Fantasy-Faction Book Battles: Favourite Fantasy Standalone Bracket & Discussion

[Nighteyes]

Read them all aside from.Master and Margita (never heard of it), Princess Bride and Lions of Al Rassen. Surprised that the Midnight Circus didn't make the cut. A popular book around these parts.

[Hedin]

Read them all aside from.Master and Margita (never heard of it), Princess Bride and Lions of Al Rassen. Surprised that the Midnight Circus didn't make the cut. A popular book around these parts.

 

If you're thinking of Night Circus it's the #2 seed.

[m3mnoch]

Lol wow, I have not read a single one of these. 

Not even Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

Nope!

I was surprised at this too, I thought all reading children went through Alice at some point of their childhood

Never owned a copy, and I never knew that kids were allowed to take books out from the library. We even lived across the road from one for a couple of years. 

i'm in the same boat.  i've only read the hobbit.

i've seen the alice in wonderland disney movie.  and the princess bride movie is one of my top 3 favorites of all time.

[ClintACK]

Lol wow, I have not read a single one of these. 

Not even Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

Nope!

I was surprised at this too, I thought all reading children went through Alice at some point of their childhood

Never owned a copy, and I never knew that kids were allowed to take books out from the library. We even lived across the road from one for a couple of years. 

i'm in the same boat.  i've only read the hobbit.

i've seen the alice in wonderland disney movie.  and the princess bride movie is one of my top 3 favorites of all time.

The book is quite different from the movie -- it's an interesting read just to see how the same style of humor translates to a different medium.  They did a good job of keeping the flavor of the humor without trying to tell exactly the same jokes, I think -- but I haven't read it in many years.

[Lady_Ty]

I've only read eight of these.

It seems on a quick look through, and reading up about the ones I don't know, that several are tending towards the darker/horror sides of fantasy. Maybe this is a reason that makes them more suited to standalone but would not hold out for a whole series.  Personally it bears out because I enjoy a Neil Gaimann book now and again but can read Terry Pratchett books back to back.

Which reminded me for those who know the real Alice in Wonderland well, have you  seen Tim Burton's twisted version? I actually preferred that to the Disney one, but it is definitely not the real story.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2idmhn

[Elfy]

Lol wow, I have not read a single one of these. 

Not even Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

Nope!

I was surprised at this too, I thought all reading children went through Alice at some point of their childhood

Never owned a copy, and I never knew that kids were allowed to take books out from the library. We even lived across the road from one for a couple of years. 

i'm in the same boat.  i've only read the hobbit.

i've seen the alice in wonderland disney movie.  and the princess bride movie is one of my top 3 favorites of all time.

The Disney version is a bit of a mash up of elements from both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking Glass. Even then it doesn't manage to fit everything in. In some ways I found the parts out of Through the Looking Glass more successful (although they never even attempted Jabberwocky) in the animated version than the bits from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. If anyone can get a copy of it, try to get one illustrated by Tenniel.

[ultamentkiller]

I've only read the Abercrombie ones. It's kind of sad honestly. I like series better. More to sink my teeth into.

[Hedin]

I've only read the Abercrombie ones. It's kind of sad honestly. I like series better. More to sink my teeth into.

I do too but I'm starting to think that a standalone would be a nice palate cleanser in between series.  There were several books that when I was getting the blurbs for that sounded interesting so I know I'll be giving a lot of these a try at some point.

[Raptori]

I've only read the Abercrombie ones. It's kind of sad honestly. I like series better. More to sink my teeth into.

I do too but I'm starting to think that a standalone would be a nice palate cleanser in between series.  There were several books that when I was getting the blurbs for that sounded interesting so I know I'll be giving a lot of these a try at some point.

I read trilogies as palate cleansers between series. 

In all seriousness though, I do agree. If I feel like I'll have trouble getting into something new, I read a novella or a couple of short stories, such as the ones on Sanderson's site, or the Powder Mage novellas. That works well, not sure whether it's better or worse than reading a full novel would be.

[Jmack]

I've read 7.
Wonder if I have time to read more before voting?

Sanity:

No.

Asked and answered.

[xiagan]

Sanity:

No.

Inner goat:

Goooo(at) for it!

[ClintACK]

I'm thinking I might read the "free sample" beginnings of all of them via Amazon.

I'm not sure I'd vote *for* a book based on just the beginning -- but it might help me decide when to abstain rather than voting for (or against) the one that I have read.

[Jmack]

Just used my monthly Audible credit for the month to pick up "Tigrana" from Guy Gavriel Kay.
So, soon, it will be 8 books.

[ScarletBea]

@xiagan, could you make this thread a sticky, please?
This way we can keep all key threads in each battle up top.

[Mr.J]

Makes me a little sad, displays the problems I have with the genre, the lack of enthusiasm to escape the trilogy/series mould. They're great and fantastic and I love them too but I just don't understand why there isn't more produced from the genre. Feel like if there were more standalone's it would be a bit more accessible, increase the originality and diverse the stories too.

Although I feel like I will get yelled at for saying this.

P.S. Jonathan Strange has been spelled wrong in the bracket.