/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.11335371]

>Better than Harry Potter
>Worse than LOTR

This was my 2nd attempt to "get" into fantasy genre and I am disappointed. The first book was promising, after that, it seems the author did not bother to explain anything, basically:
>it´s le magic ;)

Full of Deus Ex Machina -type of scenarios and weak, unfinished characters gaining superpowers because of "muh prophecy"

[Anonymous No.11335395]

>>11335371
Tolkien is as good as fantasy ever gets imo.
Once you've read LotR and The Silmarillion, everything written since is underwhelming at best, and derivative fanfic at worst.
Read The Silmarillion if you haven't already, and then the novels The Children of Hurin and Beren and Luthien, which expand upon certain chapters in The Silmarillion.
A third novel The Fall of Gondolin is out later this year as well, and then that's probably all we will see as Christopher Tolkien is old af

[Anonymous No.11335404]

Eddings is not better than Harry Potter. Rowling at least attempted to write good books. Eddings literally compiled a list of cliches and plot points from the most successful fantasy dreck at the book store and copied them note for note as a purely commercial endeavor. His books have, by his own admission, no artistic merit

[Anonymous No.11335499]

>>11335404
Eddings worldbuilding was actually decent and, among with the maps, the world felt actually huge and vast with different races.

His characters on the other hand are one of the worst caricatures imaginable

[Anonymous No.11335538]

>>11335499
no amount of world-building can make up for poor characters and uninteresting plots
Tolkien managed all three in spades.

[Anonymous No.11335549]

>>11335371
Try this. It's somewhat interesting and standalone, no bullshit series to wade through. It's both fantasy and sci-fi, though the latter isn't immediately obvious.

[Anonymous No.11335559]

>>11335549
>On the planet known as Snare, the descendants of Islamic fundamentalist emigrants have created beautiful enclaves, where they can sit on a patio enjoying green grass and "true-roses," but the nomadic tribes live in a much harsher landscape. Where the grass is purple, the trees are orange, and the huge and dangerous sentient Cha'Meech lizards roam the landscape.

That sounds utter trash

[Anonymous No.11335566]

>>11335371
Book of the New Sun

[Anonymous No.11335575]

>>11335371
>>11335559
Have you looked into Arthurian romance type of stuff? The fantasy elements are sometimes less frequent or overt, so there are fewer deus ex machinae.

One good book in that genre is Uther and Igraine, by Warwick Deeping. (I read it on Wikisource, idk if it's terribly easy to find a physical copy.) The plot isn't very deep or complex, but it's really fun and captures the dreamlike magic of the genre at its best. Le Morte D'Arthur is even better, but it's also longer.

[Anonymous No.11335671]

>>11335559
If you dismiss something on a short description you shouldn't be reading books to begin with.

[Anonymous No.11335788]

>>11335671
>The Planet known as Snare
>Descendants of Islamic Fundamentalists
> Cha'Meech lizards
>Written by a woman

Yup, it must be trash

[Anonymous No.11335908]

>>11335371

[Anonymous No.11335929]

>>11335566
Checked, and this

[Anonymous No.11335975]

>>11335371
Hi OP. I read your post, and I think I see where the problem lies. I'll recommend a great book for you.

Haha, my little brother had a similar problem. I told him to read closer to his age, and it seemed to do the trick.

[Anonymous No.11336244]

>>11335371
I think everyone agrees that Belgariad is Edding's worst series. You should ignore everything related to it if you're over 14.
But why would you want to 'get' into fantasy anyways?

[Anonymous No.11336351]

>>11335499

>generic fantasy world #928137
>good world-building

this is why worldbuilding fags need to die, whenever they encounter actual good worldbuilding, they just dismiss it as "pretentious"

[Anonymous No.11336874]

>>11336351
Are you actually trying to say that perdido street station is good?

[Anonymous No.11337069]

>>11335395
this unironically

[Anonymous No.11337079]

Beowulf