Best Epic / Fantasy Book Series of All Time史上最佳史詩及奇幻系列

譯/張菊

1. Lord of the Rings / Middle Earth Books—J.R.R. Tolkien

—Where to start on theLord of the Rings. An entire adult life spent creating the mythical world of Middle Earth. It is this dedication to his work that led to Tolkien’s brainchild1brainchild（個人或團(tuán)體的）主意，發(fā)明。該名詞一般只用單數(shù)。to ascend past mere Epic Fantasy. A timeless2timeless不受時間影響的，永存的。classic that continues to profoundly affect millions if not billions of lives even now.

The (re)birth of fantasy was almost solely down to Tolkien and almost every author of such fiction can trace their influences directly to his work. A new world, several new languages and thousands of pages of fictional history which have captivated people since its inception. Any member of the RPG3即role-playing game (sometimes roleplaying game) 角色扮演游戲，一種游戲類型。游戲中，玩家負(fù)責(zé)扮演一個或多個角色在寫實或虛構(gòu)世界中活動。community has Tolkien to thank, and the creators of D&D4即Dungeons and Dragons《龍與地下城》。were inspired by the cartography5cartography制圖法，地圖繪制。of Tolkien.

—It transcends space and time. If you have never read this before you are in for a rude awakening. It’s about death and the hope that challenges its impending doom. The calm before the storm. The crescendo6crescendo逐漸增強(qiáng)的喧鬧聲。of different races and characters woven into the ever present theme of good versus evil. Apocalypse. Tolkien masterfully raises the bar7raise the bar本指跳高時升高橫桿，這里比喻提高奇幻小說的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。. Epic in proportions. It’s beautiful.

—This is the best series ever written.It has so much to offer. It can be taken for the story only, or for the symbolism and hidden meanings throughout the book. Tolkien was an incredible author,and he created languages for his novels,which is incredible.

—“Becoming the holy bible of geekdom,Lord of The Ringsby J.R.R.Tolkien has revolutionized the style of fantasy and given a whole new respect8respect（事物的）方面，細(xì)節(jié)。to the genre.”—Nostalgia Critic

2. Harry Potter Series—J.K. Rowling

—Thank you, J. K. Rowling, for many things:

· For not forgetting all characters can’t be perfect.

· For giving us Fred and George Weasley, who are always a laugh.

· For Mad-Eye Moody, whose voice I still hear when I’m about to do something risky.

· For Hermione, who I will always remember when I meet someone with wisdom beyond their years.

· For Nymphadora Tonks, who I think of when someone tells me age is just a number.

· For Albus Dumbledore, who I will never forget, for countless reasons.

And many, many more things, but lastly, thank you, J. K. Rowling, for my childhood.

—Harry Potter is definitely #1 BY FAR. I will never forget Harry Potter and everything these books have taught me. Especially friendship, like what it means to stand by your friends. And bravery, and the decisions you have to make to benefit others.

Thank you Hedwig, for inspiring me in many ways to be someone you go to for Support, and for being a shoulder to cry on. I cried for hours when Hedwig died, but she, like Dobby, died in theperfect way.

Thank you Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom, for showing me that a good friend isn’t the most popular, but the most loyal and who will ALWAYS be at your side. I think these two demonstrate what a friend is,and that it’s OK to be different.

Thank you Remus Lupin, for being a role model, and someone who I hope to be when I am older.

This list of characters could go forever because all of them touched my heart. This series is without a doubt, the best read ever. This deserves to be #1.

3. A Song of Ice and Fire Series—George R. R. Martin

—There is so much happening and still not too much so you can keep track what is going on in different places.There is clear personalities in the characters so some of you love and some of you hate. Story telling and describing of characters and world are well balanced. And the world that Martin has created is interesting and has depth in it. And not everything is black and white (good and evil), there is so much that moves in shades of gray. So brace yourself, the winter is coming9“凜冬將至”是作品中史塔克家族的族訓(xùn)，提醒族人常懷警惕之心，做好死戰(zhàn)的準(zhǔn)備。.

—I think it’s DEFINITELY equal toLord of the Rings! The characters are amazing and everyone has a differentpersonality that develops throughout the whole series. The story is completely NOT predictable, because any character can die anytime, even if you think it’s the main character. The way George R.R. Martin writes keeps you into the books and you’re kind of not realising what’s going on around you. You’re just in the book. It’s a completely amazing story that gets interesting more and more! One of the books you have to read! And I’m happy the T.V. series(Game of Thrones) is as enjoyable as the book and the adaptation was not ruined!

4. Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series—Rick Riordan

—The series is amazing and should be at least in the top three if not number#1. Because Rick Riordan is such an amazing author, his books are so great and they bring mythology into the modern world.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia—C.S.Lewis

—The kindest and the wisest fiction books I’ve ever read. The world C.S.Lewis creates is not only a beautiful and harmonious place, but also a school of life. The books are exciting and they set an example of what is good and what isn’t. A must-read for everyone. ■

1.《魔戒》（又譯《指環(huán)王》）/《中土之書》——J. R. R. 托爾金

——《魔戒》該從何說起。托爾金畢生都在創(chuàng)造神秘的中土世界。正是這種對作品的專注，使托爾金的創(chuàng)作超越了史詩奇幻小說的高度。時至今日，這部傳世經(jīng)典仍然深深影響著數(shù)百萬甚至數(shù)十億人。

奇幻小說的（再次）興起幾乎全得歸功于托爾金，并且，他的作品幾乎直接影響了這類虛構(gòu)作品的每一位作者。一個新世界、幾種新語言和上千頁的虛構(gòu)歷史，這些從一開始就迷住了讀者。玩角色扮演游戲的人都得謝謝托爾金，電游《龍與地下城》的創(chuàng)作者也受到了托爾金作品中地圖設(shè)置的啟發(fā)。

——它超越時空。如果你之前從未讀過該作品，你該幡然醒悟，趕緊去讀。這部作品談及死亡和希望，那種挑戰(zhàn)即將到來的厄運(yùn)的希望。有暴風(fēng)雨前的平靜，有不同種族和人物在永恒的善惡之爭中展開的巔峰對決，還有世界末日。托爾金巧妙地提高了奇幻小說的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。這是百年難遇的作品。棒極了！

——這是史上最好的系列，有太多可資借鑒，可以僅從故事層面，或從貫穿全書的象征主義和隱含意義的層面。托爾金是個不可思議的作家，他為自己的小說創(chuàng)造了語言，太了不起了。

——“托爾金的《魔戒》成為極客族的圣經(jīng)，這部作品既革新了奇幻小說的風(fēng)格，也帶給了這個文學(xué)類別全新的視角。”（《懷舊評論狂》）

2．“哈利·波特”系列——J. K.羅琳

——謝謝你，羅琳，原因多多：

·因為沒有忘記所有人都不可能完美。

·因為創(chuàng)造了弗雷德與喬治·韋斯萊，他倆總是笑點。

·因為“瘋眼漢”穆迪，每當(dāng)我想冒點兒險，仍能聽到他的聲音。

·因為赫敏，每當(dāng)我碰到智慧超越年齡的家伙，總會想起她。

·因為尼法朵拉·唐克斯，每當(dāng)有人告訴我年齡只是一個數(shù)字時，我就會想起他。

·因為阿不思·鄧布利多，我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記他，理由太多了。

還有很多很多其他的原因，最后，為我的童年，謝謝你，羅琳。

——毫無疑問，“哈利·波特”系列是迄今為止的第一名。我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記哈利·波特，以及這部系列小說教給我的一切。尤其是友誼，比如說支持朋友意味著什么，還有勇敢，以及必要時須舍己為人。

海德薇，謝謝你在很多方面給了我啟發(fā)，教我如何支持他人，如何做一個可以傾訴的對象。海德薇死的時候，我哭了好幾個小時，但她像多比一樣，死得光榮。

盧娜·洛夫古德、納威·隆巴頓，謝謝你們，你們讓我明白，好朋友不一定是最受歡迎的那個，但一定是最忠誠的，是永遠(yuǎn)支持你的那個。我認(rèn)為他倆展示了朋友的意義，即便自己與人不同也沒關(guān)系。

萊姆斯·盧平，謝謝你，你是榜樣，我長大后希望能成為像你那樣的人。

這個人物名單可以一直列舉下去，因為他們都打動了我。毫無疑問，這個系列是我讀過的最好的，理所當(dāng)然排第一。

3．“冰與火之歌”系列——喬治·R.R.馬丁

——發(fā)生了那么多事，但還沒有多過頭，因此你可以追蹤不同地方正在發(fā)生的事。人物性格鮮明，有的招人愛，有的招人恨。敘述故事與描寫人物和環(huán)境平衡得很好。馬丁所創(chuàng)造的世界既有意思，也有深度。并不是每樣?xùn)|西都非黑即白（善惡分明），有很多處于灰色地帶。凜冬將至，振作起來吧。

——我認(rèn)為它絕對和《魔戒》旗鼓相當(dāng)！人物很棒，每個人都有不同的個性，其個性隨著整部系列的推進(jìn)而有所發(fā)展。故事完全不可預(yù)見，因為任何一個角色都可能隨時死去，即便是你認(rèn)為的主角。喬治·馬丁的寫作方式讓你對小說欲罷不能，你會對周圍發(fā)生的事有點兒置若罔聞。你會沉浸在故事中。這是個極其精彩的故事，會越來越有意思！這部書是必讀書之一！我很高興電視連續(xù)劇（《權(quán)力的游戲》）跟書一樣有意思，改編沒有毀掉原創(chuàng)！

4．“波西·杰克遜與奧林匹斯英雄”系列——里克·萊爾頓

——這個系列很棒，即便不是第一，至少也應(yīng)該在前三名。里克·萊爾頓是個非常棒的作家，他的書很了不起，那些故事將神話引入了現(xiàn)代世界。

5．《納尼亞傳奇》——C. S. 劉易斯

——這是我讀過的最仁慈、最英明的虛構(gòu)作品。劉易斯所創(chuàng)造的不僅是一個美麗和諧的地方，還是一個生活的學(xué)校。該系列作品讀來讓人興奮，設(shè)定了好和壞的樣板，是必讀書。 □

（譯者單位：中華女子學(xué)院）