Fantasy Reading List - W

[kainee]

Fantasy books I recommend, sorted by author's last name in alphabetical order.

• Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Series by Tad Williams
I read this series a really long time ago so some details are fuzzy. This was a really long series as Tad Williams is well known for writing huge textbook sized tomes. I believe that the last book was actually split into two and each half was still a huge brick of a book. But despite the length of his writings, his world is really involved and grounded in a lot of realism even with all the magic flying around. He also has a skill for endings. I remember being really happy with reading the ending because not only did every loose thread get resolved but it was done in a way that made sense. It was just cool to read this series and the emotions that you feel while reading his books do run the whole gamut.

1. The Dragonbone Chair
2. The Stone of Farewell
   
3. To Green Angel's Tower (Part I & Part II)
   
• The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe
Although I didn't enjoy this series, I am still recommending it. Why? Mostly because I know that the reason I didn't enjoy it is due to its lyrical prose. Wolfe uses vey flowery and dream-like language and it was just bad luck that I don't tend to like books like that. So I am still recommending it because I know that someone out there will enjoy this book and love it for its prose. About a boy who traverses worlds that are layered on top of each other like pancakes with a pantheon of Norse gods, it is a surreal adventure.

1. The Knight
2. The Wizard
• The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede

Technically, I have only read half of this quartet. But they're all stand-alone books so that's okay. Frankly, I think my favorite book in this series will always be the first book that I read, which is the last book in this series. Mostly because the main character is a really polite but oblivious hero who just stumbles around a forest trying to figure out what he's supposed to do. I laugh out loud now thinking that when confronted by a dragon, the first thing he would do would be to go into his polite schpiel of a speech to try to convince the dragon that he was just too damn nice to be eaten. Dear Lord, before him, I didn't know a mama's boy could be such a funny main character.


1. Dealing with Dragons
2. Searching for Dragons
   
3. Calling on Dragons
4. Talking to Dragons

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Currently Reading
Book of Enchantments
By Patricia C. Wrede