FantasyFans: favorite "accessory"?

Are you a fan of the sword Sting from The Lord of the Rings? Do you think the Invisibility Cloak from Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone or the Agiel from Wizard's First Rule would be fun to own? What gadget or accessory really catches your eye? I'd like to hear about it.

I'll take the eponymous knife (able to cut through anything, including the barriers between alternate realities) featured in The Subtle Knife please.

I'd want Zedd's Wizard Rock from Wizard's First Rule.

i can't remember the name of it - arya's sword in grrm's song of ice and fire series... the one her brother told her to stick the pointy end in someone ;)

>#4 Needle! I'm reading it now for the first time.

One of Eddings's semi-aware magical stones. It's always good to have something with clever reparte before using it to make stuff happen - more useful than just a sword or a cloak as it can multitask too.

> #5 yes, needle! loved those books, read all four in the span of... i don't know... two or three weeks? arya's definitely my favorite character... perhaps also jon snow.

Gurgi's wallet (always accompandied by a bowl of wasabi peas and a tall glass of iced tea.)

Jack Sparrow's compass would just point at my books. :P

-Kushana

There was a magical bag - I can't remember the book, maybe one of the later Feist's? It opened into a warehouse and the "magician" never knew what he was going to pull out of the sack. The time I remember it was oranges. :)

I want the Luggage from The Color of Magic (remember when this was the only Discworld novel)? It's been decades since I read the book, but somehow the phrase "sapient pearwood" has stuck in my memory all this time. And the thought of having a trunk that could actively resist being lost by the airlines is comforting.

I've always wanted one of the crystals from the Witchworld novels...the ones that amplify your latent psychic abilities! : )

I'd like to have the Aleithiometer (sp?) from His Dark Materials, provided I also am able to read it!

Interesting question!!!

#6 - Bhelliom from The Elenium & The Tamuli would be very cool to keep!

At the moment the only other thing (which isnt really a thing) I can think of is I'd love to travel with/on one of Robin Hobb's liveships.

I think I'd like a thaumometer from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series!

If only because the name makes me laugh.

Oh, and a sonic screwdriver, which does seem like a useful gadget.

Either a windship or more preferably an Eotaur from Cecilia Dart-Thornton's Bitterbynde trilogy.

Morphidae, that was Nakor. Nakor never did know what the warehouse owner would put under where the bag opened up, but while the market was good it was oranges. :)

I want Hermione's clutch from Harry Potter 7 :)

I dont know if you would class it as an acessory, but i would love The House at the end of the world, from The Redemption of Althalus, by David Eddings

I've got to second Hermione's bottomless purse.

Although I also kind of like the mechanical "go for help" mouse from Lirael. But I don't think I'd ever actually need that one. The bottomless purse would be handy all the time.

Pssh, forget Hermione's purse. The Luggage, all the way. Not only bottomless, but impossible to steal, lose, or break into. Plus, it's a great bodyguard (always arrives in the nick of time!).

Hear Hear on The Luggage, every time!

Eoin

Thursday Next doesn't exactly count as a fantasy series (or a mystery or science fiction or...) but I'd love her Travel Book for jumping into literature!

I always envied Eilonwy for her bauble in the Chronicles of Prydain.

#20 - not to mention it provides clean laundry and cash

That's right! I forgot it did laundry too!

For me, it was always Dorothy's ruby slippers....although that was more movie-verse, because in the book the shoes are silver. Whichever, I always wanted magic shoes (they go with anything! Hehee.)
Or perhaps a magic wand fashioned by Ollivander of the Harry Potter series. Or my very own Room of Requirement.

There's a Patricia C. Wrede short story in The Book of Enchantments where someone brings Mendenbar and Cimorene the Frying Pan of Doom. I don't think I'd find it all that useful, since I only cook once or twice a week, and I almost never have the need to kill anyone while doing so, but I always found that pretty amusing.

A towel from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Simply because I trust Ford Prefect . Perhaps more than I should. Does a Fair Witness Stranger in a Strange Land count as an accessory? Because I would love to have my very own Jubal Harshaw. Then again, if I am allowed a human accessory, I would have my gardener with me Lord of the Rings.

my top accesory, magical or otherwise, would probably be the wand from the charlie bone books.

A towel? But I've already got a towel; I would much rather have the Guide itself!

An invisibility cloak would be neat, as would an alethiometer, but I would also like a Marauder's Map, although preferably one that did not cover only Hogwarts...

a broom stick would be cool. flying of course

The runesword, Stormbringer in Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. It's a bit of an evil sword, sure. But there's something really cool about a sword that demands blood and souls from its wielder.

I'd like to own a fire-breathing banana.

Unfortunately, I've never run across one in any book, so this doesn't really fit in with the discussion. :)

If I had to pick an artifact/accessory from a book, I'd pick the sword of Martin from the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, because it just amuses me that a bunch of rodents would practically worship a piece of metal the size of a toothpick (although for them, I suppose it would be a weapon of great power, given their own puniness). :D

martins sword would be cool, but its the size of your little finger.

I've always been a fan of Death's horse from On a Pale Horse from Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality. Gotta be nice to have instantaneous transportation in the mode most comfortable to the traveler...

It isn't exactly a "device", but I sure wouldn't mind having a fire lizard! Or a winged-cat from Le Guin's Catwings series.

#35-Speaking of horses, how about Death's horse "Binky" from Discworld?

As for a device, how about the magic rings from The Magician's Nephew?

A mithril undershirt for deflecting daggers to the back... handy for so many business and social occasions.

I actually have The One Ring. My wonderful wife bought it for me as a replacement wedding ring. It's a replica made by the same company in NZ that supplied the movie version(s). Just looking at it evokes LOTR. No nazgul, yet, fortunately. And i haven't been game to throw it in the fire yet.

If you mean me:

A bathtub full of hot water in a bathroom with an embedded ceiling fan that makes a decent amount of noise. As long as I have those "accessories", the characters in the books I read can have anything the author imagines and I will be happy.

If you mean characters in the books:

I like well-written horses and dogs. Too many authors obviously haven't a clue about how either of them behave.

#3 I'm with you on the wizard rock, perfect place to read a book.

#36 -- I've always been partial to Binky!

#38 Poorly written animals are a personal pet peeve of mine, and don't even get me started on the "talking" live action animals that have been CGI'd into existence (I'm thinking the 101 Dalmatians Disney remake with Glenn Close here).

Favorite accessory? Do fingernails count? If so, I think I might go with Jame's extendo fingernails from P. C. Hodgell's God Stalker Chronicles. Mine are always chipping and breaking from prying things open.

Darn it! Touchstones are on the blink again.

Do demons count?
I'd like Bartimaeus from Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy. Simply for the witty repartee.

I woult probably pick Aldurs Globe, from the Belgariad by Eddings.

eleithiometer, is that how ya spell it, from Northern lights