Anyone else a fan of Dennis McKiernan? I am a big fan of his fantasy books. If you haven't read any of them, check out the Iron Tower, it was originally a trilogy because his editor made him cut it up, but after his books got more popular, he got them to publish it in one volume (and for the standard paperback price). There are some definite places where he takes pages out of Tolkien's books, but at least he admits it [img]smile.gif[/img]

What I like most about his writing is that he uses the character interactions to explore some pretty deep topics. In Voyage of the Fox Rider, it's the nature of good and evil, in others it's fate vs. free will, and some others.

He also has a very interesting take on Elves. They are immortal in his series, except for accident or violence, but he explores how being immortal would effect their outlook on life and their society. Also, the elves are not presented as a race that has always been perfect. For millenia, before the other races were born, the elves waged constant warfare with each other, vying for power. Finally, they began to see the futility of it, and came to cherish life and freedom.

If you haven't read these books, I highly recommend getting them:
The Iron Tower
Into the Fire
Into the Forge
Voyage of the Fox Rider
Dragonstone
The Silver Call
Dragondoom
Eye of the Hunter
Tales of Mithgar
Silver Wolf, Black Falcon

Read Iron Tower years ago. Should never have been a trilogy, it's not long enough. And it was too much like LOTR-lite.