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Helm Filipowitsch
Valued Member
Username: flitz

Post Number: 157
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 12:12 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

and how does it affect your writing of poetry?

I realize that this is a bit off the radar for a poetry site, but as poets, we deal with a careful blend of the real and the imagined.

I've always thought that my greatest gift as a writer, and also the greatest bane of my existence, is that I can take anything that I hear or imagine and make it real. That ability, I believe, drives my potential as a writer and my disability to often deal effectively with the world around me.

That said, my favorite work of fantasy is: Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. This is closely followed by the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

With poetry, I often look for the morphing of the real into the surreal, as though the distance between the two is the act of opening or closing a door.

Helm.
Blog: http://cancan-nono.blogspot.com/
Gary Blankenship
Moderator
Username: garydawg

Post Number: 29399
Registered: 07-2001
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 12:39 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

A tough question because there is so many that might be: Rings, Watership, Rabbit Hill, Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Fforde's Tuesday books, Dark Tower. The list is endless, but #1 has to be Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Cobenant books.

Smiles.

Gary
Celebrate Walt with Gary:
http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm


Fred Longworth
Senior Member
Username: sandiegopoet

Post Number: 6787
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 7:41 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I have come to the conclusion that the entire world as I experience it is a total fantasy.

In answer to the question "What is the world really like behind the veil of fantasy?" I answer as follows --
Helm Filipowitsch
Valued Member
Username: flitz

Post Number: 158
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 5:56 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Gary, I've also read the series and enjoyed it. I wasn't quite sure what it was about when I began, especially with the title of the first book.

Speaking with someone one day about the Donaldson series, she pointed out that the language was straight from Homer. Some things never change.


Ah Fred, so you didn't look behind the curtain.

Helm.
Blog: http://cancan-nono.blogspot.com/
LJ Cohen
Moderator
Username: ljc

Post Number: 11385
Registered: 07-2002
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 6:02 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

The Riddle Master Trilogy by Patricia McKillip. Her language is lush and poetic, her characters fully drawn. I have read this series multiple times over the past 20+ years and find more to like about it as time passes.
Once in a Blue Muse Blog
"Chop Wood, Carry Water"
S. Thomas Summers
Advanced Member
Username: s_thomas_summers

Post Number: 1833
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:53 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

The Hobbit captured me as a youth - convinced me an imagintaion is a gift. Later, Frakenstein compelled me to become a literature teacher.
visit me at http://www.freewebs.com/sthomassummers/

author of "Death settled well" and "Rather, It Should Shine"
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1827
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 8:34 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

There is so much in the Discworld books that lends itself to deeper thought, a great deal of rumination, and just plain philosophy wrapped around a certain amount of humor and anger, I seriously doubt if I could find anything that matches it.

I read--and loved--Ray Bradbury as a kid and a young adult, if for nothing else than the poetry he put in his writing.

Much of the early 50s Science fiction was geared toward short stories, some of them downright eloquent both in structure and language. I think all of this is as important as reading books of poetry or how-to-write-a-poem stuff...

(I'll look up the Riddle Master, LJ. I like to have things that are worth the reread. )

Not to mention fairy tales, the ultimate fantasy stories...
Afraid of the Dark
Sherry Pelley
Valued Member
Username: spell

Post Number: 167
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 9:03 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I had a Grade 7 teacher with a wonderful Scottish brogue who read my class The Hobbit by Tolkien and it's been a favorite ever since. This book in particular shifted my focus from 'reading a great book' to 'being swept up in the words of a great writer'.
steve williams
Board Administrator
Username: twobyfour

Post Number: 2383
Registered: 01-2003
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 9:26 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

On my short list: (some of these are not pure fantasy)

The complete works of Harlan Ellison
The 4 books of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazney (I think this one's out of print)
also Zelazney's Amber series
Have to agree with Thomas Covenant

As for hard Sci Fi, don't get me started :-)

warmly
s
Anna Brown
Intermediate Member
Username: tissuetoyou

Post Number: 694
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 9:30 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Amber series is good, but my fav by far, and my brother who is a master critique (in our eyes) is A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

100% the best of the best. It is Class A of books. Whether it's your favorite or not, they are without a doubt wonderful and everyone who likes fantasy should read them.
_________________________________________________

If you're not a good person, try to be one; if you are a good person, try to be a better one. No one is perfect, but we choose how close to it we will be.
Cornelius Vanvig
Intermediate Member
Username: corneliusvanvig

Post Number: 521
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 10:05 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Political speeches by _________________ (fill in the blank). They are all marvelous works of fantasy, absurdity, and self-delusion. mini Shakespearian tragedies and comedies.

I also like short stories by Bradbury and Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner & Minority Report).
Dan Tompsett
Intermediate Member
Username: db_tompsett

Post Number: 827
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:25 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Richard Brautigan
"People who believe a lot of crap are better off." Charles Bukowski
Emusing
Senior Member
Username: emusing

Post Number: 8017
Registered: 08-2003
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I with steve...my absolute favorite:

Zelazney's Amber series
Word Walker Press; Moonday Poetry;
Kyoto Journal "Knowledge is the new currency." Lester Brown
Dan Tompsett
Intermediate Member
Username: db_tompsett

Post Number: 828
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:38 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

One of my favorite fantasies is a dream I had the other night/morning: I dreamt I had met some a people somewhere. They were a family. Mom, dad, a few kids. Their youngest son, about 5 or 6 yrs. old had his room in a nice shack separate from the house. He came outside to meet me as the rest of the family exited the dream. He was a chubby kid with a slight smile on his face. He had a crewcut. He never spoke. As we were standing near his shack, which had a lot of trees around it, all of a sudden through a wide clearing that faced the horizon a huge planet appeared. It looked as though it was almost touching Earth. It was sort of silvery-gray in color, and had several dark lines criss-crossing it. Debris, most of which looked like sheets of paper constantly crossed in front of the planet. What looked somewhat like a greenhouse also passed by.

This planet had two moons, which looked to be about 4 or 5 times the size of Earth's moon. They were on the side of the planet facing us. It looked as though they were about 100 yards apart from each other. One of them looked a lot like Earth's moon in color. The other one looked blood-reddish, sort of like Earth's moon looks during an eclipse.

I kept looking around to see if anyone else was looking at this, but saw no one but the little boy, who was still smiling.
"People who believe a lot of crap are better off." Charles Bukowski
Fred Longworth
Senior Member
Username: sandiegopoet

Post Number: 6796
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:47 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Dune is wonderful.

The movie sucks.

Fred
Emusing
Senior Member
Username: emusing

Post Number: 8019
Registered: 08-2003
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 7:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Loved the movie, but have you read PRUNE?
Word Walker Press; Moonday Poetry;
Kyoto Journal "Knowledge is the new currency." Lester Brown
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1836
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 4:23 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

and you know, fantasy literature isnt that far removed from poetry. It's probably closer to our mindset (as it would appear from the responses here) than anything else in literature--which when you think about it is all fantasy at one level or another...
Afraid of the Dark
Dan Tompsett
Intermediate Member
Username: db_tompsett

Post Number: 833
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 5:31 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

and some of us are in such a perpetual state of fantasy so much of the time we don't need to read about somebody else's...
"People who believe a lot of crap are better off." Charles Bukowski
Hugh W Walthall
Member
Username: xenophon

Post Number: 59
Registered: 11-2008
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 1:13 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

The Well at the World's End
by William Morris

tho disc world is fun; best of those is Night Watch
Jacques Lacan, Jacques Lacan you really turn me on....
Dale McLain
Senior Member
Username: sparklingseas

Post Number: 3729
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 2:16 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I adore "Children of God" and "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell and "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle.
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1838
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 2:55 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Hugh, my first love is the luggage, and Sam Vimes. and his wife.

I read The Last Unicorn years ago, Dale, and just fell into it. Neil Gaiman is another favorite, but he gets a tad too dark for me sometimes, and no matter how well he writes the body of the book,
he simply cannot end them decently.
Afraid of the Dark
Helm Filipowitsch
Valued Member
Username: flitz

Post Number: 164
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 3:40 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses. Some of the writers I know and enjoy, such as Pratchett and others I'm not at all familiar with, so I will have to read them.

For those interested, here's a poll of what others think about fantasy novels:



http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/fantasy100/lists_books.html

Helm.
Blog: http://cancan-nono.blogspot.com/
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1840
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 4:59 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

that's an incredible list. I was startled to see how many of them I've read.

and how many werent even listed--The Time Machine, nothing by Asimov, A Canticle for Leibowitz...(which I now have to reread, since apparently I have utterly forgotten the entire book)
Afraid of the Dark
Jane Røken
Senior Member
Username: magpie

Post Number: 4002
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 5:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Wow. What a fantas(y)tic thread this is. Great idea, Helm!

I'd like to mention ...

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman (in fact, anything by Neil Gaiman)
"The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson
"Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" by Haruki Murakami
"The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers

... and so many of the others that you people mentioned, are favourites of mine too. I was so glad to see that.

Jane
Zefuyn
Advanced Member
Username: zefuyn

Post Number: 1510
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 5:31 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Thomas Covenant Series
The Never Ending Story
'Mistress of the Acoma' series

and Enid Blyton's 'The Faraway Tree & Other Tales'

Melanie
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
~H.L. Mencken
Catherine Edmunds
Valued Member
Username: delph_ambi

Post Number: 149
Registered: 04-2009
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 10:16 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Guy Gavriel Kay's 'Tigana', without question, and Stephen Donaldson's 'Thomas Covenant' series (especially parts 4, 5 & 6) as a close second, but if we can stretch 'fantasy' to include sci-fi here, then the major influence on ALL my writing, poetry and prose, is Donaldson's 'Gap' series.
Catherine Edmunds, writer and illustrator
Gary Blankenship
Moderator
Username: garydawg

Post Number: 29432
Registered: 07-2001
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 10:33 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I never got into Gap, but I'm going to have to check them out again.

I think SF deserves a list of its own.

Smiles.

Gary
Celebrate Walt with Gary:
http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm


Catherine Edmunds
Valued Member
Username: delph_ambi

Post Number: 155
Registered: 04-2009
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 10:56 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

The thing with the first Gap book is that if you read it straight after the Covenant books and expect a similar style, you think: 'Crikey, this is SO dry!' and most likely give up. But you know Donaldson. He ratchets up the tension further and further and further. Persevere. Get into the second book. Start finding out what's really going on. See if you can stomach the cyber-horror of it all. If you can, you're in for a treat.

And it strikes me that even though the Gap series is pure sci-fi, it's closely based on Wagner's Ring Cycle which is most certainly myth/fantasy, so can be 'allowed' in this thread.

(Message edited by delph_ambi on September 27, 2009)
Catherine Edmunds, writer and illustrator
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1848
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 11:35 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

I think anything that takes us out of the realm of our own reality, whether it's fantasy, fairytales, Science Fiction/fantasy or any other genre, should be considered fantasy. I mean, what is Pratchett? He tinkers with fantasy, with science fiction, with Other Worlds, with dragons and demons...

Most Science Fiction IS fantasy, after all, only now and then it becomes reality.
Afraid of the Dark
Judy Thompson
Advanced Member
Username: judyt54

Post Number: 1852
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 6:35 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

well that was a disappointment. I thought I had read A Canticle for Leibowitz but apparently it was a "stash" book. I got about one chapter in and realized I had never read it and was apparently never going to.
There is nothing quite like starting "A classic" and finding out it's not for you. Damn disappointing.
Afraid of the Dark
Helm Filipowitsch
Valued Member
Username: flitz

Post Number: 166
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Monday, September 28, 2009 - 2:40 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I've got a reading list to go through, although I've read what I thought was quite a bit of fantasy.

For me, fantasy was always the stranger who entered the story when the writer could no longer accomplish his goals by using science, or science fiction to progress the plot, or to make his point.

Helm.
Blog: http://cancan-nono.blogspot.com/