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| In the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the time of the daughters and sons of Tolkien, great and heroic deeds were dared by brave souls willing to risk life and limb. They faced the greatest of perils; dragons, magic, saddlesores, politics and war. They fought for Crowns, Gods, or their own profit or survival; all became legends. Thus the tales of the Great Bards come down to us and thus we take up the torch of High Fantasy!
Verily, the rules:
* Read up to twelve books of High Fantasy, Mythic Fiction, or Heroic Fantasy between June of 2016 and May of 2017. Use your discretion (A Song of Ice and Fire, for instance, has been entered as everything from Low Fantasy to High Fantasy. I'm reading it for the challenge so obviously I consider it applicable.)
* Sword and Sorcery may also apply; again use your discretion.
* Fantasy only; no science fiction (and therefore, as much as it looks like fantasy, the Dragonriders of Pern do not count.)
* Science fantasy might be allowable as long as it is more fantasy than sci-fi (so Star Wars before the midichlorians nonsense might be acceptable but Star Trek is out).
* Video game and RPG tie ins are perfectly fine as long as the "feel" of the story is of High Fantasy (so Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance yes; Dark Sun and Eberron no.)
* Romance and sex are perfectly fine, but if they're the focus of the plot, it's out (so I'm nixing anything that looks at all like Paranormal Romance and the Gor novels).
* No re-reads.
* In the spirit of the great bards of the past, try to do as many reviews as possible.
Sally forth! Remember, all men must die!
Link: https://www.worldswithoutend.com/rollyourown.asp?ryo_id=147 |
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Location: New Zealand | As I will probably be finishing up all the other challenges by July, now is probably a good time for a new one. And I can never resist a good book challenge!
Hmm, maybe this is the push I need to actually get me to read A Song of Ice and Fire. Been putting that off for far too long. |
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| Weesam - 2016-06-02 11:14 PM
As I will probably be finishing up all the other challenges by July, now is probably a good time for a new one. And I can never resist a good book challenge!
Hmm, maybe this is the push I need to actually get me to read A Song of Ice and Fire. Been putting that off for far too long.
LOL; me too! One of the reasons I thought I would do this!
I see you're planning on reading the Kingkiller Chronicles. I thought they were amazing! But I am, like everyone else, waiting in a frustrated stew for book 3! |
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Location: New Zealand | Yes, the Kingkiller Chronicles is another series I have had sitting on the shelf for far too long. I'm quite looking forward to digging into them, although maybe I should have waited until book 3 was out? |
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| I've always been more fantasy than sci fi person, but lately I just want space battles! and explosions! and Juliet Marillier's "Daughter of the Forest" that I'm reading now, is going real slow. Great challenge to keep me reading. |
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Location: UK | This is one challenge where the placeholder 20-sided dice image would have been appropriate.
I expect this will be a gimme for me. I read plenty of fantasy. Weirdly that makes it less attractive as a challenge, since I don't expect to actually have to do anything to pursue it, but I guess I'm in. |
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| Weesam - 2016-06-03 2:41 AM
Yes, the Kingkiller Chronicles is another series I have had sitting on the shelf for far too long. I'm quite looking forward to digging into them, although maybe I should have waited until book 3 was out?
He did write book 2.5 in the meantime, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, I think it's called. I'll be adding it to my own list because I bought a copy from Chapters, so I will let you all know! |
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| piibald - 2016-06-03 5:23 AM
I've always been more fantasy than sci fi person, but lately I just want space battles! and explosions! and Juliet Marillier's "Daughter of the Forest" that I'm reading now, is going real slow. Great challenge to keep me reading.
I've been reading an awful lot of space opera lately myself. And the SF Masterworks challenge was how I joined the site, so that's still ongoing (and will be for years.)  Let me know what you think about that one when you're done; I haven't read any Juliet Marillier yet but I have been meaning to check her out! |
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| DrNefario - 2016-06-03 5:25 AM
This is one challenge where the placeholder 20-sided dice image would have been appropriate.
I expect this will be a gimme for me. I read plenty of fantasy. Weirdly that makes it less attractive as a challenge, since I don't expect to actually have to do anything to pursue it, but I guess I'm in.
I guess it would have, eh? 
Maybe use the review requirement for incentive? You don't have to *only* review 6 of them, yanno . . .
Welcome aboard all! |
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Location: Alief, TX | I really like the sound of this challenge. I may pick it up after the new year. There's no way I can add it this year, as I already have seven challenges to finish. But I'll keep my eye on you. I'm a huge sword and sorcery fan. |
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Location: New Zealand | Okay, the plan didn't last long. I have already ditched A Song of Ice and Fire series in favour of The Winter of the World series. I know that A Song of Ice and Fire is supposed to be a classic, and it is probably way better than The Winter of the World, but I started this challenge with Anvil in the Ice, and decided I wanted to continue and actually finish the series, not have yet another series started and not finished. Something had to go, and I really wasn't feeling it for Song of Ice and Fire. Maybe next year. |
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| Unfortunately Marillier was a bit too elegiac for me. To put it in fantasy terms: too much elves wafting around and not enough Aragorn hacking orcs and making solemn vows.
@Weesam
I get not wanting to read A Song of Ice and Fire as GRRM keeps getting in his own way a bit, same as Rothfuss, but I read "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" this year and was surprised to be reminded what a good writer he is, really. Maybe these novellas are just the thing to pave the way for ASOIAF (next year)?
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| jontlaw - 2016-06-06 10:18 AM
I really like the sound of this challenge. I may pick it up after the new year. There's no way I can add it this year, as I already have seven challenges to finish. But I'll keep my eye on you. I'm a huge sword and sorcery fan.
That's great! Join in any time! (I've just about reached critical mass myself; I have six!) |
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| Weesam - 2016-06-06 2:20 PM
Okay, the plan didn't last long. I have already ditched A Song of Ice and Fire series in favour of The Winter of the World series. I know that A Song of Ice and Fire is supposed to be a classic, and it is probably way better than The Winter of the World, but I started this challenge with Anvil in the Ice, and decided I wanted to continue and actually finish the series, not have yet another series started and not finished. Something had to go, and I really wasn't feeling it for Song of Ice and Fire. Maybe next year.
LOL! Yeah, I get that. I've tried to start it twice already and I figured this challenge was a way to poke myself in the butt. And I've changed my Space Opera challenge about six times, I think. Absolutely; why not keep reading the series you're enjoying? I'm still going to be here next year. |
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| piibald - 2016-06-07 2:59 AM
Unfortunately Marillier was a bit too elegiac for me. To put it in fantasy terms: too much elves wafting around and not enough Aragorn hacking orcs and making solemn vows.
@Weesam
I get not wanting to read A Song of Ice and Fire as GRRM keeps getting in his own way a bit, same as Rothfuss, but I read "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" this year and was surprised to be reminded what a good writer he is, really. Maybe these novellas are just the thing to pave the way for ASOIAF (next year)?
LMAO! Okay, duly noted (and warned!)
I had to look up "elegiac" you know. I don't recall ever seeing the word in print before. I'll have to remember that one . . .
Speaking of ASOIAF, guys, here's a little inspiration for the challenge: https://youtu.be/XAAp_luluo0 |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | Hilarious! I posted that to the blog and put up a twitter poll too. Who won? You decide!
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| Administrator - 2016-06-07 2:15 PM
Hilarious! I posted that to the blog and put up a twitter poll too. Who won? You decide!
Tee hee! You're welcome! |
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| Pondering joining yet another challenge -- high fantasy is smack in my wheelhouse.
Rule wise, I think Katherine Kurtz's Deryni would safely qualify, but would something like Patricia Kennealy's Keltiad? It's pretty evenly split between the magic and science fiction aspects. |
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| juliael71 - 2016-06-10 9:23 AM
Pondering joining yet another challenge -- high fantasy is smack in my wheelhouse.
Rule wise, I think Katherine Kurtz's Deryni would safely qualify, but would something like Patricia Kennealy's Keltiad? It's pretty evenly split between the magic and science fiction aspects.
Having not read it I can only guess, but based on your description I would say yes. I disqualified Pern because everything in it can be explained scientifically; but when not everything can be explained scientifically (such as in Star Wars before this "midichlorian" idea was introduced) then it's good to go. I read the description in Wikipedia; sounds like a retelling of Celtic myth with spaceships to me. Sounds also like magic actually is a thing, since there was a note in the description about the use of unlawful magic, and so yes, those factors would certainly qualify it! |
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Location: New Zealand | I kinda feel embarrassed that I have finished the challenge already. High Fantasy is easy for me to read, I just gobble it up. Another High Fantasy challenge next year? I still really need to get to Song of Ice and Fire, after all. |
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| Weesam - 2016-06-29 1:57 PM
I kinda feel embarrassed that I have finished the challenge already. High Fantasy is easy for me to read, I just gobble it up. Another High Fantasy challenge next year? I still really need to get to Song of Ice and Fire, after all.
Oh Weesam! You make the rest of us look like rank amateurs! How was that Michael Scoot Rohan series? I noticed you didn't do any reviews though . . .  
I like seeing what other people are reading because it gives you ideas. I see that Kabouter is going to town on some Terry Goodkind. Do you know, in all the years I've been reading the genre, I have yet to read Terry Goodkind? I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to it yet; just haven't. How is he as a writer? Just because everyone's read him doesn't necessarily mean that he's really good; we sci-fi and fantasy geeks sometimes collect series for the sake of collecting series, you know? Forgotten Realms books are an occasional guilty pleasure of mine, but let's face it; most of their writers are not that good, I just like the world, probably because I'm a gaming geek.
On the other hand, I thought the Kingkiller Chronicles were spectacular! I'll be reading book 2.5, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, for one of the books in my challenge; it sounds more like this particular one would read as fairytale fantasy rather than High Fantasy, but I'm counting it anyway because the rest of the series is High Fantasy. I'm frothing at the mouth waiting for the final book; Rothfuss has been taking his sweet time with that one, eh? I try not to agitate because I'm aware of how long a book takes to write, and when they're complicated they can take more time than others, but still . . . arrrgggghhhhhh!
Yes, there will be another High Fantasy challenge next year, you bet.  |
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Location: New Zealand | I may be a good reader, but I am no writer, therefore I rarely do reviews. A book has to really move me before I do a review. I read other peoples reviews and wish I could put down on paper the thoughts I have like they do, but what seems to come out is "so, I really, really liked this book"!
Regarding Terry Goodkind. When it first came out I read the first 4 books quite quickly and loved them. Then book 5 came out and I couldn't get through it. I tried again a few years later but again abandoned the series at book 5. I tried a third time with the same result. I'm not going to bother trying anymore.
The Patrick Rothfuss series was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed them. |
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Location: Belgium | I planned on reading those Goodkind books, but it's quite an effort as they are quite big books. I read the first 9 or so some 12 years ago, can't remember much of it now. It might come back while reading. Thought they were quite good, although there was a bit of repetitiveness in it. And the story still wasn't yet finished so I'm going to try again. |
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| kabouter - 2016-07-06 6:17 AM
I planned on reading those Goodkind books, but it's quite an effort as they are quite big books. I read the first 9 or so some 12 years ago, can't remember much of it now. It might come back while reading. Thought they were quite good, although there was a bit of repetitiveness in it. And the story still wasn't yet finished so I'm going to try again.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes! |
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Location: Belgium | Just finished part 5 of the series. And I must admit that it's going downhill after part 1. I still enjoy the main story line, but the books are filled with repetitions and rehashing of previously explained items. I guess with some good editing you could probably tell the same story in half the amount of pages. What I did like was the fact that it still feels like one big story, the seeds for the next book are always in the previous one. But on an emotional level the books are becoming rather bland. Most everyone become a caricature, the heroes are all good, the bad guys are plain evil. Counting the number of pages in total for the eleven books of the series I'm now halfway so I guess I still have a long way to go... |
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| kabouter - 2016-09-06 6:09 AM
Just finished part 5 of the series. And I must admit that it's going downhill after part 1. I still enjoy the main story line, but the books are filled with repetitions and rehashing of previously explained items. I guess with some good editing you could probably tell the same story in half the amount of pages. What I did like was the fact that it still feels like one big story, the seeds for the next book are always in the previous one. But on an emotional level the books are becoming rather bland. Most everyone become a caricature, the heroes are all good, the bad guys are plain evil. Counting the number of pages in total for the eleven books of the series I'm now halfway so I guess I still have a long way to go...
Well, you're certainly chewing through them, but I think I might skip them then. Or I'll leave it at Part 1. Everyone's read it (but me) and I wanted to know if I should invest the time. Thanks for the review, I appreciate it! |
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Location: Belgium | Now finished with part 9, so still 2 books to go. My complaints remain, the books are still overly long with lots of repetitions from previous books. The books have a kind of formula where they start rather slow, build up a bit and then have a somewhat forced rushed ending. Still somewhat curious how Terry Goodkind is going to wrap things up. |
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Location: Belgium | And I'm done. After 112 days I've finished reading the eleven parts (and the somewhat related short story prequel). Which also means I'm finished with this particular reading challenge. I would certainly recommend the first novel. But threat the other parts with caution. Perhaps the series is better read not in one go (as I have now done), but rather spread out in time, one book per two months or something like that.
Now it is time for a new challenge :-) |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | I've finally gotten around to starting this challenge, and it's a great start. Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson's compiling and retelling of a great Northern epic, is the best book I've read in the past 12 months. It is part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, a series which has never steered me wrong. This is a great book and a great start to the challenge. I'm happy to be on board. |
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| JohnBem - 2017-01-02 3:40 PM
I've finally gotten around to starting this challenge, and it's a great start. Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson's compiling and retelling of a great Northern epic, is the best book I've read in the past 12 months. It is part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, a series which has never steered me wrong. This is a great book and a great start to the challenge. I'm happy to be on board.
That's great, John! Glad to have you with us! |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Thanks Sable! And now I've finished book number two in the challenge, The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven. It was an interesting read by an author I most normally associate with hard sf. The book was lavishly illustrated by Estaban Maroto, one of my all-time favorite illustrators, an artist I think everyone should check out. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Gotta say, I'm loving this challenge. During 2016 I encountered zero 5-star reads. Now, the High Fantasy challenge has encouraged me to pull down some books that have been resting unread on my shelves for many years, and already, less than 3 weeks in, 2017 has already yielded two 5-star reads. I just finished The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison, and it is brilliant. |
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| I'm glad you're having so much fun with it! I have found over the past couple of years that the challenges in general are a great way for me to get into reading stuff that I've been meaning to read but haven't gotten to. But the readers at this site seem to have a marked preference for sci-fi and so a lot of the challenges are more sci-fi oriented. (Not that I think that's a bad thing, because I love sci-fi too, but that's why this challenge). The Worm Ouroboros is one that I've been meaning to read. I'll have to put it on next year's list at this point, but thanks for the recommendation!
I'm trying to get a good head start on the Space Opera challenge right now, so I probably won't be getting into this one again for a month or so. Then I'll start with A Game of Thrones. |
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| @JohnBem I'm glad you liked Hrolf Kraki's Saga & The Worm Ouroboros - those are two of my favorites, especially Worm, which people tend to bounce off of because of the language. And you're right again about the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - what a spectacular series. Some further classic high fantasy recommendations for you, which I've attempted to order by their High-Fantasy-ness: - T. H. White - The Once and Future King
- Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
- Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
- Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
- Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
- Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
- James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
- Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy:
- Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
- Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights
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| Engelbrecht - 2017-01-22 10:52 PM
@JohnBem I'm glad you liked Hrolf Kraki's Saga & The Worm Ouroboros - those are two of my favorites, especially Worm, which people tend to bounce off of because of the language. And you're right again about the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - what a spectacular series. Some further classic high fantasy recommendations for you, which I've attempted to order by their High-Fantasy-ness: - T. H. White - The Once and Future King
- Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
- Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
- Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
- Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
- Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
- James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
- Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy: - Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
- Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights
The Once and Future King and The Last Unicorn number among my favourite books of all time. And Tanith Lee's Flat Earth is pure genius.
Edited by Sable Aradia 2017-01-23 11:49 AM
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| Engelbrecht - 2017-01-23 12:52 AM
@JohnBem I'm glad you liked Hrolf Kraki's Saga & The Worm Ouroboros - those are two of my favorites, especially Worm, which people tend to bounce off of because of the language. And you're right again about the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - what a spectacular series. Some further classic high fantasy recommendations for you, which I've attempted to order by their High-Fantasy-ness: - T. H. White - The Once and Future King
- Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
- Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, just as good as Hrolf Kraki)
- Tanith Lee - Flat Earth series
- Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana
- Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series precurser)
- James Branch Cabell - Jurgen (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
- Hope Mirrlees - Lud-In-The-Mist (Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series)
And a pair of more recent recommendations that are quintessential high fantasy: - Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight duology
- Yves Meynard - The Book of Knights
I completely agree with these recommendations, and particularly The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard. I read that last year and it was a complete delight. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | @Engelbrecht: I've encountered people who said they could not finish Worm because of the language. For me, the language is a big selling point, rich and dense and vivid and you can fall into it and be immersed in another world. The language of Worm is so dense that I'm surprised I read it as quickly as I did (11 days I think), but it was so gripping that I picked it up at every chance I got, even if only to read a paragraph or two. It also probably helped that there was a weekend in there where the wife was working, the temperature outside was in the 20s, and I did little more than curl up on the sofa with the dog and read for hours on end.
Thank you for the recommendations. I've not read any of them. I think I have a copy of The Once and Future King; I just looked and it's not where I thought it would be, but I'm pretty sure it's in the stacks somewhere. I have two omnibus volumes of Tanith Lee Flat Earth stories, and I have the Ballantine paperback of Lud-in-the-Mist. The rest I'll have to seek out. Many years ago (10+) I read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series (I think I have that right) and loved it, so I'm ready to give more Wolfe a try (and I should re-acquire New Sun and re-read it; I gave my copies to a then co-worker). |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | The fourth book of this challenge = completed. The Dark Tide, book one in Dennis L McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy. Pretty standard fantasy fare, but entertaining enough. Onward into Shadows of Doom. |
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| JohnBem - 2017-01-24 8:19 PM
The fourth book of this challenge = completed. The Dark Tide, book one in Dennis L McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy. Pretty standard fantasy fare, but entertaining enough. Onward into Shadows of Doom.
I read that series years ago! Gave it away and have regretted it ever since. The ending is a bit of a twister. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | So far, I'm liking book two, Shadows of Doom, a bit more than book one. Since beginning the trilogy, I've learned that McKiernan's original idea was to write a sequel to Lord of the Rings (an audacious notion!) but the Tolkien estate said 'no'. Even before I knew this, it is painfully obvious that McKiernan's inspiration is Tolkien; there are great chunks of these books that are perilously close to the border between pastiche and rip-off. This casts a bit of a shadow across my enjoyment of the trilogy.
That being said, in other ways McKiernan's trilogy, as far as I've read it, does innovate away from Tolkien in many places, and the pacing is more vigorous, less stately, than Tolkien. As straightforward as the trilogy has been so far in recounting a pretty standard all-the-good-peoples-of-the-world-are-in-peril-from-an-ancient-evil-entity story, I am surprised to learn that the ending is "a bit of a twister" and am now very curious to learn what it is. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Iron Tower trilogy book two is completed. Another notch on the bookshelf. What I said in my previous comment pretty much holds true; I've expanded on those thoughts in my review. And now The Darkest Day looms near. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | The Iron Tower has been overthrown. Book three in the trilogy, The Darkest Day, has been read. I liked the trilogy more and more with each book as the author moved out from the shadow of Tolkien a bit further with each book. The ending was a bit unexpected, a "bit of a twister," as our hostess Sable mentioned above. Decent high-fantasy fare; I would read more of McKiernan's work. But for now, it's off to Patricia A McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. I've read the first eight pages of "The Riddle-Master of Hed" and am initially captivated by the opening scene of quarreling royal siblings. |
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| JohnBem - 2017-02-11 6:09 AM
The Iron Tower has been overthrown. Book three in the trilogy, The Darkest Day, has been read. I liked the trilogy more and more with each book as the author moved out from the shadow of Tolkien a bit further with each book. The ending was a bit unexpected, a "bit of a twister," as our hostess Sable mentioned above. Decent high-fantasy fare; I would read more of McKiernan's work. But for now, it's off to Patricia A McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. I've read the first eight pages of "The Riddle-Master of Hed" and am initially captivated by the opening scene of quarreling royal siblings.
Glad you enjoyed it, and looking forward to your thoughts about Riddlemaster. I have not read any Patricia A. McKillip, and she's of the Grand Mistresses too. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | I've finished The Riddle-Master of Hed, book one in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. It is the second McKillip book I've read (the first being The Forgotten Beasts of Eld back before I joined WWE). This is a beautiful, magical book. It is very much the first book of a series as it ends on a great cliffhanger well-designed to launch a reader into book two. I'm particularly taken by McKillip's unique style of writing; I rhapsodize about it a bit in my review. Riddle-Master deals with standard high-fantasy themes, but does so in an oblique fashion that makes this novel stand above the usual fantasy story. Recommended. |
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| JohnBem - 2017-02-18 7:22 PM
I've finished The Riddle-Master of Hed, book one in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. It is the second McKillip book I've read (the first being The Forgotten Beasts of Eld back before I joined WWE). This is a beautiful, magical book. It is very much the first book of a series as it ends on a great cliffhanger well-designed to launch a reader into book two. I'm particularly taken by McKillip's unique style of writing; I rhapsodize about it a bit in my review. Riddle-Master deals with standard high-fantasy themes, but does so in an oblique fashion that makes this novel stand above the usual fantasy story. Recommended.
Sounds brilliant! We have a copy of this at my bookstore; maybe I'll snag it.
For my part, I've started The Slow Regard of Silent Things, a novella that ties in to the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. So we'll see how that goes. I loved the rest of the series and am beginning to run out of patience with the fact that the third book is not done yet.  |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | I've never read Rothfuss, but I think I would like to. The Kingkiller chronicles seem like they would be my cup of tea. I like the idea of an adventurer-musician. But, wow, that is a long time between books. If I fell in love with the series, that would make me crazy too, that long wait for the next installment.
As for me, earlier today I finished Heir of Sea and Fire, book two in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddle-Master" trilogy. As much as I loved the first book, I enjoyed book two even more. McKillip has fast become one of my favorite writers. I look forward to finishing the trilogy and more of her work beyond that. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | With Harpist in the Wind, I've finished Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddle-Master" trilogy. McKillip writes in a strong, evocative, strange, and powerful way that I enjoyed quite a bit. Sometimes, she writes a bit too obliquely, and it was a bit difficult to pick up the thread of who was speaking, or the precise order of transpired events. But that is a quibble, and it is just that small thing that kept me from rating each book a full 5 stars (each one got 4.5). The world of Morgon of Hed and Raederle of An will stay with me for a long time, I'm sure. McKilllip's magic 'system' in particular is unique and rich. This has become one of my favorite fantasy worlds.
And now I'm into the final leg of the challenge. I'll be working my way through Tanith Lee's "Birthgrave" trilogy. I've already started book one, "The Birthgrave." It is the first of Lee's works I've ever read, and in its start it is a strange and curious work. But I'm getting into the rhythm and flow of it, and ultimately I think I'll like it.
Edited by JohnBem 2017-03-07 7:14 PM
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Finally, after almost a month of effort, I've finished The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee. My first ever work by Lee, and it was a doozy. I really liked it, but Lee's style of writing, the unique and rich and weird story, demanded a slower, more studious reading pace. As oblique and odd as McKillip's Riddlemaster trilogy sometimes was, the prose was light and skipped along quite easily. As dense as Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros was, it was written in a pseudo-archaic style which I find comfortable and with which I am familiar (thanks to books like Spenser's The Faerie Queene) and so that was a relatively quick read for all it's density. But something about The Birthgrave made me slow down and read more reflectively, philosophically even in some passages. Ultimately it is a very good book. The slower pace puts me closer to the High Fantasy challenge deadline than I wanted to be at this stage of things, but I've only got two books to go, and even though they're the final two books in Lee's Birthgrave trilogy, they're both significantly shorter works, so I should be fine. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | i've really jumped headfirst into this with the looming deadline fast approaching so here's a recap of the books i've read recently for this challenge:
i read A Wizard of Earthsea last year and decided to at least finish the classic Earthsea trilogy with this challenge & read The Tombs of Atuan & The Farthest Shore. Tombs turned out to be my favorite in the series and a new favorite fantasy novel in general.
Next, i devoured the first two novels in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire series, A Game of Thrones & A Clash of Kings. My plan is to plow through the entire series before the end of May. Having watched only the first season of the HBO series once years ago, most of the events were unfamiliar to me and really drew me in. I'm eager to work my way through the whole series & the Dunk & Egg novellas. The next book that i will read for this challenge is book three of this series, A Storm of Swords.
Then i trudged my way through Little, Big by John Crowley begrudgingly. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not my style. i had a hard time getting through to the end.
Sabriel by Garth Nix is the first book in his Old Kingdom series and i quite enjoyed it. i listened to the audiobook, read by Tim Curry, and i can't wait to visit this world again.
Edited by devilinlaw 2017-04-03 12:42 PM
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| Thanks for the reminder about the deadline! I'd better get with it! (There will be another next year, more than likely).
I intend to read a few of the Song of Ice and Fire too, so I'd better get on with it. I have been intrigued by the world of Hed for some time and may pick that up next year. And I love Tanith Lee! |
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Uber User
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Location: UK | I decided a few months ago to drop back to the 9-book tier for this. I've been fairly strict about what I counted, and I've also been reading some self-published fantasy which isn't on the site, so I thought the full 12 was a bit too much of a stretch. As of a few weeks ago, when I read The Other Wind, I have completed this slightly less challenging version of the challenge. |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Just as it took me longer than usual to finish The Birthgrave, it has taken me a long time as well to complete Vazkor, Son of Vazkor. These are good books, very good, and while the writing in them is dense, complex, and thought-provoking, I don't think that's what is slowing me down. I think my problem is a personal one; for the last 30 months or so, since before I even joined WWE, I've been reading primarily genre fare; despite my great love for science-fiction and fantasy, I think I overdid it. Recently, I started reading books about rock-and-roll, another great passion of mine. I'm currently blazing my way through Please Kill Me: The Uncensored History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, and after that I've got lined up Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs, Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol by Steve Jones, Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello, and Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein. These are the books that I am most interested in reading right now; nonetheless, I will soldier on. To meet the High-Fantasy Challenge deadline, I will dutifully need to read 10-12 pages a day of Tanith Lee's Quest for the White Witch. Then, to meet the Grand Misstresses challenge by the end of the year, I will have to be very mindful of how much I daily need to read of those works. These then will be the first two reading challenges I've ever undertaken that will be true challenges; normally I speed through challenges, beating deadlines by weeks if not months; these current challenges will be the first where I've truly taken it right down to the wire. I am deriving pleasure from these challenges, and the books so far have been very good, but I've just never been in this weird mood and strange place where I have to consciously goad myself to successfully complete a reading challenge. Onward! |
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | devilinlaw - 2017-04-03 1:35 PM
Then i trudged my way through Little, Big by John Crowley begrudgingly. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not my style. i had a hard time getting through to the end.
A friend of mine loved Little, Big. Adored it. One of her all-time favorites. Because of her, I tried to read it, starting it on no less than three occasions. And I could never get more than a dozen or two pages into it.
The book has been in my collection for more than 10 years; I never traded or sold it because of my friend, Cheryl, thinking I would read it some day and then she and I could finally discuss it.
And now, sadly, she died. Last autumn, just a few months ago. And now Little, Big is not just another "something to get to some day." It rests on my shelves reproachfully, a grim reminder of the transitory nature of all things; a guilty reminder of tasks undone, moments never shared, and memories never created.
I don't know now if I'll ever be able to read Little, Big. Nor do I think I'll ever be able to part with it. Over two-thousand books line my shelves and teeter in stacks, and yet this one now stands out more prominently than all the rest whenever I shuffle through my library on some insomniac quest, and profound feelings of loss and existential dread wash over me. This is the most deeply I've ever been affected by an unread book.
Edited by JohnBem 2017-04-29 2:04 PM
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| I'm reading a bunch of self-published fantasy lately too. As a result of that and a brutal writing schedule I have decided to extend the deadline of this challenge into June. Perhaps that will make it a little easier! Glad you guys are enjoying it! |
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Regular
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | I've finished Tanith Lee's "Quest for the White Witch," which concludes the Birthgrave trilogy, which concludes for me the High Fantasy Reading Challenge. Despite some initial struggles with the Birthgrave books, I really got engaged in QftWW (that re-engagement plus a 2-hour wait at the garage while my car was inspected allowed me to finish this book a few days earlier than expected). Lee's writing got stronger with each novel and QftWW was the best of them, a very good book indeed. So that's 12 books and 12 reviews (admittedly most of them short, written at the bleary-eyed tail-end of the day) and now it's onward to the Grand Mistresses challenge and Cherryh's Morgaine saga. I'm glad to have been introduced to Lee's writing, and there is more of it ahead of me in Grand Mistresses, but for now I am looking forward to a different story and a different style.
Edited by JohnBem 2017-05-22 10:53 PM
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Location: Alief, TX | Still like the sound of this one, but it's just not going to happen for me yet. I've just finally knocked off the Definitive 1960's Challenge, and I'm gearing up for both the 12 Awards in 12 Months and the Second Best, so I think the rest of my year is spoken for, let alone the next month. But if you restart for another year, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. |
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| Hello all! Okay, so I'm way behind on my reading schedule because I've been writing, and I see a lot of other people are still struggling, so I've expanded the challenge to finish at the end of September. I've also changed the levels to give the people who are already done something to do (basically, I ditched the 6 book level and added a 15 book level). I hope nobody minds the changes but if you do, please let me know. There will be a new high fantasy challenge in October. Thanks everyone! Happy reading! |
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Regular
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania | Sable, although my OCD doesn't like seeing those three blank spaces at the end of my challenge, especially since I pushed myself to finish by the original deadline, I think it is very nice of you to extend the time. I doubt however that I'll be able to take advantage of the extension to fill those three troublesome gaps, because I'm hip-deep in your Grandmistresses challenge; at my current pace, I may be pushing that one right up against the deadline as well. |
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Location: CA | Really appreciate having this one available, thanks everyone! |
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Veteran
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| Hey guys, starting up the new one today! I sure didn't do as well as I intended to on this one. Let's see what happens this year! |
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High Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016