Fantasy fans recommendation

[Davidjb]

The Well of Echoes is my favourite Ian Irvine series. Geomancer starts very oddly in a manufactory set in a world where life is hard and full of strange and wonderful machinery. The characters are a mixed bag. Nish is clearly central and a bit of a toady in this early phase. Tiaan is an artisan with a hidden talent who is framed for a crime she did not commit and she is forced to flee. The world is beset by war with brutal alien creatures. Clankers are the main weapon to defeat the enemy and these are powered by an unknown force which is starting to fail in some regions of the world. Nish and Tiaan’s future are clearly intertwined as he sets off in pursuit of her. The novel is beautifully written and full of surprises. Characterisation is brilliant with a slow but good development of each person. Nish’s father is superb and you eventually start to feel sorry for Nish as eventually he starts to show a glimmer of heroics.

Tremendous story and characterisation.

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

My favorite recent fantasy novel was Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. Lots of great characters with relatable problems as well as heroics. The only downside was that it's only part 1 of 3, and the volume doesn't really have a strong ending.

[johnmedler]

The Piers Anthony XANTH series is my favorite.  A Spell for Chameleon is the first one. 

[Bleekness]

This can be a pretty broad subject.

for Epic Fantasy: The Elfstones of Shannara.

for Heroic fantasy: the Drenai series done by David Gemmell. Start with Legend. And, more recently, The First Law series (3 books) by Joe Abercrombie.

for Urban fantasy: American Gods, by Neil Gaimen. (I think another book of his, Neverwhere, is pretty good too.)

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

Well, if we're going old school then I would have to say my Robert E Howard collections of Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull, Cormac MacArt, and Bran Mak Morn!

[TWErvin2]

As mentioned above, Brooks' Elfstones of Shannara, and also the Sword of Shannara would be good choices.

I'd suggest Brust's Vlad Taltos novels, but the early ones are not on Kindle yet.

Sadly, Zelazny's works aren't on Kindle yet either.

[dmspen]

Check out the Recluce series by L.E. Modesitt. Certain gifted people have the ability, to certain degrees, to control Order and Chaos. The neat thing is that Order tends to black and Chaos to White. Sort of an unexpected reversal.

[TheRiddler]

What do people think of David Edding's stuff?

I used to read him when I was younger, but can't remember too much about them

[Chris Northern]

Steven Eriskon has probably maxed out the concept of the epic.  Great books but you need some serious stamina stored up to cope with even one; toward the end I'm almost begging him to tie up the plot threats and please just let it be over... Yet, the next book calls.

I'm also fond of The Black Company by Glen Cook. The Hawk and Fisher books by Simon R. Green are interesting, urban fantasy murder mysteries. A few others, but there's quite a lot out there that seems to be cast from the same old tired mold. The Belgariad by Eddings is an early example of that section of the genre - he was actually deliberately exploring the cleches.

[StevenSavile]

If you want to try something a little different, that you might just fall in love with, Jonathan Carroll has some beautiful fantasy novels the fans call 'the answered prayers' cycle- starting with Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame,etc. Quite possibly my favourite books of all time. Just beautiful.

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

What do people think of David Edding's stuff?

I used to read him when I was younger, but can't remember too much about them

I remember that I really liked the Belgariad and the Mallorean series, but I was very disappointed with The Redemption of Althalus (no idea if I'm spelling any of these names correctly). The early series were pretty exciting and had great characters and were fairly original, but the last one (a collaboration with his wife, I believe) was very mechanical and cliche and predictable.

[Asher MacDonald]

Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories are wonderful.

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance is very good.

Glen Cook's Black Company series is great.

Here's an obscure one. It's a Heinlein novella, Magic, Inc. It may have been the first urban fantasy I ever read.

And Tim Powers is great. The Anubis Gates is a fantastic book. On Stranger Tides is also good, and was licensed for the next installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies though I can't imagine it will use much of the novel. I think it was the producers being smart and making sure a writer with a book about pirates searching for the fountain of youth wasn't going to sue them.

And Powers friend James Blaylock writes some wonderful stuff too. I dearly love The Last Coin.

[Arthur Slade]

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.

Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.

And this one:

[MosesSiregarIII]

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.

Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.

And this one:

Arthur, if you can't get enough of GGK, I interviewed him at World Fantasy Con last October.

[JRTomlin]

Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion is one of the best epic fantasy's ever written. Absolutely classic. She is a fantastic writer and has a new trilogy coming out set in that world.

And, pretty much needless to say, GRR Martin's SoIaF. (IF he'll get that next book finished. Any time now, George. )

[MosesSiregarIII]

Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion is one of the best epic fantasy's ever written. Absolutely classic. She is a fantastic writer and has a new trilogy coming out set in that world.

And, pretty much needless to say, GRR Martin's SoIaF. (IF he'll get that next book finished. Any time now, George. )

Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.

And ... forgive me, I had to do it.

[Lynn Mixon]

I just finished The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan. Book one of a six book series. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[KMA]

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.

Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.

And this one:

Oh, I love Guy Gavriel Kay. I still have my first edition of The Darkest Road from when I was a teenager.

[Neo]

Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.

Actually available for 5 bucks something on Baen (webscription). Isn't it wonderful 

[JRTomlin]

Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.

And ... forgive me, I had to do it.

No, he isn't my b*--but I sure as *ahem* wish he would write faster. So shoot me.  

Edit: Hehe Enjoyed the link though. And as much as George complains, there are worse things in life than having thousands of people demanding your next book.

[JRTomlin]

Actually available for 5 bucks something on Baen (webscription). Isn't it wonderful 

You can bet it's available from Baen. They are so ahead of every other publisher when it comes to ebooks, it's not even funny.

The first volume of that is available FREE here from Baen's Free Library, as well.

http://www.baen.com/library/

[MosesSiregarIII]

Thanks, J.R. Funny, I had this one on my Kindle already from a while back, but I never read it. I'm off to read some of it now ...

[Chris Northern]

I just though of another one; I'm not a fan of Arthurian fiction, primarily because the subject has been done to death and mostly not very interestingly, but Richard Monaco wrote The Grail Wars (late 70's and early 80's) and that was very well done imho. Apart from The Winter King etc. by Cornwell, these are probably the best on offer.

[Arthur Slade]

Arthur, if you can't get enough of GGK, I interviewed him at World Fantasy Con last October.

Thanks for the link!

Art

[JRTomlin]

You can bet it's available from Baen. They are so ahead of every other publisher when it comes to ebooks, it's not even funny.

The first volume of that is available FREE here from Baen's Free Library, as well.

http://www.baen.com/library/

And any fantasy or science fiction fan who wants to try out some authors free should check out the Baen's Free Library link I posted here. They have a huge portion of the Baen's backlist (which includes some of the best authors in the genres) for download. It's a great place to get acquainted with authors you may have missed.