Oooh! I just thought of another author that hasn't been mentioned:

Patricia McKillip is a really good fantasy writer. She writes stories that are sort of romantic and full of "color." Music and art is a big part of her stories, so if you're in to that sort of thing, her books would be great. I loved them!

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - (this was the first one I read and it is very very good)
Winter Rose - (I haven't read this one yet, but the summary of it sounds good)
RiddleMaster: The Complete Trilogy
Tower at Stony Wood
Changeling Sea
Ombria in Shadow - (I read this one and it is very very good. I think I'm going to read it again. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )
Book of Atrix Wolfe
In the Forests of Serre
Cygnet and the Firebrand
Fool's Run
Harpist in the Wind
Heir of Sea and Fire
Sorceress and the Cygnet
Moon and the Face
Moon-flash
The Night Gift

Phew ... the list goes on and on. They aren't very popular books, but they're very good for someone who is willing to focus on reading them. Maybe a little complicated. Good for an intelligent person who likes to get drawn into a magical book. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

-Maikafanawen

Another gem I recently discovered:

Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Engdahl. I must say, it is a wonderful book. The characters are rich and fufilling, and grow and learn. It's only 286 pages long, but when you read it, it takes more time than you expect. Great book. And the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Especially good if you like villains. Very witty, and has a lot of action in it. Good quotes too.

Maikafanawen - The Forgotten Beasts of Eld? That is an incredible book. I first read it in 1977, and can still recall the opening line,
In fact, you have inspired me to run off to Amazon and order a hardcover edition, for it truely deserves a space on my "keeper" bookshelf.

Patricia McKillip is a incredible writer. Everyone on this site should read that book.

I have a list of 9 authors to check out, I'm going to the library today and Foyles tomorrow, so I should be reading for the next few months instead of revising!

By the way I have to say for anyone who hasn't read Tamora Pierce do so NOW. Her books make me laugh and cry, they're not so epic or powerful as Tolkien but more human. The first series are about Alanna, who is a girl who becomes a knight, but my favourites are the Immortals series, starting with Wild Magic. They begin sort of childish but each set of 4 books have the main character growing up, so by the end they're adults. They also have such a good sarcastic sense of humour!

Also I have to agree with people about Eoin Colfer and Philip Pullman, but Philip Pullman doesn't just write good fantasy- he also has a series set in Victorian London which is fantastic.

I am another big fan of Ender's Game. It's already been mentioned, but I'd like to put in another good word for it and the others in the series. They are such excellent books, and they really made me think about things in a different way. Enjoy your reading! [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

This one is good, but may be slightly too easy. Whtever, I'll write it anyway [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Oh and
The Lion Tamer's Daughter by Peter Dickinson
The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, and The Tiger in the Welll by Phillip Pullman-anohter trilogy.
Okay, more later. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

And the Westing Game for a bit of easy but fun reading. But that's mystery. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

I'll second The Lion Tamers daughter. I wasnt sure at first, but once i got into it, it was great!

The Devils Road by Robert westall is also a great read, about the Burning times (witch trials), as is any other book by Robert Westall. And the Shannara series.

The Sacred seven is great, Old magic and The Named are FANTASTIC, and the Wheel of Time is absolutely incredible! I have to say, though, LOTR references are huge!

There is the horn of Valere, which reminds me of Orome's horn the Valaroma.

There is a character called Thorin, and one called Hurin

I made a mental list of other similarities while I was reading, but they were pushed out of my head by the fact that they really are brilliant stories!

[ April 06, 2003: Message edited by: Lyra Greenleaf ]

I thoght those were absolutly stunning. I even put a link to them in my sig for a few weeks after I finshed them.

Looking forward to reading them again.

Really berautiful writing excellent charchters and plot intertwinings, and an absolutly wonderful and cunning use of the LotR. Very moving emotionally.

Along with the Ferny and Bitrdland I must second Once and Future King/Book of Merlyn - Irank them a bit below JRRT as he is clearly not a Christian author and if my memory serves me correctly [ I am due for a re-erad] he treats sexuality too loosely for my taste - of course that may not bother some folks at all.

Leguins books - ditto on all points - She is a superb writer. Who owes alot ot JRRT in a very non-derivative way [unlike the Shannara books - the first one of which was imo a blatant rippoff, though I loved LotR so much at that age, I swallowed it whole with only a few gags at the ripe age of 14 or so when it came out.

The only writer I consider a better writer than JRRT is JohN Croweley. A real genius of a storyteller. I will not at all say his Stories are better, they are not, but he has a command of English that is IMO unequalled.

'Engine Summer' and 'Little, Big' are his best I think. Hopefully you live near a good used Bookstore because that is the only place you are likely to find em [or ebay maybe].

I actually like the Dune prequels [House: Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino] bettter than the originals. Kind of funny actually. And While I always felt much of Dune MEssiah made for painful reading the Scifi-channel just did a series of books 2 and 3 that were universally given a perfect rating on the Dune sites I peaked at.

Finally I must confess I like the Post Return of the Jedi SW books, especially Tim Zahn's. Nothing too serious, and way below the level of M-E, but it is fun to see how alive characters you have seen many times in movies come alive in Books. A complete reversal of the LotR Movie situation.

Lindil - Ditto regarding John Crowley, and all of his works are still in print and available through Amazon.com. Those without access to a bank card can probably special order them at your book seller's.

Well after you read all these incredible books there's always these to fall back on:

The Forgotten Realms books-
I recommend Elaine Cunningham's Songs & Swords series starting with ElfShadow. It may start out a little slow but once you 'meet' Danilo Thann, you'll enjoy it.

and The Dragon Lance books-
I started with The Lioness because I used the cover as a starting place for my costume. Then I decided to read it.

There are tons of books in each series, and they are all acclaimed novels!

Love,
Faybevin

I believe this has been mentioned, but it deserves a second one: Watership Down. That is an amazingly good book, just takes a bit of getting into.