Fantasy Novels

[Fuja]

Backing up the Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas under Red Skies (the sequel).
I found Prince of Nothing to be boring. Not really into the books where the main character spends most of his time brooding.

[Ryushii]

Seconding Steven Brust and adding:

Dave Duncan.

He's written dozens of books, most in the fantasy genre. Some are stand-alone and some are series, but they are nearly all brilliant. Some of the really great ones are older though, so you likely won't be able to find them in a new bookstore.

Oh. Although... as book report fodder goes, there's always:
Villains by Necessity
which is an good book about the bad guys of fantasy novels. A lot of poking fun at fantasy story-conventions and twisting of stereotypes. It was one of my favorites for quite awhile.

Villains by Necessity is fantasy novel written by Eve Forward, daughter of Robert L. Forward. It is currently out of print and a rare find among booksellers.

It sounded really good too...

[Melena]

again with the R.A. Salvatore love. The Dark Elf (drizzt) series as well as the following series that were written are some of my favorite fantasy novels.

[Michaera]

Gryphon

By this do you mean this? If not, go for it, you'll probably enjoy it, especially if you like gryphons and critters. I didn't see anyone recommend the Pern books, but those are pretty good as well. C.J. Cheryh, as recommended above, is a really cool author, but the ~4 books I've read have been of a really unique sort of style of writing.. Kind of hard at first til you get used to it. The Fortress in the Eye of Time series was my favorite there. The Chanur saga was good but not my top pick.

Other random things I'm thinking of:
Mercedes Lackey - Joust (really really good)
Joanne Bertin - Dragon and Phoenix (this is the second book in the story, but I can't remember the name of the first one... amazon it and it should come up. She never did the third book afaik though. ;-; --my woman has pointed out that it's The Last Dragonlord)
I read one of the Redwall books, I think the first one, it was pretty gewd.
OH, Elizabeth Kerner - Song in the Silence and the books following that were gewd.

That's all I can think of now, off the top of my head.

If you're interested in just a single book (not counting the sequel that came out a few years ago), Steven King's The Talisman is really good.

[Demisses]

the dragonriders of pern.....look them up and read them now!

[Norelco]

Add another vote for the George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire series...simply fucking fantastic.

[Dalmbraast]

I fully support recommendations made for the Rhapsody series, and The Song of Ice and Fire. You'll have to wait a bit between books, but George R R Martin is a king.

Another really good fantasy author is Guy Gavriel Kay. He's written a bunch of books: a short trilogy called the Fionavar Tapestry, and then a few unconnected novels, all set in the same world. The first I read from this world was called Tigana, and it still remains my favourite. However, others he's written - The Lions of Al-rassan, Sailing to Sarantium, and (a book to follow Sarantium, the title of which I cannot remember) are great, too. He's kinda like a historical fantasy writer; while the events of the story aren't based on history, a lot of his cultures are based on old cultures. Sarantium, for example, has heavy echoes of Rome, Al-Rassan definitely has some Middle-eastern/Spanish/Italian type stuff going on.

[Shuemue]

I must agree on Raymond E. Feist, he's definitely my favourite living author of that genre. I've fallen in love with that world, each new book gives me a little warm fuzzy feeling like sitting by the fireplace with old friends.

[Kaelan]

If you enjoy the combination of fantasy, wit and humor, read anything by Terry Pratchett.

[Killgannon]

gonna have to throw another vote towards the george RR Martin series A song of Fire and Ice... its pretty freaking awesome

if you want more sci-fi fantasy, which leans more towards fantasy (depends on which series really) check out most anything by Tad Williams (he's probably my favorite author)

also redwall series is good.. .but it will suck you in and you'll wind up reading 25 different books -.-;;

[Ksandra]

I will also attest to the Death Gate Cycle and the Song of Fire and Ice books. HOWEVER, I would say read DGC first. Why? because the song of fire and ice books are still going....which sucks when you have to keep waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for the next book. DGC has been out for over ten years now and is complete. So it's kinda nice to sit down and just get to read the whole thing through.


Also something I don't think anyone's mentioned is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shannara-Te ... 333&sr=8-1


That was my very first fantasy book and is still one of my favorites. The future books are not as good but are still a fun read. Brooks over time has really created a huge world of characters out of it in recent years which I've enjoyed. Definitely the SoS is worth the read though.

[Ryushii]

After some searching, I opted for The Talisman by Stephen King, mainly because I found can get a copy at the library (I'm broke), but I am definately going to hit up several of the series mentioned here. Thanks for all the help!

[-Zer0-]

George R.R. Martin ftw, expecting the 5th book any day now...

[Howard Roark]

Margaret Weis is my favorite fantasy author. I read many books of the genre, but her always came out as some of the most original imo (except for Dragon lance, but it was still a good series)


Star of the Guardian and Death Gate Cycle are probably my favorite 2.
(don't read the synopsis of every book since they have spoilers, but you can read the top paragraph)

Death Gate cycles was the best imo if you want to give it a try.

this.


or: Guy Gavriel Kay's The Fionavar Tapestry
imo, hands down best work of fantasy, shows Tolkien how to actually do some good character development

[Xsaintx-Siren]

Terry Goodkind- Sword Of Truth Series

[Shuemue]

Waylander - David Gemmel

[pohibaba]

I understand that you've already bought a book, but if you're looking for something in the future pick up anything written by Robin Hobb. Her way of creating characters that are as complex as anyone you know in real life is incredible. She's one of the greatest authors in the world, not just in the fantasy genre.

Terry Goodkind- Sword Of Truth Series

While this isn't the best technical fantasy series ever it's my favorite for sentimental reasons. Basically, it's Ayn Rand's objectivist theories set in a fantasy world. It's genius in my opinion.

[Burginator]

I'll also recommend The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever novels. They're truly fantastically written, with a bit of a nice twist to them -- But the content can get a bit heavy, at times.

[Sonomaa]

Waylander - David Gemmel

waylander is my least favorite book my gemmel
king beyond the gate and legend are my favorites, the entire drenai series is awesome. I havent read a gemmel book I didnt like and Ive read all of them multiple times.
salvatore once said he thought gemmel was better than he to give you an idea of the quality of the books.
Liveship series by Robin Hobb is amazing, Im currently reading those.

if you want to get some cheap book sets look for the one combined books by salvatore on amazon, older issues of books they have laying around, can get 3-4 of them combined for 10 bucks or less sometimes.

[Zeb]

Another vote for Malazan Book of the Fallen. Great series. I wish people would stop recommending the Thomas Covenant series, atleast without stating it's one of those books you'll love or hate. And I do mean hate.

I know it's not strictly fantasy but I've never found a book scary, so I'm going to recommend the Necropscope series by Brian Lumley. It's about a kid who can speak to the dead and his battle against vampires. Very easy reads and there are few followup series after the original 5.