Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

Has anyone used the recommendations by goodreads? The Amazon ones have worked well for me in the past.

Lel wrote: "Has anyone used the recommendations by goodreads? The Amazon ones have worked well for me in the past."

Before I started using goodreads amazon was my go to for book recommendations.

I've used some of the recommendations. I give them a gimlet eye first, though.

I'm not picky. I love this genre too much, and I don't have a lot of expectations with settings and so on--I like being surprised. That said, I usually don't pick up anything that's clearly derivative from its description (usually the elves, dwarves, orc thing). But even the latter I will make exceptions for, for one thing: strong writing.

Okay, forget that...even decent writing will do. Or books that won't give me a headache. That have all their facts, scenes, character development, etc. straightened out. It doesn't have to be anything mind-blowing, just straightforward, realistic world-building and characters who don't act like cardboard cut-outs.

That said, my favourite fantasy novels usually involve a large cast of characters, crazy drama, tangled relationships, intricate societies, and a variety of settings with realistic magic (if at all). Glorious, strategic wars are a plus. Have witty characters who don't take themselves too seriously and I'll praise the damn thing my whole life.

K.S. wrote: "I'm not picky. I love this genre too much, [..] I will make exceptions for, for one thing: strong writing. ..."

Yes, agreed. But there remains a problem - recognising that 'strong writing'.

straightforward, realistic world-building and characters who don't act like cardboard cut-outs.

Yes, that is a large part of it - but same problem again - recognising what will be to your taste, be it from the cover blurb or from other people's reviews - or what? Certainly an author can not usually judge the quality of his/her own work, that is best done by a reader (certainly true in the SFF, largely self-published environment). And then you have to find a reader whose tastes match your own, and follow their reviews. And they are not always consistent! Checking through the 'compare books' button on various Goodreads profiles I am struck by the variability of ratings. There might be an academic thesis here for someone who is sufficiently motivated!

Strong writing (which I can spend too many hours discussing, so I won't even touch that subject at all :p) is usually evident a few pages into any book; by this point I usually judge if I should continue based on how much (or little) headaches I've gotten thus far, and as well, what I know readers have said about the work in the past. It doesn't always work of course...there are really good writers who can't string a plot together to save their lives, and vice versa.

Have you read any Anne Mccaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books? They are sort on the bridge between scifi and fantasy, and she has excellent characters with interesting development.

Now that you mention dragons, while it has been a while, I really have recommend to all fantasy fans to pick up the large/complete (1300+ pages, though available in separate volumes) Bone graphic novel! A quirky, charming, humorous, different, and surprisingly deep fantasy tale. It starts out cute and goofy and fun, but becomes stark and heartfelt and epic. I don't think I've read it in nearly 10 years, but I remember it really striking at the heart of why I fell in love with fantasy as a child, without ever feeling kiddie (in spite of its whimsical art).

One of the first fantasy novel i read was The Hobbit so it has been tough finding other books of this caliber. I started reading The Wheel of Time series aand Im really enjoying it. Im also reading the Critical failure books from Robert Bevan which i find hilarious:-)

What do I look for in a fantasy book?

I like when ordinary people (In the context of the fantasy world) have to find a way to accomplish extraordinary things. Things that maybe are outside of what the character (or group of characters) thought they were capable of.

I look for the book to be believable in the context of its own world. Reading this type of fiction requires a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" but authors can greatly add to that by "playing by the rules".

Very much agreed Greg. I hate when some deus ex machina superpower that has never been mentioned to that point comes in to save the day.

Greg wrote: "I look for the book to be believable in the context of its own world. Reading this type of fiction requires a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" but authors can greatly add to that by "playing by the rules""


Completely agree with this, have you read Brandon Sanderson?

Sense of wonder.

Not to be achieved by throwing in names of things that can be wonderful. Indeed many authors could improve the sense of wonder by giving their non-human characters a gimlet eye and asking, "Is this elf necessary?" because frequently they aren't different enough from human characters to justify even having them be foreign.