Nice thread
Call me strange, but I found that reading one-off fantasy novels tend to be a bit weak in the background department.
So I tend to read historical mystery novels and RPG sourcebooks as a sort of "imaginative fertilizer", to better set the stage and tone of fantastic story-telling.
Both of these sources of writing DEMAND a level of precision and detail that I typically don't find in novels, due to space and plot constraints.
Unfortunately, you can't stop the story and ask for clarification in a novel. No Pause, Zoom or Rotate here, folks.
Specifically, I recommend the historical mysteries written by Stephen Saylor, Barry Hughart and the Brother Cadbury series.
For RPG Sourcebooks, you can't go wrong with Exalted, Ars Magica, ICE Middle-Earth, Earthdawn and Warhammer RPG.
And then, there's Samurai Cat...
Edit: And The Redeemer... both of which greatly contributed to my appreciation for gratuitous violence
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Re: OT: good fantasy books
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