ftp.pasteur.org/FAQ//ftp-pasteur-org-FAQ.zip/FAQ/fantasy/recommended-authors/part4

Internet Message Format | 1998-12-20 | 30.0 KB

Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv
From: Amy Sheldon <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.eddings,rec.arts.sf.written,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Recommended Fantasy Authors List - Part 4/5
Supersedes: <fantasy/recommended-authors/[e-mail]>
Followup-To: poster
Date: 19 Dec 1998 14:07:19 GMT
Organization: none
Lines: 619
Approved: [e-mail]
Expires: 2 Feb 1999 13:59:32 GMT
Message-ID: <fantasy/recommended-authors/[e-mail]>
References: <fantasy/recommended-authors/[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu
Summary: Listing of fantasy authors recommended by readers of
            the alt.fan.eddings newsgroup. Contains descriptive
            listings on nearly 100 authors, forthcoming titles,
            book news, and numbers of recommendations.
X-Last-Updated: 1998/03/03
Originator: [e-mail]
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.fan.eddings:41955 rec.arts.sf.written:358294 alt.answers:38705 rec.answers:46015 news.answers:146889

Archive-name: fantasy/recommended-authors/part4
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1998/03/01
URL: http://www.sff.net/people/Amy.Sheldon/listcont.htm
Version: 3.0

        THE RECOMMENDED FANTASY AUTHORS LIST - ver. 3.0
                          Part 4 of 5

                NOTICE OF MAJOR CHANGE TO LIST
Beginning with the March, 1998 posting, only those authors with
six or more recommendations will have detailed listings. THE
FULL LIST, WITH TITLES AND COMMENTS ON *ALL* RECOMMENDED
AUTHORS, is available at the list web site:
http://www.sff.net/people/Amy.Sheldon/listcont.htm

Unfortunately, the Recommended Fantasy Author List has just
gotten too large to continue posting the entire thing.


**Melanie Rawn (b. 1954)
     "The Dragon Prince Trilogy" - Dragon Prince; Star Scroll;
        Sunrunner's Fire
            _This and the following trilogy take place on the
            same world._
     "Dragon Star Trilogy" - Stronghold; The Dragon Token;
        Skybowl
            _Doug sez, "When I finished this series I felt a
            real sense of loss. Her description of some of the
            female characters in the series made me almost fall
            in love with them, and the use of magic as she
            describes it is new and innovative."_
     "Exiles Trilogy" - The Ruins of Ambrai; The Mageborn
        Traitor; The Captal's Tower (forthcoming)
            _New trilogy set in a different world from the
            "Dragon" books._
        The Diviner (forthcoming Dec. '97)
            _I have no idea what this one is about._

Mickey Zucker Reichert (b. 1962)
     "The Last of the Renshai" - The Last of the Renshai; The
        Western Wizard; Child of Thunder
            _This is a trilogy, so you'll want to have all the
            books in hand before you start reading._
     "The Bifrost Guardians" - Godslayer; Shadow Climber;
        Dragonrank Master; Shadow's Realm; By Chaos Cursed
            _Loosely based on Norse mythology._
        The Legend of Nightfall
            _Standalone fantasy. Sorcerers are a wicked bunch in
            this world, and they obtain more power in a
            particularly nasty way._
     "The Renshai Chronicles" - Beyond Ragnarok; Prince of
        Demons; The Children of Wrath (forthcoming June '98)
            _Start of a new trilogy that continues the Renshai
            story. The balance between Law and Chaos hinges on
            the finding of an heir to the Bearnian throne._

Anne Rice (b. 1941)
     "Vampire Chronicles" - Interview with the Vampire; The
        Vampire Lestat; Queen of the Damned; Tale of the Body
        Thief; Memnoch the Devil
            _Horror/fantasy series. "Vampire" books are mainly
            about the bisexual vampire Lestat and his lover
            Louis who are struggling with their vampirism and
            their apparent immortality. Be warned - they're
            fairly graphic, both sexually and violently
            (although nowhere near the latest splatterpunk
            offerings from Poppy Z. Brite & her ilk.) These are
            usually classified as horror, but Rice is popular
            enough that I'm forced to give them a mention on the
            list._
     "Chronicles of the Mayfair Family" - Witching Hour; Lasher;
        Taltos
            _More of Rice's usual mixture of dark fantasy, sex
            (kinky and otherwise), and pseudo-intellectual
            conversation between shallow (but fashionable!)
            immortals. Your faqmaster does not particularly care
            for this author._

Jennifer Roberson (b. 1953)
     "Chronicles of the Cheysuli" - Shapechangers; The Song of
        Homona; Legacy of the Sword; Track of the White Wolf; A
        Pride of Princes; Daughter of the Lion; Flight of the
        Raven; A Tapestry of Lions
            _The Cheysuli are shapechangers, and I believe that
            the books in this series can stand alone._
     "Tiger and Del series" - Sword Dancer; Sword Singer; Sword
        Maker; Sword Breaker; Sword Born (forthcoming April
        '98); Sword Sworn (forthcoming)
            _The first four in the series were recently
            reprinted by Daw Publishing, so if you're missing
            any of them, keep your eyes open._
        Lady of the Forest
            _Robin Hood, from Maid Marian's point of view._
        Lady of the Glen
            _A Scottish historical romance, with little or no
            magic._

Michael Scott Rohan (b. 1951)
     "Winter of the World trilogy" - The Anvil of Ice; The Forge
        in the Forest; The Hammer of the Sun
            _A blacksmith gets to save the world._
     "Spiral series" - Chase the Morning; The Gates of Noon;
        Cloud Castles
            _We're living in the Core, but if you look at the
            world just the right way, you can sail out into the
            Spiral, where all times and places mingle._
        Lord of the Middle Air (forthcoming)
            _Stand-alone historical fantasy, taking place in the
            Scottish borderlands in the 13th century. It's out
            already in the U.K., but I don't have a date yet for
            the U.S. release._
        Maxie's Demon (forthcoming April '97 in U.K., not out in
        the U.S.)
            _Another standalone, taking place in the world of
            the Spiral series._
        A Spell of Empire (with Allan Scott)
            _The young wizard Volker joins three other travelers
            on a dangerous journey._

Joel Rosenberg (b. 1954)
     "Guardians of the Flame (1st series)" - The Sleeping
        Dragon; The Sword and the Chain; The Silver Crown
            _One of the first of the 'Gamers jump for real into
            a fantasy world' series, and one of the best._
     "Guardians of the Flame (2nd series)" - The Heir Apparent;
        The Warrior Lives
            _Continuing the first series with a new generation._
        The Road to Ehvenor; The Road Home
            _Set in the world of "The Guardians of the Flame"
            and featuring many familiar characters - this story
            features Walter Slovotsky_
     "D'shai" - D'Shai; Hour of the Octopus
            _Open-ended fantasy/detective series. In the same
            vein as Glen Cook's 'Garrett' books, only more of an
            homage to Rex Stout rather than Raymond Chandler_
     "Keepers of the Hidden Ways" - The Fire Duke; The Silver
        Stone
            _A new series from Rosenberg, once again involving
            people from our world crossing over into another.
            This world is Norse-based, with lots of daring deeds
            and sword fighting._

Sean Russell
     "Asian duology" - The Initiate Brother; Gatherer of Clouds
            _Oriental mysticism in a strong first novel (and
            this is very definitely one book, split in two only
            because 1,000+ page novels are hard to hold.)_
     "Moontide and Magic Rise duology" - World Without End; Sea
        Without a Shore
            _Marvelous books. Sean Russell is tremendously
            talented. I'm looking forward to more of his work.
            This is fantasy of the 'lush verbiage and
            magnificently realized world' variety - sword and
            sorcery fans might not be quite as enthusiastic._
     "The River Into Darkness duology" - Beneath the Vaulted
        Hills; In Memory's Dream (forthcoming Aug. '98)
            _Oh goody, something new on the horizon from Mr.
            Russell. This is a prequel to the 'Moontide and
            Magic Rise' books._

Fred Saberhagen (b. 1930)
     "The Books of the Swords" - The First Book of Swords; The
        Second Book of Swords; The Third Book of Swords
            _The initial trilogy._
     "The Books of the Lost Swords" - Woundhealer's Story;
        Sightblinder's Story; Stonecutter's Story; Farslayer's
        Story; Coinspinner's Story; Mindsword's Story;
        Wayfinder's Story; Shieldbreaker's Story
            _Each of the "Lost Swords" titles is actually
            preceded by 'The First Book of Lost Swords:', 'The
            Second Book...' etc. I believe that most of the
            "swords" books can be read as stand-alones_
     "Empire of the East" - The Broken Lands; The Black
        Mountains; Changeling Earth
            _A prequel to the 'Swords' books, taking place in
            the same world._
     "Dracula books" - The Dracula Tapes; The Holmes-Dracula
        File; An Old Friend of the Family; Thorn
            _More tales of Dracula_
        Merlin's Bones
            _Yet Another Version of Arthur and Company_

*R.A. Salvatore (b. 1959)
     "Icewind Dale" - The Crystal Shard; Streams of Silver; The
        Halfling's Gem
            _Introduces Drizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf who has
            turned his back on his bloody heritage._
     "Dark Elf Trilogy" - Homeland; Exile; Sojourn
            _Continues Drizzt's story._
     "Dark Elf Trilogy II" - Legacy; Starless Night; Siege of
        Darkness
            _"Icewind Dale" & "Dark Elf" and "Dark Elf II" take
            place in the TSR Forgotten Realms setting. I've had
            several people mention that 'Dark Elf II' shows a
            real drop in quality, although several others loved
            it as much as the first two trilogies._
        Passage to Dawn
            _A final Drizzt story from Salvatore, as he finishes
            out his contract with TSR._
     "The Cleric Quintet" - Canticle; In Sylvan Shadows; Night
        Masks; The Fallen Fortress; The Chaos Curse
            _Another TSR series - this one follows a young man
            as he grows from a raw acolyte to a powerful
            priest._
     "The Spearwielder's Tales" - The Woods Out Back; The
        Dragon's Dagger; Dragonslayer Returns
            _Open-ended fantasy series that ISN'T part of any of
            the TSR gaming worlds._
     "The Crimson Shadow Trilogy" - The Sword of Bedwyr;
        Luthien's Gamble; The Dragon King
            _New series about a young lord and a halfling
            battling to free Eriador from the grip of the
            tyrannical Wizard-King Greensparrow._
     "Demon series" - The Demon Awakens; The Demon Spirit
        (forthcoming April '98)
            _A new series._

Christopher Stasheff (b. 1944)
     "Warlock series" - Escape Velocity; The Warlock In Spite of
        Himself; King Kobold Revived; The Warlock Unlocked; The
        Warlock Enraged; The Warlock Wandering; The Warlock is
        Missing; The Warlock Heretical; The Warlock's Companion;
        The Warlock Insane; The Warlock Rock; Warlock and Son
            _Open-ended humorous adventure series that is now
            beginning to focus on descendents of the original
            hero, Rod Gallowglass (see following listings). The
            rationale of this series is really fairly science-
            fictional, but the tone is fantasy, and you'll
            generally find them marketed as fantasy_
     "The Warlock's Heirs" - M'Lady Witch; The Quicksilver
        Knight
            _The adventures of the three younger children of Rod
            and Gwen Gallowglass._
     "Rogue Wizard" - A Wizard in Absentia; A Wizard in Mind; A
        Wizard in War; A Wizard in Peace; A Wizard in Chaos; A
        Wizard in Midgard (forthcoming June '98)
            _Another open-ended series in the 'Warlock'
            universe. These feature Magnus, Rod's oldest son.
            Note that Stasheff's books have focused more on
            adventure and less on humor as the series has
            progressed._
     "A Wizard in Rhyme" - Her Majesty's Wizard; The Oathbound
        Wizard; The Witch Doctor; The Secular Wizard
            _Open-ended series. Matt Mantrell is transported
            into an alternate world where rhymes have magical
            powers._
     "The Star Stone" - The Shaman; The Sage; another
        forthcoming
            _Another new series. This has no connection to his
            Wizard or Warlock series, and is more serious in
            tone._

Judith Tarr (b. 1955)
     "The Hound and the Falcon" - The Isle of Glass; The Golden
        Horn; The Hounds of God
            _Corinne describes this as "a truly brilliant series
            set in Richard the Lion Heart's England bordered on
            the Elflands"_
        Alamut; The Dagger and the Cross
            _Standalones set in the same world as "The Hound and
            the Falcon" trilogy_
     "Avaryan Rising" - The Hall of the Mountain King; The Lady
        of Han-Gilen; A Fall of Princes; Arrows of the Sun;
        Spear of Heaven
            _The story of a war between kingdoms in a world of
            mages_
        A Wind in Cairo
        Ars Magica
        Lord of the Two Lands
        Throne of Isis
            _Hey, it's Cleopatra!_
        Eagle's Daughter
        Pillar of Fire
            _This takes place in the Middle East during Moses'
            time._
        King and Goddess
        Queen of Swords
            _Tarr's specialty is historicals with just a dollop
            of magic. The size of the dollop varies, and many of
            her books are sold as straight historicals._

Roger Taylor (b. 1938)
     "Chronicles of Hawklan" - The Call of the Sword; The Fall
        of Fyorlund; The Waking of Othlund; Into Narsindal
            _Not available in the U.S., this series has been
            described as "a pretty good read" and "highly
            recommended."_
        Dreamfinder
            _Set in the same world as Hawklan._
        Whistler
            _A standalone_
     "Nightfall series" - Farnor; Valderin
            _This is also set in the same world as Hawklan, and
            is about a priest who must fight a dark power that
            has entered a colleague. Paul highly recommends it_
        Ibyren
            _A standalone. "Count Ibyren, fighting a guerilla
            war after being driven from his lands, is suddenly
            swept away from his people to an unknown world and
            destiny."_

Sheri Tepper (b. 1929)
     "The Land of True Game" - King's Blood Four; Wizard's
        Eleven; Necromancer Nine (1st series)
        Jinian Footseer; Dervish Daughter; Jinian Star-Eyed (2nd
        series)
        The Song of Mavin Manyshaped; The Flight of Mavin
        Manyshaped; The Search of Mavin Manyshaped (3rd series)
            _Series made up of three separate trilogies. Her
            earliest work - can be difficult to find. Ace is
            reprinting this series in the U.S. in trade
            paperback format and the first trilogy came out in
            June '96. I haven't seen any word on when (or if)
            the other six volumes will be reprinted._
     "The Marianne Trilogy" - Marianne, the Magus, and the
        Manticore; Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods;
        Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse
            _I believe that the books in this rather light-
            hearted trilogy are actually fairly independent of
            each other._
        Beauty
            _Now primarily known as a SF author, Tepper returns
            to her roots and gives a very different slant on the
            fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Sardonic and grim are
            descriptive terms I've heard about this one_

**J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
        The Hobbit
            _Prelude to _The Lord of the Rings_ - should be read
            prior to starting them, but it isn't absolutely
            necessary. Written as a children's book, and some
            readers find it a little simplistic (not me!)_
     "The Lord of the Rings" - The Fellowship of the Ring; The
        Two Towers; The Return of the King
            _Oh, come on now - how can you claim to be a fantasy
            fan and not read this? If not for tLotR, Eddings
            would still be writing about deer hunting. THE
            classic work of fantasy._
        The Silmarillion
            _From Tolkien's writings on the background of the
            world of tLofR, this is more of a history than a
            story_
        The Tolkien Reader
            _Anthology of poetry and short stories.<BR> Due to
            the INCREDIBLE popularity of _Lord of the Rings,_
            virtually every scrap of paper that Tolkien doodled
            on has found its way into print, which is why you
            will find many other Tolkien works besides the
            above._

Trillium series by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre
Norton
     "Trillium" - Black Trillium (by all three); Blood Trillium
        (by Julian May); Golden Trillium (by Andre Norton); Lady
        of the Trillium (by Marion Zimmer Bradley); Sky Trillium
        (by Julian May)
            _An interesting mutation of the 'shared world' idea.
            The first book was written by all three, further
            books are being written by the individual authors._

Jack Vance (b. 1916)
     "Lyonesse trilogy" - Suldren's Garden; The Green Pearl;
        Madouc
            _Best known for his SF, Vance is an interesting
            writer in any genre._
     "Dying Earth series" - The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the
        Overworld; Cugel's Saga; Rhialto the Marvelous
            _The first two are genuine fantasy classics, and
            Cugel the Clever is a great character (hey, I like
            rogues). These are all stand-alones._

Lawrence Watt-Evans (b. 1954)
     "The Lords of Dus" - The Lure of the Basilisk; The Seven
        Altars of Dusarra; The Sword of Bheleu; The Book of
        Silence
            _This is a limited series, and should be read in
            order._
     "Ethshar series" - The Misenchanted Sword; With a Single
        Spell; The Unwilling Warlord; Blood of a Dragon; Taking
        Flight; The Spell of the Black Dagger
            _Open-ended series. I'm told that the Ethshar books
            are standalones and can be read in any order. The
            above is the order they were published in._

**Margaret Weis (b. 1948) & Tracy Hickman (b. 1955)
     "Dragonlance Chronicles" - Dragons of Autumn Twilight;
        Dragons of Winter Night; Dragons of Spring Dawning
            _The series that turned TSR into from a gaming
            company that published tie-ins to a real publisher.
            Still in print, and still selling well._
     "Dragonlance Legends" - Time of the Twins; War of the
        Twins; Test of the Twins
            _EVERYONE who recommended these books included a
            warning that other Dragonlance books by other
            authors should be avoided. There is also a book of
            short stories titled _Dragonlance: The Second
            Generation_. All but two of the stories are reprints
            from other Dragonlance collections._
     "Dragonlance Chronicles IV" - Dragons of the Summer Flame
            _They're baaaaack. Weis & Hickman return to the
            world of Dragonlance with a new novel that takes the
            characters and stories from the novella collection
            _Dragonlance: The Second Generation_ and continues
            onward ever onward with them._
     "More Dragonlance Books (by Weis & Don Perrin)" - The Doom
        Brigade
            _"A tale of two enemies - dwarves and draconians -
            and how they must cooperate to survive a bitter
            war." Presumably this takes place before the events
            of _Summer Flame__
     "Darksword Trilogy" - Forging the Darksword; Doom of the
        Darksword; Triumph of the Darksword
            _A non-Dragonlance limited series. Denis doesn't
            like this particular series._
     "More Darksword books" - Legacy of the Darksword
            _Weis and Hickman return to the world of the
            Darksword._
     "Rose of the Prophet Trilogy" - The Will of the Wanderer;
        The Paladin of the Night; The Prophet of Akhran
            _The Epic Tale of the Great War of the Gods!_
     "Death Gate Cycle" - Dragon Wing; Elven Star; Fire Sea;
        Serpent Mage; The Hand of Chaos; Into the Labyrinth; The
        Seventh Gate
            _This is a limited series - be sure and have all
            seven books, and read 'em in order._
     "Starshield series" - The Mantle of Kendis-Dai; Nightsword
        (forthcoming May '98)
            _A new series begins - 'Civilization is on the brink
            of extinction...A legendary relic holds the key to
            salvation...A quest to a world of magic, mystery,
            and madness is the only solution!'_

Angus Wells (b. 1943)
     "The Kingdoms" - Wrath of Ashar; The Usurper; The Way
        Beneath
            _Wells' first fantasy triology under his own name._
     "Godwars" - Forbidden Magic; Dark Magic; Wild Magic
            _"Kingdoms" and "Godwars" are not related to each
            other or to his most recent novel. Richard likes
            "Godwars," but Michael prefers "The Kingdoms"
            trilogy (Richard asks me to point out that he hasn't
            read "The Kingdoms" yet, which makes it difficult
            for him to compare them)_
        Lords of the Sky
            _To quote Carolyn Cushman of _Locus_ magazine: "For
            once, a sprawling medieval fantasy epic that's self-
            contained!"_
     "Exiles series" - Exile's Children; Exile's Challenge
            _Completists should note that Angus Wells co-
            authored (along with Robert Holdstock) a series in
            the late '70's under the name 'Richard Kirk' about
            Raven, the Swordmistress of Chaos_

T.H. White (1906-1964)
        The Once and Future King
            _THE classic retelling of the Arthur legend. And,
            yeah, it's the source of both Disney's "The Sword in
            the Stone" and Lerner & Lowe's "Camelot". The
            original quartet of novels are being reprinted in
            England._
        Mistress Masham's Repose
            _Did you ever wonder what happened to those
            Lilliputians that followed Gulliver back to
            England?_

**Tad Williams (b. 1957)
        Tailchaser's Song
            _Williams' first fantasy novel - Tailchaser is a
            cat._
     "Memory, Sorrow & Thorn" - The Dragonbone Chair; Stone of
        Farewell; To Green Angel Tower
            _At first glance, very similar to "The Belgariad"-
            immature-boy-grows-to-fill-heroic-role. Williams'
            vision is a bit darker, however, and the secondary
            characters get a lot more fleshing out. Slow moving
            at points, but worth your time. Paperback version of
            _To Green Angel Tower_ is published in two volumes._
        Child of an Ancient City (with Nina Kiriki Hoffman)
            _Stand-alone young adult novel._
        Caliban's Hour
            _Takes up where Shakespeare left off. Caliban shows
            up years later to take his revenge on Miranda.
            Williams' next will be a 4-volume SF series with the
            overall title of "OTHERLAND." According to Katharine
            Kerr, he has 'sworn a mighty vow that he'll never
            write about Osten Ard [the world of "MS&T"] again'._

Gene Wolfe (b. 1931)
     "The Book of the New Sun" - The Shadow of the Torturer; The
        Claw of the Conciliator; The Sword of the Lictor; The
        Citadel of the Autarch
            _This is a single novel broken into four parts.
            Intricate and ambitious, it takes place on a Dying
            Earth and follows the complex destiny of Severian._
        The Urth of the New Sun
            _A sequel to "The Book of the New Sun"._
     "The Soldier series" - Soldier of the Mist; Soldier of
        Arete
            _These novels are about Latro, a warrior in a land
            similar to Classical Greece who has a peculiar form
            of amnesia. One recommender noted that these are a
            bit more accessible than the New Sun books._

Patricia Wrede (b. 1953)
        Snow White and Rose Red
            _Retelling of the classic fairytale, set in
            Elizabethan England. Part of the very highly
            regarded 'Fairy Tale' series_
     "Lyra series" - Shadow Magic; Daughter of Witches; The Harp
        of Imach Thyssel; Caught in Crystal; The Raven Ring
            _Open-ended series (the books truly are stand-alone
            and can be read in any order) set in a world of many
            different cultures and religions, as well as three
            non-human races. The first three books are being
            reprinted by Tor in an omnibus edition titled
            'Shadows Over Lyra'._
        The Seven Towers
            _A standalone, unrelated to her other series._
     "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" - Dealing with Dragons;
        Searching for Dragons; Calling on Dragons; Talking to
        Dragons
            _Open-ended series that has a lot of fun with usual
            fairytale conventions. You'll find it in the young
            adult section. I especially recommend this to anyone
            who is looking for books for adolescent girls (and
            then be sure to read it yourself)._
     "Mairelon series" - Mairelon the Magician; Magician's Ward
            _Set in an alternate England where magic works, lots
            of intrigue. Setting is related to the one in
            Stevermer's books._

*Janny Wurts (b. 1953)
        Sorcerer's Legacy
            _Early standalone, first published in 1982 (it may
            be her first published work). Good luck in trying to
            find it._
     "The Cycle of Fire" - Stormwarden; Keeper of the Keys;
        Shadowfane
            _Her first trilogy. This was recently reprinted and
            should be widely available_
        The Master of the White Storm
            _A standalone._
     "The Wars of Light and Shadow" - The Curse of the
        Mistwraith; The Ships of Merior; Warhost of Vastmark
        (NOTE: U.S. hardcover edition of 'The Ships of Merior'
        INCLUDES 'Warhost of Vastmark' - the paperback edition
        is two separate books); The Fugitive Prince; Grand
        Conspiracy (forthcoming Oct. '98); Stormed Fortress
        (forthcoming Oct. '99)
            _Best known for her collaboration with Raymond Feist
            on the "Empire series" and her paintings, Wurts is
            a fine author in her own right._
        That Way Lies Camelot
            _Short story collection._

Jonathan Wylie
     "Servants of the Ark" - The First Named; The Centre of the
        Circle; The Mage-Born Child
            _Wylie is a pseudonym for Mark (b. 1952) and Julia
            (b. 1955) Smith (and _Shadowmaze_ was published in
            the U.S. under their real names)._
     "The Unbalanced Earth" - Dreams of Stone; The Lightless
        Kingdom; The Age of Chaos
            _'Servants' and 'Unbalanced Earth' are loosely
            related, with the events of 'Servants' coming first.
            These two trilogies were published in the U.S. by
            Bantam, but are currently out of print._
        Dreamweaver
            _Stand-alone. Wylie has written one other stand-
            alone (_Shadowmaze_) which is NOT recommended._
     "Island and Empire trilogy" - Dark Fire; Echoes of Flame;
        The Last Augury
            _One recommender considers this trilogy the best of
            the three. It is the story of a tiny island's fight
            for independence from the cruel Xantic Empire. This
            work hasn't found a U.S. publisher yet (so far as I
            can find), so most of us are going to have to hunt
            for these. Thanks to Tarja for getting me the titles
            in this trilogy_
        Other Lands
            _Stand-alone. This came out in Britain in June '95,
            and isn't out in the U.S. "A comatose Michael Glover
            somehow calls to his lover for help, and to save him
            she must break through to another, fantastic
            world."_
        Across the Flame
            _A woman is confronted by a figure in a medieval
            painting._
        Magister
            _Set in a contemporary world where magic is an just
            another talent._

*Roger Zelazny (1937-1995)
     "Amber - 1st series" - Nine Princes in Amber; The Guns of
        Avalon; The Sign of the Unicorn; The Hand of Oberon; The
        Courts of Chaos
            _Great fun. Corwin searches first for his memory,
            then for revenge, and finally for the key to save
            the multiverse._
     "Amber - 2nd series" - Trumps of Doom; Blood of Amber; Sign
        of Chaos; Knight of Shadows; Prince of Chaos
            _The 2nd series shows definite signs of exhaustion,
            and Merlin is not the man his father Corwin was. Do
            note that although _Prince of Chaos_ was supposed to
            be the series end, enough dangling plot threads were
            left to knit a sweater._
        Roadmarks
            _There's a highway through time (built by dragons),
            and there's a wreck waiting to happen at the last
            exit for Babylon...._
     "Dilvish stories" - Dilvish the Damned; The Changing Land
            _I'd really like to say more about Zelazny, but I'm
            still upset about his far-too-early death. Just read
            his books. Even his minor efforts are worthwhile,
            and the SF he wrote in the sixties is magnificent._