Looking for actually good modern fantasy novels

[Maj]

My sister just sent The Name of the Wind. I haven't read it yet, but she loved it despite not being much of a fantasy person. It's good to see another recommendation for it.

I'm really fond of Maledicte, by Lane Robins. I don't know if it's the kind of book anyone here would like, though.

[Concise Locket]

1. Fighting Fantasy. Spectral Stalkers is legitimately awesome, but even the bad books are entertaining in a way bad non-interactive fiction isn't.

2. M:tG tie-ins that have to do with the Weatherlight, and Tom Holt.

Really? A paperback RPG I read as a lonely junior high school boy and a licensed tie-in novel for a card game is the best that contemporary fantasy has to offer? If true, I'm glad I usually stick with post-cyberpunk codas and British spaceship poems for my speculative fiction itch scratching.

[Starmaker]

Really? A paperback RPG I read as a lonely junior high school boy and a licensed tie-in novel for a card game is the best that contemporary fantasy has to offer? If true, I'm glad I usually stick with post-cyberpunk codas and British spaceship poems for my speculative fiction itch scratching.

Most likely not, but I decided looking for the best that contemporary fantasy has to offer is not worth the trouble. I get way more fun out of a bad and pretentious gamebook than out of a [bad] critically acclaimed fantasy novel. Gamebooks have alternate routes, things are happening fast so there are more original ideas per book, and YOU is a more likable character than fantasy protagonists. I really don't want to read pages upon pages of pages of a racist wingnut's diatribe on what constitutes wholesome cybersex (spoiler: it's the kind he's having, everyone else is dirty and sinful) to maybe notice a good depiction of a parallel world.

Now a random tie-in fantasy title isn't likely to be more tolerable than "original" fantasy, but looking back, tie-ins are the only good fantasy books I can recall that aren't prominently
[*] humor (Grailblazers, Small Gods, Mort),
[*] meta as fuck (My Hero, One For The Morning Glory, The Princess Bride, The Last Unicorn), or
[*] borderline historical (Shardik, Ars Magica).

Maybe it's because the world already exists and the writers don't waste time ineptly splurging generic worldbuilding onto pages ('you gotta have worldbuilding'); in fact, those likable low-level tie-ins could be easily ported to just about any other 'typical' fantasy setting:

Customs officer investigates magical crime, makes powerful enemies
Diplomat is murdered, war imminent unless murderer is found
Robot woman is hunted by mysterious enemies
Kid wants to be knight, tags along with knights, looks at adventures
Civilian finds magic item, wants to return it to legitimate owner
Dude goes questing for magic item to prove his worth

The Weatherlight stuff is an exception, but it helps that the world is .

[Prak]

Keep in mind, M:tG is the WotC line that knows what the fuck it's doing. The novels are definitely not super awesome amazing literature, but they're pretty enjoyable.

[Username17]

No one has suggested reading the Taltos novels by Steven Brust. That should be corrected. You should read the Taltos novels by Steven Brust.

-Username17

[talozin]

I reread that Wheel of Time thread and was generally appalled at some of the suggestions (though perhaps a result of the original poster asking for books of mediocre quality).

I just read the Lies of Locke Lamora (the 3 books out) and the Name of the Wind (the 2 books out). I want to read more books like this; clean writing, resistant to stereotypes, and working in aspects of post-modernism (non-linear narrative structures). My favourite literary genre is metafiction (Mark Z. Danielewski, Paul Auster, David Mitchell) and I've strong preference for intelligent pacing and writing.

So, suggestions for more things like this? Or is there a thread around here somewhere already?

I admit that I'm getting a mild case of cognitive dissonance when you say you want more like Locke Lamora and you name-drop Danielewski, Auster, and Mitchell as authors you like in your favorite genre. It's not that I thought Locke Lamora was bad, it was perfectly acceptable genre fantasy, but that was all.

Anyway, someone mentioned Gene Wolfe, so if you enjoy literary fantasy you may as well go right ahead and see if "Shadow of the Torturer" floats your boat.

If you have not already read Walter Miller's "A Canticle For Leibowitz" you might consider that one.

Mrs. talozin, whose degree is in English and American Literature and who actually reads Faulkner and Hawthorne for fun, seems to enjoy M. John Harrison. So you could try that.

"The Carpet Makers" by Andreas Eschbach is more SF than fantasy but might meet your other criteriae (in particular, it should ring the nonlinear narrative bell pretty hard). Iain Banks is another guy in the 'more SF than fantasy' category but 'Inversions' or 'Against a Dark Background' might amuse.

Umberto Eco, maybe? 'Baudolino' and 'Name of the Rose' are not fantasy per se but what the hell. Also not exactly modern.

[fectin]

Brust's Taltos is a little rough. Some of them are just... Not very good. Others are very good. I recommend reading them in publication order.

Don't listen to Starmaker, Lord of Light is only transphobic in that those characters are flawed too. Sam often exploits people's insecurities. One male character is insecure about having been a lesbian originally, and Sam briefly taunts him about it, just like he taunts Yama about his wife, the demon about guilt, Agni about everything, Durga about her feelings, Kuberick about his weight, the innkeeper about his longwindedness, another trans character about her skills atrophying, etc., etc., etc.

You might try Lain M. Banks' culture saga. It's technology advanced enough to be magic. Try Player of Games.

The Blade Itself has some nice conceits. I forget who wrote it ATM (joe Abercrombie?), but it's worthwhile.

Dragonsbane by Hambly is very good, though she couldn't figure out how to end it.

[talozin]

I'm really fond of Maledicte, by Lane Robins. I don't know if it's the kind of book anyone here would like, though.

I liked Maledicte a lot, but it kind of lost me a little toward the end. It's been long enough that I don't remember exactly why, though I think it was either the pacing or else the story going off the rails. What I thought of as the rails, anyway, maybe that's always what was intended.

[Maj]

I didn't have a problem with Maledicte (it supplanted by my previous favorite book), and while I enjoyed the sequel, it wasn't as good. The author told me she was considering a third, but I don't know if that will happen.

If it doesn't have to be adult fantasy, I actually quite enjoyed Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers; and The Looking Glass Wars series, by Frank Beddor.

[Longes]

My sister just sent The Name of the Wind. I haven't read it yet, but she loved it despite not being much of a fantasy person. It's good to see another recommendation for it.

The Name of the Wind is pretty good, but by the second book the hero goes full Garry Stu, befriends magical asians and it all just drags about him being best lover ever.

I second "Player of Games" suggestion.

[radthemad4]

Damnit guys, now I feel like reading my Discworld collection again. Also, try Neil Gaiman. Neverwhere and American Gods are pretty good. There's also 'Good Omens' by both Pratchett and Gaiman. Also, the Death there is pretty much the Discworld one.

Hearing about the protests in the Ukraine on npr on my way home made me want to reread Night Watch.

Man, Night Watch was just plain amazing. I actually don't have that one. Borrowed it from a friend a few years ago. Oh well, I'll just have to get my own copy.

If you can find it in your native language, I also recommend Lukyanenko's "Rough Draft"

We were talking about the Discworld book actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(Discworld)

Haven't read Lukyanenko's one.

[echoVanguard]

I'm not sure if these count as modern, but here are my standbys:

1. The Black Company series by Glen Cook.
2. The Black Company series by Glen Cook, again, because it's that good.
3. All books written by Joe Abercrombie, beginning with "The Blade Itself".
4. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers.
5. Anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, particularly the Thomas Covenant series - but also his books of short stories.

echo

[Longes]

If you can find it in your native language, I also recommend Lukyanenko's "Rough Draft"

We were talking about the Discworld book actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(Discworld)

Haven't read Lukyanenko's one.

Well, damn. He said Ukraine, and I completely forgot about Prattchett's one.

[Starmaker]

5. Anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, particularly the Thomas Covenant series - but also his books of short stories.

Please explain what's good about it. Full disclosure: I have the first book on my ereader annotated with pure and unbridled hate, but I don't feel like arguing about it. I just want to salvage some of my time investment. (inb4 "Thomas Covenant rapes a woman" - no, I don't have a problem with it.)

[Orca]

Lois Bujold has written some very good fantasy (the Curse of Chalion series & a one off named The Spirit Ring) and some so-so fantasy (the Sharing Knife series). I recommend the former; all of it's pretty easygoing stuff, don't bother if grimdark's your thing.

Jim Butcher has spawned many imitations, my favourite of these is Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus urban fantasy series.

David Hayden's Tales of Pawan Kor are worth reading IMO.

Seanan McGuire's urban fantasy novels have something horrible happening to the protagonist in every book but they're still extremely readable. My mother swears by them.

Martha Wells is prone to depression and it shows in her books, but I've still liked absolutely every book of hers I've read. The world building, storytelling and characterisation are all good.

[Maxus]

Seanan McGuire also writes a zombie apocalypse series under the name of Mira Grant.

My sister claims their her absolute best writing.

I do know I heard a strange sound one and turned around to see her bawling because something that had happened to the main character. She's harder-hearted than I am, too.

[fectin]

5. Anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, particularly the Thomas Covenant series - but also his books of short stories.

Please explain what's good about it. Full disclosure: I have the first book on my ereader annotated with pure and unbridled hate, but I don't feel like arguing about it. I just want to salvage some of my time investment. (inb4 "Thomas Covenant rapes a woman" - no, I don't have a problem with it.)

I also hated it. He rapes a woman (deeply unpleasant protagonist, but whatever), then spends the rest of the book moping about it. The rest of the trilogy, IIRC. Really, I guess that Donaldson's fantasy suffers from having no redeeming features whatsoever. It only avoids being deeply insipid by being deeply boring, broken by occasional dalliances with disgust.

Llyod Alexander might not count as modern, but is deeply worthwhile. His fantasy is geared towards a younger audience, but has these great cultural resonances which work out well. For example Prydain borrows from and sounds like Irish mythology; Arcadians is more Mediterranean. I recommend The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, which is often overlooked, and reads exactly like classic Chinese stories (Water Margin, etc). Geraldine Harris wrote a single quartet which feels similar, but I can't identify the culture. Based on her professional life, I'm guessing it's ancient Egypt.

[Maxus]

Alexander also wrote a one-shot called The Iron Ring which is so Hindu it has fifty arms and twenty heads.

It's also very good.

[Username17]

Lois Bujold has written some very good fantasy (the Curse of Chalion series & a one off named The Spirit Ring) and some so-so fantasy (the Sharing Knife series). I recommend the former; all of it's pretty easygoing stuff, don't bother if grimdark's your thing.

This is pretty accurate. I liked Sharing Knife way more before it decided to turn into a 19th century Mississippi riverboat romance drama. That was weird.

-Username17

[Cynic]

Bujold's Chalion universe is awesome.

"The Spirit Ring" was really bad fiction. A so-so premise and bad writing.

"The Sharing Knife" universe isn't too bad. Since I came to "Sharing Knife" immediately after Chalion, I expected some sort of romance and melodrama.
--

M John Harrison is good but is most definitely like Vandermeer and Wolfe. A lot of high concept stuff. Also not fantasy but sci-fi.

I'm going to suggest more fantasy that isn't as popular in America.

Sebastien Doubinsky's "Babylonian trilogy" is good stuff.

Leena Krohn's "Tainaron" is also good. Tainaron: Mail from another city's english translation has been published for free online by Krohn herself at that link.

Jonathan L Howard has written some pretty good stuff about a magician called Johannes Cabal in a steampunk setting.

And, of course, we have some very fun writers on The Den itself.

Ancient_History's The Unpublishable is a whole bunch of good short fiction on all kinds of stuff.

Jigokubosatsu has published two great reads -- "Antipaladin blues" and "10 a Boot Stomping 20 a Human Face 30 Goto 10."

K has also published a short novella - "The Dead city gambit."

The Dead city gambit reads like a good d&d adventure session.
--

[JigokuBosatsu]

Awww, thanks, Cynic.

I'd like to point out that the Thomas Covenant books read better if you pretend that the first trilogy is someone's fantasy heartbreaker campaign, and the second series is a reboot after one of the players pulls a full Henderson.

I'd also second the recommendation of Vandermeer's Ambergris books, and of course I always recommend Shadow of the Torturer. I wish there was some sort of bot I could write that would scour the internet and replace all advice with "Read Shadow of the Torturer".

Q: Will I get pregnant if my boyfriend and I have sex while I'm on my period?
A: Read Shadow of the Torturer.

Q: I'm getting this really weird aliasing glitch in Ableton 9 when I have 32 bit Waveshell running. Do I need to reinstall?
A: Try reading Shadow of the Torturer.

Q: What is a man?
A: A miserable pile of secrets. Have you read Shadow of the Torturer?

[DSMatticus]

I wish there was some sort of bot I could write that would scour the internet and replace all advice with "Read Shadow of the Torturer".

You could try grabbing a book on web bots - maybe Shadow of the Torturer.

[Ikeren]

Alright, thanks for all the suggestions. Jim Butcher is out (I wasn't impressed with the first 2 Dresdan books, doubt he gets worth my time at any point), Mercedes Lackey is out (I'm not 14 any more), anything "YA" is out, Terry Pratchett is out (I'm not a fan of the silliness in the ~6 books I read of his). I've read all of Neil Gaimon already, but also, not really high fantasy most of the time. Fighting Fantasy's aren't happening (I read on kindle), nor is trade paperback. And some of this is just a little too bizarre/doesn't catch my fancy/is missing wiki entries. I read AH's unpublishables here and there. Some of them are actually good. Some of them are bizarre porn.

I'm skimming like the first paragraph of wiki entries, so here's my thoughts:

"Shadow of the Torturer" is happening
Epic_Novel is totally happening
Zelazny is totally happening
Taltos novels by Steven Brust is totally happening
"The Carpet Makers" by Andreas Eschbach is happening
The Looking Glass Wars is happening
Maledicte, by Lane Robins gets an extremely likely
The Blade Itself -- Happening
Jigokubosatsu: "Antipaladin blues" and "10 a Boot Stomping 20 a Human Face 30 Goto 10." --- Happening
K has also published a short novella - "The Dead city gambit." --- Happening


"Iain Banks" : 'Inversions' or 'Against a Dark Background' is probably happening
Orphan's Tales: In The Night Garden and its follow-up, Orphan's Tales: Cities of Coin And Spice is probably happening
Doctrine of Labyrinths by Sarah Monette.
Hal Duncan wrote a two-part series called the Book of All Hours.
Brandon Sanderson is a maybe: I'm meh on his finish of the Wheel of Time series, but by the time I got there I was meh on the Wheel of Time series as whole, so you know
Jeff Vandermeer's "Finch" and "Veniss Underground" are a probably
Lain M. Banks' culture saga. -- probably
Try Player of Games. -- probably
Dragonsbane -- probably
1. The Black Company series by Glen Cook. - maybe
4. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. - maybe

Charles Stross' Laundry series gets a maybe: Is it actually good, or is just better than cubist rapefic?

@Talozin: I like clean, pointed writing in my fantasy. I also like metafiction. These likes a different, but David Mitchell and Paul Auster (and to a lesser extend MZD) notably have the same sort of clean, pointed writing that I like in David Lynch and Patrick Roufuss. And I've read every Mitchell, Auster, and MZD novel already, many of them multiple times, so I sorta need something else...and this thread can't be "Good contemporary metafiction" cause it's a pretty damn short list from my perspective.

And I've already read Canticle for Leibowitz. Solid but a bit on the plodding side; he's too clearly borrowing from Orwell's pacing. I like Mrs. Talozin, but I think her taste runs older than mine. And Umberto Eco's already made a different list.

Either way, that gives me some solid ideas, many of which I'd never heard of. You guys are useful, thank you. Sorry to everyone I probably offended. But I'm starting with Shadow of a Torturer.

[Emerald]

Jim Butcher is out (I wasn't impressed with the first 2 Dresdan books, doubt he gets worth my time at any point),

The first two or three books of the Dresden Files are fairly formulaic for a reason; the series definitely gets better from book 3 or 4 on, and Codex Alera doesn't have that kind of ramping-up period.

Brandon Sanderson is a maybe: I'm meh on his finish of the Wheel of Time series, but by the time I got there I was meh on the Wheel of Time series as whole, so you know

That isn't really a good example of Sanderson's writing style; he's best known for unique and consistent magic systems, interesting worldbuilding, and excellent foreshadowing, none of which he could really showcase in WoT for obvious reasons. You should at least read the first Mistborn book to get a feel for his "real" works before writing him off.

[JigokuBosatsu]

I read AH's unpublishables here and there. Some of them are actually good. Some of them are bizarre porn.

That's a blurb if I ever saw one, AH.

Jeff Vandermeer's "Finch" and "Veniss Underground" are a probably

I'd start with "Shriek" before "Finch" if you're more into lit fic... "Finch" is kind of a deconstruction of noir.

1. The Black Company series by Glen Cook. - maybe
4. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. - maybe

Big +1 for both of these.

[/quote]