Fantasy Book Recommendation

[drromanelli]

Forget Thomas Covenant Unbeliever, way to wordy...

lol, philistine ;D

[Emizand]

The Belgariad is not really about rogues more magicians but indeed a nice read.

Silk?

[GregorianPL]

Dragonlance Stories ! Best World of Dungeons and Dragons !
My Favourite book
Firstborn about elven prince kith-kanan and his brother sithas

[blackdoguk]

Many excellent authors have already been mentioned in this thread and all would be worthy as a "jumping off point" from the Salvatore series. Personally i have a soft spot for epic fantasy narratives as opposed to the fantastically choreographed swashbuckling adventures of our friend the Drow ranger. This gives us a platform to launch a plethora of rich characters and witness their interwoven fates unfold across sprawling lands - if this interests you then Steven Erikson should be your first port of call. "Gardens of the Moon" will introduce you to some of his most interesting characters, and if you do have a penchant for the subtle swordsage or trickster then Erikson comes up with the goods - assassinations, political backstabbing and all out massacres are all there in spades but amazingly his writing also manages to be subtly poetic for one minute detail whilst impressively straddling a truly epic span of events across various cultures.
In short i would repeat my first point, i have been lucky enough to read a few books listed above, but none have ever come close to the richness that exudes from Erikson's characters - you will be well rewarded for your time invested stroking your kindle.

[Vellrad]

Well, not a rouge type, but about fantasy books I recommend "The last wish", "The Sword of Destiny" and the "Blood of Elves" by Andrzej Sapkowski. And following books from the witcher saga, when they'll be translated to english (if you don't know any other languages).

[Tiberius0000]

Terry Brook's Shanara and Anne McCaffey's Pern. The Theive's World anthologies are good as well.

[KongColeus]

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafhrd_and_the_Gray_Mouser

[wisdomstorment]

Dragonlance Chronicles & Legends trilogies. Legends is a classic, but you need to have read Chronicles to appreciate it better. Everything else that comes after those two are hit-and-miss so don't bother.

[Deragoth]

First of all, I enjoyed George R.R. Martin's books, so we have that difference in taste to start with, however...

Raymond E. Feist - Start with Magician: Apprentice. As you get into the series, the roguish/swashbuckling/duelist nature will unfold. Everyone loves the "Bump of Trouble".

Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings. Some people hated it, I loved it. Long read.

Robert Jordan - RIP good sir. Be prepared for a long drawn out read, but I've found it entertaining, none the less.

David Eddings - The Belgariad. I found this a fun and entertaining read. You'll particularly enjoy the character of Silk/Kheldar, as others have said.

I've heard good things about Joe Abercrombie, though I haven't read anything as of yet.

[Uska]

The Black company by Glen Cook the first 3 books are the absolute best the rest arent bad and I wish it hadnt been so long since he had put one out.

Also outstanding is The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher

And the Guardians of the flame by Joel Rosenburg

[MogeeMaleeg]

I liked Salvatore's "The Highwayman" series.

[gabriul]

Not really about rogues or medieval fantasy but The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are fantastic reads. Who doesn't love a wise-cracking wizard for hire. They're very pulp fiction noir.

[Hendrik]

Forgotten Realms, Shadowdale Series - The Avatar Trilogy.

[Uska]

Not really about rogues or medieval fantasy but The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are fantastic reads. Who doesn't love a wise-cracking wizard for hire. They're very pulp fiction noir.

you do know he has a fantasy series right?

[gabriul]

Yeah I'm on the last book of it now. Also a very good series. The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. Alot of very descriptive battles.

I also find it hilarious that the wizard Harry Dresden has a D&D tabletop group in the books and plays a Barbarian.

[Cam_Neely]

Dragonlance Chronicles & Legends trilogies. Legends is a classic, but you need to have read Chronicles to appreciate it better. Everything else that comes after those two are hit-and-miss so don't bother.

Loved these.

Did not see the Dune series mentioned, fantasy, but not rogue/D&D.

The Name of The Wind is a fantastic book as well

[Ebuddy]

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

by Stephen R. Donaldson

Also not exactly Fantasy (technically, it's Sci-Fi but reads like fantasy) is the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.

[Uska]

Yeah I'm on the last book of it now. Also a very good series. The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. Alot of very descriptive battles.

I also find it hilarious that the wizard Harry Dresden has a D&D tabletop group in the books and plays a Barbarian.

Someone put out a Dresden files rpg not to long ago thats kind of funny I think

[Meetch1972]

You've almost certainly never heard of the Legacy trilogy, but it's one that I thoroughly enjoyed. The books aren't particularly long, and these titles are by Michael Foster - very new to the scene, but the main character must certainly have a splash of rogue: The Young Magician, She Who Has No Name, and The Ancient Ones (due out soonish, and with luck he will let me help proofread it ). There are a couple of honest reviews online. The only downside may be price/availability, as he was budget/self publishing until recently.

I have a first print run of his first book, warts and all. The second and subsequent should be much much better if you care about typos.

And yes, for the quality of story I will happily put it in the same ballpark as those of Eddings, Jordan etc.

Enjoy!

[dunklezhan]

People have already said some of these. Note the first section is not recommended reading for someone under the age of 18 (or the age of majority where you live). All have sexual content and graphic violence to one degree or another:

Fantasy:

• Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd and Gray Mouser) - there are many anthologies available which will keep you occupied.
• Terry Goodkind (Sword of Truth series) - Personally lost interest after about book 6 but can highly recommend books 1-4 at least.
• Richard Morgan (The Steel Remains) - caution! This is a brilliant book but if you have a problem with the idea of a sexually active gay protagonist then don't read it. Or at least, don't come complaining to me, because I don't have a problem with it and you've now been warned If you skip it you'll miss out on one of the most gory, bloodthirsty, gritty and dark fantasy stories since the days of Fritz Leiber, but the fact remains that sexual content of this book catches a lot of people unawares and some people get unreasonably upset about it.

Sci Fi:
Anything by

• Richard Morgan (high octane sci fi thrillers often of a 'investigative' nature yet filled with massive amounts of ultraviolence, extremely high quality) or
• Peter F Hamilton (space opera usually though not always, also very high quality)

'Teen' friendly:
JRR Tolkien (the Hobbit, if you like rogues...) - if I have to say any more then you've no business reading fantasy.
Any of the DnD novels or linked series of novels
Anne McCaffrey - Dragons of Pern series. Entertaining, if light, read.
Terry Pratchett - see comment re Tolkien, insert the word 'comedy' before 'fantasy'.

Hope that helps.

Edit:

D'OH! how could I forget. The best fantasy heroine of all time, and also one of the least heard of. Morgaine. Go read the Chronicles of Morgaine by CJ Cherry. Just do it. Her other stuff is good too - mostly sci fi. Morgaine is the closest she gets to fantasy but its really sci fi cloaked in a fantasy setting (as is Dragons of Pern really).

Edit edit:

more comedy fantasy - Grunts by Mary Gentle. Superb take on what its like to be on Team Evil. And also reveals the secret of making Stealth Dragons. Key quote: "pass me another elf, sergeant: this one's split!"