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/lit/ - Literature

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2767322 No.2767322[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

What are some genuinely awesome fantasy series for a loser like me who loves escapism /lit/?

I'm talking High Fantasy stuff like Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings here. I'm tired of grimdark shit.

>> No.2767335

The Odyssey

The Iliad

>> No.2767334

Beowulf, The Norse Sagas, Illiad and Odyssey, Aeneid

eat your heart out

>> No.2767337

Fantasy isn't escapism. Most fantasy just reproduces the principles of capitalism through "phantastic" metaphors.

lrn2marx

>> No.2767338

It's just one book but Stardust.

>> No.2767340

Never apologise for your tastes, OP.

Why not read Magician by Feist? Or get into Discworld, which is a genre unto itself. Or maybe some of DWJ's best works, like the delightful Howl's Moving Castle (so much better than the Ghibli adaptation)?

>> No.2767342

The Kalevala, the epic of the Finnish people.

Paradise Lost is also fairly fantastical. And very epic.

>> No.2767343

Strindberg - Dreamplay

>> No.2767344

>>2767334
I'm a former Classics student, so I've read pretty much any classical Greek or Gold/Silver Age Latin lit of note.

>> No.2767347
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2767347

>>2767337
>lrn2marx

No thanks kike. Take your Jew sophists and shove them up your ass.

>> No.2767350

>>2767347

>implying marx was a jew

>> No.2767353

>>2767350

He was.

>> No.2767354

>>2767340
I've read a good dozen or so Discworld books. Great stuff.

>>2767343
Will do.

>>2767338
Also noted.

Thanks.

>> No.2767355

>>2767353

jewish heritage =/= being jewish

>> No.2767359

>>2767350
I'm sure you're one of those people who think Jews need to be religiously Jewish to actually be considered Jews. What a dumb goy you are, even Bronstein ("Trotsky") employed his ethnic connections in New York to acquire funds for the Red Army from Jew bankers there.

And that's not even touching upon all the secular Zionists who believed in both socialism and jewish nationalism.

Hell, even Derrida had a strong Jewish identity. Read some KMac and stop shitting up my thread.

>> No.2767413 [DELETED] 
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2767413

I'd second Discworld series - amusing, literate, not overly burdened with grimdark or seriousness. Sometimes insightful (the author isn't a total hack).

Downsides - terrible covers, earliest novels are much patchier

>> No.2767424
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2767424

Mervyn Peake - the Ghormengast Trilogy

>> No.2767433

>critique of Marx
>anti-semitism
learn2critique

>> No.2767453

>>2767355

Tell that to halakhic law, the mishnah, the state of Israel, and the majority of Jewish people. Trust me, I would know, I am Jewish.

>> No.2768251 [DELETED] 

>>2767453
What if your father was jewish and not your mother and you have your father's jewish last name? can i be considered a jew?
i must be part of the master race

>> No.2768252 [DELETED] 

>>2768251
also i would be Ashkenazi

>> No.2768267

Good and long high fantasy series excellent for escapism?

>The Black Company
Ten novels, most of them fairly short. The later ones are longer. Two more are planned, but there have been no new releases in ten years or so.

Non-standard narrative technique which can be slightly jarring at first but grows to be endearing fast. Essentially it is presented as a written account of events by a sort of record-keeper character, working from his memory.

Plot-wise it concerns the eponymous Black Company, a mercenary organization that becomes employed to the Big Bad of the setting. Later novels focuses on the mysterious origins of the Company.

They are very good, and very different from other fantasy. It's not gritty as much as it is... presented from a soldier's POV, using the language you would expect from a military grunt. The author, Glen Cook, has been credited with being one of the first to bring the fantasy genre down to a human level.

>Malazan Book of the Fallen
Ten novels, all of them huge and thick (some approaching potential murder weapon status). There's also a spin-off series and a novella series set in the same universe.

Standard narration, but has a HUGE cast of characters. POV is swapped between these, often multiple times over the course of a single chapter.

I don't wish to give too much of the plot away, but it concerns a huge empire, powerful magic, undead armies, jumping between timelines, and gods meddling in mortal affairs. The setting is pure bliss for a fantasy enthusiast.

If you're into complex narratives, fantasy on an epic scale, and want something to REALLY sink your teeth into, something you will be able to enjoy for months--Malazan Book of the Fallen.

>> No.2768268

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is awesomesauce and pretty high fantasy, it can be grimdark at times, but it has a ton of magic / mysticism, especially in the later books.

>> No.2768272

>>2767424

Gormenghast is great, but not really sure it's the easy, escapism OP is looking for.

I'd recommend you go old school, OP. Try Vance's Lyonesse, maybe Zelazny's Amber saga.

>> No.2768275
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2768275

>doesn't want grimdark
>people recommend Malazan

>wants high fantasy
>people recommend Black Company

>mfw

>> No.2768277

Geez there are some pretentious assholes in this thread! Just reccomend books and stop trying to act cultured and intelligent. Not a soul cares!

>> No.2768280

>>2768272
Seconding Lyonesse. In fact, anything by Vance is pretty good.

Also try stuff by Brandon Sanderson, like the Mistborn books or Warbreaker.

>> No.2768282

>>2768275
Both series are certainly what you would call epic or high fantasy, and they both feature plenty of magic and supernatural shit.

High fantasy isn't limited to "hehe elves vs. sauron." Fuck you.

>> No.2768284

http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading#Fantasy

>> No.2768286

All High Fantasy is grimdark nowadays, more or less. Patrick Rothfuss not so much, tho. Try him.

>> No.2768300

Seconding Malazan (bit grimdark but high quality stuff) and suggesting Memory Sorrow and Thorn.

>> No.2769149

I'm surprised noone has recommended "Mortal Engines" by Philip Reeve. Just get your hands on it. I can't explain why. You'll understand when you've read it.

>> No.2769177
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2769177

No one recommended Steven Brust?
Vlad Taltos sounds right up OP's alley. The Khaavren Romances are good, if you can stand the narrative conceit.

And you absolutely MUST read the stand alone To Reign in Hell.

>> No.2769182
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2769182

Hyperion

Dune

>> No.2769185

Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson should satisfy.
Not really high fantasy, but of higher quality; Robin Hobb.

>> No.2769186

>no one has mentioned the belgariad yet

the fuck, /lit? the belgariad, OP. good stuff.

>> No.2769256

>>2769185
THIS. ROTHFUSS.

>> No.2769261

David Gemmell.Pretty much any book

>> No.2769263
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2769263

Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy. BUT STOP AT BOOK THREE

>> No.2769285

Lawrence Watt-Evans: Ethshar Books, Dus books
Dave Duncan: Man of His Word, Seventh Sword, etc

>> No.2769376

>>2769186
The Belgariad is objectively bad. I read it as a child and liked it at the time, but come on, dude.

>>2769263
>female author

>> No.2769392

>>2769376
That's why you stop at The Farthest Shore. The first three books are golden. The rest of the series descends into feminist clap-trappery.

>> No.2769400

>>2768284
>Epic Fantasy
Surprisingly good list.
>Urban Fantasy
>Gaiman
Faggot shit
>Dresden Files
WHERE THE FUCK IS IT? Dresden Files is the quintessential urban fantasy.

>> No.2769408

gene wolfe's book of the new sun is pretty good, I'm only halfway through the series though

>> No.2769407

>>2769400
Dresden Files is fucking awful and /lit/ should not sully its reputation by recommending that shit to anyone but beginner readers.

>> No.2769410

>>2769263
>>2769376
>>2769392
some tiresome motherfuckers up in here

>> No.2769429

>>2769410
You deny the Tehanu is a piece of crap?

>> No.2769450

>>2769407
All urban fantasy is awful, you twat. But Dresden Files is the best the whole genre has.

>> No.2769475

>>2768267
Troll

>> No.2769492

>>2767322
I liked Riddlemaster of Hed and Ursala LeGuin's books in middle school

>> No.2769497

Who's the girl in the OP?

>> No.2769508

>>2769497
your future daughter

>> No.2769510

>>2769508
>>2769497
Who is also your mother. And you.

>> No.2769520

>>2769508
>>2769510
my dick...

>> No.2769659

>>2769475
how is that a troll?

they are good suggestions.

>> No.2770168

>>2769659
No!

>> No.2770207

Joe Abercrombie's The First Law series is amazing. Starts with The Blade Itself. I'll second Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles as well.

I also really enjoyed J. Gregory Keyes' Age of Unreason series. four books, short, and fun alternative history.

>> No.2770257

Malazan!