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Bending the terms a bit... Larry Send a noteboard - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM
Six that come to mind would be (with some likely to quibble about associations):

M. John Harrison, Viriconium (omnibus)

Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciónes (collection)

J.G. Ballard, The Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard (collection, plus it spans several genre modes)

John Gardner, Grendel (reimagining of an Anglo-Saxon poem)

Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun (omnibus, plus it shares many traits with SF)

Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast novels (unfinished series, with no overt magic)

And others would include Tolkien, Robert Holdstock (Mythago Wood), Hope Mirrlees (Lud-in-the-Mist), Poul Anderson (The Broken Sword), David Lindsay (A Voyage to Arcturus), Angela Carter (Nights at the Circus). Oh, and if I wanted to stretch it out more....

Gabo, Pavi?, Živkovi?, Kiš, Whittemore, Rickert, Clark Ashton Smith, Danielewski, Pynchon, VanderMeer, Miéville, Ford, Crowley...

That's easily 25 authors there from whose best works I could choose...and that's leaving aside the more "pure" SF works of Dick, Ken Grimwood, Dan Simmons, LeGuin, Bradbury and so forth...
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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Six best fantasy novels? Larry - 04/12/2009 05:54:54 AM 1910 Views
Best fantasy authors Tavi - 04/12/2009 07:01:48 AM 1601 Views
Have you read Robin Hobb? *NM* Deadsy - 04/12/2009 04:01:23 PM 797 Views
I have, and wasn't really impressed Tavi - 04/12/2009 10:08:25 PM 1414 Views
You definitely read the wrong stuff first Deadsy - 05/12/2009 12:12:07 AM 1525 Views
Agreed. unr3stricted - 09/12/2009 09:55:12 PM 1401 Views
Only read two. Book of the New Sun definitely deserves that spot. Mieville, not so much. Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 08:06:45 AM 1592 Views
Interesting. Werthead - 04/12/2009 05:21:04 PM 1449 Views
Why Mieville, if I may ask? *NM* Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 08:33:43 PM 806 Views
I didn't mean that to be a reply to you, but still Werthead - 05/12/2009 03:15:36 AM 1572 Views
No worries. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 03:52:11 AM 1466 Views
But the list was for favorite books, not favorite or most important authors A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:25:13 AM 1406 Views
It was for "best" books. I realize that has a lot of meanings, though. *NM* Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:37:01 PM 647 Views
Hm... good point A Deathwatch Guard - 06/12/2009 02:19:13 AM 1200 Views
Glen Cook is radically overrated. Werthead - 05/12/2009 04:09:07 PM 1543 Views
Well, he's at least part of the wave that humanized fantasy. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:36:29 PM 1322 Views
In the US, yes. Elsewhere, no, because they didn't know about him. Werthead - 06/12/2009 04:36:31 PM 1412 Views
Interesting. Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM 1366 Views
Two years? It was published in 2000... *NM* Legolas - 05/12/2009 09:03:33 PM 558 Views
Nine years is like two. *NM* Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 12:25:49 AM 730 Views
I've yet to read a Gene Wolfe. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:26:54 AM 1345 Views
Yes, yes, yes. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 02:35:45 AM 1292 Views
You know I directly added almost all of those Wolfe quotes there, right? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:26:40 AM 1431 Views
I just find Mieville's prose exceptionally standard. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 07:25:05 AM 1447 Views
Isn't that almost a contradiction of terms there? Larry - 06/12/2009 07:45:47 AM 1371 Views
It's remarkable for its normalcy because so many people praise it? Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 09:11:18 AM 1284 Views
Who the heck are these people? *NM* ironclad - 04/12/2009 12:46:48 PM 781 Views
I've never heard of any of them either.... *NM* Fantasy - 05/12/2009 02:58:11 AM 1092 Views
Literati Larry - 06/12/2009 05:27:28 AM 1287 Views
Yeah you're so much better than us *NM* ironclad - 06/12/2009 12:00:27 PM 712 Views
Well, you can hardly expect a group to go around calling themselves "elitist snobs." *NM* Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:16:16 AM 686 Views
Is he trying to be cool by listing stuff that 90% of fantasy readers have never heard of? Deadsy - 04/12/2009 04:05:46 PM 1356 Views
Actually, several of those books have been bestsellers and/or won several genre awards Larry - 06/12/2009 05:28:18 AM 1345 Views
I'm very ambivalent about A Wizard of Earthsea AgentOrange - 04/12/2009 05:18:00 PM 1345 Views
Possibly has to do with the times in which it was written/read Larry - 06/12/2009 05:29:27 AM 1313 Views
My Best Six best fantasy novels Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:44:12 PM 1089 Views
Re: My Best Six best fantasy novels *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:45:25 PM 625 Views
oops! *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:46:34 PM 666 Views
Re: Six best fantasy novels? Aeryn - 04/12/2009 09:06:18 PM 1460 Views
I really need to get around to reading Mists of Avalon. Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 09:50:54 PM 1251 Views
Calenture Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:44:14 AM 1212 Views
That... sounds so cool. I'm going to check it out as soon as I get home. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 03:53:55 AM 1307 Views
Ooh, I need to get my hands on Calenture. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:27:34 AM 710 Views
And ha! I thought it might be you. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:29:13 AM 703 Views
I'll eventually get to those in the near future Larry - 06/12/2009 05:31:29 AM 1358 Views
I don't read or buy books anymore. Aeryn - 06/12/2009 11:45:33 PM 1353 Views
I understand that Larry - 07/12/2009 12:55:46 AM 1395 Views
Okay, I'll give it a shot Tom - 04/12/2009 10:12:47 PM 1441 Views
You might more mythopoeic material in your fantasies, don't you? *NM* Larry - 04/12/2009 11:22:33 PM 740 Views
Mythopoeic? Who...me? Tom - 05/12/2009 02:19:03 AM 1225 Views
Yes, you Larry - 05/12/2009 03:51:25 AM 1378 Views
The Blogger Seems to Agree With You. The Name With No Man - 05/12/2009 10:10:07 PM 1379 Views
Book of the New Sun is very early 80's and is almost inarguably a classic of the genre. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 12:26:55 AM 1401 Views
Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. The Name With No Man - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM 1495 Views
Bending the terms a bit... Larry - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM 1472 Views
n/a *NM* Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:46:45 AM 635 Views
I like Grossman's list a lot more than Henry's. *NM* Legolas - 04/12/2009 11:41:36 PM 695 Views
Here are mine, but I probably haven't really read enough fantasy to have a top 5 Deadsy - 05/12/2009 12:16:13 AM 1241 Views
Have you tried any standalones recently? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:33:41 AM 1347 Views
I always end up wanting more Deadsy - 06/12/2009 05:53:11 AM 1326 Views
What if there were 50 more standalones that you could read that likely would be quite good? Larry - 06/12/2009 06:12:53 AM 1420 Views
The only one on his list I would think about agreeing with is Meiville. MightyYT - 05/12/2009 03:11:25 AM 1397 Views
Have you tried Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves yet? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:34:48 AM 1256 Views
No list is complete without Goodkind *NM* Choss Hauler - 05/12/2009 07:59:22 AM 749 Views
Sorry, I can't help it- no *porn* list is complete without Goodkind... *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:21:22 AM 589 Views
For me....: A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:36:42 AM 1430 Views
He certainly has a specific kind of taste. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:20:30 AM 1268 Views
Pfft! Larry - 06/12/2009 06:54:24 AM 1171 Views
Who are you asking?? rebelaessedai - 07/12/2009 08:09:25 PM 1289 Views
Might give this a go myself... rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:24:52 AM 1330 Views
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