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Recommend five (and only five) fantasy books

PieAndDragon

Duncan T
Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
 

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I think everyone has mentioned my five by now.

Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
Perdido Street Station (China Mieville)
Magician (Raymond E Feist)
Lion of Macedon (David Gemmell)
Small Gods (Terry Pratchet)
 


replicant2

First Post
1. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien.
2. The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson.
3. A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin.
4. The Once and Future King, T.H. White.
5. The Stand, Stephen King.
 

sniffles

First Post
Mycanid beat me to my first choices, but here are five more I'd recommend:

Ursula K. LeGuin -
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu
The Other Wind


Yeah, I know Michael Tree already mentioned A Wizard of Earthsea, but that's just one book.
 

Matchstick

Adventurer
Wow, there's some great stuff here, including some I never expected to see like Bridge of Birds (excellent book, so are the others in the series, can't recommend it enough) and the Phoenix Guards (which as indicated is wonderfully written, funny and scathingly accurate to Dumas' style). And Something Wicked, what a great choice, Bradbury is by far my favorite author.

Trying to work in some new stuff, my list would look like this:

Dream Park: Niven and Barnes
The only truly Sci Fi/Fantasy/Mystery novel I've ever read. The sequels are very good too.

Sweet Silver Blues: Glen Cook
Already mentioned above, but Garrett sets the bar when it comes to fantasy/mystery crossovers. A great character, in a great setting that grows and evolves as the series goes on.

Fanuilh: Daniel Hood
An adventurer "inherits" a house and a familiar from a murdered wizard aquaintance. He settles down and begins to help the local constabulary in solving crimes. This series is pretty obscure, but very well done. Fantasy/mystery again.

Feet of Clay: Terry Pratchett
This specific one hasn't been on the list yet, though Pratchett naturally is. I thought this was the best of the Guards series, and maybe the best Pratchett book I've read. He's pretty consistently awesome though.

A Gathering of Heroes: Paul Edwin Zimmer
Another hidden gem, I call this the best single volume fantasy book I've ever read. Set in what could be the perfect setting to adapt to a campaign, all of Zimmer's books are fantastic. He writes swordplay like no one else, add in some excellent characters and of course that wonderful setting and you've got something special. There are other books that share the setting and some of the characters, try to track them all down.
 

cignus_pfaccari

First Post
Legend, by David Gemmell

Quite possibly my favorite novel. What would possess you to fight and die?

The Tower of Fear, by Glen Cook

One of the best standalone fantasy novels out there, sadly out of print.

Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

While not strictly fantasy, it's usually stocked in SciFi/Fantasy, and it includes at least one supernatural element. It's also a darn fine novel on its own, and both it and the following Baroque Cycle use language wonderfully.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

At least one other person mentioned this. It's a very good mind-blowing modern fantasy novel that stands alone nicely.

The Shadow of Ararat, by Thomas Harlan

A very good military-themed alternate history, where one of the main viewpoint characters is a good model for a warmage. There are strong Lovecraftian overtones, and he's very good at description. The author has an "Aztecs in Space" science fiction series that is also very good, but he seems to have writer's block.

Brad
 

rom90125

Banned
Banned
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant:
Lord Foul's Bane
The Illearth War
The Power That Preserves

plus:
A Canticle for Leibowitz
The Hobbit
 

cignus_pfaccari said:
Legend, by David Gemmell

Quite possibly my favorite novel. What would possess you to fight and die?
Read the Last Light of the Sun, by Guy Gavriel Kay for a different answer to that question. Or just because it is a good book.
 

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Pozatronic said:
hey, were are YOUR five?
Heh, fair enough.

1. The Hobbit - JRRT
2. A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula LeGuin
3. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
4. A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
5. On Stranger Tides - Tim Powers
 

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