What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Sapphire_Flame]

Emerging from a lengthy absence to splutter indignantly over the lack of Brandon Sanderson in this thread. (What, three mentions so far?) His books are amazing! They're wonderfully thought-out and don't just "rearrange the furniture in Tolkien's attic," to quote Mr. Gaiman. The characters are well-rounded, the settings are unique and intriguing, and the magic systems are just short of jaw-dropping. Come on, guys, please go check out Mr. Sanderson's work! One of his novels is even readable for free on his website!

*sigh*

Well, since there's been a call for end of the year recommendations, I'll go ahead and list my top five (aside from Tolkien, which I'll assume we've all read. )

1) Brandon Sanderson - Just...everything he's written. I'm not joking.

2) David Eddings - The Elenium trilogy is the best, but I'll always love the Belgariad too.

3) Brandon Mull - The Fablehaven series. Yes, it's for 10-12-year-olds, but it's clever, fun writing, and I'm always in favor of clever, fun writing.

4) H.P. Lovecraft - Pretty much everything here, too, but I'll give a particular nod for "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and "Pickman's Model".

5) Howard Andrew Jones - The Desert of Souls, which is a great Arabian Nights-esque sword-and-sorcery novel. The sequel's just come out too, and I'm hoping it will be just as good.

Good reading, everyone!