Need help picking a great fantasy novel

[Grayhawk]

In a couple of days I'm going on a 2 week vacation and I want to bring a couple of good books.

My first thought was to get something by Jack Vance (who I asked about in this thread), but none of the bookshops I checked here in Copenhagen had any of the ones I wanted (either the Lyonesse series or Dying Earth).

Before going into what authors I'm considering, I'll mention which fantasy books I've read and what I thought about them, as I hope it'll help in giving me a great recommendation:

The Hobbit: My Favorite Book.
Lord of the Rings: Love the world, even though I find it a bit of a slow read.
The Silmarillion: Loved it.

Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series: Enjoyed it very much, especially the first one before Vlad develops too much of a conscience.

Raymond E. Feist's Magician series (+ the next 3 or so): Enjoyed it.

Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends & Tales: Liked it.

Tad Williams: 1st book of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn: Didn't finish it.

Robert Jordan: The Eye of the World: Didn't finish it.


Now, since I won't be able to get me som Vance before going on vacation, which of these would you recommend (and hopefully they are more readily available):

Fritz Leiber (something with Farfd & Gray Mouser) - I have 4 Fritz Leiber comic adaptions drawn by Mike Mignola from about 1991 and liked the stories and characters well enough.

Michael Moorcock (the Elric saga) - don't know anything about it, but have seen it mentioned here often enough.

Robert E. Howard (Conan) - never read any of these.

Gene Wolfe - actually I hadn't seen his name before, but Amazon grouped him with the guys above, especially a 2 book series called 'WizardKnight'.

Btw, I'm in particular not looking for a drawn out series over many volumes, especially one not even finished yet.

What should I look for, in your opinion?

 

[Mark]

Judging from your list you either have read this before or definitely need to read it. Have a safe trip.

A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)

Study Guide for Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Canticle for Leibowitz

Review of A Canticle for Leibowitz (Spoilers)

"Extraordinary ... chillingly effective." - Time

"Angry, eloquent ... a terrific story." - The New York Times

"An extraordinary novel ... Prodigiously imaginative, richly comic, terrifyingly grim, profound both intellectually and morally, and, above all ... simply such a memorable story as to stay with the reader for years." - Chicago Tribune

"An exciting and imaginative story ... Unconditionally recommended." - Library Journal

 

[Lazybones]

There's a new single-volume edition of Howard's Conan stories out that's pretty nice. I just got my first Gene Wolfe book from the library the other day, so I can't comment on him just yet. Moorcock's books are okay, I suppose, but reading Elric is something you have to be in a certain mood for. The stories are abstract and rife with a lot of stuff that is more symbolic than concrete (it's been a while since I read them, so that's memory talking). The protagonist is a very gray character, who suffers a great deal of angst.

I've been reading some stuff by Guy Gavriel Kay; his Fionavar Tapestry trilogy is good (think five people from our world transported into a Tolkienesque realm), and I'm almost done with the second book in his Sarantine Mosaic duology (Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors), which I can also recommend.

David Gemmel's Rigante books are good action yarns, and most of them stand alone (more or less) as solid reads (I initially started them out of order, and went back and read some of the others later). I'd suggest Ravenheart as a starting point (even though it's not absolutely first in terms of chronology in the books he's written in this setting).

 

[your father is]

I particularly love Moorcock's Hawkmoon series, and Howard's Conan tales and Leiber's Fafhrd & Mouser stories are all excellent.

 

[WayneLigon]

Lieber's stuff is very good.
The new Robert E Howard collection is great as well; I've just started on it.
For full novels, you might want to try:
Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reignhert
Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee

 

[shilsen]

Anything from the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett. Even though they're set on the same world and have some recurring characters, each is a stand-alone novel. And they're the best fantasy novels, if not the best literature, I've ever read.

 

[CCamfield]

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. An amazingly good self-contained fantasy novel set in ancient China, weaving together fantasy, folktale, mystery, and humour elements. The main characters are Number 10 Ox, a young and very strong peasant, and Master Li, an ancient man who was one of the most brilliant scholars in all of China. He just has a "slight flaw in his character"... well, he's also been a thief, a detective, he drinks too much, and is awfully quick with a knife.

As far as what you listed:

I definitely recommend Fritz Leiber if you want lots of action. The Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories are classic swords and sorcery. So is Conan, but I must admit that I haven't read the original Howard volumes. (There are two of these now, btw.) Anyhow I think Leiber's books are tons of fun, but not particularly deep.

I don't know much about Wolfe's new series, but I don't think it's finished yet.

 

[Mark Chance]

Trio for Lute by R. A. MacAvoy.

Check out David Gemmel's Drenai Tales series, starting with the wonderful Legend.

 

[Thanee]

Hearing a lot of good stuff about Song of Ice and Fire.

I, personally, like the Amber Chronicles from Roger Zelazny a lot, tho it's not quite classic fantasy, but it's a very good read.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pants]

Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy
China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and The Scar are both excellent, excellent reads, especially if you are into gritty, weird fantasy with some steampunkish elements. Each book takes place in the same world, but is standalone.