Could you recommend a fantasy tale of understanding?

[Krystian Galaj]

I loved Roger Zelazny's Amber books from the time I first read them, and reread them many times since, both in my native language and in english. The author starts the action in our reality, world as we know it, and then strange, impossible things start to happen.

The whole series is (besides it being mostly sword & sorcery tale) a tale of uncovering of the rules governing the world, about dimensions, Shadows, workings of Trumps. The author sometimes contradicts himself - the books were written over may years - but mostly stays consistent. In our world the rules are physics, and many science fiction books are tales of discovering that the rules we know are a bit different than we expected, and of the consequences of it. When reading a mystery novel, the book is discovery of facts initially hidden from the reader, seeming different from what they really are. That's why I read many mysteries as well.

I'm looking for more fantasy, or science fiction books that are such tales, that gradually reveal more and more information about the workings of the world and so make the initially strange events of first chapters/volumes plain, simple and understandable.

Could you recommend me some?

Edit: after posting this I realized there's a similar genre of books revealing workings of some culture, structure of society, rules of behaviour in it. Those books tend to be very hard reads to me, so I try to avoid them, and read for fun. I guess I'm technically minded.

[wayspooled]

You may like -

Piers Anthony's 7 book series which begins with the book "Split Infinity"

Robert Jordan's 11 book series (The Wheel of Time) which begins with "The Eye of The World". Many have a real love/hate relationship with these books but I love them for the reason most people hate them. I enjoyed Jordan's worldbuilding and writing style. The folks who really love this series are engaged by the rich world unfolding and in no hurry to get to the "conclusion" of the story (stories). And I well understand those who hate the series I just like to read and enjoy the journey, I don't really like to finish books that I enjoy reading so this suits me well. As with several "epics", if reading this - I suggest skipping prefaces and forewords and going straight for Chapter 1. But your mileage may vary.

[wayspooled]

Oh, and another series/world you may consider similar and enjoy - Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover" series beginning with "Darkover Landfall".

[Penforhire]

I agree, Piers' Adept series comes immediately to mind. I enjoyed the frame he set with us learning the rules of one world and then throwing us for a huge unexpected loop in the next.

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

Hi Krystian. I really enjoyed the Amber books myself. A lot of Neal Gaiman books might please you. I'm thinking in particular of American Gods.

[Krystian Galaj]

Thank you for reminding me of Adept series - I read the first volume long time ago, and didn't have access to other volumes (no Internet then in existence, and not translated to my native language). I'll get on them soon

I read 3 first volumes of Wheel of Time, and liked the story, but I soon started having to take notes to remember who all those people were - there is such a multitude of them. Reading half the scene wondering who the person described is, and what it was doing last time it was mentioned is no fun. So I read some reviews that told me the cast of characters only get bigger with time, and story goes slower and slower as the author describes everything they do, and stopped reading. They read nice, but my memory is too short to enjoy them.

"Darkover" is another series I'm thinking about reading - but I haven't yet been able to figure out the order in which they should be read. Every site I visit puts the books in different order, and not always the same books. It seems there is no agreement on what belongs to the series. I've read two random tomes in the past, but forgot what they were about since then - only that they didn't seem to be connected in any way.

I read "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman, and it made the impression of a fairy tale, not much believable. I liked the movie made from it much better than the book. I liked the Sandman comics though. Reading the review of "American Gods" I find that it reminds me very much of Amber's first volume. I hope it's not too idiomatic for me, as I don't know all that much about America.

[wayspooled]

hmmm.. then let's see...

Maybe you might check out The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher or perhaps you would like The Dark Tower series by Stephen King?

[montsnmags]

Perhaps The Fionavar Tapestry, by Guy Gavriel Kay? It's a trilogy consisting of:

[Note: Spoilers at links]

• The Summer Tree
• The Wandering Fire
• The Darkest Road

To exerpt from the first link, "the Fionavar Tapestry is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Guy Gavriel Kay, set partly in our own contemporary world, but mostly in the fictional world of Fionavar. It is the story of five University of Toronto students, who are drawn into the 'first world of the Tapestry' by the mage Loren Silvercloak. Once there, each discovers his or her own role and destiny in the framework of an epic conflict". This sounds very simplistic, but Kay is a better writer than the Wikipedia summary.

Cheers,
Marc

[Krystian Galaj]

I added those to my reading list Didn't read any of them, but read them mentioned from time to time.

[Penforhire]

Your concern about American Gods is probably correct. I enjoyed it greatly, more than its related Anansi Boys, but not everyone does.

[HarryT]

Not fantasy (although it starts out fooling you into thinking it is), but David Brin's "The Practice Effect" is an excellent novel of this type.

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not fantasy (although it starts out fooling you into thinking it is), but David Brin's "The Practice Effect" is an excellent novel of this type.

Cheers to that!

[igorsk]

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

[S.Canton]

I've read the Amber books and enjoyed them quite a bit, and my sister did as well. His Dark Materials was also great, but the movie was quite a disappointment for me.

[kaas]

Here two recommendations, one being a "childrens series", and one a eight book long series, freely available on the net.
1st: (from wikipedia) The Chronicles of Prydain is a five-volume series of children's fantasy novels by author Lloyd Alexander. The stories detail the adventures of a young man named Taran, who is awarded the honor of Assistant Pig-Keeper but dreams of being a grand hero, and his companions Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam the wandering bard and king, a feral yet gentle creature called Gurgi, and a dwarf named Doli. Since a recurring facet of the series is the progression from youth to maturity, particularly prominent in Taran Wanderer,[1] the series could be considered a bildungsroman.

2nd: are the Tarrin Kael Chronicles from www.sennadar.com

they are rather like the wheel of time series, about a young man growing beyond himself. If you like high fantasy, lots of magic, and a dark hero, you will certainly like these books.

http://sennadar.plebian.net/

Firestaff Collection
Book One Tower of Sorcery
Book Two The Questing Game
Book Three Honor and Blood
Book Four The Shadow Realm
Book Five Weavespinner


Pyrosian Chronicles
Book One Axe Of The Dwarven King
Book Two The Sword of Fire
Book Three Demon's Bane

cheers,
kaas