Please sort fantasy authors in descending order of how well you like their stories. Here are some suggestions, in no particular order.
R. Scott Bakker (Prince of Nothing)
Raymond E. Feist (Midkemia)
Robin Hobb (Six Duchies & Bingtown)
Katharine Kerr (Deverry)
George R.R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire)
J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
Jack Vance (Lyonesse)
Feel free to "write in" favorite authors, but give the title of the series or book(s) that persuaded you that he/she is a truly Great Writer whose work deserves to be Remembered For All Time.
After that, please identify authors whose stories are pretty decent and worth reading, but not quite good enough to rank among the very best.
2007-06-13 05:56:14 · 10 answers · asked by elohimself 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
1. JRR Tolkien
2. George RR Martin
3. Guy Gavriel Kay (The Fionvar Tapestry, The Last Light of the Sun)
4. Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Stardust, etc)
5. Ursula LeGuin (Wizard of Earthsea)
6. Tad Williams (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn)
7. Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials)
8. Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time)
9. Robert Holdstock (Mythago Wood)
10. Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber)
I haven't read Bakker yet, though I have heard excellent things about his novels. There are certainly some other excellent novelists in the genre...J.K. Rowling's books are very entertaining reads, and Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" definately deserves mention. Charles De Lint is also one of the best fantasy writers out there (dealing mostly with Urban Fantasy, if you enjoy that sort of thing).
There is an excellent list of suggested fantasy reading at http://www.tolkien-online.com/fantasy-reading-suggestions.html
2007-06-13 06:32:25 · answer #1 · answered by amsmith 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://tkeldm.blogspot.com
1 C.S.Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)
2 J.R.R.Tolkien (The Ring Trilogy)
3 Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time series)
4 Steven R. Lawhead (The Paradise War trilogy and the series on King Arthur)
5 Steven R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever)
6 Robert Silverberg (Lord Valentine's Castle and it's sequels)
7 J.K. Rowling (obviously Harry Potter)
8 George R.R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire)
9 Anne Rice (several series)
10 Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)
11 Ted Dekker Black & Red & White
2007-06-13 07:09:36 · answer #2 · answered by lastdazeman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
J.R.R. Tolkien [Lord of the Rings]
Must I explain? Classic.
C.S.Lewis [Chronicles of Narnia]
See above. (Both authors were friends after all.)
J.K Rowling [Harry Potter]
Again, must I explain? Its already a modern classic.
Phillip Pullman [His Dark Materials]
Every teenager (at least) should read this guy's stuff!
Alison Croggon [Pellinor Series]
People either love or hate this series, but its so beautifully written, unlike the cheesy crap you get now days.
George R.R. Martin [Song of Ice and Fire]
Love, love, LOVE this series! It's definitely worth reading, although again its depends on the reader's taste. But I love the fact he's not afraid to kill main characters off, something that most authors are afraid to do.
Robert Jordan [Wheel of Time Series]
Interesting series, but sometimes it really loses focus. The first book 'The Eye of the World' was a great beginner & almost up there with Tolkien though.
Garth Nix [Abhorsen Trilogy]
Absolutely worth reading! But not up there amongst the best.
Douglas Adams [A Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy]
Very funny indeed but not classic in fantasy I think, more of a classic in comedy.
And so on. [Too tired to type the rest]
{Of course authors like Christopher Paoulini's Inheritence series are worth reading, but are not the best.]
I really want to read Orson Scott Card now.
2007-06-13 07:17:00 · answer #3 · answered by monkey with a crayon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
2. Marion Zimmer Bradley (Avalon)
3. Orson Scott Card (Alvin Maker)
4. Gene Wolfe (Long Sun)
5. Roger Zelasny (Amber)
6. Piers Anthony (Xanth)
7. Ursula Le Guin (Wizard of Earthsea)
8. Andre Norton
2007-06-13 06:06:14 · answer #4 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1. Tolkein-the template if you will
2. L. Sprague DeCamp-Compleat Enchanter
3. Roger Zelazny-Princes of Amber
4. Madam L'Engle-Wrinkle In Time series
5. Lord Dunsaney-everything he wrote works
6. Christopher Staffesh-The Wizard In Spite of Himself
7. Terry Brooks-Magic Kingdom For Sale
8. Larry Niven-The Magic Goes Away
9. Piers Anthony-1st 3 Xanth books(shame he didn't quit there)
10.C.S. Lewis-Narnia
11. Andre Norton-Witchworld series
2007-06-13 06:29:03 · answer #5 · answered by Vandat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth Series
~ GREAT books... page turner. Picked up the first book in 8th grade MANY years ago, finished it in 5 hours. (I was a speed-reader). The books continue today and are excellent.
Maggie Furey - Aurian series.
~ Strong, independent female lead. Magic, Betrayal, Romance, and politics make this series amazing. I'd wish she hadnt stopped at 4 books.
James Clemens - Wit'ched Series
~One of the better and surprising series I've read. Initally I didnt want to pick them up but after 3 weeks of pestering by my father I finally did. Was NOT a let down. Actually stood outside a B&N waiting for it to open to get the final book in the series when it came out.
David Eddings - THE BELGARIAD & THE MALLOREAN
~ This is my favorite series and my first ever read. The Belgariad is the first and the Mallorean its sequel. JUST READ IT. It was well written and pulls you in from the first chapter to its characters.
2007-06-13 06:12:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I haven't read all your authors, but I would also have to include Ursula K. LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, C.S. Lewis, and J.K Rowling. Tolkien was brilliant, but I found him to be very tedious.... Isaac Asimov and Roald Dahl, if you could put them in this category. Oh and Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan are fun reads.
2007-06-13 06:51:13 · answer #7 · answered by lei 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
*facepalm* you do no longer pay an agent. no longer out of pocket, besides. They get a proportion of the money in the event that they have the flexibility to land you a writer. this is totally almost impossible to post devoid of an agent. And maximum publishers who take unsolicited manuscripts at the instant are not publishers you in all probability prefer to be coping with. heavily, you particularly could desire to do your examine before you even think of approximately getting printed or you will get screwed over, huge time.
2016-10-07 10:42:05 · answer #8 · answered by heusel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tolkein is my all time favourite. I also like Christopher Paolini and Jonathan Stroud
2007-06-13 06:15:58 · answer #9 · answered by prettyprincess_isabella 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
woah woah woah.....haven't we forgotten the author of the bestselling fantasy books of all time??? J.K. Rowling!!!! Definitely my number one choice. Oh, and if you don't know, she wrote the Harry Potter series....lol...
2007-06-13 06:10:53 · answer #10 · answered by stephhp116 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋