SBD: drive by

[jmc_bks]

It's Monday, and the call for the SBD has been issued.  So it's time to gush or snark or whatever verb you like about romance.   

My topic today isn't about romance so much.  Over the weekend I read a fantasy novel that I loved.  I loved it so much that I want to hug it close and call it Precioussss.  Okay, maybe not because that's a little creepy.  But I really ought to write down what I loved so much, like a review.  Duh.   Except I can't really think of anything coherent to say, other than:  Go.  Buy.  Now.   I really enjoy Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series, but I think maybe her Hurog duology is better.

And my weekend long squee about Hurog got me thinking -- why don't I read more straight fantasy?  I mean, I love Bujold's Chalion and Sharing Knife series.  And Novik's Temeraire series.  So why I don't I read it more?  Well, because a lot of the classic fantasy I read as a teenager didn't thrill me.  (Sorry, couldn't finish Tolkein's LotR series.)  And the fantasy that I tried in the past either wasn't so good or didn't really speak to me.  Frankly, until I started getting recs online, fantasy really felt  like it was all about a Boy and His Dragon.  And I mean that literally, "dragon" is not a euphemism for a body part or a wank or an orgasm.  Although, now that I think about it, I  like the idea of "dragon" as the code word for orgasm.  Can you imagine a heroine in an erotic romance gasping that the dragon was almost there?  *snorts*  I know, too much, right?  

Back to the Boy and His Dragon -- until relatively recently, all the fantasy I'd read seemed really male-centric; the women were pretty interchangable and disposable.  Not very interesting to me, frankly.  But I'm sure there's more good stuff out there.  Anybody got recommendations for me?

Juliet Marillier is on the TBR list, as is Charles de Lint.  I like Catherine Asaro and Jim Butcher.  I loved War for the Oaks.  I don't care for Mercedes Lackey or Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Comments

[tinyluv.livejournal.com]

The Daughter of the Forest series by Marillier is incredibly moving. Hmm. Must think on this. . . .

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

The first book is TBR. I pick it up every so often, read the back, then return it to the TBR pile.

[(Anonymous)]

Nominating the completely obvious - do you read Pratchett? He's my autobuy fantasy author.
I tried a book by Charles de Lint a couple of months ago, because he gets great reviews, but I couldn't get into him. Don't know if I started at the wrong place in the series, but I suspect it just wasn't my thing. Dianne Wynne Jones? I read a couple of hers lately that I liked, just not enough to start chasing down her backlist.
Neil Gaiman? Would you call him fantasy? I buy him, because I love his writing to bits - yet somehow I don't love the books themselves.

I read a lot as a teenager - Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Robin McKinley - all those sorts of people - but I don't know that I'd recommend them now. (Only read LoTR once - and that was because I was in bed with flu - but I reread The Hobbit so many times.)


Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I have Prachett TBR but haven't pulled him out. Everyone loves him so much that I'm a bit intimidated. I liked Gaiman's American Gods but would not call myself a fan necessarily.

I think of Dianne Wynne Jones as a children's book author (not YA), maybe because of the books I've seen on the shelf at the library.

Oh, Robin McKinley. Her Beauty is one of my favorite books.

[(Anonymous)]

Just in case no-one has said, don't start from the beginning with Pratchett - the series starts as almost a pastiche of fantasy & it takes a couple of books to find it's feet. (And, personally, I don't like his YA books as much as the rest.)
I think 'Guards, Guards' is a good place to start, because it's mid-series, but with a new set of characters.
It's a book about a 6ft dwarf - he's adopted - whose father sends him down from the mountains to join the City Watch - a shambolic police force that no longer does anything, headed by an alcoholic captain. And then the city is attacked by a dragon...
If you enjoy it, there's then a sub-series of books about the Watch, which gradually becomes a serious law-enforcement agency. Both Carrot (the dwarf) and especially Vimes (head of the Watch) are compelling characters for such funny books.
Not everyone likes them - my mum can't see the point. But against that, I can't think of any other books - apart from Harry Potter - that my husband, my best friend and I would all read. So they must have fairly broad appeal.

They're one of my real comfort reads. I'm still gutted that he's got Alzheimers. Seems unfair that someone that funny and insightful should suffer that way.

Marianne McA

[chikkorae.livejournal.com]

Wow, most of the authors you mentioned are among my favorites! I like Mercy Thompson, but love C.E. Murphy's Walker Papers better. They're also urban fantasy, but more mythological. I think the first in the series is Urban Shaman. Kim Harrison has a great urban fantasy series as well. If you read science fiction as well as fantasy, both Elizabeth Moon (Vatta's War series, or Serrano Legacy) and Tanya Huff (Confederation novels) write strong female leads. I very highly recommend Melanie Rawn's Exiles fantasy series, starting with The Ruins of Ambrai.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendations! I think I read Urban Shaman back when it was first released; liked it but didn't love it, at least not enough to remember to check out the following books. Maybe I ought to revisit. Tried Kim Harrison but wasn't wowwed.

[tinyluv.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time with Murphy's books. I can never quite follow everything that is going on. Harrison never thrilled me.

I did like robin mckinley's sunshine. how about the queen of attolia (did I spell that right). It's a YA book but has gotten alot of positive reviews.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I liked Queen of Attolia. And the follow up. Eugenides reminds me of Miles Vorkosigan (one of my favorite fictional characters ever) in a lot of ways.

Lynn Flewelling

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,

I generally lurk, but I could resist recommending the Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling, it is the first in a trilogy and is wonderful. I raced to the bookstore after reading it to get the second and third books.

Robin F

Re: Lynn Flewelling

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation!