I already read Tracy Hickmamn's and Margaret Weis's Dragons trilogy; Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy, and I am at the third book of his other trilogy which ends with "Siege of Darkness".
I wanted some advices in what getting next. I want high adventure stuff. Nothing like "lets save the World" crap, just pure RPG fanfare with dungeon exploration, magical items, monsters slain, etc. Just a party of friends going out for adventure.
I am not interested in books with romances either. I guess you get the idea...
Thanks in advance.

Sorry, can't help, because I prefer stuff like Robin Hobb at the moment, and that has romance in it, and only a very minor dungeon sequence.

Well, have you read The Hitch Hikers Guide to Galaxy or the Discworld novels? They are pretty fun to read. ;)

[ August 06, 2005, 14:43: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

Svyatoslav, http://www.sorcerers.net/Books/index.php

The sections there that fit what you're looking for: Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dungeons & Dragons, and to an extent Terry Pratchett and David Gemmell. Probably some others as well, but I haven't read everything listed there yet. ;)

Haha. Thanks, but there is so much! Any personal favourites?

Terry Pratchett, definitely... And anything by R. A. Salvatore is usually pretty decent. Of the FR books the ones I'd definitely recommend to everyone are the Avatar Series, The Moonshae Trilogy, The Elminster Series (but skip El in Hell, it's godawful), The Cormyr Saga, the whole series by Salvatore (just stop when it starts to bore you), War of the Spider Queen, Evermeet, The Lost Gods. These I can recommend as I've read most of them and I know they're good enough, but there are many others listed and you can just start with the first book and go from there if you find it entertaining.

R. A. Salvatore is usually pretty decentIf you can forgive him for making his protagonists so "heroic" that it is bordering the line of satire. His works are exactly that "lets save the World crap." But truth to tell, I did consider naming it too. Much like in the case of "The Wheel of Time." :xx:

I don't personally like Salvatore but his books do seem to fit the description of the type that you are looking for.

If you can forgive him for making his protagonists so "heroic" that it is bordering the line of satire. His works are exactly that "lets save the World crap."By "Lets save the World crap" I meant literally. R.A. Salvatore does not fit in this classification - at least the ones I read. Tracy Hickman's and Margaret Weiss Dragons trilogy was what I had in mind. It was a quest for World's sake.

Pick up Robert E. Howard's Conan and don't make the mistake of picking Robert Jordan's crappy version.

So "Conan the Barbarian" is still readable? Isn't it a bit... old? I have tried to read Robinson Crusoe, the Three Musketeers, Oz, and others, but they all are simply so old fashioned that reading them is like reading a philosophy novel. :hmm:

So "Conan the Barbarian" is still readable? Isn't it a bit... old? I have tried to read Robinson Crusoe, the Three Musketeers, Oz, and others, but they all are simply so old fashioned that reading them is like reading a philosophy novel.I dont think there is too old when it comes to books. What about all those great classical books?

(but skip El in Hell, it's godawful) definitely.

'fraid I'm with HB on this one. My reading list is all hobb right now and hopefully if I come up with some cash, Erikson as well.

Howard's Conan set the stage for a lot of fantasy writing. His frantic pace discussing action sequences and vivid description of setting makes it still worth the read. The only fantasy writer I find that can compare to him, in my opinion, is Salvatore.

Speaking of Salvatore, his Demon Wars series are way better than the Drizzt series IMO. I'd recommend those warmly! Haven't read the last ones, but the first three are excellent! And the heroes aren't as legendary as in the drizzt series, here they actually might die.

It's rather let's go save the world though but i think you'll find it very readable anyhow :)

[edit] Come to think of it, there's also a fair share of romance there... Fail on both accounts there... But still, my recommandation stands! ;)

Andrew Offutt's Shadowspawn books. One of them is "The Shadow of Sorcery" I don't remember the title for the other one. It might even be called "Shadowspawn". You can also try any book set in the Thieves World universe. Many authors write books in this setting, similar to the Forgotten Realms series. Offutt is one of the best of them, in my opinion.

Also, any book from Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser). Really, this is one of the best Swords and Sorcery series. Come to think of it, Tal, I do not think you have these books available through SP. You might consider it (they are quite old, so I do not know if this is a viable option). But these books are really clasic, some of the best stuff around. Beats Forgotten Realms stuff easily.

Thor, the demonwar books turn from decent to utterly horrid crap too vile to burn cause the vapours would wipe out humanity.

I found Leiber to be a real disapointment, didnt like it at all.

Well, is a matter of taste, I guess. Still, I stand by my opinion :) IMHO, Leiber is for Swords and Sorcery what Tolkien is for Fantasy.

I have tried to read Leiber's "Swords against" stuff and could not plow through them except for "Ill met in Lankhmar" which was great.

I have seen the following Terry Pratchett books for sale on the bookstore: The Light Fantastic; Mort; Equal Rights; Wyrd Sisters and The Colour of Magic. Any personal favourites?
By the way, I get the impression these books are more on the "childish" side. No, it is not a problem to me, as I like Harry Potter, I just want to be sure.

I've just started The Briar King: The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, by Greg Keyes. So far it looks very promising....but I don't think it would fit your requirements.

[ August 10, 2005, 18:37: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

Svyatoslav, those are the early ones, and all good. Check http://www.sorcerers.net/Books/index_pratchett.php for the reading order.

And no, Pratchett's not childish at all. His books are fantasy satire initially, but then grow out of it into a special kind of fantasy parody.

Ok, thanks a lot Taluntain. I will certainly give it a try, since I am a bit tired of Salvatore.

If you liked Hickman and Weis you ought to give their Deathgate cycle a chance. In my opinion it is vastly superior to any dragonlance stuff they have written.

Romance ain't a big deal for me. Nothing ever irks me more than Elminster, that horny bastard and he is an archmage for that matter.

And no, Pratchett's not childish at all. His books are fantasy satire initially, but then grow out of it into a special kind of fantasy parody.Discworld is basically a parody on real life. The fantasy element and world just allow to push real life quirks to an extreme. Although I must agree with Tal that this is essentially in the earlier books, after which it tends to gravitate more towards purer fantasy, but still as hilarious.

So I'd say it's not childish at all, since a child probably wouldn't understand half the allusions Pratchett makes in his books.

Raymond Feist`s Riftwar books might fit your category. some dungeon crawls in those and not too much romance.