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    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009
     

    Spending time around this community has aroused my interest in the fantasy genre, but my problem is that I have trouble finding novels that seem interesting to me.

    Things I like in fantasy novels include:

    1) Lots of fighting and action

    2) Big reptiles (dinosaurs, dragons, giant snakes, etc.)

    3) Settings other than the standard Ye Olde European Middle Ages (e.g. Africa, the Americas, or maybe the Middle East)

  1.  

    tries not to say D:LT Um… um…

    •  
      CommentAuthorArtimaeus
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009 edited
     
    Bartimaeus? His Dark Materials?

    EDIT: Oh, and The Eye of Argon
    •  
      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009
     

    Anything by David Eddings, George R R Martin, Terry Pratchett or Ursula le Guin?

    They don’t really conform to your setting specifications, apart from a few specific Eddings or Discworld books, but they’re still very good.

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009
     

    Aside from the conformity to the European Middle Ages setting, I’d highly recommend A Dark Winter by Dave Luckett— In fact, the entirety of the Tenabran Trilogy (A Dark Winter, A Dark Journey, A Dark Victory). It’s a brilliantly written story with heaps of lavish detail that still doesn’t drown out the action. And it’s all about realism: how much horses cost, what the butcher’s smells like, what happens to a river downstream of a major city, how hyopcritical the nobles and aristocracy can be, how a supply chain delivers rations to an army on the move, how to survive in a wilderness, how to siege a fortress and how to defend same, the logistics of doing so, and a wholo stream of moral questions and philosophical puzzles about magic and ethics. A brilliant, brilliant read, with some truly memorable characters.

    However, it is European Middle Ages (and the front of the book even included detailed technical drawings of full-plate armour, chain mail, and various European or European-inspired weapons.

    Nevertheless, it has goblins. And NOT as your stock-standard ‘evil’ race. They’re seen as such at first, because of the main character’s prejudice (having fought them in battle once), but we eventually come around to the idea that Goblins are mostly harmless, hate the Dark (magic) as a rule, and are willing to trade their “goblin lamp-oil” and various tools and implements for food and peace.

    Anyway. It’s definitely worth a read (Perhaps especially if you’re tired of European Middle Ages fantasy, as it may well give you a fresh and exciting enjoyment of it).

  2.  

    The european middle ages are overromaticized. Give me the Age of Enlightenment any day.

  3.  

    I hate both. Give me the Holy Roman Empire or the Renaissance.

  4.  

    fuck u rome sucks

  5.  

    And Constantinople rules.

    •  
      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009
     

    Haven’t you heard the song Dan? It’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeJul 7th 2009
     

    @ TakuGifian

    Sounds good to me; I’ll look for it next time I visit the bookstore.

  6.  

    @Apep

    It was Constantinople when it was founded. And it was Constantinople during the time of the Holy Roman Empire.

  7.  

    Holy Roman Empire? More like Hole-y Roman Empire amirite?

  8.  

    The Holy Roman Empire existed until the nineteenth century, well after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.

  9.  

    By then, we’re getting into Complete Bastard’s Age of Enlightenment, which is completely irrelevant.

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeJul 8th 2009
     

    Went to Borders today. Sadly, I couldn’t find Luckett’s book.

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeJul 8th 2009
     

    :( You might have to order it… As I understand it, not only was it lost among the rest of the ‘generic fantasy’ crowd, but it’s also more than 10 years old. Also, it’s an Australian series, so you might not find it outside of Australia.

    Amazon.com might have it…

    •  
      CommentAuthorInkasrain
    • CommentTimeJul 9th 2009
     

    Try “The Briar King” by Greg Keyes. It’s the first in a quartet, but unfortunately the series goes seriously downhill from the first book, which is wonderful. (The second book is alright, though.) The setting is partly medieval, but definitely not to an overwhelming degree— Keyes uses several countries patterned off of European nations, so there is a lot of interesting variety in setting and culture.

    I’d also recommend “The Lies of Locke Lamora”, not because it fits any of your qualifications (it doesn’t) but because it’s a seriously good book.

    • CommentAuthorGolcondio
    • CommentTimeJul 9th 2009
     

    Try Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy: wonderful story, characters you can relate to, a plausible and consistent magic system, dragons… What else could you ask for? Pirates? Got ‘em. Zombies? Yeah, of a sort…
    Go for it!

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2009
     

    ^ I bought the first book in that trilogy and just finished the first chapter. Doesn’t seem too bad.

  10.  

    Haven’t you heard the song Dan? It’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.

    It’s nobody’s business but the Turks. Even old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can’t say.
    People just liked it better that way.

    I have an idea for what we should sing next…

  11.  

    Well, this does not technically take place in Middle-Ages Europe. Not what is considered to be standard anyways. The Dark Griffin by K. J. Taylor who is a fellow Anti – Shurtugal comes out on July 22nd. From the promos I read on her LJ, it looks very, very promising, and she already has a few quite positive reviews. Just wanted to help you find a good fantasy book and at the same time help out a fellow starving artist:P