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read any good books lately...
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Sheavy View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:

I usually can't stomach any fantasy besides Tolkien. I'm thinking about checking out GoT when I find a used copy at one of the stores I frequent. 
 
No Lord Dunsany, or Terry Pratchett?
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Rilke FTW!

But my favorite German has to be Novalis. He made some excellent prog in the 70's.


Edited by Kotro - June 14 2012 at 07:50
Bigger on the inside.
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Originally posted by Sheavy Sheavy wrote:

Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:

I usually can't stomach any fantasy besides Tolkien. I'm thinking about checking out GoT when I find a used copy at one of the stores I frequent. 
 
No Lord Dunsany, or Terry Pratchett?

I don't regard Terry Pratchett as fantasy. You might as well say "Gulliver's Travels" is fantasy. Pratchett only uses the fantasy cloak to show the problems of the human race; he ias a social satirist. In the same way Staislaw Lem was not an SF-author. He was a social satirist and used SF as a disguise.


BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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I think thats a bit nit-picky ^. The Discworld series doesn't stop being fantasy just because of the parody and satire within it. Those are basically must reads for fans of fantasy.
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Terry Pratchett is definitely Fantasy. To me, I have no doubt about it.

What next, Douglas Adams is not Science Fiction?


Edited by Snow Dog - June 14 2012 at 08:20
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^Yeah I agree. The intent of the landscapes that the author creates has little to do with the genre. You might call it conscientious fantasy or whatever, but it's fantasy. Plenty of Sci-fi authors were examining serious social issues and using the freedom of a futuristic society to create interesting conditions for social problems to present themselves. We may as well say that Ray Bradbury wasn't sci-fi or that Heinlein wasn't Sci-fi. That would be rather absurd I think.


I've never read Lord Dunsany, but Terry Pratchett never did it for me.
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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If you liked H.P. Lovecraft's more fantasy oriented stories, you would probably like some Lord Dunsany.
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Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:



I've never read Lord Dunsany, but Terry Pratchett never did it for me.

How about The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent The Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson?

Cracking stuff!
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There is the concept of high fantasy and low fantasy - the former creates worlds for fantasy to exist whereas the latter has fantasy events and characters occurring in the "real word" - I think similar parallels exist within Sci-Fi where Clarke, Lem, Niven, Bradbury and Hienlein create "low" Sci-Fi that exists in a future version of the "real world" - ie the worlds their characteres live in while being imagined, are more exptrapolation of the real world rather than being fully imagined.
 
There is no doubting that Pratchett, Swift and Caroll wrote fantasy regardless of the nature of what they wrote within that frame work.
What?
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I can't stomach most fantasy, Tolkien included. 

All those ye'rs of DMing and playing in sordid assorted DnD campaigns has really burned me out of it. I even hear words like 'goblin' 'hobbit (halfling),', or 'dragonslayer' and I start doubling over in revulsion.
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Originally posted by Sheavy Sheavy wrote:

If you liked H.P. Lovecraft's more fantasy oriented stories, you would probably like some Lord Dunsany.


That I do. Perhaps I'll check it out.
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Originally posted by Snow Dog Snow Dog wrote:

Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:



I've never read Lord Dunsany, but Terry Pratchett never did it for me.

How about The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent The Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson?

Cracking stuff!
I've got stuck on The Runes Of The Earth ... I just cannot get into it at all. I bought Fatal Revenant but that looks like it's going to remain unopened.  Shame because I loved the first 6¼ books (counting Gilden-Fire as a fractional book).
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Originally posted by Alitare Alitare wrote:

I can't stomach most fantasy, Tolkien included. 

All those ye'rs of DMing and playing in sordid assorted DnD campaigns has really burned me out of it. I even hear words like 'goblin' 'hobbit (halfling),', or 'dragonslayer' and I start doubling over in revulsion.

Most Fantasy I have read doesn't have any of this, like Covenent I already mentioned or Julien May's Exile saga....or is that SF? 
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Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:

Originally posted by Sheavy Sheavy wrote:

If you liked H.P. Lovecraft's more fantasy oriented stories, you would probably like some Lord Dunsany.


That I do. Perhaps I'll check it out.
 
From the man himself.
 
“Dunsany does not deal much in horror, but weaves a strangely potent fantastic beauty which has its roots in primitive myth & folklore. I know of no other writer who so magically opens up the enchanted sunset gates of secret & ethereal worlds. He influenced me overwhelmingly about a decade ago—my White Ship period—& if you liked that, you would like Dunsany himself still better. I’d be inclined to advise you to read his Gods of Pegana, A Dreamer’s Tale, The Sword of Welleran, The Book of Wonder, & Time & the Gods. It is sheer music, colour, ecstasy, & dream.”
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Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Snow Dog Snow Dog wrote:

Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:



I've never read Lord Dunsany, but Terry Pratchett never did it for me.

How about The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent The Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson?

Cracking stuff!
I've got stuck on The Runes Of The Earth ... I just cannot get into it at all. I bought Fatal Revenant but that looks like it's going to remain unopened.  Shame because I loved the first 6¼ books (counting Gilden-Fire as a fractional book).

I only know the first six and it sounds like I'll stick with that.
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Originally posted by Sheavy Sheavy wrote:

Originally posted by The Truth The Truth wrote:

Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:

Are any of you guys on Goodreads.com? 


Making an account now.

Reading the Mark Z. Danielewski short story All the Lights of Midnight tonight I think.
 
Ughhghghhghgh. Mark Danielewski. Soo goooooooodd. You read Only Revolutions?


I've read basically every MZD piece I can get my hands on. LOL Likely my favorite author ever. I highly recommend you read his short story Clip 4 which was in Black Clock Magazine issue 15. Shocked
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Never read these books.Embarrassed Now reading them back to back on my Kindle.




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Wish me luck everyone, sent in a poetry manuscript to see if it wins a publishing contest. Just received notice it arrived today. *fingers crossed*
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^Awesome stuff. Good luck to you.

So I started reading a chapter from this again because of recent discussions here. I got hooked and just decided to read the whole thing again. It's an amazing book. I can't say I see the criticism.
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Just finished Warday by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. Good book for anyone looking for a good post-nuclear america book.
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