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An Aficionado’s Guide to the top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time: VOTE & Final Nomination List
Apologies, Aloha, I never meant for it to appear as if I was referring to you. Was speaking of M.R., but that post was farther up.Bah, back to lurking.
Enjoying the electoral systems discussion. I promise to be quiet now... :)
Cheryl wrote: "Chelsea wrote: "I have also read every fantasy book ever, and I want to know why my story, The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elved of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protector of the Arcane..."Thanks, I worked really hard on it! And that's just the first part in a series of 34 books! All will be 1,000 pages.
Stephanie Trinity wrote: "Apologies, Aloha, I never meant for it to appear as if I was referring to you. Was speaking of M.R., but that post was farther up.Bah, back to lurking.
Enjoying the electoral systems discussi..."
Don't lurk! Well unless you really want to. I know it can be daunting at first but start off with baby steps and join in. :)
Chelsea wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Chelsea wrote: "I have also read every fantasy book ever, and I want to know why my story, The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elved of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protecto..."Ugh! Please don't tell me I will have to wait two years for your next volume of Epicness to come out! I am dying of suspense right this very minute and everything that came before will be forgotten if I wait too long.
The electoral systems explanation (thank you, Wastrel) hurt my brain.Stehpanie~ feel free to jump in. Adopt an alter ego if you must~we welcome more involvement. Sometimes I just post for fun, not because I care about the issue.
MrsJ's (and mine's) point was that we did discuss a lot of it quite a bit (see the four other threads related to this). We even discussed methodology. So is it any wonder she is feeling a bit unappreciated now that it's almost done and suddenly there's more/new opinions? I'm not saying your opinions aren't worthwhile. But gees, check in more often, will ya, so the next time we do this y'all can take a more active role.
Personally, I know we weren't asked to comment on some of the items on the list, or I would have disputed them. Loudly. But that's is what comes of our process (either leaving it all in MrsJ's lap or sharing it out) and so I haven't said anything about it, SINCE I DIDN'T VOLUNTEER TO HELP.
That's okay, Stephanie. I'm used to my brain disease being misunderstood. I had to let people know that I am mentally disabled.Stephanie Trinity wrote: "Apologies, Aloha, I never meant for it to appear as if I was referring to you. Was speaking of M.R., but that post was farther up.
Bah, back to lurking.
Enjoying the electoral systems discussi..."
Carol wrote: "The electoral systems explanation (thank you, Wastrel) hurt my brain.Stehpanie~ feel free to jump in. Adopt an alter ego if you must~we welcome more involvement. Sometimes I just post for fun, no..."
... and so I haven't said anything about it, SINCE I DIDN'T VOLUNTEER TO HELP. "
And there it is, if you don't help, you really have no right to criticize.
Now lets go back to talking/debating/arguing about books and having fun.
This thread gets more interesting by the day.. From new book to read - The Epic "The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elved of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protector... " to explaining Electoral Processes... :D :D
Later we plan to discuss perpetual motion and the controversy over how to pronounce controversy...
Voted! Looking forward to the top 100 -- thanks Mrs J and all others who're helping to put this together! I found NPR's list unfulfilling and I think I'm not the only one who thinks so. I think NPR's list was too general and they should have divided their lists by fantasy subgenres. Now there would be an interesting list, to include a classic/untouchable fantasy list... (:
Carol, I'm glad you didn't get your way in not letting us lurkers vote. :)I just wanted to post a quick thanks to MrsJ for all the work she's put in, I always enjoy these "best of" lists.
Jessica wrote: "I found NPR's list unfulfilling and I think I'm not the only one who thinks so. I think NPR..."I disagreed with a lot of their list as well--obviously have a giant devotion for Gaiman--but their graphic of the list is amusing.
And now I feel like I should apologize to Chelsea -- although "The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elved of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protector of the Arcane Runes of Dreadstorm of Mirrorbasin Lake of Sacred Dale of Sir Blade Demonbane, He Who Slew FireStorm the Dragon" sounds TRULY AWESOME, the year-long wait (or more) between installments tries my soul. My solution is to wait until after the 34th and final installment is released, and then read them all in a row, no waiting!Hopefully senility or poor eyesight won't set in before the 34th volume is out & available...
Not me! I'm going to read each one the night it comes out and then spend the rest of the two years on various forums promoting Ramrod Half-Elved Lord Protector, and bemoaning her sad lack of dedication to finishing the series.
May you all come to the attention of the ghost of Robert Jordan....
Pfffft. Who cares about sci-fi--or is it PNR?
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Later we plan to discuss perpetual motion and the controversy over how to pronounce controversy..."Don't worry, all 34 volumes will be accompanied by a full pronunciation guide, a Physics of Magic of the Land of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, a ecology handbook for the fish species of Mirrorbasin Lake and it's surrounding tributaries, etc.
Don't worry everyone! Part II of The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elven of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protector of the Arcane Runes of Dreadstorm of Mirrorbasin Lake of Sacred Dale of Sir Blade Demonbane, He Who Slew FireStorm the Dragon is coming out! The title is The Annotated Adventures of Ramrod Half-Elven and the Knights of the Mystical Knighthood of the Sacred Circle of the Divine Feminine, Shield of the Spell-Casting Princess Sorceress Ah'ellwyy'nned, Heir Presumptive of the Kingdom of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.
It's over 15,000 pages right now, and the editors want me to get it under 14,000. It might have to be broken into two parts, because the editors are concerned that the hardcover could give readers carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow, as it would be over 20 pounds. Sigh. A writer's work is never done.
It does have PnR elements, as there will be vampires, and they're very sexy. I hope that they will not detract from the majesty of Ramrod's gymnastic displays.
Carol wrote: "Not me! I'm going to read each one the night it comes out and then spend the rest of the two years on various forums promoting Ramrod Half-Elved Lord Protector, and bemoaning her sad lack of dedica..."I'm trying to get these finished, but I have to balance my writing load with trying to become the person with The Most Knowledge of All Fantasy Literature, Ever. I wrote my Master's thesis and my PhD dissertation on mythopoetic themes within the Forgotten Realms universe, ya see.
Stephanie Trinity wrote: "And now I feel like I should apologize to Chelsea -- although "The Chronicles of the Legend of Ramrod Half-Elved of Gweynnevehryynne Castle, Lord Protector of the Arcane Runes of Dreadstorm of Mir..."Hark, my legion of fans!
Crap Chelsea! You know I hate romantic vampires. Now I'll have to take Vol.1, and all the attendant volumes about the world down to my used book store and sell them. I hate renting that trailer and hiring people to help load the books into it.Stupid romantic vampires, I bet they wear sparkles don't they?
Chelsea--I'm concerned. You did not mention there will be a hand-drawn map. How will I know where Mirrorbasin lake and the Kingdom of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll are?
You have to buy the map atlas of the world Carol.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Crap Chelsea! You know I hate romantic vampires. Now I'll have to take Vol.1, and all the attendant volumes about the world down to my used book store and sell them. I hate renting that trailer and..."These ones don't sparkle. They emit a scent like steak and leather-bound books.
Carol wrote: "Chelsea--I'm concerned. You did not mention there will be a hand-drawn map. How will I know where Mirrorbasin lake and the Kingdom of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll are?"Don't worry. Full size hand-drawn maps will be available on my website, Kingdom.of.Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.com, where they will be free for anyone who can pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. They will be so exquisitely detailed that you'll be able to see the rare three-eyed carp in Lake Mirrorbasin. Of course, in order to draw them, I'll have to pry my hands out of their current claw shape from typing "Llanfairpwllgwyngyll" too many times.
I hate vampires(mumbles to self) now they're trying to fool us with smells like our favorite stuff... Evil, creepy, good for nuthin'....I'm going to make more wooden stakes and silver bullets. See you later. (Walks away mumbling to self and shaking head)
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I hate vampires(mumbles to self) now they're trying to fool us with smells like our favorite stuff... Evil, creepy, good for nuthin'....I'm going to make more wooden stakes and silver bullets. Se..."
Take a page from Karrin Murphy and make some out of your silver hoop earrings!
No Game of Thrones?...wow, there are new unknown authors up there..but no GRR Martin? whatev. I voted
...the top books from the last poll are left out. One through five are decided. This is for the rest of the pack.
The good thing about the people here is that most appear to be pretty widely-read in the genre, including seminal works in the genre. That means you'll get a pretty neat (and I'd say objectively valid) result. I've seen similar lists on writing forums where many members have read only three fantasy books in their life, two of which were by Holly Lisle. So naturally Holly Lisle books start showing up at the top of their list (and I like Holly Lisle, by the way, I use her as an example because for some reason whenever I come across people who have only read one or two fantasy authors but otherwise don't read in the genre, Holly Lisle seems to be one of the authors).
The more fantasy books a group has read, the better result you're going to get. And the more that have read the seminal works in the genre, the better.
So I think we're in good shape here.
Chelsea wrote: "These ones don't sparkle. They emit a scent like steak and leather-bound books."Not gonna lie, I would read that...
Wastrel wrote: "On the other point: I think there are SO many cases where I can't tell whether something is SF or fantasy, or where many people disagree, that I don't think it's meaningful to make a hard-and-fast distinction."I can for those I've read.
Examples:
- The Book of the New Sun - Fantasy
- Ash: A Secret History - Not read
- Shadowrun - SF
- Pern - Fantasy until the ruins were discovered on the Southern continent then SF
- Spelljammer - not read
- most of the stories in Black Juice - not read
- most of Borges - not read
- The Prestige - Fantasy
- The Stars My Destination - SF
The Majipoor Cycle is High Fantasy!
OTOH, I don't really think it worth debating.
I would think that The Prestige, one of my favorite books by the way, would be science fiction. (view spoiler) Or steampunk maybe.
Shadowrun is firmly in the Fantasy camp, in my opinion.Pern I consider more fantasy, though they were published as science fiction from the beginning and the first novel was serialized in Analog, which doesn't accept Fantasy.
Book of the New Sun I'd consider Fantasy, just like Dying Earth is Fantasy.
The Prestige is perhaps a bit more difficult to put in one category or other. It was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke award, which only science fiction novels qualify for if I'm not mistaken. And also the World Fantasy Award. Probably closer to Fantasy, in my mind.
The Book of the New Sun - set on earth in the far future, with spaceships and robots and aliens and time-travel and aeroplanes and some sort of energy-weapons... and people say it's fantasy?Shadowrun is science fiction, when it's got elves and dwarves and vampires and goblins and magic and totems, and beings from hideous dimensions of pain summoned by magic spells that want to conquer the world, and...?
The Stars My Destination has no serious science at all, has teleportation by thought alone, and the plot revolves around a magic substance that explodes if you want it to. 'science fiction'?
The Prestige is fantasy? Are there any fantasy elements? the only 'supernatural' elements are all explained through scientific mumbojumbo, and are hardly physically impossible, and everything else is set in our world. True, the scientific mumbojumbo doesn't seem very plausible to us, but if you insist that it has to be plausible to be SF, 'SF' will be a very small element indeed! [Certainly the Prestige is more scientifically plausible than shadowrun is!]
i'm not saying you're wrong... I'm just saying that I really don't see these as clear-cut, definite and certain judgements. I think there's a massive area of ambiguity.
The Book of the New Sun is more Fantasy, despite those elements, just like Star Wars is Fantasy despite having space ships. I think this one is arguable, perhaps, as the boundaries of the genres do blur.Shadowrun isn't even close to science fiction, in my view.
The Prestige, despite having what appear to be "scientific" elements, really provides nothing substantial behind any of it, so it goes in more with Fantasy :)
Traci wrote: "I would think that The Prestige, one of my favorite books by the way, would be science fiction. [spoilers removed] Or steampunk maybe."Some people could consider steampunk to be more of a fantasy element, but I always thought of it as part of the science fiction genre.
I guess it depends on how it is done, Kevin. I could see any given steampunk work going either way, depending on the implementation.
I can see steampunk as both sci fi and fantasy, too. It really depends on the story, like Mieville's Perdido Street Station. That's considered steampunk, but it's also very much a fantasy as well. Having said that, however, there are also some sci fi elements in Perdido, too.
How about The Map of Time? Anyone else read this yet? It's one of the best books I've read this year. But it's very hard to define. Especially if you haven't read it. I also mention it mostly because of The Prestige being mentioned and this book is similiar.
Traci wrote: "How about The Map of Time? Anyone else read this yet? It's one of the best books I've read this year. But it's very hard to define. Especially if you haven't read it. I also mention ..."That's on my TBR list - I've heard REALLY good things about it.
I loved it! I guess the best word to describe it is whimsical.
I finally voted again, I couldn't decide so I held off. But after hearing about Chelsea's book I think the vote should be thrown out so here series can take top spot! I love vampires that smell like steak!
^And instead of humans being victims, Vampires will be one. I want some steak.. mmmm.
Wow! Round 3 is here already! I think you know the drill by now. Just in case you don’t, here it goes again:We’ve narrowed the nomination list down but we still have a lot more books to go!
It’s time for Round 3! Voting Ends on Monday, October 17, 2011.
The link for round 3 is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FA_top...
This poll is for the third (3rd) round. Books were removed from the FIRST nomination list for 1 of 3 reasons:
1. The book received enough votes to be placed on the Final List for top 100.
2. The book received 1 or less votes during the FIRST poll.
3. The book was duplicated and/or a part of a series. Please search for that series or the first book in that series.
Psssst! Want a sneak peek at some of the books that already made the An Aficionado’s Guide to the top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time list? (view spoiler)
As always you rock! Wow it's getting harder and harder to pick! I refuse to cheat...I refuse to cheat...
I voted, but I'm so surprised by some of the choices that made it this far. It was really hard to find books that I felt belonged in the TOP 100. This is going to be very interesting, to say the least.
I voted. But I didn't even try for 10. I think I only actually voted for 6 this round.
You rule, Mrs. J!And thank you for all your support, my legion of fans!
Fantasy Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Sheepfarmer's Daughter (other topics)Liar's Oath (other topics)
The Deed of Paksenarrion (other topics)
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Divided Allegiance (other topics)
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It is even on the ineligible list.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...