There all so good, I don't know which one to post about. Where one fails, the others easily fill in.

I would agree with you about Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter is good enough that I've broken the hard cover books I've read them so much. You relly should read Atimus Fowl. It's truly original, though I'd suggest keeping a dictionary by you when you read it. Eragon didn't borrow ideas from LOTR intentionally, but you really can't write at all today without having many ideas like other books go into yours. Eragon borrows more from Anne McCaffery's Pern series. Have you read any of those?

Dunno... I like Harry Potter, but i'm not that fond of Lotr... not my kind of book... too much in too little... Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Dragonriders of pern and all the Star Wars books to name some, those i love... especially the star wars books...

haven't read Eragon, but i just read Artemis Fowl 3... very entertaining as always... i don't really like the ending tho...

I loved both Harry Potter and LOTR...but they're not really easy to compare. They are both fantasy, but other than that, they are written so differently. I personally recommend that anyone who hasn't read LOTR to try it.

going to put my vote in here for Fowl - I haven't read HP other than seeing the movies and was spoilt rotten by reading LoTR when I was ten, but I think the Fowl series is a great read for those who want to go a bit off the beaten track for fantasy.

having the main character a genius kid with little scruples was interesting, to say the least, and the entire LEP storyline (you'll have to read it!) was a welcome new view on the old, old tale.

grab a paperback if you can!

peas, out!

QUOTE: Originally posted by tereholt

I think that some of the traditional fantasy fare for the younger readers is too often neglected nowadays due to the fanfare surrounding more recent books. Whatever happened to Madeleine L'Engle and C. S. Lewis?


[#ditto]

Especially Clive Staples "Jack" Lewis who along with JRR Tolkein was a member of the Inklings.

Rosarium who got hooked on the Chronicles of Narnia at a very early age

I adore Harry Potter and Artimus Fowl. I read them both eagerly.
But as for Lord of the Rings. Well, I never read the book, but my father does posess the 13 gold, limited edition cassettes. Which I have listened to. And thoroughly enjoyed.
I can't say much for the films though. But I shant go into another rant about that, as it's very off topic.

Yes. I can barely wait for the 6th Harry Potter book to come out. The only down side is that I will cry at the thought of there only being one more book left to look forward to. But I then again, there is no fun in milking something is there? Such like most of today's T.V series.

I liked Harry Potter, but I would have to say that LOTR is one of the best books ever written! I've haven't read Eragon yet, but it sounds good.

Of the four mentioned books, I can only say that I have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy -- and the Hobbit, Silmarillion, First Book of Lost Tales, and Unfinished Tales. I am convinced that I would appreciate Tolkien's work the most even if I read the other books. There is a depth of beauty...a passion, in Tolkien's brilliant work, that calls out of me intense feelings, often ambivalent.
Perhaps you are thinking - and perhaps it be true - that I am favorably inclined toward Tolkien because I have not read many books of fantasy by other authors. I cannot deny the effect on me that my mother, and later my brother, reading Tolkien's books to me when I was too young to read was an impact that brought a high regard for him; but, having read the books again myself, I was convinced that there was something deeper in them -- something that other books I have read failed to capture. I admire Tolkien for this.
The long narratives without dialogue - which, I won't hide, have bored me in the past - are, in my opinion, to Tolkien's credit. That he focuses so carefully on terrain and on geography reveals a distinct respect and love for nature in the author. I strive in my own writing to focus in a similar way, but I often fail to catch the depth of the stunning beauty in the gentle soaring of an eagle, or the delicacy of a tender flower.
For all my shortcomings, I admire Tolkien and aspire to the level of skill he attained.

my vote is for Artimis (this is actually how you spell it for the series, not Artimus. yeah, confusing). even tho I love HP and Eragon, my vote is still for the Fowl series. its perfect for my type of personality. as for LOTR, the first book, put me to sleep in 10 minutes, when I was fully awake when I started reading it.