Good new fantasy novels?

I haven't read many new books in the past decade or so, and I never got far from the forgotten realms D&D novels when it comes to fantasy. What are some good new (20 years old or less) fantasy novels? I don't care if they're modern or kinda sci-fi or not.

Don't mention:
-forgotten realms or other D&D
-40k
-harry potter
-song of fire and ice
-hunger games

There aren't any. Fantasy is a dying genre slowly cannibalizing itself on post-modern and meta-referential stylization when it isn't grasping at literary illusion and failing miserably.

Brandon Sanderson's epic high fantasy books, the Mistborn series and the Stormlight Archives series, are both very highly rated. They weren't for me personally, but they're all the rage at the moment.

I enjoyed The Red Knight by Miles Cameron, but the follow up books are a mixed bag. A lot of plot lines end really disappointingly, and the latest one was painful to finish because it was so bad.

This.
Sanderson is a great worldbuilder and can weave the stories of several different characters together quite well.

well, what DO you like? OP here.

I really enjoyed The Magician trilogy by Lev Grossman. It's a melancholic coming of age story about post grad wizards.

Malazan Book of the Fallen

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel.

Neither are "new" but i got both from one of these threads and i will forever be grateful.

Six of Crows, though it's a bit modern. Read the trilogy preceding it at your own peril, however.

The Gentlemen Bastards

This is wrong.
Miles Camerons Traitor Son books are objectively the best thing to happen to Fantasy in ever.

my personal recommendations:
> Prince of Thorns and following books
(beware, Book 1 is grand, 2 and 3 should be read back to back, possibly 3 before 2 even.)
> Miles Camerons Red Knight and following
( Traitor Son Cycle, basically GOAT Fantasy )
> Jack Vances' Lyonesse Saga (Suldruns Garden etc)
( very weird and grand Fantasy, imaginative )
> Das Dunkle Herz des Waldes ( Dark Heart of the Forest? Heart of the Forest? Google the german title, you'll find the english title! )
( grand Fantasy with an awesome fairytale down to earth feel )
> Witcher books ( Last Wish specifically, others at gusto )
> C.J. Cherrys Fantasybooks

for more: Visit Veeky Forums and go to the /sffg/

If you don't mind fiction for young adults, the Dark Ability series is decent.

Does American Gods count as Fantasy?

I don't read too much recent traditional fantasy (or at least nothing that ends up being good), but a friend got me into urban fantasy a couple years back starting with the Dresden Files. I like to compare them to fast food; you know it's going to be bad for you before you read it, it's amazing and entertaining while you're reading it, then you feel sick afterwards because you actually have standards. It all was sort of a gateway drug, pretty soon I started reading The Laundry Series (Lovecraft+spy fiction+The IT Crowd), Rivers of London (police procedural with magic), The Hellequin Chronicles (Dresden Files with even more of a power fantasy Mary Sue main character), and the Felix Castor series (exorcist for hire).


Seconding this recommendation. I've only read the first book in the series but it was pretty good. Ocean's Eleven in fantasy Venice.

Dresden Files is pretty good. Fast read but a fairly long series.

I am a huge fan of Brent Weeks and his two series. The Night Angel Trilogy is a tad edgy at times, be forewarned, but the writing and characters are excellent. It was the author's first published work, and effectively wrote the entire trilogy to completion and then published them separately over a few months. Magical assassins, powerful artifacts, a neat take on magic systems, and a touch of grimdark.

His ongoing series, the Lightbringer series, is significantly better in many aspects. He just published the 4th, and I was blown away. Firstly, gunpowder fantasy. Secondly, a magic system that is both mysticism and science in a great balance. Magic is based on light and color, with casters being attuned to one or more colors on the spectrum. Drafters, (in world term for magic users) soak up their color of light, and convert it into matter. Each color has a physical property, and a metaphysical. Red magic is primarily a napalm like substance. Both sticky and gummy, and intensely flammable. Drafting it makes the user angry and impulsive. The more one drafts of a color, the more their original personality gets eaten away and the emotions of magic take over. I cannot recommend it enough.

bump

I like the Temeraire series. Though it's probably closer to alternate history than traditional fantasy since it's really only fantasy because it has dragons. Otherwise it's just an adventure series set in the Napoleonic wars.

Personally I found his mistborn series to be a bit of a slog to read through.

The first book was literally 'the absolute madman' the book. Unfortunately the third book was completely uninteresting and the ending was a complete asspull imo. Can't not recommend the first book though.

Starts off mediocre and drops to terrible

I enjoyed The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Cool characters, a few plot twists, funny enough to sorta balance its grimdarkness

There is nothing quite so frustrating as a protagonist who "refuses the call" and wallows in his own misery for an entire fucking book. Brian Sanderson, never again.

Personally, I couldn't help but feel that the dilution of focus as the series went on didn't help. Vin as a protagonist gave a very focused first novel, but then stuff started spreading with Elend and Sazed and and and, and in the end it just kinda sorta blobbed.

I see what your getting at, but I found it somewhat easier to read, and as such more entertaining. The first book while good was unreadable for me without taking many breaks every few chapters, where as the 2nd and 3rd books were many times easier to read in one session since the changing of perspective gave me some reprieve from what each individual character was doing, which also built a larger desire to continue reading to find out what happens next for each character.

I think there's a new series called the Nameless Dwarf that has a free short story collection on amazon.
There's also the Mongoliad if you want some low-fantasy books.

Check out Stephen Donaldson's stuff. And Children of Hurin is quite good.

It's definitely on the spectrum of Urban Fantasy. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet OP's other condition of being good.

Here are some suggestions you won't normally see in threads like this: Jennifer Fallon, she's an excellent world-builder, but depending on your tolerance for one outspokenly feminist character your mileage may vary. Her Hythrun trilogy is everything ASoIaF should have been if G R R hadn't gotten on the money train. Tide Lords is pretty good as well - it focuses on an immortal who wants to commit suicide, and spirals from there into a full, epic fantasy adventure (and occasionally, into lewd harlequin sex scenes).

Sean Williams wrote an amazing quadrilogy back in the early 2000s called 'The Books Of The Cataclysm', beginning with 'The Crooked Letter.' The first book is almost like a prequel to the other three: it goes from modern thriller, to transcendental nightmare, to fantasy, which sets up the world for the next three books, all of which are firmly in the post-apoc/fantasy realm. Williams is a top writer, not a word is out of place in those books, but his name is tarnished due to his selling out and writing Star Wars books after Cataclysm failed to sell. This series in particular, though, is above reproach.

Maybe The Cardinal's Blades, by Pierre Pevel, if you like musketeers.

Everything and everything by Tim Powers

The first two were brilliant, no denying that, but the third was a blatant example of the author either writing by the seat of his ass, or making a sloppy last minute rewrite.
While it was entertaining enough, It was an utter clusterfuck of random character death, character assassination and sidelining.
Book 4 managed to go even further with the left field shit, and the fact that it introduced so many characters is particularly egregious given that he went on a character genocide earlier.

What frustrates me is that the potential never gets realised.
>book one
Group of con artists pull a scam, but get derailed halfway through out of the left field, fucked over and work to get revenge, ultimately riding into the sunset to a new beginning

>book 2
Con artists get derailed halfway through a scam and repeatedly fucked over, they work to get revenge, then fucked over again even harder

>book 3
Con artists get press ganged while we hear about one of their ex's REEEEEing over how he's more likeable than she is
Dropped it partway through, so I didn't see how they inevitably got dicked over, but the fact I know something would randomly come out of left field means I'm not inclined to find out.

Can confirm. Picked up one of the later books from the dollar bin and threw it into the trash bin halfway into the first chapter or so.

Yeah the third book was completely uninteresting since they were basically set up to get fucked over from the very beginning. Plus the relationship drama was annoying. The author is planning a sequel trilogy now because of the bullshit ending, and the new premise has very little to do with the original com artist premise.

>out of curiosity decide to read a summary after I dropped the series
>Locke is a bodyswapped bondsmage
Wat
I'm ny the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know that shit wasn't foreshadowed anywhere

>tfw you know you have two fantasy series that Veeky Forums would love
>tfw you just haven't finished writing them yet

Well get writing then. Prove yourself right, and give me a new novel worth shilling.

Malazan Book of the Fallen would be the most recent one that's actually enjoyable.

But as this guy said, classical fantasy is essentially dead. So is classical sci-fi. You're SoL and better off trying to read some Mercedes Lackey or David Eddings. Older authors that aren't as well known.

Dresden Files is pretty good if you like Urban Fantasy as a genre.

Veeky Forums

Veeky Forums pls

Alex Verus series is some decent Urban fantasy that doesn't go into MC power wank, if that's what you're interested in.
Granted, the first book's a bit rocky.

Brandon Sanderson is the way to go. Stormlight Archives is the best thing he's got going right now, the Mistborne Trilogy is good in its own right and is already complete.

Beware the Malazan series. It is extremely dense, very long, the plot is convoluted and the narrative is uniformly poorly told. Its reputation is mostly a result of its very rich detail, which is commendable, and Martinesque narrative cruelty. People continually advocate for it on Veeky Forums, which should be a warning--as everyone on Veeky Forums is either a troll, bad at tabletop games, or has terrible taste.

Gentleman Bastards is total crap. Stay away at all costs.

More like wasted potential.
Revenge quests with the lovable rogues are 10 a penny, while fantasy heists are incredibly rare.

I mean this series is still going on.
Go ahead if you dont mind some magical realm and endless puns.

Most new fantasy books are basically a shitflinging of "new and interesting" forms of "magic". And the occasional magical bullshittery that ruins it.

Get off of Veeky Forums and write them then, you monster.
>stay away from Veeky Forums

It's fantasy trying to be Veeky Forums that's putting the final nail in the coffin.

Agreed. I'm more of a Stormlight Archive fan.

It's better in audiobook format. Kramer's voice is amazing. does a lot to soothe over the meandering parts.