/lit/ - Literature

The Silmarillion by Tolkien

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Borges

The Legacy of Faggotry in a Kek

>>5860591
1) ctfl+f top tier fantasy
2)kek

>>5860592
Greatest fantasist of the 20th c.

The Malazan book of the Fallen series.

It doesn't get better than this.

Excellent writing, very detailed and complex plot. Some of the best World building in Fantasy Literature.

Big cast of characters you follow and come to love.

Dark, gritty, realistic (magic is very prevalent however), yet still engrossing and awe inspiring.

Get past the first book, which is quite confusing since the author doesn't spoon feed you or give info dumps to explain the world around you. Its like a puzzle, a fun one at that, in which you piece together small snipers of the worlds history to put it together.

The main series which is 10 books, is already finished, so no waiting around for the newest book to come out.

Anyone whose finished the series will telly you its one of, if not the best Fantasy series ever written.

>>5861034
Fallen like the angel series?

That is writing for girls dude.

>>5861152

top bait brah, real expert.4

My brotha.

Terry Brooks - the entire Shannara series
Patrick Rothfuss - the Kingkiller Chronicle
George Martin - Song of Ice and Fire
Tim Waggoner - the Blade of the Flame trilogy
Weis and Hickman - The original Dragonlance Trilogy
R.A. Salvatore - the Dark Elf Trilogy. The entire Drizzt Do'Urden series
Stephen R. Donaldson - Lord Foul's Bane
Stephen King - The Talisman/Dark Tower Series

>>5861252
>Dark Tower Series
Mah nigga

>>5861423

Mah gunslinga

>>5861252
>reading any Terry
wtf man, are you on drugs?

>>5861490

He's better than Robert Jordan. Different strokes, man. Some people like the cheesy high-end fantasy stories. Some people want a big series to chip away at. Figured I'd slap Shannara up here for curious anons.

>>5861472
Usted got that cierto, cabron

>>5860559
Top tier fantasy means fantasy most hyped by the current generation of teenagers.
Don't choose your fantasy books like that, you'll end up reading conformist shit molded to the standards of the typical sheeple.

Fantasy threads are always the worst

>>5861646
Because fantasy book haters are the worst type of autist.

Prince of Nothing. Amazing writing and characterizations, as well as interesting themes. It's like a weird dark mixture of Tolkien and Herbert, but not quite. Nothing I've read in the genre comes close in my mind, except maybe Malazan.

Which is my second pick. It really gives you a sense of scope and history, more so than anything I've read in the genre. It's well written and complex, with a large array of well written characters.

>>5861646
this

>>5860559
The German Army and Genocide: CrimesAgainst War Prisoners, Jews, and Other Civilians in the East- Ron Travosky

The First Law Trilogy.

The characters are kind of dark, and the story more than a little gritty, but overall I'd say it's worth the effort. The world/lore leaves a lot to be desired though.

>>5860576
Is this really worth reading? I only tried it as an audiobook but disliked it instantly.

>>5861592
>my keks when Hulick Fans will never get their long awaited book

>>5861982
The second book has been out for months.

>>5861034
I'm just waiting for the series to catch onto the mainstream.

I'm calling it first: just before it goes big, people will start to see it's literary merit, and then as soon as it gets the exposure it always should have had and HBO takes it up, it'll suddenly be blasphemy to utter even the first syllable of Steven Erikson's name here on /lit/

>>5861034
>The author doesn't spoon feed you!
>also the characters don't ask basic fucking questions that literally anyone in their situation would ask
>THE LORE IS DEEP

>>5863083
I'm assuming you've actually read the books

Remind me, who was that woman who was with Adjunct Tavore all the time in Bonehunters and what were her intentions? I think something happened to her at the end of the book, but I can't remember.

>>5862941

I'm on book 3 in Malazan. I've enjoyed it so far, but the way Erikson withholds basic info about the world and the characters is starting to irritate me. He tries to create mystery by not explaining things adequately.

>>5861252

I was with you right up until the Dark Elf trilogy and Dragonlance. Any kind of DnD universe spinoff typically does not a good fantasy story make.

>>5861252

This is like a weird mix of decent series and total crap

Wheel of Time is unnecessarily long and occasionally boring but all in all very creative and decently written. The earlier Robert Jordan and all of a Brandon Sanderson are primetime shit.

Deepgate Codex by Alan Campbell is decent

What makes Tolkien's books so good? This is a serious inquiry.

>>5863536

People think Tolkien is "deep" because he patterns his work after ancient mythology and heroic epics

They also appeal to the kind of severely autistic nerds that think the more obscure trivia about a story is and the harder it is to get into the better that makes it. Tolkien fans are basically like old school Star Trek or Doctor Who fans but worse.

>>5863519
>all of a Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson has good pacing and plotting, great action sequences and well defined magic systems, but his prose leaves much to be desired. There's no lyricism at all and he explains too much.

Sometimes his writing is just... innocent and dorky. Take Shallan, whose "wit" Sanderson pats himself on the back about multiple times in the books through a variety of characters, yet she displays none of it, ever, beyond trying too hard.

Then there's things like the awesomeness chapters etc. And occasionally the dialogue just makes you sit back and groan.

I do like his books and I like the whole cosmere thing he's doing, but he's not exactly top tier.

>>5863536
It was the first book I really read when I was a kid, so for me it's more a special place in the heart sort of thing.

>>5863568

>Sometimes his writing is just... innocent and dorky.

Isn't Sanderson some kind of hardcore Christfag? That tends to be how they view the world, and it reflects in their writing

Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun is sometimes classed as fantasy. It's also the greatest American novel of the second half of the 20th c.

I consider Game of Thrones pretty deep as far as lore goes. there is literally millenia of backstory, not all of which is talked about. of course, everyone just talks about the show now, so if you read the books you can just drop lore backstory and people will be impressed, if you're into that kind of thing.

>>5863536

>>5863584
>It's also the greatest American novel of the second half of the 20th c.

There's one obsessive fan of those books who has been spamming this as a meme on /lit/ since 2010

They're decent reads, but nowhere near the "classic American literature" that poster makes them out to be

>>5863585
>people will be impressed

No, they won't. They'll think you're dork as fuck.

>>5863585

The first book in ASoIaF is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, GRRM's publishers realized that fantasy buyers are idiots and once they had a proven seller, they decided to stop actively editing his books, and they've become bloated and awful.

It is actually kind of painful to think about. :|

>>5863578
I'm pretty sure he's a mormon, which reflects pretty clearly in his handling of sexuality, or rather his lack of handling it.

>>5863592
If they are super into the show, they won't. They'll actually say "I should read the books", but they won't.

>>5861423
On the last book how to read it I don't want it to end sure I got keyhole left after the tower but you know...

>>5862941
>literary merit
koppest tek

>>5862941

There's no literary merit. The entire series is self-indulgent bullshit that tries to be "deep" by not giving the necessary background to the reader to even understand what the fuck is going on. The entire writing style and premise are Grade A horseshit.

>>5861666
this

>>5862941
So it'll get GRRM'd?

>>5863584
The Wizard Knight is also great. Long Sun and its sequel are great as well.

mazzla book of the fazzla,

there has literally never been a more epic series, perhaps not even the silmarillion. You get to see thousands of years of character development and Godly battles from first hand, the series is so huge, the word "epic" doesn't even do it justice. And I mean huge in scale, not just in number of pages, (like 10000 all together)

>>5861666
>>5863723
But there aren't any in this thread??? I think your autism may be flaring up to such a high degree that you can't contain it and you must impute it onto others

>>5863284
Same, I feel like I'm playing a video game. Thrown in the middle of a huge open world, slowly find your way around and pick up the pieces.

There are good fantasy books, but fantasy threads are probably the only ones where people consistently recommend the worst of the worst that the genre has to offer

The Scientology magnum opus.

>>5861034
The book is shit, the writing is awful, not subtile at all, its "human condition" is cringeworthy, it has 10000 pages of nothing.
There is a difference between spoonfeeding you and having no presentation whatsoever. He didn't even bother with infodumps, he simply gave you an apendix.

As much as you guys may hate it when some fedora tipper posts the Bible in threads like these, it's frequently the only good recommendation in the thread

>>5863588
You do know that there are a lot of us here who think Gene to be the best american wiriter of the latter 20th century? Not just one anon.

>>5863815
You're wrong though. He's not even the best American fantasy or science fiction author of the second half of the 20th c.

>>5863837
Not him, but he actually is though.

>>5863837
But he is, by far, he is the best SF author in general.

>>5863848
He's good but there are a handful of better ones (of course none have been mentioned in this thread).

>>5863858
Like?

>>5863864
Joe.

>>5863815
Not really. He's good but trying to make a big deal of it is just annoying everybody else

>>5861252
This is a troll. Do not take the bait.

>>5863555
At least old school Doctor Who fans are better than New Who fans. Much like Tolkien fans are much better than fans of people like Patrick "Mary Sue" Rothfuss or Steven "Dungeons and Dragons" Erickson

>>5864089
He is an amazing writer and I think he deserves recognition.

>>5863492

The original trilogy wasn't that bad. Also, Prism Pentad.

>>5861252
>Stephen R. Donaldson - Lord Foul's Bane
>reading Thomas Covenant
>ever
get the fuck out, your list has been disregarded

Guys rate my tastes from pic related.

>>5863803

The very fact that you admitted your need for info dumps proves you as a vine attention span 12 year old. From the sounds of it you attempted reading the first book and then gave up because you thought you were a big boi until you read the series.

"writing is awful" -lel at that when all your fav fantasy authors have praised his writing.

The presentation is there, if you have half a mind to piece things together and aren't some passenger who enjoys stories in which you don't have to exercise a single brain cell.

Go read your Robert Jordan, and the rest of your 70's fantasy bs which was super original with all those elves and orcs.

>>5865193
Your taste is extremely shit. And I'm not just saying that to be edgy.

>>5865431
>it makes me think hur dur
A compleate lack of presentation is even worse than infodumping.
Wolfe has no infodumps, yet has tons of world building.
This shit has none, only has an apendix.

>>5865627

Obvious troll. I take back my previous comment, it seems you have not even attempted to read the first book, just like his writing, Erikson is praised by critics and fantasy peers alike.

>>5865605
You must be the guy who suggested Lord Foul
Don't be so salty because you lack the taste buds to experience things truly euphoric.

>>5865796

edit because I feel like feeding the basement troll;

*Erikson is praised for his world building.

"This shit has none" lol might as well say that GotM has no character development.

Gene Wolfe - no other fantasy, except for maybe Tolkien and Peake is worth even mentioning here

>>5860559
If you like a healthy dose of BDSM in your fantasy, I recommend this.

>>5861592
I, too, am very smart. Let us discuss why we are superior to the common rabble.

>>5861034
>not recommending the Black Company
>the inspiration for Malazan

>>5861906
I couldn't stand Sapkowski, but I pushed through some of his stuff because I reasoned that maybe it was just a bad translation and fuck learning Polish.

>>5866709
More like machosism and sadomachoism, others aspects of bdsm are hardly around.

>>5865193
>all that Brandon Sanderson
It's like you try your hardest to be pleb with Mr. No sex what soever-even when married.

>female authors
Absolutely disgisting

>>5864089
Can you name a better writer that suits those parameters?

Narnia and Redwall

-Dune (don't listen to bullshit about stopping there, at least read Messiah as an amazing aftermath of the first book)

-Ilium/Olympos (half of the thing is a weird sci fi recreation of the Illiad, it's great)

-Various Discworld stuff, the ones with Rincewind are most entertaining and hilarious

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is alright if you really crave something that is heavily influenced by Tolkien and actually good

>>5861906
I read it in Polish when I was 15. It was awful.

Does everyone hate the Sword Of Truth series

>>5870493
Yes. Well, everyone with any sense, anyway.

>>5870508
Why?

>>5863764
i want to suck anomander rakes big black cock

Some recent purchases. What should I read next?

>>5870792
>black jewels trilogy
Thank you for getting that anon, I'm >>5865193 and someone suggested me that book years ago and I am glad that you will read it now(it was probably me who suggested it to you).

I not too long ago finished the Black Sun Rising, it was okayish.

You can probably check through my list here >>5865193 for other books(some are shit though)

Let me know what you like in a book and if I get back before the thread 404(or is archived) imma select from what i have listed.

>>5870829
Yea it was from a recommendation here a while back that I put it on my list. What I like? Shit. I don't know really. I have such a hate/love relationship to fantasy and sci fi. I really enjoyed Martins books, but Gene Wolfe is probably my favorite novelist for so many reasons. He writes the kind of books that I read and just wonder how he does it. Amazing. I can enjoy a shit book too, but if it doesn't have at least ONE good quality I will probably put it down. Like, I kinda hate Sanderson but I read most of his books because the pacing is good and they go by quickly, and I like the hints left around the books to fill in the Cosmere story.

>>5863568
>awesomeness chapters
???

I've read the first book in the series and will be starting the second one soon. Does Sanderson ruin things towards the end?

>>5861152
My heart is beating very fast right know, I am confused and don't know what to think. I am only left with the choice to bow to the b8 master.

>>5867976
>top tier fantasy
>edge master

>>5870856
The ones in red.
Read the Blurbs for them and see if you like them.

>>5863588
Sorry dude but multiple people have stated this and I agree. No one, not even Pynchon, McCarthy, etc. comes close to what Wolfe did with BotNS. It's like the Moby-Dick of fantasy/sci-fi. The only thing that really is as ambitious as it in recent memory is 2666.

Most plebs just don't really understand how much of an accomplishment the work really is. It'll only grow in popularity and praise. After all the Martins and Sandersons have been forgotten, people will still turn to Wolfe.

Also, if you want legitametly good fantasy ignore most of the suggestions in this thread. The masters include:
>Lord Dunsany
>George MacDonald
>Robert E. Howard
>Mervyn Peake
>Gene Wolfe
>R.A. Lafferty
>T.H. White (The Once and Future King is way underrated)
>G.K. Chesterton
> Borges
>And of course J.R.R. mutha fucking Tolkien

MFW I liked Prince of Nothing, Malazan, and The First Law series'

>>5863600
Read Talisman and Black House before you do

>>5861741

I recently bought the first two books in The Prince of Nothing series but I'll read them sometime in the New Year.

I'd say my favourite is Gormenghast, just for the way Peak describes all the architecture inside the castle and on top of when Steerpike is doing his climb. Really magnificent stuff.

>>5872322
>>T.H. White (The Once and Future King is way underrated)

mon negro

>>5870792
>NotW
Try reading something that isn't shit.

>>5870869
He's referring to one character who is very young and refers to her powers as "awesomeness".

I don't like it either but I understand that it fits in with the perception of a child and since she is going to be a second-half main character, the usage of that term will end.

>>5861787
The First Law is excellent.

>>5872322
>The Once and Future King is way underrated
yeah

Watership Down

>>5861034
I just started House of Chains and, while I'm only 120 or so pages in, it's pretty great.
Memories of Ice was the best so far; the first half of the book was hard to put down, it lagged a little in the middle and then the last 200 pages were nuts. It's also the book where I kind of felt like I've gotten my footing.
Deadhouse Gates threw me for a loop when it was on another continent and was introducing all these new characters and lore stuff (d'ivers, Icarium etc.) but pretty enjoyable over-all.
Gardens of the Moon was pretty hard to get into and care about. First book is the worst book.

I'm interested in reading Jordan's Wheel of Time stuff when I finish all the Malazan stuff next year some time. Should I bother with it or is it awful?

>>5873906
based

People who write pseudo-Victorian fantasy or other general Victoriana despite lacking the requisite working knowledge of Victorian literature should be whipped and beaten with rods.

>>5874876
Do you like really long epic fantasy series that aren't grim dark? Do you like convoluted lore? Do you care if some books are incredibly slowly-paced and if some female characters are poorly written?

If your answers are yes, yes, and no respectively, you should read WoT

>>5875055
Hmm. I'll have to think on the last two. Luckily I still have something like 12 or so Malazan books left

>>5875055
>some female characters are poorly written
>some

Every single one of them is a nagging shrew.

I love me that convoluted lore though, it tickles my autism.

>>5876502
>Every single one of them is a nagging shrew.
>Implying Nynaeve isn't a GOAT tier female character
WoT, despite all its obvious flaws, has the best worldbuilding I've ever read in fantasy. Read it if you like to immerse yourself in a grand world.

Is this top tier lit?

>>5875055
The female characters are all terribly written, except for Nynaeve, who eventually isn't.. after 10 books or so.

>>5876819
It's shit, Le Guin is just another dumb bargain-basement feminist elevated by the current zeitgeist.

>>5876819
It's good, but it's not her best.

>>5871978
My Autism demands that I ask if the anon looked this over.

>>5877953
Every single one of your suggestions was shit, thanks for trying though.

P.S. I'm pretty sure they have therapy for autism now, check it out.

>>5878033
>visits 4chan
>tries to treat his autism
>2014
Its like you want to be a norm

>>5861252

wow the ruse was nigh

>>5860559
You can put that down for a start

>>5863593
Finally understand why I can't get through the third book and the second book was a pain in the ass to read.

Is it worth pushing through or should I just say fuck it and watch the show?

>>5863519
wheel of time is absolute trash

>>5860559
oxymoron, go back to le reddit cuck