[Mithadan]

I am glad that this thread has been revived. It's a good source of recommendations for fantasy and science fiction books and series.

I started out as a science fiction fan and, looking for something different, I decided to try fantasy. So I chose what I had heard was the best as an introduction, Tolkien. Like Snowdog, this ruined the genre for me in many ways. I disliked anything that resembled Tolkien. This included Shanarra and similar works. I was also indifferent to so-called sword and sorcery books. However, I did enjoy fantasy that was thematically different from Middle Earth, i.e. less in the line of epic mythology.

Among those I have enjoyed greatly are:

The Earthsea books, by Ursula LeGuin
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clark
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere, Gaiman
Harry Potter

Fire and Ice was entertaining, but frustrating, particularly when I finished the parts that were written and nothing else was forthcoming. If Martin were to ever publish the last 2 books, I would probably not read them because that would require a reread of 1-5 and I didn't like them enough. I was never able to get into Wheel of Time, for reasons that I cannot define. Alasse mentions The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. I loved the first book but thought it went downhill thereafter. The Circle of Light series by Niel Hancock was a favorite of mine when I was young, but I tried to reread it recently and disliked it.