Unique Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Become Rarer

I've always been a reader. I've always loved any kind of literature that does not lend itself to being too close to reality, but because of this love, I've also had the problem of reading the same generic story over and over and over again.

I used to love Dragonlance novels by Hickman and Weis, but they are becoming the same standard fantasy fare that you get from Tolkein, the Forgotten Realms series, Terry Brooks, and Piers Anthony among others. Not saying that these are bad pieces of literature at all, nor are the authors subpar, but I have been wanting something different lately.

I want more than just "Young boy must save world from Ancient Evil and along the way he meets a group of characters with differing personalities which inherently cause problems until the end of the story when everyone loves everyone else."

The books that I have found to be able to satiate my hunger for unique reads are by authors most of you have heard of.

First, we have Stephen King. Everyone knows the Master of the Macabre. His "Dark Tower" series is incredibly well done and draws on his other novels enough to earn its place among my all-time favorites. King has stated that he was inspired by Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" and Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." He combines a world of the past with modern society and traditional fantasy fare and a western motif in order to make a 7 book long tale of magic, intrigue, and unparalleled uniqueness. He has his characters hopping between many worlds he has created in his own universe of novels, but never once do these characters lose their believability, nor does the reader for one moment doubt that a billy-bumbler can talk. I've even been guilty of checking the sky from time to time to see if their is a "path of the Beam" above me. King gets my award for most unique fantasy series ever written, though certainly not the most original as he is basing his work on others who pioneered the genre.

Then we have Neil Gaiman. Most might know him from his DC Comics/Vertigo series "The Sandman," but his novel "American Gods" is the topic of this article. In the novel, Gaiman takes typical mythology that most people are bored of by the 7th grade and morphs it into something new and interesting. His take on how old gods are phased out for new ones (such as those of the Media, Internet, Freeways, etc.) brings new light to something that has grown rather stale over the years. Not only are his ideas new and exciting, but he places it in a modern setting using characters such as Odin and Johnny Appleseed (yes, even Johnny Appleseed). He intersperces the chapters with short stories of how the gods themselves made it to new lands and how they were forgotten. Sometimes I feel that the work would have been better off if Gaiman had only made it a collection of more of these short stories and left out the over-arcing epic plot. Either way, if you are tired of the same old fantasy and sci-fi, then "American Gods" could just revitalize the genre for you.

Then we have Mr. Jacques. If you love traditional fantasy and Arthurian archetypes, then look no further than the Redwall series of novels. Brian Jacques' books are fairly standard fantasy fare, but personify animals for the main characters. Every species is a unique type of character archetype, with Mice being the stalwart, good-hearted heroes, Badgers being the monstrous barbarians with a sophisticated air, and Searats, Stoats, and Ferrets rounding out the phalanxes of evil. Each book follows a pretty similar plot as all the others, but it's Jacques rich literary style which makes these novels stand out. Each characer is vivid and alive, no matter what species he or she is, and the lavish language used to describe the food the characters are consistently feasting upon will bring a rumble to even the most fully stuffed person's tummy. By using animals instead of people to weave his tapestry of lore, Jacques creates the third and final unique literary work on my list.

If you are tired of seeing knights slay dragons for princesses, farmboys bringing down evil empires, and generic other fantasy/sci-fi plots, then check out the three series mentioned above. They have brought me out of a "funk" where I had thought my favorite genres were becoming stagnant and dying, and make it so that each day I am forced to read a little more just to find out what happens. I no longer have to worry about cliched plot devices and being able to predict what will happen at the end by the 4th chapter. I simply get to read a new story with livid characters in a genre which I hope to pen tales one day.