What are some of your favorite fantasy books?

As I've said in other threads I really am not fond of how all the best fantasy books seem to come in long series. I'll be in a book store looking at what appears to be a really great fantasy books, only to learn that it is Book 4 out of a 6 book series.

So what do you think is the best fantasy book out there? Ok, series too. Or how about fantasy authors?

Personally, I have enjoyed everything by Joel Rosenberg.

American Gods won the Hugo and the Nebula Awards. It is fantastic but also philosophical. Highly recommended.

Besides Tolkien, I don't delve into the fantasy universe much. A few years back, I discovered Jack Vance. Some of his work is classified as science fiction but much of it is much more closely aligned with fantasy. It's unusual stuff and it takes a while to get into his wavelength, but he pays great dividends. This book is just fantastic.

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth ... 984&sr=1-1

My introductino to fantasy was through David Eddings, so i tend to lean toward series of books.

Terry Goodkind is good. Sword of Truth.

Robert Jordan. Wheel of Time.
Extra long series, but my pick for directing people to fantasy lit.
Too bad he died before he was able to complete his series.

Stephen King, Dark tower series, has ups and downs, but portions of this series are outstanding.

What he^ said. Plus some of the Warhammer books. That fantasy world has been around for 30 some years, so it's in many ways the original. Good authors write the books as well, though some are a bit shoddy.

geo wrote:Besides Tolkien, I don't delve into the fantasy universe much. A few years back, I discovered Jack Vance. Some of his work is classified as science fiction but much of it is much more closely aligned with fantasy. It's unusual stuff and it takes a while to get into his wavelength, but he pays great dividends. This book is just fantastic.

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth ... 984&sr=1-1

The works of Jack Vance are quite fun to read. Probably not as good as Lovecraft, but definitely part of the same stock. I have a strong affinity for Dunsany and McDonald. But I still think that when it comes to fantasy, Tolkien is god.

"As I've said in other threads I really am not fond of how all the best fantasy books seem to come in long series."

See, I'm the exact opposite. I love when my favorite books end up being part of a series.

That said, "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull is one of my favorite fantasy novels and that's a stand alone. And I love almost everything by Charles de Lint, series or standalone novel.

ETA: Thanks, Chris!

hmchappy

You should stop clicking the top box next to "Disable BBCode in this post" because this is causing your actual "BBCode" code to appear. You are asking the system to not recognize or use BBCode, but then in your post you use it, so the system shows the actual code instead of doing what the code is designed to do.

Make sense? Look at your above post and then edit it by unchecking that box. Then resubmit your post. It will then look better.

But back to your point. I know what you mean about enjoying your favorite fantasy books in series. I guess what I'm referring to is when I am in a book store looking through the fantasy books and I see one that looks really great. When I pick up up I then notice that I need to read 4 books to get to this book in the series. Well, I was excited about Book #5's description and cover and not be the other books in the series.

I know...stupid complaint.