Public Service Announcement for any fellow avid readers who want to search for a new author to enjoy. Check out: Fantastic Fiction.
I just went through about a 3 year period of fantasy fiction mania---Eddings, Feist, Goodkind, Lawhead, et al. Right now I’m going through Bernard Cornwell, who wrote a trilogy on King Arthur. (I haven’t read any of his Sharpe series as of yet). I’ve read some other authors of King Arthur/Merlin type stuff; if anyone has suggestions in this area, let me know, I love that era.
What I usually do is find a book that I enjoy, and if I like the writer’s style and imagination, I will find everything he has done and read it all; then, move on and search for another author. You’ll notice I said “he.” I realize I am missing out on the untapped keg of female fantasy writers, but I’ll tell you why. I have read a couple of female authors, and the stories have been ok, but I had one major beef with their writing---the main characters were portrayed as reluctant and self-abasing whiners who only used their abilities because they had to, and they always felt guilty about it. I went through one author who had a series of like 5 books; and from beginning to end, the hero whined and cried about having this superpower that he didn’t want. I plodded through and kept thinking, she has to make this guy eventually accept it and start opening up the can of whoop-ass on the bad guys, but he never did.
Anyway, I may have to give it another shot and try reading some more female authors. One thing I do want though is a hero who by golly acts like a hero, from beginning to end. Let me segue into the world of cinema. That is one reason I never liked Tom Cruise movies. He’s basically made a career out of playing un-likeable stupid twits who have an epiphany of some sort and then become a hero. That is one reason I did not really like the Lord of Rings movies that Peter Jackson made. I could take them on a certain level; but the portrayal of Aragorn and Frodo as a couple of waffling, self-reluctant hero wannabees is not how I viewed the characters in the book. They had moments of self-doubt and uncertainty for sure; but they never failed in that their inner heroic character always shone forth.
I’m done. Again, check out this Fantastic Fiction web site, I think you’ll like it.
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2 comments:
It's been years since I've read any fantasy books. Back in the day it was mainly Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Piers Anthony, although I did finally get around to reading the Lord of the Rings the summer following college.
If you had a to recommend a particular author who would it be? Perhaps I should dip my toe back into the genre.
I think the 4 that I listed would be a good start. I've read a score of them, and these popped in to my head first. Eddings and Feist are two of my favorites. The only problem with this genre---none of them can write a stand alone novel. They'll write anywhere from 3-10 books in a series, so you have to be aware which one you're grabbing.
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