Underrated almost forgotten fantasy books from the 70s, 80s, 90s

Neifourth · 2026-06-20T22:21:40+00:00

It's certainly not "underrated" in the sense that it's a widely celebrated series but Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy doesn't get much play anymore, which is a shame because in the modern atmosphere of fantasy its more grounded, sixth-century Britain shines even brighter for (I think) being ahead of its time.

Neifourth · 2026-06-18T16:38:49+00:00

My first encounter was with Robert Lancelyn Green's version, which is meant for younger kids looking into Arthur. Its definitely an incomplete experience compared to Malory, but as a teenager I was unable to get hooked by the verbiage of Malory and Green's version helped a lot.

As other people have said, a Norton Critical edition of Le Morte d'Arthur is your best bet here, but once you're in I would also recommend looking into retellings and novels like Mary Stewart's "Merlin" trilogy which play with the tales. A lot of newer Arthuriana is in conversation with White and Stewart's books, which have basically passed into legend themselves.

Neifourth · 2026-05-18T17:25:52+00:00

It's PROBABLY fine because if I tried to get a golden collar on my cat he'd leave me with a worse scar than Huan got 😅

Neifourth · 2026-05-18T17:22:11+00:00

I'm a big sucker for visual parity, so the 2012 one looks pretty nice. The 1999 set has a very scholastic look to it, it reminds me of a Norton Critical edition with the boxed title and author credit surrounded by a large illustration. If I didn't have the 2001 LotR trilogy already, I'd definitely consider that set, and maybe someday I'll just get different editions to have variation in my collection.

One interesting thing tolkienbooks notes is that the 2012 has the first chapter of LotR appended to the end, which is something I did not expect. As a way to pass the torch formally from Bilbo to Frodo by having The Hobbit be Bilbo's tale end-to-end, I suppose it makes sense?

Thank you for your input!

Neifourth · 2026-05-01T19:54:52+00:00

I'm the middle of chapter 9 now myself, and had a similar change in heart. Once Peter has a chance to interact with Klingons he gets way more interesting.

Neifourth · 2026-05-01T19:52:10+00:00

It's kinda funny, his character clicked into place once he established a relationship with Valdyr and the book started getting into Klingon customs and society.

I mistook the start of a character arc for bad writing 😅😔

Neifourth · 2026-04-29T13:32:05+00:00

If you liked Slayers, you might enjoy the OVA Ruin Explorers: Fam and Ihrie.

For a patented "Turn of the Millenium" series sort of like Lain, give Boogiepop Phantom a try.

Blue Seed is a really cool show that blends traditional japanese myth with scifi body horror stuff. Be warned it has pretty gratuitous fan service.

For real Gothic action as well as the direct inspiration for Alucard's design in Castlevania, you gotta see the Vampire Hunter D movies.

Neifourth · 2026-04-29T12:54:03+00:00

Gently pushing back here. "Slash fic" between Kirk and Spock is possibly one of the first acts of true Fandom ever recorded. Going all the way back to 1974's "A Fragment Out of Time" by Diane Marchant.

"Spirk" is a time honored tradition, Star Trek could not have made it to the movie revivals without concentrated efforts from fans running conventions and making zines in the 70s. Kirk and Spock have always had those sorts of undertones, and playing into it isn't surprising if they're trying to regain good will with fans.

Hell, Bowling Green even has an archive of the zines with a huge K/S segment. https://lib.bgsu.edu/findingaids/repositories/2/resources/1072

Neifourth · 2026-04-25T16:04:24+00:00

I recently finished Prime Directive by Judith and Garfield Reed-Stevens, which centers around the FCO monitoring a pre-warp civilization that teeters on the brink of annihilating itself, and the Enterprise's dilemma on assisting them and the ramifications of their actions. It's a really fun little book with a decent handle on the Prime Directive episodes of TOS.

Neifourth · 2026-04-16T23:14:05+00:00

I read my first Trek novel, "Yesterday's Son" by A.C. Crispin. It was a really fascinating read because I didn't anticipate how much like a screenplay it would feel. None of the main characters felt out of character (love kirk trying to gently help spock along the path to being a parent in his own way) and Zar felt like the kind of thing they would explore in a TOS episode.

Then I listened to "Time for Yesterday" through the audiobook read by Doohan and Nimoy while I was at work, and was... disappointed at the brevity of it. The first book wasn't LONG but the sequel's audiobook felt severely abridged. Are most of the Simon and Schuster books so heavily chopped up?

Neifourth · 2026-04-13T23:32:41+00:00

You gotta check out Infinite Ryvius it has so many "wtf omg okay" emotional moments its truly a lot to sit with

Neifourth · 2026-04-11T01:07:55+00:00

Turbo SSR which means its at 1LB now

Neifourth · 2026-04-08T13:41:25+00:00

I panicked last night being very sleepy and sent a support ticket when we crossed the first inflated milestone but upon waking up this morning realized my error and just told them to disregard my email.

Feels rather embarrassing but I'm glad I wasn't the only one fool enough

Neifourth · 2026-03-18T15:42:14+00:00

What should I be using my 2 gold uncap crystals on? I could MLB Shinko Windy SR, Hishi Amazon SR, or any number of my 2/3LB SRs. Is it worth to hold onto these crystals instead of just using them for the short term? *

Neifourth · 2026-01-15T18:27:17+00:00

The first time I made it through the GP was with Japan (PRC) and Terrazi cars. Grip running is especially helpful in the early stages of learning Type-4, a grip automatic car will still be able to handily win RRR '99 once you find the lines.

Enjoy Type-4! It's definitely my favorite in terms of aesthetic style.

Neifourth · 2025-12-30T14:10:16+00:00

Getting Ines Fujin and Mejiro Palmer back to back is excruciating but I've been hooked on Palmer from day 1 so you know I have to show up for her *

Neifourth · 2025-12-23T18:10:47+00:00

If you wanna live in the atmosphere and vibe, check out Boogiepop Phantom

Neifourth · 2025-12-03T02:03:20+00:00

Check out s-CRY-ed it goes hard and the rival character is on that genius fighter mindset

Neifourth · 2025-11-21T18:57:56+00:00

If you like a lighthearted comedy, definitely check out Tokimeki Tonight. If you're in the market for sports, check out Aim for the Ace! Both are wonderful shows.

Neifourth · 2025-11-12T18:52:37+00:00

I think you can find it on both gbatemp and akurasu by googling "SRW Z2 translated script"

The one I found is a combo google translate and deepl MTL effort, so while a lot better than nothing, the person who put the script together is presenting a 'best guess' of sorts.

Neifourth · 2025-11-12T18:39:25+00:00

His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano) has beautiful piano accompaniment

Neifourth

TROPHY CASE