Lord of the Rings, Mistborn, Wheel of Time, and I'm gonna try Song of Ice and Fire next.

If you're also interested in science fiction I suggest Foundation and Ender's Game.

The only decent book from that list is Ender's game, really, can you suggest anything more dull and cliche? C-K read some of the Warhammer novels if you're looking for fantasy books.

Baen Free Library:
http://baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm

Mostly sci fi, but a decent amount of fantasy in there as well

Song of Ice and Fire is my favourite. Lof the Rings not so much. I enjoy the Wheel of Time series but it's up and down. Depends on whose story it is. (Go Mat) I haven't read a lot of SF but I thought Stranger in a Strange Land was pretty good and I enjoyed the Planet of the Apes book.

I also read the DeathStalker series that was ok. In general I prefer swords to lasers.

I've never read Warhammer. I generally stay away from game based books like Forgotten Realms and such.

In the scifi direction Larry Nivan's Known Space series is good. Harry Turtledove has several alternate history series and short stories. I'm not into fantasy much, but Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit are good. But that has been printed in just about every language.

The Bible is also considered a fantasy by some.

Why do you stay away from those C-K they always have better stories then the others. I much prefer black library books to any other fantasy books I read, something about the world of Warhammer has me captivated though so my opinion is pretty biased

By me too but it's totally boring. It's reading a book written by numerous writers who contadict each other. I prefer a more defined plot.

Song of Ice and Fire is brilliant, no two ways about it.

My highest recommendation for another fantasy series is the Gentleman Bastard Sequence, by Scott Lynch. The first book is called "The Lies of Locke Lamora". Great book, and so far it's a great series.

Ender's Game and its sequels (plus the Shadow Quartet about Bean) were definitely awesome.

Warhammer (not the 40k bullshit) very rarely contradict each other.

Brandon Sanderson is an excellent writer; that being said, I too would recommend the Mistborn series. He also did a phenomenal job on the most recent Wheel of Time book (subjective, I know:)

Judith Tarr has some excellent choices also. Melanie Rawn, Kate Elliot, George R.R. Martin (mentioned), Guy Gavriel Kay and a host of others will give you some good Fantasy selections.

Stranger in a Strange Land is definitely a classic.

Another WoT name yes?

I've just finished the latest book in the Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan. I've found them to be pretty good adventures with a little different twist on the heroic fantasy genre. The rangers are widely thought to be sorcerers, but are just so good at what they do it appears to be magic.

That sounds interesting. I like Ranger'sh characters.

Another series that I love and I've read about 4 or 5 times is Benard Cromwells' The Winter King. I absolutelu love these 3 books. It's a spin of the Auturian story with the exception that it's Cromwell and laced with historical details from the age of the Britain invasion of the Anglo-Saxons. Historically interesting with a much more realistic approach to the story in general. I love fantasy but I do prefer a more realistic style. I'll take swords and shieldwalls over fanciful magic anyday. Political intrigue is always enjoyable as well.

Iceray:You claim that the books I suggested are cliche and dull, but the authors of the Warhammer books had to base their plots on a board game which has many races and enemies taken from Lord of the Rings (not that LOTR is completely original, but no book is). I have a hard time believing that any more than a few of these are worth my time. Have you read the other books I suggested?

If you like intrigue and plotting, The "Servant of the Empire" series (Janny Wurts and Raymond E. Feist) is a very good one. The heroine is a young noblewoman who's entire family if wiped out as result of a vendetta. The entire series is about how she survives and brings her family to prominence thorugh intrigue and diplomacy (should be a big hit with anyone who likes this website). It's set in an fictitious Far Eastern culture that is entirely patriarchal, which adds to her problems.

Harry Potter all the way

If we are to include SciFi (as the inclusion of Ender's Game does) then how about a little crossover. Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality is an outstanding crossover series if you can find it.

For what it's worth, I'd be happy to pick up some you might like from the above at the used paperback store and send them your way, C-K.

Barbra Hambley's "Dark" series is a bit of fantasy horror that is very enjoyable too. also, check out Terry Brook's Shanarra series, or at least the first trilogy. They are Tolkien ripoffs, but still a lot of fun.

sorry to say but i think Enders games is a kids book.
i had more than my fill of tolkien rip offs, so avoid terry brook, raymond feist(who i thought was my favourite author when i saw about 14)
you want a book with a bit of philosphical heft ? Anathem by Neal stevenson

as for stock standard kings and queens stuff fantasy, Fire and Ice series is the best,

lies of locke lamora was a fun but extremely light read.
book with a serious amount of dark fantasy content and new ideas ? anything by China Mievelle
and kick arse plot and great pacing ? richard K morgan.

Enders Game may have been slightly geared toward a younger audience, but the remainder of the series is heavily laden with philosophical discussion.

I don't know that I'd say "Lies" was a 'light' read. It's a fairly long book, and is certainly not remotely for a young adult audience. If you want light fantasy, read Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms.

stark, dont get me wrong, i enjoyed loch lamora, but it was a fun adventure ride, not a dark serious weighty book filled with new concepts,ideas and imagination. a great plane/train read. light for adults but not a kids book as such yes.
enders- ah yes i see , i must admit that is the only book i read of that series so i will give another one of them a go.

BTW, does anyone know when HBO will start showing Game of thrones? cant wait to see cersei my favoutite slutty queen being played by kick arse milfcentral sarah from terminator chronicles.

Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is awesome but I am pissed off that the long-awaited last book is now going to be in 3 parts. So sad that Jordan died - his web-site posts were so positive that he was going to beat his illness!

Ursula LeGuin is a favourite of mine - both her fanstasy and SF. As you are in Italy read what is said about books in Amazon reviews before buying from somone like the Book Depository perhaps - free european shipping.

Tad Williams perhaps - Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series. Otherland series is more of an effort to read.

David Eddings - particularly Belgariad and Mallorean as after those I think they (David & Leigh Eddings) seem to find it difficult to be new.

Stephen Donaldson - again the favourite being all the Covenant books.

Just discovered Robin Hobb and enjoyed the Farseer trilogy.

Better stop now - could be getting boring - apart from pointing out that I still re-read Lord of the Rings every 2 or 3 years.

The best new book I've read in a long time is "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. Very good, The character is interesting and I liked the writing style.

oh hammac, dont mention david eddings in the same post as robin hobb, one is a beautiful story teller and one is a complete hack. david eddings is derivative, poorly done, illogical and simplistic arghh, easily my least favourite author. yes "the name of the wind" was a great read, although in the Uni part it did veer into harry potterish territory, he is taking his time coming out with book 2 but!

@ C-K; yes, another WoT name:) Admittedly one of my favorite characters.

I forgot to mention Jennifer Fallon as well. Another very solid author of that genre.

@ Sean, I have mixed opinions about Eddings. He is oversimplistic with his plots and story telling, but he does have a style that still made it enjoyable to read as light fantasy. Perhaps it was just the banter between certain characters; but I must admit, there wasn't a lot of depth to his books.

I also do enjoy Tad Williams and Terry Brooks - the Genesis of Shannara series was actually pretty decent, but I have fond memories of reading the Sword of Shannara when I was younger (just after LOTR).

foundation is one of the best series of all time, it won best all tiem series from hugo one time ever handed out and its runner ups included lord of the rings

I like roger zelazny for fantasy, like the nine princes of amber what a read

Second Robin Hobb - 3 trilogies - Farseer, Fool and Liveships

Lois Bujold - Sharing Knife and Chalion (not to mention the indomitable sci-fi Miles Vorkosigan series.

Anne Bishop - Black Jewels for alternative fantasy in a world where women rule.....

And if we're into general sci-fi, Ian Banks Culture novels (who among us have not longed to be the hero in "Player of Games")

yes, ian banks culture novels are very good. Not only are they a scifi good story but he also a real author who writes beautifully.
david eddings- yes they story is fun i guess and i did like them a lot...but that was when i was a child, sort of like Narnia books which i loved really

Someone already mentioned Feist. His stuff is all pretty good. Lots of books, all somewhat interrelated, but you can pick up any of the mini-series (usually sets of 3) and enjoy them. Like many of the fantasy writers, his stuff came out of his original AD&D campaigns back in the 70's and 80's.

Eddings - I actually don't like the Belgarad and Mallorean as much as I like the Sparhawk series - the Talmudi etc. I like the characters a lot more.

WoT - Don't do it! You will hate Robert Jordan by about book 7. Then feel compelled to drag through 3500 more pages to find out how he is going to end the damn story.

Here's one other interesting guy - Thomas Harlan. He wrote a Fantasy/Alternate History series that mixes in sorcery and necromancy into the Roman Empire.

I'm also a pretty big Brooks fan myself. I haven't read his Landover series, but I have everything else. Definitely a lot of fun.

I've read the first Goodkind book, and I have to say, I thought it was absolute rubbish. It lacked any originality at all, the characters were generic and two dimensional, and the story was just plain boring. Sorry to you Goodkind fans, just my opinion.

Sean: HBO completed filming the pilot last month, and they're currently in post-production, which is expected to last until mid Feb. A long time for one episode I know, but it's a brand new team so they deserve a little slack until they get up to speed. Assuming HBO greenlights the project in early March (and really, there's every reason for them to do so), we should see the first season in late 2010, maybe January of 2011.