Mine… at least some of them.
Paul Allender - Cradle of Filth
John 5 - Rob Zombie
Adam D - Killswitch Engage
Steve Von Till - Neurosis
Adam Jones - Tool
Robin Finck - Nine Inch Nails/Guns n Roses.
All of these guys are massively slept on players with serious chops.
I was just discussing this with a friend I have who’s reading book one.
She’s what most would call a soft sweet person. A nice church lady type.
I was expressing to her that there’s a scene at the end of book 2 that will “never leave me”.
She asked “why do you think I need to read something like that?”
What’s she’s worried about is whatever I’m talking about in book two is so extreme that she is scared to experience it.
I made the case that the darkest of art can give us the most meaningful experiences and positive takeaways.
I told her that the scene made me a more careful person. More gentle with the people around me. More caring and far more gracious.
I learned grace from the trials of that scene.
Bakker took me to the foot of evil. Not some distant threat sending out its scary looking minions in forest skirmishes.
Bakker takes us to the foot of real actual evil and makes us breathe it in.
There is value here, and I walked away from that scene with the firm belief that I needed to make efforts to be as far away from that as possible in life.
Far away from the monstrous cruelty depicted.
I was made a better person through that trauma.
Might be too dramatic but it’s how I experience certain art pieces.
The final scenes of book two are such a vicious jolt to my soul that I had to make certain adjustments to myself in order feel good.
There’s a very serious lack of quality concept art for this series, I want to change that.
Let me know if you’d be interested.
The idea is to produce great artworks depicting characters, scenes, locations or even abstract interpretations of all of the above.
Let me know what you think.
I have no idea what to do as far as winners and rewards go, so if anyone as some ideas, tell me.
We’ll have to come up with a range of time and a start date.
This series deserves far better art than it’s been given.
I personally would love to see architectural landscapes of Earwa locations such as Atyersus and Scarlet Spires and Juijatti Steppe.
I know there’s already depictions of Golgotterath…. But… they’re all really bad… I’m sorry to say that but NONE of the paintings of Golgotterath even come close to how it’s imaged in the books.
These horns fill up the horizon, they aren’t just skyscrapers in San Francisco or something.
You can see them from and past the furthest length of the pre curvature planet… that’s absolutely massive. Their height protrudes into the stratosphere
I met Ted Nugent in 2010, and I’ve never had a more disturbing encounter in my life with a famous person.
It was at a guitar show in Dallas. Paul Read Smith, George Lynch, Leslie West, and Twiggy Ramirez (of Marilyn Manson but I’m pretty sure he was in A Perfect Circle during that time) were there too.
All cool, all very nice and helpful… Nugent?
Total Bastard.
Made me appreciate when musicians who have a ton of power and influence are actually good people.
Welcome back to another author appreciation thread.
This is where we discuss, celebrate, acknowledge, learn about, or even criticize authors who aren’t part of the Booktube Top 20 rotating wheel of them park RPG fantasy series.
Here we explore brilliant authors who are, thankfully, outside of that unending rotation.
Donaldson… I cannot even begin to find the words that would do this man’s importance to the genre any justice.
All of the dark fantasies that are popular today, all of them, owe a massive part of themselves to Donaldson’s work.
Donaldson broke the norm of his era by taking a far less entertainment/spectacle/typical hero based approach and instead a more literary one.
His creative decisions are often misunderstood, and reactionary minds often dismiss his work (and him) as corrupt. A very unwise and oblivious takeaway from his work.
He goes to places that aren’t happy to look upon, but he has legitimate reasons. He explores important parts of humanity, parts that he approaches with a deep honesty that is commendable.
I’ll say no more.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is a pillar of the genre that should never be forgotten, or dismissed.
This is when fantasy grew up, according to Steven Erikson.
That’s one of the statements I really agree with Erikson on.
Ps,
He was also one of the earliest high prose stylists in the genre.
The bulk of the genre during his period was filled with Tolkien imitators who took a thin veneer of Tolkiens aesthetics but none of the brilliance.
That lack of brilliance cemented the forgettable and low bar prose work of that era.
Donaldson was a breath of fresh air when it came to his incredibly gorgeous and tactful prose. The words precision and beauty are the best to describe his prose style.
Ah… the wonderful and classy Guy Gavriel Kay.
This author sat on my shelf for literal years and years before I finally committed to reading just one of his books.
I started two years ago with his far eastern inspired secondary world epic, Under Heaven.
I was instantly impressed by this man’s prose.
And I was relieved, in so many meaningful ways to see that his approach wasn’t the “theme park in a book” style that the genre has become.
And in its own way, feels far more magical than most other modern fantasy novels.
There are no hard magic systems here.
But there is magic, and powerful magic.
I think Kay is trying to show us that magic isn’t only lightning bolts and power waves and RPG style action.
Kay’s explores history, memory, art, poetry, human emotion, powerful social dynamics, sweeping romantic character arcs.
His work, even though I haven’t read all of it yet, has left a deep mark in my soul.
…
Most of his work takes place in a Secondary World called The World of Two Moons. And most of his books are standalones set in that world.
I’ll say nothing further, if you haven’t yet, please do, it’s low commitment high reward.
My favorite character of his is Jahane from Lions of Al-Rassan
Stephen R. Donaldson called her the “finest writer and prose stylist in the world.”
If the mighty Donaldson says that about you, you’ve done something truly special.
…
This month I’m focusing, and attempting to bring into focus, brilliant and talented and important authors who aren’t part of the rotating wheel of “Top 15 Booktube/BookTok” theme park series.
Not saying those series aren’t good, but there are far more out there that I firmly believe deserves more attention that will likely never find their way to that wheel.
Patricia McKillip is a very unique author, she has the most intoxicating prose I’ve ever read.
Her work is an immersive faerie tale heavy with emotion and perfect for cozy winter reads.
Her influence can be seen in more current authors like Kathrine Arden, Leigh Bardugo, and Jaqueline Carey.
The stories McKillip writes aren’t of the same large consistent cinematic universe style we’ve all been conditioned for.
Her novels are mostly standalones, her stories within unfold according to the feeling of dreams and fleeting imaginings.
A single novel can contains centuries of history, a complete secondary world with its own geography, and entire mythology.
A fully functioning secondary world within a 200 page novel.
And… once you finish, that’s the last of that world you’ll see.
Very few of her books take place in the same world.
Her stories are very much like a vivid dream.
There’s magic, but not the theme park video game magic systems of today.
This is the deep magic. The poetic magic of wisdom, healing, memory, desire.
The magic of the soul.
A power only its master can truly understand.
To me, this is the truest and most meaningful approach to magic.
Please try her work.
She has the most beautiful approach to epic fantasy I’ve ever seen.
And look at this gorgeous covers she has.
I feel bad for great authors who get assaulted with cover artists who have zero understanding of their work. McKillip was truly blessed with cover artists who matched her vibe
Describe your favorite epic fantasy series without saying it’s title or spoiling its story or naming its characters.
Can’t wait for this one.
I’ve been getting through Tad Williams’ Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy lately and am almost finished with its it’s impossibly massive third installment, To Green Angel Tower.
Then I will begin his Last King of Osten Ard series, which is a sequel, and hopefully, by the time I’m done with that, the new books will
done.
Apparently The Splintered Sun is a prequel to Memory Sorrow and Thorn that will be a Dualogy.
Something I’ve always admired about Tad is his ability to write stories that have an ending.
As in, there is a beginning and a few books covering the events of the story, following the character’s journeys and exploring the world and whatnot, and then, eventually, after much storytelling, there is a sort of final installment that serves as what we would call an “ending”.
There’s an entire book dedicated to wrapping things up and making sense of the whole thing.
This is a good approach to epic fantasy and sci fi.
Many modern fantasy authors consider Tad to be a bridge between the classical fantasy world and the modern one. I agree with this.
Martin gives enormous credit to Tad as his primary inspiration for Song of Ice and Fire.
Brandon Sanderson hails Tad’s Osten Ard books as a “masterpiece”.
And Patrick Rothfuss..
Yes, many authors consider Tad to be a pillar of the genre.
My favorite series of his is Memory Sorrow and Thorn. I adore it so much that I wish that HBO had greenlit a high budget production of it instead of Game of Thrones.
I am a part of a sizable group of people who think Memory Sorrow and Thorn is actually better than Game of Thrones and far more screen ready…. And finished
His other series, Otherland and Shadowmarch are equally masterful.
Otherland specifically is groundbreaking in numerous ways.
Shadowmarch is underrated, and I hope to see it get its due attention someday.
I think out of all the authors who wrote faean folk, Tad is probably the best.
Even his standalones are good. Tailchaser’s Song is the cutest book ever, and War of the Flowers is my favorite portal fantasy.
He also seems like such a humble guy in interviews.
I recall one where he’s doing a one to one discussion with Steven Erikson and they were talking g about the genre, the contrast between the two is so clear in that interview.
Tad has no ego.. no superiority complex, and seems to genuinely love the art like he loves his pets.
I consider him to be the best living American fantasy author.
What do you think of him and his work?
This book might actually be the best book ever written regardless of genre.
I’m very in favor of Kay’s standalone approach in epic fantasy.
With Tigana he showed us that you can tell an epic story in a single installment.
His fantasy world (his main one) is called The World of Two Moons. And the books that are set there (I think 10?) are all 5/5 masterpieces.
Guy Gavriel Kay is an author who should get far more credit than he does.
Anyway, I’m glad this book is getting its due respect as a classic. I hope more people read it.
It’s wonderful
So, a few years ago I went on a power metal adventure… I do not regret this..
It was a proper 3 month delve into the genre, both classics and modern, from multiple places.
I’m a huge fan of Epic Fantasy as a genre of fiction.
I adore and love Lord of the Rings… which is what most of this genre seems to be inspired by.
I read a lot… so much that I feel kind of alone in the amount of reading I do.
I’ve read all of the major epic fantasy classics and most of the modern ones.
There are some true masterpieces in there.
Tad Williams’ Memory Sorrow and Thorn is one of the epic fantasy pillars of brilliance that I deeply admire.
R. Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse is my favorite of all time, and one that I can see a lot of metalheads really loving, if you know how to read… which statistics indicate that a ton of you can’t read above a 4th grade level. 🤣
Just kidding.
Anyway.
The genre of fiction that power metal seems to be entirely drawn from, is deeply important to me.
I think that the highest of art can be found in this movement of literature. It can create feelings and experiences that no other genre of writing can.
Now, power metal…
Power metal has never achieved the aesthetic, emotional, philosophical, or historical value that epic fantasy literature has. And it has never achieved the immersion and feeling of mythic reverence and wondrous awe that this kind of storytelling can inspire.
It’s very unfortunate because I think this could be achieved, but power metal isn’t the one.
And I blame its incredibly narrow approach and philosophy.
Power metal is an entire genre of drunken tavern shanties put to traditional metal music arrangements.
Nothing wrong with that at all, I love a good tavern shanty.
I’m saying that I think the genre could be so much more than it is.
But, there are some things I love about the genre.
The musicianship is obviously top tier.
And I specifically found Japanese power metal to be absolutely outstanding.
Blind Guardian and Dragonforce are my two favorites.
So… I’m still being bad and dipping into the Second Apocalypse… every day… even though I’m supposed to be finishing my Tad Williams and C. S. Friedman and Lois McMaster Bujold books… 👀
I’m sorry but it’s just such an absolutely cinematic and immersive series.
Anyway.. the opening scenes of the second book Warrior Prophet is the most absolutely awe inspiring and mythically wondrous passages I’ve ever read, yes, more so than Tolkien.
I feel that a lot of fantasy authors, even ones I love miss some essential ingredients in their work that are absolutely needed to create that sense of “epic” and “mythic”.
I think it’s that sense of deep history and how it informs the present (within the story), and how past events, even eons past, can have extraordinary consequence in the now.
The ingredient I think, is a profound appreciation for your world’s history, and allowing the reader to take peaks into it.
Other authors add this ingredient, but sometimes it feels like just that, an ingredient.
Something about Tolkien and Bakker and a few other’s approach to it makes it feel weighty, and real.
But yeah, that passage is forever burned into my psyche…
It’s a truly beautiful and wondrous chapter.