OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books

[Lingchih]

I'm finally reading the Malazan books now, and quite enjoying them.

I'm surprised that there was only one, slight mention of Jack Vance, the early master of fantasy (and sci-fi). His Lyonesse series is incredible (The Green Pearl, Lyonesse, Madouc). If you like those, switch to his best sci-fi, The Demon Princes series. Of course, he is best know for his Dying Earth books, of which Cugel the Clever is the masterpiece. Most of his books are back in print now, though you may have to go to Amazon to find them.

I enjoyed both GRRM's Ice and Fire series, and Jordan's Wheel of time series, but they both petered off as they went along, and of course Jordan is dead now.

Robin Hobb has written a couple of very nice series, The Tawny Man and the Liveship Traders, both very enjoyable reads, but nowhere near the dark tones of the previous books mentioned.

I also really enjoyed the Rothfus's Name of the Wind. I can't wait for the new book to come out.

And, to wrap it all up, Susanna Clarke's Hugo award winning Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, though a single novel and not a series, is simply one of the best fantasy books ever written.

I think someone mentioning Gene Wolfe said that he cannot write about women. That may have been true back in the Book of the New Sun days, but The Knight and The Wizard are both amazing, and do have some very strong female characters.

You can check out my Shelfari page here, if you need any more ideas:
http://www.shelfari.com/lingchih/shelf

[WraithLord]

All those recommendations sounds great. I'm in mind to list them all in the first post. At the very list I'd be able to print this list while I go book hunting in book stores (I'll probably skip amazon for now since shipment to Israel can be pretty expensive).

Lingchih, I checked your shelfari. Looks great.
What is it BTW?

[chrispedersen]

I like hobbs assassin page...

In the Science Fiction arena, I'd have to mention

I, Robot
The Stars like Dust (Best sci fi I ever read)
Mission of Gravity by clement I think
Foundation Triliogy - loved by others.... ok by me.

Books which people loved which didn't much appeal to me
Lucifers hammer
Ringworld.

[Lingchih]

Originally Posted by WraithLord

Lingchih, I checked your shelfari. Looks great.
What is it BTW?

Shelfari is a free website where people can post the books they have read, and what they thought of them, and share that with others. You can also assign other users with similar interests as friends, and you get an email when they update their pages, so you can check out what they are reading now. It's pretty neat.

[Gregstrom]

Charles Stross, perhaps. Diana Wynne Jones writes some entertaining stuff, although most of it is aimed at younger readers.

[vfb]

Did not see Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" above. It's a really fun read, and it has got a whole bunch of everyone's favorite Dom3 pretenders in it.

Bogarus needs Czernobog!

[horza]

I read Tolkien, Gemmell, Vance and Wolfe when I was younger and can add my own hearty recommendation to those. I pretty much gave up on fantasy until recently though as the sub-Tolkien/D&D market pretty much took over the market, and it all seemed too derivative.

Lately however I've found a couple of authors that are writing completely new stuff. China Mieville writes about Cactus-men and ant headed women plotting Marxist revolutions against Magiocracies. Alan Campbell has a city built on chains above the Abyss in a world abandoned by its creator. And not forgetting that "children's" author Philip Pullman whose world of Dust and Armoured Bears I may have read to a daughter but certainly kept me rapt.

[Trumanator]

A fairly new author I would recommend would be Rothfuss. His debut book "The Name of the Wind" is probably one of my favorite fantasy books of all time.

[Raiel]

Originally Posted by Trumanator

A fairly new author I would recommend would be Rothfuss. His debut book "The Name of the Wind" is probably one of my favorite fantasy books of all time.

This is the kind of stuff I hear (and say) about Rothfuss' book all the time.

Another very good author, imho, is Jim Butcher. The Fury series is great and if you have even the slightest leanings toward urban fantasy, the Dresdan Files books are a must.

Finally, the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust is an old and ongoing favorite.

[Lingchih]

Originally Posted by Trumanator

A fairly new author I would recommend would be Rothfuss. His debut book "The Name of the Wind" is probably one of my favorite fantasy books of all time.

I believe the next book in that series is supposed to come out this fall. Can't wait.