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 Dreadwinter wrote:
I would check Barnes and Nobles, they always have them on the shelf when I go in there. The Omnibus are nice, they even have The Silver Spike in them. Which honestly you do not have to read unless you really hate loose ends.

Thanks man, but I think I'm gonna take my business somewhere more... local

Grimnoir: Hard Magic series by Larry Correia
Honorverse series by David Weber
Trading in Danger series by Elizabeth Moon
Mardock Scramble trilogy by Tow Ubukata
Dune
Byzantium a three part history series by John Julius Norwich.
Foundation series by Issac Asimov
Iron Dragon Series by Paul Genesse
Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

 Aesop the God Awful wrote:

 Dreadwinter wrote:
I would check Barnes and Nobles, they always have them on the shelf when I go in there. The Omnibus are nice, they even have The Silver Spike in them. Which honestly you do not have to read unless you really hate loose ends.

Thanks man, but I think I'm gonna take my business somewhere more... local

Based on the mentions in this thread I just grabbed the first omnibus on papeback swap. Alot of the individual novels are there too, but if I like the first one, I'll get the others omnibusses at half-price books or one of the local used booksellers.

Gaunt's Ghosts.

I enjoyed Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series:
On a Pale Horse (1983)
Bearing an Hourglass (1984)
With a Tangled Skein (1985)
Wielding a Red Sword (1986)
Being a Green Mother (1987)
For Love of Evil (1988)
And Eternity (1990)
Under a Velvet Cloak[2] (2007)

 whembly wrote:
I enjoyed Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series:
On a Pale Horse (1983)
Bearing an Hourglass (1984)
With a Tangled Skein (1985)
Wielding a Red Sword (1986)
Being a Green Mother (1987)
For Love of Evil (1988)
And Eternity (1990)
Under a Velvet Cloak[2] (2007)

A question about those. Is the third one better than the second? I liked the first but not so much the second. I'm debating whether to try the third.

 Eilif wrote:

 whembly wrote:
I enjoyed Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series:
On a Pale Horse (1983)
Bearing an Hourglass (1984)
With a Tangled Skein (1985)
Wielding a Red Sword (1986)
Being a Green Mother (1987)
For Love of Evil (1988)
And Eternity (1990)
Under a Velvet Cloak[2] (2007)

A question about those. Is the third one better than the second? I liked the first but not so much the second. I'm debating whether to try the third.

Yeah... Hourglass is the weakest of the series imo. The best was "For Love of Evil".

 Aesop the God Awful wrote:

 Dreadwinter wrote:
I would check Barnes and Nobles, they always have them on the shelf when I go in there. The Omnibus are nice, they even have The Silver Spike in them. Which honestly you do not have to read unless you really hate loose ends.

Thanks man, but I think I'm gonna take my business somewhere more... local

I was meaning for online ordering, the book series is not super popular so it might be difficult to find in a Mom and Pop.

Completely forgot!

The Belisarius Series by David Drake & Eric Flint

Amazing 7 book series. Ends beautifully. Very well done.

 whembly wrote:

Yeah... Hourglass is the weakest of the series imo. The best was "For Love of Evil".

Thanks, I'll give the series another shot.

Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Funny, Intelligent, and stupid alll that the same time. The most brilliant author I have ever read.
LOTR
Do I really need to say anything
Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini
This is the series that got me into reading fantasy/sci-fi

i came very close to crying altough, i must admit i found the ending dreadfully ambiguous.

I'd have to say that Angelia makes everything amazing.

would have been better with werewolves. then again, everything is better with werewolves.
so, everyone, what do you guys look for in a fantasy book? what makes you go "i should enjoy this" without it being suggested.

 the shrouded lord wrote:
i came very close to crying

Spoiler:

when brom died

altough, i must admit i found the ending dreadfully ambiguous.

The ending wasn't so much ambiguous as too long, I felt the 150-odd pages after the Final Battle bit would have been done in half that, to be honest. Also, read Page 81 of Eragon, that's the ending right there! Werewolves? It has Were-cats, who needs Wolves. I do eagerly await more from Paolini, though, it's been years since the last one and he promised more stuff in Alegasia, damn it!

As for books that made me sad, the endings of the His Dark Materials, Chaos Walking and Mortal Engines series all tugged most painfully at the heartstings. Anyone who can read the end of The Amber Spyglass without feeling utter despair is not human!

And what I look for in a book varies, but it's generally a mixture of a decent setting and good (not neccessarily nice, but interesting) characters. The best, such as Dark Materials and Mortal Engines combine the two, both having hugely original settings and exceptionally deep, moving and engaging characters.

Damn, I forgot about His Dark Materials. One of my cats is called Lyra (a feisty little girl, fittingly)

his dark materials, he he, also known as the only book to collectively hurt every catholic in the feefees. again, the ending to those books pissed me off, and drove me to fanfiction. *shudders.* oh the things we do when we are in those innosent years before turning fourteen.

A lot of Philip Pullman's books attack the use of organised religion for personal gain.

 the shrouded lord wrote:
his dark materials, he he, also known as the only book to collectively hurt every catholic in the feefees. again, the ending to those books pissed me off, and drove me to fanfiction. *shudders.* oh the things we do when we are in those innosent years before turning fourteen.

See, at the time, I hated the ending, I couldn't believe that fate (and authors) could be so cruel to characters that did not deserve it, but over time, I've come to see it as pretty much the perfect conclusion. Yes, it's utterly tragic, but that's the beauty of it; in that final chapter, you come to realise just how much you've grown to care about the characters and how much the whole thing means.

I liken it to killing the gallient knight after he has selflessly saved the princess. after poisoning everyone he cares about.

 the shrouded lord wrote:
his dark materials, he he, also known as the only book to collectively hurt every catholic in the feefees. again, the ending to those books pissed me off, and drove me to fanfiction. *shudders.* oh the things we do when we are in those innosent years before turning fourteen.

Oh, the ending was sad... but I wept more manly tears over . They felt like the heroes from a book that Pullman almost wrote, and then rolled into Lyra's tale.

 Gitzbitah wrote:

 the shrouded lord wrote:
his dark materials, he he, also known as the only book to collectively hurt every catholic in the feefees. again, the ending to those books pissed me off, and drove me to fanfiction. *shudders.* oh the things we do when we are in those innosent years before turning fourteen.

Oh, the ending was sad... but I wept more manly tears over

Spoiler:

Lee Scoresby and Hester's last stand.

. They felt like the heroes from a book that Pullman almost wrote, and then rolled into Lyra's tale.

Oh, that is a great moment from a literary standpoint, such badassery mixed with real humanness. Interesting you make that last comment, as he did write a book about those two some time after HDM, a prequel of sorts, called 'tales from the north' or something like that. It's a pretty good read, and also features a certain irate/awesome Panserbeorn...

I really liked the Night Lords trilogy by ADB. It was refreshing to look through the eyes of CSMs.

It doesn't have a sequel yet, but The Athena Project by Brad Thor was pretty good.

Lots of good suggestions here so adding some that have not been mentioned

The Rusalka trilogy by CJ Cherryh (I'd also recommend her Chanur and Merchanter Alliance series)

Witch World series by Andre Norton (other writers are now dabbling in the world many of them just don't get it)

The Saint-Germain vampire chronicles from Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (from long before vampires got popular again)

HP Lovecraft's Mythos tales

Conan by Robert E Howard (just one novel, The Hour of the Dragon and a few short stories.... Try and pick up editions that have not been edited/modified etc)

and leaping away from SF/F

The Mary Russell series beginning with The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R King (Sherlock Holmes)

I'll second Elizabeth Moon's trading in Danger series as well- I happen to prefer Once a Hero and Esmay Suiza, but that series is linked to another series and its heroine is less approachable,

And for my own additions, primarily in the fantasy realm-
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud(a story of a magician and his snarky demon)
The Secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel (more obscure mythological references than you can shake a stick at)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness ,non-sparkly vampires, witches, and demons)
David Weber's Path of the Fury Trilogy is brilliant, compact, and has a total lack of Treecats or plot armor. Plus it come sin a nifty omnibus- In Fury Born.

Oh, I almost forgot. The Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L. Howard is f'ing brilliant.

 Bromsy wrote:
Oh, I almost forgot. The Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L. Howard is f'ing brilliant.

yep, and the 4th book just hit a bit ago

Just remembered a couple of fun ones....if they fit ones sense of humor or style.

Christopher Stasheffs - The Warlock of Gramerye series.



Peirs Anthony's Xanth series. ... Careful, this can be a PUNishing series to read.(Honestly my favorite by Mr Anthony are the Incarnation and the Blue Adept series)


For teenagers in particular, while not as silly or humourous I'd recommend:

The Tales of David Sullivan by Tom Deitz. (Riders of the Sidhe {ancient celtic faefolk} in spotted in 1990's Georgia, usa).

This series is a real good way of introducing young readers to some very interesting ancient folklore.

Later,
ff

For light comedy, the Myth-adventures books by Robert Asprin are a fun time.

The Trilogy (better known by the name of it's first book: With Fire and Sword) Awesome story and based on real historic events.