Recommend me a fantasy book/series

[self biased]

anything written by larry niven is worth it's weight in gold. yes, he's primarily a hard SF writer, but one has to read anything from his "the magic goes away" series and be in awe of his fantastical skill as well.

[Buck Birdseed]

I stopped reading "high" fantasy in my late teens 'cause it's so ****ing stuck up its own arse its unbeleivable. Before that I probably read most of what's been suggested here and especially liked Katherine Kerr and, unfortunately invalidating all my opinions, Robert Jordan.

These days I have accepted Fantasy as light-touch fun, and read it purely for entertainment purposes. To that end I keep going back to Robert E Howard's utterly classic Conan series of short stories/novellas, which is just blood and swords and giant jewels and loincloths but at the same time musty, earthy and incredibly well paced. Strong "1930s racist" warning, but if you can see past that it's chock-full of chuckle-at--vividly-described-giant-spider fun. All of them are collected in two editions in the Fantasy Masterworks series.

Terry Pratchett is a Fantasy author that uses a warped, humorous setting to reflect upon our own world. It's funny, well written and surprisingly thematically deep in the best of his work. Recommended especially is the exquisitely multilayered Feet Of Clay and the lovely Hogfather.

Does Neil Gaiman count as fantasy? If so go buy American Gods NOW.

[Jon Miller]

a lot of good books mentioned here (Assasins was very good, Robin is a girl BTW)

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

Neil Gaiman counts as fantasy but is not of the LoTR mold

unfortunately American Gods was old and boring and was better done by others

his books of Nevewhere and Stardust are great though

Jon Miller

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Verto
Have you read the Belgariad or The Mallorean series (both connected) by David and Leigh Edding? They were good books, IMO, to read and enjoy.

I enjoyed the first couple of books, but they're a bit 'samey' for me

[st_swithin]

"The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis.

Particularly the 7th book: "The Boy and His Horse"
and the 1st book: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

[molly bloom]

I can't recommend the 'Earthsea' series by Ursula K Le Guin too highly. It's one of those instances of writing for children surpassing writing for adults (actually not that difficult in the fantasy genre).

You can buy the first three separately, they are slim elegant volumes about the size of a collection of Rimbaud's early poems, so will fit sleekly into the inside breast pocket of your Brooks Brothers overcoat, or Diesel jacket.

Begin with the 'Wizard of Earthsea', and I think you'll be hooked. She manages to incorporate Taoist thought, linguistic theory, Jungian inner landscapes and a concern for balance, without hitting you over the head with a stick.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Ursula_K_Le_Guin.htm

Another I could recommend would be Joan Aiken's series of novels set in an alternate England, in which the Stuart branch of the Royals never had to flee- the most famous of the books would be 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase', made into the film of the same name.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Joan_Aiken.htm

In a more modern vein, how about China Mieville's two novels set in the same world?

'Perdido Street Station' and 'The Scar' are both massy tomes, however. Best read them while waiting for an original thought to appear in Bush Baby's head....

[PLATO]

The Mirror of Her Dreams I think is the name of it. By Donalson. Of course I enjoyed The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant as well. (The 1st...not the 2nd)

[Jon Miller]

mirror of her dreams is really really good (if it is what I am thinking it is, 2 books one entitled a man rides through?)

singles there is stuff like the paladin by cherryh and many many more

Jon Miller

[LDiCesare]

Le Guin's Earthsea series is indeed excellent.

Eddings' Malloreon and Belgariad are a set of cliches with cardboard characters. Once you've read the first, the rest is all of the same with little originality. Eddings writes well, though. He's made another series which is better than these, where all the heroes are knights of a church, but whose name I can't remember.

Tad William's Dragonbone Chair and the following books (also known as Memory, Sorrow and Thorn) are quite good, but I feel the end is a bit long in the coming. Still very good books, and a nice world with neat ideas. Plus some good people die, which is something uncommon in these books.

I second the reading of Conan and their like (Thongor of Lemuria by Lin Carter) is always refreshing.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by PLATO
The Mirror of Her Dreams I think is the name of it. By Donalson. Of course I enjoyed The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant as well. (The 1st...not the 2nd)

That sets you apart from most of humanity then

[SpencerH]

I could be wrong but I doubt Boris would like either Eddings or Conan (although Red Nails by REH is special).

[Buck Birdseed]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
unfortunately American Gods was old and boring and was better done by others

In what way and by who? I thought it was very atmospherically done, he's got a great dark edge to his writing.

[Turambar]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series! In my opinion the only fantasy authour who has written better is Tolkien and I've read a hell of a lot of fantasy.

Pick up the first book Gardens of the Moon! The series is better than A Song of Ice and Fire which I also strongly recommend!!

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed


In what way and by who? I thought it was very atmospherically done, he's got a great dark edge to his writing.

I thought the book was written incredibly well but came close to being ruined by the ending. I was simply expecting more.

Boris: Stay away from the Dragonlance crap. There's no point to the books. It's all about praising the heroes for killin' lots of **** and being models of western morals. Eck.

/me considers promotion of his own writing, but then reconsiders, thinking it would be infantile and silly.