge, The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven. It was an interesting read by an author I most normally associate with hard sf. The book was lavishly illustrated by Estaban Maroto, one of my all-time favorite illustrators, an artist I think everyone should check out.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-18 8:14 PM (#15113 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Gotta say, I'm loving this challenge. During 2016 I encountered zero 5-star reads. Now, the High Fantasy challenge has encouraged me to pull down some books that have been resting unread on my shelves for many years, and already, less than 3 weeks in, 2017 has already yielded two 5-star reads. I just finished The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison, and it is brilliant.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-01-19 6:32 PM (#15119 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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I'm glad you're having so much fun with it! I have found over the past couple of years that the challenges in general are a great way for me to get into reading stuff that I've been meaning to read but haven't gotten to. But the readers at this site seem to have a marked preference for sci-fi and so a lot of the challenges are more sci-fi oriented. (Not that I think that's a bad thing, because I love sci-fi too, but that's why this challenge). The Worm Ouroboros is one that I've been meaning to read. I'll have to put it on next year's list at this point, but thanks for the recommendation!

I'm trying to get a good head start on the Space Opera challenge right now, so I probably won't be getting into this one again for a month or so. Then I'll start with A Game of Thrones.

Engelbrecht

Posted 2017-01-23 12:52 AM (#15160 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: RE: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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@JohnBem I'm glad you liked Hrolf Kraki's Saga & The Worm Ouroboros - those are two of my favorites, especially Worm, which people tend to bounce off of because of the language. And you're right again about the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - what a spectacular series. Some further classic high fantasy recommendations for you, which I've attempted to order by their High-Fantasy-ness:

T. H. White - The Once and Future King
Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)

And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy:

Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-01-23 11:48 AM (#15161 - in reply to #15160)
Subject: RE: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Engelbrecht - 2017-01-22 10:52 PM

T. H. White - The Once and Future King
Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)

And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy:

Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights

The Once and Future King and The Last Unicorn number among my favourite books of all time. And Tanith Lee's Flat Earth is pure genius.

Edited by Sable Aradia 2017-01-23 11:49 AM

Guest

Posted 2017-01-23 1:55 PM (#15162 - in reply to #15160)
Subject: RE: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

Engelbrecht - 2017-01-23 12:52 AM

T. H. White - The Once and Future King
Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)

And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy:

Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights

I completely agree with these recommendations, and particularly The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard. I read that last year and it was a complete delight.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-24 6:29 AM (#15166 - in reply to #15160)
Subject: RE: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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@Engelbrecht: I've encountered people who said they could not finish Worm because of the language. For me, the language is a big selling point, rich and dense and vivid and you can fall into it and be immersed in another world. The language of Worm is so dense that I'm surprised I read it as quickly as I did (11 days I think), but it was so gripping that I picked it up at every chance I got, even if only to read a paragraph or two. It also probably helped that there was a weekend in there where the wife was working, the temperature outside was in the 20s, and I did little more than curl up on the sofa with the dog and read for hours on end.

Thank you for the recommendations. I've not read any of them. I think I have a copy of The Once and Future King; I just looked and it's not where I thought it would be, but I'm pretty sure it's in the stacks somewhere. I have two omnibus volumes of Tanith Lee Flat Earth stories, and I have the Ballantine paperback of Lud-in-the-Mist. The rest I'll have to seek out. Many years ago (10+) I read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series (I think I have that right) and loved it, so I'm ready to give more Wolfe a try (and I should re-acquire New Sun and re-read it; I gave my copies to a then co-worker).

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-24 10:19 PM (#15170 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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The fourth book of this challenge = completed. The Dark Tide, book one in Dennis L McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy. Pretty standard fantasy fare, but entertaining enough. Onward into Shadows of Doom.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-01-29 4:00 AM (#15189 - in reply to #15170)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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JohnBem - 2017-01-24 8:19 PM

The fourth book of this challenge = completed. The Dark Tide, book one in Dennis L McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy. Pretty standard fantasy fare, but entertaining enough. Onward into Shadows of Doom.

I read that series years ago! Gave it away and have regretted it ever since. The ending is a bit of a twister.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-01-31 9:01 PM (#15201 - in reply to #15189)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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So far, I'm liking book two, Shadows of Doom, a bit more than book one. Since beginning the trilogy, I've learned that McKiernan's original idea was to write a sequel to Lord of the Rings (an audacious notion!) but the Tolkien estate said 'no'. Even before I knew this, it is painfully obvious that McKiernan's inspiration is Tolkien; there are great chunks of these books that are perilously close to the border between pastiche and rip-off. This casts a bit of a shadow across my enjoyment of the trilogy.

That being said, in other ways McKiernan's trilogy, as far as I've read it, does innovate away from Tolkien in many places, and the pacing is more vigorous, less stately, than Tolkien. As straightforward as the trilogy has been so far in recounting a pretty standard all-the-good-peoples-of-the-world-are-in-peril-from-an-ancient-evil-entity story, I am surprised to learn that the ending is "a bit of a twister" and am now very curious to learn what it is.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-02-04 12:49 PM (#15230 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Iron Tower trilogy book two is completed. Another notch on the bookshelf. What I said in my previous comment pretty much holds true; I've expanded on those thoughts in my review. And now The Darkest Day looms near.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-02-11 8:09 AM (#15264 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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The Iron Tower has been overthrown. Book three in the trilogy, The Darkest Day, has been read. I liked the trilogy more and more with each book as the author moved out from the shadow of Tolkien a bit further with each book. The ending was a bit unexpected, a "bit of a twister," as our hostess Sable mentioned above. Decent high-fantasy fare; I would read more of McKiernan's work. But for now, it's off to Patricia A McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. I've read the first eight pages of "The Riddle-Master of Hed" and am initially captivated by the opening scene of quarreling royal siblings.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-02-15 1:55 AM (#15295 - in reply to #15264)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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JohnBem - 2017-02-11 6:09 AM

The Iron Tower has been overthrown. Book three in the trilogy, The Darkest Day, has been read. I liked the trilogy more and more with each book as the author moved out from the shadow of Tolkien a bit further with each book. The ending was a bit unexpected, a "bit of a twister," as our hostess Sable mentioned above. Decent high-fantasy fare; I would read more of McKiernan's work. But for now, it's off to Patricia A McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. I've read the first eight pages of "The Riddle-Master of Hed" and am initially captivated by the opening scene of quarreling royal siblings.

Glad you enjoyed it, and looking forward to your thoughts about Riddlemaster. I have not read any Patricia A. McKillip, and she's of the Grand Mistresses too.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-02-18 9:22 PM (#15312 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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I've finished The Riddle-Master of Hed, book one in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. It is the second McKillip book I've read (the first being The Forgotten Beasts of Eld back before I joined WWE). This is a beautiful, magical book. It is very much the first book of a series as it ends on a great cliffhanger well-designed to launch a reader into book two. I'm particularly taken by McKillip's unique style of writing; I rhapsodize about it a bit in my review. Riddle-Master deals with standard high-fantasy themes, but does so in an oblique fashion that makes this novel stand above the usual fantasy story. Recommended.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-02-19 11:14 PM (#15329 - in reply to #15312)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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JohnBem - 2017-02-18 7:22 PM

I've finished The Riddle-Master of Hed, book one in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. It is the second McKillip book I've read (the first being The Forgotten Beasts of Eld back before I joined WWE). This is a beautiful, magical book. It is very much the first book of a series as it ends on a great cliffhanger well-designed to launch a reader into book two. I'm particularly taken by McKillip's unique style of writing; I rhapsodize about it a bit in my review. Riddle-Master deals with standard high-fantasy themes, but does so in an oblique fashion that makes this novel stand above the usual fantasy story. Recommended.

Sounds brilliant! We have a copy of this at my bookstore; maybe I'll snag it.

For my part, I've started The Slow Regard of Silent Things, a novella that ties in to the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. So we'll see how that goes. I loved the rest of the series and am beginning to run out of patience with the fact that the third book is not done yet.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-02-26 1:08 PM (#15371 - in reply to #15329)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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I've never read Rothfuss, but I think I would like to. The Kingkiller chronicles seem like they would be my cup of tea. I like the idea of an adventurer-musician. But, wow, that is a long time between books. If I fell in love with the series, that would make me crazy too, that long wait for the next installment.

As for me, earlier today I finished Heir of Sea and Fire, book two in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddle-Master" trilogy. As much as I loved the first book, I enjoyed book two even more. McKillip has fast become one of my favorite writers. I look forward to finishing the trilogy and more of her work beyond that.

JohnBem

Posted 2017-03-07 7:13 PM (#15426 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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With Harpist in the Wind, I've finished Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddle-Master" trilogy. McKillip writes in a strong, evocative, strange, and powerful way that I enjoyed quite a bit. Sometimes, she writes a bit too obliquely, and it was a bit difficult to pick up the thread of who was speaking, or the precise order of transpired events. But that is a quibble, and it is just that small thing that kept me from rating each book a full 5 stars (each one got 4.5). The world of Morgon of Hed and Raederle of An will stay with me for a long time, I'm sure. McKilllip's magic 'system' in particular is unique and rich. This has become one of my favorite fantasy worlds.

And now I'm into the final leg of the challenge. I'll be working my way through Tanith Lee's "Birthgrave" trilogy. I've already started book one, "The Birthgrave." It is the first of Lee's works I've ever read, and in its start it is a strange and curious work. But I'm getting into the rhythm and flow of it, and ultimately I think I'll like it.

Edited by JohnBem 2017-03-07 7:14 PM

JohnBem

Posted 2017-04-02 9:45 PM (#15534 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Finally, after almost a month of effort, I've finished The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee. My first ever work by Lee, and it was a doozy. I really liked it, but Lee's style of writing, the unique and rich and weird story, demanded a slower, more studious reading pace. As oblique and odd as McKillip's Riddlemaster trilogy sometimes was, the prose was light and skipped along quite easily. As dense as Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros was, it was written in a pseudo-archaic style which I find comfortable and with which I am familiar (thanks to books like Spenser's The Faerie Queene) and so that was a relatively quick read for all it's density. But something about The Birthgrave made me slow down and read more reflectively, philosophically even in some passages. Ultimately it is a very good book. The slower pace puts me closer to the High Fantasy challenge deadline than I wanted to be at this stage of things, but I've only got two books to go, and even though they're the final two books in Lee's Birthgrave trilogy, they're both significantly shorter works, so I should be fine.

devilinlaw

Posted 2017-04-03 12:35 PM (#15537 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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i've really jumped headfirst into this with the looming deadline fast approaching so here's a recap of the books i've read recently for this challenge:

i read A Wizard of Earthsea last year and decided to at least finish the classic Earthsea trilogy with this challenge & read The Tombs of Atuan & The Farthest Shore. Tombs turned out to be my favorite in the series and a new favorite fantasy novel in general.

Next, i devoured the first two novels in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire series, A Game of Thrones & A Clash of Kings. My plan is to plow through the entire series before the end of May. Having watched only the first season of the HBO series once years ago, most of the events were unfamiliar to me and really drew me in. I'm eager to work my way through the whole series & the Dunk & Egg novellas. The next book that i will read for this challenge is book three of this series, A Storm of Swords.

Then i trudged my way through Little, Big by John Crowley begrudgingly. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not my style. i had a hard time getting through to the end.

Sabriel by Garth Nix is the first book in his Old Kingdom series and i quite enjoyed it. i listened to the audiobook, read by Tim Curry, and i can't wait to visit this world again.

Edited by devilinlaw 2017-04-03 12:42 PM

Sable Aradia

Posted 2017-04-03 8:04 PM (#15550 - in reply to #13703)
Subject: Re: High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016

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Thanks for the reminder about the deadline! I'd better get with it! (There will be another next year, more than likely).

I intend to read a few of the Song of Ice and Fire too, so I'd better get on with it. I have been intrigued by the world of Hed for some time and may pick that up next year. And I love Tanith Lee!

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