# Fantasy fans recommendation



## Davidjb (May 3, 2010)

The Well of Echoes is my favourite Ian Irvine series. Geomancer starts very oddly in a manufactory set in a world where life is hard and full of strange and wonderful machinery. The characters are a mixed bag. Nish is clearly central and a bit of a toady in this early phase. Tiaan is an artisan with a hidden talent who is framed for a crime she did not commit and she is forced to flee. The world is beset by war with brutal alien creatures. Clankers are the main weapon to defeat the enemy and these are powered by an unknown force which is starting to fail in some regions of the world. Nish and Tiaan’s future are clearly intertwined as he sets off in pursuit of her. The novel is beautifully written and full of surprises. Characterisation is brilliant with a slow but good development of each person. Nish’s father is superb and you eventually start to feel sorry for Nish as eventually he starts to show a glimmer of heroics. 

Tremendous story and characterisation.


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## Joseph Robert Lewis (Oct 31, 2010)

My favorite recent fantasy novel was Rothfuss' *The Name of the Wind*. Lots of great characters with relatable problems as well as heroics. The only downside was that it's only part 1 of 3, and the volume doesn't really have a strong ending.


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## johnmedler (Feb 1, 2011)

The Piers Anthony XANTH series is my favorite.  A Spell for Chameleon is the first one.


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## Joseph Robert Lewis (Oct 31, 2010)

Well, if we're going old school then I would have to say my Robert E Howard collections of Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull, Cormac MacArt, and Bran Mak Morn!


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

As mentioned above, Brooks' _Elfstones of Shannara_, and also the _Sword of Shannara _ would be good choices.

I'd suggest Brust's _Vlad Taltos _ novels, but the early ones are not on Kindle yet.

Sadly, Zelazny's works aren't on Kindle yet either.


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## dmspen (Jan 12, 2011)

Check out the Recluce series by L.E. Modesitt. Certain gifted people have the ability, to certain degrees, to control Order and Chaos. The neat thing is that Order tends to black and Chaos to White. Sort of an unexpected reversal.


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## TheRiddler (Nov 11, 2010)

What do people think of David Edding's stuff?

I used to read him when I was younger, but can't remember too much about them


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

Steven Eriskon has probably maxed out the concept of the epic.  Great books but you need some serious stamina stored up to cope with even one; toward the end I'm almost begging him to tie up the plot threats and please just let it be over... Yet, the next book calls.

I'm also fond of The Black Company by Glen Cook. The Hawk and Fisher books by Simon R. Green are interesting, urban fantasy murder mysteries. A few others, but there's quite a lot out there that seems to be cast from the same old tired mold. The Belgariad by Eddings is an early example of that section of the genre - he was actually deliberately exploring the cleches.


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## StevenSavile (Jun 23, 2010)

If you want to try something a little different, that you might just fall in love with, Jonathan Carroll has some beautiful fantasy novels the fans call 'the answered prayers' cycle- starting with Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame,etc. Quite possibly my favourite books of all time. Just beautiful.


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## Joseph Robert Lewis (Oct 31, 2010)

TheRiddler said:


> What do people think of David Edding's stuff?
> 
> I used to read him when I was younger, but can't remember too much about them


I remember that I really liked the Belgariadand the Malloreanseries, but I was very disappointed with The Redemption of Althalus(no idea if I'm spelling any of these names correctly). The early series were pretty exciting and had great characters and were fairly original, but the last one (a collaboration with his wife, I believe) was very mechanical and cliche and predictable.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories are wonderful. 

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance is very good. 

Glen Cook's Black Company series is great. 

Here's an obscure one. It's a Heinlein novella, Magic, Inc. It may have been the first urban fantasy I ever read. 

And Tim Powers is great. The Anubis Gates is a fantastic book. On Stranger Tides is also good, and was licensed for the next installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies though I can't imagine it will use much of the novel. I think it was the producers being smart and making sure a writer with a book about pirates searching for the fountain of youth wasn't going to sue them. 

And Powers friend James Blaylock writes some wonderful stuff too. I dearly love The Last Coin.


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## Arthur Slade (Jan 20, 2011)

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.

Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.

And this one:


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Arthur Slade said:


> Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.
> 
> Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.
> 
> And this one:


Arthur, if you can't get enough of GGK, I interviewed him at World Fantasy Con last October.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Elizabeth Moon's _Deed of Paksenarrion_ is one of the best epic fantasy's ever written. Absolutely classic. She is a fantastic writer and has a new trilogy coming out set in that world.

And, pretty much needless to say, GRR Martin's SoIaF. (IF he'll get that next book finished. Any time now, George.  )


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

JRTomlin said:


> Elizabeth Moon's _Deed of Paksenarrion_ is one of the best epic fantasy's ever written. Absolutely classic. She is a fantastic writer and has a new trilogy coming out set in that world.
> 
> And, pretty much needless to say, GRR Martin's SoIaF. (IF he'll get that next book finished. Any time now, George.  )


Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.

And ... forgive me, 



.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

I just finished The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan. Book one of a six book series. I enjoyed it quite a bit.


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## KMA (Mar 11, 2009)

Arthur Slade said:


> Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the few authors I collect in hardcover.
> 
> Loved Tigana. And a Song for Arbonne.
> 
> And this one:


Oh, I love Guy Gavriel Kay. I still have my first edition of The Darkest Road from when I was a teenager.


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## Neo (Mar 30, 2009)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.


Actually available for 5 bucks something on Baen (webscription). Isn't it wonderful


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Darn! No kindle version of Moon's classic.
> 
> And ... forgive me,
> 
> ...


No, he isn't my b*--but I sure as *ahem* wish he would write faster. So shoot me. 

Edit: Hehe Enjoyed the link though. And as much as George complains, there are worse things in life than having thousands of people demanding your next book.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Neo said:


> Actually available for 5 bucks something on Baen (webscription). Isn't it wonderful


You can bet it's available from Baen. They are so ahead of every other publisher when it comes to ebooks, it's not even funny.

The first volume of that is available FREE here from Baen's Free Library, as well.

http://www.baen.com/library/


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks, J.R. Funny, I had this one on my Kindle already from a while back, but I never read it. I'm off to read some of it now ...


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

I just though of another one; I'm not a fan of Arthurian fiction, primarily because the subject has been done to death and mostly not very interestingly, but Richard Monaco wrote The Grail Wars (late 70's and early 80's) and that was very well done imho. Apart from The Winter King etc. by Cornwell, these are probably the best on offer.


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## Arthur Slade (Jan 20, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Arthur, if you can't get enough of GGK, I interviewed him at World Fantasy Con last October.


Thanks for the link!

Art


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> You can bet it's available from Baen. They are so ahead of every other publisher when it comes to ebooks, it's not even funny.
> 
> The first volume of that is available FREE here from Baen's Free Library, as well.
> 
> http://www.baen.com/library/


And any fantasy or science fiction fan who wants to try out some authors free should check out the Baen's Free Library link I posted here. They have a huge portion of the Baen's backlist (which includes some of the best authors in the genres) for download. It's a great place to get acquainted with authors you may have missed.


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## Davidjb (May 3, 2010)

So i take it no one has read the Well of Echoes then?  

I also liked the Belgariad series by David Eddings, having said that I can't remember much about it now. Someone will have to remind me. Also like Arthurian legends. My favourite was a tale of Merlin, the Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart. I really liked the way she portrayed Merlin as mainly normal but with some hidden sorecry skills. She also touched on people's superstition building the legend. Smart.


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## jbriordan (Sep 23, 2009)

Joe Abercrombie : Anything by him, starting with The Blade Itself , Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings. I just love this guy. Almost perfect pacing, blend of characters, blood, gore, humor, human frailty.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

By the way, Elizabeth Moon has a new novel coming out next month in a new Legend of Paksenarrion series--that will be available on Kindle. You can bet I'm picking it up.

Edit: This is one I'll buy in hardcover though. I won't pay that much for an ebook which isn't a boycott, just my own buying decision. I do like Moon enough to buy hers in hardcover. Her, GRR Martin and a handful of others I still do that.

I honestly don't think the boycott will work. What will end the agency model is market forces rather than a boycott, but that's me.


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

The Belgariad was awesome when I was a teen, but doesn't really hold up well now. I can see the set-ups a mile away, the characters are hackneyed and cardboard, and there are a lot of repeating elements. Still, the revelation of Silk still kicks ass, the magic system is cool, and the travelogue style of the series is interesting. The second series was less impressive and the other series he did back in the day were just ground up belgariad characters shuffled around (hey, the funny guy is now a tank instead of a thief!). He has his place for YA fantasy, IMHO, but after reading a few hundred high fantasy novels it is a bit lacking.

Dennis McKiernan is another classic 80s fantasy author whose day has past for me, though I do love his writing style with the 60's batman-esque "crag, shok, thoom" sound effects  I guess I've been jaded by the gritty grimy Martin, Erikson, and Abercromie worlds. Even when I want high fantasy I turn to the Black Library for fatalistic "we're all gonna die" stuff.

What I really miss are the early Gygax novels, or stuff like them. He had a way of making the most fantastical stuff seem real and grounded, at least early on before Gord became a demi-god. 

I did like the Paksenarion books. May have to revisit them. Had a very 100 years war vibe to them, IIRC.

I think most of my fantasy reading has been subverted by all the great historical fiction out there now. Bernard Cornwell singlehandedly hits almost every era and the guy is so damn voluminous I could just read him and get all the swords and spears I could want (and feel like I'm getting at least slightly educated in the process


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Too bad Cornwall only does England. I don't "do" England. Or darn rarely.


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## splashes99 (Aug 11, 2010)

johnmedler said:


> The Piers Anthony XANTH series is my favorite. A Spell for Chameleon is the first one.


I used to looooove the Xanth series. Unfortunately, Jumper Cable had little plot and was mainly about just sex, with an author's note (which I usually love) that just said that people should expect sex in the books because they are in an adult series.  Makes me sad since I read it for the lightheartedness of the plots and the puns, and a little sex is fine but I don't want a whole book that revolves around it

Definitely a YA series, but I have always loved the Tamora Pierce Lioness series.

And, the Elizabeth Moon book is one I also have in paper form and have re-read many times.

My favorite of all time is Mists of Avalon.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

I just finished the first book of the Elfhunter trilogy by C.S. Marks and LOVED it.  It reminded me a lot of Tolkien's work.  I'm sure some will claim blasphemy, but oh, well 

Also would highly recommend David Dalglish's books, and also Daniel Arenson.  Steven Brust is awesome, but as someone else said - the earlier stuff isn't Kindle-ized yet.  Phooey.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Arkali said:


> I just finished the first book of the Elfhunter trilogy by C.S. Marks and LOVED it. It reminded me a lot of Tolkien's work. I'm sure some will claim blasphemy, but oh, well


Elfhunter is a brilliant trilogy. I was going to mention it, but you beat me to the punch! 

Another fantasy series that I love is The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglas. If you are a fantasy fan and haven't read it yet, you really ought to check it out.


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

(From Matt)

Hands down I would recommend Michael Ende's _The Neverending Story_. Blew me away! A billion times better than the movie.

Second the Elfhunter trilogy. Working my way over to Jason Letts's _Powerless_ series.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Kevis Hendrickson said:


> Elfhunter is a brilliant trilogy. I was going to mention it, but you beat me to the punch!


I'm jealous. I am chomping at the bit to get to the last two books, but next week is the last week of Winter Quarter at my school so I'm trying to get all my assignments and such finished. I did a presentation for my Library Science class, though (she was a GREAT sport) and if you want to see my display board I posted it here:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,52474.msg912543.html#msg912543

Anywho - I've got a HUGE stack of books on my TBR list as soon as I get a minute, and 2 & 3 in the series are definitely there.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Arkali said:


> I'm jealous. I am chomping at the bit to get to the last two books, but next week is the last week of Winter Quarter at my school so I'm trying to get all my assignments and such finished. I did a presentation for my Library Science class, though (she was a GREAT sport) and if you want to see my display board I posted it here:
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,52474.msg912543.html#msg912543
> 
> Anywho - I've got a HUGE stack of books on my TBR list as soon as I get a minute, and 2 & 3 in the series are definitely there.


I posted on both of your "Elfhunter" threads yesterday. I adore your presentation and can only imagine how proud Chris must be that you showcased her work in such an amazing fashion. BTW, the next two books are waaaay better than Elfhunter. I am sure you will enjoy them!


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

I can't wait to read them.  Those, the last book of the Half-Orcs series and Daniel Arenson's newest two books are my planned reward for getting a B in this god-forsaken math class 

The teacher filmed our presentations, but I don't know if she's going to be able to figure out how to distribute the files.  Bah!  Anyway, thanks so much for the kind words.  I'm so excited about it, and my poor husband is tired of hearing about it now - LOL.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Arkali said:


> I can't wait to read them. Those, the last book of the Half-Orcs series and Daniel Arenson's newest two books are my planned reward for getting a B in this god-forsaken math class
> 
> The teacher filmed our presentations, but I don't know if she's going to be able to figure out how to distribute the files. Bah! Anyway, thanks so much for the kind words. I'm so excited about it, and my poor husband is tired of hearing about it now - LOL.


You really did do an awesome job with your presentation. Any author would be drooling out of the mouth to have a reader with half as much passion as you. Hope you enjoy the reads!


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

It's nice to see so much Indie support in here. There truly is some fantastic fantasy written by the authors on KB.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George Martin (on the 2nd one) currently and loving it.  Obviously Tolkien's stuff is great.

I also enjoy R.A. Salvatore's stuff.  The long running Forgotten Realms series with Drizzt Do'Urden and friends is probably my favorite, but the Demon War saga was a good 7 book series, and the 3 book Crimson Shadow saga was pretty good as well.


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## Davidjb (May 3, 2010)

I also like Brent Weeks. Very good characters and the first book about training as an assassin was brutal. The shanty town seemed very real.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

jason10mm said:


> Dennis McKiernan is another classic 80s fantasy author whose day has past for me, though I do love his writing style with the 60's batman-esque "crag, shok, thoom" sound effects  I guess I've been jaded by the gritty grimy Martin, Erikson, and Abercromie worlds. Even when I want high fantasy I turn to the Black Library for fatalistic "we're all gonna die" stuff.


I picked up one of his books after I saw him 



 by Michael Stackpole. He said in his interview that one of the things he thinks he does well is to write in a language that feels more medieval. When I read him, I tried to pick up some things from him around that because he does have some of that stuff down. I hear you on your other points.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

I'll second Patrick Rothfuss and Glen Cook's _The Black Company_ series (though I liked the earlier books best). I haven't check out the sequel yet, but David Anthony Durham's _Acacia_ was really great. A vast, well-conceived world where, despite causing all kinds of war and turmoil, the "bad guys" are far from mustache-twirling, cape-flourishing villains. My kind of book. Oh yeah, and the writing's superb.

In a wildly different corner of the fantasy genre (so far, in fact, you could also call it sci-fi), Roger Zelazny's _Lord of Light_ is absolutely spectacular. One of the best things I've read in the last five years.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

I am reading and enjoying _Elfhunter_ right now. 

I have a question to all you fantasy fans: do you prefer the traditional elves-dwarfs-men or do you like to see new creatures / races introduced?


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## KerylR (Dec 28, 2010)

Me!  I'm the single finest fantasy writer in the history of fantasy.  Sylvianna is so good you'll weep tears of blood at it's sheer beauty!  No matter what it is you like about fantasy it's in there.  No matter what it is you want in a recommendation, it fits the description. Buy MY BOOK, NOW!!!!  

Sorry. I've spent a tad too long on a few other spam encrusted sites and had to get that out of my system.  

Okay, real recs:

Mercedes Lackey:  I'm especially fond of her Elemental Masters series.  She takes classic fairy tales and retells them in a Victorian/Edwardian setting.  Lots of fun.

I'll second Modesitt's Recluse series.  He was the first author I saw who really took the time to look at the consequences of magic.  (Details like, if you make it rain here, what does that do to the weather everywhere else?)  

I've heard good things about Ambercrombie, but haven't read him yet.

The Crown Conspiracy was solid old school fantasy.  Not too dark, not too real, but fun none the less.

Speaking of old school, the first six DragonLance books.  They might be better for the YA market, but I did love them when I was younger.  

I may be wrong about this, but I think Stranger in a Strange Land is technically UF.  If it is, then it's my all time favorite UF.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Joseph Robert Lewis said:


> My favorite recent fantasy novel was Rothfuss' *The Name of the Wind*. Lots of great characters with relatable problems as well as heroics. The only downside was that it's only part 1 of 3, and the volume doesn't really have a strong ending.


I agree, it was excellent. And I would have ended it in a different place.


Spoiler



Probably around the time Kvothe summoned the wind by accident. After that Vol. 1 just seemed to peter out.


 I'm waiting for the price for Vol. 2 to drop before buying. It's scheduled to be released shortly.

I'm in the middle of "A Game of Thrones" (taking a break actually, because it's kind of exhausting. But fantastic. Though I'm still waiting for the fantasy.) Anyway, it's weird that Martin has taken so many years to _revise_ a book. Didn't he actually write what's supposed to be the next installment as part of the previous installment which the publisher split in half?

The same, incidentally, applies to Rothfuss' book. He wrote the entire humongous novel (according to wiki) and it was split into 3 parts. Why did it take years for the 2nd part to come out?


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

Revising, revising, and more revising. Rothfuss has said he wanted the second two installments to match up to the first. Frustrating as a reader, but if that means the rest of the trilogy's as good as _The Name of the Wind_, well, I can wait.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Edward W. Robertson said:


> Revising, revising, and more revising. Rothfuss has said he wanted the second two installments to match up to the first. Frustrating as a reader, but if that means the rest of the trilogy's as good as _The Name of the Wind_, well, I can wait.


I was chatting with Rothfuss' DAW editor on FB the other day and she said this about him:

"Pat works very hard-I read seven drafts of THE WISE MAN'S FEAR. He wrote the first skeleton draft in 2000. He was continuously rewriting for four solid years. That kind of hard work is very impressive."


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## Davidjb (May 3, 2010)

I admit I, too, have a soft spot for Dragon Lance. I particularly liked Time of the Twins series. Really good books and they did an excellent job handling time travel. Characterisation was awesome.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I enjoy just about anything by Robin Hobb, particularly the Farseer series.


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## Jennybeanses (Jan 27, 2011)

Chris Northern said:


> I just though of another one; I'm not a fan of Arthurian fiction, primarily because the subject has been done to death and mostly not very interestingly, but Richard Monaco wrote The Grail Wars (late 70's and early 80's) and that was very well done imho. Apart from The Winter King etc. by Cornwell, these are probably the best on offer.


I loved Cornwell's Arthur books, but my all-time favorite Arthurian book was Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon. In fact, if I didn't have about nine gajillion other books to read right now, I would reread it because I've been longing to return to Avalon and Camelot.


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