They follow the path of a young Druid who becomes the top Druid in all of Gaul, and is the sage behind Vercingetorix when he fights Caesar. The first book takes place before and during the war with Caesar, and the next one takes place on their trip to Hibernia.
If you like GRRM, you’ll like these, and they have the added benefit of taking place on Earth with an author who does some pretty detailed research into her topics. They are like the realpolitik Fantasy novel style of GRRM but infused with actual Earth history.
There is also something about the way she writes that is very sensual in a way most Fantasy authors lack. IMO.
Wow… there are a lot of different book listed here. Looks like I might be busy on amazon for a while, checking all these out. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Keep them coming, and at this rate I may never run out of things to read.
Also, I had read Jonathan Strange way back when it was released. Slipped my mind that it was a fantasy novel, but dam, what a fantastic read. 700+ pages and I never wanted it to end.
Lots of what I’d recommend has already been mentioned, though I disagree with some of the above judgments.
Heartily seconding Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion books, though Paladin of Souls is by far the superior novel in the set.
I think Sanderson’s Mistborn is a remarkable book, though I haven’t felt the urge to read the sequel yet.
If you like complex world building and characterization, try Daniel Abraham’s A Shadow in Summer. It’s the first of a four book plan. I think the first three are out, though I have only read the first.
I agree with all the recommendations of the Prydain books and Jonathan Strange, though the former is definitely YA and the latter is definitely long.
Robin Hobb is very good, though I’d avoid her Soldier Son trilogy at first. It’s pretty long-winded, though I enjoyed most of it.
In urban fantasy, the Dresden books are remarkable in that I think they continue to improve, even after reaching the double digits. Butcher has an epic fantasy series that didn’t really inspire me to read past the first book.
Other urban fantasists I like are Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson books) and urk. My brain just stopped working, but the Kitty Norville books by someone or other.
I had other books I would have mentioned, but the aforementioned brain failure has taken its toll.
His other series (more fantasy, less supernatural) Codex Alera is also very good, and shows some hints of alternate universe instead of fantasy universe (but saying that doesn’t give anything away).
Ooh, yeah! The first three are out, and they just get better as they go. I was reading A War in Autumn in the hospital right after the birth of my baby daughter. Oblique spoiler:
I was REALLY GLAD I hadn’t read it a week earlier.
I just read Mistborn a couple of days ago, and liked it so much that I ran out the same day to buy the next two. I will admit that I’ve called every single plot twist in the first two books in advance, except for the secret of the Lord Ruler, but everything else was great enough that I didn’t care.
I’ve never understood why people like this series. OK, deconstruction, but he managed it by making every single character unlikable, the crowning example of which being the titular character. The man rapes an innocent young girl in the first section of the first book, just because he’s horny and not convinced she’s real.
Forgot my actual recommendation: Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunner series. High fantasy with a heavy focus on politics. Excellent writing, with a particular focus on characterization and complex plots.
It’s an unfortunate statement on the world that I always feel that I must warn in advance of a homosexual relationship that begins near the end of the second book.
I know I’ve told this story here before, but I thought it was funny. I went to Daniel Abraham’s blog after reading the first book. I said something complimentary and then said that I rarely read series while they’re still being written and that if he pulled a Robert Jordan I was going to be upset.
He replied that it would be a four book series. He wouldn’t stretch it out for years and years and years. I have his personal guarantee!
