The big names in fantasy

First let me congratulate you on your publication. Whatever route you took, it wasn't easy.

Next, I'd caution against looking only at 'high profile' authors, or whatever the marketing departments are calling high profile this year. Look at classic writers beyond Tolkien, and the seminal writers for each decade from 1970 or so. An easier way to do this is to look at the blog run by Patrick Rothfuss, and the long lists he and his readers have generated.

Fashions in fantasy writing vary widely by decade, sub-genre, and even locale sold.

The map is not the empire

Congratulations on your publication!

Deciding who's a "big figure" is a rather subjective process. Important in terms of influence? In terms of critical commentary? In terms of sales?

My mental landscape tends to run to Sword & Sorcery writers. So I'd include Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Karl Edward Wagner, and Michael Moorcock, who produced his own study of the subject Wizardry & Wild Romance. Charles Saunders has sparked a small but ongoing set of Afro-centric fantasists. Each of these authors created a unique take on heroic fantasy.

Tolkien is a favorite of mine, but I avoid anybody with the label of "Tolkien imitator." That was actually a publishing model, still is I think. Just the same I avoid the many, many Conan pastiches. I wanted other epic fantasists' visions, so Eddison's Worm Ouroboros is high on my list as is Pratt's Well of the Unicorn.

I also tend to rope in guys who are less identified with "Fantasy" as a publishing genre, but have some bearing on what I like & what I want to write. So I'd include Clark Ashton Smith, HP Lovecraft (another theorist of note), Edgar Rice Burroughs (particularly his Barsoom novels), and H Rider Haggard. Fantasy is as wide as your imagination so why not read Elmer Kelton or Dashiell Hammett or Homer or the Volsungsaga.

In the end it sort of has to be what you like, what strikes a chord with you and gives your imagination wings.

My fav at the moment is Susanna Clarke. Waiting patiently for more Jonathan Strange and Co....

Big at the moment are the urban fantasists, such as Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, Rick Riordan, and on and on.

But ruling the charts at the moment remains GRRM. A Song of Ice and Fire isn't to my taste, but the first three books of the series have a very solid reputation and so are well worth your reading if you like gritty medieval fantasy.

Dave Hardy said:

I wanted other epic fantasists' visions, so Eddison's Worm Ouroboros is high on my list as is Pratt's Well of the Unicorn.

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Seconded. I guess it's a little slow compared to more recent books, but IIRC, it was published in the '30s or '40s so trends were way different then. And it is still worth a read, even for someone that likes faster paced novels, because it's just a fascinating and unique tale.

Someone on AW recommended the Amber series by Zelazny and it was quick to top my favorites list. I would also recommend anything (yes, anything) by Terry Pratchett.

efreysson said:

Well, you may have noticed that quick pacing is a must for anything I read. That, and strong characterization. Does Martin deliver on those two?

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You know, I've never read Martin. I may have to at some point, but my reading list is still pretty full.

Now for fast pace & strong characterization I might recommend The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson. A true classic, and frankly a bit overlooked. It's a dark, dark fantasy mash-up of Faerie & Norse legend. Brief too, certainly in comparison to the tendency toward trilogies, quartets, dozen+ series each volume thicker than the last. My tastes were formed by reading authors who came out of the pulps where short-stories & novellas flourished.

My present fascination is China Meiville. He completely turns storytelling on its head and yet is utterly captivating.

I'm not sure if his pacing is fast enough for you, but he's well worth the read.

efreysson said:

I do. And I'm afraid I've developed a strong aversion for urban fantasy, given how it seems to be dominated by urban romance.

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Have you tried some male authors / protags in UF (e.g., Jim Butcher, Anton Strout, etc)? Not all of the books in the genre are about bumping uglies, though the PNR/UF line has become rather blurred in a lot of cases.

As for high fantasy, I'm a big fan of C.S. Friedman and George R.R. Martin. If you'd like something lighter, you might give some of the old DragonLance books a try. Many of them were fantastic stories, fast paced, easy reads. Also, Stephen King wrote an excellent fantasy novel, THE EYES OF THE DRAGON, which you might want to give a whirl.

I second China Mielville. Perdido Street Station is a must read for all writers for many reasons.

No one has mentioned Pratchett yet... but if you want to understand fantasy it is sometimes good to study the parodies of it and I think Pratchett transcends parody in many ways.

Moorcock, Howard, Lieber etc are all essential also for slightly different takes on heroic fantasy (which is a different genre to the epic fantasy of Tolkien). David Gemmel is also worth a look. I'd suggest knights of Dark Renown as a good one to start and I am always fond of the Siptrassi series - both those set in Arthurian England and those set in post apocalyptic cowboy land.

Raymond E Feist's Magician is a classic also as is Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast.

I also

efreysson said:

I do. And I'm afraid I've developed a strong aversion for urban fantasy, given how it seems to be dominated by urban romance.

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You can partially blame romance-genre marketers for appropriating the label. Nonetheless, there are still a few traditional urban fantasies seeing publication, including some from AW members.

I'll go ahead and add my support for Perdido Street Station--but for the opposite reason others are mentioning it. I think it's a great example of how not to write. Any book so intensely polarizing is worth a read, even if you only make it a few pages in.

Joe Abercrombie is currently THE man in UK fantasy. Gritty, violent but absorbing.
I also like Juliet McKenna - top-class world-builder

areteus said:

No one has mentioned Pratchett yet... but if you want to understand fantasy it is sometimes good to study the parodies of it and I think Pratchett transcends parody in many ways.

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I did!

For sheer ability to weave atmosphere out of words, I'd recommend Tanith Lee and Patricia McKillip.

Lately, I've been impressed with Scott Lynch and Naomi Novik.

If you like dark - darker than Martin - try Barbara Hambly. Her magicians really put out some effort, and lots of people die.

On the opposite side, definitely not dark, David Eddings.

Duncable said:

I did!

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Did you? I must have missed it... sorry...

And second for Barbara Hambly too... though I would say that some of her work is better than others. I am a big fan of the Antryg Windrose novels and her Vampire novels (and also the Circle of the moon and Sisters of the Raven series) but some of her earlier stuff (The Walls of Air) I was less impressed with.

If you read the series of Game of Thrones, By GRR Martin, I suggest you not get too attached to any single character. Martin loves to pull you in and then rip out your heart. As to pacing, he can be a bit long winded because he involves so many characters. The stories are very complex, more so than a few characters could handle...IMHO

A second for the Dragon Lance series, everyone loves dragons and Kinders...

And let us not forget, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson. His main character is totally unlikeable but all the supporting character are winners, again, IMHO...

Enjoy and congrats on the sale...

I doubt many will agree with me here, but I like Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Terry Goodkind, and S.M. Stirling.

Some others I might suggest Peter V. Brett, Jennifer Fallon, Brent Weeks, and Jack Whyte.

Have you seen this stickied thread? Lots of recommendations there.

Because he hasn't been mentioned yet... P.J. Farmer.

(if sales of his books go up, one day we might get beautiful hardcover copies of the paperbacks, with lots of illustrations and bonus material. Yes, I am that desperate to upgrade my collection of his work)

If you want quick pacing and strong characterisation I'd say read some of Joe Abercrombie's work. Personally I think he's fantastic. I'd also recommend Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard sequence. Abercrombie and Lynch both excel at world-building, and at mixing a generous dose of humour into their stories.

pangalactic said:

I'd also recommend Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard sequence.

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I'd actually recommend waiting on Lynch, myself. He's a superb author and great with worldbuilding, but the series is supposed to be seven books long; he finished the second (which leaves you on a bit of a cliffhanger) and then had something of a life-breakdown. As a result, we've been waiting for /years/ for resolution to that cliffhanger; as much as I love his books, I'd recommend waiting until the third book (Republic of Thieves) has an actual confirmable honest-to-god release date rather than reading the first two now and joining the Impatiently Waiting Horde.

I quite like Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle, as well, though I find him an interesting writer less for his plotting and more for the rhythm and flow of his prose. The way I've described it to others is that Tolkien is /superb/ at world-building but his prose can be a bit painful, while Rothfuss' world-building is less impressive but his prose is extremely engaging. It's like the difference between a brilliant professor lecturing his class (where the professor may be droning a bit but the TOPIC is just so fascinating you find yourself still paying rapt attention), and someone sitting at a campfire telling stories (where the topic itself might not be that special, but the storyteller has kept your attention with his style and showmanship).

Rothfuss also takes the Marty Stu cliche and flips it around: the main character is a larger-than-life figure practically out of myth and legend to everyone else in the framing chapters (set well after the main narrative), but in the main narrative you get to hear the actual seeds of truth which grew into those overblown legends.

I would ALSO recommend N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy (the third and final book is coming out in the next few weeks), where the first book starts out in a kingdom that has maintained their power by literally enslaving the gods of their own pantheon (with the aid of that pantheon's ruling deity).

What's currently "big" isn't necessarily what you should read - the SFF community has the long-term memory of a pack of lemmings. They remember Tolkien, but everything not made into a film is a blur. And focus on fantasies that aren't simply Tolkien retreads.

So you might start with:

Roger Zelazny - Jack of Shadows
Jack Vance - The Dying Earth or Eyes of the Overworld
Ursula K. LeGuin - A Wizard of Earthsea
Philip Pullman - The Golden Compass
Emma Bull - The War for the Oaks
J. Gregory Keyes - Newton's Cannon


And congrats on the book deal!