SonOfDolf --do you mind if I rename this thread "Other Fantasy Writers" (or something like that)?

That aside, I really (really) don't read that much Fantasy; depending in how you use the term. I read much fantastic fiction --in particular Supernatural fiction (or Weird literature). I did read Eddings, Gemmell, Pratchett etc when I was younger --they were all okay. To be honest, re-reading Tolkien recently, I can really see why some parts of the literary world don't rate Fantasy. I mean, they might think Tolkien is good, but probably think if this is literally the best Fantasy can offer --the genre isn't up to much. Sadly, the fault in this argument is that everything that is highly acclaimed/rated (where Fantasy isn't) doesn't faintly appeal to me; & I suspect I wouldn't really enjoy reading it. SF still offers much that captivates me too.

BH

Not at all



I recently read Eon from Greg Bear which I liked very much. Also still have to read Solaris from Stanisław Lem because the 1972 Tarkovskiy movie adaptation is one of my all time favorites.

I beat Khamul to it, and changed the title

I'll put in a plug for another site that I am member of, as that is a much better site for this type of question, we stick here to what the site is renowned for, collecting Tolkien

This question comes up a lot on the plaza and there are lots of posts about what other fantasy writers people like, and here is an example.

http://www.lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=242076

My answer to the question though is that I only really like one fantasy author's books, and I will let you guess who that is? (that last comment makes me think of the really hard questions on TV phone-ins, like my favourite, What colour is an orange?)

Like Red, I too had a time when I was looking for fiction which would be similar to Tolkien's works, and tried reading a lot of the popular, best-selling fantasy/sf authors. None of these really were much to my liking, though.

What I've enjoyed, however, are those authors which have had a fresh perspective in speculative fiction, and which are good writers: I've much liked Jack Vance's Lyonesse series and the Dying Sun series. I'm currently reading Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun series, which so far (just started with the second volume) I find to be really good. I've also been intrigued by some works of Robert Holdstock. An usual (in this context) recommendation would also be Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, falling under the label of "alternative history".

Still my title...



Trotter! --this section is for any discussion. We're almost all having a chat here!
Much better site indeed...

BH