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Fantasy, eh?

The Chronicles of Tornor : Elizabeth A. Lynn
Watchtower (Book One)
Dancers of Arun (Book Two)
The Northern Girl (Book Three)

Rai-Kirah Saga : Carol Berg
Transformation (First)
Revelation (Second)
Restoration (Third)

As Meat Loves Salt : Maria McCann (Arguably Historical Fiction)

Smoke And Shadows : Tanya Huff
Smoke And Mirrors : Tanya Huff

Those are the biggest ones that I've read that I can think of. :3




I've also heard good things about, but never read:

Melusine : Sarah Monette
The Virtu : Sarah Monette

Kushiel's Legacy Series : Jacqueline Carey

The Blood Books Series : Tanya Huff

Smoke And Ashes : Tanya Huff

Well... I posted these in the "book recommendation" thread, but since most of them are either sci-fi/fantasy, or by said authors, here goes again... ^_^

Lackey's Magic's Promise and Magic's Price are both good, but Magic's Promise has the curse of being the middle of the trilogy; it's merely the means to an end. The third and final in the Last Herald Mage trilogy, Magic's Price, is so much better, IMO.

If you haven't read Tanya Huff's stuff, DO. NOW. ^_^ She has a variety of stand-alones and series, and I love them all. She has the Blood books, with an interesting triangle of a near-blind former police detective, her former partner Mike Celluci, and her other partner with her detective agency, who is, ahem, the vampire b*****d son of King Henry VIII. Who writes romance novels. (This series is currently being produced in Canada for television, and in the states being broadcast on, I *believe*, the Lifetime network.)

She also has, for those who like the military/sci fi books, the Valor series, with staff sergeant Torin Kerr and her marines. I'm definitely not the gung-ho military type, but I do love these books. And I want to meet a di-Taykan in real life.

She has the Quarters novels, high fantasy in which bards call elementals (fire, water, earth, air) to their assistance; there are currently four in this series; Sing the Four Quarters, The Fifth Quarter, No Quarter, and The Quartered Sea.

Her Keeper novels, currently numbered at three, are a lot of fun; the Keepers are a mystical lot in "current time" who patch the holes of reality between good and evil, to keep things from getting out of balance. The books are Summon The Keeper, The Second Summoning, and A Long, Hot Summoning.

She also has several stand-alone novels, one of which is such a favorite that my first copy of it is hanging together by tatters and packing tape alone. That would be The Fire's Stone. Not great literature, but such a good book. ^_^ It's the standard "buddy" book, with a prince, a thief, and a wizard going on a quest... but I don't want to give anything else away; find it and read it! ^_^

By the way, most of Ms. Huff's books are quite liberal with the sexualities of the characters; gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters (as well as straight, of course) are quite the norm. Also, if I'm not greatly mistaken, Ms. Huff is partnered with Fiona Patton, another great author.

I rather enjoyed Swordspoint, but having been a while since I read it last, I need to re-read it again before saying any more about it.

Marion Zimmer Bradley, who usually does science fiction / fantasy, did a wonderful (and wonderfully researched) novel called The Catch Trap, about circus acrobats in the 1940s-1950s. (Yes, this is of gay interest.) ^_^ (This is fiction, not biography; she just researched it to make it accurate for the times, etc.)

Katie Waitham (sp?) wrote The Merro Tree, and it's a wonderful book against close-mindedness of many differing flavors. Another of my favorites.

An interesting novel is Mark Merlis's "An Arrow's Flight", which, while not exactly fantasy, is close enough: "" The award-winning An Arrow's Flight tells the story of the Trojan War and Pyrrhus, the son of the fallen Achilles, now working as a go-go boy and hustler in the big city. Magically blending ancient headlines and modern myth, Merlis creates a fabulous new world where legendary heroes declare their endowments in personal ads and any panhandler may be a divinity in disguise. Comical, moving, startling in its audacity and range, An Arrow's Flight is a profound meditation on gay identity, straight power, and human liberation."

I also thought the graphic novel "Enigma" from DC's Vertigo line was quite interesting... a guy finds his boyhood comic book hero come to life... and showing decided interest in him, while strange things go on in the world around him. (I'm not much of one for spoiling things for people... hehehe)

There's also Lewis Gannett's "The Living One", which is set up much like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is, as a series of journal entries. Part supernatural, part fantasy, part thriller... smile

There's also Gregory Sanchez's "Rainbow Arc of Fire" novels, with gay and lesbian super-heroes (™ and ® DC Comics and Marvel Comics, believe it or not), which, though I have not personally read them, I have heard good things about.

There's also Storm Constatine's Wraiththu novels, which I haven't been able to properly get into, though they are well-written.

*shrug* a few more for the grist mill... smile

The best gay romance + fantasy book by far is Jesse Hajicek's The God Eaters: A mix of fantasy, science fiction and western, it's a tense and rather dark read with a constant undercurrent of hopelessness, but with main characters stubborn and resilient enough to overcome all obstacles thrown in their path and enough humour to make it nail-bitingly exciting instead of depressing. Great character and relationship development and interesting world. Gorgeous story and prose. (You can also read it online, for free, here.)

Then there's also Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner Series (Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness and Traitor's Moon). Also very good. Not sure whether it's even worth mentioning though, since pretty much everyone knows about it already. o_O

Tanya Huff's The Fire's Stone is nice too.

I heart Vertigo. Oh dear, that sounds like yet another Vertigo series I'll have to be getting, my poor student loan really is not designed for this!

Also - I totally agree about The God Eaters, it's really, really good- and free! On that note (if webcomics count) Metanoia is very good, and full of pretty boy love

Wow, that sounds good, I'll defiantly look into that, thanks for the recomendation biggrin

God-Eaters is an intense ride. I'm also in the middle of reading Traitor's Moon, but the entire series is incredibly enjoyable.