Modern Fantasy Genre? Any ideas for a first read?

[Mouse]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Desuma Malevois:


Actually, it's Hawk and FISHER, although, with those two, you could also say 'Slayer & Slayer' [img]smile.gif[/img]

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Guess that will teach me to rely on my increasingly unstable old memory....errrr - where am I? whose house is this?? what is this strange TV thing with a keyboard in front of me??? HELP!!! [img]graemlins/1drool.gif[/img]

[Wulfere]

Roger Zelazny's "Chronicles of Amber" is a definate must read.
Dean Koontz "Fear Nothing" and then "Sieze the Night" not Fantasy but very good stuff.
Morgan Llywelyn is also very good. "Red Branch" and Finn Mac Cool"
I read Finn Mac Cool in one night. I could not put it down literally.
Karl Edward Wagners Kane books...if you can find them.
"Night Winds", "Dark Crusade", "Darkness Weaves" and "Bloodstone".

[red45]

IMHO Cook is the best, Eddings and Pratchett, too. Zelazny - classic. But You also should try John Morressy ['Kedrigern serie'] and Terry Goodkind.

[Barry the Sprout]

There is another thread on this somewhere that I started but I don't think you can go far wrong with Robert Rankin. He is more Sci-fi than fantasy but check out the website I posted a link to. See what you think.

[Saltheart Foamfollower]

Donaldsons series is epic, and very thought provoking.

As for 'modern', try David Gemmel. His Waylander series is out of this world. Druss the Legend is incredible...

Tad Williams is also another 'new' writer that has created a fine fantasy series.

Chronicles of Amber was absolutely riveting and worth several reading to catch everything Zelany wrote..

There are so many good authors and books out there, I just go to the book store and wander thru the isles until something new catches my eye. That is the best way to discover new books and series to read

[Desuma Malevois]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Wulfere:
...Karl Edward Wagners Kane books...if you can find them.
"Night Winds", "Dark Crusade", "Darkness Weaves" and "Bloodstone".<hr></blockquote>

All right!!! Somebody else likes/knows about Kane! These are definitely worth finding, especially if you like Conan/Elric style swords & sorcery. In fact, IIRC, the last Kane story ever written appeared in an Elric anthology published by White Wolf - it was a crossover between the two characters.

[Merkin]

No one has mentioned Charles DeLint! I think he's the best modern fantasist around, by a pretty big margin. Try "Yarrow", "Moonheart" or "Dreams Underfoot" Dreams Underfoot is my personal favorite, a collection of interwoven short stories set in a modern fictional city called Newford. He has an amazing talent for getting the reader to believe that magic exists, and that you just might see an elf ducking down an alley in your town. His prose is fluid, his characters believable, his stories are warm and full of heart, and his books are just plain fun!

[catzenpewters]

Well, I haven't read a lot of fantasy yet but Robert Asprin's books are HILARIOUS and I've really enjoyed Piers Anthony and Joel Rosenberg. I've also heard Anne McCaffrey is good (at least, she's very popular!).

My preference is not too heavy stuff in fantasy (yet) and I'm always looking for new authors to try too

[huma]

Stephen R Donaldson.The chronicles of thomas covenant, a 6 book series
is alot of reading but is one of my personal favorites.Someone else mentioned Terry Goodkind.His The Sword Of Truth series is truly an epic fantasy series and was a bestseller.

[Lifetime]

I'd suggest Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Its really good, believable(so far as fantasy can go) stuff. Pretty much one of the books I've been most hooked on to reading.