# Time for another fantasy recommendation thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677 "2004-04-01T06:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/1 "2004-04-01T06:01:27Z")
I just got back from a talk by S.T. Joshi and John Pelan, so I’m in the mood for some more fantasy recommendations. Here are my suggested guidelines: [ul] [li]Recommend three books–either novels or novel-length collections of short stories.[/li][li]To make things easier to track down, your recommendations should be for actual volumes that someone could find (i.e., don’t just say “the works of \”).[/li][li]Provide a brief explanation of why you think people should read the book.[/li][li]You get bonus karma points for recommending things that are obscure or have particular literary merit.[/li][li]Try not to recommend things that other people have already recommended in the thread.[/li][/ul] I’ll start: _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_ by Lord Dunsany. In my opinion, this is the single best fantasy novel ever written. The basic premise is the heroic human prince marries the beautiful elven princess–and then explores what happens if they _don’t_ live happily ever after. The writing is simply gorgeous; it’s like a novel-length prose poem. _Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice_ by James Branch Cabell. This book shows what can come out of an author who has a rich education in the classics, a belles lettres style, and a droll sense of humor. Cabell is definitely oriented toward fantasy snobs (and I mean that in a good way). _The Night Land_ by William Hope Hodgson. Go for the version that was published in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, edited by Lin Carter (it was printed in two volumes, since it’s a long book, and Carter edited out some of the more awkward prose). This is hard to describe–it’s essentially a variant of the “quest for the girl trapped in a distant castle” story, and is a loooong piece of horribly awkward writing–but if you can get into it, it’s a masterpiece. It’s set on the earth millions of years in the future, when the sun is dying and weird creatures stalk the earth. Reading this book is like going through a fever dream. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/2 "2004-04-01T06:15:43Z")
_Perdido Street Station_, by China Mieville. Story set in the city of New Crozubon, which is vaguely based on turn-of-the-century London and Paris. Despite taking place entirely within one city, it has a huge scope and it’s clear that the author put a lot of thought into the world’s background. Many non-human races: Khepri (human bodies and insect heads), Vodanoi (mix of humans and frogs), Garuda (winged bipeds from the desert who live in a ghetto), and also sentient steam-powered machines. All characters have individual personalities, rather than having all members of each race linked together. Also interesting approaches to art, science, religion, government, and the press. _Children of the Shaman_, by Jessica Rydill. Another novel involving industrial-level technology. Story about a family who travels into a frozen wasteland as part of a railroad construction project. Besides the usual story about an evil overlord and the young heroine developing her magic powers, there’s some outstanding descriptions of landscape and supernatural features. _Feet of Clay_, by Terry Pratchett. I trust no explanation is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/3 "2004-04-01T16:35:24Z")
If someone’s suggesting Pratchett, let me suggest _Night Watch_, which is the best Pratchett book ever. _Stardust_ by Neil Gaiman. It reads like a fairy tale. And Tori Amos is a tree. And it’s a very good, though kinda weird, book. _Imajica_ by Clive Barker. I’m reading it now. One of the guys in my class said it’s the best messiah story he’s ever read. I think it’s worth reading just for the way it’s written. I haven’t decided if I _like_ it yet (and I’m 200 pages from the end), but the story is great and the writing is very, very good. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/4 "2004-04-01T17:55:22Z")
**Only Begotten Daughter** by James Morrow. Great fantasy about religion – very funny, too. **American Gods** by Neil Gaiman. Anything Gaiman writer is worth snatching up. **Replay** by Ken Grimwood. Asks the question: “What would you do if you could live your life over? And over? And over?” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/5 "2004-04-01T18:01:28Z")
Dangit, I was gonna suggest **Perdido Street Station**! Well, I’ll second it, and then suggest three of my own. _Swordspoint_\*, by Ellen Kushner. A low-magic, high-politic world inhabited by about a million Oscar Wildes. Tremendously fun and lush. _The Innkeeper’s Song_, by Peter S. Beagle. My favorite work by a master of the form, with terrific characterization, plenty of swashbuckling fights, and a great plot. _The Other Wind_, by Ursula LeGuin. If you’ve read the first three Earthsea books, you can skip _Tehanu_ – but this latest volume in the series (I think it’s the latest) is quiet and lyrical and absolutely beautiful. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/6 "2004-04-01T22:35:22Z")
I’ll go with fun and absorbing rather than deep and dark for my three. Also by Ellen Kusnher and Delia Sherman, _The Fall of Kings_. A very richly described world, lots of sex, fascinating characters, and an absorbing depiction of the beginning of the modern study of history. There’s an academic duel between professors! (Okay, maybe I’m a _leetle_ bit of a nerd for being so interested in that part.) The plot’s not half-bad, either. _A College of Magics_ by Caroline Stevermer is one of my favorite books ever. It’s set in a pre-WWI Europe very slightly different from our own. It’s a great adventure story, complete with magic, politics, hair-raising escapes, and other assorted hi-jinks. _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis. This novel about time travel back to Victorian England is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. Great characters, a fun plot, and wonderful writing. Her other time travel novel, _The Doomsday Book_ is also good, but considerably grimmer. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/7 "2004-04-02T00:55:36Z")
_The Briar King_, by Greg Keyes. Just amazing book about a kingdom and a woodsman and a legend about the coming of an apocalypse. The best book I’ve read in the last six months. _In the Garden of Iden_, by Kage Baker. Mendoza is a cyborg, rescued from the Spanish Inquisition by The Company, a corporation from the future that is trying to harvest extinct animals and vegetation from the past. Her first assignment is in England during the reign of Bloody Mary. _Sisters of the Raven_, by Barbara Hambly. A foppish king needs to save his city from drought and corruption while the politics of his world get turned upside down when the subjugated women of his culture begin to show signs of magical powers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/8 "2004-04-02T03:09:47Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > …Lord Dunsany. … The writing is simply gorgeous; it’s like a novel-length prose poem. Sorry if I’m breaking The Rules by commenting on this, but I just had to say, I was scared off Dunsany precisely because he had this kind of reputation. I was afraid his “gorgeous” but archaic writing would be hard to slog through, and thought “prose-poem” = boring, plotless piece of writing-for-the-sake-of-writing in which nothing happens. Then I came across a couple of his stories in a couple of anthologies, and I loved them! Yes, his writing is poetic and archaic, but in a good way; and it’s imaginative, evocative, and (what surprised me) often humorous. I am tempted to quote several lines, but I will limit myself to one: > [@](#): > > And the spell was a compulsive, terrible thing, having a power over evil dreams and over spirits of ill; for it was a verse of forty lines in many languages, both living and dead, and had in it the word wherewith the people of the plains are wont to curse their camels, and the shout wherewith the whalers of the north lure the whales shoreward to be killed, and a word that causes elephants to trumpet; and every one of the forty lines closed with a rhyme for “wasp.” > > -From “The Fortress Unquenchable, Save for Sacnoth” ---
**Author:** ![Aitara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aitara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aitara)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/9 "2004-04-02T04:06:22Z")
It was hard to just narrow it down to three, alas, but here are mine (in no particular order): [ul] [li] **The Eyre Affair** by Jasper Fford. Highly enjoyable story about a Special Operations agent, a SO-27 to be exact. An original manuscript is stolen, one of the characters suddenly disappears, much to the puzzlement of readers. I found it to be quite fun. [/li][li] **Neverwhere** by Neil Gaiman, a darker story it deals with the concept of a shadow world. One that lies just beyond our comprehension and what happens when the protagonist, Richard Mayhew finds that he is no longer a part of London Above, as the everyday world is know. Instead, he exist in London Below.[/li][li] **Daggerspell** by Katherine Kerr. This begins her series set in Deverry. I love them because they have so many layers. They can be a bit confusing until you get the characters and timelines straightened out. They raise an interesting concept, not quite reincarnation but almost a question of balance. The mistakes we make in out lives must be reconciled in the next.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/10 "2004-04-02T13:37:17Z")
**The Book of the New Sun** by Gene Wolfe. Originally published as four separate volumes \*The Shadow of the Torturer, \* , \*The Claw of the Conciliator, \* ,_The Sword of the Lictor_ , and _The Citadel of the Autarch._ He later wrote a fifth volume called _The Urth of the New Sun._ It’s such a complicated story that it is difficult to summarize with any degree of brevity. Suffice it to say that it is the story of an apprentice torturer who discovers that he is a messiah. Wolfe’s characters are complex and not always honest with each other or with the reader. This is a series that you can read repeatedly and each time find some new subtlety to the story. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/11 "2004-04-02T15:45:51Z")
**Scumpup** has mentioned one of my truly favorite authors: Gene Wolfe. I could go on and on about his recommendation – especially how the setting is nominally science fictional, but the story is pure fantasy, and how he reverses many standard tropes. (For instance, a retelling of Dr. Frankenstein, with the twist that the creation is the Doctor, and Frankenstein “works” on himself.) But three additional ones: [ul] [li] **_The Knight_ by Gene Wolfe:** His newest one. In this book he has a child becoming a man as the protagonist, with all the immaturity he has to deal with; seven layers of worlds to set the fantasy in; elves (well, Aelf), dragons, giants, and gods, but all strangely twisted in a Wolfean fashion; a main character who is easily distracted, continually starting new quests without ever quite finishing his previous one; and a masterful use of language (both real and imagined) that never quite lets you put the book down.[/li][li] **_Lord of Light_ by Roger Zelazny:** An old classic. In the far future, men have used their mental powers to become new carnations of old gods from the Hindu pantheon. To fight them, Sam takes a different page from history, and introduces Buddhism. A very poetic high adventure story.[/li][li] **_The Lords of the Dus_ by Lawrence Watt-Evans:** A series of four books, consisting of _The Lure of the Basilisk_, _The Seven Altars of Dusarra_, _The Sword of Bheleu_, and _The Book of Silence_. An unusual fantasy about an overman who wants to be remembered by history – and gets more than he bargained for. Notable for lacking many of the standard fantasy tropes, and for having a very practical hero.[/li][/ul] Hmmm… That last set may be out of print, so I’ll offer another suggestion (I’m not good at threes, anyway) from Wolfe: **_Soldier of the Mist_, by Gene Wolfe:** In ancient Greece, a head injury leaves a soldier with anterograde amnesia – unable to commit anything to memory. He also sees the supernatural – greek gods and mythological creatures – that others cannot. The story is told in the form of notes to himself that he writes each day as his only trace of his past. Wolfe has put a lot of effort into researching the period, and it comes across as very realistic. Definitely not a swords and sorcery story, though. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/12 "2004-04-02T19:40:55Z")
_Dark of the Gods_ by P.C. Hodgell contains the novels _Godstalk_ and _Dark of the Moon_ which follow Jame, a young woman with missing memories and a penchant for triggering disasters, as she tries to make her way back to her people. They feature millenia of tragic history, crises of honor, dancing, underhanded politics, theocide, the practical application of faith to reality, and the tribulations of a monotheist in a city infested with gods–all wrapped up in a solid story full of dark humor. (OK, so I cheated a bit–this is two books. Read 'em anyway. They’re good.) _Seeker’s Mask_, also by Hodgell, picks up Jame’s story after she rejoins her people. It deals with the restrictions on women among the Kencyrath, the treatment of the god-touched among a race that isn’t on speaking terms with its deity, ancient native powers, insanity, maledights, poetic werewolves, arboreal drift, and Jame’s drastic effect on architecture. Best of all, it’s characterized by the same wry humor and fascinating story that I loved about the first two books. _Bridge of Birds_ by Barry Hughart is a fast-paced, hilarious story about the adventures of Master Li, the smartest con-man–er–“scholar” in ancient China, and his musclebound client, Number Ten Ox. Their efforts to save the children of Ox’s village from a terrible malady drive them through a sort of psychotic fairy-tale version of China as the venerable sage pieces together the clues that will enable them to find a remedy. (This is the first of three books, but it stands alone. _The Story of the Stone_ and _Eight Skilled Gentlemen_ are separate stories, and aren’t quite as good, although they are enjoyable.) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/13 "2004-04-02T19:48:44Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > _Bridge of Birds_ by Barry Hughart is a fast-paced, hilarious story about the adventures of Master Li, the smartest con-man–er–“scholar” in ancient China, and his musclebound client, Number Ten Ox. Their efforts to save the children of Ox’s village from a terrible malady drive them through a sort of psychotic fairy-tale version of China Hmm…do you know by any chance whether this is a riff on the old “Kai Lung” books by Ernest Bramah? (which I heartily recommend, BTW) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/14 "2004-04-02T21:15:11Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Hmm…do you know by any chance whether this is a riff on the old “Kai Lung” books by Ernest Bramah? (which I heartily recommend, BTW) There are some similarities; Hughart may have been influenced by Bramah’s work, although I’m not certain. They may just draw from similar sources. Hughart doesn’t use elaborate circumlocutions nearly as much in the narrative, although they occasionally show up in dialogue. Still, if you like Kai Lung, I’m pretty sure you’ll like _Bridge of Birds_. For something closer to the elaborate wordplay Bramah engaged in, you might look at Steven Brust’s “Paarfi of Roundwood” works–_Phoenix Guards_, _Five Hundred Years After_, and _The Viscount of Adrilankha_. _Viscount_ is being broken into three books, only the first two of which have been published so far: _The Lord of Castle Black_ and _The Paths of the Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/15 "2004-04-02T21:25:16Z")
I’ll second Hughart’s books - two of them, anyway. I still haven’t found a copy of _Eight Skilled Gentlemen_. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/16 "2004-04-02T21:38:38Z")
Barnes & Noble has [_Eight Skilled Gentlemen_](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=eight+skilled+gentlemen), **NE Texan**. I got it in an omnibus of the three books (purchased when my copy of _Bridge_ began to wear out), but that doesn’t seem to be available any more. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/17 "2004-04-02T21:45:03Z")
Hmmm… the weird thing is that I’ve ordered it from Barnes and Noble before, when they said that they had it. I waited two months, checked up on it, and they said they didn’t have it, couldn’t get it, and would not be getting it. I have no idea what the problem was. That was having a B&N store order it; perhaps I’d have better luck ordering it online and having it shipped directly. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/18 "2004-04-23T20:47:49Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > you might look at Steven Brust’s… Well, damn you. Thanks to you and others on this board, I have officially had one to many recommendations of Steven Brust to ignore – and having found a copy of _The Phoenix Guards_ at a used bookstore, I read it after finishing the Gene Wolfe book that I mentioned above. Then had to read the sequel. And as many other of his as I could get my hands on… In the last two weeks, I’ve read fully **9** books by Steven Brust. I’m addicted – I’m itching to get my grubby eyes on more. Damn. In a good way, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/19 "2004-04-23T22:06:12Z")
> [@NE Texan](#): > > Well, damn you. Glad to be of service. 😃 You’ll get no sympathy from me. I’ve read all of his books (although I can’t really recommend _Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grille_ and _To Reign in Hell_) and have the entire set of Dragaera books stacked up to reread in sequence as soon as the last book of _Viscount_ comes out. The Vlad books lag a bit in the middle, but they definitely pick back up again. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677/20 "2004-04-23T22:59:16Z")
The Fifth Sorceress, Robert Newcomb A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin Wolves of the Calla (sort of fantasy), Stephen King The Tawny Man, Robin Hobb 1632 (again, sort of fantasy…or alternate history I suppose), Eric Flint -XT [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-fantasy-recommendation-thread/237677.md?page=2)