[mshnd06]

I couldn't find anything in my initial search so apologies to Rob if you come bearing links...

Having read Martin and Jordan I've found that, more than the plot or the diversity of setting, I'm attracted to the way they manage such incredibly large and (at least in the case of Martin) highly disparate casts. I think I may be in the minority but I've always been drawn to Jordan's tangential characters that pop up in the prologues and provide some insight into what the rest of the world may be experiencing while Rand goes about dueling with forsaken (although the particularly memorable one, for me at least, in the Gathering Storm may have been a Sanderson contribution).

I was wondering what you all considered to be the finest examples of an author managing such extensive dramatis personae and juggling multiple POVs.

Additionally, and perhaps more of a reach, are there any examples outside of Epic Fantasy? Perhaps interconnected vignettes exploring multiple characters and the richness of a secondary world without the necessity of apocalyptic threat?

[Palfrey]

Jennifer Fallon is another multiple POV author I would highly recommend. I have read her Demon Child, Hythrun Chronicles and Tide Lord series and I can't wait to read more.

[Bond]

Go for a real classic in this regard: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You'll be stumbling over the sheer number of characters. Keeping track of Jordan's WoT characters is a breeze if you can do so through this one.

[the gozzfather]

Try the Nessantico Trilogy by S.L. Farrell. Its an epic fantasy based heavily on Rennaissance Italy with lots of POVs and political machinations. It also has a cover blurb From Martin.

[Hellions]

Jennifer Fallon is another multiple POV author I would highly recommend. I have read her Demon Child, Hythrun Chronicles and Tide Lord series and I can't wait to read more.

I would also add her Second Sons trilogy to that list.

Robin Hobb's excellent Liveship Traders trilogy also features plenty of POVs.

[Randy M.]

Probably others will come to me later, but off the top of my head, two of Peter Beagle's novels, The Last Unicorn & The Innkeeper's Song use multiple viewpoints. In the former, the shift is embedded within the flow of the narrative, one paragraph you're reading from a neutral narrator's perspective, the next you're getting the scoop on a character's insight and view. In the latter, the viewpoint is signaled by the chapter title.

Randy M.