I have not read all the annoying epic fantasy series.

[snarp]

I'm trying to educate myself culturally. What are the classic annoying fantasy series that I need to have read, as a nerd?

Notice that I'm talking about annoying fantasy series - like, stuff where every single book has the same plot, or the cast of characters grows by six or seven people every book and every book gets longer because they all need to have stuff to do, or the last eight books have pretty much just been about the author's hat bondage fetish, or whatever.

I have read Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books and Raymond Feist's Magician books.

Comments

[havocthecat]

It's like you've encapsulated the entire Wheel of Time series into one paragraph. Without even reading it.

Also, anything David and Leigh Eddings have ever written after the Belgariad. But I should warn you that it feels to me like everything they've ever written is also a little, um, racefail-y too.

[snarp]

It's like you've encapsulated the entire Wheel of Time series into one paragraph. Without even reading it.

I'm beginning to feel some trepidation regarding this project.

[havocthecat]

And well you should! Many fantasy novels have very little point to them, and a lot of the authors mentioned are really trying to milk those cash cows past the point where they ought to. IMO.

Mind you, I say that as someone who has read most of the series listed thus far.

Oh! Also, you should check out the Shannara books and the Magic Kingdom For Sale books, both series by Terry Brooks. There's some fail there, especially, IIRC, with Wishsong of Shannara. Probably past that, but, after a while I just gave the hell up on that world.

And if you want some supreme amounts of several different kinds of fail along with the rest of the annoyance, you should check out everything Orson Scott Card has ever written.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

I found the "Magic Kingdom for Sale" books considerably less unbearable than Shannara -- not that they were in any way GOOD, mind you: the characters are still just as cardboard, the prose is still just as clunky, the setting and plots just as generic and predictable. But they at least don't involve EVERY SINGLE PAGE having things in it that scream "I am not even bothering to try to file off the serial numbers from Tolkien, I'm just covering everything up with hastily-applied Post-It Notes and a little duct tape!".

[juliet]

Yeah; I liked "Magic Kingdom for Sale" a lot (though admittedly I read it aged about 12, so, um), but picked up Shannara at the library a couple of times, read a page or two, and put it right back on the shelf. And I really wasn't all that discerning when I was 12.