AAAARRGGGHHH!!! (Or "Enough with the trilogies already!!!")

[AdmundfortGeographer]

So, please, help me out. Tell me what good fantasy novels you've read that are complete, standalone, single novels. Not "the first of a series." Not even "Oh, it's part of a series but it stands alone enough that you don't have to read the whole thing." One book. Alone. By itself. One.

Thanks.

One of my favorite books by Glen Cook, is the Tower of Fear. It fits all the requirements you are looking for. It has very much the same tone as his Black Company books. Something I enjoyed about the book is that when the main story ends, it has two epilogues. The first wraps up loose ends in the short term. The second epilogue tells what happens to characters in the long term out to more than 50 years after the main story is over.


Regards,
Eric Anondson

 

[replicant2]

Good stand-alone fantasy novels

The Broken Sword -- Poul Anderson
Eaters of the Dead -- Michael Crichton
Gates of Fire -- Steven Pressfield (technically historic fiction)
The Worm Ouroboros -- ER Eddison

I'd recommend any of these very highly.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

A few off the top of my head...

A Scattering of Jades-Alexander C. Irvine
The Anubis Gates-Tim Powers
Latro In The Mist-Gene Wolfe (originally 2 books, now combined into one volume)
Perdido Street Station-China Mieville

 

[Warrior Poet]

Tell me what good fantasy novels you've read that are complete, standalone, single novels. Not "the first of a series." Not even "Oh, it's part of a series but it stands alone enough that you don't have to read the whole thing." One book. Alone. By itself. One.

Haven't read through the whole thread yet, so don't know if these have been mentioned, but I respectfully submit:

City of Bones, by Martha Wells.
Archaeologist-thieves living in a dying city at the edge of a dying world, struggling against the rigid caste system that dominates what remains of society and attempting to plumb the mysteries of water out in the desert while confronting mad wizards with powers that may be magical or advanced technology.

It's so good.

Nightwatch, by Sean Stewart.
Two societies struggling with the advent of monsters, magic, and (especially) ghosts confront their societal differences and the eldritch mysteries that threaten (or do they?) them in two different ways: one with ancient Chinese lore and magic, another with advanced technology (and some magic). Includes such memorable characters as the ghost of an ill-fated expedition to the snowy Canadian wilderness, a young man with broken (not necessarily bad) luck, and a woman who is the daughter of a hawk goddess and who has a neural implant computer that augments her already impressive powers. Horrific rituals, strange smoke-infused magic, lost loves divided by distance and culture, and a nice, ambiguous ending that doesn't settle anything, but leaves you satisfied that the story goes on, and that's a good thing, and there's no sequel to mess it up.

It rocks.

Warrior Poet

Ah, I see WayneLigon mentioned the Martha Wells book. Excellent.

 

[mmu1]

Hey, some of the good ones already got mentioned...

I'll re-state the vote for:

Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (as well as The Drawing of the Dark and Last Call)

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams

The Curse of Challion by Lois McMaster Bujold

and add:

Agyar by Steven Brust

... and maybe The Shadow of the Lion (written by three people I don't remember right now) it's certainly not the best book I've ever read, but one of the more interesting mixes of real world history and fanatsy I've read in a while.

 

[CCamfield]

The Tower of Fear and City of Bones... both excellent, excellent books. Let me add to those recommendations

Plus...

- One For The Morning Glory by John Barnes.
- Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
- Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (he did write two sequels, but they weren't as good, and the first book stands totally on its own)
- Doc Sidhe by Aaron Allston (one sequel, not necessary to read)
- Nobody's Son by Sean Stewart (What happens AFTER you win the princess' hand in marriage?)
- Many books written by Patricia McKillip, such as: Ombria in Shadow, The Tower at Stony Wood, In The Forests of Serre, and The Book of Atrix Wolfe.

These last two are technically YA novels I suppose but they're great:
- The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
- The Cats of Seroster by Robert Westall

edit: The Anubis Gates is great! So, if you can track it down, is On Stranger Tides, also by Tim Powers: Caribbean pirates, sorcery, and voudou...

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

So, if you can track it down, is On Stranger Tides, also by Tim Powers: Caribbean pirates, sorcery, and voudou...

I wish that someone would bring On Stranger Tides back into print. I have a paperback copy, and I have a very hard time lending it out to anyone because it's so hard to find and I don't want mine to fall apart. The few used copies I have seen are going for $10+ for paperbacks.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

GADS...I agree so much with this. I don't buy a lot of books, but prefer to use my local library...which ALWAYS skips one or two books in a series. Always. ALWAYS!!! AAAAAAGGGHHH!!

 

[The Black Kestrel]

Many books written by Patricia McKillip, such as: Ombria in Shadow, The Tower at Stony Wood, In The Forests of Serre, and The Book of Atrix Wolfe.

I'm glad someone mentioned McKillip almost all her books are stand alone and her one trilogy (Riddlemaster of Hed) has been complete for years. I also reccomend Peter S. Beagle, Martha Wells (you'll want to skip her current two as they're part of an unfinished trilogy ), Fritz Liebers Ffard and Grey Mouser works, Jack Vances Dying Earth (admittedly 4 novel set in the same world and only loosely related), Tim Powers, Lord Dunsany, Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, American Gods and Stardust)

 

[Hypersmurf]

The Curse of Challion by Lois McMaster Bujold

I'm not sure you can really call it a standalone, though.

Agyar by Steven Brust

I've lost my copy

... and maybe The Shadow of the Lion (written by three people I don't remember right now)...

Lackey, Flint, and Freer.

I'm a long-time Lackey fan, and I like pretty much everything of Eric Flint's I've read. I think the only stuff Dave Freer's done that I've read has been in collaboration with Flint, so far, so I don't have much of a feel for him.

-Hyp.