Sorry, fantasy fanatics. I just can’t do it.
I try, but I don’t find fantasy enjoyable. I just finished Obernewtyn, and all I could think about was how awful and expository the prose was, and how frustrated I was about having to learn the rules of the world. I was literally in pain when I got to the end of the book. The best I could say for it was that “It’s full of imagination!”
…Which is great, and if that’s what you enjoy, that’s great. Power to you. I just can’t do it.
Sam van Zweden 
19/01/2012 at 12:10 pm
I loved that series! The second and third books especially. Granted, I was fifteen at the time…
19/01/2012 at 12:22 pm
I know, Bronwyn, apparently there’s a whole generation (about my age, a few years older) who loved it. That’s why I read it, a heap of my friends loved it.
It did read like a very fifteen year-old book, though. Sorry. 😦 I did try.
19/01/2012 at 1:16 pm
Maybe you should try Terry Pratchett? It’s fantasy but it’s not over the top with the names and everything although they are a bit weird. Or Neil Gaiman which is smart fantasy but not really locked into that genre. I really can’t stand reading the blurb of fantasy books which are fulls of U’s and O’s. I struggled to read Melinda Marchetta’s Finnigan of the Rock. I always wonder how the writers remember how to spell their characters names?
19/01/2012 at 1:36 pm
Yeah, I’ve been meaning to read some Neil Gaiman, if for no other reason than that he wooed Amanda Palmer. But I’ve heard that he’s great. He writes for a lot of different age groups though, Shan – any particular titles you’d suggest?
Terry Pratchett’s also on my to-be-read list, I read the first few pages of “Going Postal” the other day and found it pretty amusing, so maybe that’s a good idea.
Thanks!
24/01/2012 at 10:17 am
“American Gods” by Neil Gaiman is my favourite that I’ve read a few times. I also really like “Star-dust.”
24/01/2012 at 1:30 pm
aha! That’s been recommended by many people, so now I have to read it. It’s duly noted, on my to-be-read list. Thanks!
19/01/2012 at 4:24 pm
It’s probably not relevant to can the genre for
one book, patchy thinking too.
So many tomes by serious writers, are in a variety of ways inept.
A book is a big thing, rendered over time
And subject to uneven flow.
What one writer lacks in the skill of exposition
he/she will gather back by being on the money,
emotionally, or by being relevant in characterizations.
It’s a deep muddy pool, in my opinion and
someTimes,
Sometimes even the most critically lauded
serious plausible writer, can just plain stink.
When it comes to holding interest.
Of course, you the reader will think its you.
That too is all part of the game.
Louis
20/01/2012 at 1:39 pm
Wow, thanks Louis.
I certainly wasn’t meaning to can the whole genre, I just meant that as far as my experience with fantasy goes, I don’t much enjoy it. I’m open to trying others, and I’ve got some colleagues funneling a whole stream of recommendations as quickly as my poor purse can take it – I’ll be sure to make an “I was wrong” post as soon as my mind is changed 🙂
21/01/2012 at 5:42 am
Just a general comment from me…
Don’t take it to heart.
Books are an issue. And they need to be just, what they are. They tend to be used as the last refuge of the intellectual. It’s better they be demystified. That’s just a hobby horse of mine. No big deal. Just because the so called fantasy genre is the refuge of newbies to writing and those who self publish there is tendency to generalize about them.
Some of the best thinkers have been writing in the S/F fantasy genre in the past. The mind is like a painting, it has to be felt and well as logicalized, I think. I’m as guilty of being didactic as anyone. But I do try to keep the faith. They thought Dali was a fool, and for some the jury will always be out… Louis
28/01/2012 at 5:06 am
I second Neil’s ‘American Gods’ – loved it. I’d also pick up ‘Neverwhere’ too, Neil has a great sense of humour and in Neverwhere he re-imagines London, fun stuff. Oh, and ‘The Graveyard Book’ while aimed a younger readers, is tops too. There you go, a Neil Gaiman Tribute Comment hahahaa
29/01/2012 at 2:05 pm
Thanks, Ashley! All added to my little “To be read” book. (Yeah, there’s so many now that I’ve got a book.)
29/01/2012 at 6:06 pm
Wow, that’s impressive – and daunting. I have a list but no book yet. A book might well crush me!
05/02/2012 at 5:00 am
Apologies for leaping in unannounced (just discovered this on the EWF site), but you might want to leave the kidstuff fantasy alone (incl. Gaiman) and grow up with China Mieville, partic his ‘Perdido Street Station’ series, but BRACE yourself. Failing that, stick with Pynchon or try the gorgeous pre-steampunk of Kurzweil’s ‘A Case of Curiosities’ – arguably not fantasy but definitely speculative quality.
05/02/2012 at 8:28 am
Fantastic, thanks for stopping by…
I’ve heard great things about Mieville… I’ll have to chase it up. Putting it in my to-read book right now. 🙂
06/02/2012 at 12:04 pm
Just a note that Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’ (& ‘Neverwhere’ for that matter) is hardly ‘kidstuff fantasy’ in case you were wondering – and now I sound even more like a Neil Gaiman fanatic!
But I’d be interested to see what you think if he makes it up the list one day.
Perhaps another possibility could be a Terry Pratchett, who usually lampoons the fantasy genre from within. ‘The Colour of Magic’ maybe – or one of my favs – ‘Hogfather’ where Death has to fill in for Santa.
06/02/2012 at 1:31 pm
I’ve dipped into the first few pages of some Pratchett and laughed a fair bit, so I think it’s definitely worth a look-in.
And Neil Gaiman… Married to Amanda Palmer! He could write whatever he wanted and still have my unending respect… That said, American Gods has gotten too many recommendations lately to be ignored. I’m a little daunted by its door-stopperish-ness though.
12/02/2012 at 6:08 pm
Outstanding! Yeah, he’s just great! It is a nice big book, absolutely – if you wanted a short intro to him, try and find ‘Neverwhere’ as is has some similar themes, humour and inventiveness, but is more compact. Geeze, I can feel myself going to the soon for a re-read!
12/02/2012 at 9:59 am
Sam I can’t do most modern fantasy either! Urgh. I echo the others- try Gaiman and Pratchett. HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) is also a legend!
-Elizabeth from work =D
12/02/2012 at 10:09 am
Ah! Thanks, Elizabeth from work. I’ve heard good things about Lovecraft also – didn’t he pioneer a heap of stuff that’s now essential to the genre?