I like Robin Hobb, Jacqueline Carey, and Mercedes Lackey.

[travelingtypist]

Could you guys suggest some more writers like this? (I know about Zimmer
Bradley, LeGuin, and McCaffery (sp?) already.)

Thanks!

[yellowdogintexas]

1. George R R Martin, Guy Gavriel Kaye . I love Robin Hobb too, found out about

her from George R R Martin's website

[travelingtypist]

2. I'm waiting with the rest of the fantasy world

impatiently for Book 5 of Songs of Fire & Ice.

I am in Book three of Soldier's Son. Can't say I'm too
awfully thrilled with it, even though I couldn't wait for
the paperback and bought the hardcover. I'm not exactly
entertained reading about this confused Speck Mage protagonist.
He's kind of a Thomas Covenant type of whiner that I find
irritating.

Where to start with Kaye?

Thanks for the idea and for the response. :)

[yellowdogintexas]

3. No particular starting spot. He has two series

The Fionavir Tapestry and The Sarantine Mosaic. I have read Fionavir, Tigana and Lions of Al Rassan so far. All were wonderful.

He set many of his novels in a world similar to our Mediterranean world so it feels familiar but yet not the same. Enjoy, he is a real treat.

I am with you, that protagonist in Soldier's Son is annoying. I felt her editor was on vacation when the second book was done. She just seemed to go on and on and not get anywhere, unlike the other nine of her books I have read.

And Martin just needs to get on with it.

[travelingtypist]

4. I think I tried Fionavir once and it didn't stick.

Will have to take another shot at it.

I was so hoping that Nevare would be like Fitz, the hero in Tawny Man. And the cover art of the Soldier's Son books does not show a really fat guy. I wonder why that is. :grr:

I just finished a wonderful series by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, pure epic high fantasy, the Obsidian Trilogy. That's really what I'm looking for, stuff like that.

I'm guessing you're probably with me in the Robert Jordan/Terry Goodkind hate, too? Lol.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. actually I don't hate Terry Goodkind at all. I started out really liking Jordan

then his books started to move at glacial pace but I read them anyway. I have a severe case of want to find out what happens.

re: Fionavir if you didn't get very far in the first volume, you really need to give them another shot.


Sometimes you have to fight your way into them. I attempted to read The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett three times before I finally finished it, then couldn't wait to read the rest of the series. Not fantasy, high Renaissance historical fiction, complex and intricately plotted with a cast of millions.

Did you read the Liveships Trilogy and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb? I loved the Liveships.

[travelingtypist]

6. I read the first trilogy and the third trilogy. I skipped

the middle three. I was at the same time finishing up the first three of Carey's Kushiel books. I was in absolute fantasy heaven at that point. Lol.

But yeah, I think Robin Hobb's editor was asleep for Soldier's Son, you're right. The scope of the books is so small compared to Liveship. We never even meet the king, or at least not in the first 1/3 of Renegade Mage. I'm having a really hard time caring about this mage who has to stay fat and eat to get his power from these strange people. I like Epiny and Spink, but the mage has left that world. Who else is there?

What the heck. If I can't find anything, I still have Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass to get into.

Terry Goodkind had me until the book about the insane chicken. I think it was either four or five. I was like yeah, you're just trying to compete with Jordan for word count. Go away. And I stopped with Jordan I think about Book 8 or something. I just lost track of who everybody was and why I was suppsed to care.

[Fox Mulder]

8. I agree with you on Martin.

He needs to get that damn book finished. I'm getting impatient. x(

:P

[LWolf]

7. Well,

I'm not sure about "like them," but if you haven't browsed this thread, it has lots of authors I got to "meet:"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=279x274

[travelingtypist]

9. Yeah, I've been through that thread pretty thoroughly.

I wanted other writers more specifically like the ones I listed.

[LWolf]

10. Of those, I only know Mercedes Lackey.

I can't think of any others quite like her. :D

Which of her books do you like, particularly? The Valdemar series, or the bardic stuff, or?

[travelingtypist]

11. I like all of it.

I'm pretty sure I've read most of Valdemar and most of the Bardic stuff. I bought
The Free Bards today.

I just finished a trilogy she wrote with James Mallory, The Obsidian Trilogy, that
was excellent. I'm looking for more stuff like that.

[LWolf]

12. I hear she's taking the Obsidian trilogy further.

Coming back in further in the future, when the demons are gathering again. Or something. I don't remember, but I'll bet you can google it. ;)

I can think of more fantasy that I really like, but I don't know that they are necessarily like Lackey. One you might look at is R.A. Macavoy, if I've spelled that correctly (?), who did a series of books I really liked. That may be one that is not on the other threads here. I'll run off to the shelf to look...

Here it is. R.A. MacAvoy. He's got some other stuff that I also liked, but the trilogy I was thinking of tells the story of Nazhuret, a fascinating character. It's "The Lens of the World Series," with book one beginning with that title. Book two is "The King of the Dead," and book 3 is "The Belly of the Wolf."

[travelingtypist]

13. Yep, it's the second Obsidian series is called Enduring Flame..

Two books out already, which, of course, I must buy. Nice.

I could use a fascinating character, thank you. This Soldier's
Son series protagonist is reminding me more and more of Thomas
Covenant, who I couldn't stand. I got through 1-1/2 of the 6
books and I still fricking have them.

Thank you!

[LWolf]

14. I just got done reading the first book in the "Enduring Flame" series.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I found it at the library.

The second isn't due out until next month; I looked, as soon as I finished "The Phoenix Unchained" last night. ;)

As you might have guessed, 1,000 years after the events in the Obsidian Trilogy, the dark is making a comeback. There's an interesting twist in the way that happens; I look forward to seeing how it plays out.

As for the rest? No spoilers here. :D

[yellowdogintexas]

17. my daughter really liked Tad Williams ..the Dragonbone Chair series and the

Otherland series both. She says they are vastly different concepts too

[shimmergal]

15. Suggest Sharon Shinn's

current series set in a world called Gillengaria. Not sure of all the titles, but they're best read in order; I think the first one is MYSTIC AND RIDER. Then THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE....a couple more?? The latest one, which I just finished reading, is FORTUNE AND FATE.

I too like Lackey, at least her Valdemar books. Can't keep up with all her other series! As for MZ Bradley, LeGuin, and McCaffery, yes! yes, yes. Haven't tried Carey or Hobb.

One other fantasy trilogy I like a lot is Anne Lesley Groell's Cloak and Dagger books. Published in the 1990s and they're rather hard to find now. They're definitely human-oriented fantasy--by which I mean they don't have a lot of beings drawn from traditional folklore etc. But they're lots of fun.

[semillama]

16. Try Tad Williams out.

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is a good start. I just picked up the softcover of his latest, Shadowmarch. I of course have to go back and read the first book, since I can't remember what happened in it.