Diane Duane has written some good fantasy, such as her Young Wizards series. She definately tends towards the epic and dramatic, what with reshaping planets and all; the good guys also tend to win.
Tanya Huff has written some good fantasy. Her Summoning series is good for humor ( “Do not tell Egyptian Gods they make you think of cartoon characters !” ); her Blood books good for vampire fans; her Quarters series good for general fantasy.
Patricia Wrede has written some good fantasy; I really like her Lyra books.
Lois McMaster Bujold has also written some good fantasy recently, like her Chalion books.
Jane Lindskold’s Firekeeper series is good; it’s about a girl raised by sentient wolves, thrust back in human society. Lots of intrigue, if you like that.
Everybody who has answered knows far more than I do about this stuff - but I do want to mention the recent Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanah Clarke. Huge fantasy, in a kind of Dickens style, set in an England of sorts in the Napoleonic Wars period. I loved it.
and though it’s short and so doesn’t exactly fit the criteriaThe Last Unicorn is worth a re-read.
Not that this is bad but Feist is one of many authors who write D&D game stories.
I actually include Diane Duane & Wiess in this category. Some of it is good reading but derivative is definately the word.
ITR champion The inklings did like The Worm Ouroboros from what I remember reading of them. But it is in a style that does does not lend itself to easy reading. I would say the same thing of **Erewhon ** by Samuel Butler
You can read this Public Domain Book online. I don’t recommend it, I read it and did not like it.
Whoops - just thought of two more that haven’t been mentioned:
There’s the Titus Groan trilogy by Mervyn Peake. otherworldly, well done but gloomy
also, if you like Lloyd Alexander, maybe you’ll like Evangeline Walton’s retelling of the Welsh Mabinogion tales: Her four books in this series are just wonderful. They are Island of the Mighty , Children of Llyr . Song of Rhiannon and Prince of Anwyn .
I forgot, look at Susan Cooper. More Youth oriented and a little Narnia feeling to them but excellent books and worth reading as an adult. (Like Harry Potter)
Hmm. Have you read the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams? It’s a little tiny bit bleak, but in a Garth Nix style rather than a G.R.R. Martin style. I can’t stand A Song of Ice and Fire either, and I love Tad Williams. Have you read The Neverending Story and Momo, by Michael Ende? If you haven’t you should get them.
Tanya Huff is nice and light.
I just went and perused my bookshelves, and I think everyone else has already covered my favourites. I do like Le Guin, but I can understand why other people might not like her. It’s a pity Robin McKinley doesn’t spend all her time writing- she hasn’t done nearly enough books, and I want a sequel to Sunshine, dammit!
My favorite writer/series, but she doesn’t want realism. The first few pages of Gardens of the Moon would probably put her off fantasy forever.
I’ll suggest Guy Gavriel Kay and Robin Hobb. They’re very fond of their major characters, so you can relax and enjoy the story without worrying that anyone important is going to die.
If you can handle a little bit of realism, try Lynn Flewelling, the series that starts with The Bone Doll’s Twin.
You’re definitely forgiven. It’s hard to define anyway. jrfranchi, I’ve read Cooper and didn’t like her at all. I got two and a half books in and wasn’t feeling the love. She reminds me of Eoin Colfer and Brian Jacques (and Cornelia Funke, to some extent). Lots of fans, but it leaves me cold. Still, I expected to love her, and I’m not surprised when her name pops up.
An excellent choice, Sir. See also Creatures of Light and Darkness dealing with an Egyptian mythology. Too bad he tired of that genre; I’d have loved to see a Norse saga or Ring of the Niebelungen by Zelazney.
Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague DeCamp wrote a series of novellas that have been collected undet the title The Incomplete Enchanter. Using symbolic logic the characters can transport themselves into works of heroic fantasy like Spenser’s **The Faerie Queen ** and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. These are very light-hearted and a lot of fun to read.
I have a kind-of off the wall suggestion for you if your a used bookstore/library kind of person. A man named Ernest Bramah Smith wrote a series of fantasy short stories about Kai-Lung, a wanderer. They are ostensibly set in mideval China but are really disguised commentataries about Victorian and Edwardian England. They are well-crafted and wry looks at the world of turn of the century Britain. He also wrote some wonderful detective stories about a blind detective named Max Carrados. Despite the potential for hoke-iness inherent in the concept, they never become contrived. I’m sure he’s out of print, but he’s worth searching for.
Returning to fantasy, Christopher Stasheff has written a series of novels set on a planet called Graymayre about a family of witches and warlocks. They tend to the lighthearted. They are fantasy even though he does start the series off with a science fiction premise. The planet was colonized by people who decided to recreate the Middle Ages on the new world. The part of this premise that I don’t buy is that wealthy people might be inclined to return to the economy of the Middle Ages and be lords and ladies but who would voluntarlly emigarate to a new world to become a peasant? That quibble aside, and a penchant for some really bad puns (a Jewish leprechaun named Kelly O’Goldbagel?), the series is entertaining. Stasheff is a Roman Catholic and this does crop up in the books but it’s not really intrusive, more a different way at looking at the usual fantasy tropes.
Neil Gaiman also has some fun stuff, although you have to be careful, because some of his books are very dark, and he loves a bit of gratuitous gore. Good Omens, Stardust and his most recent, Anansi Boys are a lot lighter.
I have a few dozen Piers Anthony books if you’re interested.
I also have, almost everything by the all time master of Space Opera. Not fantasy but the Lensman series is almost a must read for Sci-Fi Fans. Especially for those who think Powered armor started with Starship Troopers.
BTW: EE Doc Smith
As I suggested elsewhere, try Jack Vance’s ‘Lyonesse’ trilogy. Heavy on the fae, set on a mythical island adjoining a historical Europe and full of magic, derring do, some humour and plenty of treacherous politics. There is some death, but it’s not Martin-level of grim.
That’s the Gormenghast Trilogy and it takes a hell of a long time to say nothing very much. Very atmospheric, but an entire chapter talking about somebody’s knees going ‘click’ as they climb the stairs can be a bit much to take.
My recommendation is to read anything by the duo of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Though the Dragonlance series is very thoroughly mired in Dungeons and Dragons quite literally (they were created as tie-ins for TSR), they are nevertheless excellently written. Much better than any of the other TSR/D&D/Forgotten Realms stuff. The duo also wrote several other series that are very good, which have no relation to Dragonlance or D&D.
