[Alchemist]

I've seen a lot of talk about the "New Weird", but it seems that there are inklings of another movement within fantasy, a new generation and consequent revisioning of epic fantasy.

I'm talking about the post-Jordan/Brooks/Eddings/Martin generation of fantasists that seem to be bringing a freshness to the sub-genre. Certainly all "sub-generations" bring something new, but I'm particularly interested in this newer generation--of the last 5-10 years.

Some of the new epic fantasists that come to mind:
Daniel Abraham
R. Scott Bakker
David Anthony Durham
Steven Erikson (he's borderline as Gardens of the Moon came out in the 90s, I believe).
Felix Gilman
Patrick Rothfuss
Brandon Sanderson

(Does Joe Abercrombie qualify as "epic fantasy"?)


Who else? Some guidelines:
*Truly "epic" fantasy: usually multi-volume series' with big themes and characters.
*First published within the last 10 years (or so).
*A quality of uniqueness.

[Oddy]

I haven't read it, but Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth is the start of a trilogy. Also, I hear the Gentleman's Bastards Series is phenomenal by Scott Lynch.

This is also the fantasy I'm interested in the most, as look as it's fresh and original.

[Fred Gallney]

Garth Nix would be one.

Christopher Paolini has the potential to be one - would be one - but his epic fantasy series he is writing is copied from other authors.

F/

[JamesL]

Abercrombie has referred to his own work as epic fantasy, and I'm not sure what else you could class it as. It has a large cast of characters, runs to three volumes, and has heavy doses of battle and shady political wrangling. Seems to fit the bill.

Winterbirth has the makings of an epic fantasy, but I'm not sure whether Lynch falls into the same category. Then again, I'm not sure what other sub-genre you could place his work in. It's certainly not conventional epic fantasy.

[Rob B]

New shining star of Fantasy Literature (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16869)
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16676)
Bakker or Abercrombie? (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19013)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert VS Redick: the one to watch in 2008? (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18508)
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch: A Review (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16347)
Patrick Rothfuss's book must be selling hot and heavy (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17407&highlight=Lynch)

Last, but certainly not least a discussion (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17395) of an article posted here at SFFWorld by Aidan/al'Kael (http://www.sffworld.com/mul/234p0.html) on this very subject.

[columbob]

Steven Erikson (he's borderline as Gardens of the Moon came out in the 90s, I believe).


Gardens of the Moon was released in the fall of 1999 in Canada and the UK (later in the USA), so it would fit the bill of being released in the past 10 years.

[Damiynn]

I would like hopefully if my publisher gets to work put my series on this list, The Kingdom Chronicles, by AV Wedhorn, A King's Quest was reviewed here on this site, and A King's Task will be out soon. It is an epic fantasy and since I am a new author I think it qualifies under the five year mark

[Jeroen]

Also keep an eye out for Eric Fogle with his Forge of the Gods. I've read a little bit and I got a feeling it is going to be big.

[KatG]

Can I ask, why does it always have to be a new movement? Is it a status thing? The sort of things that Rothfuss, Bakker and Erikson are doing are the sort of things that writers like Michael Moorcock, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen Donaldson, David Gemmell, Gregory Keyes, Stephen Brust, Robin Hobb and numerous others have been doing in fantasy, but they do give us new worlds, new characters and new stories. As they are all quite different from each other in style and approach, it's not a movement, just a very fertile time period, reflecting a reading audience that has grown greatly in size. For which we're all very happy. :)

Epic is the name we've given to fantasies in which an alternate, imaginary world is created, which is what all these authors are doing. It gets confused with the dictionary definition of epic as a big, heroic story, which is why I've taken to calling these things alternate realm fantasies, a name that probably won't catch on, but is more accurate.

There are a lot of them that are being buzzed about right now, from Karen Miller's The Innocent Mage to Gregory Frost's Shadowbridge. Gail Martin seems to be a new, polarizing figure in the field. Joe Abercrombie definitely qualifies as an alternate realm fantasy, and is much talked about. Sort of in the same neighborhood as Abercrombie is Scott Lynch. There's Brian Ruckley with Winterbirth and Sanderson with his series. There's James Barclay with two military-oriented series. Drew Bowling is a new writer in this area, as is David Forbes. Caitlin Sweet has written two novels set in the same universe at different time periods that I find highly creative and beautifully written. Alison Croggon's series has legions of fans. Daniel Abraham got a great deal of attention for his A Shadow in Summer series. Charles Stross bopped over from SF and also got a lot of attention for his series and then there's Michael Stackpole. Sarah Ash, Jacqueline Carey, Sarah Monette, it's a busy list.

[Jeroen]

Well, thanks to commercialism, there may be not much difference between the new generation alternate often medieval reality writers and the former one. But the one thing that sets a group of new writers apart from the former ones is the fact that their books enter a field whose readers are familiar with the books of earlier generation(s). The expectations of readers are dictated by a fusion of knowledge of a lot of stuff that came before. If a new writer desires to be taken seriously or to sell a load of books, he must know what stories his readers already are familiar with and play with that knowledge, because writing something really different and fitted for readers of today is quite a task.

or maybe I'm just rambling :D