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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Write In Nominations: Best Fantasy Series

Viking funerals are high fantasy, right?
No? Well, at least the image is off copyright.
Which fantasy series is the best?  

It's time for May's poll. Specifically, it's time for the write in nominations for May's poll.

Best fantasy series.

So please nominate the series that you would like to see go on to our poll to compete for the chance to  live forever in the fame and glory of being voted best on a second rate blog.

Unfortunately, the nominations on Science Fiction series were a little lukewarm, and I think that's because I tried to separate it by contemporary vs. classics. So we're going to throw fantasy all in together and let things get a little hot and sloppy around here.

The Rules- 

1) You may nominate any two (2) series. It ought to only be one (your favorite) but I find this makes book lovers get awfully uncomfortable. There have been some problems with people nominating too many entries, so if you nominate three or more, I'll take your first two.

2) You may second (or third or fourth etc...) as many series as you want. In fact you should do that or they may not make the poll. Check back and see what others have nominated so you can give them secondings and they will make the poll.

Third and fourth "seconds" may even be necessary.

I have to stress that nothing is going on to the poll unless someone seconds it. There are going to be a lot of nominations and fierce competition, and the actual poll gets unruly beyond twelve (12) entries.  If somehow we have over twenty (20) entries with the same number of "seconds" I will do a run off poll, but otherwise I'll have to pick the entries with the most seconds.

You definitely want to nominate series HERE, not on the social media pages of anywhere I share this link. Because otherwise they may not get the second they need.

3) The umbrella of fantasy is very wide (going all the way from the medieval high fantasy of Lord of the Rings to urban fantasy of Dresden to modern set fantasy of Harry Potter), so I will, as usual, err on the side of what you readers think it is without fussing too much about what "counts."

67 comments:

  1. I love scores of fantasy series, so I'm going to nominate some hard-to-find ones and leave Potter, Tolkein, Dresden, and the rest to others.

    The Crossroads books, by Nick O'Donohue ("The Magic and the Healing" is first). These are about a vet student who discovers an alternate world where all the fantasy creatures have gone after being exiled from earth.

    Miranty and the Alchemist, by Vera Chapman. Might be part of a series - I've never had the opportunity to read the rest of her books. But even if it isn't part of a series, it's fantastic and people should read it. :)

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  2. The Magic of Recluse for using magic as an exploration of privilege.
    The Bartimeus Trilogy for showing how redemption can sneak up on you.

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    Replies
    1. The Magic of Recluse sounds very interesting. I'll have to check that out.

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  3. My nominations are:
    Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga (which began in Magician/Silverthorn/Darkness at Sethenon) and
    Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion Trilogy (Curse of Chalion/Paladin of Souls/Hallowed Hunt)

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    1. Can't get the name thing to work right now.
      Third Chalion.

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  4. My Nomination is :
    The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett ...

    no other series even compares ....

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    1. Hmm. I ... yes. You know what? Yes. I think The Discworld gets my vote. Seconded. With Octarine Gusto.

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    2. Discworld series gets my vote too!

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    3. By a long way

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    4. I also second this :)

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  5. Terry Pratchett's Discworld series by a mile.

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    1. This Tracy cat seems to know what's up. Seconded.

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    2. second this whole heartedly

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    3. ~rolls eyes~ Okay, but if you enrage the Harry Potter Reddit, you'll have only yourselves to blame.

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  6. Has to be Sir Terry Pratchetts Discworld, nothing else even comes close

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  7. Love terry pratchetts discworld for one followed by terry pratchett & Stephen Baxter 's long earth series.

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  8. I second Discworld by Terry Pratchett

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  9. Best for the variety, thought provoking, pathos and believability of the characters and storylines is by far Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Second choice more difficult. Either Graeme Tallboys' Janiche of Antur or Jasper FForde's Tuesday Next

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure if Jasper Fforde is nominated, but I second it.

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  10. I second Discworld by Sir Terry Pratchett. Fantasmagorically Fantastic Fantasy...and a damned good read to boot :D

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  11. since my absolute favourite has already been nominated.... The Darwath Trilogy by Barbra Hambly... and Guy Gavriel Kay's The Summer Tree trilogy

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    Replies
    1. Second for Darwath Trilogy!

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  12. second Discworld, no doubt about it. If Earthsea is in already, I second that too. If it's not, I'd like to submit it.

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  13. The Darwath Trilogy by Barbara Hambly

    The Belgariad by David Eddings

    These were nominated by someone who couldn't seem to leave a comment here.

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  14. Pratchett's Discworld series is the most sustained not just in terms of humour (though he is incomparable on that score) but also for its insight, its humanity and its wisdom.

    Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle; if I had to pin it down to a sub-series, the Elric of Melniboné series

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  15. The Troy Series by David/ David and Stella Gemmell and Joe Abercrombies First Law books.
    Was tempted to go with Cornwells Warrior Chronicles but feel it's more historical fiction

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  16. Dragonriders of Pern, Ann McCaffrey.

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  17. The Lord of the Rings.
    Chronicles of Narnia.

    Without Tolkien and Lewis there wouldn't be any modern fantasy.

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  18. The Inheritance Trilogy - N.K. Jemisin

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    Replies
    1. Second for the Inheritance Trilogy

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  19. I nominate 1st Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and 2nd Ursula le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy

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  20. My current favorite has already been mentioned a few times, so I would like to nominate a couple of series that my brother introduced me too as a young teen, that got me turned on to the fantasy genre when the rest of my peers started going the romance route (yelch!).

    The Xanth series - Piers Anthony

    The Amber series - Roger Zelazny. I remember having some pretty serious arguments/discussion with my brother as we read these... good times. :)

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  21. I can't see my original comment, so I'm guessing it didn't go through. If it did, sorry for the double post.

    The Codex Alera, by Jim Butcher

    The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson

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  22. I was reminded today of the wonderful weirdness that is Frank L. Baum's Oz series, so I nominate that. And I'm waiting to see what the rest of you guys nominate before suggesting another series. . . .

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    Replies
    1. Ohh, yes, second Oz. Loved that as a kid.

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    2. I'l Second Oz as well. Maybe its because of the original movie, but I rarely think of this as "Fantasy" ... and I read the first 4-5 books.

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  23. The Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey

    The Jhereg series by Steven Brust

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    Replies
    1. I'll give Carey's Kushiel Series a second. I'm not finished with it yet but it's taken me in. :)

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  24. No Harry Potter yet, huh? I nominate Harry Potter. As an adult, I like it better than Narnia for being less racist and sexist. I wonder if HP's racist missteps (Cho Chang, for example) will be less bearable in 50 years.

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    1. I'm not sure I agree that having someone who fits a stereotype automatically makes it a racist action, but regardless I'll second HP now that it's been nominated. On the other hand, regardless of how much I enjoy Narnia, I have to agree that many of its themes are heavy-handed.

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    2. Ditto. This list would feel incomplete without Harry Potter.

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    3. Racist is a very strong word, and one that I don't see as being applicable to either author. And Lewis has female characters as strong and capable, if not more that his males.

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  25. Some excellent nominations already.
    I'll nominate Katherine Kurtz' Deryni series and CJ Cherryh's "Fortress" series (Fortress at the eye of time etc)

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    Replies
    1. Dang it... I forgot Robin Hobb. Somebody nominate Robin Hobb!

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