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Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. The Name With No Man Send a noteboard - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM
1. The Lord of the Rings - so classic it should almost be excluded from lists since it's assumed it will be there
2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
3. Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
5. The High King by Lloyd Alexander
6. The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison

About number one, I mean. I had to look up all of his authors except Melville, and having done so it seems to me the list would be better titled "The Six Best Contemporary Fantasy Novels" since none were published before 1980, and only one before I graduated HS. Wikipedias articles on M. John Harrison and Wolfe comment on the influence of Jack Vance on both, yet Vance doesn't make the list, which I find very revealing. It goes without saying I think your list about a thousand times better.

Vance's work is widely read and respected, too, though, and an obvious influence on Wolfe, so it seemed odd that his would be omitted and Wolfe's included. Once again, however, Book of the New Sun is by far the oldest work in the list, and I think that goes a long way toward explaining that absence and others, too. Really, how can anyone skip Arthur entirely?
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Six best fantasy novels? Larry - 04/12/2009 05:54:54 AM 1662 Views
Best fantasy authors Tavi - 04/12/2009 07:01:48 AM 1360 Views
Have you read Robin Hobb? *NM* Deadsy - 04/12/2009 04:01:23 PM 671 Views
I have, and wasn't really impressed Tavi - 04/12/2009 10:08:25 PM 1173 Views
You definitely read the wrong stuff first Deadsy - 05/12/2009 12:12:07 AM 1275 Views
Agreed. unr3stricted - 09/12/2009 09:55:12 PM 1171 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 1348 Views
Interesting. Werthead - 04/12/2009 05:21:04 PM 1212 Views
Why Mieville, if I may ask? *NM* Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 08:33:43 PM 686 Views
I didn't mean that to be a reply to you, but still Werthead - 05/12/2009 03:15:36 AM 1327 Views
No worries. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 03:52:11 AM 1231 Views
But the list was for favorite books, not favorite or most important authors A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:25:13 AM 1170 Views
It was for "best" books. I realize that has a lot of meanings, though. *NM* Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:37:01 PM 528 Views
Hm... good point A Deathwatch Guard - 06/12/2009 02:19:13 AM 959 Views
Glen Cook is radically overrated. Werthead - 05/12/2009 04:09:07 PM 1320 Views
Well, he's at least part of the wave that humanized fantasy. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:36:29 PM 1053 Views
In the US, yes. Elsewhere, no, because they didn't know about him. Werthead - 06/12/2009 04:36:31 PM 1201 Views
Interesting. Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM 1132 Views
Two years? It was published in 2000... *NM* Legolas - 05/12/2009 09:03:33 PM 440 Views
Nine years is like two. *NM* Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 12:25:49 AM 615 Views
I've yet to read a Gene Wolfe. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:26:54 AM 1105 Views
Yes, yes, yes. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 02:35:45 AM 1048 Views
You know I directly added almost all of those Wolfe quotes there, right? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:26:40 AM 1178 Views
I just find Mieville's prose exceptionally standard. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 07:25:05 AM 1168 Views
Isn't that almost a contradiction of terms there? Larry - 06/12/2009 07:45:47 AM 1107 Views
It's remarkable for its normalcy because so many people praise it? Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 09:11:18 AM 1060 Views
Who the heck are these people? *NM* ironclad - 04/12/2009 12:46:48 PM 665 Views
I've never heard of any of them either.... *NM* Fantasy - 05/12/2009 02:58:11 AM 874 Views
Literati Larry - 06/12/2009 05:27:28 AM 1028 Views
Yeah you're so much better than us *NM* ironclad - 06/12/2009 12:00:27 PM 602 Views
Well, you can hardly expect a group to go around calling themselves "elitist snobs." *NM* Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:16:16 AM 575 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 1100 Views
Actually, several of those books have been bestsellers and/or won several genre awards Larry - 06/12/2009 05:28:18 AM 1116 Views
I'm very ambivalent about A Wizard of Earthsea AgentOrange - 04/12/2009 05:18:00 PM 1118 Views
Possibly has to do with the times in which it was written/read Larry - 06/12/2009 05:29:27 AM 1074 Views
My Best Six best fantasy novels Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:44:12 PM 853 Views
Re: My Best Six best fantasy novels *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:45:25 PM 499 Views
oops! *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:46:34 PM 552 Views
Re: Six best fantasy novels? Aeryn - 04/12/2009 09:06:18 PM 1220 Views
I really need to get around to reading Mists of Avalon. Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 09:50:54 PM 1006 Views
Calenture Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:44:14 AM 971 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 1083 Views
Ooh, I need to get my hands on Calenture. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:27:34 AM 590 Views
And ha! I thought it might be you. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:29:13 AM 555 Views
I'll eventually get to those in the near future Larry - 06/12/2009 05:31:29 AM 1104 Views
I don't read or buy books anymore. Aeryn - 06/12/2009 11:45:33 PM 1103 Views
I understand that Larry - 07/12/2009 12:55:46 AM 1154 Views
Okay, I'll give it a shot Tom - 04/12/2009 10:12:47 PM 1188 Views
You might more mythopoeic material in your fantasies, don't you? *NM* Larry - 04/12/2009 11:22:33 PM 622 Views
Mythopoeic? Who...me? Tom - 05/12/2009 02:19:03 AM 995 Views
Yes, you Larry - 05/12/2009 03:51:25 AM 1127 Views
The Blogger Seems to Agree With You. The Name With No Man - 05/12/2009 10:10:07 PM 1132 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 1151 Views
Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. The Name With No Man - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM 1277 Views
Bending the terms a bit... Larry - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM 1231 Views
n/a *NM* Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:46:45 AM 523 Views
I like Grossman's list a lot more than Henry's. *NM* Legolas - 04/12/2009 11:41:36 PM 562 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 1014 Views
Have you tried any standalones recently? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:33:41 AM 1090 Views
I always end up wanting more Deadsy - 06/12/2009 05:53:11 AM 1087 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 1169 Views
The only one on his list I would think about agreeing with is Meiville. MightyYT - 05/12/2009 03:11:25 AM 1122 Views
Have you tried Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves yet? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:34:48 AM 1028 Views
No list is complete without Goodkind *NM* Choss Hauler - 05/12/2009 07:59:22 AM 634 Views
Sorry, I can't help it- no *porn* list is complete without Goodkind... *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:21:22 AM 479 Views
For me....: A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:36:42 AM 1174 Views
He certainly has a specific kind of taste. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:20:30 AM 1027 Views
Pfft! Larry - 06/12/2009 06:54:24 AM 936 Views
Who are you asking?? rebelaessedai - 07/12/2009 08:09:25 PM 1047 Views
Might give this a go myself... rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:24:52 AM 1083 Views
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