Blood red harp (Everquest) Elizabeth Cunningham. You don;t need to know anything about Everquest to enjoy this excellent read.

Stephen wrote: "Those are books? Huh i thought howls moving castle was just a movie. I like it are the books worth while?"

The Book version of Howl's is much different then the animated movie version. Personally I liked the book better but I know many enjoyed the movie. It might be because I read the book first and as I mentioned the movie deviates from the original book.

Robin The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha | Nyphron Rising

Those are books? Huh i thought howls moving castle was just a movie. I like it are the books worth while?

Emery wrote: "There are sequels to Howl's, actually. Castle in the Air follows but Howl and Sophie are minor characters as I recall. A new one called House of Many Ways came out thi..."

I finished "House of Many Ways" recently; Sophie and Howl play a larger role in it than they did in "Castle in the Air", but are not main characters, and I think someone who hasn't read "Howl's Moving Castle" could probably read "House of Many Ways" without any trouble.

That's too bad. He does seem to go way into description though.

I'll second The War Of The Flowers. It's a pretty good book. As for Otherland, I found it creative but bloated.

I just finished The War Of The Flowers and loved it! It was the first book I've read by Tad Williams and I thought it was really well done. He describes everything so well and there are very few questions left unanswered by the end of the book (and with a book over 800 pages that's saying something!). I've heard his series Otherland is really good too so that's next on my list.

I'm currently reading Agyar by Steve Brust, it is pretty good if you like contemporary. It is rather restrained, more about tone than action.

I just finished the The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leah Eddings and it was a really good stand alone novel.

Janny wrote: "... and the wonderful short standalone classic of hers, Tea With the Black Dragon."

I enjoyed reading this short novel this past weekend. What a treasure! Thanks for suggesting it.

Jon

Hi all, haven't noticed this one on the list so i'll have to add Janny Wurt's Excellent To Ride Hells Chasm, it starts off as a bit of a who did it mystery, then, BAM, full on race for freedom. Theres some fantastic characters and a good backstory to boot. I highly recommend it as a stand alone.
(haven't managed to read any of her series yet.

To Ride Hell's Chasm

Oh, and one of my favorite authors, still an unknown, is A. Lee Martinez. I loved , , and . They're fun reads that both mock and pay homage to all of the fantasy cliches. Give him a try.

I loved . Very good read - imaginative.

The only stand-alone book I can think of to recommend which hasn't been mentioned before is The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven. It's a YA with pretty good action and lots of dark humor. Not necessarily for the religiously sensitive, though. :>

And I've added The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl to my to-read list. Thanks :)

Good for you, Marc. And thanks for commenting and thus causing me to notice that I failed to indicate that The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl is by Tim Pratt.

Great. I get a little tired of the same (usually well-known) authors getting recommended on all these lists. While I grant the possibility that some of them may deserve all the hype, there are other authors in the world, and they are far more in need of readers. In my secret identity as Author Guy, purveyor of deserving books to the deserving masses, I carry only unknown authors.

Hi! I'm new to the group and appreciate the many great recommendations. Here are a few stand-alones that don't seem well known:

The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea
The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins
Bone Dance A Fantasy for Technophiles by Emma Bull
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells (sort of a prequel to her Wizard Hunters trilogy, but no real need to read that except that it is awesome!)
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl
The Tricksters by Margeret Mahy

Here's a few stand-alones I'd recommend (some are already mention here, so consider them an additional vote):

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold(stands alone, though there two more set in the same world)
The Hobbit by Tolkien
To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts
The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
Stardust by Neil Gaiman (he reads the audiobook, I recommend that)
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to)
Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell

John wrote: "Really? I would have enjoyed being in a discussion about this book, even if it has been quite a few years since I read it."

You can read up on it here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_fol...

There's some interesting info. I printed some out & stuck it with the book. Some questions or ideas to think about next time I read it.

Really? I would have enjoyed being in a discussion about this book, even if it has been quite a few years since I read it.

John wrote: "... but traditional fantasy is difficult to do in single-book format because so much time needs..."

It's pretty amazing how Zelazny used so many worlds to set up this book. He pulled together quite a collection. His references create a scavenger hunt by the reader.

There were quite a few topics exploring this book last year. Not sure which group that was in. It was great to discuss it with others though. We all contributed our bit &, I think, figured most of the references out.

I rather enjoyed Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. It's not exactly traditional fantasy, but traditional fantasy is difficult to do in single-book format because so much time needs to be spent developing the world. By the time you've laid out how your fantasy world works, you're several hundred pages into the book. Heh.

It suddenly came to me: The perfect set of standalone fantasy novels - Jeffrey E. Barlough's Western Lights series. They're all set in the same alternate Earth but they're all completely readable without reference to any other.

Dark Sleeper: A Novel
The House in the High Wood: A Story of Old Talbotshire
Strange Cargo (I'm currently enjoying this one)

And to be read:
Bertram of Butter Cross
Anchorwick

And upcoming: A Tangle in Slops

I just finished reading Animist by Eve Forward. It was pretty good, and VERY stand alone. The setting could be used for more, and so could the characters, but everything in this novel is wrapped up pretty neatly by the end.

Oh, thank you for mentioning Mists of Avalon, Ashok. It was one of my favorite books, when I was a teenager; the sequels were a complete disappointment though.

Another great stand alone book is Tam Lin. It's for anyone who went to college at a Liberal Arts school in the US Mid-West and likes to read. You'll recognize everything. It's also a great book and still one of my favorites (even if you didn't go to a small, mid-western liberal arts college).

m.l.n hanover- unclean spirits...
this is a really good book and the second book comes out in september

Ashok wrote: "I love The Stand too...."

Welcome Ashok - and the Stand is one of my all time favorite books as well.

-- Robin (14 days until Avempartha)

Brandy wrote: "I have not read Howl's Moving Castle but it is one of my favorite movies. It is also my daughter's who just turned one. She will just sit there and watch everything. I like the idea that she lik..."

I've not seen the movie (yet) but I did read the book and really liked it. I heard the book and movie are much different so I'm anxious to see the movie.

Janny wrote: "Since it's St. Pat's today, and since there's a gaping hole in this list - (no R. A. MacAvoy) let me add [b:The Grey Horse|941467|The Grey Horse|R.A. MacAvoy|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5..."

I'm not familiar with this author but I love the titles! I'm going to have to add her to my "To Read" list!

Since it's St. Pat's today, and since there's a gaping hole in this list - (no R. A. MacAvoy) let me add The Grey Horse and the wonderful short standalone classic of hers, Tea With the Black Dragon.

People who like Guy Kay might enjoy this author for her insightful characters and lovely prose.

Hi, everyone, I'm new here. I don't see Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. There were sequels, but Mists is complete in itself. A great retelling of the Arthurian legend from the point of view of the women in the story - it reads as if that was how the story should have been told in the first place!

I love The Stand too. I've tried often to get into Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song because I really enjoyed his other work but somehow I can never get past the first few pages. The Stand is one I can reread at least once a year.

There are sequels to Howl's, actually. Castle in the Air follows but Howl and Sophie are minor characters as I recall. A new one called House of Many Ways came out this winter, but I haven't read it yet to see how prevalent Howl is.

I have not read Howl's Moving Castle but it is one of my favorite movies. It is also my daughter's who just turned one. She will just sit there and watch everything. I like the idea that she likes movies like Howl's versus sleeping beauty, little mermaid and other princess movies.

I just finished Howl's Moving Castle Although Diana Wynne Jones does have series I don't think this is one.

I thought it was a good book especially if you like "fairytale" type stories like Gaiman's Stardust.

An excellent stand-alone novel I read about a year ago is The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick. It's urban fantasy, really, but one of the most original stories I've ever read.

I haven't actually read any "adult" fantasy, i'm still making my way through the YA section of the library, but my aunt who has been a librarian since before she graduated college still says her favorites are YA. so here's one I liked that stands on its own.
The White Mists Of Power

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card is a good stand alone.

Both Songs of Earth and Power by Greg Bear and Pawn's Dream Eric S. Nylund are stand alone, although Songs is acually an omnibus. I enjoyed both and reread frequently.

One I didn't see on here, but which I can highly recommend is Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin. It's about vampires set in the steamboat era.

I especially enjoyed The Alphabet of Thorn which has already been mentioned; it's a fantastic stand alone book.
The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey is another one that I enjoyed.

Thanks Robert, added to the ever-growing TBR list!

I just finished Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. I liked Mistborn better, as far as Sanderson goes, but Elantris was very good as well.

One of my all time favourites...

The forgotten Beast of Eld - Patricia Mckillip

Lawrence Watt Evans, Diana Wynne Jones, and John Moore both do fun fast stand alone books.

Anne McAffrey's Brainship books are each stand alones though they exist in the same universe.

Mercedes Lackey has several good stand alone books which are novelized versions of fairytales (Firebird, The Fire Rose, The Gates of Sleep, The Serpent's Shadow)

Robin Mckinley (The Blue Sword, Hero and the Crown, Deerskin, Spindle's End, Sunshine)

I have yet to read a fantasy anthology. There are far too many to know where to start.

Most of my fantasy are older,literary fantasy reads. Jack Vance,Dunsany,Poul Anderson,Moorcock etc I also adore Sword and Sorcery/Heroic fantasy authors like Robert E Howard,David Gemmell,Tanith Lee,Charles Saunders,Leiber,Sapkowski etc

I like reading short story collections of an author. Instead of series i like those short stories,novellas. A good,great author can tell alot in that type stories.

I use library,second hand book to find an author to try and then get their collections.

It would be fun to try new fantasy authors in anthologies like i do with my SF reads but you dont know where to start.

Thanks for the welcome.

Mohammed wrote: "Hi people im a new member on this site and decided to join this group.

I too enjoy shorter fantasy tales in short story,novella collections and good stand alones. Wish there were more of them by ..."

welcome Mohammed - do you read a lot of the fantasies like "2008 best fantasy" etc? I have a few of them floating around but have not read them yet and would be interested in recommendations.

-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

Thanks for the welcome Becky.

I want to second Thomas the Rhymer and Patricia McKillip. I just read Alphabet of Thorn by the latter and found it absolutely beautiful. Jerlayne by Lynn Abbey was a great modern fantasy. Mary Brown has some great novels. Each is in the same world and centers around the same theme but most are stand alone books.

Thank you Mohammad, I'll look into those. And welcome to the group, too!

Hi people im a new member on this site and decided to join this group.

I too enjoy shorter fantasy tales in short story,novella collections and good stand alones. Wish there were more of them by the most talented authors.


Good fantasy stand alones i can recommend after having read them are :

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson(classic)
Cyrion by Tanith Lee
Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams