Posted: September 16, 1999 at 12:32:12: by Michael Martinez
: I'm a big fan of the original DragonLance trilogy although
: there are WAYYYYYY too many book now that taint it's
: reputation' in my opinion. I also enjoyed the Piers Anthony
: Xanth novels and The Shannara novels by Terry Brooks. How about
: everyone else?I'm sorry, but though I enjoyed Weiss and Hickman's early Dragonlance books, they were only just beginning to learn to write with that series and it doesn't really compare well to LOTR at all. By those authors I much prefer THE ROSE OF THE PROPHET trilogy, which I feel is original, imaginative, extremely well-written, and not copyish at all. But when you ask what comes close to LOTR, in what ways? All ways? Nothing comes close. Tolkien devoted many years to the preparation for THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and many more years to its writing. It's a masterpiece that no author or group of authors could approach in quality and composition in five or even ten years of continuous writing. In terms of inventiveness I think there are many brilliant authors whose worlds compare well to LOTR's. Andre Norton is one I always mention, but people are quick to point to Ursula K. LeGuinn's EarthSea trilogy, and I think a lot of folks feel Michael Moorcock's Elric saga is equally rich and original. Brooks' SHANNARA novels started out as a blatant ripoff of LOTR intended to cash in on the hungry Tolkien market (and the first book did just that). THE SWORD OF SHANNARA is a badly written book, however, and only became a best-seller because of the marketing punch put behind it. By the time people realized how bad it was, it was too late to stop the juggernaut. Brooks' writing improved, and as he brought out sequels his world took on a life of its own. I actually enjoyed THE WISHSONG OF SHANNARA. I thought it was a pretty good story in its own right. I also like Brooks' MAGIC KINGDOM books, which have none of the taint of Tolkien copyism. Another author whose world strikes me as imaginative and original is Christopher Stasheff. His WARLOCK books, though they seem to become a little formulaic toward the end, are quite entertaining and have some interesting twists. I also like the fact that he hsa a family of characters grow up through the books, and he has since launched a series about the eldest son. I've never read Piers Anthony, but have heard only good things about his books, except some people feel he started becoming formulaic in the last few years as well.
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