Recommendations?

[mustafa13]

Recommendations?

So I went and read Sapowski's "The Last Wish", translated in English. The book is very good and I'm waiting with bated breath for the rest of his works to be translated. While I wait, are there any fantasy books which are like Sapowski's? i.e. gritty fantasy where the hero isn't a farmhand that develops awesome magical powers (or finds he has accidentally come into posession of a world-changing ring or is the long-lost son of ....., etc.), but somebody you'd expect to be able to fight, and where men, monsters and heroes alike have their good and bad points.

 

[aggravaar]

I'm not really much of a fantasy reader but seeing that no hardcore fantasy fans seem to know the answer I'll try to help you out.I recommend... ok, don't laugh, read my post till the end... Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett.Yup, Pratchett.OK, his later Discworld novels from the “Vimes Cycle” are quite dark and gritty when compared to the pathetically small number of fantasy books I read so far (except for Sapkowski, of course). I think his books Carpe Jugulum, the recent Thud! and especially Nightwatch present a world somewhat similar to that of Sapkowski: dark, dirty, violent, and (to an extent) unjust.Alas, this stuff is more family friendly than Sapkowski's works, and the characters, even the protagonist, a noir-ish ex-alcoholic cop with street smarts named Vimes, turn out to be goody-do-gooders. There's a clear distinction between the good guys and the bad guys, but at least the bad guys are downright dirty in an interesting way and the good guys are not always spotless. They also seem to be somewhat more developed, Sapkowski likes to make (intentionally) underdeveloped minor characters, though morally less ambiguous Pratchett's creations are much more alive and individual.Humour is Pratchett's hallmark: in the books I mentioned he turns towards a darker variety of amusement (though still not as dark as Sapkowski).Most of his books have major themes; Carpe Jugulum is a werefolf story, Thud! is a parody of The Da Vinci Code, and Nightwatch reaks of fake revolutionary propaganda with a pinch of British kitchen-sink drama. Pratchett plays with established genres but his stories are heavier on the stylisation than those of Sapkowski. Expect lots of cliches being mercilessly poked at.If I were you I'd give Nightwatch a chance, I think it resembles Sapkowski most. There is some lore behind the DW universe but the core stories in Pratchett's books are independent from one another, so no worries there. And there's no unnecessary pathos (unless it's there for comical purposes). It's comic fantasy, but it amuses in a dark, witty and intelligent way.Anyway it's high culture compared to the generic fantasy tolkienesque foam and it's quite a good book by literary standards as well.Oh, and do get the original English version, just to be on the safe side, that book is a bitch to translate.

 

[username_2070576]

A series of books which constitutes and excellent example of gritty fantasy with ties to a real historical period would be "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin. I heartily reccomend it to any fan of fantasy since, imo, this is the best thing to come out after LOTR. And, much like Sapkowski's work, there is no Good or Evil in this medieval fantasy world. It's quite realistic from a character point of view as well since you really get attached to some of the characters. There are no true bad guys in this book and despite the fact that there are many heroes none of them is a hero in the true sense of the word since they are all flawed in some way. Regardless, it's easy to like all of them, even the ones who are on the opposite side of the fence when it comes to political intrigue. And regarding political intrigue, you'll have loads of it since it's pretty much the focus of the first book in the series, "A Game of Thrones".Something intriguing about these books is that they aren't structured in conventional chapters. Each chapters has the name of a character as its title, since the events in that chapter will be shown from the point of view of the title character, who will act as a protagonist. That prevents the action from getting stale, since things usually take place in several different places at the same, places which are far away from each other. So, in one chapter you might have political intrigue and backstabbing by the bucket-load while in the other you might have the comings and goings of a soldier serving in the North. Also, somewhat similar to The Witcher, the King of the land in "A Game of Thrones", Robert Baratheon, is much like Foltest. He has quite a few bastards up until the events of the books and he also has a healthy drinking habbit. In other words, they are both authoritative figures that enjoy living life as it is. At least, that's the impression I got of Foltest from playing the game, since I haven't actually read any of Sapkowski's books. I know what kind of genre you're talking about, nonetheless.

 

[rhian]

I can recommend "Song of Ice and Fire" from G. R. R. Martin.His stories are not for kids either, brutally honest and candid in all and everything. And even the characters who are supposed to be naive, because of age and origin - have to deal with the harsh reality.

 

[username_2070443]

Like the two gentlemen above me said- "Song of Ice and Fire" is a must read if youre looking for gritty, mature fantasy.The world Martin portrays is harsh, arbitrary and unjust- not unlike our own... has anyone said realistic? but its filled with all the goodies that make fantasy worlds.. hmm.. well, almost all- there arent any elves or orcs.

 

[Adakash]

Robin Hobb, The Farseer Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy. Great