Your favorite EPIC novel.

[HarryT]

We all have different tastes; I think it's a wonderful book, personally. So much so that, having bought the paperback initially, I immediately went out and bought the hardback, because it's definitely a "keeper" for me.

[Sparrow]

I'm with Elsi; I managed to get through "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", but didn't enjoy it.

Seems like it's one of those "love 'em or hate 'em" ones.

[Patricia]

I quite liked it.

[astra]

Still no legal ebook although there is one on darknet.
I am waiting...giving them a chance.

[basschick]

michelle west's The Sun Sword series - all 6 of them plus the 2 oath books and the hidden city that tell the "side" of the story

and another vote for George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

Stephen R. Donaldson - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

The First Chronicles:

1. Lord Foul's Bane (1977)
2. The Illearth War (1978)
3. The Power that Preserves (1979)

The Second Chronicles:

1. The Wounded Land (1980)
2. The One Tree (1982)
3. White Gold Wielder (1983)

The Trilogy's are huge and heavy!

also his Gap Series.

1. The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story (1991)
2. The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (1991)
3. The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (1993)
4. The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order (1994)
5. The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die (1996)

I've been reading Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and I am just over half into the first book and I have the second book ready to go as well.

1. The Runes of the Earth (2004)
2. Fatal Revenant (2007)

[JSWolf]

Another epic work I have in the works is [i]The Stand (complete and uncut)[/] by Stephen King.

Terry Goodkind's work is epic as well. I've yet to read the last two books. Need to find time to do so when I can be bothered to read such large pBooks (no eBook editions exist legally).

[Mindy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Terry Goodkind's work is epic as well. I've yet to read the last two books. Need to find time to do so when I can be bothered to read such large pBooks (no eBook editions exist legally).

Meh, I think I read about 3 and the last one was a real struggle; not sure whether it's derivative or a lot of other stuff I've read is derived from it, but pretty bored overall.

Same with Feist's Magician; kinda felt like I'd read it all before.

Wheel of Time started out well but by about book 6 was a nightmare. If I left more than a couple of weeks between installments I forgot who was where with whom and even, latterly, who had been who when. Think I struggled up to 10 before giving.

Which is not to say that I don't like long, epic sagas. Just not minor variations on the same theme with casts of thousands.

[zelda_pinwheel]

EDIT : pfff... just ignore this post. i thought i was in the "what are you reading" thread. sorry. maybe i should have another cup of coffee... post moved to the appropriate thread.

[=X=]

Yesterday my nephew started talking about good old school books. He mentioned he liked "Where the Red Fern Grows". I remember as a kid this was one of my favorite books. Did anybody else read this. I also really liked "Summer of the Monkeys" by the same author.

While my preferred genre is Fantasy. I think the most notable books for me where not in that arena. Here is my list.

Carlos Castaneda series only read 9
Way of the Peaceful warrior by Dan Millman
The Last King by Micheal Ford:Rome's Greatest Enemy (Historcal Fiction)

Best Epic Was "Hour of the Dragon" by Robert E. Howard

=X=

[Ramen]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' - a great read, but a hefty one.

Peter F. Hamilton's SF tomes are wrist breakers too, but worth it!

The Night Dawn's Trilogy got me back to reading some years back. 2k+ pages per book in MMPB is quite a lot.

[Ramen]

Originally Posted by Mindy

Meh, I think I read about 3 and the last one was a real struggle; not sure whether it's derivative or a lot of other stuff I've read is derived from it, but pretty bored overall.

Same with Feist's Magician; kinda felt like I'd read it all before.

Wheel of Time started out well but by about book 6 was a nightmare. If I left more than a couple of weeks between installments I forgot who was where with whom and even, latterly, who had been who when. Think I struggled up to 10 before giving.

Which is not to say that I don't like long, epic sagas. Just not minor variations on the same theme with casts of thousands.

I dropped Feist because it was getting to be just another Shounen Manga. Robin Hobb also always has the same plot structure, it seems. Soldier Son Trilogy is just the same as the Farseer line of books.

As for Goodkind... I liked the first half of the series but then he degenerated into a preacher. Still finished reading all books, though. :/

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by Mindy

Wheel of Time started out well but by about book 6 was a nightmare.

I can sympathise. I discovered the series when book 6 or 7 came out, a lost patience when book 10 came out. I refused to buy any more of the series untill it was completed as I was afraid that the series would remain unfinished if he died. Unfortunately it looks like those fears were justified.

Will have to see how the final volume that his wife is going to help write turns out.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

I can sympathise. I discovered the series when book 6 or 7 came out, a lost patience when book 10 came out. I refused to buy any more of the series untill it was completed as I was afraid that the series would remain unfinished if he died. Unfortunately it looks like those fears were justified.

Will have to see how the final volume that his wife is going to help write turns out.

His wife has "helped write" every one of the books. She was also his editor at Tor.

I passed on the series for a long time, as it got the sort of drooling fanboy raves that tend to put me off. But Tor issued the first half of the first book as a giveaway PB, I read it on a slow afternoon, and liked it enough to buy the full book to find out what happened next. these days, I buy them in hardcover when released.

A contact once said "All the ingredients are familiar, but it's a tasty stew". She was quite right. And while the series is dense and prolonged, Jordan had two attributes I found essential. First, he managed to give each character a unique "voice". You seldom encountered the common problem in stretches of dialog of keeping track of just who is talking. Second, he was adept at not taking the obvious path. Plot threads might point in certain directions, but you seldom wound up where you thought you might.

It was obvious in the last couple of books that Jordan was working toward wrapping up the series. There's a chess term called Zwischenzug, or "in-between move". It covers the situation where there's something you want to do, but must set up the conditions first. Jordan had been moving his pieces into position for the end game.

We'll see how good a job Brian Sanderson does at completing the last book. He's demonstrated he's a competant writer. Jordan's wife/editor chose him. and Jordan knew he might not live to complete the book, and left behind a comprehensive outline and notes as to what he intended to do.

I think the test will be, will the average reader be able to tell where Jordan left off and Sanderson took up the reins.
_____
Dennis

[Daithi]

Where the Red Fern Grows was my absolute favorite book when I was a teenager.