# The post-LOTR Fantasy boom



## Mike (Feb 17, 2005)

After Tolkien's epic novel came out, it created a thirst in the nation for fanstasy stories and novels that has resulted in the fanstasy craze. Thousands of Fantasy novels have been published, filling up our shelves.

And they usually turn out to be disapointments. There seems to be an incredible urge to copy Tolkien, but without subtlety and grace. Instead we get...****.

So, I'm asking: What's the best and worst fantasy novels, in your opinion, that have come out of the Post-LOTR fantasy boom?

For me, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles are among the best. Drawn from Welsh legends, Lloyd is able to paint a credible and original world that apeals to people of all ages.

The worst would have to be anything by Terry Brooks. The "Shanarra" Carbon-copies of the master work are shallow and thinly guised plagerism that should never have been published because of copyright violations.

There you go. What do you think?


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## Manwe (Feb 17, 2005)

I don't know if this counts as the "boom" created by Tolkien but Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" is one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read and I pride myself on being a lover of fantasy. As for the worst fantasy novels, I tend to avoid them and if I ever read them I only read a few pages and try to erase them completley from my memory, so I can't help there.


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## Morgul Agent (Feb 17, 2005)

it seems to me, Mike, as if you don't realize how big the Fantasy genre is... To say that most fantasy books are disappointments is a HUGE generalization. I know many people who read ONLY fantasy, and the genre contains many examples of BOTH good and bad writing.

I agree that Brooks is the worst so far, in terms of copying Tolkien. I've heard that Dennis McKiernan copies him quite a bit as well.

Otherwise, Terry Goodkind is the worst author I've come across (his series started out ok, but got worse and worse, and rips off stuff from Jordan and many others).

The *best* fantasy out there in my opinion is:
*The Farseer Trilogy* (and follow up trilogies) by Robin Hobb
*a Song of Ice and Fire* series by George R R Martin
*The Malazan Book of the Fallen* series by Steven Erikson
(note: of the above, only Hobb's works are completed).

If you want to check out a forum that deals almost exclusively with fantasy, check out http://www.sffworld.com, the other forum I post on.


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## Hammersmith (Feb 17, 2005)

I'm fairly sure that the Dragonlance books came out after Tolkien. I found them fairly enjoyable, but please! Kender? The short cheerful hairy-footed munchkins who enjoy a laugh and a meal? Okay, so they steal, but how blatantly plagueristic can you get?

PS - I hate Kender with a passion


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## Starflower (Feb 18, 2005)

Apart from the Dragonlance books (which may not be the best example of fantasy), Weis & Hickman have come out with a good series *the Death Gate Cycle* 

Ursula le Guin's *Earthsea * series is excellent too

And *Forgotten Realms* series, many authors have contributed to it, notably *R A Salvatore* who writes decent fantasy on his own too

*The Belgariad* and it's follow-up *The Malloreon* by David Eddings are nice, especially for younger readers

Of course, Terry Pratchett and Piers Anthony should be noted, they belong to a lesser appreciated sub-genre of Comic Fantasy.


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## The Bull Roarer (Feb 18, 2005)

I enjoyed the Shanarra series, simply as you put it, it was so much like Tolkien, but i agree in the whole plagarism thing, i admit i felt a bit dirty after reading them, almost like I defiled JRR's works


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## Manwe (Feb 23, 2005)

Speaking of comic fantasy and copying Tolkien's works, has anyone read the Soddit or Bored of the Rings?


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## greypilgrim (Feb 23, 2005)

Never heard of those, but here's my take on it....ok, you know Dungeons and Dragons? Well that's one truly remarkable "thing" to come out after the LoTR fantasy boom. I mean, everything there is the same but different, ya know? Dragons, elfs, wizards, halflings, orcs, wargs, all that stuff.


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## Ithrynluin (Feb 23, 2005)

I found the _His Dark Materials_ trilogy by Philip Pullman to be most excellent, though it`s not exactly the sort of `heroic epic` that Tolkien`s writings (and many others`) are. I`d like to tackle Pratchett next, as I`ve heard his books are highly enjoyable, and I`ve played the _Discworld_ adventure games and liked those a lot.


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## Mike (Feb 23, 2005)

I highly recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but you'd better like British humour!

I also would like to say another good fantasy series is the Polish _Wiedzmin_ ("The Hexer") series. These are very good books, but I don't think they've been translated into English yet. They're about a professional monster-killer named Geralt, and a movie and a TV series have been made there based on the books. 

Hardcore Fans of Wiedzmin are, I have to say, obsessed with it to a greater degree than Tolkien fans. 

(And, if you're wondering, I'm a Polish immigrant who now lives in Canada)


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## Hammersmith (Feb 23, 2005)

Mike said:


> I highly recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but you'd better like British humour!


Recommended for _anybody_. If you don't find Pratchett funny, you're probably clinically dead.


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## no1liz (Feb 25, 2005)

Oh, where to start. Andre Norton's Witch World books. She was actually the first fantasy novelist I ever read. "Year of the Unicorn" is still one of my favourites. Leigh Brackett wrote a very good fantasy/sci-fi mix set in Mars. I liked them. I quite liked Anne McCaffrey's Dragonworld series when she first started, gone off them big time since. The "His Dark Materiels" trilogy is really good. I really, really like David Gemmell. He writes a terriffic battle scene and I like how he handles his charecters. That's about it. Liz in Aberdeen


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