MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Big, Chunky Fantasy or Scifi Stand Alones Wanted

ZodWallop · 03-18-2020, 02:01 PM

There's Stephen King's The Stand. The revised edition clocks in at 1,300 pages. The beginning of the book, the (apropos of the time) outbreak of a killer flu that wipes out most of humanity is pretty horrific. But King's goal was to write a modern day Lord of the Rings-style fantasy in contemporary USA and I think he did a good job of it.

A stand-alone fantasy I read decades ago is Villains By Necessity by Eve Forward. It's set after the end of a typical fantasy story where the heroes have won. An assassin, a thief, a sorceress, a dark knight and a druid set out to bring evil back into the world. It's tongue in cheek and not a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it.

For sci-fi, I liked Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke's The Light of Other Days. A novel where they introduce a new invention (a wormhole camera that lets you see anywhere on Earth and eventually into the past) and explores all the rippling changes that has on society.

I also enjoyed Poul Anderson's Brain Wave. Earth passes out of a magnetic field that suppressed intelligence for eons. It's short, but there is a lot to think about as you read.

03-18-2020, 02:01 PM	#4
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,479 Karma: 111164374 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	There's Stephen King's The Stand. The revised edition clocks in at 1,300 pages. The beginning of the book, the (apropos of the time) outbreak of a killer flu that wipes out most of humanity is pretty horrific. But King's goal was to write a modern day Lord of the Rings-style fantasy in contemporary USA and I think he did a good job of it. A stand-alone fantasy I read decades ago is Villains By Necessity by Eve Forward. It's set after the end of a typical fantasy story where the heroes have won. An assassin, a thief, a sorceress, a dark knight and a druid set out to bring evil back into the world. It's tongue in cheek and not a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it. For sci-fi, I liked Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke's The Light of Other Days. A novel where they introduce a new invention (a wormhole camera that lets you see anywhere on Earth and eventually into the past) and explores all the rippling changes that has on society. I also enjoyed Poul Anderson's Brain Wave. Earth passes out of a magnetic field that suppressed intelligence for eons. It's short, but there is a lot to think about as you read.