Best recent sword & sorcery?

sirensix · Jan 29, 2009

EDIT: Can't change the title for some reason, but what I'm really looking for is the best recent HEROIC/HISTORICAL FANTASY.

So, I've been out of the novel-reading market for a while (try 10 years give or take, aside from Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, A Game of Thrones (is that even recent? Forget copyright date), and um... maybe a couple of others. So I'm not really up on any great new talents in the sword-and-sorcery subgenre. Which is to say, historically-based fantasy, not modern/urban, not sci-fi, but dealing with magic, gods, warfare, etc. in a historical (preferably medieval or earlier) type context.

What hot new(ish) authors/titles would you recommend to catch me up to speed? (Please exclude Jacqueline Carey, by the way: been there, couldn't get through the first 5 pages of that. To each his/her own.)

I'm particularly interested in tales that have a swiftly-moving plot but which do show some sense of character development and the poetry of language without going on for an entire florid paragraph about the exact, exquisite shade of the heroine's eyes. (blech)

Mr. Chuckletrousers · Jan 29, 2009

Best recent fantasy (IMO)

Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora;
Steven Brust, the Vlad Taltos books, starting with Jhereg (the series started more than 10 years ago, but there have been several new books in recent years);
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion and The Paladin of Souls;
Brandon Sanderson, The Mistborn Trilogy;
Greg Keyes, The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone;
China Mieville, The Scar and Perdido Street Station;
R. Scott Bakker, The Prince of Nothing trilogy;
Steven Erikson, The Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

Sort of a mixed bunch, in terms of style -- some are breezy and very fast paced (those towards the top of the list), while others are, well, denser (towards the bottom of the list). I enjoyed them all, and thought they were all of high quality. Your experience may vary...

sirensix · Jan 29, 2009

Oh wow, The Curse of Chalion sounds EXACTLY like what I need to be reading right now. Buying it as we speak. Also still hungry for more suggestions!

eLfwriter · Jan 29, 2009

I don't think these are 'newish', but I liked 'em, so I'll pass 'em on!

Garth Nix's Sabriel (necromancers, rune-magic, medieval/1918 timesetting depending on which side of the wall you're on ...) If you like Sabriel, there's a continuation storyline in Lireal and Abhorsen.

Stephen Brust's Phoenix Guards. I loved the narration style. It was just ... quirky, I guess.

(plus it has the best chapter headings, IMHO, ever.)

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series was pretty good, too. Elemental spirits, medievalish setting. First one was Furies of Calderon, I believe.

I also liked the mages in Maggie Furey's Aurion. It's a female protag, but she's a swordmistress with elemental mage powers, so it's definitely sword&magic type. The rest of the series follows with The Harp of Winds, The Sword of Flame, and Dhiamarra.

If you're into Celtic fantasy, The Holder of Lightning by SL Farrel wasn't bad, either. (magic is drawn down from the sky from the "magelights" into "clochs" which are stones that convert the aura-magic into flames or ice or swords or lightning or whatever.)

... Those were the first to come to mind

Happy reading!

badducky · Jan 29, 2009

Sword & Singularity:

Implied Spaces by Walter John Williams.

(Push genre to new places! Meet Grax the Troll and his mighty battle mech!)

ELMontague · Jan 29, 2009

Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss, I just loved it.
Lies of Lock Lamora - Scott Lynche, also good.

waylander · Jan 30, 2009

The Blade Itself, Before They are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
Epic stuff with excellent characterisation

Tasmin21 · Jan 30, 2009

I'll second the Codex Alera series by Butcher. It has one of the most original magic systems I've seen lately.

Leanan-Sidhe · Jan 30, 2009

Oh, wow. How long has it been since I've read Sword & Sorcery? I've been on an urban fantasy binge for too long.

I can throw in my support for Lies of Locke Lamora, Codex Alera, and Paladin of Souls. The rest shall be moved to my to-read list.

AceTachyon · Jan 30, 2009

Hmm.

Guess I need to expand my s&s definition. I hadn't thought of Lies, Codex Alera, or Chalion as s&s.

Mr. Chuckletrousers · Jan 30, 2009

AceTachyon said:
Hmm.

Guess I need to expand my s&s definition. I hadn't thought of Lies, Codex Alera, or Chalion as s&s.

Sword & Sorcery for me tends to bring to mind Conan -- swashbuckling action-adventure stories with evil wizards, mythical monsters, and big beefy heroes who dress in sandals and loincloths and carry massive...eh...swords that they swing about with total abandon. But the OP seemed to define S&S more broadly.

AceTachyon · Jan 30, 2009

Mr. Chuckletrousers said:
Sword & Sorcery for me tends to bring to mind Conan -- swashbuckling action-adventure stories with evil wizards, mythical monsters, and big beefy heroes who dress in sandals and loincloths and carry massive...eh...swords that they swing about with total abandon. But the OP seemed to define S&S more broadly.

Yeah, I was operating under that definition (i.e. Conan, Fafhrd/Grey Mouser, et al). I would've suggested Roberson's Tiger and Del novels, but that may not fit the criteria.

sirensix · Jan 30, 2009

I always thought sword & sorcery just meant basically, classic traditional fantasy stuff. In other words, the stuff I like to read that seems to be falling rapidly out of fashion in favor of "edgy" stuff with cars and computers and guns.

Mr. Chuckletrousers · Jan 30, 2009

sirensix said:
I always thought sword & sorcery just meant basically, classic traditional fantasy stuff. In other words, the stuff I like to read that seems to be falling rapidly out of fashion in favor of "edgy" stuff with cars and computers and guns.

Fantasy Subgenres.

veinglory · Jan 30, 2009

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion <---very good

waylander · Jan 30, 2009

You could do worse than pick up Black Gate Magazine www.blackgate.com

sirensix · Jan 30, 2009

waylander said:
You could do worse than pick up Black Gate Magazine www.blackgate.com

I own every issue and wish they'd put out another.

sirensix · Jan 30, 2009

Oh, I guess I am thinking more heroic fantasy/historical fantasy then. So, same question, different label. Hehe.

Liosse de Velishaf · Jan 30, 2009

sirensix said:
Oh, I guess I am thinking more heroic fantasy/historical fantasy then. So, same question, different label. Hehe.

Well, genres often overlap...

I sometimes have a hard time figuring out what a book falls under.

waylander · Jan 31, 2009

sirensix said:
I own every issue and wish they'd put out another.

The next one is due very soon
http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=read&group=sff.publishing.black-gate-magazine&artnum=6372

glutton · Jan 31, 2009

Mr. Chuckletrousers said:
Sword & Sorcery for me tends to bring to mind Conan -- swashbuckling action-adventure stories with evil wizards, mythical monsters, and big beefy heroes who dress in sandals and loincloths and carry massive...eh...swords that they swing about with total abandon. But the OP seemed to define S&S more broadly.

Do big beefy heroines count?

Mr. Chuckletrousers · Jan 31, 2009

glutton said:
Do big beefy heroines count?

Only if their armor consists solely of a metalized bikini.

Straka · Feb 3, 2009

I second the Mistborn trilogy.

Liosse de Velishaf · Feb 4, 2009

Straka said:
I second the Mistborn trilogy.

Mistborn wasn't bad, but it's not the best I've ever seen (even recently) either.

Darzian · Feb 4, 2009

If Mistborn is better than Elantris, then I'm going to be very impressed as I very much like Elantris (despite a few flaws).

Best recent sword & sorcery?

Mediocre Sorceress

Sith happens.

Mediocre Sorceress

Indiscriminate Tree-Hugger

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

ELMontague

Who's going for a beer?

They will come from below...

leaving trails of fairy dust

Odd person

Sith happens.

Odd person

Mediocre Sorceress

Sith happens.

volitare nequeo

Who's going for a beer?

Mediocre Sorceress

Mediocre Sorceress

Who's going for a beer?

Sith happens.

Bored Fanatic

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