I'm an avid reader of fantasy books, and I'm always looking for a good new series to read. And I assume that others around here are in the same boat. So, this is a thread for folks to give suggestions/opinions about fantasy books/series.

Stuff I've already read and my opinions on them
Dark Elf series (several of them) by R.A. Salvatore--very good
Cleric QUintet by R.A. Salvatore--also very good
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein--a seminal fantasy work, but not very well written in my opinion
most Dragonlance stuff by Weiss and Hickman--it seemed awesome when I was 15, but now it seems like it was written by...well, 15 year olds
The Belgariad series by David Eddings--very good, stands the test of time surprisingly well
The Mallorean series by David Eddings--also very good
The Elenium series by David Eddings--very good
The Tamuli series by David Eddings--not bad, but I never finished them
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin--good writing, but bad story--I really got tired of so many main characters being killed off pointlessly
Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy--similar to Martin--good at writing scenes and characters, but bad at putting together an overall story that makes sense
The Black Company by Glen Cook--very good--not the all-time best writer, but he presents a gritty, realistic picture of war
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks--for some reason, I could never finish it. It just never grabbed me
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan/Bryan Sanderson--very good writing and very enjoyable, but VERY long and tough to follow after a while
The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist--good, though it seemed a little slow
The Heirs of Ash by Rich Wulf--for those who like Eberron, it's great. It's one of my favorite series.
Gord the Rogue series by Gary Gygax--some of the worst books I've ever read
Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt--amazing character and scene writer--I've never thought that the process of making a dresser could make for interesting reading--the only flaw in his books is that each book (for the most part) centers around totally different characters than the others


By the way, did you know that David Eddings passed away last year at the age of 78? Yes, he wrote his most well known fantasy books when he was in his 50s.

For the most part I agree with your reviews; I could never get into Salvatore (though I should say that I've not read the ones you list) - I grabbed 'the demon awakens' and one other whose name I forget and found them both horribly predictable.

To be honest, I haven't read Salvatore's stuff in many years. Much like the Dragonlance books, his stuff might not seem very good nowadays. I should take some time to go back through some of his original books and see.

* The Candy Shop Wars & Fablehaven series by Brandom Mull. Both are actually quite good for young adult fiction.
* Everything I've read by (and that's all his works through March of this year). He reminds me somewhat of Douglas Adams - his books are full of humor that just seems to fit into the setting. Definitely NOT young adult fiction due to language - it's not gratuitous (well, maybe Diner...) but it's sufficient that I wouldn't recommend it to a 12-year-old.
* Shameless plug for local bard Tracy Hickman. I've read most of the collaborations between him and Margaret Weis and have enjoyed them quite a bit. The Death Gate Cycle is a welcome departure from Dragonlance with much the same writing style.
* Slow train to Arcturus and the "Pyramid" series by . The first is SciFi, the latter series is sort of a mix SciFi/Fantasy.
* by Orson Scott Card. This is a great alternate history book.
* Warrior and Witch by . A fantasy book I picked up on a whim at Barnes & Noble and ended up enjoying greatly.

I've got plenty more where those came from but I'd like to hear what you think of a few before making any recommendations. Your initial list looks a lot like my own. I make it a point to re-read the Belgariad and Mallorean yearly at least.

Interesting suggestions, Akanon. I'm not familiar with a lot of the ones you mentioned.

I think I first read the Belgariad at least 10 years ago and just picked up the first book again the other day and must say that I'm impressed how well it still holds up. And I have to say that I like that he didn't follow the classic formula of having each book come to its own climax. For longer series, that formula doesn't work well.

I have to add the following to my list:

Gardens of the Moon (part of Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson--similar writing style to Robert Jordan, but his story is sooooo confusing 'cuz he jumps around a lot. It almost comes across as more of a history book. Has a tendency to introduce characters in 1 book and then come back to them 5 books later and expects you to remember them--much like Jordan. Every review says that the series gets better the further you get into it, but I haven't pushed much past the first book.

The Strangest Adventures series by Alexandra Adornetto. Good writing, structure, easy read, but wordy enough for adults to read; and I just HASD know what kind of book a 12-13yo girl would write- which a publishing company run by adults would buy.
Then again her endings are utterly ridiculous.
Derek Landys Skullduggery Pleasant series. Known for its not-too-goodie heroes, shades of Lovecraftianism and cooler than Meyer treatment of vampires.
The Scar, by China Mieville. not done yet but the kind of industrialised fantasy I like now, though not too enamoured of the potty mouthed cactus people and descriptions of bodily functions and sexual encounters that are bucketed into fantasy and SF which is why I read books meant for 12 year olds.

I too really liked the Belgariad series, although some of his later work seemed not as good.

A series that I enjoyed a lot was David Farland's Runelord series. It had some of the standard fantasy elements, but then added in a fairly unique twist. In that series, Runes could be used to transfer a characteristic, like Strength or Grace, or even senses like Sight from one person to another. Runelords were people who'd been gifted with attributes from 20 or more people giving them superhuman abilities. At the same time, they were vulnerable to having their powers suddenly taken away from them if the people who gifted the attributes were killed. Because the gifters would lose the use of that attribute themselves until the Runelord died, they were particularly vulnerable, lending another dimension to battle between nobles and nations.

Michael A Stackpole has written a couple good series, the DragonCrown War (although I didn't enjoy the last one or two as much as the earlier books) and the Age of Discovery series.

Chris Bunch wrote the Seer King series which was fun with a lot of ass-kickery in it, although be forewarned that unlike many authors, in sex scenes, he doesn't "fade to black."

Matthew Woodring Stover wrote a couple of good series. One had two books (Iron Dawn and Jericho Moon), set in the Middle East during the Egyptian era. The other series (called the Acts of Caine I believe) is a mix of sci fi and fantasy. It takes place in a future earth where a form of reality TV has "Actors" project their consciousness into a different dimension with magic, etc to live out adventures in this fantasy world. To the inhabitants of this fantasy world, however, the Actors are mythical demons who sow chaos wherever they go (interesting take on the standard gamer PC party).

Julian May has written a number of good series, but most of them are sci fi in nature. The Saga of the Pliocene Exile series somewhat qualifies as fantasy, with psychic powers standing in for magic. Humans in a future discover a one-way time machine that lets misfits travel back to 6 Million BC. People think of it as a way to escape modern society, but it turns out that aliens who bear a striking resemblance to many mythological and folktale creatures are living on Earth back then and wind up enslaving the humans who travel back to the past.

Wow there's a lot here that people should know about.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. One of the better stand along Fantasy novels I have read in a while.

Elric of Melinbone by Michael Moorcock. Older but still one of the better Dark Fantasy series out there.

Much of Niel Gaiman's stuff. Stardust (the book is better then the movie) is classic fantasy while other books like as American Gods are modern fantasy and quite good examples of that.

Speaking of Modern Fantasy: Jim Butchers "Dresden Files" is a great example of Popcorn Modern Fantasy. Yes the first couple books are a bit raw, and in every book the main character withstands punishment no human could, but the books are all a fun read.

If you want more feminine Fantasy - Mercedes Lackey Valdemar series are reasonable. I found the serries started out better but fell off quickly after a while, but the "Last Herald Mage Trilogy" and the Black Gryphon I found to be well worth reading.

Some of the classics like Roger Zelazny's Amber series and Guy Gaveriel Kay "Tigana" would be on the list of good reads as well.

Stephen Donaldsons "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" (the first series at least) I have a love hate relationship with. The writing is excellent, but the main character is someone I found my self hating. I don't think I've ever had that mix of feelings on any other book series.

Lets see, Stephen Brust's Taltos series is interesting, and quite enjoyable although the writing is pedestrian.

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock has been recommended to me a couple times by people I trust, although I have not gotten a chance to read it yet.

You mentioned before the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist. I would also submit that the Empire Saga, which he co-wrote with Janny Wurts is well worth the read.

I could go on, but that seems like a good start for now.

Here is a second on The Saga of the Pliocene Exile by Julian May and American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Faerie Tail by Raymond E. Feist is a very good book set in modern times that tells about a family's encounter with ancient legends. It gets very intense sometimes so is not recommended for younger readers or those easily offended.

and a third for Gaiman. American Gods was awesome, and I wanna read Anansi Boys since my buddy gave me his review of it. Heck, the Graveyard Book, Coraline and Good Omens were also great.