[MajicK]

I'm an adult fanstasy newcomer and have just pored over Feist's riftwar saga. I'm looking for my next obsession and I hate reading a horrible book yet forcing myself to finish it because it *just might* get better. So I'm humbly asking for your wisened opinions on which fantasy books are absolutely spectacular.

[Barbarossa]

There are plenty of threads dedicated to reccomendations already, you might want to check out, but here is my advice:

George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series, is truely magnifcent, and rarely do people on this board agree as much as in this case.
It's dark, gritty and will surprise you all the time. Some people are offended by occassional sex scenes, I personally don't see why, but if you that kind of guy you might want to look somewhere else.

The "soIaF" series will be six books long, three are out so far: "Game of thrones, clash of kings, Storm of swords"

Another great author in my opinion would be
Robin Hobb. She has written two trilogies so far: "the farseer trilogy" (Assassin's adept, Royal assassin, Assassin's quest) and "the Lifeship traders" (ship of magic, mad ship, ship of destiny).
She too is dark in mood with interesting characters.

Another favorite of mine would be Guy Gavriel Kay, he is ideal if you don't want to start lengthy series, several of his books are stand alones: Tigana, Loins of Al'Rashan, Sof of Arbonne. He writes perhaps the most beautifull language in contemporary history.

If you want something more "hardboiled", a mixture of modern gangster films like pulp fiction with fantasy, Steven Brust will be your man.

Finally if you like humor (especially the British kind) in fantasy give Terry Pratchett a chance.

[polgara]

Eddings!!!

[Shehzad]

Welcome, Majick... You already have my recommendations so...

[Rob B]

Check these threads for some recommendations. There are more, just click on the numbers to older pages at the bottom.

Whatca ya all reading? (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000094.html)

Summer Reading (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000562.html)

Best Books In (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000548.html)

Underrated Authors (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000479.html)

Suggestions for completed fantasy series (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000499.html)

[Pathir]

Couldn't agree more with Barbarossa. Excellent choices. Martin. Kay and Hobb are wonderful writers.
Eddings I cannot recommend however, unless you are around the age of fifteen. His books become boring really soon.
Other great writers: Jack Vance and OS Card.

[Rhaegar]

I would definitely suggest George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Words cannot describe the brilliance of these books. The one drawback I have found in reading Martin is that I find myself less satisfied with other fantasy authors. Not many have the writing talent of GRRM. Even the very good series Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams (I have just read the first book of the series) pales in comparison to GRRM's ASoIaF.

[Zsinj16]

Well, I would certainly recommend "The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy" by Tad Williams. I am currently reading the third book now and I love it! The trilogy can be a bit slow at times, but believe me, it's well worth the read!! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif
Also,I recommend J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classics, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy", but I imagine you would have already read them by now

Fantasy novels that I would recommend to you that I haven't read yet are:

-"The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien (which is the prequel to "The Hobbit" and "The LOTR Trilogy"
-"The Shannara Series" by Terry Brooks" (despite the naysayings of it from others on this board)
-"The Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends Trilogies" by Weiss & Hickman, also "The Dragonlance War of Souls Trilogy" by Weiss & Hickman ( although the third novel is yet to be released)
-"The Darksword Trilogy" by Weiss & Hickman
(actually four books, but I've read that the fourth novel really screws up the storyline)
-"The Deathgate Cycle" by Weiss & Hickman (seven novels in all)
-"The Sovereign Stone Trilogy" by Weiss & Hickman (although the second and third novels are yet to be released)
-"The Dark Elf Trilogy" by R.A. Salvatore
-"The Icewind Dale Trilogy" by R.A. Salvatore
-"The Drow Legacy Quadrology" by R.A. Salvatore
-"The Spine of the World" by R.A. Salvatore
-"The Servant of the Shard" by R.A. Salvatore
-"The First and Second Demonwar Trilogies" by R.A. Salvatore (although the third novel in the second Demomwar Trilogy is yet to be released.
-"The Runelords Series" by David Farland (three novels released so far)
-All fantasy novels by David Gemmel
-"The Warhammer Series" by-?
-"The ASOIAF Series" by George R.R. Martin
-"The Shadow Series" by Chris Claremont and George Lucas
-"The Elric Series" by Michael Moorcock

Well, that's all of the fantasy novels I can think of right now without getting a big headache! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif My list should keep ya busy! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[MajicK]

Thank you all for your suggestions!
I think my next course of action will be to read the Martin series that is so highly lauded.

[FitzChivalry]

Heh, Z16, you are recommending books you haven't read yet?
He'll come to hunt you down when he won't like them you know.