About Santa Lucia Expertise I am a lover of fantasy turned on to the genre by my older sister and have read series by Mercedes Lackey, MZBradley, Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott, Ursula LeGuin, Andre Norton, Robin Hobb, Elizabeth Lynn, Piers Anthony, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Elizabeth Moon, and many others. I love talking about books and getting suggestions on what to take on next!
Experience I have read and written a multitude of stories and when I was fourteen bought over 300 fantasy novels in one year. I have read almost all of them by now and am constantly acquiring more.
Expert: Santa Lucia Date: 9/12/2006 Subject: Recommendations
Question In general, I would define a cliché fantasy story as the one in which main protagonists fight against the forces of evil (black & white representation of the world). Furthermore I believe that a cliché story will rarely go into deeper details concerning the motivation of the protagonist. There is rarely any self questioning (ah, I would just love a story in which a protagonist commits a fatal mistake ultimately leading him to madness). One other aspect of a clichéd story is a rare death of the main character. What’s more, a clichéd story is too much focused on a progression and constant plot development, thus avoiding any digressions, such as deeper philosophical introspections or longer description of the political, social and cultural environment of that world. I would stress this cultural aspect the most.
Now, maybe my understanding of a clichéd story is wrong, but at least you get the idea of what fantasy books I don’t want to read, and basically anything that is opposite to my notion of a clichéd story would be a welcome suggestion.
Thank you for recommending Sun Sword series. I will definitely try that.
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Followup To
Question -
Can you recommend a fantasy book that has an experimental style of writing? And a fantasy book that is a complete opposite of a clichéd fantasy story.
Thanks
Answer -
Hi John Mark,
What, exactly, is your idea of a "clichéd fantasy story"? There are several views on that, and I would like to be clear before I recommend too much.
However, I feel pretty comfortable recommending Michelle West's Sun Sword series to you, because I saw familiar patterns in it, but it was quite well written. On Amazon, the reviews say that this series is too convoluted and such, difficult to understand because of the overly complicated storyline. I loved it. The intrigue was intense and, unlike in many books, the good and bad were anything but clear cut. Every character had his/her reasons for what they did and none were easy decisions for characters to make. I greatly enjoyed it and found it to be anything but clichéd.
If you have a more specific definition for me, I will try to recommend more, but that is a start....
Best of luck,
Lucia
Answer Hi John Mark,
I agree with your definition of a clichéd fantasy story, but thought I would ask, just to be sure. With that said, Michelle West fits very well what you requested.
Likewise, I would recommend Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series. There are times it is a bit too contrived and black and white, but for the most part, it is a "complex fantasy saga of political and magical intrigue" (quote from amazon.com). There are, like in West, a great number of characters, whom I enjoyed trying to match with historical figures (which isn't necessary, but is something I have fun doing). One reviewer wrote, and I quite agree, that "Most of the main pro- and antagonists are fairly clearly good or evil, but there are several important characters hovering somewhere in the middle". This makes it more interesting. The very basic storyline is general: several people vying for the throne, but there is a lot more than that. There are many side paths and different plots that keep the series engrossing most of the time. (Of course, there are annoying characters and slow parts, but there is enough other stuff that it isn't too bad.)
Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince Series was one I found quite engrossing, again particularly for character development. I love her style and am always able to associate myself with at least one of her characters. That being said, I despised the main character in Dragon Star (a trilogy directly following Dragon Prince) and felt he made way too many error. He was quite human, and a stupid one at that! All of the characters in both trilogies were well-rounded, had flaws and things they had to work through, and made some good and bad decisions. Sioned and Rohan are a bit too perfect, but Pol more than makes up for that. I greatly enjoyed these books. I also loved her Ambrai series, but am a bit hesitant to recommend it because the final book has not been published yet (after approx 13 years...). We just keep waiting....
There are so many more, but none are coming to mind at the moment. A list of authors, in general, that I enjoyed: Elizabeth Moon, Elizabeth Lynn, Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, some Andre Norton, some Anne McCaffrey.... These are mainly the ones listed on my profile here. I tend to prefer female authors because they usually (but certainly not always!) have strong character development, more so than some male authors. I have read Robert Jordan but got tired after book nine. I lost interest in Terry Goodkind when I no longer had a friend to loan them to me. Tad Williams was interesting enough for me to buy most of his books, but I haven't read the Otherworld series yet....
I hope that this helps. I realize that three series' are not exactly a lot, but at least they are long and have the possibility of keeping you entertained for a while.
Best of luck in your reading. As always, I recommend shopping at your local used bookstore for the books I mentioned.
Lucia
