Character-driven fantasy books

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I read them when they first came out in the early 1980s (my student days) and thoroughly enjoyed them, but I tried re-reading one recently, and found them terribly shallow. They're definitely aimed at teenagers, rather than adults, to my mind.

Drizzt is late 80's, early 90's, and IMHO the early ones are among the best fantasy out there, not only among the Forgotten Realms.

Erevis Cale by Paul S. Kemp is also a great character.

I never read any DragonLance, should you be talking about those.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I never read any DragonLance, should you be talking about those.

I was. I read the "Dragons of <whatever>" trilogy, which I think were the first books released.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by HarryT

David Eddings. Great characters.

Oh, gosh. I read the Belgariad and the Mallorean when I was a teenager. I actually re-read five of them in one day (I was home sick from school and it was a re-read and it was the Belgariad part, those books are a little shorter than the Mallorean, I think).

Anyway, Carol Berg's "duet," Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone are good enough first-person fantasy that I went looking for her other books. I ended up not liking her other work as much but I still recommend the duet. It is very intimate first-person set in an interesting, high fantasy setting.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Drizzt is late 80's, early 90's, and IMHO the early ones are among the best fantasy out there, not only among the Forgotten Realms.

Yeah, the later ones just don't seem the same. Post-The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, that is.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Yeah, the later ones just don't seem the same. Post-The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, that is.

That's probably because after The Hunter's Blades

Spoiler:

Drizzt's companions start dying, either by natural causes, or the Spellplague.

Also, if you think that the Spellplague is the end of it, then

Spoiler:

you're in for a surprise. Prepare for The Sundering, the apocalypse that brings us D&D 5. The Drizzt novel "The companions" is the first book about The Sundering. I wonder if Drizzt will have a new band of adventurers. I haven't read this book and the other The Sundering books yet. I must take care not to wander into the Wiki.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

That's probably because after The Hunter's Blades

Spoiler:

Drizzt's companions start dying, either by natural causes, or the Spellplague.

Also, if you think that the Spellplague is the end of it, then

Spoiler:

you're in for a surprise. Prepare for The Sundering, the apocalypse that brings us D&D 5. The Drizzt novel "The companions" is the first book about The Sundering. I wonder if Drizzt will have a new band of adventurers. I haven't read this book and the other The Sundering books yet. I must take care not to wander into the Wiki.

It's not just a matter of

Spoiler:

Drizzt's companions start dying. I can handle him getting some new friends.

The character himself and the writing in general just seemed more stale. I'm not sure why.

[Katsunami]

Damnation!

Spoiler in the description of the latest Drizzt book.

Spoiler:

Did they HVAE to memtion 'reincarnation'? I can already assume what happens in the next to last book now. Frack.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Damnation!

Spoiler in the description of the latest Drizzt book.

Spoiler:

Did they HVAE to memtion 'reincarnation'?

I can already assume what happens in the next to last book now. Frack.

I'm sure you will still enjoy reading it. Besides, you may be wrong in your assumption. Something to look forward to !

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Anyway, Carol Berg's "duet," Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone are good enough first-person fantasy that I went looking for her other books. I ended up not liking her other work as much but I still recommend the duet. It is very intimate first-person set in an interesting, high fantasy setting.

I've got one of Carol Berg's books on my Amazon wishlist, but I haven't gotten my hands on one yet (I keep checking when I'm in the Dawn Treader used book store in Ann Arbor). I'll consider that a 2nd recommendation since I'd already stumbled across her myself somehow.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I'm sure you will still enjoy reading it. Besides, you may be wrong in your assumption. Something to look forward to !

No, I'm not wrong, because... (HUGE ENORMOUS BIG-AS-A-HOUSE SPOILER, caused by the description of the latest Drizzt book that has just appeaed)

Spoiler:

The description states:

Now that Drizzt is reunited with his former companions after their reincarnation [....] who are looking much the same as they did in their adventuring days [...] set out on a new adventure.

(Ergo: the reïncarnation must be the point of the next-to-last book, called 'The Companions.' With that title, I should have known.)

There is even a hint of re-instatement of the Weave; Catti-Brie is losing her 'new' magic that she learned in her new life, but regains (part of) the 'old' magic she learned in her old one.

Catti-Brie was 46 when she died, and I assume her early adventuring days started around 21-ish. Basically, Salvatore is turning back the clock 25 years or so, and is possibly even erasing part of the effects of the SpellPlague.

Catti-Brie is young again. Who will she fall in love with; Wulfgar all over again, or Drizzt, whom she started to love after Wulfgar took off with Delly Curtie? On a side note... By misclicking on a link in the description (I clicked on 'Catti-Brie' accidentaly while scrolling), I also saw that she actually uses the name 'Delly Curtie' as an alias after her reïncarnation up until she joins the old band again...

Wulfgar will meet his first love, bearing the name of his second one, while Drizzt will probably totally flip out. It took him 5 years or so to start courting Catti-Brie after Wulfgar left.

PS: I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a quest and 'accidentally' find all of their former weapons. I wonder if Drizzt still carries Catti-Brie's bow Taulmaril.

Maybe it's still worth reading on how it comes about. As I've started a FR re-read from the start (the VERY start), I'll be reading those books in... two or three years or so.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

No, I'm not wrong, because... (HUGE ENORMOUS BIG-AS-A-HOUSE SPOILER, caused by the description of the latest Drizzt book that has just appeaed)

Spoiler:

The description states:

Now that Drizzt is reunited with his former companions after their reincarnation [....] who are looking much the same as they did in their adventuring days [...] set out on a new adventure.

(Ergo: the reïncarnation must be the point of the next-to-last book, called 'The Companions.' With that title, I should have known.)

There is even a hint of re-instatement of the Weave; Catti-Brie is losing her 'new' magic that she learned in her new life, but regains (part of) the 'old' magic she learned in her old one.

Catti-Brie was 46 when she died, and I assume her early adventuring days started around 21-ish. Basically, Salvatore is turning back the clock 25 years or so, and is possibly even erasing part of the effects of the SpellPlague.

Catti-Brie is young again. Who will she fall in love with; Wulfgar all over again, or Drizzt, whom she started to love after Wulfgar took off with Delly Curtie? On a side note... By misclicking on a link in the description (I clicked on 'Catti-Brie' accidentaly while scrolling), I also saw that she actually uses the name 'Delly Curtie' as an alias after her reïncarnation up until she joins the old band again...

Wulfgar will meet his first love, bearing the name of his second one, while Drizzt will probably totally flip out. It took him 5 years or so to start courting Catti-Brie after Wulfgar left.

PS: I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a quest and 'accidentally' find all of their former weapons. I wonder if Drizzt still carries Catti-Brie's bow Taulmaril.

Maybe it's still worth reading on how it comes about. As I've started a FR re-read from the start (the VERY start), I'll be reading those books in... two or three years or so.

Oh, good. By then you'll have forgotten the spoiler. Er, hopefully? I don't know if you tend to remember that sort of stuff...

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Oh, good. By then you'll have forgotten the spoiler. Er, hopefully? I don't know if you tend to remember that sort of stuff...

Don't know... Sometimes I remember tiny details for years (such as Drizzt capturing Guen's figurine between his feet, hanging from a bridge above a green pool of acid), other times I forget major plot points....

[covingtoncat73]

They are classics, so you may have read them, but Ursula K. Le Guinn's Earthsea books are definitely character-driven.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

They are classics, so you may have read them, but Ursula K. Le Guinn's Earthsea books are definitely character-driven.

The original trilogy is great. The later ones, when she was in her "militant feminist" phase, are not so good (to my mind, at least).

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I read the Belgariad and the Mallorean when I was a teenager.

I picked it up... but in the middle of the 3rd book, I still find it... lacking. It's linear, one-dimensional, predictable, and worst of all: boring. Should I continue or break off at this point...