Eric Kent Edstrom

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More Favorite Fantasies from my readers . . .

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My post Top 5 Fantasy Books my readers say got them started sure stirred up some controversy.

So here are more books that my readers insist deserve consideration:

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Trilogy by Tad Williams: (which is 4 books because the last one was so enormously long they had to split it in two). Start with The Dragon Bone Chair.

I read this series a very, very long time ago. But I remember being absolutely enthralled. So if you love epic fantasy (and I mean epic), this series is a must.

The Dragonbone Chair: Book One of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by [Tad Williams]

Tigana by Guy Gavrial Kay: I read this back in college, I think. Maybe earlier than that. Kay is a writer’s writer. A number of emails came in reminding me of this one.

Tigana: Anniversary Edition by [Guy Gavriel Kay]

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley: I got my copy through the science fiction and fantasy book club (remember when you could get 10 hardcovers for a buck when you signed up). I didn’t really want to read it, but then I did. Holy cow! The Arthurian legend told from the point of view of the women; and what a powerhouse classic it was. I loaned this book to a girl I knew. Today she is my wife of 23 years.

The Mists of Avalon: A Novel by [Marion Zimmer Bradley]

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon: I read this just a year or so ago and I LOVED it! Paks is a sheepherder’s daughter who feels a calling to be something more. Namely a warrior. What I love about this series was Paks’s innate nobility. A hero of honor who it is so easy to root for. The link takes you to an omnibus edition of books 1-3 and it is a steal.

The Deed of Paksenarrion (Paksenarrion Series combo volumes Book 1) by [Elizabeth Moon]

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny: this is long series of relatively short books. People who love Amber LOOOVVE Amber a lot. I think I read only the first couple books in the series, but now I’m adding the whole lot to my list after so many people recommended them.

Nine Princes in Amber: Book One (The Chronicles of Amber 1) by [Roger Zelazny]

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind: You have spoken. I have recorded it here. According to my newsletter subscribers any list of important fantasy novels that doesn’t include The Sword of Truth series is useless.

Terry died this past week, so maybe it’s time to check out this enormously expansive classic of the genre. Here’s the first in the series.

Wizard's First Rule by [Terry Goodkind]

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist: This is another one of those series I read when I was 14 or 15 and never went back to. Now I’m afraid to re-read it because I loved it so much. I only got a few emails about this series, but I’m including it because those who mentioned it tended to put near their all-time favorites list.

Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Cycle: The Riftwar Saga Book 1) by [Raymond E. Feist]

The Top 5 Fantasy Books my Readers say got them started

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#1 The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

This is my shocked face. 😐 Readers mentioned this most often as the first fantasy series that set them on the road of a lifelong obsession with fantasy.

I don’t think much needs to be said here. This is the beginning of epic fantasy as we know it.

I have read them all several times. The Hobbit trilogy was interesting, but not quite up to the standard set by the LoTR movies.

The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings

#2 Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

This was a close second, by the way. Now I know that some people will quibble and say that this is really science fiction, but there are dragons, so I’ll allow it. In truth, much of science fiction is fantasy. Star Wars is a prime example.

I re-read Dragonflight last year and quite enjoyed it. It was much more serious than I had remembered.

Dragonriders of Pern for Kindle

#3 Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

This one surprised me. But after I thought about it a while, it startd to make sense. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, these books were a huge influence because they came out of the Dungeons & Dragons world. Aside from some choose your own adventure books, these were the first novelizations that matched well with the D&D rules.

Also, dragons! And people riding dragons.

These were quite fun novels, but I have never re-read them.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Book 1) on Kindle

#4 The Shannara series by Terry Brooks

Elves, magic, and hugely long novels. What’s not to love? I remember reading these starting in eighth grade. I was (and still am) a bit of a slow reader and those books took me forever to finish.

I read the first three or four of these. More books came out later that I never got around to. I tried to re-read Sword of Shannara a couple years ago, but it just didn’t hold me.

There was a Shannara TV show for a while that I never watched and never will.

The Shannara Trilogy for Kindle

#5 The Dune Saga by Frank Herbert

Wait! This is science fiction! But in truth, this one actually didn’t surprise me because Dune is the bestselling science fiction novel of all time. And while there is advanced technology, a galactic empire, and interstellar travel, Dune has a very fantasy-like flavor.

I have re-read Dune a number of times. A new Dune movie is coming out soon. I’m skeptical but hopeful. I have not liked the previous attempts to bring the book to the screen.

Dune Saga for Kindle

A few honorable mentions

Peirs Anthony’s Xanth novels: A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth #1) on Kindle

CS Lewis’s Narnia: The Chronicles of Narnia Complete Set for Kindle

Issac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy: Foundation Trilogy for Kindle

David Eddings’s Belgariad: Belgariad Five Book Series for Kindle

Patricia A. McKillip’s Riddlemaster of Hed

Nostalgic Read: Lord Foul’s Bane

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Lord Foul’s Bane for Kindle

If you recognize this cover, you might be overwhelmed with nostalgia. This book by Stephen R. Donaldson introduced me to the concept of the anti-hero.

The main character is Thomas Covenant, a man of earth. He has reason to be bitter. He’s unhappily divorced, and living with leprosy, which has already cost him two of his fingers.

But when an accident transports him into a world called the Land, he explores a fantasy realm populated with wizards, giants, and creatures of surpassing evil.

His wedding band of white gold possess enormous power in this world.

If he can control it. If he can control himself.

It’s a classic in the genre, and unusual in its dark brutality. There are several series within the series. (Yes, series within the series) This is the first book, and it stands alone okay. But you’ll want to at least read the next two once you get started.

Get it at Amazon.

It’s the Atmosphere

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My name is Eric Kent Edstrom. I’m a book lover and a writer. Here’s a picture of me.

I’m guessing you are a reader. Like me. That means your to-read stack is . . . well, infinite. Your e-reader or Kindle app is so loaded up with unread books that you might not even buying some of the books that are on it.

I understand that, because I swear my Kindle is actually heavier because of all the ebooks in it. Okay, okay, that might be an exaggeration. But you know what I mean. 

I’m going to be honest with you. I’m writing this to convince you to read my book, Thief of Sparks. If you enjoy epic fantasy, I’m confident the story will delight you. I don’t mean to be braggy or egotistical; that’s not my intention at all.

I think reading Thief of Sparks will delight you because writing it delighted me.

Let me explain: I’ve written over a sixteen novels. I’ve written a YA adventure series and a popular dystopian series. I’ve written a thriller (under pen name) and short stories in all sorts of genres. I love them all. But when I began working on Thief of Sparks, I felt like had come home.

Fantasy is the genre that first fully captured my imagination when I was a kid.

It began for me—as it did for so many—with The Hobbit. I’ll be honest, I struggled with The Lord of the Rings when I was twelve. The pace was a bit slow sometimes for my attention span. It wasn’t uncommon for me to take a month or longer to get through one of those books. And that was with reading diligently every day. I was—and still am—a slow reader.

But I didn’t mind it. Because I was absorbed in those stories.

I went right into Terry Brooks’s Shannara series, which was only two books long when I started. (Wow. That makes me feel old!) And then Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga, and then Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragonlance, And then . . . I think you get the idea.

Fantasy stretched my imagination (and my vocabulary). It showed me characters of modest birth standing up to godlike dark overlords. It told the story of loyal companions, fantastic magic, deep mountain caverns, swarms of vile monsters, and heroes with shining swords. And dragons! OMG!

Fantasy is full of atmosphere: In the morning frost before the battle, a line of horses stamped the turf, breath pluming into the predawn gloom as the men astride them prayed, or trembled, or joked with gallows-humor to their mates. (I just made that up! I think I have a new scene started for the series!)

I adore wise and enigmatic wizards who know more than they tell. Oh, I’m reminded of the urgency of this line:

“Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east.” —Gandalf

The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien

I live for moments and dialogue like that.

Fantasy novels still resonate inside me—with that teenage me—with both their dire, gray-sky atmospheres, and with their shining moments of triumph. And more than anything, they instilled in me a belief that there could be a triumph when things were darkest. They made me optimistic at an age when pessimism and cynicism were seen as cool. Those novels made me want to be honorable, do my duty, and stand up to bullies.

Why am I telling you this? Why am I telling you, a reader who doesn’t need more books crowding the shelves of your home or ereader? 🙂

Because I want you to know what I felt when I began writing Thief of Sparks, and how earnest I still am about the world I’ve created.

When I sit down to write each day, I first try to connect with the feeling I had as a kid, curling up with a book, in search of that sense of wonder. And when I find that connection, it’s like a movie begins to play in my mind.

For me, a good fantasy book starts with atmosphere. In Thief of Sparks, it begins on a misty night in the grand city of Starside. The cobblestone streets glisten in the light of magic-powered streetlights, which cast eerie shadows into the narrow mouths of alleyways. And then we meet two young thieves, mere shadows among the darkness on a rooftop. They are stalking a drunken man stumbling home.

He’s alone. They need coin.

Desperately.

And getting that coin is up to Kila Sigh, for her older brother is too ill to help.

Thief of Sparks is a rather small story. It barely hints at the epic scope of the Starside Saga series. When I began writing the Saga, all I had was a feeling of wonder in my heart and a vague idea in my brain: A small, inconsequential sixteen-year-old becomes the most important person in the world. I’ve loved every moment of writing these novels. I’ve been awed to discover how these lowly heroes have reshaped not only their world, but mine.

My favorite books always leave me loving the characters and their relationships. I remember reading The Belgariad by David Eddings and cracking up at the inside jokes among the characters. Same with The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (my all time favorite despite it dragging a bit for a few books).

I think you’ll enjoy reading Thief of Sparks. (Especially if you happen to like the idea of telepathic cats.) And if my storytelling helps you escape the stresses of your life, or maybe just gives you a much-needed dose of good ol’ Sense of Wonder, then I’ve done my job.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for listening. Whether you choose to read my book or not, I wish you good reads!

May you discover wondrous worlds and fly with dragons!

—Eric Kent Edstrom

Spring Prairie, Wisconsin

www.EricKentEdstrom.com

P.S. I’d love to hear from you. What fantasy novel first pulled you into the genre?

email me at eric@ericedstrom.com.