[Abyss]

Unbound World aka Del Rey's SFF site posted a Top 100 Fantasy Books Of All Time list.
Some of the entries are fairly meh, and some of the descriptions are lame, but I did note a few for the future TRP...

Linky

[worry]

Is this one of those 1-book-per-author-to-represent-the-series lists?

[polishgenius]

It's a bit immediately flawed on account of having two Nnedi Okorafor novels and neither one being Who Fears Death (although, admittedly, I haven't read Akata Witch yet, Who Fears Death is miles better than Lagoon, though far more challenging).
And I'm a little sad that it found no place for Elizabeth Bear. But it's nice to see Martha Wells getting a shout, she doesn't get talked about nearly enough (though I haven't yet read the Raskura books specifically).

And some interesting ideas on there too.

[Macros]

It features Tigana Abyss, is therefore null and void, shame on you

[Gintokian]

Macros, on 23 May 2018 - 05:56 AM, said:

It features Tigana Abyss, is therefore null and void, shame on you

I didn't mind Tigana, but it bothers me that none of The Fionavar Tapestry books made it on that list as they are his much better work in my opinion.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

On the one hand, I want to decry it because it includes Anne Rice, but at the same time have to applaud it including The Last Unicorn and Watership Down (wouldn't have necessarily said that was fantasy...) as they're two of my favourite books which I first read as a child and have continued to re-read and adore since.

And Brian Jacques' Redwall is a massive blast from the past - anyone else on here read those when younger?

I always find those lists sort of fun though. Never ceases to amaze me what they rate very highly that I couldn't stand, and what gets missed off.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 23 May 2018 - 01:06 PM

[Macros]

I demand a list that pleases EVERYBODY

[End of Disc One]

Luv2B_Sassy, on 23 May 2018 - 03:40 AM, said:

Is this one of those 1-book-per-author-to-represent-the-series lists?

Yeah. At least they're consistent with only listing the first book in a series, unlike one of the other recent lists which had Storm Front and The Blade Itself, but also a bunch of sequels.

I don't hate this list. I'm happy to see books like The Grace of Kings and The Library at Mount Char. But Bakker continues to be a glaring omission.

[Andorion]

I think some books are included more for the nostalgia factor than the quality - Dragons of Autumn Twilight is really not that good
And what exactly is their definition of fantasy? Because this is not fantasy - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitely some weird inclusions - neither Outlander, nor Sorcerer to the Crown were that good.

Tigana is odd, it should have been Lions.

Also some weird exclusions - no Bakker, no Max Gladstone, no Janny Wurts, no Tchaikovsky whose Guns of the Dawn blows quite a few of these entries out of the water
Peter Newman gets overlooked once again.

This post has been edited by Andorion: 23 May 2018 - 01:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

List is pretty decent, but includes some stinkers.

And any list that includes goddamn Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

[Chance]

While it is a nice list and I certainly don't want the job of thinking up the top 100 fantasy novels, it includes way to much meh and nostalgia crap too far up to be halfway serious.

This post has been edited by Chance: 23 May 2018 - 02:15 PM

[QuickTidal]

Chance, on 23 May 2018 - 02:14 PM, said:

While it is a nice list and I certainly don't want the job of thinking up the top 100 fantasy novels, it includes way to much meh and nostalgia crap too far up to be halfway serious.

Also, picking the FIRST Harry Potter book for the list? Just no. It's Azkaban. It's ALWAYS Azkaban.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 02:49 PM, said:

Also, picking the FIRST Harry Potter book for the list? Just no. It's Azkaban. It's ALWAYS Azkaban.

Correct.

Seems a bit inconsistent as well - they've mostly picked the first books in a series, but then with The Dark Tower they've picked Wizard and Glass - which may be well wonderful, I haven't read it. I wanted to put my eyes out after reading The Drawing of the Three.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 23 May 2018 - 03:07 PM

[End of Disc One]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 May 2018 - 03:06 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 02:49 PM, said:

Also, picking the FIRST Harry Potter book for the list? Just no. It's Azkaban. It's ALWAYS Azkaban.

Correct.

Seems a bit inconsistent as well - they've mostly picked the first books in a series, but then with The Dark Tower they've picked Wizard and Glass - which may be well wonderful, I haven't read it. I wanted to put my eyes out after reading The Drawing of the Three.

Oh I didn't realize that they included Wizard and Glass. So much for consistency with only listing first books in series.

They tried to justify it by calling it a standalone. The fuck?

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 23 May 2018 - 03:23 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

Chance, on 23 May 2018 - 02:14 PM, said:

it includes way to much meh and nostalgia crap too far up to be halfway serious.

See, I was thinking the opposite: that it had too much of the new hotness. (Is anyone going to remember Mistborn in 50 years? And as much as I love Name of the Wind, I'm tired of seeing it in these lists when at least a third of the story has yet to see print.)

And I'm trying to decide if I should be upset that Wolfe's not on here, given that a lot of these lists see The Book of the New Sun as fantasy. Or "science fantasy" at the very least.

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 01:31 PM, said:

List is pretty decent, but includes some stinkers.

And any list that includes goddamn Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Any list that doesn't include Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Palimpsest is a bold choice for the one recommendation, mind you.

Quote

no Max Gladstone,

I don't know how well he sells but Gladstone comes up in discussion criminally rarely, he doesn't have seem to have built that kind of vocal following yet.

Which is a shame coz he's awesome.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 23 May 2018 - 04:45 PM

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 23 May 2018 - 04:37 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 01:31 PM, said:

List is pretty decent, but includes some stinkers.

And any list that includes goddamn Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Any list that doesn't include Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Palimpsest is a bold choice for the one recommendation, mind you.

No PG / QT stamp of approval here. LOL

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 04:48 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 23 May 2018 - 04:37 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 01:31 PM, said:

List is pretty decent, but includes some stinkers.

And any list that includes goddamn Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Any list that doesn't include Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Palimpsest is a bold choice for the one recommendation, mind you.

No PG / QT stamp of approval here. LOL

I'm not sure which author has the stamp most broken - Valente or Hal Duncan.


On the other hand you should definitely give Gladstone a try at some point, I could see that potentially being a stampee.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 23 May 2018 - 05:04 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 04:48 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 23 May 2018 - 04:37 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 01:31 PM, said:

List is pretty decent, but includes some stinkers.

And any list that includes goddamn Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Any list that doesn't include Catherynne Valente is a bad list.

Palimpsest is a bold choice for the one recommendation, mind you.

No PG / QT stamp of approval here. LOL

I'm not sure which author has the stamp most broken - Valente or Hal Duncan.


On the other hand you should definitely give Gladstone a try at some point, I could see that potentially being a stampee.

I definitely plan to read Gladstone.

And I'd not heard of Nnendi Okorafor, but that AKATA WITCH book sounds up my alley too.

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 23 May 2018 - 05:08 PM, said:

And I'd not heard of Nnendi Okorafor, but that AKATA WITCH book sounds up my alley too.

Okorafor is fricking amazing. I have to get round to her YA stuff, her adult stuff is read-on-release for me. There's always some flaws but they're generally overwhelmed by the awesome.

Though they can be tough reads as I say.