The Greatest Book Ever Written (1 Viewer)

[Emma-Jayde]

The Wheel of Time-Robert Jordan.
Close, VERY close second is His Dark Materials- Phillip Pullman

 

[phemale_souljah]

i quite liked roald dalh's novels ...
esp James and the Giant Peachh

lol I loved that book too!! those wicked wicked aunts lol

John Marsden and Cynthia Voight are amazing

 

[Elenessa]

LOTR is at the top of my list for fiction, Da Vinci Code was ok if u hadn't realised Mr brown always does the same thing in his books. the odyssey was good (wish i could read the original though)

 

[adambra]

Bunch of literary n00bs...

 

[FreakTrigger]

Gabriel garcia Marquez and Clive Barker.

My two favourite authors.

On the topic of previous posts, "A brief history of time" is a marvellous read - I enjoyed "Universe in a nutshell" more however, it's a bit meatier on the science.

 

[FreakTrigger]

The Wheel of Time is a thousand times better than LotR. It might just be the best damn series ever written.

You good sir, are clinically ill.

 

[heybraham]

without religious prejudices and judging purely on literary merit; The Holy Bible could considered the greatest epic ever written by man.

however it is often argued that it's God's word that is being transcended through man instead of being a figment of man's imagination. either way, its probably an indication of how good it is as a piece of literature.

 

[The_highwayman]

"The silver sword" by Ian Serralier (sp?). It is a wonderful novel and isnt too long. a great weekend book!

 

[rachael230]

pride and prejudice, all the way
mmm... mr darcy

 

[cabanaboy21]

tv is much better

 

[cabanaboy21]

non fiction you big nerds!!!

 

[kami]

No, I'm perfectly fine. WoT is just far better than LotR, that's all.

Agreed, Tolkien made a grand contribution to literature and its history, but his works are no longer the epitome of fantasy. I also think the *majority* of WoT is better than LotR but is still flawed. Robin Hobb, George R. Martin, Steven Erikson and China Mieville have composed far stronger fantasy works IMO.

 

[kami]

I just think of all the fantasy stuff I've read, Jordan's world works better than Tolkein's Middle Earth. The characterisation is way better, with the likes of Lan making Aragorn look very bland; the societies and the way they interact (ie Aiel politics) with each other and one another is richer; and Jordan's resident badass actually does something rather than simply look for his lost ring (which, plot-wise, was a bit of what Alfred Hitchcock would call a 'McGuffin').

Believe me young padawan, you have only started on the road to ultimate fantasy. Become like Jhakka and follow my reccomendations so that you may take your steps towards fictional enlightenment.

 

[Riewe]

The is only one Lord of the Rings, and he does not share power

 

[jhakka]

Believe me young padawan, you have only started on the road to ultimate fantasy. Become like Jhakka and follow my reccomendations so that you may take your steps towards fictional enlightenment.

Pfft. I already knew about Douglass, having already read her Axis and Wayfarer books. It was just a matter of time before I got to The Troy Game.

I agree that Tolkien is very good, but he was more or less a precedent for everyone else. Has anyone else noticed the likes of Eddings, Weis and Hickman, and even to an extent, Douglass and Rowling, also use a similar model to Tolkien in their writing: with any combination of the group of friends, different races, backgrounds, the quest, etc.

Of course anyone who uses an already established model for any genre will try to improve on it, and I agree with Evan and Jason in saying that just because Tolkien is great, he is not the best. I am yet to read Jordan, but I can happily say that the worlds that the likes of Hobb create are far richer in areas that Toklien appears to view as trivial, such as character development and interaction, and thus providing a more balanced, more human form of fantasy.

 

[The Intergrator]

Wilbur Smith books are great so are the Clive Cussler novels, esp Dirk Pitt's adventures.

 

[The Intergrator]

I also like the various Shannara series. First bokk seems a lot like LOTR, but they move on to explore the consequences of using the magic. Also they have some political intrigue and good depth to the stories.

 

[sarevok]

WoT is just far better than LotR, that's all.

Umm, no. I think that LoTR nowadays may seem a little trite, but Tolkien, and to a lesser extent Jack Vance, formed the conventions of the fantasy genre; and Jordan adheres to those conventions more strongly than most. Jordan simply cannot compare to Tolkien in terms of originality and seminality, and in fact owes LoTR most of his success. Martin and Hobb are better authors than Jordan, but I would say they are both inferior to Tolkien for the same reason.
If there is one fantasy author who has the potential to better Tolkien, it is Mieville, because he is completely rebuilding the genre.

 

[The Intergrator]

and the spin-off all suck terribly (especially the spin-offs because it's basically Dirk and Al with different names ...)

I agree with that. He should have just kept with the Pitt novels or stopped while he was ahead

Wilbur Smith might be able to spin a good yarn, but his rather scenes are far too fantastical to be real, and they seem to happen ever 50 pages or when the action slows down ... "look, the bad guys aren't doing anything, so let's have wild and unrealistic while they do it!"

The later books seem to be getting much worse in that regard. He's turned into a dirty old man

 

[kami]

Umm, no. I think that LoTR nowadays may seem a little trite, but Tolkien, and to a lesser extent Jack Vance, formed the conventions of the fantasy genre; and Jordan adheres to those conventions more strongly than most. Jordan simply cannot compare to Tolkien in terms of originality and seminality, and in fact owes LoTR most of his success. Martin and Hobb are better authors than Jordan, but I would say they are both inferior to Tolkien for the same reason.
If there is one fantasy author who has the potential to better Tolkien, it is Mieville, because he is completely rebuilding the genre.

You are citing historical importance - yes Tolkien may have been the architect of the epic fantasy subgenre, but other writers have built on his ideas since then and executed them more effectively. It would be like saying that Christie's work is miles beyond say Snow Falling On Cedars when it isn't exactly true. And to any who seek to glorify Tolkien, mayhap you should read the Silmarillion, it will be an eye opener.