Hello everyone :)

I've recently gotten into the fantasy genre..and there's been some books that I've absolutely loved. I've read several different types of fantasy..but there's a few books which have this intense imaginative/creative touch to them..that I just loved. I'm looking for more books like them.

To name a few..

Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I instantly fell in love with this book. I loved the writing style, I loved how creative it was. I loved the characters. I loved the story. I loved the world of Faerie. I loved this book! Haha. Something about this book was so magical. It truly drew me in..and I could hardly put it down.

I also quite enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Again, incredibly creative and well written, in my opinion. Another I had a hard time putting down. There were just so many things about this book that I liked. I thought the story was unique and one of kind. Truly an original.

More recently I purchased Lud-In-The-Mist which was a rather strange book about Faeries. It had very unique and interesting characters, a cool plot, and a neat land beyond the town of Lud-In-The-Mist! VEry good..and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale.

And lastly, there was also The Hobbit...which of course, is a classic. Great book..and the world that's created here is so amazing. Oh, and there's hobbits, and dragons, and dwarves! Haha. This book was great.

So..could anyone recommend to me some books that are similar? Something perhaps a bit light (you know..some humour), yet still adventurous and compelling. I have a hard time describing what I'm looking for..but I think you guys may know.

Overall...I'm just looking for something that's really fun and imaginative. A creative world..an adventure...magic..etc. Something creative and great to read!

So yeah, any recommendations would be GREAT. I found the above books to be gems. They're truly special amongst my collection and I'm always looking for others!

Thanks :)
-Joe

Hmm...light, creative, adventure, magic, some humor? Terry Pratchett's Discworld series perhaps?

Good Omens (Pratchett and Gaiman)

To be honest, I'm still slogging through Perdido Street Station (I swear, will this book ever end?!) and I could really use something a little light and humorous myself. Looking forward to any other answers you might get. :)

Thanks for the suggestions :)

I recently finished the four currently released books of "A song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin, which is rather heavy..so I'm in need of something light for now (while I eagerly await the release of "A Dance With Dragons". Amazing saga thus far, but pretty dark and grim.

Joe, you might look at The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan. It's going to be a 6 book series, the 3d one is coming out this Fall. Michael & his wife Robin are active around here.

Janny Wurts also has a lot of good books. I just read Sorcerer's Legacy, a stand alone novel by her. She wrote 'The Empire' trilogy with Raymond Feist which falls after the first two books in his Rift War saga. All excellent reads. Janny is active around here, too.

All the above have elves, sword & sorcery and are well written. A lot of action, but not a lot of gore. Some romance, but no graphic sex.

I'm wondering if "an undemanding and unexpectedly satisfying read" might come close to a description for you? Let me dig into some of the less expected places and suggest a couple that might be a little harder to find, but well worth the hunting. So how about...

Patricia A McKillip's "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" or her Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy

Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar novels featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (the series begins with "Swords and Deviltry" - read it and you'll know if you want to continue on)

Books by Patricia C Wrede (last name pronounced "ree-dee", who brings you "Daughter of Witches" and "Shado Magic", among others); Carole Nelson Douglas ("Six of Swords"); Barbara Hambly ("The Ladies of Mandrigyn"); Louise Cooper ("The Book of Paradox"); Juanita Coulson ("The Web of Wizardry"); and Elizabeth Scarborough ("Bronwyn's Bane"). Some of those are continued in later books by those authors, but this should give you a good start...

Enjoy.

It looks like you prefer done-in-one fantasy. I agree with you. I second Jim's suggestion of The Crown Conspiracy. It's part of a series, but it's not one of those series where you have to read the next volume to get the whole story of the first book. Michael Sullivan said that he wrote the series to be like a television series with episodes involving the same characters.

You might like Terry Brooks' Landover trilogy, starting with Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold. It was a totally different take on fantasy and I still love it decades after having read it.

You might like the work of Charles de Lint. His works share characters and location, but are stand-alone novels. I'd recommend Someplace to Be Flying (Newford Book 8) as a good introduction to his work.

If you like Neverwhere A Novel, you'd probably also like The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It's both dark and entertaining.

Try Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist

Light and humorous? Try the Myth series by Robert Asprin. Those are always fun, or Xanth by Piers Anthony.

You know I've been trying to find books that are as imaginative as Gaiman, but they seem to be few and far between. Instead maybe it's better to look out for books that he liked, or has a personal blurb or quote from him on the cover or inside the book. I know Lud-In-The-Mist was definitely one of those. I know it makes me more likely to pick up a book if I see his name there on the cover.

He's also a fan and friend to Diana Wynne Jones, so you might want to check out her books too.

Thanks for all the suggestions! They all look good..

The two that caught my eye so far was "Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold" and "The Crown Conspiracy".

"The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" by Patricia McKillip also sounds interesting!

I second recommmendations for Terry Pratchett and Charles de Lint. Try either of these to get a taste - think you'll really enjoy both authors

The Onion Girl (Newford Book 11)

Lords and Ladies
The Wee Free Men

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett was really good, had me laugh out loud at times.
Magic Kingdom for Sale, I second that recommendation. Light, fun.
Terry Brooks also has his awesome Shannara series, starting with The Sword of Shannara which is comparable to LOTR early on but takes a turn from there to be it's own unique story.
Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper weaves a thread through the lives of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella, linking them in a unique re-telling, complete with faeries. Maybe not really a 'man's' book but if you liked Stardust you may like this one.
I'm currently reading Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist, it's older but very good. I think you'll like this one.

There are any number of books I could recommend, but the ones that my friends have all responded to the most have been the Joe Abercrombie series. Anyone I've recommended it to has devoured the books. You'll love Glokta! I can't wait for summer holidays when I plan on sitting down to re-read all three.

Tanya Huff has a series involving music and elemental magic. They're really light hearted and fun to read
Sing the Four Quarters
The Quartered Sea

I'd recommend The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker. I found it light and humorous without turning into a parody.

I second the Patricia McKillip and Pratchett/Terry books.

Thank you all! My "to read" list is now quite large! :)

That's one thing about To-Read lists around here, they grow exponentially until your wallet cries out in pain (mine tries to hide, constantly!) & you just never have enough time for reading.

The real danger is when you join a book trading site, like BookMooch or PaperBackSwap. Then you suddenly have access to a lot more books for a lot less. It costs about $2.50 per book & you're constantly swapping them, so you decide that you're interested in more books. It's a very vicious cycle, but of all the problems I have, it's the most enjoyable!

Jasper Fforde might appeal to you. My favorites of his are the Thursday Next books, starting with The Eyre Affair. They're set in an alternate England where the pet of choice is a dodo made from an at-home replication kit and the main character is a detective who is able to jump inside books and police them.

Christopher Moore can be, um, crass, but the one book of his that I've read, A Dirty Job, had me rolling with laughter. It's really funny if you don't mind that kind of humor.

Howl's Moving Castle is technically a young adult book, but with an opening like, "In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes," I thought you might like it. I loved Stardust and I loved this one.

I don't know how you feel about YA books, but I love The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, starting with The Ruins of Gorlan. It's kinda low fantasy, but definitely light, fun (with lots of wry humor) and adventurous.

Another book that comes to mind is The Black Tattoo, which has lots of action and another spate of dark humor, of sorts. (Not necessarily a good read for the religiously sensitive, though.)

Also, I've heard War for the Oaks A Novel by Emma Bull to be compared with Neverwhere A Novel.

I also second the recommendation of Christopher Moore. I haven't read all his stuff, but of what I've read I still think A Dirty Job is the best.

Jim wrote: "That's one thing about To-Read lists around here, they grow exponentially until your wallet cries out in pain (mine tries to hide, constantly!) & you just never have enough time for reading."

So very true!! There are not enough hours in the day for the all the great books there are to read!

Love the suggestions on this thread. This is my fav type of Fantasy lit so I had to immediately go out and torture my wallet at the bookstore. My "to-read" shelf is taking over my house but I'd rather have them all stacked up and waiting rather than miss a good one!

I'd also second Jasper Ffordeand have really enjoyed his Nursery Crime books especially The Fourth Bear.

Awesome.. :D

Hmm, I'm surprised no one's recommended Eddings. I don't personally care for him, but he's awfully popular, and sounds like just the sort of story you're looking for. Rather humorous, lots of high-fantasy, and definitely undemanding. The Belgariad's probably the best place to start...

I really liked the Belgariad (5 books) & the Mallorean (5 more books) that continues the series were OK. I thought the other 3 books (Belgarath, Polgara & the Codex one) were over the top.

My wife & I started reading them after the second book came out & read one a year for most of a decade. We'd have to re-read to catch back up & then 2 of my kids read them, so we literally wore out one set of Belgariad paperbacks.

I'd suggest reading his Elenium trilogy. It was a lot of fun. The Tamuli, a second trilogy with the same characters isn't as good. I hated his Dreamer series.

You can see all the books & their order here:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/davi...

Jim wrote: "I'd suggest reading his Elenium trilogy. It was a lot of fun. The Tamuli, a second trilogy with the same characters isn't as good. I hated his Dreamer series."

I agree completely! Sparhawk is one of my all-time favorite characters.

I actually really enjoyed his standalone novel The Redemption of Althalus. The first Belgariad and the first Elenium series are the best.

Something I could suggest (but I'm not one normally to read high fantasy or humour), but enjoyed a great deal is Sara Douglass' Threshold.

It's a stand alone book, and a decent enough story, and most importantly not as dark as her other stuff. It's also accompanied by some great scenes and passages that have stayed with me for years: Lots of detail on working with glass, it very beautifully told, and also other pleasing scenes. For example, of a beautiful river edged with reeds, and forever sounding with frogsong and wreathed in golden morning mists.

It might be worth checking into.

Joe wrote: "Hello everyone :)

I've recently gotten into the fantasy genre..and there's been some books that I've absolutely loved. I've read several different types of fantasy..but there's a few books which h..."

Have you read anything by Piers Anthony?

Good point, Barbm... Xanth definitely fits what it sounds like Joe is looking for.

Jim wrote: "I'm wondering if "an undemanding and unexpectedly satisfying read" might come close to a description for you? Let me dig into some of the less expected places and suggest a couple that might be a l..."

You may find Moira Moore's "Resenting the Hero" fun. I enjoyed it enough to read it 3 times and the follow-ups, too. Also, David Weber (I think) The War God's Own and the next 2 or 3 in that series. Wish he'd come out with some more.

The very first thing that came to mind when I started reading this post was Howls Moving Castle. When I read it it seemed very "Stardust" like to me so I agree with that recommendation.

As for Good Omens - don't get me wrong I LOVE that book and highly recommend it to anyone but I'm not sure that it falls into the same category as the others you had listed. Again - A high recommend but I think Howl's is more "in line" with what you were particularly looking for.

I also really liked Moore's Dirty Job - to me it an Good Omen's are very alike - so it you liked one I think you would like the other.

And thanks to all those who recommend The Crown Conspiracy!! - Neither Michael or I have ever read any Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books but I've heard there are many similarities between this and TCC and Avempartha. For what it is worth.

None is more creative,imaginative than the World Fantasy Grandmaster Jack Vance. From Dying Earth Tales(picturesque science fantasy) to his Lyonesse books.

I have to second the Howl's Moving Castle suggestion. I absolutely loved Stardust and Lud-in-the-Mist and personally feel that Howl's Moving Castle is another great fantasy story similar to those. It has great characters, a great story and plenty of humor. Hope you enjoy.

I am currently reading the Joe Abercrombie trilogy called The First Law. The first book is The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One). It's very creative, has a lot of adventure, a little magic. The humor is very dark but tasteful and written well. But it’s not light. These books are highly recommended books for fantasy fans that want something a little different.

If your sense of humor tends toward witty banter you'd probably like Steve Brust's Taltos series.
And maybe something by Martha Wells? City of Bones, or if you prefer a more historical setting, The Element of Fire is loosely Elizabethan and has a lot of swashbuckling.

The Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson and the Landover series, (Magical Kingdom For Sale) by Terry Brooks, fit the bill for light-hearted Fantasy.

I bought the first book in the landover series. I'm looking forward to checking out several of the others suggested here as well. Thanks for all the recommendations =]

I'm going to 2nd the mention of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The books are currently my favorite series. I read them all last fall back to back, like 9 books in the same series in a row. Thave elements of dark, fantasy, humor, adventure, mystery, and horror all in one package...Excellent. The Codex Alera Series by Butcher also is neat fantasy series that I enjoy.