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fresnelly · 06-12-2009, 06:05 PM

I'm looking for recommendations of fantasy novels that aren't completely bogged down with worldy detail and description; ideally with a plot that doesn't follow the usual story. You know: Humble chosen one is guided by Old Master to discover his destiny and defeat the dark one and save the world.

The Opposite of what I'm looking for is Christopher Paolini's Eldest trilogy. I listened to an audiobook version of the first book and despite the derivitive plot, I wanted to know how it turned out so I read the second. It was so laden with description dumping and historical and cultural background information that I barely got through it.

Good lord, no character could pick up so much as a shield without pages of history and detail about who molded it and what it was made of and where the material was refined and what it signifies and how it made each character feel and what races would never touch it and all the different names it is called in all the different languages and where it's been all these years and who used it before and what adventures THEY took it on and what THEIR different names were and what THEIR lineages were and on and on...

I gave up on the series after that.

An excellent example of what I AM looking for is Joseph Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy. It has offbeat characters that turn the stereotypes on their heads and focuses on the action with tight pacing and a minimum of exposition and description. I'm waiting for the final book to come in at the library and it's made hunger for more.

In the mean time I picked up the first book of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time and it has an OK balance of action and backdetail but it's sooo loooong. I just don't know if I can commit to 11 weighty tomes; especially since the plot doesn't seem to be straying much from the standard hero journey.

I also enjoy Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld books. He just drops you into the world and lets the details slip out quietly in the dialogue as the mystery unfolds. I appreciate that.

So, any suggestions?

06-12-2009, 06:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
fresnelly Functionally Appropriate Location: Toronto	Not So Epic Fantasy Novels? I'm looking for recommendations of fantasy novels that aren't completely bogged down with worldy detail and description; ideally with a plot that doesn't follow the usual story. You know: Humble chosen one is guided by Old Master to discover his destiny and defeat the dark one and save the world. The Opposite of what I'm looking for is Christopher Paolini's Eldest trilogy. I listened to an audiobook version of the first book and despite the derivitive plot, I wanted to know how it turned out so I read the second. It was so laden with description dumping and historical and cultural background information that I barely got through it. Good lord, no character could pick up so much as a shield without pages of history and detail about who molded it and what it was made of and where the material was refined and what it signifies and how it made each character feel and what races would never touch it and all the different names it is called in all the different languages and where it's been all these years and who used it before and what adventures THEY took it on and what THEIR different names were and what THEIR lineages were and on and on... I gave up on the series after that. An excellent example of what I AM looking for is Joseph Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy. It has offbeat characters that turn the stereotypes on their heads and focuses on the action with tight pacing and a minimum of exposition and description. I'm waiting for the final book to come in at the library and it's made hunger for more. In the mean time I picked up the first book of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time and it has an OK balance of action and backdetail but it's sooo loooong. I just don't know if I can commit to 11 weighty tomes; especially since the plot doesn't seem to be straying much from the standard hero journey. I also enjoy Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld books. He just drops you into the world and lets the details slip out quietly in the dialogue as the mystery unfolds. I appreciate that. So, any suggestions? __________________ Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life