Just watched Conan the Barbarrian

[Agathon]

What is best in life?

[Jon Miller]

There is some absolutely fabulous Sci Fi (more than Fantasy I am afraid)

try out some of Cherryh, or Zelazny, or Gene Wolfe, or Dickson

Jon Miller
(some of their books are just fun, others are really strong, and very few are average or poor)

[atomant]

Books are always better than the movie. Your imagination is a far better at grasping ideas, themes and concepts that a director who has all of 90minutes to tell a complete story.

Conan the Bucaneer rocked (as a book of course.)

[ColdWizard]

I enjoyed the series by de Camp and Carter. Don't care for the movies much anymore, though the first is much better than the second.

[Agathon]

I liked Arthur C Clarke and some of Asimov's stories, but when I picked up some modern SF (and by that I mean 1990s) I just hated it. I still like SF films and stuff, though.

I can't read any fantasy after LOTR – Tolkien is just so much better than anything else that it ruins it for me.

[LDiCesare]

There is some good fantasy beyond Tolkien. A Song of ice and fire(A Game of thrones) being a recent excellent example. Moorcock also wrote great stuff (I particularly liked the Corum series).

[Jon Miller]

Cherryh, Donaldson, etc all wrote some good fantasy

JM

[JohnT]

Donaldson wrote what I consider to be one of the most underrated sci-fi epics ever in his Gap series.

[Jon Miller]

eh, his fantasy is better

JM

[JohnT]

Possibly.

Not being a fan of the genre, I couldn't tell you. Being a fan of sci-fi, however, I can assuredly say that his Gap novels are among the best yadda, yadda, yadda...

[Jon Miller]

I agree that they were decent

they are on my reread at some point lsit

Jon Miller
(I think the first one was the best)

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Agathon
No. I find most fantasy and sci fi books to be awful. Exceptions are LOTR and the first Dune book. Most of the rest are terribly written.

My goodness, you must have read an awful, awful lot of them, to know that MOST of the rest are terribly written.


Do you have any idea how many fantasy/science fiction books are published just in the U.S. ?

[Ming]

Originally posted by molly bloom
Do you have any idea how many fantasy/science fiction books are published just in the U.S. ?

I have over 4,000 in my collection, and I've barely scratched the surface

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Ming


I have over 4,000 in my collection, and I've barely scratched the surface

I have fewer, but then I have taste and discernment.

[Ming]

I enjoy the grade B SF stuff... and with fantasy, the only way to know is to read it. There are now many authors I will not buy a second fantasy series from