I recommend Curse of Chalion. It's a single book. There ARE two other books in the same setting, but they have completely unrelated plots.
It's Western fantasy, but it's based more on real Europe. The main action takes place around Spain or so.
It's not swords and sorcery. It's more a courtly drama. The main character is good at fighting, certainly, but he's an older man who isn't exactly about to dash off on a horse and slay the dragon. It's also very low-fantasy. No other races. Magic exists, but it's heavily ritualized and tied in with religion.
The Vlad books by Steven Brust. Each is a story in itself, and interestingly, if you read the series, Vlad does change over time. They start with _Jhereg_, though it might be easier these days to find the first three books in an omnibus called _The Book of Jhereg_.
It's a world where there are Easterners and Dragaearans, and the Easterners are short with facial hair and good cooking, and the Dragaearans have lifespans in the 3000-year range and swashbuckling attitudes. Vlad Taltos is an Easterner (they call themselves humans) whose dad bought a patent of nobility in one of the great houses of the Dragaearans, and Vlad starts off pissed at the world and building his little mob area as part of this house. Lots of neat "mafia in a world of magic" stuff right there at the start.
Declare, by Tim Powers. Cold War spies reminisce about and reprise WWII occult ops.
It's not silly or gonzo. It's epic, tragic, and chilling, like if John LeCarre did fantasy. It's also impeccably researched and fills in some question marks about Kim Philby, a WWII double/triple/? agent.
Kids' stuff, but the early books at least feel to me like what a Sidereals order-squad should feel like: Mystical-tools super-genius ninja!
David Gemmell's books. Many can stand on their own, perhaps even most. The following ones do benefit from previous ones, but heck, they stand on their own.
The first 4 books of The Black Company, by Glen Cook, or either of the two omnibuses of A Chronicle of the Dread Empire, also by Glen Cook. Is it shlocky fantasty? Perhaps, but it's still worth it.
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It's Western fantasy, but it's based more on real Europe. The main action takes place around Spain or so.
It's not swords and sorcery. It's more a courtly drama. The main character is good at fighting, certainly, but he's an older man who isn't exactly about to dash off on a horse and slay the dragon. It's also very low-fantasy. No other races. Magic exists, but it's heavily ritualized and tied in with religion.
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It's a world where there are Easterners and Dragaearans, and the Easterners are short with facial hair and good cooking, and the Dragaearans have lifespans in the 3000-year range and swashbuckling attitudes. Vlad Taltos is an Easterner (they call themselves humans) whose dad bought a patent of nobility in one of the great houses of the Dragaearans, and Vlad starts off pissed at the world and building his little mob area as part of this house. Lots of neat "mafia in a world of magic" stuff right there at the start.
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It's not silly or gonzo. It's epic, tragic, and chilling, like if John LeCarre did fantasy. It's also impeccably researched and fills in some question marks about Kim Philby, a WWII double/triple/? agent.
Reply
Declare. The Stress of Her Regard. Last Call. The Anubis Gates. On Stranger Tides.
All stand alone - all brilliant.
TS
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I like Artemis Fowl quite a bit :)
Kids' stuff, but the early books at least feel to me like what a Sidereals order-squad should feel like: Mystical-tools super-genius ninja!
David Gemmell's books. Many can stand on their own, perhaps even most. The following ones do benefit from previous ones, but heck, they stand on their own.
The first 4 books of The Black Company, by Glen Cook, or either of the two omnibuses of A Chronicle of the Dread Empire, also by Glen Cook.
Is it shlocky fantasty? Perhaps, but it's still worth it.
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