The best debut fantasy novel of the last fewyears?

[ratsy]

Since I originally posted this I have read Elantris and was very impressed with it. Last night I finished "The Lies of Locke Lamora". I did like the way Lynch presented the story, with the interludes flashing back. It gave the characters a good back story. I will read the others in the series for sure.

 

[soulsinging]

Of the batch mentioned in here, I vote for Name of the Wind. That book blew me away, and I loved almost every page. I tore through it in just a few days and blew off all my classes to do so. Intriguing main character, a hint of mystery, and a fascinating setting with the university. I'm disappointed to hear that book 2 has been delayed, as I was under the impression the series was done and just have a planned release. But I will be all over it when it does come out.

I've read LoLL and it was good, but I remember struggling through early/middle parts and while it ended strong, I felt more relieved to have it done than anything else. The second book, rather than correcting any problems of the first, exacerbated every problem I had with it. It wasn't just a matter of high expectations either, as I'd heard it was disappointing and was prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for was the sluggish pace and unfocused plot. If you're going to write caper novels, they have to be as light on their feet as the protagonist, which is difficult to do in a 700+ page book. I may give the third one a chance, but I'm not really anxious for it and will wait until I've nothing else to read and see it in paperback.

Elantris is going with me on vacation to Morocco this spring break. As is Dune... thought that was an appropriate book to have while I explore the Sahara

 

[Ross]

Gail Z. Martin

Her series is called Chronicles of the Necromancer and is an enjoyable read. Her first book, The Summoner, was a little slow in parts but her second one, The Blood King, was a big improvement. Just received the third book of the series called Dark Haven, which I'm excited about because it revolves around my favourite character, Jonmarc Vahanian.

Wouldn't say she is on the levels of the likes of Janny Wurts or Raymond E. Feist but she definitely has plenty of time to improve. If the quality of the second book to the first one is anything to go by then I expect her to do so.

 

[DeepThought]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

I'll go with either one of the aforementioned. Hard to pick one over the other since both are very different kinds of fantasy.

 

[Connavar]

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Of the new fantasy authors i have read which arent too many i would have to give it to Sanderson for his first series book.

Mistborn was original,fresh breath in many ways. The magic system,the world,the history feel of the world was interesting for the type of fantasy it is.

If he can get better with character depth for his main character then he will be a writer to keep reading his works. Vin being the generic childish teenage hero was the only real fault in Mistborn.

Im not a fan of Epic fantasy and Mistborn Trilogy was the first series in many tries that made me want to keep reading the series. I have borrowed first two books of the series from . The third i actually feel the need to buy.