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Men at arms
Reaper man
Jingo
Soul Music
Pyramids
One of my more recent joys in the Sci-Fi genre is the work of Iain M. Banks. This Scotsman writes the most imaginative and witty stuff I've read in a long time. Books like Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Against a Dark Background, Feersum Endjinn, and Excession, are not easily put aside once you've opened them, and continue to haunt you for days after reading the last chapter. It is science fiction at its terrifyingly best.
Other authors I have perused in the last year include
Robin Hobb and
Melanie Rawn. Nice, fat books,
ideal for any summer holiday or skiing trip. Or ideal when you have,
like me, nothing better to do with your time...
Especially Melanie
Rawn's
The Ruins of Ambrai, Volume 1 of the Exiles trilogy, and Volume 2:
The Mageborn Traitor, are a great read. Funny, well-drawn characters, and a vivid world
with an interesting social structure. The wait is for volume 3...
Two authors I will certainly recommend to you are Katharine Kerr and Kate Elliott.
Katharine Kerr is a fantasy veteran with her Deverry Cycle, the first volume of which,
Daggerspell, was first published in 1986. The latest volume,
The Fire Dragon, appeared in December 2001. Now the waiting is for volumes 12 and 13 in the series.
The world of Deverry is loosely based on Celtic history and for the Celt-savvy recognisable as such, but the gripping story,
the fleshed-out characters (in more than one incarnation!), and the spell-binding action are wholly Kerr's own.
Katherine Kerr is definitely an author out of the ordinary!
Kate Elliott is a new name in fantasy: she collaborated with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Robertson on The Golden Key, and now has published a (so far) four-volume epic Crown of Stars (consisting of King's Dragon, Prince of Dogs, The Burning Stone, and Child of Flame) which is absolutely wonderful. In the words of Katharine Kerr: "What really counts are Kate Elliott's characters. Well-drawn and vivid, they come alive and draw us into her work." In my own: Sanglant kicks ass!
Of course I wouldn't be a good bookshop owner if I didn't have Tolkien. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is the single most famous book in fantasy writing, and every self-respecting fantasy fan must have read it at least five times. I've read it about twenty times... which of course also completely spoiled me for the Peter Jackson movification (grin). Give me the original work any time!
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