The Campaign Builder's Guild

Some explanation:

Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien = 4
I'm sorry, but the trilogy is just plain badly written. No author would be able to get away with such insane verboseness in today's day and age. Salvaged in part by its immense impact on everything else in this genre, but only worth reading because no one takes you seriously as a fan of fantasy if you haven't.

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling = 5
Standard fare. Premise was excellent, but she falls into some serious cliches later in the series. Tops at three and goes downhill from there.

Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis = 7
Good series. Well written, the symbolism is a perfect mixture of the more obvious and subtlety. The last book annoyed me, as I feel it didn't have a final-enough closing. Other than that, a definite recommendation.

Discworld - Terry Prachett = 8
Funny. As. Hell. The only reason this didn't score higher from me is that my bookstore doesn't carry them all.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelly = 6
Better than average, good personal story. Award for Most Number of Movies that are Nothing Like the Book.

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien = 7
Great book. Reads like a bedtime story, which is cool, as I'll use this to introduce my kids to fantasy. unlike the Trilogy, this one tells a story, not a world.

Inheritance - Christopher Paolini = 3
Drivel. I'm purchasing the third one only to round out the collection. His twists are obvious, obstacles to the characters are deus ex machina'd away almost 100% of the time, the majority of the supporting characters sound exactly the same, and his writing style is clunky, to say the least.

Shannara - Terry Brooks = 5
Middle of the road fare. If books were flavors, this would be vanilla. I haven't read them all, but they deteriorate in my opinion.

Vlad Taltos - Steven Brust = 7
Great books; gritty with plenty of detail. The perspective is interesting, and you cannot beat Loiosh as a sidekick, period.

I really can't believe that nobody has read Lyonesse.

I mean, come on, it's Jack Vance. And faerie, and Arthurian legend, and...

Plus, it's been out for a while so your local library probably has a copy that hasn't been checked out for a year.

Quote from: StargateShannara - Terry Brooks = 5
...I haven't read them all, but they deteriorate in my opinion.

I had the opposite impression, but I never got to the end of the series. No matter how you slice it, they were never anything like as good as the Word and the Void trilogy, or even the Magic Kingdom for Sale books. I did think that Shannara broke away from the "I can write Lord of the Rings, too!" syndrome after the first book, though.

Quote from: Higgs BosonHas anyone read the Dragonlance books, or The Circle of Magic series?

Yes to both.
I finished both series.
The Dragonlance stuff was alright, above average for game-writing, below average if looked at in terms of pure literature.
Too much racial caricature.

Circle of magic I read once when I was much younger, and liked it, then once again later, and felt like it meandered horribly.

Quote from: IshmaylI forgot about Goodkind... I said there are rarely books that I can't finish (speaking of Elantris).... Sword of Truth was a series I couldn't finish. Books 1-6 at least held my interst, with 2 of the books (Temple of the Winds, Faith of the Fallen) being almost decent (5) and the other four being mostly gag-worthy (3). Book 7, I put down in disgust, and then attempted just to read book 8 without reading 7, and sold it the day after I bought it. I will not finish that series. Overall, I rank it as a 3 max.

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire series - gets a 9. I will not be giving anything a higher score.[/quote]
Ah, then I should probably change the scale from 1 to 9 ;). It is, obviously pointless to have a rating that is unattainable.

Nothing is perfect, of course, so we can't assume a 10 represents true perfection, just the closest we're liable to get. Or did you mean that you just haven't found anything you like enough to fully endorse?

Either way, SoIaF is awesome!

I mentioned the same thing in my post, nothing will get over a 9 unless it is mind-altering and existential in some way.

And yes, I was talking about Elantris, not Mistborn, sorry for the confusion - I've never read Mistborn, though I probably will before Memory of Light comes out.  Or maybe I won't - I wouldn't want to possibly spoil the last book in the series by a bias, if such a bias is created.

QuoteAh, then I should probably change the scale from 1 to 9  . It is, obviously pointless to have a rating that is unattainable.

Nothing is perfect, of course, so we can't assume a 10 represents true perfection, just the closest we're liable to get. Or did you mean that you just haven't found anything you like enough to fully endorse?

Either way, SoIaF is awesome!

If I ever find a perfect 10, I'll call it a perfect 10. I don't curve grades, though. ASoIaF is excellent, but I'm not going to pretend that it has no problems.

Problems, for example, like Martin needing to get to work about writing the rest of them.

Quote from: Luminous CrayonProblems, for example, like Martin needing to get to work about writing the rest of them.

:-p

We need a rofl smiley.

The next one is scheduled for Sep (hardcover).

Quote from: PhoenixThe next one is scheduled for Sep (hardcover).

:yumm:

Quote from: IshmaylDefinitely very cool to see the rankings coming out more - I like the placement of a lot of those, and dislike others, but that's how the real world works. Neat to see what people really think of fantasy books. I wish I had read Gene Wolfe and Discworld, now. As well as Song of Ice and Fire, but I will NOT read that until it's done - I'm not having anymore Jordanic experiences with endless waiting for a book to come out so I can see if my character lived or died on that last page...

He says it'll be seven books when it's finished (he seems fairly certain at this point, but we'll see). Book 5 comes out this year, so at best you're looking at 2010 before it's complete.

Added Saga of the Light Isles, Dragon Prince series, Bartimaeus, Dresden Files, Belgariad, and Prince of Nothing to list.

Quote from: IshmaylAs well as Song of Ice and Fire, but I will NOT read that until it's done

I will NOT read that[/quote]OUT

I concur. Also, should I post again once I have some more votes, or should I just edit my post to include those?

post again, please. Otherwise I have no real way of knowing.

Quote from: Luminous Crayon

Quote from: IshmaylAs well as Song of Ice and Fire, but I will NOT read that until it's done

I will NOT read that

I think I disagree, repectfully.
I read the Game of Thrones when it first came out in Hardcover.  That was a period when I was reading intensely, and got lucky and picked it up.  It was the best book I had read in decades, and I told people so.  I still believe that.  But that being said, it was planned as a trilogy in the beginning.  
Now we suffer with a bloated mercantile attempt to capitalize on this series.  It's like making the extended mix of a song
before making the normal version.  
I'll wait until they are all out before I buy any more of them.