Best book you've ever read...

[Bastille]

My favorite book is the Alcatraz books by Brandon Sanderson. 

[mtbikemom]

^{Excuse me if I don't find pointless explicit sexual torture as a good read.}

...which is why I put away Terry G. and George R.R.M. before too long into those series.  I'm sorry, fans of these authors, this is not good writing and often offensive/derivative.   

I appreciate traditional fantasy done well and cannot recommend Carol Berg highly enough for superbly imaginative stories with unexpected plot twists and succinct writing.  And she wrapped up her latest in two books!   Carol does not shy from action and violence, but it is never unresolved/pointless/ just-for-shock-value like so much in modern fantasy.  Start with her Transformation or Song of the Beast and be ready for a wild ride that ends well.

Also enjoyed discovering Patrick Carman's books this year. 

Other great reads: Jill Paton Walsh's The Green Book (healthy appetizer), Ralph Moody's Little Britches (salad course),  Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (main course), anything by Terry Pratchett, but especially the new Tiffany Aching series (dessert, of course).

Please, everyone, read To Kill a Mockingbird just for fun sometime.  I think this book is ruined by being required in school, but it is worth reading again.

[MrPaperCamel]

^{Excuse me if I don't find pointless explicit sexual torture as a good read.}

...which is why I put away Terry G. and George R.R.M. before too long into those series.  I'm sorry, fans of these authors, this is not good writing and often offensive/derivative.   

I actually skipped through most of that stuff in Goodkind. Curious where the story was going, but the sheer detail was unnecessary.

[The Jade Knight]

I too abandoned the Sword of Truth series, finding it unpalatable...

[GreenMonsta]

Sword of Truth was a great series. You didn't have to like his ideals to love the characters. His characters were some of my favorites of all time.

I will admit that Zedd was an adaption on Belgarath but he was still sweet. Richard, Kahlan, even Jagang was a great enemy. I will admit that his need to re-explain the confessors powers every time Kahlan used it was a little unnecessary. Especially when he used like two pages to do it. The weapon the Sword of Truth and the position of Seeker was also cool.

[readerMom]

The Sword of Truth series was recommended to me when I ran out of Robert Jordan, but it was too graphic.  It made me faintly nauseous and I wasn't even pregnant at the time.  The story was interesting, but it was buried in all the other stuff.

[WriterDan]

Only got worse, ReaderMom.  Only he changed from explicit detail of torture to tedious monologuing by Richard about the "nobility of man".  The end was a complete let down.  For the story, for the characters, for everything.  He had a few things going there for a while as far as interesting characters and plot, but killed everything with all the crap he put into them and most especially the pointless ending.  Ugh.  Can't say enough to sway people from reading that mess of books.

Martin on the other hand can freaking write, he just doesn't have a whole lot of anything happen in his books.  I've pretty much bailed on ASoFaI too.

There's so much stuff out there that is so much better than either of these series.

[GreenMonsta]

Oh your mean. Richard doesn't spend his time monologuing except in Faith of the Fallen. And that was one of the best books in the series. I will admit that the last three book could have been a lot better and the ending was kinda weak and too predictable but that doesn't mean the books as a whole aren't worth it. The good thing about his books is that you can read most of them and stop at the end, there is a definitive ending to each so you can stop at any time.

If anything I would advise you read Wizards First Rule because it was an amazing book with a complete story line and not too many crazy ideals. Great book all around. Now the Chainfire trilogy is a different story.

[mtbikemom]

   I guess, upon reflection, that GRRM is not a "bad writer," but maybe just a sad person who seems to dislike/distrust women (note the way they tend to die horribly, if I remember correctly, before we really get to know them) and has possibly never had a satisfying intimate relationship.   We can only write that which we know.

    These are just the impressions I got before throwing his book-two in the trash so no one else would have to read it.   He's probably a very nice man... but I don't ever remember throwing a book away before.  I did burn all my astrology books once, though, and never regretted it.

 



  

[readerMom]

Can you think of a large, epic series that didn't have serious problems by the middle? Martin, Jordan, etc. all seem to drag or otherwise annoy the people who stick with them.  Should "epic" fantasy writers just stick to trilogies?

[GreenMonsta]

No. I love long drawn out epics. I alwayse want more even when they are done.

[MrPaperCamel]

Jim Butcher has not grossly annoyed me yet. But we will see what happens.

[The Jade Knight]

I prefer it when writers end their series, personally.

I will say that Wizard's First Rule was a good book.  But the Sword of Truth went downhill from there.

[mtbikemom]

Try Carol Berg for a good five-parter that holds its own for the most part.  Son of Avonar is book one and book five of her The Bridges of D'Arnath series is the best of the bunch.  It's easy to start a series, difficult to end it well.  IM (not so humble) O, Ms. Berg gets better as she gets older.

[GreenMonsta]

That is why I like the way R.A. Salvatore went. Writing multiple sets of stories involving the same characters. I mean Ice Wind Dale, The Dark Elf Trilogy, And the one that followed were good but not all of them were. So once you finished with a trilogy the story was over as far as the reader was concerned so there is no real need to continue. I mean I eventually stopped after the book that was mainly about Wolfgar finding himself.