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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Mar 2013 : 23:36:01
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There are many popular fantasy authors out there, most with their own unique style. I thought it would be interesting to share which fantasy authors you will probably never read. Feel free to share your reason(s) why.
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Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 13 Mar 2013 : 23:38:48
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| One for me would be Piers Anthony. Not really sure why. I guess the Xanth world just never appealed to me. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
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Rofocale
Acolyte
USA
23 Posts |
Posted - 13 Mar 2013 : 23:55:02
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He never did it for me, either. I'm also having trouble with Plague of Spells. I have tried to start it probably 3 or 4 times... I just can't get into it. I don't know why. So I probably won't read that series.
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4435 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 00:14:25
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| Tolkien, i find his writing is meandering and too descriptive of stuff I could care less about. |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 00:27:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Tolkien, i find his writing is meandering and too descriptive of stuff I could care less about.
Which book of Tolkien's did you try to read and how far did you get? |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
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9thChapter
Learned Scribe
Canada
110 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 00:33:41
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I second the Piers Anthony comment.
A few others I've thought about but am not sure as to whether or not I'd have the time or the interest - Pratchett (Discworld), Farland (Runelords) and Eddings (Malareon?).
Welcome anyone's thoughts!
Ps - great twist on the topic! |
Fantasy author of The Rithhek Cage series
http://darrentpatrick.com/the-rithhek-cage-trilogy/ |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31716 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 02:33:26
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I don't really think I can answer this with any affirmative degree of certainty, as there aren't usually any authors whose works I won't read at least once.
I need to develop a taste for a particular author's style, before I determine whether or not I'll read any further works by them. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 02:52:15
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quote:
Originally posted by 9thChapter
I second the Piers Anthony comment.
A few others I've thought about but am not sure as to whether or not I'd have the time or the interest - Pratchett (Discworld), Farland (Runelords) and Eddings (Malareon?).
Welcome anyone's thoughts!
Ps - great twist on the topic!
I too haven't read any Pratchett and probably won't. Satiric fantasy, if that's the sub-genre he writes in, doesn't appeal to me.
I have not read any Eddings to date, but do plan on trying his Belgariad series this year. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
Edited by - Artemas Entreri on 14 Mar 2013 02:53:59 |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 03:06:07
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| Phil Athans, because I read the novelization of Baldur's Gate, and found it abysmal. And since I am not lacking in novels that I know I want to read, I have not felt compelled to read any of his later works to see if he got any better. George R. R. Martin, because I hear that there is a lot of sexual content in his novels. Robert Jordan because while he is a n amazing world-builder, he totally lost track of his own plot in book 8 and 10 (I do intend to finish the series starting up where Sanderson picked it up at some point when I find time). Most scifi authors because I prefer fantasy (Star Wars falls under fantasy in my categorization). Though I don't know why, I too have never felt the desire to read Piers Anthony. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
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* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 04:40:03
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| I try hard not to disparage my contemporaries' work. But since he's been gone for quite a while, I guess it will do no harm to admit that I wasn't able to make it through E. R. Eddison's alleged classic The Worm Ouroboros. Fairly early in the novel, which I was not enjoying up to that point anyway, there's a description of a bed that goes on for four pages in the edition I was reading. I hit that and said, "I'm done." |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 04:40:19
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Most of the authors I won't read are those that I have read before, but found myself disliking.
I read a couple of David Drake books, for example, and didn't care for them enough to be interested in more. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Yoss
Learned Scribe
USA
259 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 10:04:09
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quote:
Originally posted by 9thChapter
I second the Piers Anthony comment.
A few others I've thought about but am not sure as to whether or not I'd have the time or the interest - Pratchett (Discworld), Farland (Runelords) and Eddings (Malareon?).
Welcome anyone's thoughts!
Ps - great twist on the topic!
Thirded.
Also same with Pratchett. So many books, such a lack of interest. |
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Thauranil
Master of Realmslore
India
1591 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 11:51:07
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| I dont read any books by Teery Brooks. I tried to read one but it just failed to grip me, this was especially disappointing considering all the hype about him. |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 15:30:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Thauranil
I dont read any books by Teery Brooks. I tried to read one but it just failed to grip me, this was especially disappointing considering all the hype about him.
IMO, Terry Brooks is one of those that has gotten better over time. I actually own and love his entire Shannara series, but some are an easier read than others. If you ever decide that you want to give him another try (not that you need to), I would suggest starting with either Elfstones of Shannara or Wishsong of Shannara. However, I loathed the couple of books of his Magic Kingdom of Landover series that I read.
Another for my list is Ted Dekker. I was given some of his novels by a family member who knew I enjoyed Stephen R. Lawhead's writing (a renowned Christian medieval historical ficton/fantasy author), but I absolutely could not stand Dekker's writing.
And Stephen R. Donaldson, while an amazing writer, his Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and Mordant's Need series had such a depressing note that I can't go back and read more of his writing (for some people depressing works are cathartic, they cause me to go into a depressed funk). This actually makes me sad (but not depressed) since he finished out the Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series with a third trilogy. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 16:20:07
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Sword of Shannara was a fine read, at least back when I was actually a "young reader" ... long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. All the other Shannara books I've partially read are, IMHO, nothing but bestseller pulpjunk I think can fare much better without. Just another too-famous author who should've contentedly constrained himself as a one-hit-wonder.
@Hawkins ... the impression I gained from reading GRRM's more recent works is not that they're overly sexual as much as they're basically other-genre experiments which rather shamelessly emulate other authors. A book like Fevre Dream might as well just have Anne Rice's name on the cover. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 14 Mar 2013 16:23:02 |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 17:23:01
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| Didn't Fevre Dream come out before Anne Rice was a big deal? |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 17:29:15
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@Hawkins: There is indeed sexual content in Martin's books, as there is in most fantasy--it's just that his books have it more "on-stage" than others do. It's still quite muted (with fade to black being generally the rule), though much discussed by the characters, simply because sex and erotic desire is as powerful a force in that world as it is in our own. I think you probably have no need to be concerned, but obviously if you read something that makes you uncomfortable, don't read more of it. 
@Ayrik: While I understand the assessment of GRRM, I'm not sure I agree. I'm not claiming all of his work is necessarily original/ground-breaking, but rather that that's ok. It is a simple fact of all writing that good writers borrow, great writers steal. And I consider it a gold start for Martin that he experiments, pushes boundaries, and brings more things to the genre rather than relying on rote tropes.
As for the OP, I plead the fifth. We all have our own tastes and prejudices.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 18:07:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
Sword of Shannara was a fine read, at least back when I was actually a "young reader" ... long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. All the other Shannara books I've partially read are, IMHO, nothing but bestseller pulpjunk I think can fare much better without. Just another too-famous author who should've contentedly constrained himself as a one-hit-wonder.
I liked Sword of Shannara when I first read it, though even then, at 13 or 14, it bugged me that all of the characters managed to jump to exactly the wrong conclusion after hearing the shade of Bremen's prophecy.
Later, though, I read The Lord of the Rings, and realized that Sword of Shannara is basically the same tale with the serial numbers filed off.
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
@Hawkins ... the impression I gained from reading GRRM's more recent works is not that they're overly sexual as much as they're basically other-genre experiments which rather shamelessly emulate other authors. A book like Fevre Dream might as well just have Anne Rice's name on the cover.
All I've read by Martin is A Song of Ice and Fire, and while those books do contain a fair amount of sex, there is a lot more politics, warfare, and murder going on in those books. Particularly the latter, and especially to characters I like. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 14 Mar 2013 18:28:50 |
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Aulduron
Learned Scribe
USA
343 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 20:24:32
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| I never could make it through Piers Anthony or Ann McAffrey. |
"Those with talent become wizards, Those without talent spend their lives praying for it"
-Procopio Septus |
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LastStand
Learned Scribe
130 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 21:04:20
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
@Hawkins: There is indeed sexual content in Martin's books, as there is in most fantasy--it's just that his books have it more "on-stage" than others do. It's still quite muted (with fade to black being generally the rule), though much discussed by the characters, simply because sex and erotic desire is as powerful a force in that world as it is in our own. I think you probably have no need to be concerned, but obviously if you read something that makes you uncomfortable, don't read more of it.
@Ayrik: While I understand the assessment of GRRM, I'm not sure I agree. I'm not claiming all of his work is necessarily original/ground-breaking, but rather that that's ok. It is a simple fact of all writing that good writers borrow, great writers steal. And I consider it a gold start for Martin that he experiments, pushes boundaries, and brings more things to the genre rather than relying on rote tropes.
As for the OP, I plead the fifth. We all have our own tastes and prejudices.
Cheers
GRRM is very reminicent of the Memory, sorrow and Thorn novels of Tad Williams. Lots of foreshadowing, methaphors and omens - with red comets and all. GRRM does a very good job of making it's own though.
There are loads of authors I steer clear off. I'll name them as I remember them. Two that comes to mind at the moment are Stephen R. Donaldson and Terry Goodkind. |
"Don't. The battlegrounds that you and I have returned from alive are too different."
~ Claymore ch106 |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 00:17:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I try hard not to disparage my contemporaries' work. But since he's been gone for quite a while, I guess it will do no harm to admit that I wasn't able to make it through E. R. Eddison's alleged classic The Worm Ouroboros. Fairly early in the novel, which I was not enjoying up to that point anyway, there's a description of a bed that goes on for four pages in the edition I was reading. I hit that and said, "I'm done."
Wow! This is on my "To Read" list and I am now wondering if I will enjoy it at all. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 00:20:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Aulduron
I never could make it through Piers Anthony or Ann McAffrey.
I will second Ann McAffrey! |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31716 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 01:17:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
Didn't Fevre Dream come out before Anne Rice was a big deal?
Fevre Dream was released around 1982, as I recall. The Rice Phenomena really didn't "hit it big" until about the 1990's. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 02:38:05
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
Didn't Fevre Dream come out before Anne Rice was a big deal?
Fevre Dream was released around 1982, as I recall. The Rice Phenomena really didn't "hit it big" until about the 1990's.
Interview With the Vampire was published in the late 70's. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 03:07:51
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I won't read Eragon or those after it...ever.
I also found the early works of Terry Brooks an almost complete rip-off of Middle-Earth...I haven't read anything of that since.
As much as I love Dragonlance, I've found it very hard (though not impossible) to read anything after Dragon's of Summer Flame because I was just so very angry.
I most likely will never read any of the Golarion novels; not because I don't think they are good...but because I've too little money to invest in another damnable cool world of fantasy. 
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The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31716 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 04:08:35
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quote:
Originally posted by Entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
Didn't Fevre Dream come out before Anne Rice was a big deal?
Fevre Dream was released around 1982, as I recall. The Rice Phenomena really didn't "hit it big" until about the 1990's.
Interview With the Vampire was published in the late 70's.
Yes. But I think that, in terms of her popularity, which is what I suspect Richard was asking when he said "before Anne Rice was a big deal," he meant when her works were really gaining hype in popular culture. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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9thChapter
Learned Scribe
Canada
110 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 08:15:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Aulduron
I never could make it through Piers Anthony or Ann McAffrey.
I will second Ann McAffrey!
Although I have really tried (two books were a struggle)...thirded. |
Fantasy author of The Rithhek Cage series
http://darrentpatrick.com/the-rithhek-cage-trilogy/ |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 10:12:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I try hard not to disparage my contemporaries' work. But since he's been gone for quite a while, I guess it will do no harm to admit that I wasn't able to make it through E. R. Eddison's alleged classic The Worm Ouroboros. Fairly early in the novel, which I was not enjoying up to that point anyway, there's a description of a bed that goes on for four pages in the edition I was reading. I hit that and said, "I'm done."
Wow! This is on my "To Read" list and I am now wondering if I will enjoy it at all.
I personally love it (among my all time favourites in the genre)and recommend it if you like older literature with a strong decadent poetic tone. If realism and character development (a term I actually have started to dislike)is your thing, you will most likely be bored to death. Its probably the only book mentioned here I actually like.
As to who I am not reading? More or less no one living except for Vance and Tim Powers. edit: I managed to forget Moorcock of course, but I don't think I have read any of the novels he has written in the last thirty years. |
No Canon, more stories, more Realms. |
Edited by - Jorkens on 15 Mar 2013 12:07:59 |
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Marc
Senior Scribe
657 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 11:22:18
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| Wheel of Time and Dance of Dragons - I hear it's not worth the time. |
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ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author
2396 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 12:26:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
I most likely will never read any of the Golarion novels; not because I don't think they are good...but because I've too little money to invest in another damnable cool world of fantasy.
You may want to make an exception for Dave Gross's novels. Queen of Thorns was one of the most entertaining fantasy adventures I've read in the last ten years. There are two previous novels about the main characters (Varian Jeggare, a half-elf arisocrat, and Radovan, his tiefling bodyguard): Prince of Wolves and Master of Demons. If you want to learn a bit about these characters for free, check out the Webfiction page on the Paizo site. There are 2 or 3 serial novella featuring The Boys. :) |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2013 : 12:49:25
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quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
I most likely will never read any of the Golarion novels; not because I don't think they are good...but because I've too little money to invest in another damnable cool world of fantasy.
You may want to make an exception for Dave Gross's novels. Queen of Thorns was one of the most entertaining fantasy adventures I've read in the last ten years. There are two previous novels about the main characters (Varian Jeggare, a half-elf arisocrat, and Radovan, his tiefling bodyguard): Prince of Wolves and Master of Demons. If you want to learn a bit about these characters for free, check out the Webfiction page on the Paizo site. There are 2 or 3 serial novella featuring The Boys. :)
SEE! Elaine is trying to lure me in! Its a conspiracy!
Actually, I'm sure all the books are awesome...budget willing, I'll probably get drawn in!  |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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What AREN'T You Reading?
