Recommend some fantasy

[bartholen_v1legacy]

A while back I suddenly got an itch to watch The Vision of Escaflowne (an AWESOME series which you definitely should see) again, and have now watched it twice over the last month, just started watching it for the third time. It rekindled my interest in fantasy fiction, and I would like to return to it. I got bored of fantasy something like 8 years ago, because it was always the same orcs, dragons, elves etc.

So I would like to hear recommendations for good fantasy. Mostly books, but tv series, comics and anime are fine as well. I'd prefer something different from the usual middle ages-orcs-dragons-demons routine. Please, enlighten me.

Captcha: Frozen peas. Does The Escapist keep a record of stuff I have in my refrigerator?

 

[Rawne1980]

David Gemmell books.

He wrote a load of fantasy novels and not one Orc, Elf or Dragon to be seen.

The Druss, Waylander and Skillgannon books are the best ones (although his Troy ones are pretty decent as well).

As for TV.

Game of Thrones, Merlin, Legend of the Seeker, Beast Master or Camelot.

Films.

Krull, Conan (old or new, it's all swords, muscles and death), Scorpion King 1, 2 and 3 and my mind has now drawn a blank.

 

[Kahunaburger]

If you'd rather have something more ancient Greece vs. medieval Europe, Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe is amazing. It's a story about a veteran who takes a hit to the head, loses the ability to remember more than eight hours (think Memento, but on a longer time frame), and starts seeing gods. Without memories, he stores things he wants to remember in the book - the first words are "read this every day." It's sort of hard to get into, but incredibly rewarding when you do. The best way to describe the book without spoiling too much is that Gene Wolfe expects you to have a copy of Herodotus at hand and you can learn more about the plot by referring to it.

If you want something similarly excellent but much easier to get into, here are three Appendix N classics:

Three of Swords, by Fritz Leiber: classic sword & sorcery short stories. Think Conan the Barbarian, except well-written, less sexist, and much less racist. Also very funny. Completely derailed my attempt to finish The Iliad.

Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny: political intrigue set across a multiverse. Politics, strange worlds, and sord fightan.

The Dying Earth Series, by Jack Vance: these books are a very pessimistic sort of funny with an entertaining, baroque writing style.