OT: good fantasy books

[quantum_mechani]

Something that has not been mentioned that I've seen: The Waterborn by Greg Keyes. A great fantasy book that also has something of dominionsesque flavor. I've even thought about making a map/mod based on it, might look something like a small map duel between Pangaea with a lord of the wild and T'ien Ch'i with an oracle.

There is also a sequal to it called Blackgod that is about as good.

[WraithLord]

This is a great thread that holds for me the promise of reading many new marvelous books, so thanks all for your recommendations here.

I would like to add some names not mentioned here,
1. Forgotten realms books. Some may take them as childish or shallow, but to my taste they have a nice "action" feel to them, they make for a nice casual reading. Noteworthy series are: The dark elf trilogy; Legacy of the drow; Icewind Dale trilogy; The cleric quintet; The paths of darkness; The Avatar series; Return of the Archwizards; War of the spider queen;

2. Robert Jordan's wheel of time series. Mentioned before. I'd just like to say that IMO the books are good so long as you fast forward reading all the detailed descriptions of every minute thing that's going on.

3. Roger Zealazny, not only Amber, also his pseudo mythology books are great.

4. Dan Simmons. Hyperion series is top notch sci-fi. Carrion comfort and song of Kali are great dunno exactly how to classify them.

5. Terry Goodkind, Wizard's first rule, only first three books are good, the rest are abysmal.

6. G. Martin, Already mentioned. Just like to say that I loved his ice and fire series.

[HoneyBadger]

The first book in Song of Ice and Fire was, I think, such an excellent read, so complex of a book and so popular, and pushed so hard for sequils, that it would be almost impossible for any writer to live up to it, and consequently, the next books just aren't that good, because how could they be? If you only take into account the pressure Martin's under to churn out sequils, it's going to affect the writing, and just possibly that pressure and stress is bringing out his worse qualities.

[HoneyBadger]

As far as Brust goes, I really admire him as a writer and "Cowboy Feng's Space-Bar and Grill" was superb-however, he seems to be becoming a little bit more mainstream than I care for, and his Taltos books remind me of years and years ago, when we used to do freeform roleplaying in chatrooms and everyone you met seemed to be half elf, half dragon, half supermodel, and have both a mysterious past and an unrealistic eye color.

[Evil Dave]

Since a few people have mentioned old authors, I'd like to point out a collection called Tales before Tolkien, which is, well, a bunch of stories written before the big T cast his Dark Shadow over the genre. (I don't really mind Tolkien, but reading TbT will make it really clear how much he changed fantasy.)

Folks might also like Lord Dunsany, one of the earliest fantasy authors. He influenced Jack Vance, who's already been mentioned. Many of Dunsany's stories are very short -- only a few pages -- but the writing is so good as to suggest huge worlds stretching away beyond the story. The Gods of Pagana is thematic for anybody who wants to play a god.

Likewise, players of Tien Chi should may be interested in Barry Hughart's The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, set in "a China that never was". Usually, only the first story, Bridge of Birds is in print, tho.

[djo]

To start with, I'll second the votes for Roger Zelazny, China Mieville, Patricia McKillip, Neil Gaiman, and John Crowley. They are all well above the pale, extraordinary writers. You can't go wrong with almost anything they've ever written.

The Malazan books could be Erikson's ticket into their company, if he keeps up the quality for the full series. Ditto Brust and his Vlad series.

Here are some choices from a bit off the traditional epic fantasy track:

Ash: A Secret History, by Mary Gentle--looks like, feels like, but isn't quite historical fantasy; it's a tricky book, but keep with it. This woman knows her medieval warfare! Ash is a female mercenary captain in the middle ages, fighting against a Carthage that never fell. Depending on what edition you get, it is sometimes broken up into multiple volumes.

Declare or Last Call, by Tim Powers--fantasy set in the 20th century, with conspiracies, deep magic, and convoluted connections through myth and history. Declare is a Cold War spy novel, the East and West rushing to secure a magical power on Mt. Ararat. Last Call is a Las Vegas novel about, among other things, the dangers of playing poker with a Tarot deck.

The Dragon Waiting, by John Ford--the War of the Roses, but with magic; Ford is another extraordinary writer who unfortunately didn't produce at a high rate.

The Death of the Necromancer or The Element of Fire, by Martha Wells--two well-written, character-oriented, not-epic, stand-alone fantasies, set in a country looking a lot like France. The latter is Renaissance-ish, the former is set later, in a time where magic co-exists with trains, guns, and gaslights.