A-L

I greatly enjoyed Martin's. (Awaiting the next one) Recently I have put down Fiests for a while, though I really do like his series. I am reading the third book in Erikson's series so far Memories of Ice which I find to be one of the most amazing fantasy novels I've ever read. Robin Hobb was great though I only read the Farseer trilogy (I think there were three?) and John Marco's Eye of god stuff is decent (I say this because it tends to get really dry sometimes, though he opens really well). I personally cannot stand the Wheel of time series I nearly puked trying to pick them up, but I do like Goodkind and I also really enjoyed China Meivilles novels so far.

jon_snow

I personally like the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman.

Also, (its YA), but the Bartimaeus Trilogy's pretty good.

Tolkien and despise in the same sentence....blasphemy!

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I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.

RebelGoddess

I hope this hasn't been mentioned yet (I'm in too much of a rush to read all the prior posts, LOL).

The Golden Ass by Apuleius (Also called The Metamorphoses)

It's a pretty old story, from roughly 160AD, but it's really interesting and funny.

I had to read it for a Fantasy Lit class for college and I enjoyed it.

The basic story is that this guy, Lucius, gets turned into a donkey and accidentily gets stuck that way; it's the story of him being passed from owner to owner as he learns all their stories and tries to become human again.

It's definitely not your average boring, old Greek book:

There's blood, sex, and a whole lot of debauchery.

Racheal

Oh, and a few less original ideas for you:

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Jekyll and Hyde by Stevenson

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

The Lord of the Ring books and The Hobbit

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

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Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

terion

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. Lost Roman Legion meets Pokemon (seriously). Also his Dresden Files series for some modern fantasy.

Anything Neil Gaiman is worth a read (and usually fantasy - Good Omens, Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Sandman). Also Terry Pratchet's Discworld (who also co-authored Good Omens) is worth reading for fantasy and humor.

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The demon shifted and growled, “This isn’t a social call, Sius.” I smiled coldly at that and let the arm with the gun fall to my side so it was visible to him. “Sure it is. I don’t work for demons anymore.” A scowl touched my face as I added, “So tell your masters to kiss my ass.” -Athanasius Delaney, Former Demon Hunter, Black Chaos

Bones, a Love Story of Sorts: my online novel

buyjupiter03

I like my light and fluffy fantasy, so it really doesn't matter to me if it's a little on the unoriginal side.

However, "original" stories and perhaps obvious rec's:
Pratchett's Discworld series.
The 13 and 1/2 Lives of Capt. Blue Bear (Rumo, I think)--He's written several others, but that's the only one I've personally read.
Any of the "Chicks in Chainmail" books (ed. Esther Friesner)
Any Esther Friesner (she'll be a bit hard to find as most of her stuff is out of print, but amazon has a bit).
Any of the anthologies edited by Datlow and Windling (re-tellings of fairy tales, but in very different and unusual ways, good way to get introduced to new authors without having to buy a whole lot of books).
Tanith Lee, very dark English writer.

And, am I the only one having a hard time wrapping my head around the Clancy recc's? I mean, any story that's made up *could* classify as fantasy...was there a special reason why you said so Sam?

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Dennis: Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away.

seigfried007

Oo, I read Tanith Lee's Black Unicorn in the sixth grade and thought it was very interesting (love to get another copy). Peeve rocked.

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Poor people are crazy, Jack--I'm eccentric

--Howard Payne

jdsd

I would suggest the Robert Jordan series 'The wheel of time'.

The first book is called 'The Eye of the World'.



A review of this book by Pittsburgh Press : 'Jordan writes with the stark vision of light and darkness, and sometimes a childish sense of wonder, that permeates J.R.R Tolkien's works. His style is undebatably his own.'


Jordan died in '07, his final book in the series is being written by another author. I can't remember his name...

Percible Dryke

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. An excellent debut novel, probably my favorite new fantasy of the year. Very cool plot and story. Highly reccomended.