The Name of the Wind and other Very good new Fantasy books

[Bells]

So, i'm really enjoying The Name of the Wind, i got to read it after i finished The Left Hand of God, and they are so polar opposites that it felt almost ironic how much the stories had common things and yet were completely different.

And yet, as i read TNotW i feel completely drawn into Kvothe's story. The book is fun to read, easy to get into and very expansive. I haven't finnished yet and i'm still waiting for volume 2 to get released over here (i mean, i could just get it in English, but then i wouldn't be able to share it with someone... and that kinda bothers me) but i really do love this book, it's characters and how it manages to be full and simple at the same time.

Totally worth it!

So, Many new Fantasy series have come to light since the days of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, some good, some not so good... what you guys think of the state of the genre now? What about the new tales of Sword and Magic that are being writen today? C'mon, share some gems!

[rpgdemon]

The Name of the Wind was awesome, I read it earlier this summer and loved it.

The sequel was kind of disappointing to me, just because of a certain bit, right in the middle. Everything else was just as excellent as The Name of the Wind. It was like, okay, pages or randomly doing nothing and having sex with everything and blughhhhhh no characters that I care about and stupid ninja town was aughhaghaghhgh. It was like the book decided, "Shit, lezt be Eragon. He learned elfliness, I'll learn Ninjaliness." I loved the sequel except for that bit in the middle, starting right when Kvothe met Ferdinand. (I AM AWARE THAT IS NOT HER NAME.)

[Kerensky287]

Name of the Wind was fucking fantastic.

Wise Man's Fear was also fucking fantastic, with the exception (to some extent) of the Village of Sexy Ninjas (TM).

Unlike rpgdemon, I felt that the bit with Felurian was fine. The Fey are utterly alien to humans, I get that. It was cool to hear about the bizarro-realm too. What I didn't like was what it meant for Kvothe's character - most of the story so far has been him gradually gathering the techniques he needs to master to become the legend we now know him to be. But the Felurian section apparently means "Primal Sexomancy," as Penny Arcade put it, is a technique Kvothe needs to be a master of. I mean, look at sympathy, sygaldry, bardic music... all that stuff, once he learns it, becomes a major part of his repertoire. And sure enough, the moment he learns Sexomancy, he porks EVERYONE.

Except Denna. He cannot pork Denna.

The Adem were necessary because he had to learn to fight, and he had to learn some discipline. That was pretty cool. All the stuff that went with that - the Rocky-esque montages - were completely necessary.

But here's what ruined the Adem for me: "Man-mothers." It was bad enough that Kvothe had to screw not one, but TWO of his ninja masters. After his second conquest, we learn that the Adem spend so much time having sex that they no longer connect it to pregnancy. THEY LITERALLY THINK WOMEN JUST RIPEN AND GIVE BIRTH ONCE IN A WHILE.

The section itself was necessary. All sex-related aspects of it were not. You could cut them out entirely and the overarching plot wouldn't change a bit. With those bits present, Ademre is a microcosm of fridge-horror.

If sex is seen as purely recreational and utterly consequence-free, then how often will a mother or sister introduce the youngest male in the family to "sexplay" and then, whoops, "ripen" and give birth to a kid with three eyes? How often does a 9-year-old girl see some adults going at it, ask her father about it, and then proceed to get a firsthand introduction?


EDIT: Also, is this thread just about Fantasy, or about "speculative fiction" in general? Like, I just started re-reading the Ciaphas Cain series of Warhammer 40k novels, and they're fucking awesome, but they're firmly in the sci-fi camp rather than fantasy.

[Bells]

Originally Posted by Kerensky287

EDIT: Also, is this thread just about Fantasy, or about "speculative fiction" in general? Like, I just started re-reading the Ciaphas Cain series of Warhammer 40k novels, and they're fucking awesome, but they're firmly in the sci-fi camp rather than fantasy.

i would say it applies just fine. I myself am glossing over a few Gundam Novels (not the Graphical Novels, the actual books) i want to have at least one on my shelf, but they only exist in English, so i guess that will have to do!

And aw man, i can't read those Spoilers... i'm on the last 100 pages of the first book, and i think Denna is one of the most fun and delightfull Female characters i ever got to read, any chapter with her around just breezes by. Actually, funny enough (maybe because we read the book as if spoken by Kvothe's eyes) all female characters in this book are very expressive and compeling, even the minor ones.

[tacticslion]

Ironically, due to my wonderful BABY!, and time in the hospital, I've gotten the chance to read recently, although not most of these listed.

David GemmelWelp, I don't know if you'd consider him "new" or not (hint: he's not), but:
David Gemmel.

Pretty much anything, that I've ever read by him. Seriously. Get yourselves some of that! He's a fantastic author. I supposed I'd start with the Druss the Legend saga, as that's the one that made him "famous", at least to me. Some of his stuff is better than others, but over-all, even his "lows" are very "highs". He wields very realistic fantasy.

Jim C. HinesAlso, Jim C. Hines with his Jig the Goblin series (starting with Goblin Quest) is amazing. He's got a fairytale princess series (beginning with The Stepsister's Scheme, I think the name was) that's also excellent, but I'd start with Jig as that one is conclusively wrapped up (which is a shame, as it's an excellent world). In any event, all of Hines' books end - you don't need to continue the story, as it wraps itself neatly by the finish of the book. It's just that the fairytale ones are still going (you could totally stop at the end of any of the first three, however, an never know you're missing anything, save that I told you that just now).


Dave Barry and Ridley PearsonDave Barry and Ridley Pearson did a great service to Peter Pan with their co-authored Peter and the Star Catchers. The first two books are great, though the first is better by far. I haven't gotten to the third, yet and don't know when I will. I believe, however, that there are now four (and at least two "small" books, for kids*, featuring the lost boys, I think).

C. S. FriedmanFinally, C. S. Friedman is someone I hold in high regard and unilaterally recommend her stuff, probably the Coldfire Trilogy, as the Magister Trilogy is not yet completed, and while In Conquest Born is fantastic, it's sequel The Wilding - while still good - isn't up to the same quality. The one negative about the latter two is their overly-sexual nature, especially the second one (which, combined with it's slight dip in quality, makes it disappointing, even if it's much better than many other works I've read). The last two are also "sci-fi" rather than "fantasy", as are The Madness Season and This Alien Shore which are also fantastic - actually, they're better than either In Conquest Born or The Wildling, so I'd recommend those if you're looking for great stand-alones.

*And by "for kids", I suspect it's for kids in the same way that the other books are for young teens: their short. Otherwise, I think it's good reading.

[Magus]

My favorite fantasy author at this time is Guy Gavriel Kay, who doesn't necessarily write series but most of his books seem to be set in the same fictional world but in different geographical locations and times, with different characters but similar themes of political and religious conflict and certain elements (such as the Jaddite and Asharite religions, names of countries, etc.). They are usually based around a fantasy analog of a historical place and period, such as Moorish Spain (The Lions of Al-Rassan), the Vikings of the dark ages (The Last Light of the Sun), or Byzantium (the two-part Sailing to Sarantium/Lord of Emperors). The connections are fairly obvious but creating a fantasy world allows Kay to make up his own plot developments and incorporate magic while still having a recognizable cultural base to work from. His most recent novel that I am reading is Under Heaven, which is based off of ancient China (Kitai) and involves the main character, son of a famous general and former student at the Kanlin monastery on Stone Drum Mountain, being given a dangerous, valuable gift from a foreign dignitary that makes him a target in the political gauntlet of the power structure of Kitai.

My favorite novel is probably the first of his I read, A Song for Arbonne, which is based around the religious wars of Europe. Blaise, a knight of Gorhaut, originally just a mercenary in the very alien, very feminine (to his culture; in reality they simply treat women like people) southern Arbonne, eventually falls in love with the country and decides to defend it against his own country, and his own father, when they attack from the north.

My second favorite, and probably the best example of Kay's artistry, is Tigana. It's a beautiful novel. It's difficult to describe but it involves two overlapping stories: one of the rebels attempting to free their peninsula from two foreign sorcerers who are in conflict with one another, and the story of one woman dealing with her conflicting feelings for the man who destroyed her people. Unlike so many other fantasy novels, though, this one and his other novels really feel like they're striving to be literature.

Also, I just enjoy the endings. Kay has a mastery of bringing together a story in such a climactic, surprising way, always perfectly foreshadowed in retrospect, that the endings of Tigana or A Song for Arbonne just blew me away. He really demonstrates what you can accomplish with a strong singular vision for a single novel, especially when combined with a strong ability for beautiful writing, strong character development, and deep love for the historical facts behind your narrative.

[Solid Snake]

My problem is that after reading A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm midway through Dance with Dragons as we speak) and obsessing a fair deal over it I've realized I can't get back into more fantastical, stereotypical, "good always defeats evil the hero's journey you know he's going to win" fantasy.

It's like George R.R. Martin has invented a new type of fantasy fiction, and it is now my craving.

[Kerensky287]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

My problem is that after reading A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm midway through Dance with Dragons as we speak) and obsessing a fair deal over it I've realized I can't get back into more fantastical, stereotypical, "good always defeats evil the hero's journey you know he's going to win" fantasy.

Are you using this as an excuse not to read Name of the Wind?

Because if so, you obviously have not read Name of the Wind.

[RickZarber]

Martin didn't invent it, he just popularized it.

Go pick up the anthology Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery.

That book has turned me on to at least five writers in the GRRM vein whose work I'm now (slowly) devouring. Plus it contains shorts from two of my favorite "new" authors, one of which, In the Stacks, is worth the price of the whole book alone.

It also contains a fascinating and well written essay on the history of Sword and Sorcery, including the differences between it and High Fantasy.

Seriously. All of you. Read this book. If you don't come away with at least two new authors to follow, I'd be incredibly surprised.


@Magus: Interesting sidenote; Kay was also given a special thanks by Christopher Tolkien for his assistance in helping to edit The Silmarillion.


In any case, three authors who are my favorite, and whose work I will always, always buy:

• Matthew Woodring Stover
• Scott Lynch
• Joe Abercrombie

[Magus]

What you are probably looking for Snake is fantasy dealing with political maneuvering, deep characterization, non-traditional structures and so on. You'll find that in Kay's novels, also in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Erikson, The Prince of Nothing by Bakker, Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust, and some other good series (Abercrombie's a good pick!). Or if you want to meet at the cross section of video games and books, Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber.

And yes, Kay's love of the Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, etc. really come across in his Fionavar trilogy, his first three books, which is very much a traditional epic fantasy rather than the political/historical fantasies that followed.

EDIT: I can recommend that Swords & Dark Magic anthology not based on reading it but based entirely on the fact that I have read something like half the authors in my Black Gate yearly anthology and they were all quite awesome, though they aren't really political fantasy they are probably the best sword and sorcery or epic fantasy authors of the modern era, such as James Enge, Stephen Erikson. Plus a new story by Michael Moorcock, what's not to love? I'm probably going to buy it now, too!