Which Fantasy Book Series is Better?

[Superevie]

The top three fantasy book series of all time have been Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Which one is the best?

(If I forgot the one you like even better, just say what it is and why you like it )

 

[Kev1916]

Originally posted by Superevie
The top three fantasy book series of all time have been Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Which one is the best?

(If I forgot the one you like even better, just say what it is and why you like it )

Never read Harry Potter dont fancy it, up there with lOTR is Steven Donaldson the Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant.

 

[Nad]

Dragonlance

 

[zippy]

Lord of the Rings by far. Less preachy than CS Lewis and a far more grown up style of writing to Harry Potter. I have to say I like them all, but none compare to the Chronicles of Morgaine by Cherryh.

 

[Cimbri]

Diskworld

 

[wilbill]

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

 

[thestonesfan]

I thought the Chronicles of Narnia stunk.

What about the Chronicles of Prydain? Best younger person fantasy, no doubt.

 

[col]

You can include the Wheel of Time series when it completes - which doesnt look like any time this century.

 

[zippy]

The latest books can be summed up as

Nothing Happens
Anyone who dies comes back to life
the end

 

[SideshowBob]

I voted for the Lord of the Rings, but the Discworld-series are good too. But very different. I'm not sure if I would classify Harry Potter as pure fantasy though. It's so very diffrent from "normal" fantasy. That said - I love Harry Potter too. I've been listening to the audio books where Stephen Fry reads Harry Potter. They are simply great.

My brother has liked Eddings a lot. But I wouldn't know. I've only read The Redemption of Althalus, which I liked.

 

[thestonesfan]

Originally posted by col
You can include the Wheel of Time series when it completes - which doesnt look like any time this century.

No kidding. The first books were great, but he's just dragging it out toooooooo far.

 

[samildanach]

The Rift War series by Raymond E. Feist. Magician is an absolute classic. Its got orcs,elves, dwarves and pirates so it has to be good doesn't it?

 

[wilbill]

Originally posted by col
You can include the Wheel of Time series when it completes - which doesnt look like any time this century.

I think he's paid by the word.
I thought the latest book was a little better. At least he didn't introduce any new storylines.

 

[polymath]

LOTR - incomparable, no-one else has the depth of background or the erudition.

The first Dune is close.

Thomas Covenant ones - yes, OK, I see that, but a lot of the time Donaldson is just showing off with big words which add nothing. Hands up who knows the meaning of 'sapid', 'jerid' or 'clinquant' without looking at a dictionary? I remember the phrase 'hurled like a jerid'. What does that tell you? I used words like that when I was 16 and trying to show off. See, when something annoys me like that it really gets under my skin.

I've read the first two books of David Gemmel's Drenai series , Legend and King beyond the Gate (I think that's it) and looking forward to reading more.

Discworld is excellent.

Harry Potter is very good.

The Wizard of Earthsea ones I remember enjoying greatly.

Michael Moorcock's Von Bek (Eternal Champion series, is it?) books are good.

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny is real pageturning stuff, not fantastically written but you just can't stop reading. In that sense it's brilliant.

But J.R.R. Tolkien is the Don (pun intended).

 

[Simon Darkshade]

The three nominated are each different in style, type of fantasy, intended audience, and world. From LOTR through CoN to HP, there is an increasing amount of the 'real world' in them; LOTR is an old Midgard, Narnia has deep parallels to modern earth and features 'normal' children as heroes, and HP is set in modern earth, with some interesting characteristics. There are many different types of fantasy, and no one 'normal' fantasy.

All three are great in their own ways, as are many of those mentioned above - Jordan, Dragonlance, Prydain, LeGuin. My personal favourite is Gemmell's 'Jerusalem Man' trilogy.

 

[Lefty Scaevola]

LoTR. now if you want buckets of blood, gore, and darkness, try Elric of Menilbone.

 

[Akka]

Now, really...

Is there anything but LotR as a serious option ?

 

[eyrei]

The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. While LOTR is more original (it was first), The Wheel of Time is far more complex.

 

[samildanach]

Tolkeins erudition is offset by his turgid writing style IMO. I preferred Dune. Drenai Tales are fun - Gemmells stand alone stories are even better IMO. Knights of Dark Reknown and Winter Warriors are both excellent reads.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Certainly agree on that point. As are Morningstar, the Hawk Eternal, and various others.