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Earthsea – A Rival to Tolkien and George RR Martin (2015)
- mhd 9y agoMakes me wonder what Michael Moorcock (notable Tolkien critic) thought about Earthsea...
- atupis 9y agohttp://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=953 http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=953
- cbzbc 9y agoI was pleasantly surprised. The writing in that article is of a much better standard than that in Moorcock's fiction.
- moomin 9y agoMoorcock's very variable. Dancers at the End of Time is wonderful. Jerry Cornelius is self-congratulatory twaddle.
- teh_klev 9y agoI owned and read pretty much all of The Eternal Champion "sequence"[0] back in the 80's. Sure, some of the prose wasn't exactly slick, but I found them deeply satisfying and a damn fine fun read. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Champion#The_Eternal_Champion_Sequence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Champion#The_Eternal_C...
- FeloniousHam 9y agoI recently read the Elric books and loved them. A friend said they're the written expression of an airbrushed 70s conversion van, or some heavy metal album cover. They're rough, but alive in a way eg. Sanderson can only glimpse. Also, Gloriana was great (very different from Elric). In this vein, Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword is probably my favorite; it's direct and raw, like a bare knuckle punch in the face :).
- teh_klev 9y ago> the written expression of an airbrushed 70s conversion van, or some heavy metal album cover. Were you aware that Moorcock wrote, performed and toured with Hawkwind in the 70's and 80's? Also Hawkwind's 1985 "Chronicles of the Black Sword"[0] album is largely inspired by the Elric tales. I've been to see Hawkwind live around 25 times, so I have a bit of a thing for them and Moorcock. If you ever get the chance you should go see them because Dave Brock sadly isn't getting any younger. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicle_of_the_Black_Sword https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicle_of_the_Black_Swo...
- sbmassey 9y agoHe apparantly wrote a number of his novels in very short periods of time https://interestingliterature.com/2014/11/23/michael-moorcock-how-to-write-a-novel-in-3-days/ https://interestingliterature.com/2014/11/23/michael-moorcoc..., though I'm not sure that is an excuse really.
- mhd 9y agoI totally forgot that he actually mentioned her briefly in that article, thanks.
- the_af 9y agoIt's not surprising that Moorcock likes Le Guin's work, since at least some of his objections to Tolkien are ideological (others are, of course, stylistic), while Le Guin is closer to Moorcock's viewpoint.
- neilwilson 9y agoPrefer The Belgariad That I did read to death.
- sigzero 9y agoThose were good! I'd put those above the Earthsea series.
- logfromblammo 9y agoI always thought the Eddingses threw a bit too much energy into the "love conquers all" trope. But I still concur.
- TheAceOfHearts 9y agoNo mention of Brandon Sanderson and the Cosmere novels? Instead of a single fantasy world, you get a whole universe! "All of the books share a single creation myth (though not all cultures are aware of it), a single cosmology, and are connected by an overarching story." [0] Sure, one could argue that it's still not fully-formed, as it's still in the process of being written. But the same could easily be said for A Song of Ice and Fire. The Stormlight Archive quickly won a place in my loved series category. I don't think I devoured any book from last year as quickly as when the latest entry in the series was released. One of my favorite things about Brandon Sanderson is that he proactively engages readers (/u/mistborn on Reddit), and he gives regular status updates on his writing progress. I highly value transparency from authors. I'd never heard of Earthsea, but the article managed to catch my interest. I'm adding it to my queue. [0] http://stormlightarchive.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmere http://stormlightarchive.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmere
- egjerlow 9y agoBrandon Sanderson is an interesting case; I have only read the Stormlight Archive books (and his wrap-up of Wheel of Time), and though I can totally see his appeal, I would also totally disagree that he belongs up there with the true greats, at least currently. Reading his books, I feel like I'm in some kind of Marvel universe, complete with quippy dialogue and 'coolness' that to me gives a stink of 'commercialism' that I can't get past. In the Stormlight Archive, Shallan is the best example of this: Her dialogue is so forcedly hip and witty that cringes abound whenever I read it. To me, it ruins the whole atmosphere and I feel like I'm in a plastic universe, rather than a living breathing one. His worldbuilding is great, but his worlds are devoid of authenticity IMO.
- pfisch 9y agoI think that example is kind of right about Shallan, but I can't think of similar analogues in any of his other books. Though I don't really care for the newer steampunk mistborn trilogy. Actually I thought most of the standalone short stories in the cosmere book itself were pretty great.
- abalos 9y ago
- AndrewDucker 9y agoFor thos wondering why this is topical, the author (Ursula K Le Guin) died yesterday (and this made the front page of HN).
- optimuspaul 9y agoI totally missed that. I really enjoyed her writing. A great loss.
- jinwood 9y agoIs this David Mitchell the UK comedian?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- arethuza 9y agoLooks like a different one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mitchell_(author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mitchell_(author)
- psyc 9y agoDavid Mitchell the author of Cloud Atlas.
- jeffmess 9y agoEven though I knew it was the author I read this article in the comedians voice :)
- Cthulhu_ 9y agoCloud Atlas stands firmly on its own, I should re-read it at some point. The movie (also a one of a kind, it staying reasonably close to the source material and being one of the most expensive independent movies ever) keeps popping up on Netflix too.
- rwnspace 9y agoNo: the author of Cloud Atlas etc.
- almostarockstar 9y agoNever read the book(s?) and I don't know the characters, nor the author, but that article was really engaging to read.
- zarkov99 9y agoDefinitely up there with Tolkien and much better than RR Martin. “When I was young, I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing. And I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and yet again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act, when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore
- matwood 9y agoI've been looking for a new fiction series to read, and you sold me. Thanks! EDIT And to add, I know this is an older series but I tend to read more science part of fiction and less fantasy.
- joshua_dunigan 9y agoMy favorite fantasy series was/is the Inheritance cycle ( Eragon ). My grandpa also really liked the series as well and binged them. So to me ( I was in middle school ) and my grandfather, they were all very interesting books to read!
- magic_beans 9y agoThe Eragon books are an unasahamed knockoff of Tolkein. A cilche-riddled, poorly written, tropey, dopey travesty.
- ericmcer 9y agoWeren't they written by someone in the 16 years old range? They were not good books but it is still impressive for a teenager to have the discipline actually create a finished work. They definitely played up that angle when marketing the books.
- jmcqk6 9y ago>> I love this thing > That thing is shit Now everyone feels better!
- Houyhnhnms 9y agoHonestly, the Earthsea books were decent, but I didn't think they were anywhere near Tolkien. Tolkien gives you the feeling that there is an entire world waiting just around the corner. Earthsea feels like a shell that you are exploring. Like it doesn't really exist, it just appears when you show up, almost a hollow feeling where the characters don't really exist but are paper cutouts. I read all 3 and enjoyed them, but just not as good as some others and I thought the world was a bit lacking.
- walshemj 9y agoYes its a bit of an ask as Tolkien pretty much invented the genre yes I know there where precursors like Dunsanny but my god is that hard to read!
- Iv 9y agoI used to think that but was surprised to discover that Tolkien was actually a revival of the fantasy genre that had declined. The Conan series, for instance, predates Tolkien by a decade.
- walshemj 9y agoTolkien defined the ur heroic fantasy genre influenced by by lord Dunsanny and others and of course actual myths - until recently Tolkien's translation of Beowulf was the standard text at uni. Howard is more pulpy swords and sorcery with some horror he actually rewrote some westerns as Conan short stories. And Tolkien started work on what became LOTR etc before ww1 well before Howard.
- plinkplonk 9y agoagreed. And I personally found the first book (wizard) decent, but the sequels were pretty meh (imho). And even with the first, I found the climax pretty meh too (and saw it coming a mile away).
- projectramo 9y agoWhat age did you read them at? There is something about reading your first Tolkien fantasy book around 13-15 that just feels different. If you had read any of the Tolkien facsimiles at that age (Shannara, Wheel of Time etc) you may feel the same way. But if you reread those books now, you may feel different.
- cflewis 9y agoThe reason why I enjoy Tolkein so much is that I like the poetic, almost biblical prose. I know why it drives some people mad, but I really liked it. I've never found anything that comes close to replicating it. I would love recommendations if people have them.
- smhost 9y agoTolkien's prose isn't biblical so much as it's imitation-Nordic, maybe. If you want biblical, read Blood Meridian. It's in fact so biblical that scholars use it as a reference when they translate the original text into contemporary English. It's also biblical in a much deeper sense, but that's a different point.
- lobster_johnson 9y agoYou might like Gene Wolfe, especially The Book of the New Sun and the Latro series [1]. The Book of the New Sun is technically sci-fi, but in fantasy trappings, set in a future world in which the sun is slowly dying out, and humankind has mostly lost their knowledge of technology. It's dense, filled with sly little narrative puzzles that are left for readers to deconstruct, and it's beautifully written in a mannered, intentionally archaic style. The Latro series, starting with Soldier of the Mist, is a historical fantasy about a Roman soldier who suffers from retrograde amnesia, so he must continuously write down what happened the day before. (It came out decades before the movie Memento.) [1] https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sci-fis-difficult-genius https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sci-fis-difficul...
- root_axis 9y agoI second this endorsement of BOTNS. It is the best fiction book I've ever read. I think lobster_johnson's description here is a great meta-summary. For the sake of brevity I will curb my impulse to vomit up heaps of sycophantic praise for this book. I highly recommend it if you're up for an intellectually demanding read.
- cflewis 9y ago
- michaelmior 9y agoThe Dragonlance saga was a favourite of mine when I was younger. The sheer number of books published in that universe is astounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels
- snowwrestler 9y agoThe Earthsea cycle is very, very different from Tolkien and GRRM. The first three books are a classic "bildungsroman"--a coming of age story--both as a whole and individually. The point of view character in each novel is a young person, passing through late adolescence and into adulthood. In this respect it is more comparable to Harry Potter or The Dark Is Rising or perhaps His Dark Materials fantasy series. The world LeGuin builds for the story is incredibly rich and unique, like Middle Earth and the world of ASOIAF, but the structure of the stories are considerably simpler. However, the "inner life" of the stories are richer. Like the Dune series, the novels of Earthsea spend a lot of time deep in the perspective of a few key characters. I think it is one reason these novels are so hard to film in a satisfying way. That said, where Earthsea really distinguishes itself from almost any other fantasy series, is the fact that LeGuin came back to the series much later in her life and added two more books. These are set in the same world but regard it with different perspectives of age and gender. The original trilogy is classic fantasy about Our Heroes who are uniquely gifted and ultimately save the day and pass into legend. The final two books are about what happens to those people when they face the complicated and unsatisfying future: their personal gifts are no longer powerful, and their beliefs and assumptions are challenged by a new generation... and ultimately found to be not only flawed, but awful. Some of the things they defended were not absolutely good after all, but the lasting artifacts of earlier selfishness, bias, and bigotry. I resisted reading these later two novels for a long time because I enjoyed the purity of the stories in the original trilogy. But now having read them all, I find I can enjoy them in related but still somewhat separate ways. If the later two novels don't sound like your kind of thing, you could read the first three now, and then visit the last two books a decade or two (or three) later. That would align your perspective with LeGuin's when she wrote them.
- jpm_sd 9y agoI'm nearly 40 and I really enjoy Tehanu and The Other Wind much more now than I did when they were first published. I find it much easier to identify with the aging characters. I think TOW is now my favorite of the series.
- coredog64 9y agoThat sounds a little like "Children of Dune" vs. Dune. Paul is a likeable hero in Dune, but then you get to see the downside of his revolution and all the negatives of prescience.
- logfromblammo 9y agoWizard of Earthsea was the first Sci-Fi/Fantasy book that I found difficult to follow. This was because a printer's error caused the pages to be bound in the wrong order. I don't usually pay attention to page numbers, so it took me a while to realize this. I thought I was losing my mind until I noticed the numbers weren't in sequence. To this day, I can't tell you what was going on, plot-wise.
- hd4 9y ago>ctrl+f "Malazan" - "0 results" I guess I'm going to have to be 'that guy'. Malazan Book of the Fallen does the whole intricate, overlapping fantasy universe incredibly well.
- mcdoh 9y agoI read the first Malazan book but it never really gripped me. I've heard that it really gets good at book three. Do you agree?
- spiralx 9y agoBook two is very intense and gripping, but it features a different cast of characters from the first which some people find jarring. The third book returns to the characters from the first, and is definitely where most people find that they've really gotten sucked into it :)
- hd4 9y agoIt is very jarring, that's why I love it. He isn't at all bothered about following generic fantasy patterns, it does seem like a labor of love in that he just does what he likes when he likes. The only weak part I felt so far was the culmination of Book 1, it could have been better I guess.
- hd4 9y agoStill on the 2nd book. Just love how he obfuscates so much of the plot and drips it out very sparingly, while focusing very heavily on character development. It feels like he is comfortable at revealing details at his leisure rather than clumsily throwing predictable tropes at the reader.