High Magic Wizardry novels?

[S'mon]

Finally, for classic tales of wizardry, I would start with Ursula K. LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, the Farthest Shore, later followed by Tehanu.) A Wizard of Earthsea in particular is terrific.

I'll second that. The Farthest Shore is also very good.

 

[Pbartender]

I would check out "So You Want to be a Wizard" by Diane Duane, along with the sequels (Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, etc.) The books are about wizards in the modern world who secretly defend against the forces of entropy, having fantastic adventures (sometimes in alternate primes, sometimes in strange settings in our own universe) along the way.

...

Finally, for classic tales of wizardry, I would start with Ursula K. LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, the Farthest Shore, later followed by Tehanu.) A Wizard of Earthsea in particular is terrific.

Agreed, on both counts.

 

[Gilladian]

Try the Phillip Pullman "His Dark Materials" series (Golden Compass is the first - don't let the rather bad movie lead you astray.

If you like Steampunk, try Kenneth Oppel's Skyclimber series. Can't remember the actual series name, but look for him.

Phillip Reeve's "Fever Crumb" and the something Cities trilogy are excellent SF/Fantasy Steampunk.

Margaret Whalen Turner's series "Thief", "Queen of Attolia", King of Attolia, etc... are VERY good. Thief was one of the few books I've ever read where I IMMEDIATELY flipped the novel over and reread it. Just to see HOW I could possibly have missed what I missed.

If you like fairytale fantasy, try Nancy Farmer's "Sea of Trolls", "Land of Silver Apples" and "Islands of the Blessed".

These are all Teen authors and series, but are quite good and I frequently suggest them to adults with good results.


Adult authors I think every fantasy reader should try:

Bujold - Curse of Chalion may be my single most favorite adult fantasy novel. Paladin of Souls is nearly as good. Her "Knife" series is less original, but has lovely world building.


Willis - really SF, but if you can read "To Say Nothing of the Dog" without bursting into laughter, you're a better man than me. "Doomsday Book" is the prequel, but a much more serious story. There is a 3rd book out, and the 4th will be following soon. Superb time travel, history, and social satire.

Mallory and Lackey - the Obsidian Trilogy - not great literature, but good world building, nice action adventure, and a fun read. Young wizard rebels, finds new source of power, discovers and rights ancient wrongs...

Sorry, I'm a librarian and I get carried away...

 

[the Jester]

Much of the stuff Roger Zelazny wrote was pretty much magic-saturated. You might try Dilvish the Damned. A lot of his stuff is sci-fi, and a lot is that muddy stuff that you can't really define as sci-fi or fantasy but walks the line between them and crossing into both.

 

[Semah G Noj]

I'm reading Steven Erickson's Malazan Books of the Fallen currently, which definitely qualify for what you're after. The protagonists are essentially high level PCs and the Mages cast spells accordingly.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy was pretty interesting.

In the fantasy world, each school of magic follows certain important laws (akin to the laws of physics). The book chronicles one person attempting to literally master the five kinds of magic.

DS

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Andre Norton: Quag Keep

 

[pawsplay]

Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy was pretty interesting.

In the fantasy world, each school of magic follows certain important laws (akin to the laws of physics). The book chronicles one person attempting to literally master the five kinds of magic.

DS

The sequel is weak, but the original was an astounding work.

In that vein, Lawrence Watt-Evans's tremendous Ethshar books have some great magic in them. I'd start with either With a Single Spell, or The Misenchanted Sword.

If you have any interestin YA stuff, I cannot recommend enough Tamora Pierce's books. Great high fantasy stuff with very compelling characters.

 

[Olli]

just reading now "feast of souls" by CS friedman. a nice book about a woman who looks to find her place in a maledominated wizard society.

also, you could try the "prince of nothing" trilogy by r. scott bakker, one of the main protagonists is a very interesting mage...

 

[Ourph]

Lawrence Watt-Evans Ethshar series is great if you're into magic and wizards. The world of Ethshar is populated by a variety of magicians that all use different forms of magic that all function differently and by their own set of rules (wizardry, warlockry, witchery, etc.) and each book explores a different type of magic and how it interacts with the world in depth. See The World of Ethshar for more information.