SkynJay Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Ok, so at the library i grab the book mark to see what they are using for a recommendation. Turns out they just copied this guys listhttp://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.phpSo I must put it out there, what do you think? It is actually better than the last one i grabbed, about a year ago, that had Sword of Truth right after Lord of the Rings. But obviously far from perfect. Oh well, thought it would be worth sharing, since at one time I used stuff like this for all my recommendations (before i found forums like this). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Not perfect but far from the worst I've seen. Seems a bit Male Author oriented though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Hat Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I'd actually say that's a pretty fabulous list. I mean, it's not identical to what I would've done, and I don't love all the authors on there, but it's far, far better than just about any other list I can think of, even if any representative of the New Weird (PSS/The Scar/CoSaM) is sorely missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I too think it's a pretty good list, but Grack21 makes a very good point about it being a bit too male dominated. And it's sorely lacking some Daniel Abraham.Which library, if you don't mind my asking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liadin Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Not as bad as a lot of lists I've seen, although there are definitely some very average books on there IMO. In addition to the gender thing, it's also dominated by very recent books. Which is fine, except that the introductory paragraphs make a huge deal about how this person has spent years devouring 1000s of fantasy books and these are the absolute best. Really? And it seems quite skewed toward well-known and popular books; I'd think someone who'd really read that widely would have more obscure favorites alongside the Martin and the Rothfuss and the Jordan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renasko Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sanderson, Abercrombie, Brett, Durham, Weeks...hahahhaahahahaha. (Needless to say I would not include any of these authors on one of my own. ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Good to see Abercrombie there. Improving with every book. I wasn't blown away by at first but I loved The Heroes.Have to laugh (and feel nausiatingly smug and superior) at the Goodkind and Farland recomendations in the comments section.This begs the question. Does Runelords suck more than SOT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Good to see Abercrombie there. Improving with every book. I wasn't blown away by at first but I loved The Heroes.Have to laugh (and feel nausiatingly smug and superior) at the Goodkind and Farland recomendations in the comments section.This begs the question. Does Runelords suck more than SOT?Since tairy managed to cram more awesomeness into his series than any other so called literary masterpiece in existence, yes Runelords sucks more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 What?! No Robert Stanek? What a crappy list.:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procrastimancer Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 It is a decent primer, good for pointing those newer to the genre in the right direction. Of course, there are books I disagree with on there, most due more to personal tastes than any specific reason (except maybe Bakker, which I enjoy, but would hesitate to freely recommend based on the content). Like Evil Hat, I would like to see more Weird represented. And I would like to see more women represented, too. In fact, I think Cat Valente's The Orphan's Tales would have made a nice addition to the list. Liadin's spot on about the number of recent books, but I think that is par for the course these days.The addition of Feist is somewhat boggling. It was my first step up from Wizards of the Coast fantasy and I still view it as first-step fantasy. It is something I would recommend to those coming from a background similar to my own (Forgotten Realms) or someone just stepping into Fantasy, but nothing I would recommend to those cutting their teeth on the Epic and Gritty... it'd just be a step down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Hat Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I agree that Valente (or Kiernan) would have made great additions. Both styles of fiction are underrepresented, and it would help correct the gender imbalance somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 I too think it's a pretty good list, but Grack21 makes a very good point about it being a bit too male dominated. And it's sorely lacking some Daniel Abraham.Which library, if you don't mind my asking?Weld County, Colorado.Abraham was the most glaring missing recent author I saw as well. I would have also liked to see both KJ Parker and Pratchett.What I did like is there was a few recommendations he made that were not on the list, but hidden in the text. Perdido Street Station showed up on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 The addition of Feist is somewhat boggling. It was my first step up from Wizards of the Coast fantasy and I still view it as first-step fantasy. It is something I would recommend to those coming from a background similar to my own (Forgotten Realms) or someone just stepping into Fantasy, but nothing I would recommend to those cutting their teeth on the Epic and Gritty... it'd just be a step down.To be fair to the person making the list, they did point out in their description of it that they were recommending it for someone looking for a traditional fantasy. That said, I would question its inclusion on there when he's missing superior authors like Kay, Powers or Abraham.It's not a terrible list, but it seems a fairly unimaginative one that seems to rely heavily on recent bestsellers. I liked The Name of the Wind and Sword of Shadows, but I'm not sure they really the very best fantasies ever written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L’Age d’or Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Get rid of the descriptions and the reviews the guy has written and its a good list for a starter. My major problem with it is the extreme sense of hype which reads OMFGYOUHAVETOREADTHISBOOKBBQ! other than that it is no less than any other list out there as they are all very subjective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sanderson, Abercrombie, Brett, Durham, Weeks...hahahhaahahahaha. (Needless to say I would not include any of these authors on one of my own. ;))I think a good portion of this forum would put Abercrombie on the list, me included. And Sanderson is getting a ton of love, though I havnt yet read him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregor Barksdale Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Doesn't seem more male dominated than the market on this category, so I don't see why that would be a problem with the list itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Ya. Three out of twenyfive. On a list with no young adult authors, and no scifi. Other than Parker, who are we missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Let the fighting begin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procrastimancer Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Let the fighting begin!I was about to start listing names, but decided that there are other members that can do so much better. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horselover Fat Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I thought I counted four?Well there's LeGuin for one, probably one of the most important and well received SFF authors evah. I like the list for the most part but yes to Weeks and no to Le Guin? inconceivable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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