What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Sorry to be stubborn, but read the sci-fi novels of Iain M. Banks. You don't crave for others after reading them...
(And yes, you are frustrated when he does not write a sci-fi novel in a year X...)

Unimaginable fantasy, incredible characters, especially female (that confessed also by my female-feminist friends who dig the books wholeheartedly), never really know what's going on and the worlds are just astoninshing!

Oh, you are quite right that Banks (by any name) is a superb writer of great stories, great characters, entirely unique take on everything, whether he writes under "M" or not. Consider Phlebas was one of the best reads I'd had in along time, and I'm currently on Feersum Endjinn. He does something incredible to and with language and his power of invention is awesome. It might just be me, but possibly I prefer his "mainstream" stories--Whit and The Wasp Factory, which more probably to me belong under the rubric distopia.

Which raises the point of why I hadn't mentioned him... Most of the authors named here I think belong to a particular kind of Fantasy, one that I would call a sub-genre of the larger category of Speculative Fiction, which to me combines both science fiction and fantasy, all kinds of fantasy and not simply the fairy kind mainly represented here.

But let's not split hairs or definitions! There could well be dwarves in space I have not read of--or have forgotten. It's a sad state that reading new books sometimes pushes older ones out of the memory pool.

[Firefoot]

Thanks to those of you who responded. It helps.

[Rockin_tha_Casbah]

I've read some of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, but I just couldn't get into them.

One series I absolutely loved was His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I'm not exactly sure if you would classify that as fantasy, though. I'm not sure how else you would group it in that case.

I see I'm about the 10,000th person to mention Terry Pratchett, but I still have to. I read Good Omens and thought that that was a "wickedly excellent book" (to quote my 7th grade book report), and then my friend turned me onto the Discworld Series. Yet another awesome set of books.

I haven't read much Neil Gaiman, but I did read American Gods, and as soon as I turned it back in to the library, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a copy of my own. It was that good.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

It might just be me, but possibly I prefer his "mainstream" stories--Whit and The Wasp Factory, which more probably to me belong under the rubric distopia.

Which raises the point of why I hadn't mentioned him... Most of the authors named here I think belong to a particular kind of Fantasy, one that I would call a sub-genre of the larger category of Speculative Fiction, which to me combines both science fiction and fantasy, all kinds of fantasy and not simply the fairy kind mainly represented here.

Mmmm, The Wasp Factory. That has to be in my all time top ten books. What an incredibly horrible, disturbing, but yet somehow magical book!

Bringing it back to my current favourite, Gaiman, I'm nearing the end of the Sandman series now, and I'm stunned by the scope of his writing, which seems to veer from horror to fantasy to sci-fi to satire. I think they might fit under Bethberry's category nicely.

I used to be very sceptical about comics and graphic novels and wonder how they could possibly be classed as literature but I've realised I was simply blinkered as they all demand a 'script' which must be as well written as a traditional novel in order to provide a compelling read. And the breadth of Gaiman's own reading is immediately clear in Sandman - not many 'comic books' venture into scripture, Roman history and ideas about gender, but he throws just about anything and everything into the plot. I find his knowledge and imagination as intimidating as I find Tolkien's.

Everyone should read them, but they aren't cheap, I warn you.

[Encaitare]

Originally Posted by Lal

Everyone should read them, but they aren't cheap, I warn you.

Tell me about it. Let's see... if each one is roughly $20 (no idea what that is in pounds or euros) and I've bought 11 Sandman graphic novels (the 10 in the series plus Endless Nights), then I've spent $220 on the Sandman. Wow.

Would I spend more? Of course! They're worth it, though, because you can read them again and again.

And the breadth of Gaiman's own reading is immediately clear in Sandman - not many 'comic books' venture into scripture, Roman history and ideas about gender, but he throws just about anything and everything into the plot. I find his knowledge and imagination as intimidating as I find Tolkien's.

Yep. That's some deep stuff. Speaking of ideas about gender, my favorite character in the whole series is probably Wanda (NOT Alvin).

[Lalwendë]

It's bad enough that the core series is so expensive, there are even more peripheral books that you can buy! I've got hold of Death:the High Cost of Living, and the Sandman Companion too. Some of the add-ons are actually written by Gaiman, but there seems to be a whole Sandman Library that Vertigo comics do too, written by other writers, including stories about Thessaly and so on. Kind of a library of 'official' fan-fics, I suppose.

I've heard tell that Gaiman wants to release a single volume of all the Sandman stories - now that would be amazing, and would probably break your arms too.

I loved Wanda too! There's some interesting stuff about the character in the Sandman Companion that's worth reading (if you've not already got a copy that is!).

[Thinlómien]

Must continue this babbling... but having read a lot of Guy Gavriel Kay lately (A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan and currently The Last Light of the Sun), I must say he's advancing to my favourite writers. I love the way he writes and I love his characters. He has tradegy, but not too much or syrup-like. I heartily recommend.

[Encaitare]

Originally Posted by Lal

I loved Wanda too! There's some interesting stuff about the character in the Sandman Companion that's worth reading (if you've not already got a copy that is!).

I don't actually. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. An "official fanfiction" book I highly recommend is the Sandman: Book of Dreams (I believe it is called). It has some lovely stories about all the characters of the Sandman, including a really good one about Cain and Abel (ahhh, nothing like twisted brotherly love).

Oh... this thread is so huge I've had distinct trouble wading through it all and have given up prior to the end!
I thought I'd mention some of the stuff I've appreciated from my collection, apologies if they've been discussed before.

I think one of the great things about Tolkien is that once you've read the books, in my case at around the age of 8 or 9 I believe... They set you on a path of appreciating really creative, well thought out writing, in no matter what genre you prefer to wade. The downside to this (if you see it as a downside that is) is that it can make you a lot more picky about what you spend your money on... which sometimes can be somewhat frustrating when you've run out of current favourite authors and have to go looking for new ones! Here's some of mine, and I hope it might help anyone that is perhaps in that situation

William Gibson is a must for anyone interested in the more cyberpunk end of things.... he in fact pretty much created cyberpunk all on his own.

Neil Gaiman has been mentioned a lot here I note, but I thought I'd bring him up anyway, simply because he is probably the only author whom I can quite honestly say I find myself checking regularly on, to see whether there's been a new release... he is creating some incredibly unusual and enthralling stuff, not least of which were the Sandman series.
For those of you who are graphic novel fans by the way, I've recently started purchasing the Sandman spin off series Lucifer, which though not written by Gaiman is very much in his vein of thinking (think gods, devils, unseen universes, social commentary, dark humour). Well worth a read!
Oh and if you really want to find out where the origin of the wave of these sorts of adult graphic novels is, see if you can find yourself a copy of Watchmen... it was I believe the first of this kind, with a very unusual twist on the usual superhero scenario.

Orson Scott Cards "Ender" series is also well worth a read, another one with plenty of social commentary, set in a future galaxy where we're about to be destroyed by an alien race (or are we?) Sounds like a cliché I know, but very well written!
Shame the man himself is something of an outspoken character really…

I've not heard anyone mention the Dan Simmons Hyperion cantos which I'm quite surprised at?

And last but by no means least what about Peter F Hamilton? His night's dawn trilogy is stunning.... and you can't really fault any of the Minstar stuff (I forget the name of the series ) either.

Oh there's so many more!!!!!! I just love reading