Favorite inspiring fantasy books

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  • Nizana said:
    I actually pitched a fit when I saw that the mistborn trilogy had a FOURTH BOOK that takes place in teh steampunk era hundreds of years after the ending.

    WTF Sanderson? Give me an ending and then tempt me with a fourth installment? Mistborn Quadigy.
    Mistborn: The Alloy of Law was originally a standalone book in the same setting (but in the future like you said). Now it's a part of a new series with the same characters Wax and Wayne. Next book is called Mistborn: Shadows of Self

    You know, that one thing at that one place, with that one person.

    Yea, that one!
  • Aodfionn said:
    Somewhat surprisingly,  I mostly dislike fantasy books. Most of the inspiration I've gotten from books were science fiction, most notably Dune. The general realism and focus on the definitions of morality and humanity within society have always appealed to me mot than the themes of good and evil or life and death that seem so prevalent in a lot of fantasy writin . 

    This is entirely based off of my admittedly limited experience with fantasy books, they are just generally not my cup of tea. I like my imaginary playland to be sufficiently dystopian and flawed, which is something sci fi is great at without turning it into the Hunger Games. 

    As far as specific elements, I originally based my character on being essentially a tundra troll version of Dune's fremen, withAtreides-inspired loyalty.  the dune series has been veru influential on my writing and on Aodfionn's development. 
    There are plenty of Fantasy books which lean in that direction, though I share your sentiment and generally put Sci Fi first. Though you have to wade through a lot of typical stuff that you have trouble with.

    A Song of Ice and Fire books are pretty key ones as far as modern fantasy goes. At least the first three of them. Basically forget about caring about anything coming after the third and don't look forward to an ending. But the writing and characters are great for what you like, IMO.

    The Prince of Nothing trilogy fits that bill for me, too. 

    Both series hit those fantasy tropes, but with that gritty Sci Fi content you seem to like.
  • edited May 2015
    Drizzt.

    Come on guys.




    Penwize has cowardly forfeited the challenge to mortal combat issued by Atalkez.
  • AerekAerek East Tennessee, USA
    No one wanted to bring up Drizzt because he became such a whiny bitch in the later books. Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle are where the street cred is at.

    I of course read the Lord of the Rings, most of the Legend of Drizzt saga, and assorted other fantasy novels, but I don't feel that my characters have been based or influenced by that. If anything, I'm more influenced by D&D manuals, because that's what taught me to let the world build a dynamic character, instead of forcing a static character onto the world.
    -- Grounded in but one perspective, what we perceive is an exaggeration of the truth.
  • I play Atalkez more like Pwent.

    Drizzt got me into fantasy though.




    Penwize has cowardly forfeited the challenge to mortal combat issued by Atalkez.
  • Atalkez said:
    I play Atalkez more like Pwent.

    Drizzt got me into fantasy though.

    Go back and read page 1, n00b
  • AhmetAhmet Wherever I wanna be
    Atalkez said:
    Drizzt.

    Come on guys.
    Um. P fuckin sure I said Drizzt like, thirty responses ago. Maybe I'm crazy tho.
    Huh. Neat.
  • Dortheron said:
    Nizana said:
    I actually pitched a fit when I saw that the mistborn trilogy had a FOURTH BOOK that takes place in teh steampunk era hundreds of years after the ending.

    WTF Sanderson? Give me an ending and then tempt me with a fourth installment? Mistborn Quadigy.
    Mistborn: The Alloy of Law was originally a standalone book in the same setting (but in the future like you said). Now it's a part of a new series with the same characters Wax and Wayne. Next book is called Mistborn: Shadows of Self

    Sanderson actually wrote somewhere, he considered doing 3 trilogies in that setting, Mistborn, one a couple of hundred years later (which is the one with Wax and Wayne) and finally one in a futuristic enviroment.
  • HyperlithHyperlith San Fierro area, San Andreas
    Not too many books inspired Hyperlith, but many books that I read fueled and sustained my love for fantasy (and science fiction); I very much enjoyed the majority of Dragonlance books. Margaret Weis' Dark Sword series and Death Gate Cycle were wonderful. I also read a lot of Piers Anthony books and wonder how much divine repartee mimics the Incantations of Immortality series. For Orson Scott Card, the Mithermages saga seems promising as well (I've only read the first book).

    Oh, and I cannot remember how many times I read the AD&D manuals -- I completely loved the biographical entries and artwork for Deities & Demigods, and the Monster Manual.

  • Wow...I need to make a bio for Brean. Just been playing myself...and to answer,  haven't picked up non fiction in years, not since early college. But Dune is good stuff, haven't heard of most of the other books 
  • AmunetAmunet Spokane, Washington, USA
    A Song of Ice and Fire has been a pretty big influence since I first read the series right out of high school - looooonnng before HBO came out with the TV series. Amu is a bit of Cersei Lannister, a bit of Olenna Redwyne, a bit of Melisandre, and a whole lot of Littlefinger. The first book to really impact my character, however, was this weird, kind of obscure historical fantasy novel called The Blood Countess, by Andrei Codrescu. Amunet still displays a lot of the aristocratic coldness and subtle psychosis emanated by Codrescu's depiction of Elizabeth Bathory (to say nothing of the rumours in Ashtan that she bathes in the blood of orphans). 

    Lovecraft's entire oeuvre has been inspiration to Occultists for years, and my character is no exception there. I have always been a huge Lovecraft fan, and my desire to play a character steeped in the dark, creeping, insidious chaos of that mythos was my OOC motivation for joining up with Flair when he first founded the Revolutionaries of Chaos. Might be a bit of a cliche, but given how it's panned out, allowing those stories to influence Amunet's RP is one of the best decisions I've made.
    My avatar is an image created by this very talented gentleman, of whose work I am extremely jealous. It was not originally a picture of Amunet, but it certainly looks a great deal like how I envision her!
  • I always liked the Locke Lamora books, the gentleman bastards, by Scott Lynch. 
    Just the right amount of fantasy and darkness for me! 
    The little street urchin done good also appeals.. -shifty-


  • Pretty much anything by Jack Vance is inspiring (hence Vanceroth). I entirely agree with @Aodfionn about Dune and science fiction in general. Most of my preferred fantasy authors are SF writers. There is of course Tolkien, Howard and Lovecraft, however.
    Fetch water,
    Carry the Moon
    -Cogitations and Ponderations of Disciple Vanceroth, Student of the Trine
  • AodfionnAodfionn Seattle, WA
    DELPH!!!
    Aurora says, "Are you drunk, Aodfionn?"
  • AhmetAhmet Wherever I wanna be
    Delphinus said:
    -image-
    .....
    Oh no. Nonononononononono. You are NOT coming back and knocking me down further dammit!

    In all serious though, DELPH!
    Huh. Neat.
  • Ahmet said:
    Delphinus said:
    -image-
    .....
    Oh no. Nonononononononono. You are NOT coming back and knocking me down further dammit!

    In all serious though, DELPH!
    Psh, he's been lurking around the forums for what, over a month now?

    (Should totally come back, though.)
    - (Eleusis): Ellodin says, "The Fissure of Echoes is Sarathai's happy place."
    - With sharp, crackling tones, Kyrra tells you, "The ladies must love you immensely."
    - (Eleusian Ranger Techs): Savira says, "Most of the hard stuff seem to have this built in code like: If adventurer_hitting_me = "Sarathai" then send("terminate and selfdestruct")."
    - Makarios says, "Serve well and perish."
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