Irresponsiblereader had this awesome tag on his blog today. You know I never miss a chance to talk about fantasy books, so I’m taking part.
Rules:
- Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post
- Link to the creator’s blog (thebookwormdreamer.wordpress.com) in your post
- Answer the prompts below – all fantasy books!
- Tag 5 others to take part
Enjoy!
5 Star Read: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
See, here’s the weird thing: I really, really don’t like the sequel to this book. The first book is so amazing, though, that it doesn’t matter. I fell in love with The Name of the Wind from the very beginning, when I read about the silence of three parts. Read it below, and you’ll see why:
“The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.
The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a wind, it would have sighed through the trees, set the inn’s sign swinging on its hooks, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of the night. If there had been music…but no, of course there was no music. In fact, there were none of these things, and so the silence remained.
Inside the Waystone a pair of men huddled at one corner of the bar. They drank with quiet determination, avoiding serious discussions of troubling news. In doing these they added a small, sullen silence to the larger, hollow one. it made an alloy of sorts, a counterpoint.
The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. If you listened for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the wooden floor underfoot and in the rough, splintering barrels behind the bar. It was in the weight of the black stone hearth that held the heat of a long-dead fire. It was in the slow back and forth of a white linen cloth rubbing along the grain of the bar. And it was in the hands of the man who stood there, polishing a stretch of mahogany that already gleamed in the lamplight.
The man had true-red hair, red as flame. his eyes was dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many things.
The Waystone was His, just as the third silence was his. This was appropriate, as it was the greatest silence of the three, wrapping the other inside itself. It was deep and wide as autumn’s ending. It was heavy as a great river-smooth stone. It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die.”
Always going to recommend: The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Yup, these books keep showing up on my blog. I’m sure I’m annoying the gravy out of everyone who reads my posts, but I’ll unapologetically tout them as often as I can squeeze them in. They’re my favorite fantasy books, after all. If you want to read my loving rant about them, you can find it here.
Own it but haven’t read it yet: The Shadow of What Was Lost by (The Licanius Trilogy #1) by James Islington
I’m really looking forward to this one. Here’s the Amazon description:
As destiny calls, a journey begins.
It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them — the Gifted — are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion’s Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything.
To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian’s wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is…
And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir. (taken from Amazon)
Would read again: Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this series. It’s dark, gritty, and absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it.
In another world: Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
This excellent book is about a priest and an evil sorcerer who must work together to defeat an evil that threatens everyone on their world. That’s a bare bones description: there’s much more to this fascinating book that I think that every fantasy lover should read.
Back on earth: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
This book is kind of odd, but in a fantastic way. Put healers, vampires, shape-shifters, magicians all in one place, and it gets a little frenetic. It’s great!
So, there you have it. I might tag a few people via Twitter, but if you want to take part, please do so! I love reading more fantasy suggestions.
Once again, I’m borrowing one of Beth’s answers, but only because I really loved this book. I love books that have stories being told in them anyway, and this one is incredible.
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub 