If you want to read good new fantasy, I would suggest Wolfe's New Sun cycle and Wizard Knight cycle, and M. John Harrison Viriconium Knights. All those books are very much D&D - monsters, artifacts, humanoids, space voyages, other planes etc.
Both New Sun and Viriconium describe very old Earth. They are essentially without magic - at least of the usual sort. There is a lot of very unusual magic, however. Usual people live on medieval level, but noblemen and adventurers can use plasma pistols, antigrav ships, energy swords, and exoskeletons.
As for monsters - on Urth of the New Sun cycle the typical animals are smilodons, arcotheriums etc. White wolves are rumoured to live in the walls of the invisible palace of the Autarch. Demented star-sailor uses teleporting mirrors to summon deadly and strange beings from far suns in order to kill his enemies. The alzabo devours the memories of its victims and speaks with their voices. The whole of Commonwealth is ruled by secret words and spells, which allow to direct the old forgotten machines and the servants of the Autarch. In the seas live the gigantic demons brought from stars. Their servants can become immortals, but must grow so great that they cannot walk upon the earth and must join their masters in the sea. In the Botanic Gardens of the Autarch all his subjects can for free see the enviroments from the oldest antiquity - and even meet denizens of that time, since the Gardens spread through time. Some of the soldiers of the Autarch are gen-engineered - eg dog-like faithful pandurs and winged anpiels.
All resources have been exhausted long ago, and now the mines serve to excavate the artifacts of antiquity.
Wizard-Knight describes a world divided into planes - above the middle earth there is the plane of gods, with the turreted castle of Valhalla floating in the sky like a star. Below the Earth there is the plane of the fey, and still deeper the plane of dragons. The lowest is the plane of the Lowest God. There are giants in the north, and (very different from them) giant-women. In the east dwell Osterlings, who used to be men, but now have to eat human meat to regain human form. (Their best depiction would be Persians from the film 300). The foundations of the Tower of Glass are on the plane of elves, but its top reaches the Middle Earth as an island in the sea. It is filled with armoury made by the Dragon-king. The volcano reaches down to the fiery plane of dragons.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
