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