Ran Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Le Guin, Kay, Vance, Valente, Bradbury -- all writers who are consistently beautiful with their prose. GRRM isn't so much of a stylist, but it's absolutely true that he has some really beautiful and evocative passages (Tower of Joy sequence, opening of the Captain of Guards, The Dragontamer, meeting the Three-Eyed Crow). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Peake, McKillip, and Vance. As much as I adore his work, Tolkien's prose is too inconsistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thistlepong Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 My first thought was Valente, but that's clearly a snap judgment about taste and probably more prosody than prose. I kinda wanna come to Martin's defense. I mean, I know where we are. We gotta assume a cool disaffected stance and all.But his writing does the job. The senses are engaged. The pov is strong. The reader is only confused when that's what he wants.What might seem at first to be inconsistency later reveals itself as clever insinuation of personality and state of mind. Each pov has its own color palette. Each actually sees or hears or feels the world in a different way. Heck, even drunk Tyrion is distinct from effective Tyrion.I don't wanna imply perfection, but his evocative skill had more to do with why I kept reading ASoIaF than a desire to keep track of dozens or hundreds of characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 In all seriousness, I liked what Joe A did with the more modern sensibilities in the trilogy, which contrasted with the references to a more ancient time. Tower of the Maker stands as a really well described place in my mind, and I think part of that was because it was a deviation from the more real world expectation laid out in the setting prior to its inclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDanish Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 In all seriousness, I liked what Joe A did with the more modern sensibilities in the trilogy, which contrasted with the references to a more ancient time. Tower of the Maker stands as a really well described place in my mind, and I think part of that was because it was a deviation from the more real world expectation laid out in the setting prior to its inclusion.I also like how Joe A. differentiated the voice of each character in TFL. He gets a lot of flak for the quality of the first book's prose (probably rightfully so - it is cringeworthy at times), but I think the voice mechanism and sharp wit more than offsets any problems. I remember the first time I read TBI, the minor quibbles I had with speaking-verbs were quickly forgotten as I laughed at Jezal's opening chapters.As for other authors, I just finished Under Heaven and rather liked Guy's prose, if it was a bit purple. Loved the dialogue, too. Currently working on The Black Company, and Cook's minimalist style resonates quite well, though it wouldn't have hurt for him to put in just a bit more description.Not yet a fan of the writing in Iain M. Banks' Consider Phlebas. Again, I like the wit and the story, but the way he uses words is not enough to offset prose problems. He is not a J.A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Lord of Winterfell Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I think Roger Zelazny has some very good prose, particularly in Creatures of Light and Darkness.Forgot about him, but I'd agree. Love his writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 We already have a thread on this topic - http://asoiaf.wester...eautiful-prose/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 We already have a thread on this topic - http://asoiaf.wester...eautiful-prose/Ah, should've known a topic like this would already be covered by my genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I am glad to see Roger Zelazney on this list. Probably the best I have ever come across. Iain Banks almost always. Robert Silverberg is another I have enjoyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 It's always a bit subjective when determining who the best is at prose. A few that at I think are really good (there are others of course, but this is a good start):Gene WolfePatricia McKillipCharles de LintMichael MoorcockMichael SwanwickJeff VanderMeerMargo LanaganJohn M. FordJonathan CarrollFelix GilmanAnother big issue is consistency. There are some authors who at times have wonderful prose, but they aren't consistent enough with it to be mentioned with the best (Steven Erikson comes to mind first). Elizabeth Bear also comes to mind, though with her new series it might just be best to go ahead and add her to the list above.Definitely a great list. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Ah now see Vance doesn't vary his voice AT ALL and yet it is so ridiculously eloquent that I just don't care.Really? I think Lyonesse is way different in voice and style than his other stuff I have read. BTW I like the other stuff much more too.EDIT: I am not much of a prose guy but for my money Bakker and Vance are the top of the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.