Looking For Some Fantasy

[Ferp]

Just looking for some fantasy anime (Berserk) or North American/European high fantasy novels (Sword of Truth, Wheel of Time, LotR).

I'm not picky over themes, but I do want an apparent protagonist in the show or novel. I'd also prefer a more serious atmosphere. Historical fantasy is fine with me as well. Feel free to recommend anything you'd like that fits what I've asked. I don't have a watched list/read list. Please no fantasy manga/ln rec's from Japan.

[jedinat]

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley is one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read. The audiobook version is excellent.

Juuni Kokuki is the best fantasy anime.

[Kirito]

Why don't you give the The Twelve Kingdoms a shot if you haven't seen it that is.

[Kotohono]

3rding The Twelve Kingdom/Juuni Kokuki.

And I'd suggest Seirei no Moribito, Katanagatari, and Spice and Wolf all three are excellent fantasy series.

[Sackett]

Katanagatari

For books I'll suggest:

Mistborn
Game of Thrones
Sword of Shannara
Pawn of Prophecy
Elantris
A Wizard of Earthsea

[mystogan]

Novels:
The Lies of Locke Lamora (highly recommended it's just too awsome to miss)
Bartimaeus trilogy(including the fourth book,which is a prequel)
Inheritance Cycle
Artemis Fowl(not an historical fantasy but a great blend of fantasy and sci-fi)

[Ferp]

Thanks for the recs. Read a lot of whats been recommended and going to check out The Twelve Kingdoms and Juuni over break. Sackett if you're a fan of Brandon Sandersons writings I would check out his book The Way of Kings. It's his best piece of work in my opinion, he really proves that he's an incredible author.

Going to check out Katanagatari as well.

[creb]

Epic Fantasy that the creator of Berserk used as his inspiration:


Guin Saga

The anime only covers the first 16 novels out of a light novel series that spans 126 light novels, and 21 short stories, so you're going to be left wanting at the end, but it's still worth seeing, in my opinion. It borrows a lot from the Roman-era setting.

If I had to describe it, it's old-school western fantasy, in the vein of Conan the Barbarian (I enjoyed this more than Conan, though).

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Of course, there's always the class granddaddy of epic fantasy:


Record of Lodoss War

You can google for the order you'd watch the series in (OVA comes first). This is definitely old-school epic fantasy, with strong roots in D&D fantasy. In ancient times, good and evil clashed and both sides were destroyed. Fast forward to today, and the battle between good and evil is starting back up with control over the continent of Lodoss up for grabs. This used to be a wildly popular series back in the day. Whether it's aged well or not depends on your taste for old-school D&D romps. If you're into fantasy anime at all, regardless of how much interest you may personally have in this show, you still owe yourself to watch it, simply due to its place in the annals of fantasy anime history.

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As for epic fantasy novels, ignoring the wrong forum , here's a few not-so-obvious choices, which I'll severely limit as I suspect I could write on this subject for weeks :

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams, which was essentially Williams' homage to Tolkein. These were written in the days when books were massive (1000k+ pages), and there's not a werewolf, vampire, or young woman who has to have sex to draw out her supernatural powers within a million miles of the plot.

All the books in Glen Cook's The Black Company universe. Use google to determine the reading order, though I think the earliest books are the best. The overarching story concerns a mercenary company, called The Black Company, and starts with their accepting an assignment that has them in service to the Lady, who's come out of a long sleep and legends proclaim to be what one could classically term an Evil Overlord.

Pretty much any of the stories by Melanie Rawn prior to her mental breakdown and reinvention as another paranormal author (so, anything she wrote in the 80s and 90s = great, anything since the 2000s, gag). One word of warning, her mental breakdown occurred prior to her finishing her last fantasy series written in the 90s, so that particular series has no conclusion. She wrote two other trilogies prior to that one that are completed however.

What was the first fantasy series I ever read, and felt like an epic at the time (though it's actually rather short, for a trilogy), The Riddle Master of Hed, by Patricia McKillip. Ok, I lied. My mother made me read the Hobbit when I was 5, so technically that was the first fantasy I read, but I hated it. This was the first fantasy I loved. It's no Game of Thrones, there's no on-page sex, or vivid brutalities, but a very human tale that follows two people to the end of an Age and the beginning of a new one.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Ferp

Read a lot of whats been recommended and going to check out The Twelve Kingdoms and Juuni over break.

"Twelve Kingdoms" is the English title of Junni Kokki.

Along with Moribito, I'll add Kemono no Sou-ja Erin, by the same novelist, the anthropologist Uehashi Nahoko.

Guin Saga is based on a famous series of fantasy novels, but I thought the anime adaptation was rather weak. Guin himself is a fascinating character, but he was pushed to the sidelines in the second-half of the anime.

Scrapped Princess has a mixture of fantasy and science-fiction. It's a pretty entertaining story. Japanese science-fiction often has a tinge of fantasy. Even a show like Noein, which is based on anomalies in quantum physics, falls into this category.

[Ferp]

I watched Guin Saga, and The Twelve Kingdoms. A friend also recommended the show Break Blade to me, and to my surprise I actually enjoyed the Mecha-Fantasy 100x more than typical Mecha-SciFi. I read Sword of Shannara and finally finished the last Mistborn book. I just bought Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn so I plan to start those once I finish exams.

I enjoyed Guin Saga up to the point where they defeated the Mongols in the desert, then as Guin got less screen time the show became gradually more boring. Twelve Kingdoms was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the character development. I liked Break Blade because of the lack of explosions and extremely well choreographed fights, the characters were somewhat interesting too, with a bit of under the covers romance. I also began watching Magi and I've enjoyed it thus far. I finally watched SAO and didn't care for it at all. I watched the second Berserk movie too, and it was actually really good compared to the first one. Excited for the third to be subbed.

Anyways, I could use some more suggestions. Thank you everyone.

[jedinat]

Originally Posted by Ferp

I watched Guin Saga, and The Twelve Kingdoms. A friend also recommended the show Break Blade to me, and to my surprise I actually enjoyed the Mecha-Fantasy 100x more than typical Mecha-SciFi. I read Sword of Shannara and finally finished the last Mistborn book. I just bought Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn so I plan to start those once I finish exams.

I enjoyed Guin Saga up to the point where they defeated the Mongols in the desert, then as Guin got less screen time the show became gradually more boring. Twelve Kingdoms was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the character development. I liked Break Blade because of the lack of explosions and extremely well choreographed fights, the characters were somewhat interesting too, with a bit of under the covers romance. I also began watching Magi and I've enjoyed it thus far. I finally watched SAO and didn't care for it at all. I watched the second Berserk movie too, and it was actually really good compared to the first one. Excited for the third to be subbed.

Anyways, I could use some more suggestions. Thank you everyone.

Why don't you try some manga: Id, Kanata Kara, and Tower of God

[BK210]

Something that I consider to be a bit like berserk is claymore so you could try that out if you haven't seen it already

[Ferp]

Originally Posted by BK210

Something that I consider to be a bit like berserk is claymore so you could try that out if you haven't seen it already

I've seen it. It was alright but Claire (I think that was the MC's name) wasn't really my cup of tea.

[BK210]

She didn't annoy me too badly, would of preferred if Teresa had of been the main character mind as her small arc was my favourite part of the anime. If your looking for a good book series in the fantasy genre I could recommend a series I have all the books for called the Wheel of time by Robert Jordan, I believe three is like 14 books in all, I only have the first 8 but it's very much a Lord of the rings crossed with game of thrones kind of feel as it handles war and politics, as well as most things you expect from a fantasy series

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Ferp

Twelve Kingdoms was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the character development.

You really should watch Moribito, then, as it has some excellent characterizations and a strong story. Chagum grows considerably from his origins as a spoiled young prince, and Balsa is my favorite heroine in anime for her mix of skills and depth of character.

While it's not a traditional "high" fantasy, I'll also recommend the pairing of "Bakeneko" and its sequel Mononoke. This is an anthology of short stories about a travelling medicine seller who also slays demons. An even more obscure noitaminA show with a strong fantasy background is Hakaba Kitarou, based on a famous manga that began in 1959. I'll also toss out Mahou Shoujotai Arusu, a story about magic and witches. While it was intended for kids, the dark story has adult appeal. All three of these have quite distinctive styles of illustration.

[Ferp]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

You really should watch Moribito, then, as it has some excellent characterizations and a strong story. Chagum grows considerably from his origins as a spoiled young prince, and Balsa is my favorite heroine in anime for her mix of skills and depth of character.

While it's not a traditional "high" fantasy, I'll also recommend the pairing of "Bakeneko" and its sequel Mononoke. This is an anthology of short stories about a travelling medicine seller who also slays demons. An even more obscure noitaminA show with a strong fantasy background is Hakaba Kitarou, based on a famous manga that began in 1959. I'll also toss out Mahou Shoujotai Arusu, a story about magic and witches. While it was intended for kids, the dark story has adult appeal. All three of these have quite distinctive styles of illustration.

Thank you, I intend to check out all four of these shows after my exams.