Five best fantasy novel series ever

Five best fantasy novel series ever

It is quite well-known that a large part of English literature has been dominated by fantasy. We have other golden works constituting the splendour of English literature as well, but fantasy has always been more of a sort of universal language that can flow right into the hearts and minds of the young and the old alike. And now, Hollywood's tireless efforts have presented us with on-screen versions of many of these series. In this post, I mention a few of the best series written ever, in my opinion and that of many others.

1. A song of ice and fire series, by George R.R Martin

The five books published so far

Quite possibly the greatest and most detailed fantasy series ever, A Song of Ice and Fie commands respect in the hearts of hundreds and thousands, many of whom are impatiently waiting for the release of the next two novels, which are destined to finalize the story that began in 1996 with 'A Game of Thrones'.

Revolving around the heavily detailed, post-magic world of Westeros and Essos, the twin twin continents separated by the Narrow Sea, ASOIF takes you right into the heartlands of the fantasy realm. The series follows three simultaneous plots, which however turn out to be interlinked, as we progress more. In my opinion, ASOIF is indeed one of the best, if not the best, series ever. Incidents are revealed from third-person viewpoints, something which is rather absent in other pieces. Some of the merits of the series include:

• Detailed storyline: If you have patience and time, you'll find that the world of Westeros is possibly as rich as the modern world itself. Well, maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but no other series packs such a huge detail in terms of history and geography, culture, language, customs, religions and behaviour. 
• Psychologically interesting: Story unfolds gradually, from third-person narratives. We can 'look into' the minds of the characters, often in the light of that of others. Often times, we see that the same incident or event is mentioned in two or more narratives. This gives us a very elegant picture of individual psychologies. 
• A multitude of characters and cultures: No other series can boast of having so detailed and interesting characters. The backstory behind each character gradually unfolds as we go on reading, and we see that no character can be called 100% good or evil. This is a very nice parallel drawn to the modern world. People are just gray in the series, some a bit more on the darker side, and some a bit whiter. 
• In-story religions: So detailed is the pasteurization of religions and deities such as R'hollor, old forest deities and Drowned God, or the Faith of the Seven, that it quite feels like they are parallel to real-world religions. This is one of the merits of the series. 
• Unnatural turns: We often see that the most unthinkable happens in the world of Westeros. The main characters are often killed themselves, which is quite realistic. In the real world, the heroes don't always win. Likewise, death of the Young Wolf (Robb Stark), King Renly and Ned Stark tell us that Westeros is the result of mature thinking. 
• Still being continued: No other fantasy series has such a devoted community of fans. The two final books of the series are yet to be published, and thus it creates a very fantastic feeling of being a part of the series. 

Now, no series is without faults. A few of them for A Song of Ice and Fire are: 

• Extremely lengthy: This is a major disheartening feature of the series. Each book is around 700-1000 pages in volume, and Martin has told us that the final two books will be 1500 pages each! That's quite possibly the greatest disappointment. I understand that it is one of the rather 'invincible' side-effects of such a degree of detail crammed together, but honestly speaking, I would say that the first five books could have been reduced by around 20%, if only Martin excluded several additional chapters, length dialogs between characters and uninteresting viewpoints. In my case, I felt quite possibly disgusted with the viewpoint of Arya Stark. I understand that she is an important character, but long pages of her travels with the minions of Beric Dondarrion and such could be reduced. 
• Indefinite and uncertain ending: This is another disappointing feature. God only knows when the series would finally reach its end. We can only hope that the sixth book of the series, 'The Winds of Winter' will be released before 2014 approaches. And another 3 years, at the very least, would be there before the final book is published. And as I said, Martin is keen on increasing the volumes of each of these books. 

2. The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare

 

The five books published so far

Set in modern New York, the Mortal Instruments series essentially packs together 'the best of both worlds', fantasy and reality. Fluid writing and excellent third-person action-packed narratives make this series a hit. The story revolves around Clarissa Fey, a young American girl living a normal life, who suddenly comes to realize that she is far more important that initially expected. Her mother kept a number of secrets from her, such as they both were members of a secret group of magical mediators, the Conclave, that monitors and controls the magical world and its inhabitants. Full of urban setting, a magical country hidden between Germany and France, magical creatures such as Warlocks, Vampires, Werewolves and Fairies, and even angels and demons, it is truly a nice read, especially for the female readers. 

The merits of the series include: 

• Excellent narrative: We get to follow Clarissa Fey, and discovers lots and lots of information about the magical world that forms a shadowy background behind the real world. More characters are introduced gradually, and their interactions with the central character, Clarissa, are indeed beautifully done. 
• Urban fantasy: Unlike Lord of the Rings and A Song of Fire and Ice, Mortal Instruments uses the urban, real world itself as the midfield of the story. Magical beings walk everywhere, but in a hidden way unknown to the non-magical folks. A bit like the Harry Potter series in this regard, Mortal Instruments combines the very best of reality and high-fantasy, as well as religion together. 
• Subtle relationships: This will, in my humble opinion, be more enjoyable to the female readers. This series nicely explores the depths of love, relationships, friendship and a number of other emotional things. For example, Jace and Clarissa fall in love, but initially they thought themselves to be brother and sister, and couldn't progress much in this regard. The pain that arose in Jace's mind, and the helplessness in Clary, are nicely drawn. 

Some of the demerits of the series are: 

• Not a very mature storyline: A very 'Harry Potter'ish in most regards, sauced with relationships and complications in them, this series won't appeal much to die-hard fans of fantasy, the likes of those who prefer the Tolkienese universe and its kind. 
• Lack of detail: This is another disappointing feature. Unlike the world of Tolkien or Martin, the world in Mortal Instruments is just a layer of fantasy forcibly impressed upon the real world. Thus, not much is to be found in this regard. 
• Too much focus on relationships: Yeah, I might appear to be contradicting myself, but I am not. While relationships and their complications are nicely portrayed, a bit too much focus is on them. This makes the series a bit sultry and boring. 

3. Harry Potter series, by J.K Rowling

Harry Potter, the complete series

Although over long ago, the series still has its own merits. Especially targeted towards the younger reader, Harry Potter actually was a subtle and well-written series, the first commercially successful of its kind. Like Mortal Instruments series, the novels of Harry Potter also pack together fantasy and real-world elements. But in my opinion, this has been in a much better way compared to that in Mortal Instruments series. However, this level of interactions between the worlds, and especially the characterizations, are at best childish. That is to be expected though, considering that the series is mostly enjoyed by 7-12 year olds. I believe, thanks to the 8 movies already released, Harry Potter's storyline will need no introduction. 

The merits of the series include: 

• Easy, enjoyable storyline: Unlike A Song of Fire and Ice or even Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, you can casually read Harry Potter stories, without having to lay much stress on trying to understand the storyline. The storyline is simple, but interesting in its own way. 
• Elegant language: After watching the movies, I was not very convinced of the merit of the series, but reading the books unveiled the reason. Indeed, Rowling has employed some subtle, elegant and interesting lingual techniques to capture our attention, yet making the overall story brief. 
• Interesting characterizations: Although the characters are childishly constructed, they are interesting despite the fact. And I don't know why, possibly due to the immense fan - following, some characters like Dumbledore and Snape have become unforgettable ones. 
• Detailed spells: Since the series revolves around the school of Hogwarts, it details the usage of magic and spells. Thus, we get to learn a bit about the spells, and how they are used and so on. However, we can never expect them to work in real life. :) 

Some of the obvious disappointments with the series are: 

• Predictable ending: Despite the climax nicely put forward, it is quite evident, right from the beginning, that Harry would win the war against Voldemort. However, the steps followed by him are quite impressive. Still, this is no serious work for mature fantasy-lovers. 
• Minimal geography: Although hints to other schools such as Beauxbaton are provided in the series, I don't think the geography of the series is impressive at all. Hogwarts, Hogsmead and a few extra couple of regions, that doesn't construct a nicely explorable magical realm. 

4. The Shiva Trilogy, by Amish Tripathi

The three books constituting the trilogy

Combining the robust elements of high fantasy and ancient history, the author Amish Trapathy creates a brilliant picture of ancient India, 1900 B.C. The trilogy is a masterpiece in modern Indian literature, I must say. Combining his fluid style of writing with artistic elegance of revealing the storyline with time, Tripathy takes us practically on a virtual journey through ancient India, where the Suryavamshis and the Chandravamshis battle for domination of the land, while a deeper mystery surfaces with time. 

This series has, in a way, been a way to redefine history and religion. I don't know how many people will like Shiva being portrayed as a mortal, a Tibetan tribal chief, but it is evident that his work is at least enjoyable. It is also quite philosophical in a way, revealving that there's nothing perfectly good or evil, and a balance between two opposing forces of creation and destruction must be kept for perfect working of the society. 

Merits of the series: 

• Elegant geography: The world in Shiva Trilogy mainly revolves around ancient India itself, especally the northern portion, what is known as Aryavarta. Rich in history and geographical depictions, this series can rival some of the world's best novels so far as the degree of detail is concerned. 
• Natural style of writing: Tripathy does not essentially include high-fantasy elements to unnecessarily complicate the series. Instead, he uses only what is required, and reveals only that part which is actively included in the story. 
• Latent philosophy: The Shiva Trilogy is an immaculate creation when it comes to the philosophy that constitutes its background. Nothing is 100% good or evil, and a balance between two opposites is needed to keep the world moving. This way, Amish has tried to define a new way of explaining Hindu concept of trinity. 
• Thoughtful characterisation: Especially a thing of interest for Indian readers, the characterization is subtly done. None of the characters is unnaturaly emotional, evil, good, or anything of the extremities. Instead, the characters such as Shiva himself, Vadra, Daksha and others are very humane in their own regards. Daksha's greed and weaknesses are nicely portrayed in the story. 

Demerits: 

• Language issues: Shiva always seems to grin, and greet the 'Punditjis' with 'Namaste', which is rather unnatural. 1900 years before the birth of Jesus, India hardly had anything close to post-Vedic Sanskrit language, and yet Tripathy decided to include a bit of Hindi in the series. This is a minor but disconcerting feature of the series. 
• Too much attempt to redefine religion: It appeared to me quite often, that the series tries to make its own interpretation of Hinduism a bit too boldly. For example, Lord Ram is worshipped in the series as a great rules who gave rise to Suryavamsha. Lord Rudra, who predated Lord Ram, and Lord Nrishimha and others who predated even Lord Rudra, etc. are also mentioned. But this entire concept of 'Vishnus' and ''Mahadevas' is a bit alien to the Indian culture. 
• Anticlimactic ending: The series was aexceptionally written, but the final ending was really, really disappointing. Shiva is shown to destroy the whole Suryavamshi capital of Devagiri with the supposedly nuclear weapon provided by his uncle, the Mithra. However, this is not really a great ending suitable for a great series. 

5. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien 

The three books of the Lord of the Rings trilogy 

It really needs no introduction, I believe. Four Hollywood movies, including 'The Hobbit', have done their part in popularising the series beyond all expeced levels, and indeed it still has a dedicated cult-following. Tolkien was quite possibly the foremost writer of successful high-fantasy. And the Tolkienese universe of Middle-Earth, combined with this flexible backstory in the Silmarrilion, are indeed of great value. 

Merits: 

• First of its kind: It is the very foremost of successful (internationally) high-fantasy, and indeed it has become a sory of literary 'Standard Candle', a referene system with respect to which most other works of fantasy are measured. 
• Elegantly detailed: The degree of detail employed by Tolkien is superb, and mentions the backstory in a elegant way. 
• Fantasy adventure: Instead of following the plot from a distance, the reader becomes a part of the journey undertaken by Frodo and Samwise, and that's fantastically soothing.

Demerits: 

• High-fantasy: This might be difficult to be accepted by most people. However, for dedicated supports and admirers of fantasy, this is no problem. 
• Unexplored geography: Parts of the series mention lands beyond what is shown, and yet we never got to know them in detail. 

Finally, fantasy is becoming more and more popular, for the very simple reason that it gives us a few moments of respite from the harsh reality all around. I hope more such elegant works, or even more elegant ones, will decorate the chest of literture with time.