Tolkien vs Feist

Lemmy

Call it blasphemy if you will but I have to say I preferred the riftwar saga(Magician,Silverthorn and ADAS).....

LoLth

It's not blasphemy. Tolkien (In my opinion) wasn't all that good technically as a writer. He was original and had a huge influence on fantasy literature and art but his books, while detailed, wandered too much, took too long to make a point (as an example: which is better writing, describing something word for word in minute detail or using just a few words to create an image in the readers mind. I suppose it depends on what you like in an author) Tolkien was a linguist and historian (cunning? ) and it shows in his writing. Many writiers will tell you that short story writing is one of the hardest types, because to quote King " It always seems to want to grow bigger than you intended", Feist has his failings too but what it all comes down to is personal preference.

Just because Tolkien was influential does not make him the best. Fantasy literature did exist before him, and in fact his works were heavily influenced by Nordic legends, which is in itself a form of fantasy literature. Personally, I found Lord of the Rings good. Not great, good. I enjoyed it but found that the pace was too stop start, too many times it picked up and rolled along just to stop suddenly with unnecessary detail. But having said that, I did enjoy it.

Feist's books are likewise good, in a different way. Tolkien created a world and then told a story set in it and that showed in the level of detail he put into his work. Feist tells a story and gives details of the world as they are required. Some people don't like this as the story tends to turn out a bit too contrived for their liking, some people prefer this because the book is story driven rather than world driven. Having said that, Feist cannot finish a book to save his life, his endings are abrupt, overly easy, lacking in detail and very much an anti climax. Luckily the rest of the stuff is nicely paced and easy to read. If he could just get the endings down, Feist would be an excellent author.

My little 0.02 euro rant......

WhiteWashMan

hmm, im not sure who i prefere.
i read lord of the rings when iwas about 10 and loved it
then i read feist when i was about 15...twas all thrilling stuff, but i got bored eventuallt of all the 'battle was truely joined' and all that malarky.
personally i prefere stephen donaldson or robert jordan

Lemmy

I have to agree with you about the endings of feists books.Has anyone read his other three daughter,servant and mistress of the empire.I heard rumours about it being set in the same time but from kelewans point of view ??? Are they worth reading ?

[This message has been edited by Lemmy (edited 26-01-2000).]

WhiteWashMan

ive read hte first 2
yep, they are set at the same time and most of it just politcal manouvers in the kelwan (whatever its called) high council and stuff
pretty boring with the usual feist phrases

LoLth

I dunno, personally I preferred them to the second set of Feist offerings. They are set on Kelewan and are mainly political. The rewrite of magician ties in a lot more with this series than the original version.