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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 2076 Views
Best fantasy authors Tavi - 04/12/2009 07:01:48 AM 1781 Views
Have you read Robin Hobb? *NM* Deadsy - 04/12/2009 04:01:23 PM 897 Views
I have, and wasn't really impressed Tavi - 04/12/2009 10:08:25 PM 1595 Views
You definitely read the wrong stuff first Deadsy - 05/12/2009 12:12:07 AM 1713 Views
Agreed. unr3stricted - 09/12/2009 09:55:12 PM 1578 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 1748 Views
Interesting. Werthead - 04/12/2009 05:21:04 PM 1631 Views
Why Mieville, if I may ask? *NM* Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 08:33:43 PM 907 Views
I didn't mean that to be a reply to you, but still Werthead - 05/12/2009 03:15:36 AM 1751 Views
No worries. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 03:52:11 AM 1636 Views
But the list was for favorite books, not favorite or most important authors A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:25:13 AM 1560 Views
It was for "best" books. I realize that has a lot of meanings, though. *NM* Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:37:01 PM 735 Views
Hm... good point A Deathwatch Guard - 06/12/2009 02:19:13 AM 1350 Views
Glen Cook is radically overrated. Werthead - 05/12/2009 04:09:07 PM 1695 Views
Well, he's at least part of the wave that humanized fantasy. Ghavrel - 05/12/2009 08:36:29 PM 1486 Views
In the US, yes. Elsewhere, no, because they didn't know about him. Werthead - 06/12/2009 04:36:31 PM 1577 Views
Interesting. Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM 1522 Views
Two years? It was published in 2000... *NM* Legolas - 05/12/2009 09:03:33 PM 651 Views
Nine years is like two. *NM* Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 12:25:49 AM 815 Views
I've yet to read a Gene Wolfe. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:26:54 AM 1523 Views
Yes, yes, yes. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 02:35:45 AM 1466 Views
You know I directly added almost all of those Wolfe quotes there, right? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:26:40 AM 1602 Views
I just find Mieville's prose exceptionally standard. Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 07:25:05 AM 1641 Views
Isn't that almost a contradiction of terms there? Larry - 06/12/2009 07:45:47 AM 1518 Views
It's remarkable for its normalcy because so many people praise it? Ghavrel - 06/12/2009 09:11:18 AM 1440 Views
Who the heck are these people? *NM* ironclad - 04/12/2009 12:46:48 PM 871 Views
I've never heard of any of them either.... *NM* Fantasy - 05/12/2009 02:58:11 AM 1198 Views
Literati Larry - 06/12/2009 05:27:28 AM 1490 Views
Yeah you're so much better than us *NM* ironclad - 06/12/2009 12:00:27 PM 821 Views
Well, you can hardly expect a group to go around calling themselves "elitist snobs." *NM* Ghavrel - 07/12/2009 02:16:16 AM 779 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 1532 Views
Actually, several of those books have been bestsellers and/or won several genre awards Larry - 06/12/2009 05:28:18 AM 1508 Views
I'm very ambivalent about A Wizard of Earthsea AgentOrange - 04/12/2009 05:18:00 PM 1514 Views
Possibly has to do with the times in which it was written/read Larry - 06/12/2009 05:29:27 AM 1470 Views
My Best Six best fantasy novels Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:44:12 PM 1262 Views
Re: My Best Six best fantasy novels *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:45:25 PM 709 Views
oops! *NM* Nolan - 04/12/2009 07:46:34 PM 737 Views
Re: Six best fantasy novels? Aeryn - 04/12/2009 09:06:18 PM 1619 Views
I really need to get around to reading Mists of Avalon. Ghavrel - 04/12/2009 09:50:54 PM 1420 Views
Calenture Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:44:14 AM 1377 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 1464 Views
Ooh, I need to get my hands on Calenture. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:27:34 AM 798 Views
And ha! I thought it might be you. *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:29:13 AM 789 Views
I'll eventually get to those in the near future Larry - 06/12/2009 05:31:29 AM 1509 Views
I don't read or buy books anymore. Aeryn - 06/12/2009 11:45:33 PM 1505 Views
I understand that Larry - 07/12/2009 12:55:46 AM 1569 Views
Okay, I'll give it a shot Tom - 04/12/2009 10:12:47 PM 1618 Views
You might more mythopoeic material in your fantasies, don't you? *NM* Larry - 04/12/2009 11:22:33 PM 819 Views
Mythopoeic? Who...me? Tom - 05/12/2009 02:19:03 AM 1373 Views
Yes, you Larry - 05/12/2009 03:51:25 AM 1542 Views
The Blogger Seems to Agree With You. The Name With No Man - 05/12/2009 10:10:07 PM 1548 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 1572 Views
Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. The Name With No Man - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM 1662 Views
Bending the terms a bit... Larry - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM 1635 Views
n/a *NM* Aeryn - 05/12/2009 12:46:45 AM 757 Views
I like Grossman's list a lot more than Henry's. *NM* Legolas - 04/12/2009 11:41:36 PM 776 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 1398 Views
Have you tried any standalones recently? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:33:41 AM 1531 Views
I always end up wanting more Deadsy - 06/12/2009 05:53:11 AM 1477 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 1589 Views
The only one on his list I would think about agreeing with is Meiville. MightyYT - 05/12/2009 03:11:25 AM 1552 Views
Have you tried Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves yet? Larry - 06/12/2009 05:34:48 AM 1403 Views
No list is complete without Goodkind *NM* Choss Hauler - 05/12/2009 07:59:22 AM 832 Views
Sorry, I can't help it- no *porn* list is complete without Goodkind... *NM* rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:21:22 AM 663 Views
For me....: A Deathwatch Guard - 05/12/2009 10:36:42 AM 1604 Views
He certainly has a specific kind of taste. rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:20:30 AM 1424 Views
Pfft! Larry - 06/12/2009 06:54:24 AM 1337 Views
Who are you asking?? rebelaessedai - 07/12/2009 08:09:25 PM 1451 Views
Might give this a go myself... rebelaessedai - 06/12/2009 02:24:52 AM 1481 Views
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