Anyone else like Fantasy?

[snick]

So as I mentioned on the favorite author's thread, I'm one of the rare female types who likes a good fantasy series. Now- it's not fantasy like romance fantasy, though they usually have a love story or two in them, it's a bit like Lord of the Rings or Eragon.

So- anyone else like the genre? I am looking for suggestions on good reads and new authors. I'll admit I'm pretty picky and have read/own most of the series I've found that I like. I'm sure there must be some I haven't though.

I re-read series after a while too- like I am now with the Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixion. (good one btw)

I tend to like stories that match that type of storyline - young kid/ adult with issues finds place in world or has task to complete etc. In general I don't like stories that incorporate real life places or times, or anything with vampires.

Some of the authors I like and own the book of include:

David Eddings
Anne McCaffrey
Dennis L McKiernan
Raymond Fiest
Elizabeth Haydon
Terry Brooks
Robert Jordan
Mercedes Lackey and
Kate Forsyth

to name most of the bigger ones anyway

So- please post your thoughts and suggestions on the genre in response.

[Daydreamer]

I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately, but a lot of them have to do with vampires so you wouldnt be interested.

I recently read Graceling by Kristin Cashore which was pretty good.

I also really liked:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Wake (and the second book "Fade") by Lisa McMann
Deadly Little Lies (A Touch Novel) by Laurie Faria Stolarz
the Darkest Powers series (The Summoning and the Awakening) by Kelley Armstrong.
I was pissed at the first book of the Darkest Powers series though because it left on a cliff hanger and that is a big pet peeve of mine


I dont have any favorite authors since I just recently started reading more this year.

[suzieQ]

I'm currently re-reading the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. I think you would enjoy it.

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. American Gods is really good.

I'm a fan of Terry Brooks too

[CocoaGoddess]

I read and write fantasy exclusively these days.

Though my fantasy of choice is typically urban, or "new weird". Right now I'm rereading the HP series, I just finished up the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009 Newbery winner, one of the best books I've read in years) and the Harry Dresden books.

[snick]

Originally Posted by CocoaGoddess I read and write fantasy exclusively these days. Though my fantasy of choice is typically urban, or "new weird". Right now I'm rereading the HP series, I just finished up the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009 Newbery winner, one of the best books I've read in years) and the Harry Dresden books.

I'll have to look up the authors and books suggested, it's better the spending hours browsing in Barnes and Noble..though I don't mind that if I have a good coffee in hand!

Cocoa- you write? I've written some, but I'm really bad with some of my grammer and tend to write run on sentances. I need to find an editor! LOL

[Peppo]

Oh god yay. I have always loved fantasy novels. My current favorite author is Sara Douglass. Elizabeth haydon is rather good as well. If you are into urban fantasy I suggest Charles de Lint.

[Daydreamer]

Originally Posted by CocoaGoddess I read and write fantasy exclusively these days. Though my fantasy of choice is typically urban, or "new weird". Right now I'm rereading the HP series, I just finished up the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009 Newbery winner, one of the best books I've read in years) and the Harry Dresden books.

I have been looking at the Graveyard Book for a while now but never buy it. I have been wondering how it was. I'm going to have to get it now. How did you like the Dresden books? I was considering those too.

[CocoaGoddess]

Dresden started off s-l-o-w, but my fellow fantasy readers who suggested the series promised that it will get better, so I'm sticking with it. They are good reads, just not as fast paced as I'm used to.

Charles DeLint is another really good author.

I finished up a fantasy series (City of Glass) by Cassandra Clare earlier this year that started off promising, but kind of flickered out by the end. Her history as a might be Harry Potter/Buffy the Vampire fan fiction writer/plagiarist didn't endear her to me at all, and I wonder if it might have influenced my experience reading her books. I'm not sure. I might pick them up again and try to re-read them from an unbiased perspective.

Another recent series that I finished and absolutely LOVED was the Greenstone Grail trilogy by british author Amanda Hemingway. I enjoyed it so much, I actually reread all three novels a second time (and they were even better). I highly recommend her work. She also published another fantasy series (Prosperos Children) under another pen name, Jan Siegel.

Let's see, what else have I read lately? Oh, I read a really good book by an Italian author (or, she might have been from Spain) called War of the Witches. It has a sequel, but has not been translated to english and is unavailable in the states, which really burns me up. It was published a few years ago, so it's unclear if we will ever get it. Sucktitude.

And finally, Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert. I'm not sure if it could be classified as fantasy, but there are fantastical elements throughout the entire book. Liked this one a lot too.

I'm about to start on a young adult/children's fantasy series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is getting rave reviews. Has anyone heard of it? It better be good, since it's so wildly popular on Amazon (and came highly recommended by the employees at Borders) that I went ahead and bought all five books in the series.

[Daydreamer]

Originally Posted by CocoaGoddess Dresden started off s-l-o-w, but my fellow fantasy readers who suggested the series promised that it will get better, so I'm sticking with it. They are good reads, just not as fast paced as I'm used to. Charles DeLint is another really good author. I finished up a fantasy series (City of Glass) by Cassandra Clare earlier this year that started off promising, but kind of flickered out by the end. Her history as a might be Harry Potter/Buffy the Vampire fan fiction writer/plagiarist didn't endear her to me at all, and I wonder if it might have influenced my experience reading her books. I'm not sure. I might pick them up again and try to re-read them from an unbiased perspective. Another recent series that I finished and absolutely LOVED was the Greenstone Grail trilogy by british author Amanda Hemingway. I enjoyed it so much, I actually reread all three novels a second time (and they were even better). I highly recommend her work. She also published another fantasy series (Prosperos Children) under another pen name, Jan Siegel. Let's see, what else have I read lately? Oh, I read a really good book by an Italian author (or, she might have been from Spain) called War of the Witches. It has a sequel, but has not been translated to english and is unavailable in the states, which really burns me up. It was published a few years ago, so it's unclear if we will ever get it. Sucktitude. And finally, Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert. I'm not sure if it could be classified as fantasy, but there are fantastical elements throughout the entire book. Liked this one a lot too. I'm about to start on a young adult/children's fantasy series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is getting rave reviews. Has anyone heard of it? It better be good, since it's so wildly popular on Amazon (and came highly recommended by the employees at Borders) that I went ahead and bought all five books in the series.

I just bought this book recently. I haven't started reading it yet though.

[Daydreamer]

I just started reading the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. I am on book 3 right now. Book 1 and 2 were really good. I actually read all of book 2 last night, which is really rare for me. The books are fairly short though.

Also, i just realized there are 15 books in the series. (I only have 1-6).