The results are in!!!

Publié par Patrick on Sunday, March 13, 2005
Hi there!
Well, the votes are all in, and it was just a question of tallying the results.:-) Very special thanks to the internet communities which participated in this poll: www.wotmania.com, www.shadowmarch.com, www.robinhobb.com, http://hallofworlds.net, and www.kevinswatch.com.

The results were compiled in the same manner reporters vote for the athlete of the year, etc. A first place vote was worth 5 points, a second place vote was worth 4 points, and so on. Hence, the respective ranks were established based on the number of points each author has gathered.

So here is the Top 5 of your All-Time, Pound for Pound, Favourite Fantasy Authors:

1- J. R. R. Tolkien
2- George R. R. Martin
3- Robin Hobb
4- Robert Jordan
5- Raymond E. Feist
-------------------------------------
6- Tad Williams
7- Steven Erikson
8- Stephen R. Donaldson
9- Neil Gaiman
10- Guy Gavriel Kay

Thanks again to all who participated! Feel free to comment on the list. But remember that it is based on your votes!;-)

Patrick

4 commentaires:

Anonymous said...

My comments?

1- J. R. R. Tolkien - A bit of the "Beatles syndrome" here. Tolkien is good, and the originator of many facets of the genre, but he is also overrated by everyone, everywhere. Dry writing and a lack of really getting inside his characters' heads. Give him his due, but he doesn't deserve the #1 spot.

2- George R. R. Martin - A fine writer, but #2? Perhaps this high ranking is indicative of the current popularity of his "Fire & Ice" series. Probably deserves a top-5 spot, though we might want to wait a bit, perhaps until his next project after "Fire and Ice", to put him there.

3- Robin Hobb - I'm not familiar with Hobb's work.

4- Robert Jordan - Based on strength of earlier material, probably deserves a top-5 spot. Based on current books, no way.

5- Raymond E. Feist - I have no quarrel with a top-5 spot for Feist.

6- Tad Williams - "Otherland" was brilliant (except perhaps for sections of the final volume), but any spot on the top 10 is too high for Williams. "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" was adequate, "Tailchaser" and "War of the Flowers" less so, and "Shadowmarch" stunk up the place.

7- Steven Erikson - Not familiar with his work.

8- Stephen R. Donaldson - My choice for #1. A true classic with "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant", "Second Chronicles", "Mordant's Need", and "Final Chronicles: Book One". "Reave the Just" is the finest fantasy short story I've ever read. Not to mention Donaldson's great SF "Gap" series. The best pure writer on this list (only Martin comes close). A psychological edge to his work gives it an extra layer of complexity. #8 is way too low.

9- Neil Gaiman - An overrated comic book writer, eclipsed in his own medium by Grant Morrison and Alan Moore. A bad fantasy author who doesn't deserve to be anywhere near this list. Replacing with Eddings would be more just (and I loathe Eddings).

10- Guy Gavriel Kay - Kay at #10? A crime has just been committed! Sure, "The Fionavar Tapestry" evinced a certain immaturity...but "The Sarantine Mosaic" more than made up for it. Not to mention his other brilliant one-shot books. Christopher Tolkien's favorite fantasy author. Kay should be in the top 5.

10:57 AM
Anonymous said...

Jordan would have been higher if you had asked for votes for him from the Wheel of Time section of wotmania and not the OF...OF at wotmania has very vocal majority that actively detest Robert Jordan's series. :( I'm not one of those. :)

as to the Top 10..

1. JRRT .. I'll go for this one.

2. GRRM ... I have yet to make myself get more then 200 pages into book one.

3. Robin Hobb... I detest Fitzchivalry as a character. I wish i could have the time back I spent on the Assassin trilogy.

4.RJ..... My fave.

5. Feist...enjoyed his earlier books very much.

6. Williams...haven't read anything of his since Dragonbone Chair.

7. Erikson is amazing...the only current writer I enjoy as much as Jordan.

8. Donaldson...read his Covenant books when they first came out...but i am far more enamored of his Mordan't Need duology.

9. Gaiman.... simply amazing.

10. Kay... also amazing .Tigana is superb.

3:32 PM
Anonymous said...

brad said:
"
2. GRRM ... I have yet to make myself get more then 200 pages into book one."

finally...someone else who can't get into martin's first book! everyone raves about him but i can't seem to enjoy it. i made it 300 pages, my husband is still pushing me to try again...bleh...

11:29 PM
Anonymous said...

I have to ask a question for all you, fantasy fans.
I've been reading fantasy for about 10 years. (actually reading only fantasy :))
and I bumped into the Memory Sorrow and Thorn series a few times, in the top of... lists, so I bought it and read it.
I think it stinks. IMHO this series is the most mediocre series ever, all of its content is copied ideas, and I dont get it why it has this high score every place I see, and dont tell me it's a matter of taste, I know it is, but all the rest classic fantasy writers which got high scores were getting high scores in my book too :). what is it with Tad Williams?

7:32 AM

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