recommended fantasy books?

[Viking longboat]

I,v finaly become old enough and patient enough to finaly read books and have always been a huge sword and sorcery fan. A friend gave me Magician apprentice by raymond e feist about 2 years ago and i finaly read it about 6 months ago and since then i,v read the whole rift war saga and the 2 follow ups and am craving more,Iv also read Chronicals by Margrete Weiss and enjoyed all 3 of those. Just wondering if any of you fantasy vets can recommend me some good books. There are so many out there and im not sure what to grab next. Any input would be appreciated.Thanx.

[Drummergal42]

You might enjoy the Pendragon Series by DJ Mchale. I am not that big of a fan of fantasy, yet I lover it!

[Shurtugal]

Peter Pan! Peter Pan! Peter PAn!

You must read Peter Pan!

[Viking longboat]

Just wondering if anyone can reccomend somthing dark and gritty,more adult based fantasy. I,v read some reviews and The black company by Glenn Cook sounds good and also Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Can anyone comment on either of these books or recomend somthing?

You might enjoy the Pendragon Series by DJ Mchale. I am not that big of a fan of fantasy, yet I lover it!

Thanx for the input.

[Niamh]

Magician was an amazing novel. If you liked that here are a few recommendations;
Read the Bitterbynde saga by Cecilia Dart Thornton. (ill made mute, Lady of sorrows, battle of evernight)
Then Read Mists of Avalon BY Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Maybe the magicians guild trilogy by Trudi canavan.
If you have patience, give the Shannara books by Terry Brooks a go, but skip the "Sword" too much of a LOTR rip off. Or even read his running with the demon series.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Anything by Pratchett
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy (etc) by Douglas Adams.

[clumsy angelle]

Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

[Melmoth]

Italo Calvino's Fantastic Tales, a compilation of stories by such authors as Gogol, Scott, Poe, Dickens, Maupassant, LeFanu, James... when dealing with fantasy for me that's the book.

[Ovid Reader]

Although not many people have heard of him, George MacDonald (not to be confused with the author of the Flashman series) wrote some of the greatest fantasy novels and I say that with some expertise on the subject, being a massive fan of that genre; also, for those of a younger age, I would recommend Diana Wynne Jones and something like The Princess and the Goblin by the formerly mentioned writer.

[JBI]

Italo Calvino's Fantastic Tales, a compilation of stories by such authors as Gogol, Scott, Poe, Dickens, Maupassant, LeFanu, James... when dealing with fantasy for me that's the book.

Or Calvino's own work is excellent, though I think Cosmicomics and T Zero fall under a strange form of sci-fi though, if such genre distinction can be given between the two, as there is no 'real' science in those books, only hypothetical archaic science. Either way, those books are highly recommended by me.

[Loki's Shadow]

I'm fairly suprised that no one has said Kristen Britain yet. Her ongoing series 'Green Rider' is amazing so far. Three books have been published and she's currently working on a fourth, with several more planned.
The Green Rider series is mostly aimed for a female audience, but I know several guys who have read it too. It's a very well-writen mix of swords, mystery, magic, and humor, but no single element is too overpowering. The only downside is that when you finish the book, you put it down and say "OK, where's the next one?"

[electricpenguin]

I started off on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, fell deeply in love with the first three or four books then gradually lost interest towards the end when it had passed the time for a REAL ending and entered into the time of 'THINGS JUST KEEP HAPPENING TO THESE CHARACTERS'.

Other suggestions:
Raymond E. Fiest's Magician
Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Neil Gaiman's American Gods (Norsetastic)

Kids/teens:
Garth Nix - Abhorsen
Derek Landy - Skullduggery Pleasent
Diana Wynne Jones - various

I've read a lot of good things about Susan Cooper too, I think the series is called 'The Dark Rising' or something? Any comments?

[Loki's Shadow]

I was just wondering if anone has read a book with the theme of the protagonist saying, "Fine, I'll save the world, but I'm going to do it my way."
I love those genres in fanfiction, but I can't seem to find any books out there like this.
Help?

[Stargazer86]

Of course the obvious would be Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit. Love those...they never get old

There's another series that I suppose would fall under the catagory "fantasy", but not in the traditional sense (no elves etc). Its called the Dark Tower series (I think there's like 8 of them) by Stephen King. It gets a bit off the wall at times but is pretty entertaining. As I said, not a traditional kind of fantasy, but still a departure from the norm.

[Wilde woman]

Or Calvino's own work is excellent, though I think Cosmicomics and T Zero fall under a strange form of sci-fi though, if such genre distinction can be given between the two, as there is no 'real' science in those books, only hypothetical archaic science. Either way, those books are highly recommended by me.

I second Calvino's Cosmicomics. That's some great sci-fi.

My favorite fantasy series is Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of the Ages. If you like Eddings, you might like Haydon.

Also, one of my favorite childhood series Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. And also Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

[Apocrypha75]

Ursula Le Guin's five Earthsea novels deserve a mention in this thread. Written 1968, 1972 & 1973, and then 1990 and 2001, they do show great variety in many ways. The first three were, I think, intended for children - at least they are in the Puffin series - but the fourth, "Tehanu" is much darker and full of pain.
All of them fantasy - all, possibly, "coming of age" stories - all poetic - all demanding thought - all entertaining.

.

Another in support for Le Guin's Earthsea series. Just finished reading the first (Wizard Of Earthsea). I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to parts 2 & 3; my first foray into the Fantasy genre since Tolkien in my formative years.