Need an excellent Fantasy Book to read

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JamalChristophr

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I love Tolkien and enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles but I’d like to read or listen to some other fantasy book, but I don’t know what to pick.

I would like one that is not immoral or post-modern strange but I’m not sure I have the patience to go into what all I mean by that. From what I’ve heard about the Wheel of Time series, it seems a bit perverse to me. I’d like something good yet not perverse is one way of putting it.

Any ideas? I’ve never read Anne McCafrey…I’d prefer not to have sexual content in it either, by the way.

Thanks!!
 
try " Flight of the Armada" by Jay Michael Jones. The author is a friend of mine.
There many books in the series, but that’s the first one.
Happy reading!
 
I love The Wheel of Time series. I’m re-reading it again, right now, for about the 3rd time. I feel that the first five or six books of the series is the best, the rest kinda started going out in all kinds of directions leaving a lot of readers wondering how he was ever going to be able to bring a conclusion to the series. And, of course, the author died before he started writing the 12th and last book of the series. Before he died, the author and his wife searched for and found another author who would complete his series.

There may have been some “sex” scenes but as I recall, it was nothing too much to it. Very mild. Not a big part of the essence of the series that I love at all. I would read over it and move on to the rest of the story. I didn’t dawdle about it.

I love the series. I can’t imagine anyone not loving it. But I know we all have different taste and that’s all right. You may indeed find it too immoral or perverse or too sexual for you so just check it out before you decide.
 
JamalChristophr said:
I love Tolkien and enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles but I’d like to read or listen to some other fantasy book, but I don’t know what to pick.

I would like one that is not immoral or post-modern strange but I’m not sure I have the patience to go into what all I mean by that. From what I’ve heard about the Wheel of Time series, it seems a bit perverse to me. I’d like something good yet not perverse is one way of putting it.

Any ideas? I’ve never read Anne McCafrey…I’d prefer not to have sexual content in it either, by the way.

Thanks!!
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Earthsea, Earthsea, Earthsea!!! No sex, achingly beautiful writing, and thought-provoking thematic material. :bounce: bookdepository.com/Earthsea-Quartet-Wizard-Earthsea-Tombs-Atuan-Farthest-Shore-Tehanu-Ursula-Le-Guin/9780140348033

Anne McCaffrey is probably best known for her Pern novels, which are not Fantasy, but SciFi. I very much enjoyed her earlier Pern books (the Harper Hall trilogy and some of the Dragonriders series). The later books (co-written or perhaps ghost-written) with her son, Todd, are truly awful. :o

I don’t recommend Wheel of Time at all (sorry, marymmma :o). If you want to know more, Jamal, you can PM me and I’ll tell you why.
 
Thanks,

Morwenna, The EarthSea Trilogy is one of my favorite books actually. Someone hit me hard over the head so I can read all these books over again fresh. 😉

I was looking at this list without much luck…or strong inspiration but maybe Anne Mccaffrey.

Perhaps I’ll have to go with Augustine’s City of God, but I was desiring something lighter.

Anyone have a favorite from this list? Other than Tolkien?

goodreads.com/list/show/318.Fantasy_Classics
 
JamalChristophr said:
I love Tolkien and enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles but I’d like to read or listen to some other fantasy book, but I don’t know what to pick.

I would like one that is not immoral or post-modern strange but I’m not sure I have the patience to go into what all I mean by that. From what I’ve heard about the Wheel of Time series, it seems a bit perverse to me. I’d like something good yet not perverse is one way of putting it.

Any ideas? I’ve never read Anne McCafrey…I’d prefer not to have sexual content in it either, by the way.

Thanks!!
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I liked “On a Pale Horse” from the “Incarnations of Immortality” series. Can´t remember how much sexual content it had, though. It’s been a long time.
 
JamalChristophr said:
I love Tolkien and enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles but I’d like to read or listen to some other fantasy book, but I don’t know what to pick.

I would like one that is not immoral or post-modern strange but I’m not sure I have the patience to go into what all I mean by that. From what I’ve heard about the Wheel of Time series, it seems a bit perverse to me. I’d like something good yet not perverse is one way of putting it.

Any ideas? I’ve never read Anne McCafrey…I’d prefer not to have sexual content in it either, by the way.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
This one is just phenomenally great:

amazon.com/The-Anubis-Gates-Tim-Powers/dp/0441023827/

I can pretty much guarantee that you would become totally absorbed in this book!
 
Raymond Fiest

The Riftwar Saga.

I was an avid Fantasy book reader from Middle School through college. This is the best I ever read outside of the LOTR.
 
JamalChristophr said:
Thanks,

Morwenna, The EarthSea Trilogy is one of my favorite books actually. Someone hit me hard over the head so I can read all these books over again fresh. 😉
Click to expand...
Did you know that it’s no longer a Trilogy, but a Quintet? 😃 👍

Tehanu: amazon.com/Tehanu-The-Earthsea-Cycle-Book/dp/0689845332

The Other Wind: amazon.com/The-Other-Wind-Earthsea-Cycle/dp/0547773722

There is also a collection of short stories which flesh-out some of the history/backstory, as well as some written in ‘contemporary times’ in Earthsea: amazon.com/Tales-Earthsea-The-Cycle/dp/0547773706/
 
While not Science Fiction or Fantasy, the books by John D. MacDonald - especially his Travis Magee series are fabulous.
He is a master of character and plot development. They are the type of books that keep you up all night because you can’t put them down!
 
Read:
Lords of the Sky by Angus Wells

A well crafted, well written ethical story.

a
 
Try the Terry Pratchett novels. Like a cross word, but once you get your brain in gear, very clever. Also Lewis wrote more than the Narnia books. Check him out further.
 
Exiled_Child said:
This one is just phenomenally great:

amazon.com/The-Anubis-Gates-Tim-Powers/dp/0441023827/

I can pretty much guarantee that you would become totally absorbed in this book!
Click to expand...
I strongly second anything by Tim Powers, great fantasy writer (and a Catholic).

Have you read C.S. Lewis’s other fantasy series? (“Perelandra,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” and “That Hideous Strength”) His "The Great Divorce is more of a parable than fantasy (it’s about Heaven, Hell, and possibly Purgatory) but you’d probably enjoy it.

I’d also recommend:

Ray Bradbury - “Something Wicked This Way Comes” Classic fantasy about a mysterious, evil carnival that comes to a small Missouri town, through the eyes of two young boys.

Poul Anderson - “Operation Chaos” - In an alternative Earth where magic has developed more than science, we follow a likable Czech-American werewolf and his witch wife from fighting in World War II (fought in their world not against the Nazis, but an Islamic sect that is closer to ISIS) into the present time as they battle against elementals, dragons, djinnis, and finally the forces of Hell itself.

You might also like Anderson’s “Three Hearts and Three Lions,” about an American soldier fighting with the Danish underground who is knocked out in combat and awakens in a world where Charlemagne still rules amid a world of knights, dragons, and wizards, and his “Three Hearts and Three Lions” set in the elfland of old Norse legend. Both were published back in the 1950s and were very influential on modern fantasy authors.

Gene Wolfe - “Knight” and “Wizard” (published in a compendium as “The Wizard Knight”) - a young teen is transported to a world of knights and dragons, magically aged to an adult. Great adventure story with some deep stuff going on behind it.

Michael Flynn - “Eifelhelm” more SF than Fantasy, but great. An alien ship crash lands in Germany in 1349, and a Catholic priest makes contact.

Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven’s “Inferno” is quite good. A Sci-Fi writer dies by accident and wakes up in Hell, exactly as described by Dante. With the help of a mysterious stranger, he tries to escape. Just as Dante used his description of Hell to critique the famous people of his time, so do the authors. There’s a good sequel, too.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
Michael Flynn - “Eifelhelm” more SF than Fantasy, but great. An alien ship crash lands in Germany in 1349, and a Catholic priest makes contact.
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Yes! I second this! 👍

*Eifelheim *is such a beautiful, moving story, and full of Catholic themes, as well (I believe that Flynn is Catholic, himself).
 
Morwenna said:
Yes! I second this! 👍

*Eifelheim *is such a beautiful, moving story, and full of Catholic themes, as well (I believe that Flynn is Catholic, himself).
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Yep, Flynn is Catholic. As are Tim Price, Jerry Pournelle, and Gene Wolfe.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
I strongly second anything by Tim Powers, great fantasy writer (and a Catholic).

Have you read C.S. Lewis’s other fantasy series? (“Perelandra,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” and “That Hideous Strength”) His "The Great Divorce is more of a parable than fantasy (it’s about Heaven, Hell, and possibly Purgatory) but you’d probably enjoy it.

I’d also recommend:

Ray Bradbury - “Something Wicked This Way Comes” Classic fantasy about a mysterious, evil carnival that comes to a small Missouri town, through the eyes of two young boys.

Poul Anderson - “Operation Chaos” - In an alternative Earth where magic has developed more than science, we follow a likable Czech-American werewolf and his witch wife from fighting in World War II (fought in their world not against the Nazis, but an Islamic sect that is closer to ISIS) into the present time as they battle against elementals, dragons, djinnis, and finally the forces of Hell itself.

You might also like Anderson’s “Three Hearts and Three Lions,” about an American soldier fighting with the Danish underground who is knocked out in combat and awakens in a world where Charlemagne still rules amid a world of knights, dragons, and wizards, and his “Three Hearts and Three Lions” set in the elfland of old Norse legend. Both were published back in the 1950s and were very influential on modern fantasy authors.

Gene Wolfe - “Knight” and “Wizard” (published in a compendium as “The Wizard Knight”) - a young teen is transported to a world of knights and dragons, magically aged to an adult. Great adventure story with some deep stuff going on behind it.

Michael Flynn - “Eifelhelm” more SF than Fantasy, but great. An alien ship crash lands in Germany in 1349, and a Catholic priest makes contact.

Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven’s “Inferno” is quite good. A Sci-Fi writer dies by accident and wakes up in Hell, exactly as described by Dante. With the help of a mysterious stranger, he tries to escape. Just as Dante used his description of Hell to critique the famous people of his time, so do the authors. There’s a good sequel, too.
Click to expand...
Hey, that’s cool, Mike! I like your taste in books. Gene Wolfe I’ve read, and I’m probably going to pick up the Michael Flynn one, because it sounds intriguing. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis, is much better than his Narnia books, and really does deserve to be read more than it is, along with Mere Christianity and all his other brilliant Catholic titles.
 
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