I am a sc-fi and fantasy nut,I eat that stuff up.

Besides Tolkein,who rules the genre.....Terry Brooks' Shannara books,Goodkind's Sword of Truth series and Donaldson's Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever books are some favorites.

BaldFriede wrote: And what, pray, does "ASoIaF" stand for?

want to know the same thing............

BaldFriede wrote: I read "Lord of the Rings" and the "Elric" Saga by Michael Moorcock. Also most discworld books by Terry Pratchett. And "Die Unendliche Geschichte" ("The Neverending Story") and "Momo", both by Michael Ende. And the "Borribles"-trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti, which is highly recommended.

"Momo" is one of the best books I ever read. The story, the deeper significance behind the story: I love it!  As it comes to German "all ages" masterpieces, don't forget Otfried Preussler's Krabat story (I don't know the original title).

As it comes to fantasy in the more strict sense of the word: except for Tolkien, I like Lewis' Narnia books and I love Jack Vance: he's a good storyteller and has a great sense of hunour. The Eyes Of The Overworld is his best IMHO. I also like C.J.(Caroline)  Cherryh: The Dream Stone is fabulous, rather Tolkienesque, but very good nevertheless.

video vertigo wrote: Martin is my favorite.  ASoIaF is excellent

  sorry, I post on a fantasy message board too so I forget that not everyone knows ASoIaF. It is the series A Song of Ice and Fire, it is now 4 books long, and in my opinion the best written fantasy I've read.  I am currently re-reading the series and I am still shocked by the plot twists.
Anyway I would definitely recommend the books the first one is called "A Game of Thrones" it takes some time to get into, but then "It grabs hold and won't let go"

Gwaihir wrote: video vertigo wrote: Anyway I would definitely recommend the books the first one is called "A Game of Thrones" it takes some time to get into, but then "It grabs hold and won't let go" Oh Yesss I'll have to wait for the translation in French, but i heard the fourth is as good as the others Of course fantasy books: From Williams to Eddings... From Pratchett to Tolkien... BTW, i also read sci fi books

I didn't like the fourth only because its missing some of my favorite POV characters   but A Dance with Dragons will have those who were missing so yay

I do, though I am much more of a Sci Fi fan in general. 

In fact, I am currently taking a SciFi and Fantasy class at school, in which we just finished the 'fantasy' portion of the semester.  We read the novels "Sabriel" by Garth Nix and "The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman.  both were enjoyable, but I really preferred Sabriel because it was much darker and the concept of a young female anti-necromancer was pretty cool.  Other than that, though, I really dont read much fantasy aside from LOTR.  some people consider the Dune series fantasy, too.

GoldenSpiral : Garth Nix is very good, yes.

Lately I'm reading Elizabeth Haydon, her Rhapsody books are very good.

Does anyone know Alison Baird ?

chopper wrote: David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon are my favourite fantasy series. Michael Moorcock is also excellent.

I liked Edding's work in those two series but I haven't checked out any of his other stuff. What does Michael Moorcock write?

I have read all essential Tolkien's books and I love them... not a big fan though

I was told that Moorcock's books are great also.. that's all I know

Chicapah wrote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned the late Roger Zelazny's great series of "Nine Princes in Amber" or Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series.  Definitely fantasy goldmines.

I was just about to mention The Dark Tower series.Probably one of the best fantasy series of books to come along in ages.

Fresh and inventive,an excellent mish mash of fantasy,western,horror and sci fi.

Asofai is the best fantasy since Lotr, beats  all that Feist and Jordan drivle, fantasy by numbers.

Howard's Conan is great for swords and sorcery, and Frits Leiber and Moorcock. Dark Tower is exellent but too drawn out 

BaldFriede wrote: Moogtron III wrote: BaldFriede wrote: I read "Lord of the Rings" and the "Elric" Saga by Michael Moorcock. Also most discworld books by Terry Pratchett. And "Die Unendliche Geschichte" ("The Neverending Story") and "Momo", both by Michael Ende. And the "Borribles"-trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti, which is highly recommended.  "Momo" is one of the best books I ever read. The story, the deeper significance behind the story: I love it!  As it comes to German "all ages" masterpieces, don't forget Otfried Preussler's Krabat story (I don't know the original title). As it comes to fantasy in the more strict sense of the word: except for Tolkien, I like Lewis' Narnia books and I love Jack Vance: he's a good storyteller and has a great sense of hunour. The Eyes Of The Overworld is his best IMHO. I also like C.J.(Caroline)  Cherryh: The Dream Stone is fabulous, rather Tolkienesque, but very good nevertheless. "Krabat" scared me to death when I was 12. I'm not sure I would call it "Fantasy" though, though there are some elements in it. But if that counts as fantasy, then you have to read "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher" ("The City of Dreaming Books") by Walter Moers. I don't know if it has been translated yet, but the imagination of Moers seems to be endless. He has some very original ideas (though the idea for the "Booklings" borrows from Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"). Just looked it up, and it was translated indeed and published by Random House. Moers is his own illustrator, by the way; he started as a comic book writer. And definitely read "The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear" by the same author. It was highly praised even by literary reviewers who usually only review "serious" books. Just read that the English translation is not published yet. It well get out on Apr 25th. You can already order it from Amazon though.

I wouldn't call Momo fantasy either, at least not in the strict sense of the word. Die Unendliche Geschichte is more fantasy than Momo.

I was also 12 when I read Krabat: I'm surprised it didn't give me bad dreams: it was spine-chilling! It is one of those children books that stick with me, even when I'm an adult. Just like Momo.

The Moers book sounds interesting! If the German is not too difficult I might want to try to read it in German. I'm a bit of a purist. (Having said that: I would still like to read Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks in German once, but that's a bit too ambitious for me at the moment  .)

video vertigo wrote: chopper wrote: David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon are my favourite fantasy series. Michael Moorcock is also excellent. I liked Edding's work in those two series but I haven't checked out any of his other stuff. What does Michael Moorcock write?

The Elric saga by Moorcock is incredible.

I have been a Sci-fi Fantasy reader for years. For those of you who prefer a dark, gothic storyline, try Storm Constantine's Wraethu Trilogy - mind expanding concepts and a page turner from beginning to end. I highly recommend all her books. To find out more about this talented British writer go to her site: http://www.gothland.wox.org/bast/home.htm - http://www.gothland.wox.org/bast/home.htm .

Storm has also co-written work with Michael Moorcock and has written some non-fiction.

BaldFriede wrote: The "Dancers at the End of Time" series by Michael Moorcock is an interesting mix of science-fiction and fantasy.

Agreed - also one of the few laugh out loud fantasy/sci fi novels outside of Terry Pratchett.

It's nice to see A Song Of Ice And Fire getting a few mentions as well. I'm not a huge fantasy fan, but with those books George RR Martin has breathed new life into the genre - it's a brilliantly realised fantasy world, full of detail and with a cast of well realised characters, few of them anything like standard fantasy hero material. Strongly recommended to anyone who appreciates good writing.