Jim Butcher

David Gemmel

Steven Brust

Pierce Brown (red rising published 2014 highly recomended)

Cloud Atlas - warchoski brothers/sister.  Also that new movie in space it was a disaster but a gloryious disaster.

10 000 BC.

Quote from: Headless;932249Also that new movie in space it was a disaster but a gloryious disaster.

what was wrong with Jupiter Ascending?

Quote from: remial;932302what was wrong with Jupiter Ascending?

See above under "glorious disaster."

Quote from: RPGPundit;932082I don't know if the list is available online anywhere; I'm certainly not going to write it out here, too long.

Then the best I can say about it is that I have no opinion;).

Quote from: Headless;932249Jim Butcher

David Gemmel

Steven Brust

Pierce Brown (red rising published 2014 highly recomended)

Cloud Atlas - warchoski brothers/sister.  Also that new movie in space it was a disaster but a gloryious disaster.

10 000 BC.

John Ringo
David Webber
lois mcmaster bujold

C J Cheryl.  For alien inteligence. As opposed to humans with prostectic forheads.

Elizabeth Moon

here is the list from the 5th ed DMG
Atlas Games. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game.
Bernhardt, William. Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life.
---.Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero'sjoumey.
---. Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction.
Bowers, Malcolm. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.
Browning, Joseph & Suzi Yee. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.
Burroway,Janet. Writing Fiction.
Cleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction.
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing.
Ewalt, David M. Of Dice and Men.
Gygax, Gary. Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy and the rest of the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series .
---. Master of the Game.
---.Role-Playing Mastery.
Hindmarch, Will. The Bones: Us and Our Dice.
Hindmarch, Will &Jeff Tidball. Things We Think About Games.
Hirsh, Jr., E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
Ingpen, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were.
Kaufmann,J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann. The
Medieval Fortress.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
Koster, Rap h. A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
Laws, Robin D. Hamlet's Hit Points.
Lee, Alan & David Day. Castles.
Macaulay, David. Castle.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Marte d'Arthur.
McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.
Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.
O'Connor, Paul Ryan, ed. Grimtooth's Traps.
PennyPress. Variety Puzzles and Games series.
Peterson, Jon. Playing at the World.
Robbins, Ben. Microscope.
Schell, Jesse. Game Design: A Book of Lenses.
Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat.
Swift, Michael and Angus Konstam. Cities of the Renaissance World.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story.
TSR. Arms and Equipment Guide.
---. Campaign Sourcebook/ Catacomb Guide.
--- . The Castle Guide.
Walmsley, Graham. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change the Way You Roleplay.
Wilford, John Noble. The Mapmakers.
Writers Digest. The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference.

Quote from: remial;934349here is the list from the 5th ed DMG
Atlas Games. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game.
Bernhardt, William. Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life.
---.Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero'sjoumey.
---. Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction.
Bowers, Malcolm. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.
Browning, Joseph & Suzi Yee. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.
Burroway,Janet. Writing Fiction.
Cleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction.
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing.
Ewalt, David M. Of Dice and Men.
Gygax, Gary. Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy and the rest of the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series .
---. Master of the Game.
---.Role-Playing Mastery.
Hindmarch, Will. The Bones: Us and Our Dice.
Hindmarch, Will &Jeff Tidball. Things We Think About Games.
Hirsh, Jr., E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
Ingpen, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were.
Kaufmann,J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann. The
Medieval Fortress.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
Koster, Rap h. A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
Laws, Robin D. Hamlet's Hit Points.
Lee, Alan & David Day. Castles.
Macaulay, David. Castle.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Marte d'Arthur.
McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.
Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.
O'Connor, Paul Ryan, ed. Grimtooth's Traps.
PennyPress. Variety Puzzles and Games series.
Peterson, Jon. Playing at the World.
Robbins, Ben. Microscope.
Schell, Jesse. Game Design: A Book of Lenses.
Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat.
Swift, Michael and Angus Konstam. Cities of the Renaissance World.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story.
TSR. Arms and Equipment Guide.
---. Campaign Sourcebook/ Catacomb Guide.
--- . The Castle Guide.
Walmsley, Graham. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change the Way You Roleplay.
Wilford, John Noble. The Mapmakers.
Writers Digest. The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference.

Ok, so that was NOT actually the list I was thinking of. I meant the one in the PHB.

oh, THIS list
Ahmed, Saladin. Throne of the Crescent Moon.
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three and the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain series.
Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword, The High Crusade, and Three Hearts and Three Lions.
Anthony, Piers. Split Infinity and the rest of the Apprentice Adept series.
Augusta, Lady Gregory. Gods and Fighting Men.
Bear, Elizabeth. Range of Ghosts and the rest of the Eternal Sky trilogy.
Bellairs, John. The Face in the Frost.
Brackett, Leigh. The Best of Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow, and The Sword of Rhiannon.
Brooks, Terry. The Sword of Shannara and the rest of the Shannara novels.
Brown, Fredric. Hall of Mirrors and What Mad Universe.
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. At the Earth’s Core and the rest of the Pellucidar series, Pirates of Venus and the rest of the Venus series, and A Princess of Mars and the rest of the Mars series.
Carter, Lin. Warrior of World’s End and the rest of the World’s End series.
Cook, Glen. The Black Company and the rest of the Black Company series,
de Camp, L. Sprague. The Fallible Fiend and Lest Darkness Fall.
de Camp, L. Sprague & Fletcher Pratt. The Compleat Enchanter and the rest of the Harold Shea series, and Carnelian Cube.
Derleth, August and H.P. Lovecraft. Watchers out of Time.
Dunsany, Lord. The Book of Wonder, The Essential Lord Dunsany Collection, The Gods of Pegana, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Lord Dunsany Compendium, and The Sword of Welleran and Other Tales.
Farmer, Philip Jose. Maker of Universes and the rest of the World of Tiers series.
Fox, Gardner. Kothar and the Conjurer’s Curse and the rest of
the Kothar series, and Kyrik and the Lost Queen and the rest of the Kyrik series.
Froud, Brian & Alan Lee. Faeries.
Hickman, Tracy & Margaret Weis. Dragons of Autumn Twilight and the rest of the Chronicles Trilogy.
Hodgson, William Hope. The Night Land.
Howard, Robert E. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian and the rest of the Conan series.
Jemisin, N.K. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the rest of the Inheritance series, The Killing Moon, and The Shadowed Sun.
Jordan. Robert. The Eye of the World and the rest of the Wheel of Time series.
Kay, Guy Gavriel. Tigana.
King, Stephen. The Eyes of the Dragon.
Lanier, Sterling. Hiero’s Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero.
LeGuin, Ursula. A Wizard of Earthsea and the rest of the Earthsea series.
Leiber, Fritz. Swords and Deviltry and the rest of the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser series.
Lovecraft, H.P. The Complete Works.
Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora and the rest of the Gentlemen Bastard series.
Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series.
McKillip, Patricia. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Merritt, A. Creep, Shadow, Creep; Dwellers in the Mirage; and The Moon Pool.
Mieville, China. Perdido Street Station and the other Bas-Lag novels.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melnibone and the rest of the Elric series, and The Jewel in the Skull and the rest of the Hawkmoon series.
Norton, Andre. Quag Keep and Witch World.
Offutt, Andrew J., ed. Swords against Darkness III.
Peake, Mervyn. Titus Groan and the rest of the Gormenghast series.
Pratchett, Terry. The Colour of Magic and the rest of the Discworld series.
Pratt, Fletcher. Blue Star.
Rothfuss, Patrick. The Name of the Wind and the rest of the Kingkiller series.
Saberhagen, Fred. The Broken Lands and Changeling Earth.
Salvatore, R.A. The Crystal Shard and the rest of The Legend of Drizzt.
Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn and the rest of the Mistborn trilogy.
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Return of the Sorcerer.
St. Clair, Margaret. Change the Sky and Other Stories, The Shadow People, and Sign of the Labrys.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Tolstoy, Nikolai. The Coming of the King.
Vance, Jack. The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld.
Weinbaum, Stanley. Valley of Dreams and The Worlds of If.
Wellman, Manly Wade. The Golgotha Dancers.
Williamson, Jack. The Cosmic Express and The Pygmy Planet.
Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer and the rest of The Book of the New Sun.
Zelazny, Roger. Jack of Shadows and Nine Princes in Amber and the rest of the Amber series.

Quote from: remial;934349here is the list from the 5th ed DMG

Actual Stuff that could potentially help the GM run an RPG:

• Atlas Games. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game.
• Bowers, Malcolm. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.
• Browning, Joseph & Suzi Yee. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.
• Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag.
• Ewalt, David M. Of Dice and Men.
• Gygax, Gary. Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy and the rest of the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series .
• ---. Master of the Game.
• ---.Role-Playing Mastery.
• Hindmarch, Will. The Bones: Us and Our Dice.
• Hindmarch, Will & Jeff Tidball. Things We Think About Games.
• Ingpen, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were.
• Kaufmann,J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann. The Medieval Fortress.
• Lee, Alan & David Day. Castles.
• Macaulay, David. Castle.
• Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Marte d'Arthur.
• Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.
• O'Connor, Paul Ryan, ed. Grimtooth's Traps.
• PennyPress. Variety Puzzles and Games series.
• Peterson, Jon. Playing at the World.
• Swift, Michael and Angus Konstam. Cities of the Renaissance World.
• TSR. Arms and Equipment Guide.
• ---. Campaign Sourcebook/ Catacomb Guide.
• --- . The Castle Guide.
• Wilford, John Noble. The Mapmakers.

Useless Shit that isn't going to help anyone run an RPG (unless of course your definition of Roleplaying is Storytelling):

• Bernhardt, William. Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life.
• ---.Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero's journey.
• ---. Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction.
• Burroway,Janet. Writing Fiction.
• Cleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction.
• Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing.
• Hirsh, Jr., E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
• King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
• Koster, Rap h. A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
• Laws, Robin D. Hamlet's Hit Points.
• McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.
• Robbins, Ben. Microscope.
• Schell, Jesse. Game Design: A Book of Lenses.
• Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat.
• Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story.
• Walmsley, Graham. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change the Way You Roleplay.
• Writers Digest. The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference.

Hooray, at least there was actually more useful stuff (although a lot of the useful stuff is more "entertaining read" than directly helpful.)

Quote from: remial;934349here is the list from the 5th ed DMG

Thank you:)!

QuoteAtlas Games. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game.

Unfamiliar, can't comment.

QuoteBernhardt, William. Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life.
---.Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero'sjoumey.
---. Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction.

OMG, I hope that's not the direction they want to take 5e in!

QuoteBowers, Malcolm. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.

Probably fun and useful, but easily replaced by 20-000names.com.

QuoteBrowning, Joseph & Suzi Yee. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.

Good!

QuoteBurroway,Janet. Writing Fiction.

Reviews say: of average usefulness.

QuoteCleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction.

Reviews say it's a good read for GMs, if taken with a grain of salt.

QuoteCordingly, David. Under the Black Flag.

Mandatory reading.

QuoteEgri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing.

Think I've read it. If so, yes, provided grains of salt are also used.

QuoteEwalt, David M. Of Dice and Men.

Still wondering whether to get this one...

QuoteGygax, Gary. Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy and the rest of the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series .
---. Master of the Game.
---.Role-Playing Mastery.

Mandatory reading if you can find them.

QuoteHindmarch, Will. The Bones: Us and Our Dice.

The title alone makes me avoid this. Dice fetishism is rampant in the hobby anyway.

QuoteHindmarch, Will &Jeff Tidball. Things We Think About Games.

Don't tell me what to think about games. Odds are you're not going to address how I think about them, anyway. Skipping it.

QuoteHirsh, Jr., E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

Since when is the old dictionary obsolete?

QuoteIngpen, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were.

Probably useful.

QuoteKaufmann,J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann. The Medieval Fortress.

On the reading list.

QuoteKing, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Yeah, add a grain of salt, and read.

QuoteKoster, Rap h. A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

Not sure.

QuoteLaws, Robin D. Hamlet's Hit Points.

...good book, but better left for use with Drama System.

QuoteLee, Alan & David Day. Castles.
Macaulay, David. Castle.

Read (though you don't need all the books about castles)!

QuoteMalory, Sir Thomas. Le Marte d'Arthur.

Mandatory reading!

QuoteMcKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.

Wouldn't recommend.

QuoteMortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.

Read if you can!

QuoteO'Connor, Paul Ryan, ed. Grimtooth's Traps.
PennyPress. Variety Puzzles and Games series.

Read if you can, they seem fun.

QuotePeterson, Jon. Playing at the World.

Read if you can!

QuoteRobbins, Ben. Microscope.
Schell, Jesse. Game Design: A Book of Lenses.

Of questionable usefulness, might be useful in world building and for presentation.

QuoteSnyder, Blake. Save the Cat.

Skip.

QuoteSwift, Michael and Angus Konstam. Cities of the Renaissance World.

Read!

QuoteTruby, John. The Anatomy of Story.

Skip.

QuoteTSR. Arms and Equipment Guide.
---. Campaign Sourcebook/ Catacomb Guide.
--- . The Castle Guide.

Read if possible.

QuoteWalmsley, Graham. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change the Way You Roleplay.

Definitely read! Should be in the player's section, though.

QuoteWilford, John Noble. The Mapmakers.
Writers Digest. The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference.

Read if possible.

Quote from: remial;934349here is the list from the 5th ed DMG
Atlas Games. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game.
Bernhardt, William. Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life.
---.Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero'sjoumey.
---. Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction.
Bowers, Malcolm. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.
Browning, Joseph & Suzi Yee. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.
Burroway,Janet. Writing Fiction.
Cleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction.
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing.
Ewalt, David M. Of Dice and Men.
Gygax, Gary. Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy and the rest of the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series .
---. Master of the Game.
---.Role-Playing Mastery.
Hindmarch, Will. The Bones: Us and Our Dice.
Hindmarch, Will &Jeff Tidball. Things We Think About Games.
Hirsh, Jr., E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
Ingpen, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were.
Kaufmann,J.E. & H.W. Kaufmann. The
Medieval Fortress.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
Koster, Rap h. A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
Laws, Robin D. Hamlet's Hit Points.
Lee, Alan & David Day. Castles.
Macaulay, David. Castle.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Marte d'Arthur.
McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.
Mortimer, Ian. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.
O'Connor, Paul Ryan, ed. Grimtooth's Traps.
PennyPress. Variety Puzzles and Games series.
Peterson, Jon. Playing at the World.
Robbins, Ben. Microscope.
Schell, Jesse. Game Design: A Book of Lenses.
Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat.
Swift, Michael and Angus Konstam. Cities of the Renaissance World.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story.
TSR. Arms and Equipment Guide.
---. Campaign Sourcebook/ Catacomb Guide.
--- . The Castle Guide.
Walmsley, Graham. Play Unsafe: How Improvisation Can Change the Way You Roleplay.
Wilford, John Noble. The Mapmakers.
Writers Digest. The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference.

Quote from: RPGPundit;934784Ok, so that was NOT actually the list I was thinking of. I meant the one in the PHB.

Quote from: remial;934803oh, THIS list
Ahmed, Saladin. Throne of the Crescent Moon.
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three and the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain series.
Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword, The High Crusade, and Three Hearts and Three Lions.
Anthony, Piers. Split Infinity and the rest of the Apprentice Adept series.
Augusta, Lady Gregory. Gods and Fighting Men.
Bear, Elizabeth. Range of Ghosts and the rest of the Eternal Sky trilogy.
Bellairs, John. The Face in the Frost.
Brackett, Leigh. The Best of Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow, and The Sword of Rhiannon.
Brooks, Terry. The Sword of Shannara and the rest of the Shannara novels.
Brown, Fredric. Hall of Mirrors and What Mad Universe.
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. At the Earth’s Core and the rest of the Pellucidar series, Pirates of Venus and the rest of the Venus series, and A Princess of Mars and the rest of the Mars series.
Carter, Lin. Warrior of World’s End and the rest of the World’s End series.
Cook, Glen. The Black Company and the rest of the Black Company series,
de Camp, L. Sprague. The Fallible Fiend and Lest Darkness Fall.
de Camp, L. Sprague & Fletcher Pratt. The Compleat Enchanter and the rest of the Harold Shea series, and Carnelian Cube.
Derleth, August and H.P. Lovecraft. Watchers out of Time.
Dunsany, Lord. The Book of Wonder, The Essential Lord Dunsany Collection, The Gods of Pegana, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Lord Dunsany Compendium, and The Sword of Welleran and Other Tales.
Farmer, Philip Jose. Maker of Universes and the rest of the World of Tiers series.
Fox, Gardner. Kothar and the Conjurer’s Curse and the rest of
the Kothar series, and Kyrik and the Lost Queen and the rest of the Kyrik series.
Froud, Brian & Alan Lee. Faeries.
Hickman, Tracy & Margaret Weis. Dragons of Autumn Twilight and the rest of the Chronicles Trilogy.
Hodgson, William Hope. The Night Land.
Howard, Robert E. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian and the rest of the Conan series.
Jemisin, N.K. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the rest of the Inheritance series, The Killing Moon, and The Shadowed Sun.
Jordan. Robert. The Eye of the World and the rest of the Wheel of Time series.
Kay, Guy Gavriel. Tigana.
King, Stephen. The Eyes of the Dragon.
Lanier, Sterling. Hiero’s Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero.
LeGuin, Ursula. A Wizard of Earthsea and the rest of the Earthsea series.
Leiber, Fritz. Swords and Deviltry and the rest of the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser series.
Lovecraft, H.P. The Complete Works.
Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora and the rest of the Gentlemen Bastard series.
Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series.
McKillip, Patricia. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Merritt, A. Creep, Shadow, Creep; Dwellers in the Mirage; and The Moon Pool.
Mieville, China. Perdido Street Station and the other Bas-Lag novels.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melnibone and the rest of the Elric series, and The Jewel in the Skull and the rest of the Hawkmoon series.
Norton, Andre. Quag Keep and Witch World.
Offutt, Andrew J., ed. Swords against Darkness III.
Peake, Mervyn. Titus Groan and the rest of the Gormenghast series.
Pratchett, Terry. The Colour of Magic and the rest of the Discworld series.
Pratt, Fletcher. Blue Star.
Rothfuss, Patrick. The Name of the Wind and the rest of the Kingkiller series.
Saberhagen, Fred. The Broken Lands and Changeling Earth.
Salvatore, R.A. The Crystal Shard and the rest of The Legend of Drizzt.
Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn and the rest of the Mistborn trilogy.
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Return of the Sorcerer.
St. Clair, Margaret. Change the Sky and Other Stories, The Shadow People, and Sign of the Labrys.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Tolstoy, Nikolai. The Coming of the King.
Vance, Jack. The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld.
Weinbaum, Stanley. Valley of Dreams and The Worlds of If.
Wellman, Manly Wade. The Golgotha Dancers.
Williamson, Jack. The Cosmic Express and The Pygmy Planet.
Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer and the rest of The Book of the New Sun.
Zelazny, Roger. Jack of Shadows and Nine Princes in Amber and the rest of the Amber series.

Thank you! This list actually seems interesting...though it's totally lacking some books I'd include, and has others I should check.
I might try going through it one by one later, if anyone cares about my opinion.

BEFORE D&D there is one single right answer IMO: Clark Ashton Smith.

But ASOIAF has inspired much or my gaming in 2015, and Bernard Cornwell before that. So, this "gritty fantasy" stuff.

Funny how there seem to be so little awesome stuff (for my tastes) this days. I kinda like China Mieville, but his writing is too verbose for my tastes. Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie I couldn't finish. Shannara was very derivative and bland. Rothfuss and Sanderson seemed too "epic" for my tastes, but I will try reading it if someone says they are better than the others. Best fantasy novel I read in a while is Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Buried Giant', but not too D&D...

Maybe someone can suggest something else and prove me wrong.

Quote from: Eric Diaz;935032Maybe someone can suggest something else and prove me wrong.

Have you read The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan?

Quote from: Cave Bear;935033Have you read The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan?

I haven't. Is it awesome? Does it stand on its own (ie, I don't have to read the whole trilogy before "getting" it)? If that is the case, I'll give it a try.

Quote from: Eric Diaz;935034I haven't. Is it awesome? Does it stand on its own (ie, I don't have to read the whole trilogy before "getting" it)? If that is the case, I'll give it a try.

It is awesome! It's low-fantasy heroes in a high-fantasy world with a noir plot and bits of sci-fi.

At least the first book stands on its own. I've only read the first two books in the trilogy, and so far I think I "get it."

I really liked Joel Rosenberg's last three Guardians of the Flame novels, Not Exactly The Three Musketeers, Not Quite Scaramoche, etc.  They shift the focus from the students who transitioned into the Eren Regions from our world to a trio of hard bitten mercenaries and their misadventures.  Lots of thuggish fun.