Robert Jordan died.

[Worm75]

RIP Jordan.....first 3 books of the series stand up with pretty much any fantasy written.

As for Tad Williams, his later stuff is decent, but memory sorrow and thorn series is amazing...one of those series of 3 books that was so deep it felt he could write for years about it.

Personally right now, I love Martin....even though it's been a long time for the next installment.

But my personal fav has to be Steven Erickson and his Mazalan tales of the fallen series. As much as I liked Jordan and even Martin, this series has really delivered...across 7 books so far and each one has literally been better than the last.

[talentdeficit]

i've never read any of steve erickson's fiction, but i love his non-fiction. i'd like to give his fiction a chance, but i have zero patience for fantasy novels that aren't stand alone (or at least series of finite length and limited interdependence). can i read his fantasy stuff out of order without being lost? i don't mind spoiling important plot points (honestly, i will probably read them in order, but i want each book to have it's own plot with it's own resolution), but i have to be able to read just one book without feeling like i'm missing something.

[Slow Play Ray]

while i was never a jordan fan, not even for the first book, it does suck to lose such a major player in one of my favorite genres.

that being said, i'm kind of a snob when it comes to fantasy books because there is sooooooooo much crap out there; there are plenty of other books to read, so i do a lot of research in advance to get a feel for whether or not i will like a book/series. my latest, greatest find is the gentleman bastards series by scott lynche - beginning with the lies of locke lamora, and then red sky over red seas. highly recommended - fun and different.

[7ontheline]

[ QUOTE ]
i've never read any of steve erickson's fiction, but i love his non-fiction. i'd like to give his fiction a chance, but i have zero patience for fantasy novels that aren't stand alone (or at least series of finite length and limited interdependence). can i read his fantasy stuff out of order without being lost? i don't mind spoiling important plot points (honestly, i will probably read them in order, but i want each book to have it's own plot with it's own resolution), but i have to be able to read just one book without feeling like i'm missing something.

[/ QUOTE ]

Each book is definitely a stand-alone story with its own resolution. Reading them in order is better because there are things that connect all the books and there are a lot of common characters but it's not absolutely necessary.

[Azizal]

[ QUOTE ]
Out of callous self-interest I hope that this prods George Martin into finishing A Song of Fire and Ice in a timely manner.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. The man is overweight.

[Azizal]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone actually think the Martin HBO series will be any good, I just think that they will gloss over or avoid a lot of the elements of the book some of which are key to the characters development, pedophilia and incest just for starters. On top of that finding the really strong child actors needed is going to be a challenge as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, these are all reasonable points but on the other hand, HBO makes really really good shows. I don't think they will skimp on the incest, pedophilia or brutal violence. All those elements have been present in previously created HBO shows.

[Gobias Ind.]

I thought Michael Jordan's father died years ago?!?

[Grisgra]

[ QUOTE ]
When I was a teenager fantasy was my favorite genre, and I read them all. I became bored with the whole genre after a while when I realised that just about every single fantasy series was along the same themes;

Young dude living in a small out of the way place has hidden powers that can save the world from the horrible malignant evil that has chosen this time to rear its ugly head.

Bor-ing. Just a rehash of Tolkien, over and over again, yet with different names and a different map. Jordan was just the same as the others. I'm sorry that he's died but the fantasy genre won't miss him as there are another hundred clones to take his place.

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember getting the first chapter of the first book free in a Walden's Bookstore. As I recall, in the first 25 pages, two people walked from one town to another.

Gripping, but just not for me. Needless to say, I was SHOCKED to find out later that his editor was . . . his wife.

[Requin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Lord of Chaos was my fav...

Ashaman! KILL!!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

This bears repeating as its one of my favorite quotes in any series.

[/ QUOTE ] QFT
RIP Robert Jordan

[Rhand]

Only just found the thread, sick beat. I am so down since I heard the news. The series got me into reading, it was a constant thru my life ever since I started reading and rereading it at age 15-16.

Its very wierd to explain but his death somehow changes my views/feelings on WOT, no longer are the books a parallel world I love to dive into and experience, imagining it would never end, it is now a story with a beginning and an end, the last word will soon be written and no longer will it be an endless fantasy world/story it will have an end. An end seems so hard for me to imagine how can the story of so many characters just end ...its was a living breathing imaginary and endless world for me...