Fantasy Books (re: swords & sandals, LOTR..)

[Alan Smithee]

Will there ever be a line of fantasy books that doesn't seem like another spin on LOTR?
I moderatly liked the Shannara books, and I'm currently trying to tackle the Thomas Covenant books.
These books are so heavy handed: they have maps in the front, usually a glossary in the back. They all (almost all) seemed to be about a quest or a prophecy. There is always the evil minions from the dark lands threatening the world. You have characters like: "Urik al-Greenblade of the High Council of the Druids of the Shattered Gnome Lands and son of King Amergon of the Kingdom of Silver Elves" or something unwielding. These books seem to be entertaining, but they all seem to be interchangible.
They all seem to be derivitive.

I mean, Tolkien essentially OWNS the genre.

[Shadowphile]

Destiny's Dark Child, first book of the Elmwood Chronicles.

It's hard to get and the sequel is still being written but it offers a refreshingly different perspective.  The good guys are bad guys.  

Prince Maximillian Constantine - bastard son of the king and secretly an unholy champion of the god of unnatural death

Jallyn Emberstone - self exiled noble from the Elmwood, brothel keeper and assassin for the church of the godess of violetn death

Theopolous Creed - sage, wizard and priest of the godess of failure and futility

Neflic - necromancer and favourite of the God of the dead


E-mail me if you want more details...
Mariah Meadowgold - poor little farm girl who happened to catch the attention of all four of the dark gods.  Guess who they sent to find her?

[Jim H]

Try the Dark Tower series.  It has some deliberate similarities (and a few outright references, as it takes place in a sort of modern world) to Tolkien, but is also quite fascinatingly original in others.  You might also try other dark fantasy books, though none spring to mind right now.

Also, you should keep in mind that Tolkien didn't CREATE a lot of the archtypes, naming conventions, etc, he just helped define them for the modern audience.  Much of it goes back to European mythology.  

Most pulp fantasy books, of course, do use Tolkien's take on the subject, but just keep in mind what came first.

[Derf]

I personally could get through the first Shannara book; it seemed like a direct rip-off of Tolkien, plot and all.

I have found some that do not particularly resemble Tolkien, including:

The Compleat Enchanter by Fletcher Platt and L. Sprague DeCamp - a series of novellas involving logic-based magic; they're fun without being necessarily comic.

Robert Asprin's Myth series - lots of good comedy and well-told stories.

John DeChancie's Castle series - Again, comical, but more complex story lines.

The Philosophical Strangler by Eric Flint (plus sequels) - More subtle comic fantasy, with a nicely complex story and good characters. The heroes are a professional strangler and his agent.

Peter David's series that starts with Sir Apropos of Nothing - Dark comedy is involved, mostly in the names of places, but the main character makes an excellent anti-hero.

Any of Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld series.

P.C. Hodgell's Godstalk and its sequels Dark of the Moon and Seeker's Mask

Anything by Peter S. Beagle (even The Last Unicorn is good, and I don't care for Unicorn stories. He's an astonishing writer.

Anything by Christopher Moore. His titles even sound like good B movies: The Lust Lizard of  Melancholy Cove, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Bloodsucking Fiends, etc.

I've also always enjoyed Jo Clayton's novels. She is more difficult to get into, but she usually ends up with a good story.

Is this too many recommendations?

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Discword is a definite must, they are the few books I actually buy in hard back the minute they become available.  Those are more satires of a fantasy world.  
 For non-traditional fantasy books the Dark Tower series tops the list.  Also Clive Barker's Imagica, A Short Sharp Shock by Kim Stanley Robinson, The Curse of Chalion (and sequels) by Lois Bujold, and the Briar King and sequels by Greg Keys.  I'm discovering David Gemmel's work. Only read a few but they are good.  I will say the later Shannara books get away from the Tolkien model a bit, and a lot in the third series.
Ed

[Gerry]

Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series is one of the best fantasy series I've read and owes very little to Tolkein.  It's more akin to Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series (also recommended) than Tolkein.

Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy is very distinct fantasy that I would strongly recommend.

One of the best fantasies I've ever read is Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood.  If you're into Old World myth and legendry, it's a must read IMO.

[Shadowphile]

And of course there is the Elric series (among others) by Michael Moorcock

[Bmeansgood]

I have always had a soft spot for the original Dragonlance series.  It isn't too deep or stuck on itself.  It is just good old fashioned dungeon crawling and monster crushing.  Of course it bears some similarities to Tolkien, but then again, if you squint really hard you could say the same thing about almost every sci fi movie since Star Wars.

[daveblackeye15]

I think for fantasy and action I'd recommend Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard. So far I believe there are three that have collections of his pulp stories. I've read at leat two and they're good reads lots of weapons, battles, and monsters.

[Shadowphile]

I was always a fan of Kothar but never could find more than just the first book.  I'm not even sure there were more.

And of course there were the Thieves World books....

[LilCerberus]

It's been a few years since I read anything worth mentioning, but this threads gotten me thinking about this parody of LOTR called Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon. It's a pretty thin book, but it has it's moments, or at least it did when I was about 12 or 13 when I read it. I suppose nowadays, I'd probably find most of the jokes a bit dry or cliched, but a few of the bawdy limerics stand out. One of my favorite character spoofs was when they replaced Tom Bombadil with Tim Benzedrine, a whacked out of his mind hippie who give Frito (Frodo) a bag of "magic beans".

[BoyScoutKevin]

If you want pre-Tolkien, then get "Tales Before Tolkien" / edited and with commentary by Douglas P. Andrews. I got mine at the local Minyard's, but you should be able to find it on-line or at a bookstore. Tolkien may be the best known fantasist out there, but American and British writers have been writing fantasy at least since 1812.

Read Tolkien's compatriot C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia." Tolkien influenced Lewis, and Lewis influenced Tolkien.

But, for me, there is nothing like a good quest. Not only are the action scenes almost unparalleled in the world of writing for their excitement and realism, but the characters are often  so well-rounded, it is almost impossible to tell the villains from the heroes.

These are not recommendations, per se, as I find my tastes usually varies greatly from others, but these are some of those I like.

Terry Brooks
Someone has already mentioned him and his "Shannara" series, but he has also written "The Magic Kingdom of Landover," which I have read, and "Word and Void," which I have not read.

Richard A. Knaak
He specializes in the world of the minotaurs. His latest . . .
"Minotaur Wars,"
which I am two thirds of the way through.

Dennis L. McKiernan
He has written any number of novels and short stories about Mithgar, but his latest his a series of seasonal novels. His latest, that I have read, . . .
"Once Upon a Winter's Night,"
whch is a re-working of the Scandinavian folk-tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon."

Douglas Niles
He has written many fantasy novels, but his latest, which I have only skimmed through . . .
"The Rise of Solamnia."

Chris Pierson
His latest is . . .
"Taladas Trilogy,"
but the one, before that is the one which I really like . . .
"The Kingpriest Trilogy.'
What happens when you get rid of all that is evil. Then you have only the neutral and the good. Then what happens? You get rid of all that is neutral. It is not evil, but it is not good. Then what happens? You get rid of half of the good. It is not evil or neutral, but it is not your good. Then what happens? The gods come and step on ya.

Margaret Weis
Someone has already mentioned her "Dragonlance," which she wrote with Tracy Hickman, but she has now struck out on her own, her latest being . . .
"Dark Disciple,"
which I am one third of the way through, but the one I really like is the one before that. The one that introduced the teenage character of Mina to the world of Krynn and the land of Ansalon.

Tracy Hickman
is now writing with his wife, Laura Hickman. His latest . . .
"Bronze Canticles,"
which I have only skimmed, but the style of writing seems to date back to an earlier time.

And these are just the few fantasy novels out there, by these authors, and many other authors unnamed.