I don't really read fantasy any more, my tastes have mostly skewed to straight historical fiction for that kind of itch. For the most part, the treatment of magic tends to bore me, especially when it's used as a lazy crutch to excuse poor writing. Which happens a lot in fantasy.

However, I love the Malazan Book of the Fallen, just reading Forge of the High Mage having missed it when it came out a couple of years ago. Erikson and Esselemont have a way of very quickly making engaging and distinct characters, as well as an irreverent sense of humour, even whilst preserving and overall serious tone. It's a tricky balance both of them manage to pull off.

It's something specific to that setting as well, I made the mistake of reading Erikson's non-Malazan work (Rejoice! A Knife to the Heart) and couldn't stand it. Preachy eco-bollocks.

Have any other authors in the last couple of decades managed to pull off something similar?

Or alternatively, any interesting historical fiction recently (Christian Cameron is a favourite)?

Quote from: Kiero on April 27, 2025, 07:12:18 AMOr alternatively, any interesting historical fiction recently (Christian Cameron is a favourite)?

I've been reading Raphael Sabatini's Captain Blood: His Odyssey. I'd recommend it if you have a taste for pirate yarns and 1920s adventure fiction.

On a similar swashbuckling note, I've read the first couple of Arturo Perez-Reverte's Alatriste novels, and they're pretty good. Kind of a cross between The Three Musketeers and Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series.

My favorite bit of historical fiction is probably Louis L'amour's The Walking Drum. L'amour is famous for his westerns, but The Walking Drum is a big epic journey around 12th century Europe and the Middle East, and I think it's his best work.

I only read it once years ago, but I remember Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company being quite good as well.

If you like Christian Cameron, you might like the fantasy he writes under his alternate pen-name Miles Cameron, The Traitor Son Cycle and Masters and Mages. He does use a lot of magic in these books but it's quite rigorously presented and (to the best of my reading) never feels like an excuse to be lazy in his plotting.

Quote from: ForgottenF on April 30, 2025, 04:59:06 PMI've been reading Raphael Sabatini's Captain Blood: His Odyssey. I'd recommend it if you have a taste for pirate yarns and 1920s adventure fiction.

On a similar swashbuckling note, I've read the first couple of Arturo Perez-Reverte's Alatriste novels, and they're pretty good. Kind of a cross between The Three Musketeers and Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series.

My favorite bit of historical fiction is probably Louis L'amour's The Walking Drum. L'amour is famous for his westerns, but The Walking Drum is a big epic journey around 12th century Europe and the Middle East, and I think it's his best work.

I only read it once years ago, but I remember Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company being quite good as well.

I think I've read some Sabatini, thanks for the recommendations.

Quote from: Stephen Tannhauser on May 02, 2025, 11:42:39 PMIf you like Christian Cameron, you might like the fantasy he writes under his alternate pen-name Miles Cameron, The Traitor Son Cycle and Masters and Mages. He does use a lot of magic in these books but it's quite rigorously presented and (to the best of my reading) never feels like an excuse to be lazy in his plotting.

Yes, Masters & Mages is brilliant, read those. His Age of Bronze series is really good, too.