What is your favorite fantasy book?

[Utger man]

artimis fowl rocks!

[Utger man]

Originally Posted by Kaiser Cat

The Harry Potter series.

i'm with you man

[Utger man]

Originally Posted by NilfheimPwns

I've read to many, Harry Potter, Deltora everything, Artemis Fowl (cross between Sci-fi and fantasy)

Spoiler Alert!

... Too many bookses precious, yes precious, too many bookses, and we is not in in enough, poor good Smeagol is not in enough bokses, no precious, poor good Smeaol.

yes! yes! yes!

[RichardD]

Gosh. Plenty in this thread that I wouldn't use as firelighters, let alone ever want to read again. The Lord of the Rings I've read 7 times, and I loathe it more with each reading. Eddings - tripe. Feist - fluffy, but insubstantial.

The measure of a book with me is whether I own it in hardcover. I *don't* buy hardcover books - too expensive, too bulky; easier to wait 6 months and buy the mass market paperback for a third of the cost. But a very select few books are ones that I've bought as paperbacks, read, re-read, and then bought in hardcover because the stories were that good.

My hardback shelf consists of A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin - fantastically gritty fantasy set in a period like the Wars of the Roses; shame he'll die and leave it unfinished);

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time - although he DID die ad leave it unfinished, he left enough notes that another author could come in and finish it off; it's a HUGE undertaking, yet I've read it from start to (current) finish several times now and it only gets better.

Peter F Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga books, both series - OK, this is science fiction in the grand, galaxy-spanning space opera vein, but it's really, really good. the conclusion to the first two-volume tale consisted of about 500 pages of non-stop, leaves you breathless action.

And that's the lot. I really enjoy David Gemmel's books - especially the Drenai tales. I re-read Legend last month (third or fourth time), but they are a bit like Saturday afternoon westerns - the good guys are good, the bad guys wear black hats to help you out, and he's reused certain plots and battles more than once (at last count he had FOUR renditions of what is effectively the Battle of Thermopylae - overwhelming force faced down by a numerically inferior band of heroes holding a narrow pass - including a fictionalised account of the actual battle itself in one series). So he gets no points for originality. But as light entertainment, it's hard to beat. And he had the good grace to die after effectively finishing one of his trilogies (although it wasn't actually very good). I don't own any of them in hardcover, though, which ought totell you that I think that they are good, worth reading, but not classics that must be preserved for all time.

I want to get Peter Brett's Warded Man series in hardcover next. The second book made me *cry* last night. I'm over 40; fantasy novels shouldn't be written so well that they reduce me to tears. Of course, the series could still go horribly off the boil, but so far he's packed an awful lot into two books that aren't very large.

[killercactus]

Reading through this thread makes me want to start LotR again. I just skip over all the singing, though.

The Harry Potter series pretty much blew me away with awesomeness. Deathly Hallows was easily my favorite, followed by Goblet of Fire.

[Fatboy Chubby]

I agree with RichardD that Peter F. Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained (aka The Commonwealth Saga) are excellent but Iain M. Banks, The Player of Games is my most beloved Science Fiction novel ever (hence my signature) SERIOUSLY, IT IS A MUST READ! and most of his other Culture books are also great.

But this thread is about Fantasy and although many before have mentioned great authors and books, Donaldson, Tolkein, McCaffery, et al. The stand out Fantasy story ever created and the best two books you will ever find (if you can) is...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

THE WAR OF POWERS and ISTU AWAKENED by Robert E. Vardeman and Victor Milan

I am a HUGE fan of both Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl. I have read Deltora Quest, and have just started reading LotR. My all time favorite, though is for sure the Eragon trilogy. Brisingr is probably the best in my opinion. In fact, the Eragon series was the inspiration for my profile name. Arya is probably the number 1 character in my mind.

[wdgrant]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

The first and second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever aka the White Gold Wielder by Stephen R Donaldson are probably my favorites.

He started a "Last Chronicles of" in 2004 but I have yet to check those out.

I need to go back and read this series again. I started it years ago, but quit because the main character starts out so unlikeable. I've heard good things, so I need to give it another shot.

I really loved the Chronicles and Legends trilogies from Dragonlance. Unfortunately, they don't hold up as well as I hoped. I read them recently and they weren't as good as I thought in high school. The first Drizzt series was good, but I thought they weakened after that.

My favorite is probably the Prydain stories from Lloyd Alexander. I loved them as a young boy and they still hold up well to a re-reading as an adult.

[Kahrma]

A few of my favorites have already been posted, but I don't think anyone has mentioned Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Great characters, well developed setting, and a unique magic "system".

Definitely worth checking out!

[JC McMinis]

Since getting into fantasy...um almost 30 years ago now. I have read alot. And besides Tolkien. I love R.A. Salvatore and his Drow creation. Extreme love of Robert E. Howard. Michael Moorcock's Elric saga was great as well. But as far as favourite I have a special place in my heart for the very 1st fantasy novel I read. 'Dragons of Autumn Twilight' by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

[screwDriver]

I haven't read that many fantasy-themed books but my faves would be Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hickman/Weis' the Dragonlance Chronicles (though I wasn't happy with the ending of the 3rd), Homer's Iliad and Odesseus, and a load of Greek Mythologies.

[Sport351]

My first fantasy books were the Redwall series. I'm a fan of Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter as well, and Discworld and the Inheritence Cycle are also ones I enjoy. My two favorite, though I can't narrow it down to a single book, would probably be from Salvatore's drow: The Legend of Drizzt and War of the Spider Queen.