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/lit/ - Literature

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969358 No.969358 [Reply] [Original]

So, /lit/, riddle me this:

What's the greatest stand-alone fantasy novel of all time?

>> No.969361

None. Fantasy sucks.

>> No.969366

>>969361

Even if that were the case, there'd still be one that sucked less than the others.

>> No.969371

don quixote

>> No.969373

>>969371
well, don quixote was written in two parts.

>> No.969375

The Bible.

>> No.969379

Gulliver's Travels.

>> No.969381

>>969375
again, written in more than one part. in fact this one was written by dozens of authors across dozens of countries.
you're a funny guy, tho.

>> No.969388

Depends on the broadness of your definition of fantasy. Is magic realism fantasy? Is surrealism fantasy?

>> No.969398
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969398

>>969388

Magic realism is just fantasy written by people who speak Spanish.

>> No.969409

I wouldn't know. I personally don't believe fantasy novels hold much literary worth.

>> No.969411

100 Years of Solitude

>> No.969415

>>969409

Different things have different value for different people.

>> No.969412

>>969409
>I wouldn't know.

Then don't respond. Kthxbai.

>> No.969427
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969427

>>969412
Trolled softly and without intent.

>>969415
Of course.

>> No.969429

>>969409
it's hard to argue that don quixote doesn't have worth. it was a really amazing book. i, for one, do not enjoy fantasy novels, but the don was amazing.

>> No.969447

>>969429
I wouldn't classify Don Quixote as fantasy any more than I would classify Animal Farm the same. Allegorical satire is what they are.

>> No.969482

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. Best stand alone fantasy I've read by a fucking mile.

>> No.969492

Dracula

>> No.969498

>>969492
>Gothic Horror

>> No.969502

>>969498
>Hair-splitting pedantry

>> No.969504

>>969502
Dracula is not Fantasy.

>> No.969506

>>969504
YES IT IS VERY REAL (i'm typing this from my coffin on my black netbook)

>> No.969509

>>969506
Fantasy is a genera that is about (often fabricated) sagas, legends, mythologies and so on. While Dracula is not a legend unless you count Vlad Tepes who was not a vampire.

>> No.969512

>>969506

>Sent from my Coffin

Pfft. Coffins are so low-class.


-Sent from my iPhone, in a stone tomb sunk twenty feet below the lowest level of an abandoned castle, containing labyrinthine passageways, a number of mantraps, and illuminated by corpse candles, located in the Carpathian Foothills.

>> No.969515

>>969509
Vampirism is legendary, it has its roots in traditional folklore (like fantasy), and it involves elements of fantasy such as magic. Seriously. It is fantasy, it's just not like Tolkien.

>> No.969516

>>969509
You are wrong.

>> No.969517

>>969512
Hey Arc, not every vampire is as hung up on materialism as you are, dick.

>> No.969518

>>969509
>Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times"

>> No.969522

>>969512
How's the signal down there?

>> No.969526

>>969517

Jealousy ill-becomes you, Anonymous.

>> No.969528

I'm just saying that Vampires usually fall in to the category of horror and Dracula is clearly Gothich Horror.

>> No.969530

>>969526
I have eternity to work through my issues, dog.

>> No.969531

>>969528
gothic horror and fantasy are not mutually exclusive. Not to mention on the gay fantasy MUDs I like to play, you can usually be a vampire.

>> No.969532

>>969522

What -signal-?

I have a Wireless N+ router buried down here with me.

>> No.969534

>>969531
Gay in the self-depricating sense, not in the sense that there are homo-erotic themed MUDs (that i know of) Don't get excited, /lit/

>> No.969537

>>969531
Well there is nothing Fantasy-like with Dracula.

>> No.969541

The King of Elfland's Daughter

>> No.969544

>>969531
>>969534

To be fair, there are MUDs with homo-erotic content. Not that you or I would visit.

>> No.969674

Could we please stop bitching about the term Fantasy? Fantasy as it is generally understood is an advertising category meant to simplify the buying experience of customers by placing books of similar content and theme together for bone-headed consumers who might accidentally buy some Horror or hard literature or a technical manual if it had a fantasy-y word in the title.

Fantasy, n. Cod medieval / Legendary stuff set partly or wholly in a made up world. Possibly with Dragons and quests and all that shit. Not to be confused with Sci-Fi or horror (though it may contain elements of either or both), which are different advertising categories.

If the OP had meant Fantasy in a more general sense he'd have said.

Anyway, good stand alone Fantasy:
The Barbed Coil by JV Jones
Echo's Of The Great Song by David Gemmel
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson (probably the best thing on this list)
Owl Service - Alan Garner
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hugart

>> No.969711

>>969358
Raymond Feist Magician

yes there were sequels but it was stand alone at first.

>> No.969760
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969760

my vote.

>> No.969785

>>969674
Two of the books on your list don't fit your definition.

>> No.969826

>>969379
i loved this book. but not as much as the themes in don quixote. too bad g's travels are getting the jack black movie treatment. it's gonna suck lol