Fantasy and Sci-Fi favorites

[John Crichton]

What novels have really blown you away other than the obvious and popular books like LotR and A Game of Thrones?

The Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony was a great read.

 

[Vigilance]

I'm going to say The Postman by David Brin. Really cool sci-fi/post apocalypse novel set in the near future.

Chuck

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Alice In Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Perdido Street Station China Mieville
UBIK Philip K. Dick
Mythago Wood Robert Holdstock
almost any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
House of the Scorpion Nancy Farmer
A Scattering of Jades Alexander Irvine

Those are just off the top of my head, I'm sure I could think of more with a bit of time.

 

[NeuroZombie]

Believe it or not, some of the most original fantasy that I have read recently is out of Scholastic Books (y'know, the little papers that come home with kids from school to buy books.)

These include:

The Pendragon Series (The Merchant of Death, The Lost City of Faar, the Never War and the Reality Bug) by DJ MacHale (Not Arthurian): http://www.thependragonadventure.com/

The Keys to the Kingdom (Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday) series by Garth Nix: http://www.scholastic.com/titles/keys/

The Seventh Tower (The Fall, Castle, Aenir, Above the Veil, Into Battle, The Violet Keystone) series, aslo by Garth Nix: http://www.scholastic.com/titles/seventhtower/books.htm

All 3 of these series are very original and imaginative and have influenced my DnD campaigns to a greater of lesser extent. Just because these books are geared towards the "Harry Potter" crowd (which I enjoy as well), does not mean that they are dumbed down, just less graphic as far as violence and such goes. Still, plenty of action, intrigue and way cool magic!

...and no, I do not work for Scholastic

 

[Hand of Evil]

Lord of Light and Nine Princes in Amber by Zelzany
Elric novels by Moorcock
Kane novels by Wagner

Tarzan, John Carter of Mars and Carson Napier of Venus by ERB

A lot of mine have to do to location and time. Columbia SC did not have a big selection back in the 70s, being a bookworm/egghead/know-it-all (now know as geek), being in the teen years, those book covers...then came gaming.

 

[Richards]

Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series:

Shadow of the Torturer
Claw of the Concilliator
Sword of the Lictor
Citadel of the Autarch
Urth of the New Sun

Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" series:

The Dying Earth
The Eyes of the Overworld
Cugel's Saga
Rhialto the Marvellous

Johnathan

 

[diaglo]

i would add the list of the suggested other readings from the 1edADnD Revised DMG 1979

 

[Wombat]

Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin

The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Most books by Guy Gavriel Kay (esp. Lions of Al Rassan) and Charles de Lint (esp. The Onion Girl)

The Fencer Trilogy by K.J. Parker

Bernard Cornwell's Arthur trilogy

Startide Rising and The Uplift War by David Brin

Most, but not all (no Rincewind!), of Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Sandman by Neil Gaiman (what does Sandman actually count as, though?)

Each of these books (or series) has made me go "Whoa..." at least once

 

[Mallus]

The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe
Use of Weapons Ian Banks
Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany
Soldiers of Paradise Paul Park
The Iron Dragons Daughter and Stations of the Tide Michael Swanwick
The Saga of the Pliocene Exile Julian May

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Almost anything by Lord Dunsany.

Some of Neil Gaiman's stuff. Especially "Stardust" and "Smoke & Mirrors."

I've really liked a few of Charles de Lint's books, though I'd stop short of saying they really blew my hair back. One of the few authors besides Gaiman who can successfully pull together modern fantasy at least half the time, IMO.

I've also always liked Eddings, especially his first series, The Belgariad. A lot of people jump up and down on Eddings, and while he certainly deserves some of it, that series is still a fun read.