Fantasy Aficionados discussion
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An Aficionado’s Guide to the top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time: Final
30 for me. I didn't spot the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. Did I miss them or are they not on the list?
How will the series work? Do you have to read the entire series for it to count toward the challenge?
I'm going by either the first in the series or the next one I'm reading. But only one in each series of course. Make sure to make a shelf for them though.
Dana wrote: "Did I miss the Dragonriders of Pern series on the list??? I would have to say that deserves to be on there."I canNOT believe it didn't make it. Wow....
I'm at 39 and need to fill in some gaps but I've gotten so picky in my old age.
Jesslyn wrote: "Dana wrote: "Did I miss the Dragonriders of Pern series on the list??? I would have to say that deserves to be on there."I canNOT believe it didn't make it. Wow....
I'm at 39 and need to fill in..."
Everyone agreed that Pern was not fantasy but was Sci-Fi. It was ineligible for the vote.
MrsJoseph wrote: Everyone agreed that Pern was not fantasy but was Sci-Fi. It was ineligible for the vote. ..."Puts my mind at ease. Thanks!
Hm... I can add the challenge of finding ebook versions of some of the older books to this challenge.
Lee wrote: "30 for me. I didn't spot the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. Did I miss them or are they not on the list?"We ended up talking about that series a lot... mostly because it turned so many people off. They aren't on the list on purpose.
Wow... though some are actually series so count as more than one book, I've only read seven of the items on the list.I guess that 15 years I spent reading so much fantasy all day every day for work really knocked me that far behind on my to read list in the fantasy genre--reading more fantasy after work really felt like a busman's holiday.Maybe my tastes are a bit on the obscure side.
Also yeah, no Pern? No Majipoor? Forgotten Realms and other tie-ins grossly under-represented. No Warhammer at all? And then there are a few books, like Interview with a Vampire, that don't belong there at all, since that's not actually a fantasy novel. Did I miss Edgar Rice Burroughs? Nothing of his is on this list? That's actually impossible to believe.
Did we decide Burroughs was science fiction? I don't remember. But that is what his books are considered and I agree. I think a book, especially the older ones, can be considered both fantasy and science fiction but we decided that when in question it was mostly thrown out.
Philip wrote: "WAlso yeah, no Pern? No Majipoor? Forgotten Realms and other tie-ins grossly under-represented. No Warhammer at all? And then there are a few books, like Interview with a Vampire, that don't belong there at all, since that's not actually a fantasy novel. Did I miss Edgar Rice Burroughs? Nothing of his is on this list? That's actually impossible to believe. "Pern: Sci-Fi
Burroughs: Can't remember but there's a thread
The rest: It was based upon nominations from the group. You've got to get more active! ;-)
Pern is Scifi? I assumed that because of the dragons it was automatically fantasy, though, now, when I look back on this generalization, it sort of highlights the kind of idiot I was back in the day.
Well, if you read deeper into Pern, your find out why its science fiction, but for the earlier books, I think its because its set on an alien world.
I believe we as a group were leaning towards Pern being fantasy but a member found where the author herself considered her work science fiction. It was then decided to honor what she herself believed.There are alot of great books on the list. I have been in the group coming up to a year now and I have loved almost every recommendation I get here.
There was quite a lot of discussion on some of the books Kat, I didn't look but the posts are probably still here on the sight.
Nit picky questions for you guys: I just finished Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist. We have Magician as book number 28. Does Murder in LaMut count for the challenge you think? It's technically from another trilogy, although set in the same world. Thanks in advance!
Kaila wrote: "Nit picky questions for you guys: I just finished Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist. We have Magician as book number 28. Does Murder in LaMut count for the challenge ..."Great question! I haven't the slightest idea, lol. We should ask someone who have read the book(s), I haven't read it yet.
I think it's up to the reader. If you want to count it I say go ahead. Not like any of us are going to be reading challenge police. And you probably already read it anyway.Personally I wouldn't though. Maybe if it had the same characters. Imo. It would be like reading The Silmarillion and saying you read Lord of the Rings.
But honestly whatever.
hmmm...ok! Thanks for the replies, I think I'm going to count it. Since Lord of the Rings is on there, I would probably personally count the Silmarillion as counting too. Maybe I'm just too leniant!
Becky wrote: "God bless those that happily make it through the Silmarillion."This made me laugh. I've tried to read that book several times now.
Oh but I don't think it should be counted with LotR. There's like a dozen or so books (stories) between the two timelines.
Quick question from a latecomer/new member... do previously read books count towards the challenge? Or are we counting books read during the time period?
We're counting books read during the time period. We were including sequels in said series, I believe.I have a personal list that I'm scratching off where I'm counting what I've already read, because I dont want to do too many re-reads this year. It is an excellent opportunity to branch out and read some new things though, and obviously they come highly recommended :D
So does that mean that The Wise Man's Fear counts toward the challenge? A sequel to The Name of the Wind
That is good news. It means I have one book for my challenge. I am half way through my second book, The Eye of the World I think this is a great way to read Fantasy and catch up on some of the books I've missed. Thanks for putting it together for us!
Becky wrote: "We're counting books read during the time period. We were including sequels in said series, I believe.I have a personal list that I'm scratching off where I'm counting what I've already read, b..."
Correct! The widget will only count books during the specified time of the challenge.
I'm happy that I've read a few of these, and some on the list I've wanted to read for a while. Let's Go!!
Magic Bites?! Really? (Did not like this one, but the series got better after I was forced to continue reading.)
Kaila wrote: "Nit picky questions for you guys: I just finished Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist. We have Magician as book number 28. Does Murder in LaMut count for the challenge ..."I'm pretty late to this, so whatever, but imo Murder in Lamut has nothing to do with Magician other than being set in the same world. It's about as stand alone as it can be. Even the 'trilogy' it's always grouped under isn't really a trilogy. It's just loose grouping of 3 standalone stories that all take place during the Rift War. Feist collaborates with a different author for each story in a project to flesh out his world a bit more.
Just to say that I personally wouldn't count it as having read 'Magician'. ;)
Alicia wrote: "Magic Bites?! Really? (Did not like this one, but the series got better after I was forced to continue reading.)"Everyone I know swears by this series. Even my mom loves it, lol.
MrsJoseph wrote: "Alicia wrote: "Magic Bites?! Really? (Did not like this one, but the series got better after I was forced to continue reading.)"Everyone I know swears by this series. Even my mom loves it, lol."
Yeah, but the first book isn't that good. Even the authors have said this. :-)
Martin wrote: "Yeah, but the first book isn't that good. Even the authors have said this. :-) "But we considered books as a series for the Top 100, so there ya go. ;) And even if it's not "that good," I have to say it's better than much of the UF out there.
Could this list be made dynamic somehow? I mean that it it stays open for voting at all times and the positions keep changing according to the votes gained.
Doubtful. MrsJ paid for a Surveymonkey subscription during the time we had it. We might be able to rearrange into a GR poll, but I don't know. I think there were limits on the numbers involved, which is why she had to use the Surveymonkey. We could look into it, though.
Fantasizer wrote: "Could this list be made dynamic somehow? I mean that it it stays open for voting at all times and the positions keep changing according to the votes gained."Carol wrote: "Doubtful. MrsJ paid for a Surveymonkey subscription during the time we had it. We might be able to rearrange into a GR poll, but I don't know. I think there were limits on the numbers involved, which is why she had to use the Surveymonkey. We could look into it, though. "
What Carol says is correct. The GR system only allows for 100 entries for polls, period. They can stay up for long periods of times but they MUST have a beginning and end date.
Additional, each person is only allowed to vote once - which means the polling system in not dynamic in the least.
From what you are requesting - the only thing that GR has that would work would be the Listopia system. This is a bit more dynamic BUT it does not fit the requirements of this list/vote...membership in Fantasy Aficionados. Additionally, Listopia lists - being open to all of GR - are constantly being merged into additional lists AND people can add other books to the list.
So, we could not use it for this purpose.
I did talk to the GR TPTB and was told that a list like Listopia was not going to ever be limited nor would a group only version become available.
Carol wrote: "Martin wrote: "Yeah, but the first book isn't that good. Even the authors have said this. :-) "But we considered books as a series for the Top 100, so there ya go. ;) And even if it's not "that ..."
What I was trying to say was that you shouldn't give up on the series, just because that you don't find the first book that hot. It gets better..
KevinB wrote: I'm pretty late to this, so whatever, but imo Murder in Lamut has nothing to do with Magician other than being set in the same world. It's about as stand alone as it can be. Even the 'trilogy' it's always grouped under isn't really a trilogy. It's just loose grouping of 3 standalone stories that all take place during the Rift War. Feist collaborates with a different author for each story in a project to flesh out his world a bit more.Just to say that I personally wouldn't count it as having read 'Magician'. ;)
Yeah I decided to change my mind on this and took Murder in LaMut off my Fantasy Aficionados challenge shelf.
Books mentioned in this topic
Another Fine Myth (other topics)Inheritance (other topics)
Murder in LaMut (other topics)
The Eye of the World (other topics)
The Name of the Wind (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
A. Lee Martinez (other topics)Raymond E. Feist (other topics)
Raymond E. Feist (other topics)
Raymond E. Feist (other topics)







^What he said.