by LaconianShot » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:11 pm
I'll probably read it at one point. I'm not a big fan, but the Harry Potter series serves as a guilty pleasure at times. I'll read it when the time comes, but I'm not particularly stoked about nor am I in a rush to get. Rowling strikes as a bit of an amature as far as writing goes. <p>As long as we're on the topic of good fantasy writers I would have to say that among my choices are Steven Erikson, Guy Gavriel Kay, Terry Goodkind, Tolkien (of course) and C.S Lewis (for a younger audience, though). Ursela K. LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy is a masterpiece, though I can't think of any other noteable fantasy titles by her. As far as SciFi goes, William C. Dietz is rather good, one of the best to be sure.<p>Each author has their weakpoints, though. Steven Erikson, while being an incredible storyteller and excellent at designing a nuanced story, can be a tad technical and dry at some points. Guy Gavriel Kay is an author of great skill, reminding me a lot of Tolkien actually, but he shares Tolkien's weaknesses in that he can drag a bit. Terry Goodkind can really put emotion in to his work, such as in his Faith of the Fallen book, but his characters can get really cliched and some of his books feel really rushed at the end.<p><blockquote>Jordan is a FILLER author. Most of his books with mindless filler, that is his strongpoint.</blockquote> <br>Agreed. Same with Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman. <p><blockquote>Abarat by Clive Barker is really good. The first two books in the series have been released so far.</blockquote> <br>Yeah, but they're really only in the same class as Harry Potter... Juvenile Fiction. You can defenitely tell what the demographic for the book is.