Attention! We want to know your favourite fantasy novels

[ChickPea]

Hey guys, I think it's safe to say that pretty much everyone around these parts enjoys a fantasy novel now and then. There are so many books out there that it's easy for a gem or two to slip under your radar. So, with that in mind, we're hoping to put together a blog post with some fantasy book recommendations, and we need your help. We'd like you to recommend a fantasy novel to us, and we'll compile the best into a blog post (fantasy only, please. If this is successful, we'll try sci-fi and other genres at some point down the line).

Here's how it'll work. We want you to write a short paragraph about the book and why you'd recommend it. Please use the following format:

Book (or series) Title :
Author :
A one sentence summary of the story :
A paragraph on why you like it :

Aim for a paragraph of maybe 200 - 250 words. If your word count is slightly under or over, don't stress, but please don't submit 1000 word reviews. We're looking for concise, thanks!


UPDATE (21st Oct):
We've changed the format in how books should be submitted. Please go to bit.ly/guildbooks and complete the submission form. This will allow us to easily save and organise every submission.

We can't promise to use everything that's submitted but we'll carefully consider all recommendations received. If we receive multiple recs for the same book, we'll likely combine them into one longer review, with comments from multiple members. Finally, we're aware that we have an international community here, but this is primarily an English language site. Our preference therefore is for books in English (or with an English translation available). If you simply have to recommend a non-English book, we'll certainly consider it, but no promises!

Looking forward to receiving your suggestions, and I hope we can make a great post out of this. If you've any questions, ask them in this thread. Thank you!

[Diamond]

I'm looking forward to a deluge of good recommendations. I'm gonna try to make mine more obscure/older titles that not everyone may have heard of.

[Wingshaw]

Great idea, I can't wait to see what people suggest.

Two questions, one easy the other a bit harder:

The easy one first: can we only send you one book suggestion each, or are we allowed to submit multiple?

Now the harder one: is there going to be any guidance or definitions of fantasy, or would you rather leave that to our interpretation? I know that this could open a whole can of worms (actually, on this site, it is more likely to be the main exhibit at the 100th International Conference on Canned Worms and Invertebrates) but I have some suggestions which, while I consider them to be fantasy, others may consider to be borderline or belonging to another genre.

Wingshaw

[Azélor]

Can we also warn people about books that are really bad?

[ChickPea]

I'm looking forward to a deluge of good recommendations. I'm gonna try to make mine more obscure/older titles that not everyone may have heard of.

Yes, that'd be great. Lots of people are looking for new ideas, especially things they might never have heard of otherwise.

Also, perhaps people could consider recommending stand-alone or duologies. Not everyone has the time (or the inclination) for 'Wheel of Time'-length sagas.

Great idea, I can't wait to see what people suggest.

Two questions, one easy the other a bit harder:

The easy one first: can we only send you one book suggestion each, or are we allowed to submit multiple?

Now the harder one: is there going to be any guidance or definitions of fantasy, or would you rather leave that to our interpretation? I know that this could open a whole can of worms (actually, on this site, it is more likely to be the main exhibit at the 100th International Conference on Canned Worms and Invertebrates) but I have some suggestions which, while I consider them to be fantasy, others may consider to be borderline or belonging to another genre.

Wingshaw

Easy question: you're welcome to send multiple recommendations. If I receive a bunch of replies, I can split them into two or three posts, so fire away!

Hard question: Some books are very difficult to categorise, so I'll leave it up to your own judgement. If you think it's fantasy, that's good enough for me. Bear in mind, however, that if we get a decent response, I'll do future posts on different genres, so if a book might fit better somewhere else, then maybe hold back on that one? Perhaps 'genre busters' could be a future post.

Can we also warn people about books that are really bad?

Hahaha! This is a great topic, and maybe we could do something with it in the future (although 'good' and 'bad' are very subjective) but for this particular blog post, I want to hear about the stuff you love, rather than what you hate.

[Straf]

Can we also warn people about books that are really bad?

Steady on! I'm not published yet

[ladiestorm]

So you don't mind if we suggest like a two book series? I already have one in mind... I'm known for my long series... I think that would be a good blog post for the future... book series...

[ChickPea]

A stand-alone book, the first book in a series, or a 'whole series' (of any length) recommendation is fine. It's often impossible to separate individual books from the overall series in fantasy, so I won't ask people to do that. I think I'd prefer not to receive suggestions for (for example) a 2nd book in a series, unless there's a very good reason for skipping the first. We want to point people towards where they should start reading.

[Galendae]

All fantasy as we know it flows from the master, Tolkien

Love these paragraphs. "Unfinished Tales".
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[johnvanvliet]

i am about 99.99999% hard SF
authors that are mathematicians or physicists or NASA engineers

so for fantasy

Tolken -- dha

really though HP Lovecraft and August Derleth - many lovecraft stories are really wrote by Derleth

unless Homer counts , then the Iliad and the Odyssey