Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
My experience is that there is no place to go after Tolkien. You started your climb at the mountain's peak, and the only direction to go is down. I had the same experience--I basically started my fantasy reading with "The Hobbit," progressed to LOTR, and then pretty much gave up the genre for sf. Since science fiction is my true love anyway, this was not much of a sacrifice. :)
There are those who will disagree, of course, but I see most other fantasy as a pale imitation of Tolkien.
"The Chronicals of Narnia" stands on it's own, however, and the Thomas Convenant series are notable achievements in world-building.
I would also recommend Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series--a self-concious attempt to write fantasy which does not fit the "elves, dwarves and wizards" mold. It's set in a colonial America where folk-magic is real and the East Coast has developed as a Balkanized arrangment of nations, colonies, territories, etc. Card being a Mormon, the series is also supposed to be an allegorical retelling of the story of Joseph Smith. Not being a Mormon myself, most of said allegory is lost on me.
There are musical-people and there are non-musical people. I am a musical person myself (in that I like musicals, not in that I am musically talented.) There was a time when I would have tried to convince a non-musical person, such as yourself, of the glory of the art form. I have since learned that it is a hard-wired distinction, not amenable to change--like the difference between those who (mistakenly) believe Sean Connery to have been the best James Bond, and those who understand (correctly) that the best James Bond was really Roger Moore.
As for the "where do you go from Tolkien" question, the answer is, as some have said, downhill. He was the greatest, no question. There are a few who are nearly as good, but not many, and the vast majority are lousy. I love epic fantasy with Elves and warriors and such, but most of it is so derivative of Tolkien I've almost given up and switched entirely to "Discworld".
Oh, I thought of a good series to read, one for young people actually (10-15) but I quite enjoyed it: the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede. There are four in the set, quite funny, but they really don't make much of a distinction between good and bad magic, so if you disapprove of 'good' witches forget the recommendation. Otherwise it's quite funny. I believe the first is Dealing with Dragons, the others being Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons. Not sure of the names and order but it's something like that.
So I noticed.
Is the Discworld series really that good? I have a friend who thinks it's great, and Hal Clement (an sf author I respect) is also a fan. The series has always looked to me to be absurdist--sort of in the tradition of "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" and the Xanth series. I like both of these bodies of work, but absurdism is not my theme of choice. So I have avoided Discworld. Am I making a mistake?
BTW--I think you are right on target regarding the confusion of fantasy and sf. It really bugs me when librarians and book-stores put them in the same section (which is all the time, basically.):
"Let's see--they're both about stuff that isn't real, so they must be the same genre."
Grrr...
I am sure that you have noticed that the campaign for Oscars this year has gotten down to the level of a campaign for alderman in Chicago! Perhaps it will cancel out, since there have been no attacks on Hobbits yet (this sort of thing seems to be saved for Free Republic)!
Kind of explains why the Great Generation, of the Depression and WWII were parents to the Baby Boom generation of Bill Clinton, doesn't it. (Not that generalities about a generation apply to everyone it that generation, of course)
Yes, but remember the ending of the previous book of the Bible, Judges, in which after describing how the tribe of Benjamin had almost been destroyed due to its evil and perverted ways, it says 'In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.' This was not meant as praise. It seems that the people of Israel were no longer fit to live in a non-monarchical state.
If you want to read material which is at least as good as Tolkien, I am afraid you will have to turn to the classics: The Oddessey, The Illiad, Beowulf.
Michael Medved talked about the dirty campaign tricks this year for the Oscars today (the trashing of A Beautiful Mind) anyone hear it? I didn't - just the very tail end. Wondered how he/they think it affects FoTR..
Anyone else having problems with Yahoo - like their whole server being down? I was trying to check my email, and I can't, and it looks like our chat is inaccessible.
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