Fantasy authors worth the reading.

[S. Baldrick]

Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:

David Gemmell
Robert E. Howard
Jim Butcher
Micheal Moorcock
J.R.R Tolkien
Fritz Lieber
Roger Zelazny
George R. R. Martin
Raymond Feist
Robert Jordan
Patrica Briggs

 

[arcanaman]

Karen Miller I just read Empress and while it was harsh it was beautiful

 

[pathfinderq1]

Yet another recommendation for Guy Gavriel Kay- Tigana was quite good, but The Lions of Al-Rassan was better, I think (though it is more 'historical fantasy' than traditional, as there is no actual magic).

Also another recommendation for Steven Brust- both set of Dragaera novels were very enjoyable, though the styles are quite different.

China Mieville's Bas-Lag books are universally excellent, though there are some bits of truly brain-bending weirdness, and the books skip across a number of genre lines (steampunk, horror, pirates, etc.). Perdido Street Station even has a bit involving a very traditional fantasy/gaming party (though they don't have a good ending).

I'll also add a recommendation for some of Judith Tarr's fantasy work- particularly the Avaryan books, and the Hound and the Falcon trilogy.


Dennis McKiernan also has some good stuff out, once you get past the first few shameless Tolkien riffs, but tends to more of a high fantasy, less gritty flavor than some of the things I usually prefer.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

William Sanders

 

[Jakar]

Joe Abercrombie - The First Law - I've only read the first book (all three are currently out) and it was fun, with some good characters and some interesting twists on the standard fantasy formula. I've got the second one waiting for me.

I have read all three books and I must say he writes some damn good characters. If you love shades of grey, these are the books for you. The crippled inquisitor character just cries out to be made into a PC of some sort.

 

[Desdichado]

I mostly agree with the OP in terms of what's good and what's not, but there's a few notable exceptions. Moorcock being the most notable.

I don't think the guy's any good. I read at least three of the Elric books, the three Mars books and several others, and I have yet to see anything of his that was well-written. The idea that he was innovative is laughable; all he did was reversed nearly every quality of Conan and the Hyborian Age and called it Elric.

To me, he's the most over-rated of the fantasy "classics" and a classic example of the concept that in a situation of limited supply, even crappy, crappy product can sell like hotcakes. He was lucky to come along at a time when fantasy was getting off the ground, there was more demand for it than writers and publishers could keep up with, so he was able to crank out (and sell) a rather remarkable number of books that today, nobody would even pick up to publish in the first place.

 

[Rackhir]

I don't think the guy's any good. I read at least three of the Elric books, the three Mars books and several others, and I have yet to see anything of his that was well-written. The idea that he was innovative is laughable; all he did was reversed nearly every quality of Conan and the Hyborian Age and called it Elric.

The three mars books are certainly among the most "blah" of Moorcock, novels, but it's not like he ever pretended they were anything other pastiches of the John Carter of Mars books.

The Elric books might not strike you as innovative 30-35 years after they were written, but they were at the time and he's more than simply the Anti-Conan. A character description is not the same thing as a character or characterization. There still aren't many characters like Elric in fantasy even today AFAIK. Perhaps his style just rubs you the wrong way.

To me, he's the most over-rated of the fantasy "classics" and a classic example of the concept that in a situation of limited supply, even crappy, crappy product can sell like hotcakes. He was lucky to come along at a time when fantasy was getting off the ground, there was more demand for it than writers and publishers could keep up with, so he was able to crank out (and sell) a rather remarkable number of books that today, nobody would even pick up to publish in the first place.

Moorcock has a large number of books yes, but they are also generally much shorter than most current fantasy novels. The page count for the entire original Elric series is no more than 1.5 to 2 Robert Jordan novels for example. In any case accusing him of being a hack writer based simply on the number of novels doesn't make sense. Nor is 6 short books a basis for completely writing off the author as a hack. You might not like them, but that isn't the same thing as them being bad stories.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Leiber may be light-hearted, but he's also probably one of the best *writers* in terms of quality of prose.

Highly recommended.

Hobo, I'd be curious what you think of Moorcock's Corum trilogies - IMO, they're a little more complex and cool than the Elric or Mars books(and the Hawkmoon ones, while we're at it).

 

[Staffan]

So everyone has been listing tons of fantasy authors, but which ones are more light-hearted?

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files is pretty light reading - kinda downerish in parts (especially around book 3-4), but it's not the super-heavy/epic stuff of GRR Martin or Tolkien. Harry Dresden is a modern-day wizard/private investigator who does a bit of consulting work for the Chicago PD as well as deal with his own problems. So far in the books he has encountered (as friends or foes) demons, faeries, holy knights, fallen angels, ghosts, evil wizards, necromancers, zombies, vampires (of three different types), werewolves (of four different types), and the mob.

The books are kind of like Buffy meets Philip Marlowe. Buffy supplies the supernatural, some angst, and pop culture references, while Marlowe provides noir and investigative stuff.

As an example regarding the tone of the books, one of them starts with Our Hero running through a burning building, carrying a crate full of puppies, while dodging the attacks of flying demon monkeys throwing burning feces.

The author has also written a more traditional fantasy series called Codex Aldera, which is only up to four books as of now (instead of 10 like the Dresden books).

 

[arcanaman]

The Necromancer CHronicles good read