Fun, Crazy, Wild, and Over-the-Top Fantasy

[Philip Overby]

Something I admire about Warhammer (although I haven't read much of it for whatever poor excuse I have) is that it takes fantasy concepts and cranks them up to 11. I like intelligent, thought provoking fantasy now and again, but sometimes I just want to see a dwarven trollslayer go on a suicidal mission to obliterate everything in his path. Call it fantasy on steroids, grimdark, or whatever you want.

I'd love to see more fantasy that just went all out in every aspect. I'm thinking along the lines of things such as:

Warhammer
Metalacolypse
Superjail!
Korgoth of Barbaria
Heavy Metal
Conan/Red Sonja movies
The Maxx
Willow
The Dark Crystal
Princess Mononoke

Notice I didn't list any books (with the exception of Warahammer and Conan). This is because I don't know of many books that capture these elements. I'm mostly thinking of fantasy that does cool, daring things, but also really goes full tilt. Most of these things I listed either have tons of action, insane creatures, weird demons, people beating the crap out of each other, or weird, surreal elements to them. Something that when you finish reading you may say, "Wow, that was insane."

Can anyone, anywhere help me?

 

[buyjupiter]

Jeff Vandermeer is great for just plain weird. His novel City of Saints and Madmen is just strange. It's a good strange if you know what I mean, and it definitely kept me hooked. It has odd mushroom men that scurry around at night.

I don't know if you like steampunk at all, but there was this great novella called Victoria by Paul di Fillipo that was amazing. My physics prof took that collection of steampunk stories off my desk in college and started reading it.

 

[GeekDavid]

It's not exactly fantasy, but the series that starts with WebMage by Kelly McCullough is a heck of a romp through multiple realities. The action involves a good deal of the Greek pantheon, including the Furies who chase the hero for a good portion of the book. One of the spells he uses to combat them is called Jurassic Gas.

 

[Darkblade]

Dresden Files, it starts as a slightly noir Private Investigator wizard series but with the third book things started getting nuts and has only gotten weirder since then.

Highlights include a zombified T-Rex animated by a one man polka band, a man wielding a holy sword that he was given by the Arcangel Michael despite being fiercely agnostic, Judas's thirty silver coins are now unholy artifacts that allow humans to make pacts with imprisoned fallen angels, an army of pixies killing a Faerie Queen with box cutters, a bad luck curse killing a vampire with a frozen turkey accidentally dropped from an airplane and many other similar things.

 

[Feo Takahari]

All-out zaniness is a pretty common thing in fantasy webcomics. This is most obvious in urban fantasy--pick any webcomic off the list at Urban Fantasy, and it's likely to be this--but it applies at a lesser frequency to other types as well.

I don't really read stuff that's like Superjail, but if you want something like The Dark Crystal, my first recommendation would be Rice Boy--it's a world that clearly operates on an internal logic, but the nature of that logic can be very hard to discern. It's also a fun and enjoyable adventure.

 

[Philip Overby]

Thanks for some of these suggestions! Some of these I haven't heard of before.

It's interesting to note that these kind of weirdo stories aren't often told in books, they're either in comics or movies. I guess they just play better to visual mediums?

Jeff Vandermeer: I've heard a lot about him, but I believe he's pretty prolific so I wasn't sure where to start. I guess one of his short story collections would be good.

Paul di Fillipo: I haven't heard of, but I've been wanting to give steampunk a try.

WebMage: Sounds like something I'd like to check out.

Dresden Files: I started read the first book in the series a while back and liked what I read of it. It got lost somewhere though. I may have to pick up the series again. Sounds pretty wild.

Rice Boy: I think the reason I liked Dark Crystal has a lot to do with imagery. It just had a lot of bizarre images in it that really captured my imagination when I was a child. If Rice Boy has those some elements, then I'm interested in that.

As far as web comics I've enjoyed so far, I liked the Goblins one, Axe Cop, Dr. McNinja, and Order of the Stick. I just like stuff that doesn't take itself so seriously, but still has these crazy images and plots. This is just on occasion. I like serious things obviously as well.

 

[GeekDavid]

WebMage: Sounds like something I'd like to check out.

Dresden Files: I started read the first book in the series a while back and liked what I read of it. It got lost somewhere though. I may have to pick up the series again. Sounds pretty wild

Let me know what ya think of WebMage and its sequels (there's a total of 5 books).

I just started Storm Front myself. It sounds like just what I need right now.

 

[Mythopoet]

Dresden Files, it starts as a slightly noir Private Investigator wizard series but with the third book things started getting nuts and has only gotten weirder since then.

Highlights include a zombified T-Rex animated by a one man polka band

I didn't actually read that book but my husband raves about the series. If memory serves, I believe he told me that at one point Dresden actually rides the zombie T-rex. That's gotta be the very definition of over the top.

You mention the Conan movie, but have you read the Conan stories? They're fantastic. Sword and Sorcery might offer what you're looking for. The Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and Elric of Melnibone stories are also good ones. As for weird/demonic creatures there's always Lovecraft.

But I think you're right that modern western fantasy doesn't have a lot of that kind of thing. You might need to cultivate a taste for manga and/or anime. Bleach, InuYasha and Fairy Tail are some of my favorites that would meet your needs, I think.

 

[Svrtnsse]

A year or two ago I read Dan Abnet's books about Inquisitor Eisenhorn. It's set in the Warhamer 40,000 setting so it's not strictly speaking fantasy. It's full of amazing bad-assery though and it sounds like something that's fit to be mentioned here.
The first book is Xenos, but you might as well get the entire Omnibus which has all three books.

 

[Philip Overby]

I didn't actually read that book but my husband raves about the series. If memory serves, I believe he told me that at one point Dresden actually rides the zombie T-rex. That's gotta be the very definition of over the top.

You mention the Conan movie, but have you read the Conan stories? They're fantastic. Sword and Sorcery might offer what you're looking for. The Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and Elric of Melnibone stories are also good ones. As for weird/demonic creatures there's always Lovecraft.

But I think you're right that modern western fantasy doesn't have a lot of that kind of thing. You might need to cultivate a taste for manga and/or anime. Bleach, InuYasha and Fairy Tail are some of my favorites that would meet your needs, I think.

I do think it's a shame that I have to go to manga or anime for this kind of thing. I think it could done just as well if writers perhaps took a "pulpier" approach, which I think has made somewhat of a resurgence as of late. Big fan of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Lieber, but you have to go back to the 20s and 30s to find that kind of stuff. Not always, as there are lots of writers doing interesting things in sword and sorcery now, but I know about those people already.

I plan on delving into Lovecraft more as I just got a book that was in storage for quite a while.

A year or two ago I read Dan Abnet's books about Inquisitor Eisenhorn. It's set in the Warhamer 40,000 setting so it's not strictly speaking fantasy. It's full of amazing bad-assery though and it sounds like something that's fit to be mentioned here.
The first book is Xenos, but you might as well get the entire Omnibus which has all three books.

I have had Dan Abnett recommended to me before by several people, so maybe I should bit the bullet and get the omnibus.

I do have a lot of love for the current crop of big name fantasy writers whose names get thrown around a lot (Martin, Sanderson, etc.) but sometimes I just want something that's insane. I read to be entertained for the most part and lot of these shows and movies I mentioned quench my thirst for the kind of weird, craziness I want in fantasy on occasion.

 

[Steerpike]

Abnett is great. I also second the Elric recommendation.

 

[Philip Overby]

I actually got to be in an charity anthology with Moorcock a while back. There were loads of authors in it, but just to be in the same anthology as him was pretty cool. I read some of Von Bek and a little bit of his Elric stuff and liked what I read. He's one of those that has so much out there it's hard to find a place to start. I have The Dreamthief's Daughter here. Has anyone read that one?

 

[Steerpike]

Yes, I've read all the Elric books. My personal recommendation is to start at the beginning, but they're all good.

 

[buyjupiter]

I have had Dan Abnett recommended to me before by several people, so maybe I should bit the bullet and get the omnibus.

I would actually start with Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero. I've read the Warhammer stuff, and while it was fun, Triumff was a rollicking good read. It starts off with the longest, funniest, and over-the-top, description of weather in England.

Along the same lines as Triumff is Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora series. I really thought it was a fun take on the thief archetype.

 

[teacup]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's an anime. It gets so over the top, but stays great. At one part they punch an enemy, and the punch tears a hole in the fabric of reality. Yeah, it's mental. It sounds so stupid (and the logic is funny - liquid space due to it being so compressed for example) but somehow it just works, and it's brilliant.

 

[Mythopoet]

Have you read the Discworld books? They are definitely fun, frequently over the top and deal with a whole range of wild, crazy, awesome tropes.

 

[GeekDavid]

Have you read the Discworld books? They are definitely fun, frequently over the top and deal with a whole range of wild, crazy, awesome tropes.

I can't believe I forgot the master of parody.

 

[Steerpike]

I've tried Pratchett multiple times and so far haven't been able to force myself to enjoy them

 

[GeekDavid]

I've tried Pratchett multiple times and so far haven't been able to force myself to enjoy them

I tried them three times before I hit upon the secret. You have to keep foremost in your mind that they're parodies. Once you quit taking the books as "serious fantasy" and accept that it's just good fun, they become much easier to enjoy.

 

[Steerpike]

I tried them three times before I hit upon the secret. You have to keep foremost in your mind that they're parodies. Once you quit taking the books as "serious fantasy" and accept that it's just good fun, they become much easier to enjoy.

Oh. I get that. And in theory it would be the sort of thing I'd enjoy. I like Douglas Adams a lot, and in general the British sense of humor appeals. I was just bored stiff every time I tried to read one.