I need fantasy other than Dragonlance

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Sure, I've read other fantasy than Dragonlance, but not much in the big picture. I love Dragonlance, and I would like similar type books (as in, elves, dwarves, dragons, etc), but something that is... better?

I've read a bunch of other things by Margaret Weiss, but how about other things from other authors? Any recommendations?

 

I really didn't like the LotR books... way too many descriptions... I got bored after he spent 15 pages describing the Eye of Sauron...

So nothing like Salvatore, or anything? I've heard a lot of people talk about him here.

 

saövatore has his god points, I prefer his FR stuff over his originals, although ther Spearwielder books are pretty decent.

there´s the Deathgate Cycle and the... Darklsword trilogy my Margaret Weiss and Tarcy Hickman of the DL fame that I definitely recommend..

mercedes Lackey is also a pretty good - especially her Valdemar books.

 

Thanks guys (so far).


Ara, I've already read the DeathGate Cycle (great!), and the Sovereign (sp) Stone Trilogy by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman... I'll look into Darksword.


Which of Salvatore's FR stuff should I read? He has quite a few of them...

 

Salvatore? Now, there are two - no, three - schools of thought about him.

Some think he's an utterly bad author whose books are endless strings of quite often pointless battles fought by characters that have personalities like wet socks and are on a clichee race with each other.

Others think that he rocks, because they can find themselves in the endless whining of his most prominent character.

The people in the third group mostly think that Salvatore produces nice little books which are easy and enjoyable to read (once) but are not worth talking about.

Okay, rant over. (Sorry, I try to restrain myself every time I read the name. Sometimes it does not work.)

If you really want to try him out, then get the Dark Elf Trilogy out of a library. His best work so far, it still falls IMO short even of Weis/Hickmans Dragonlance Chronicles that are no high point in literature, either.


I recommend Keith Bakers novels "City of Towers" and "The Shattered Land". The first one is not that well written, but his writing improved a lot in the second.
The setting has some nice twists compared to ordinary fantasy, but has all typical ingredients.

 

I'm in that group, but I also feel exactly the same way about Dragonlance books, so if you want stuff that is in the same vein as Dragonlance, then I guess Salvatore is your man.

 

Saber, how old are you? Yes, that's on topic, really, because some of the things I would recommend with no reservations are, ah, not exactly suitable for younger folks.

Anyway, if you think you can handle crucifixions and assorted other brutalities, check out Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Glen Cook's Black Company. Note that elves and dragons and such have little to no role in these stories.

If you like Salvatore, you'd probably like Michael Stackpole. I'm not a huge fan of his, but I used to be--at the same time I was a huge fan of Salvatore. If you like Dragonlance, you'll most likely enjoy Stackpole.

 

I'm 16 years of age, and I [believe that I] can take pretty much descriptions in books of anything. Of course, I could be wrong.


I haven't read Salvatore.


And I prefer fantasy that are similar in structure to Dragonlance... not similar to them, but I like reading about battles amongst different races... reading about humans gets boring.

Thanks so far.

 

If you go with Salvatore try the first book in the Dark Elf Trilogy called Homeland. In my opinion its his best book and its chronologically the beginning of his neverending Drizzt/Drow stuff.

It was actually written after the Icewind Dale trilogy but it is chronologically before Icewind Dale. That's a good thing, since I thought Icewind Dale was somewhat disappointing. Salvatore was a much better writer when he did the prequel Dark Elf Trilogy.

Homeland is a short read and you can decide for yourself whether Salvatore is worth pursuing. If you like it you're all set - the guy writes books like bunnies breed.


BTW age does generally matter. Your 16, and since you dislike Tolkien it is probable you'll dislike some of the more wordy authors like George Martin and Tad Williams. When I was 16 I thought Terry Brooks and his Shannara series was the height of modern fantasy. Lots of wars, very violent etc - you should check him out BTW, ElfStones of Shannara specifically. I read 3 or 4 of his books recently (now I'm 36) and I see the difference between Brooks and Martin or Williams very clearly. I'm guessing you love Salvatore now. Give it a try!

[ March 23, 2006, 17:13: Message edited by: ToddMcF2002 ]

 

Yeah, I'm going to chime in with a "listen to Todd McFarlane!"

Read Salvatore, read Stackpole, read Brooks. After you're done with them then read stuff like Martin and Erikson and Hobb and Cook and...yeah.

 

You could give Michael Moorcock's "Elric of Melnibone" series a try. There's six books and none of them are longer than 150 pages, iirc--perfect reading if you're a teenager with a short attention span (like I was).

Plus the lead character's sword is sentient and devours the souls of its victims! What more could you ask for...

If you can find it, there's also Harry Turtledove's "Misplaced Legion" series. Nothing in the way of elves/dwarves/whatever, but it's got a nice alternate fantasy setting and some good battles.

By all means read the Amber series. I was 16 when I first read it, and I've probably re-read it seven or eight times over the years (I'm 38 now).