Anyone Can Recommend Me A Fantasy Novel?

Elric of Melnibonë.

And the rest of the original series:
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The Weird of the White Wolf
The Sleeping Sorceress (or The Vanishing Tower, depending on the issue)
The Bane of the Black Sword
Stormbringer

It’s true swords-and-sorcery high fantasy. Very testosterone-oriented. Easy reading, and a lot of fun.

@Seek_Kolinahr Thanks. Checking them out now.

Oh! Also,

Thieves’ World.

Robert Asprin decided at one point that it was silly that anyone at all couldn’t write a story set in another author’s world or with the author’s characters. I mean, Tolkien had gone to all this trouble to invent Middle Earth in all its intricacy, and yet the only tales we get are the ones he got out before he died.

So he invented Thieves’ World, and invited other authors to write stories about it.

The original books are compilations of short stories, each done by a different author. I don’t know offhand how many of those authors ran with it, but I know Marion Zimmer Bradley took her Thieves World character, Lythande, out for a few more unrelated novels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves'_World

This may seem a little cliche but what about the Narnia Chronicles? It’s not exactly hard core but it’s a solid read. There are 7 fairly short books… I can get through them in a weekend.

@DWW25921 I forgot to add “Haven’t made into a movie yet.”

Have you heard of The Never Ending Story? My all time fav!

@nerevars Ooh… I was reading them long before it was cool. Being a Sci-Fi geek there are lots of series’s out that aren’t on the screen. That’s probably not the genre you had in mind though… I tried!

All of the (many, many) DiscWorld novels by Sir Terry Pratchett.

David Eddings’ Belgariad and Malloreon series. Each has 5 books. Must be read in order starting with the Belgariad.

Belgariad – Pawn of Prophesy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician’s Gambit, Castle of Wizardy, Enchanter’s End Game

Malloreon – Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell

The Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey.

Game of Thrones.

The Elfin Ship, The Disappearing Dwarf, and The Stone Giant by James P. Blaylock
The “Circle of Light” series by Niel Hancock (especially if you’re interested in Buddhism).

If you read and like the Elric books, then I’d say go for broke and read the Corum and Hawkmoon books, also by M. Moorcock. Have fun spotting the parallels between series.

Then there’s the “Book of the Isle” series by Nancy Springer. I haven’t read them since I was a teenager but I remember them being vaguely homoerotic.

For lighter reading, there’s Piers Anthony’s “Xanth” series, which probably has 60 books in it by now.

Oh, if you want modern urban fantasy, you can’t do better than Eric Nylund’s Mortal Coils and the follow up All That Lives Must Die. (3 other books are planned sometime in the future, but he’s not sure when)

The Witcher
Even had two great PC games made based on it, and the 3rd is on its way.

I’ve just read “The Riddlers Gift” and “Second Sight” by Greg Hamerton and I really enjoyed them. Unusually for a fantasy series it’s complete in two books rather than three.

Also the Crossroads trilogy by Kate Elliott; “Spirit Gate”, “Shadow Gate” and “Traitor’s Gate” which I particularly liked because none (well okay, one out of hundreds) of the characters is white.

If you have not read Dune yet you must.

^ He’s absolutely right.

I always forget to mention “Dune”, just assuming that everyone has read it already. Haha.

Here is a good flowchart

^^ Cute.

I tried to read “Dune” but found it impossible.

The Arthurian section leaves out Jack Whyte’s series. Though I suppose that might be more Historical Fiction, since it lacks any actual magic.

Arguably, so does The Mists of Avalon…

Stephen R. Donaldson.

Start at the beginning. Months worth of reading there.
Then the RE-read for me.

@gailcalled You need to give it at least 4 tries.

Also, Philip Pullmans’ series His Dark Materials. It’s about children but it’s for adults. It covers all the bases. Not for sissies.

I just came here to say His Dark Materials too, @susanc. They are my favourite books of all time and seriously have something for everyone in them. I’ve read the trilogy a few times now and always get something new out of them each time. Also the movie doesn’t count, AT all.

Wow so many answers. Some are science fiction though.

But, from so many answers, all I can find is the old books, anything released in 2000ish?

Hm… Newer fantasy…

Well, my briefly mentioned Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte is from the 90s – the main series went from 92 to 98. List of books below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Whyte#Camulod_Chronicles

It’s Arthurian legend, beginning with the forging of Excalibur and afterward told from the perspective of Merlin. I call it “historical fiction” because there’s no actual magic. It’s the story told in a historically plausible way. (plausible =/= accurate)

Be warned, they are addicting. It was the first time in a long time that I actually walked into a wall because I forgot to look up.

I’m working my way through the first Song of Fire and Ice book now. I’m hoping the series gets better. It reads like the it’s the author’s first novel, with a lot of cardboard cutouts where a better writer would have people.

I really can’t think of any particularly good fantasy that has come out since 2000 that wasn’t part of a major dime-novel franchise like Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. And with those, you have to kind of already know the D&D universe to understand them.

The two I mentioned have been published in the last 5 years or less.

@nerevars older releases have the advantage, as fantasy is timeless and older means cheap. The Stephen R. Donaldson books are more fantasy than science, and I think he’s released one in the past year.

His Dark Materials were released between 1995 and 2000. Definitely fantasy. Seriously do it.

Oh. Silverlock by John Myers Myers.

@rarebear: You need to give it at least 4 tries. When I could be rereading Ulysses or Moby Dick?

Call me Ishmael.

Will do.

I’ve put four attempts into Moby Dick so far. I think I’d rather just watch Patrick Stewart playing Ahab.

When I was working at a secondary school, I took several 6-week intergenerational English electives. The Geraldine Dodge Foundation funded the courses for 11th and 12th graders and any adults in the community who wanted to attend. The first year we read “Moby Dick,” the second “Ulysses” and the third “War and Peace.” It make the reading easier because of the lively class participation of kids and grown-ups.

A series I loved, which may or may not fit the OP’s criteria, was The Once and Future King by T.H. White, based on the Arturian legends.

The Sword in the Stone (the best one)
The Queen of Air and Darkness
The Ill-Made Knight
The Candle in the Wind (This is where Elton John stole it from).

edit: Arthurian