@Nonnaswriter I don't think she actually sleeps with him, since she becomes the Amyrlin Seat (My apologies for spoiling that one if you haven't read that far yet). But she falls in love with another man, so, yes, she stays smart.
Blimey, this thread has taken me a long time to read and given me even more books to put on the dreaded "to read" list!
LotR has to be my favourite given that when I first read it at about age 10 (back in the late sixties) there was literally nothing else like it around (at least not in the depths of rural England where I grew up) and it didn't so much spark my imagination as start a bushfire! I remember saving my pocket money to buy the three volume hardback edition which is still on the shelves by my desk (2nd edition, 5th impression, 1970 - volume one cost £1.95)
I must however give a very honourable mention to The Fionavar Tapestry (Guy Gavriel Kay).
@kiwidoc , that's a very interesting take on the Jordan series. Although my net feelings about having read the series were positive, and I started out trying to defend it here, I also felt that "male rage" during several parts of the series, where men were being tortured, abused, restrained, held back, and belittled by groups of women.
It just strikes me as somewhat unique in the fantasy genre that Jordan was willing to "go there" with all the gender politics. I wonder what a controversial feminist like Sarkeesian would think of Jordan's writing? My guess would be that she would appreciate all the focus on female characters, but would, as you, deplore the assumption that females and males are so fundamentally different that they must always be in tension and conflict with each other at best, or in a kind of gender war with each other at worst.
At least the material gets the readers to start thinking about these issues, even if in disagreement with Jordan's bias. So I would at least give Jordan that his writing is "thought-provoking".
@Belgarath I agree with you about the writing being thought provoking. However I am not sure that Jordan intended it to be quite as thought provoking as I found it. To be honest I didn't find anything to show that forcing a man to have sex with you at knife point is actually rape. Far too many people (both men and women) believe it is impossible for a woman to rape a man. I am alos more than deeply uncomfortable with the idea that it's okay to rape Matt because he's a bit of a rogue. This smacks too much of the "he/she asked for it" justification that is commonly offered up to excuse rape. I don't think that Jordan condones anything he sees as rape, I think he is a little blind as to what forms rape can take.
In my job as a shrink I have assessed and/or treated many victims of sexual predation, and also sexual preadtors as well. This gives me a very heightened awareness of these issues. It's not that I can't read about it - I am fine with George RR Martin's books because although he describes rape (in some cases in excruciating detail) he never suggests that it is okay.
@Nonnaswriter I don't think she actually sleeps with him, since she becomes the Amyrlin Seat (My apologies for spoiling that one if you haven't read that far yet). But she falls in love with another man, so, yes, she stays smart.
Tolkien captured my imagination when I was young and gratefully that was before the movies came out which were ... okay. Strider in my mind was and still is one of my favourite characters of all time. One of my favourite fantasy epic's that is not on the list is Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone Saga. It has very powerful imagery that stays with you forever, well for me anyways. Lots of others but that one has to be mentioned.
I don't know if it qualifies as epic fantasy, but my favorite always was the Riverworld series by Philip José Farmer. No dragons in it, though (and not many other monsters either), but the concept intrigued me and he worked it out very well.
I've had this one sitting in a closet for years (very OLD copy that pre-dates my birth by about 30 years) and I've never had to drive to read it, OR Mists of Avalon for that matter. As much as I love high fantasy and sword and sorcery, the Arthurian stuff just never took with me.
Comments
LotR has to be my favourite given that when I first read it at about age 10 (back in the late sixties) there was literally nothing else like it around (at least not in the depths of rural England where I grew up) and it didn't so much spark my imagination as start a bushfire! I remember saving my pocket money to buy the three volume hardback edition which is still on the shelves by my desk (2nd edition, 5th impression, 1970 - volume one cost £1.95)
I must however give a very honourable mention to The Fionavar Tapestry (Guy Gavriel Kay).
It just strikes me as somewhat unique in the fantasy genre that Jordan was willing to "go there" with all the gender politics. I wonder what a controversial feminist like Sarkeesian would think of Jordan's writing? My guess would be that she would appreciate all the focus on female characters, but would, as you, deplore the assumption that females and males are so fundamentally different that they must always be in tension and conflict with each other at best, or in a kind of gender war with each other at worst.
At least the material gets the readers to start thinking about these issues, even if in disagreement with Jordan's bias. So I would at least give Jordan that his writing is "thought-provoking".
In my job as a shrink I have assessed and/or treated many victims of sexual predation, and also sexual preadtors as well. This gives me a very heightened awareness of these issues. It's not that I can't read about it - I am fine with George RR Martin's books because although he describes rape (in some cases in excruciating detail) he never suggests that it is okay.
This guy @Anduin knows what I'm talking about.
It has the reincarnated dead in it...
Including Al Capone...
Who are also wizards...
Epic space opera, set on many alien worlds...
...
*Must not give too much away! ! !*
What is there not to love?