My Top 5 Fantasies

(or rather, Top 5 book series in Fantasy genre I like)

For past few weeks, I seem to be reading and reviewing a lot of books which belong in “Fantasy” genre. So given the “Top n” lists which abound on the net, I thought I should give you a comprehensive “Top 5” list according to me. (Excuses apart, I wanted to write something in ProBlogger’s Group Writing project, and this subject was appropriate given my liking and content of the blog).

Now, since Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings and Narnia figure on all the lists (or they should figure), I have decided to go beyond these, and talk about some different fantasy series. So, here goes:

1. Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud:This is a tale of a djinn who is searching for a sympathetic and trusting master he once had, a boy who is searching for the power and position due to him and a girl who is searching for justice to the commoners in the world dominated and ruled by magicians with the help of their magical slaves.But, as I have mentioned in my full review, don’t read this series for magic or fantasy. Bartimaeus the djinn has a sharp tongue in his head (in all forms he assumes) and uses his sarcastic wit fully to comment on anything and everything. His asides and observations make this series a hands-down winner.
2. The Belgariad by David Eddings:In the world were gods interact with humans, teach them and talk to them, this is the story of a boy named Garion (later Belgarion, Bel denoting his status as a sorcerer) who by birth is destined to control and serve The Orb (a powerful beyond gods magical object) and is charged to defeat a god.Belgariad is the prototypical fantasy, with a whole world created by the author, and inhabited by different gods who look after and favour different races of people. This is a standard for almost all David Eddings series. Of course, 5 books per series might be a bit long for some people, but the rich descriptions and an action-packed story make it a worthy read.
3. Myth-adventures Series by Robert Asprin:The story of M.Y.T.H. Inc. (Magical Young Trouble-Shooting Heroes Inc.), an assorted bunch comprising of five humans (the hero, his moll, and his mafia-provided bodyguards, and a huge mass of a witch), a demon (a Pervect to be precise), a troll and a trollop, and not to forget, a dragon. This is a cross-dimensional roller-coaster ride of magical adventures and misadventures, where they meet and deal with every known creature from fantasy like devils, dragons, imps and vampires, and then some unknown creatures.If Bartimaeus trilogy has Bartimaeus and his footnotes, this series has Aahz the Pervect and his wit. Extremely scary-looking and a penny-pincher, Aahz’ wit and sarcasm is only matched by honesty and trusting nature of Skeeve (the hero) or maybe by the saucy nature of the curvaceous trollop assasin, Tananda.As I mentioned in the full review, each chapter starts with a pert quote from famous personalities, which ensures that you are laughing almost from the second you read the first line of the first chapter.
4. Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer:The story of a young boy genius, and his quest to take his family back to the top of criminal world. In this quest, he clashes and then co-operates with maverick Lep-Recon officer Holly Short and her friends/colleagues.Straddling both the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre, the series is made worthy by the interaction between Artemis and Holly, as well as by the inherent comic and otherwise situations developing due to adding fairy technology (and some magic) with today’s human and criminal world. (Full review is here).
5. The Malloreon by David Eddings:The continuation of Belgariad, this series chronicles the adventures of Belgarion and his companions to recover his kidnapped child and restore the balance of the world disturbed by the killing of the god at the end of Belgariad.Why does this feature in my Top 5? See point 3 again, the same points apply.

Now that I have written quite a lot about my favourite books, I am making it into a tag (work loves fellow-workers or something like that).

Rules of the tag:

1.Pick your favourite genre.

2.Give the list of top 5 books in that genre according to you, with short description.

3.You may denote which of these books you are picking for the “Ink Pen” award (only 7 days to go people, keep an eye on the countdown clock).

And I tag: Cuckoo, Keshi, Neihal, Nikichan, Princess Stefania, Sid, Silverine.

And anybody else who wants to take up the tag. Finish it and leave a comment, so that we can check it out.

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