[QUOTE=rjk]
That’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and they’re great! (Note that I had to look up the correct spelling myself.)
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[/QUOTE]
:o
Sorry about that …
On another note, I vaguely remember someone once telling me that the term for the genre “swords and sorcery” derives from this series. Anyone know?
And another recommendation: The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard: The Book of Knights: Meynard, Yves: 9780312864828: Books - Amazon.ca
Absolutely delightful and very unusual fantasy.
[QUOTE=Paladud]
Finished the first Garrett book. Everyone who hasn’t read it should drop whatever they are doing and order it. It felt like three parts Black Company and two parts Discworld, a truly winning mix. Not epic by any means, just a pure joy to read.
From the above, I’ve read Rhapsody, A Wizard of Earthsea, and The True Game. I loved Stephenson’s big three but couldn’t get into the Baroque Cycle, and will pick up Zodiac some day. Shannara was by far the worst thing I ever touched in the genre, hardly worth the 25 cents at the library sale.
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I enjoyed the Garret books - he hasn’t done a new one in too long. If you liked them, definitely try Butcher’s Dresden series.
Oh, also, Raymond E. Feist. Start with The Riftwar Saga, then go on to the SerpentWar Saga, then go on to Conclave of Shadows series, and then the Darkwar saga. All great reads, and there are even more series set in this Midkimia universe.
Peirs Anthony, Mode series and Phaze series.
Robert Asprin’s M.Y.T.H Inc series.
Tracy Hickman and margaret Weis’s Death Gate Cycle series. as well as their Darksword Trilogy.
Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy
James Clemens’ Wit’ch Series.
Ben Bova’s Orion Series (more Sci-fan)
Phillips Jose Farmers Riverworld Series as well as World of Teirs (highly recommended if you are an Amber Fan)
Oh, speaking of Amber fan, read Charles Stross’ The Merchant Princes series.
sorry for them all being series. Don’t have time to give individual books and reviews (sorry for the lack of reviews, but I am at work on lunch so no time. I highly recommend all the series I listed though)
Since someone called out the Shannara series, I have to mention another. I really wonder about all the recommendations of The Sword of Truth series by Goodkind. I’ve read a good number of them, but it’s mostly because I find the hard cover versions for $2 in the bargain bin at Barnes and Noble. Let me sum it up for you. The author needs to find himself a good dominatrix. The end.
The Garret books by Cook are great though! I’m glad the OP discovered them. I’m looking forward to hearing what else Paladud likes out of the list since from your posts we have similar tastes.
I’d say that Goodkind “borrowed” as much from the Wheel of Time as Brooks “borrowed” from Lord of the Rings. I think Goodkind did a better job of it than Jordan though, where Shannara didn’t.
The Sword of Truth series is entertaining still though (I had no problem with Shannara, I recognize that it isn’t great literature, but what Fantasy really is), even if it does get a bit too preachy, wordy and dwell a bit much on how much Richard suffers.
Any avid Fantasy reader should have at least read the first three books if not have it on his/her bookshelf, IMO of course.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Have you read any Neal Stephenson? I can heartily endorse all his novels, but Snow Crash might be the most accessible. He’s very cerebral and it borders on science fiction/cyberpunk/futuristic fiction. Not sure if you just wanted just swords and sorcery type stuff.
[/QUOTE]
It borders science fiction? Sure, I suppose in the same way that Kansas borders the United States.
Great book, though.
To the OP, since you liked Raymond Feist, have you checked out the series of books he wrote with Janny Wurts, that’s set on the other side of the rift during the Riftwar? I actually like it quite a bit better than the Magician books.
Did you by chance read the OP? 
[QUOTE=Miller]
To the OP, since you liked Raymond Feist, have you checked out the series of books he wrote with Janny Wurts, that’s set on the other side of the rift during the Riftwar? I actually like it quite a bit better than the Magician books.
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I have read them. Didn’t like them quite as much as Riftwar/Serpentwar but they were decent.
[QUOTE=Paladud]
Did you by chance read the OP?
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Yeah, but there was the being at work thing, and I was just thinking of as many as I could without listing too many mentioned before. I must have forgotten.
I’m glad you pointed it out instead of offering interest in my 15 other recommendations
[QUOTE=glee]
Although I suppose they are more for younger readers, I like the ‘Wizard of Earthsea’ books by Ursula K LeGuin.
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Couldn’t disagree more (in regards to the YA tag). I think these are a perfect example of a well-edited trilogy (since added to), where the etraneous stuff has been sliced, leaving a tight, well-written work. LOVE that series.
I second trying the Wolfe series again. It’s one of those, upon completion, you’ll be very happy you’ve read. Re-reading is a distinct pleasure as well.
I liked the Fionavar Tapestry by Kay.
Didn’t see the Silmarillion in your list…I liked it better than al the other stuff from Tolkein.
-Cem
[QUOTE=Balance]
If you’re in the mood for some humor in your fantasy, and a somewhat different setting from most, consider Barry Hughart’s Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. That’s the omnibus edition, which consists of three novels. The first one, Bridge of Birds is the best, but Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen are well worth reading.
On a darker note, there’s P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath series. Godstalk and Dark of the Moon are available in a single volume as Dark of the Gods. Seeker’s Mask and To Ride a Rathorn are the next two in the series. They’re very dark, bloody, and intricate, with some quite disturbing themes emerging in the later books. Oddly enough, there’s quite a bit of humor, as well, but it tends to be wry, ironic, or manifest in absurd situations. I can’t really draw any parallels with any of the books/series in the OP for this; I’m just suggesting it because I think the books are really, really good. Fair warning: The series is not yet complete, and the releases are pretty far apart.
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Wow…points for obscurity (undeserved!).
I had no idea that Hodgell’s series had continued on past Dark of the Moon. I loved reading that series. I’m going to Amazon right now!
I second the #10 Ox. I had the two original 1st-ediation paperbacks, and they’re worht some $$ now.
-Cem
I have all the Garret books—in hardcover.
[QUOTE=Cemetery Savior]
Wow…points for obscurity (undeserved!).
I had no idea that Hodgell’s series had continued on past Dark of the Moon. I loved reading that series. I’m going to Amazon right now!
[/QUOTE]
Yay! I’ve led a fellow Hodgell fan back into the fold. 
So far, Dark of the Moon is the weakest of the series. The next two are very near Godstalk levels of good. Don’t miss the collection of short stories, Blood and Ivory–it includes a fun “missing chapter” from Godstalk and a couple of other Jame stories (either non-canon or set at other points in her life). It also has one of the coolest Sherlock Holmes stories I’ve ever read, oddly enough.
I also want to second Dunawake’s recommendation of Foster’s Journeys of the Catechist trilogy (Carnivores of Light and Darkness, Into the Thinking Kingdoms, and Triumph of Souls). It’s an imaginative and often surreal take on the epic journey. Repeat after me: Ehomba is just a simple herdsman.
[QUOTE=Miller]
It borders science fiction? Sure, I suppose in the same way that Kansas borders the United States.
Great book, though.
[/quote]
Is cyberpunk a genre within science fiction? Or is it a genre of its own? Some sort of futuristic fantasy? I think these genre labels are pretty restrictive, and they break down when you start talking about authors like Mieville and Stephenson. We could have a whole separate thread about that, probably. I like to think of books like Snow Crash as fantasty novels set in the future, which may actually also be a working definition of sci fi, so… yeah. That’s why I semi-accidentally started suggesting sci fi to the OP.
Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle is mind-blowingly amazing, btw. Starts off slowly, takes a while to get into, and is very challenging, but worth it. I’m within 200 pages of the end of the last book, and it took me all summer to get there.
Without reading Stephensons, I couldn’t comment, but cyberpunk is within Science Fiction. Unless it contains magic (not Psionics, which is decidedly scifi) it is Science Fiction (Sci-Fi). Sci-Fan (Science Fantasy) is it’s own Genre, sort of an intersect of the two main genres. C.S Freidmans Coldfire Trilogy is decidedly Sci-Fan. Vampires in the future would be Sci-Fan.
Psionic powers and crazy cybernetic implants and genetic superpowers? Science Fiction (yeah, I consider Comic books fantasy, but most do contain those with defined magic)
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Is cyberpunk a genre within science fiction? Or is it a genre of its own? Some sort of futuristic fantasy? I think these genre labels are pretty restrictive, and they break down when you start talking about authors like Mieville and Stephenson. We could have a whole separate thread about that, probably. I like to think of books like Snow Crash as fantasty novels set in the future, which may actually also be a working definition of sci fi, so… yeah. That’s why I semi-accidentally started suggesting sci fi to the OP.
[/quote]
Yeah, cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction. There are a lot of books that don’t fit well into one category or another, but I wouldn’t consider Snow Crash to be one. It’s been years since I read it, but I don’t recall any fantasy elements to it at all: it was solidly science fiction.
Yeah, the Baroque Cycle is fucking astounding. It will be regarded, I think, as one of the great works of literature of the turn of the century.
Have you read its prequel, The Cryptonomicon? Good stuff there, too.
Lots of good recommendations already, I see. How about Lynn Flewelling? Her Nightrunner series, and the related trilogy, ‘Bone Doll’s Twin’, ‘Hidden Warrior’ and ‘Oracle’s Queen’ were excellent reads, as were Holly Lisle’s ‘Diplomacy of Wolves’, ‘Vengence of Dragons’ and ‘Courage of Falcons’.
A golden oldie that seems to have been overlooked: The Dragon and the George, by Gordon Dickson. Do yourself a favor, though, and only read the original, not the sequels written some 20 years later.
[QUOTE=XaMcQ]
How about Lynn Flewelling? Her Nightrunner series, .
[/QUOTE]
Good series, on a related note: Rose of the Prophet series by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis.
[QUOTE=Cemetery Savior]
Couldn’t disagree more (in regards to the YA tag). I think these are a perfect example of a well-edited trilogy (since added to), where the etraneous stuff has been sliced, leaving a tight, well-written work. LOVE that series.
…
Didn’t see the Silmarillion in your list…I liked it better than al the other stuff from Tolkein.
-Cem
[/QUOTE]
I think Earthsea is great too, but the material is certainly suitable for young teenagers.
I can’t agree about the Silmarillion - it’s a set of disconnected stories of wildly varying quality, which were undoubtedly meant to be edited by Tolkien. Sadly he ran out of time to do it.
I think the best fantasy book I’ve read in the past year is Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley.
It’s part one of a trilogy and, luckily for you, it’s just been published in the US!