Fantasy books you suspect no one else on the board has read

[Larry.]

A Dance With....... just kidding.

I have no idea what people have read. I've read a few on these lists, but no one has mentioned a good book yet. Sorry, Larry.

Not many have read John M. Ford, and he's stellar. The Dragon Waiting. The Last Hot Time. Stellar. Anno Dracula by Kim Newman needs more readers.

Most books that no one has read suck ass. But there are a few that slip through the cracks.

Ha! Tastes do vary, I'll admit.

I wonder what you make of Mary Rickert's collections, such as the WFA-winning Map of Dreams. I suppose i could have listed that or some of Delany's Neveryona stories, or however that is spelled. Still need to read Charles Saunders' Imaro sometime.

[Liadin]

And I did buy Firethorn not too long ago! It's in the queue!

Glad to know my badgering is working. :)

Most books that no one has read suck ass. But there are a few that slip through the cracks.

I've seen you recommend long lists of obscure authors more than once, though.

[Grack21]

I suspect no one here has read Elizabeth Kerner. I remember liking them, but who knows ow I'd feel about them now. I remember her take on dragons was interesting, and she actually did some research into what kind of diet a giant flying lizard might have. I think they may be too "romancey" for some.

[Datepalm]

We never talk about Mercedes Lackey, L.E. Modesitt though she's not exactly obscure. I, uh, can't say I've exactly read her either - I got one book ("The singing sorceress"? something like that. Some kind of music based magic world portal fantasy anyway) as a present and never managed to get past the opening chapters. And this was when I was 12 and would read ANYTHING. I so had nothing to read and was reading academic textbooks and Tom Clancy for fun.

ETA for OMG Oops.

[Grack21]

We never talk about Mercedes Lackey, though she's not exactly obscure. I, uh, can't say I've exactly read her either - I got one book ("The singing sorceress"? something like that. Some kind of music based magic world portal fantasy anyway) as a present and never managed to get past the opening chapters. And this was when I was 12 and would read ANYTHING. I so had nothing to read and was reading academic textbooks and Tom Clancy for fun.

Heh. I still read her series with the magic talking horses for some reason. They relax me.

[Samalander]

I swear i've read something by Angus Wells, though i'm not sure its this book.

It was probably this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Angus-Wells/dp/0553762370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305961074&sr=8-1

How many of you have read Fantasy gem Villains by Necessity?

http://www.amazon.com/Villains-Necessity-Eve-Forward/dp/0812522281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305961412&sr=1-1

[Liadin]

We never talk about Mercedes Lackey, though she's not exactly obscure. I, uh, can't say I've exactly read her either - I got one book ("The singing sorceress"? something like that. Some kind of music based magic world portal fantasy anyway) as a present and never managed to get past the opening chapters.

That wouldn't actually be a series by the dreaded L.E. Modesitt would it? Seems like he had one with that premise.

Heh, I like those books, but they're WEIRD. I don;t remeber the main character being an asshole though, just having a really shitty day. But again, those books are just WEIRD. Someone here once described it to Boormman's Excalibur movie, which I think is pretty spot on.

The main character had this tendency to do these really stupid and/or selfish things, and then whine and pity himself for it afterwards. I remember one part where he killed a random old man just to make things more convenient for his boss or something. And then

when he got involved with his liege lord's wife, and then at the end of the first book when he got them kicked out of a tournament by attacking (killing? I don't recall) somebody for accusing him of getting involved with the liege lord's wife, he went around all "woe is me" like he hadn't chosen to do these things in the first place for his own convenience.

There were other things I disliked about the book but that's the main thing I remembered. It felt like the author thought the character's bouts of self-pity after doing some boorish thing made it all right, and I just found him selfish and whiny.

[Datepalm]

That wouldn't actually be a series by the dreaded L.E. Modesitt would it? Seems like he had one with that premise.

Gah! You're right! It was The Soprano Sorceress. Thing is, I still remember the opening chapters fairly vividly, and by and large they sound kind of interesting - older female main character, song magic, politics - it must have been utterly unreadable. Why "The Dreaded"? As it stands, i've never actually read any of his books.

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

Michael Cisco, The Great Lover

Ferenc Karinthy, Metropole

Stepan Chapman, The Troika

Zoran Živković, Писац у Најам

Salvador Plascencia, The People of Paper

I think those five at least have very few, if any, readers of those who frequent this forum.

I did read Chapman and Karinthy (had to google it to make sure it is the same book which was published in Polish as Epepe. It is.) Perhaps I will read Cisco which sounds somewhat interesting.

As for the main question, I could name a lot of Polish fantasy books (some of them really good, many others not so much), but, really, what is the point?

[Liadin]

Gah! You're right! It was The Soprano Sorceress. Thing is, I still remember the opening chapters fairly vividly, and by and large they sound kind of interesting - older female main character, song magic, politics - it must have been utterly unreadable. Why "The Dreaded"? As it stands, i've never actually read any of his books.

Well, mostly just dreaded by me I think, because I had the misfortune to pick up one of his sci-fi books at a point in my reading life where I felt like I needed to finish everything I started. And wouldn't go on to anything else until I finished. Essentially I didn't read much for a few months. At some point I also picked up a different fantasy series by him, but for some reason was okay with putting that one down. It's been awhile and I don't have any specific criticisms of his books, other than that I found them boring as hell.

[Ormond]

An Edge of the Forest by Agnes Smith. A "young adult" animal fantasy, but one of the best books I've ever read.

Another "young adult" fantasy author who I think is well worth the time of adults is Robin McKinley. Here's a link to her website:

http://www.robinmckinley.com/books/

Other fantasy books I think are excellent that I don't remember being often mentioned here would include:

The Well of the Unicorn and The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt.

The Darkling Hills by Lori Martin.

The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein.

The Witches of Wenshar, The Ladies of Mandrigyn, and The Dark Hand of Magic by Barbara Hambly.

The Likely Ones by Mary Brown.

The Mabinogian Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton.

Damiano, Damiano's Lute, and Raphael (published in omnibus as A Trio for Lute) by R. A. MacAvoy.

Little, Big by John Crowley.

[Ayx]

Well, mostly just dreaded by me I think, because I had the misfortune to pick up one of his sci-fi books at a point in my reading life where I felt like I needed to finish everything I started. And wouldn't go on to anything else until I finished. Essentially I didn't read much for a few months. At some point I also picked up a different fantasy series by him, but for some reason was okay with putting that one down. It's been awhile and I don't have any specific criticisms of his books, other than that I found them boring as hell.

Soprano Sorceress was pretty bad, I had to put that book down also, but Modesitt matured as an author a lot.

His books appeal to compulsive-obsessive people like me. Every mundane thing is explained in detail. If character has to go somewhere, he'll spend an evening making plans, the next chapter he'll be buying a horse & supplies, etc. World-building is quite good, each character story arc is finished in two or three books, so you know what you getting into.

He also employs "the view from the other side" trope often, ie historical mythical villains from one sub-series are revisited as protagonists in another one, slowly revealing the world history. I actually learned about Modesitt by picking up "The White Order/Colors of Chaos" books in the library, and got hooked on it. After getting other Recluse books it was quite a surprise to find "Whoa! its the same story from the opposite side".

Of course there are standard Modesitt's quirks too, characters constantly whining about everyone around them being stupid, the Crampt! sound effects, and always-present environmentalist vibe.

[Borque]

Damiano, Damiano's Lute, and Raphael (published in omnibus as A Trio for Lute) by R. A. MacAvoy.

Hey, I've read that one too. Don't remember anything at all about it though. Not even if it was good or not. Strange.

[murphy]

An Edge of the Forest by Agnes Smith. A "young adult" animal fantasy, but one of the best books I've ever read.

Another "young adult" fantasy author who I think is well worth the time of adults is Robin McKinley. Here's a link to her website:

http://www.robinmckinley.com/books/

Other fantasy books I think are excellent that I don't remember being often mentioned here would include:

The Well of the Unicorn and The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt.

The Darkling Hills by Lori Martin.

The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein.

The Witches of Wenshar, The Ladies of Mandrigyn, and The Dark Hand of Magic by Barbara Hambly.

The Likely Ones by Mary Brown.

The Mabinogian Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton.

Damiano, Damiano's Lute, and Raphael (published in omnibus as A Trio for Lute) by R. A. MacAvoy.

Little, Big by John Crowley.

I do like Barbara Hambly very much and find her rereadable although she seems to have gotten away from writing fantasy and is now writing historicals.

As far as R. A. MacAvoy goes, I couldn't get into the Damiano stories (although I still have them), but really liked the beginning of The Eye of the World Trilogy. Didn't care so much for the last book in the trilogy though. When you talk about MacAvoy, you should really mention Tea With The Black Dragon. A charming urban fantasy.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

An Edge of the Forest

Damiano, Damiano's Lute, and Raphael (published in omnibus as A Trio for Lute) by R. A. MacAvoy.

I've read Damiano, can't remember if I liked it or not.Didn't bother with the sequels so I'm guessing not.

Farnor by Roger Taylor.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farnor-Roger-Taylor/dp/1843192780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305988955&sr=8-1

[Noroldis]

Watershed Trilogy by Douglas Niles. A not-very-intelligent Tolkien knockoff. Liked it at the time for being fast-paced though.

Wow. As soon as I read the thread's title, this is the series that immediately leapt into my mind. And it looks like the two of us are not alone in having read it around here. Back when I read this series, I remember being entertained, if not fascinated. Nowadays, I look it and wonder "Can fantasy get more PG-13 Tolkien knockoff than this?"

[Datepalm]

I do like Barbara Hambly very much and find her rereadable although she seems to have gotten away from writing fantasy and is now writing historicals.

I remember reading a trilogy by her as well that wasn't bad at all/ (It had, er, a wizard name Rudy? I think? The main character was a historian and was studying, like, bridges, which was really neat. There was a reversal of the expected gender dynamic and some nice angst and stuff too.)

[StefanH]

Not sure entirely how rare, but I don't think I've never seen it discussed anywhere: The Sword and the Satchel by Elizabeth H Boyer. I was lent a copy of it by a teacher of mine back when I was like 9 or something when I told him that I had not long finished reading The Hobbit. I recently ordered an old copy of ebay just for interest as I'd forgotten what the story was, but I remembered that I enjoyed it quite a lot. Not quite as good the second time around (though it might as well have been the first, as I recalled nothing) but not bad.

[Grack21]

Soprano Sorceress was pretty bad, I had to put that book down also, but Modesitt matured as an author a lot.

His books appeal to compulsive-obsessive people like me. Every mundane thing is explained in detail. If character has to go somewhere, he'll spend an evening making plans, the next chapter he'll be buying a horse & supplies, etc. World-building is quite good, each character story arc is finished in two or three books, so you know what you getting into.

He also employs "the view from the other side" trope often, ie historical mythical villains from one sub-series are revisited as protagonists in another one, slowly revealing the world history. I actually learned about Modesitt by picking up "The White Order/Colors of Chaos" books in the library, and got hooked on it. After getting other Recluse books it was quite a surprise to find "Whoa! its the same story from the opposite side".

Of course there are standard Modesitt's quirks too, characters constantly whining about everyone around them being stupid, the Crampt! sound effects, and always-present environmentalist vibe.

Modesitt is an acquired taste. I enjoy his recluse books a lot but no way would I ever just blankly recommend them to someone without know a LOT about that person's tastes first. You have to enjoy dry picturesque almost philosophic type novels to really enjoy them.

And he does go CRAMPT a lot.

[murphy]

Modesitt is an acquired taste. I enjoy his recluse books a lot but no way would I ever just blankly recommend them to someone without know a LOT about that person's tastes first. You have to enjoy dry picturesque almost philosophic type novels to really enjoy them.

And he does go CRAMPT a lot.

I too enjoy his Recluce books, hated the Soprano Sorceress and won't touch his SF books. I think he's improved a lot with his Imager stories.

I never noticed the CRAMPT.