Fantasy Literature Resources?


Books


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Some time back on these forums, I read a recommendation of Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series as a great example of the potential role play between a Wizard and his familiar. That turned out to be right on the money, and (as a relatively new role player) I feel that it has certainly improved my RP in game. Not to mention I am now eagerly awaiting the next Taltos novel :)

Growing up, I mostly read science fiction. I've read some fantasy (the Narnia series springs to mind, as well as a few attempts at getting through The Hobbit), but I'm more than willing to bet I'm missing some amazing literature that, in addition to being pleasurable reading, would be inspiring as a tabletop player and eventual DM. Really, I'd say that most of my exposure to the fantasy genre has been through television and video games.

What books should I be looking to read? Make absolutely no assumptions of what I may have read before -- just because it's a well known classic doesn't mean I'm actually aware of that =P

It'd also be nifty if you guys could provide some clue as to what makes the book awesome and what I might want to pay attention to in particular. Basically, stuff like the relationship between Vlad Taltos and his familiar, or if a book takes a really nifty approach to magic, etc. Try to keep it spoiler free, though :)


So much to work with.

Definitely take a look at Lieber's Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser, the term "Swords & Sorcery" comes from the title of one of those books.

I rather like Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, but it is probably too OD&D style to work as well for a modern gamer. A look at the original (good, neutral, evil) alignment system and old style D&D campaigns.

There is Moorcock's Elric series as well (part of his Eternal Champion cycle, but Elric is the more fantasy aspect). Involved, somewhat confusing but an interesting look at how a high magic world would work politically and practically. Full of fun concepts like trade stopping because there are no longer enough wizards to keep the wind up for sailing ships.

Zelazny should be worth a look, mostly for Changeling and Madwand although some of his other stuff is also interesting. Magic and magic users, how they live and organize themselves.


For roleplaying the interaction between a ranger/druid and their animal companion - particularly if it's a wolf - Robin Hobb's "Farseer Trilogy" and "Tawny Man Trilogy" are the best I've ever read. Between the two, also read the "Liveship Traders Trilogy", just because it's awesome (and the three trilogies are structured in that order), and also it may be great reference for any maritime/pirate RPG you may consider playing.

Assistant Software Developer

Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away: Magic as a non-renewable resource.


Ursula K Legin´s A Wizard of Earthsea.


Wizard's First Rule : Terry Goodkind.

Let me just say what the wizard's first rule is........everyone is stupid.

Just read it, I promise you'll never see some of the parts coming.


I've heard it said that one of Gary Gygax's major sources of inspiration was Robert E. Howard's "Conan" stories. One obvious sign of that inspiration is the Barbarian class. Also, when I read "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" (the first volume of a three-volume set reprinting Howard's complete "Conan" works), I said "So THAT'S why characters get more hit points as they level up!"

(Personally, I think that Tolkien's influence on the game is more apparent than Howard's, but many people disagree with me on that point. Undoubtedly, we'll soon see a lot of posts expressing that disagreement.)


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I have to de-recommend Terry Goodkind. He is a terrible writer and his fantasy series is awful. Bad writing, terrible characters and a dubious ideological viewpoint he crams down the reader's throat at every single opportunity. Avoid.

On a more positive note, the following should definitely be investigated:

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch
An unusual fantasy world (a typical medieval set-up but built amongst the ruins of an ultra-advanced race) serves as the backdrop for a series of impressive heists and cons being run by a group of rogues.

THE FENCER TRILOGY by K.J. Parker
An anti-epic fantasy, in which traditional elements (huge battles, epic sword duels, dubious magic) are turned on their head. The furniture isn't so important, more the characters and their relationships to one another. The fact that magic doesn't make any sense and may not even exist despite its apparent effects is also quite interesting.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN by Robert E. Howard
The stories are variable in quality, but these remain the genre at its most pulpy fun.

THE DYING EARTH SERIES and LYONESSE TRILOGY by Jack Vance
THE DYING EARTH is the direct and primary inspiration for D&D's magic system (even some of the spell names are the same) and is one of the primary cornerstone books of the genre. Its two immediate sequels, featuring Cugel (probably the finest fantasy rogue ever put to paper), are even better. The LYONESSE TRILOGY is also brilliant. Vance may be the genre's best wordsmith, with a wicked sense of humour and brilliant sense of plotting.

THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN by Steven Erikson
This big (ten volumes, but complete) series seemingly started out as an attempt to show realistically what would happen in a high-level roleplaying world, with city-destroying magic present and gods and demigods frequently meddling in mortal affairs. From quite early on Erikson seems to have changed his mind and instead decided to write an epic fantasy that also works as a piece of serious literature, engaging with juicy themes (though, it has to be said, rarely given profound answers). An oddball approach, but definitely one of the most intelligent examples of the genre.

THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN by Gene Wolfe
Arguably the highwater mark of the genre to date, a complex and multi-layered work of literature focusing on a highly unreliable narrator who lies and plays games with the reader. The setting (South America millions of years in the future, transformed into a fantasyland) is memorable, as is the central character, Severian the torturer.

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R.R. Martin (aka A GAME OF THRONES)
A highly political fantasy, focusing on the notion of Power and all of its applications and interpretations. It also features arguably the finest cast of characters to ever appear in a fantasy series.

THE WHEEL OF TIME by Robert Jordan
This series is huge (14 quite large volumes) but complete, and may represent the final statement in any attempt to do a post-Tolkien fantasy epic. Some questionable pacing and dubious writing (not to mention at least one volume that is so bad as to be unreadable) are overcome by some impressive plotting and what is easily the most comprehensive and impressive magic system ever developed for fiction.

THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY by Mervyn Peake
Another of the cornerstones of the genre, a moody and sometimes difficult-to-read series about the ossified inhabitants of a vast (city-sized) castle whose lives are thrown into turmoil by the rise to power of a serving boy with vicious ambitions. The first two books are masterpieces, though the semi-unfinished third novel can be hard going (though notable for its steampunk leanings, long before the phrase was coined).

THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN by Guy Gavriel Kay
A fantasised take on the story of Eld Cid and the Spanish Reconquista, notable for its incredibly well-realised characters and splendid writing. Kay's much more recent UNDER HEAVEN does the same sort of thing for 10th Century China, and almost as well. Pretty much all of his output is worth reading, though his first trilogy (THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY) is easily his weakest work.

Sovereign Court Contributor

Clark Ashton Smith, Averoigne stories & Zothique series.

Robert Chambers. The King in Yellow


If we are adding more recent works, I definitely recommend anything by Tad Williams, especially the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. I feel that A Song of Ice and Fire owes quite a bit to this series


MMCJawa wrote:
If we are adding more recent works, I definitely recommend anything by Tad Williams, especially the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. I feel that A Song of Ice and Fire owes quite a bit to this series

It owes its existence to it. GRRM wasn't convinced that epic fantasy could work as an adult, popular genre (he's a fan of Stephen Donaldson, but felt that THOMAS COVENANT was kind of an outlier) until he read MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN's first volume in 1988. He started writing A GAME OF THRONES in 1991 and has acknowledged several times (including in an interview with Tad last year) that he may not have proceeded without the confidence given from MS&T that epic fantasy could work as an adult genre.

If you read extremely closely, there's a House Willum with two feuding heirs, Josua and Elias, mentioned a few times in ASoIaF :-)


Lots of excellent recommendations. Instead of throwing out new stuff I'll double recommend:

--Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books

--Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories

--Robert E. Howard's Conan tales

--Michael Moorcock's Elric books; and

--Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions

--Jack Vance's Dying Earth stuff

On top of they're all being wicked awesome, they're also all short. Which you will come to appreciate more and more as you step into the world of epic fantasy fiction.


Werthead wrote:
MMCJawa wrote:
If we are adding more recent works, I definitely recommend anything by Tad Williams, especially the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. I feel that A Song of Ice and Fire owes quite a bit to this series

It owes its existence to it. GRRM wasn't convinced that epic fantasy could work as an adult, popular genre (he's a fan of Stephen Donaldson, but felt that THOMAS COVENANT was kind of an outlier) until he read MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN's first volume in 1988. He started writing A GAME OF THRONES in 1991 and has acknowledged several times (including in an interview with Tad last year) that he may not have proceeded without the confidence given from MS&T that epic fantasy could work as an adult genre.

If you read extremely closely, there's a House Willum with two feuding heirs, Josua and Elias, mentioned a few times in ASoIaF :-)

Yeah I vaguely remember him mentioning that, and I caught the House Willum reference on my last reread.


For a series of shorter books - and somewhat older - I'd also recommend Glen Cook's BLACK COMPANY series. Dark and concise whilst also being very epic.


I'd echo everything on Werthead's list (except maybe Conan, which, despite several attempts at several stories, I've never been able to understand the popularity of - the Marvel comic book version started out pretty good, though ;) ).

And then I'd add Ellen Kushner's "Riverside trilogy made up of Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword, and The Fall of the Kings (co-written with her wife, Delia Sherman). Set in a magic-rare world (there's no magic at all in the chronologically two first novel) they're high in intrigue, has some absolutely gorgeous prose - reading it sometimes feels like eating a really fluffy pastry or drinking a high-end sparkling wine - and plenty of brilliant one-liners. Or to quote an exchange in TPOTS speaking of an in-universe book:

"'Oh dear,' sighed her mother, 'it's that awful piece of thrash about the swordsman lover, isnt't? My friends were mad for that book when we were young.'
'It's not thrash,' her daughter said. 'It's full of great and noble truths about the heart. And swordfights.'
'I'll have to read it' her father said brightly, but no-one paid him any attention.

Also recommended would be Katherine Kerr's Deverry series - epic secondary world fantasy with an unusual (for fantasy, at least) narrative structure - it's a world where reincarnation is real and we get to follow several souls through several incarnations in a non-linear 'knotwork' (which sounds a lot more complicated than it is, plus there's a chart in each book to help keep track of who used to be who).

And finally, if you've at least seen the movie-version of Lord of the Rings (if you're an adult, I'd say next time you feel like trying the Hobbit - go for LotR in book form instead, as it wasn't written as a children's tale) you might enjoy Jacqueline Carey's The Sundering - two books Banewreaker & Godslayer) which reimagines the Lord of the Rings as a tragedy (with enough changes to stand as a work of its own and not risk a lawsuit). (Also, also: If you don't mind a bit, or well, quite a lot of, sex in your stories you may want to check out three trilogies in the "Kushielverse": Phèdre (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar), Imriel (Kushiel's Scion, Kushiel's Justice, and Kushiel's Mercy) and Moirin (Naamah's Kiss, Naamah's Curse, and Naamah's Blessing) for a more straightforward epic fantasy.)

And it seems I lied about finall: Has anyone mentioned China Mièville's Bas-Lag novels yet? Read 'em!


And if you like listening to stories while you're on your way to work (or jogging, or cooking, or whatever), Podcastle puts out a short story every week, which has helped me discover a bunch of new (to me) writers like, for instance, Saladin Ahmed (I've got to pick up Throne of the Crescent soon, Elizabeth Bear, and Tim Pratt).

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