> Probably the best example of the type of book I've been told is "good" fantasy is Guy Gavriel Kay's _Tigana_. A number of people on the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written responded with this book when asked the question "If you could get a Jordan fan to read just one book that would open their eyes to 'good' fantasy, what book would it be."
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> I haven't read it yet, however, nor have I read any of the others that are supposed to be good (such as George R. R. Martin's _A Game of Thrones_). But, I still promise to let everyone know how they are when I do read them :-)

Sounds good to me. I'll have to check out _Tigana_ once I've finished Dan Simmons' _Hyperion_ cycle. At the moment, I'm halfway through the second book in the series, _The Fall of Hyperion_, and have been favorably impressed for the most part. I've heard that the series goes down from there, especially in the fourth and final book, but if my curiosity gets the best of me I'll probably end up reading all four anyway.

Simmons brings quite a wealth of knowledge of traditional literature to the sci-fi of _Hyperion_ and its sequels, and I'd definitely recommend it as an interesting, fresh and original story. One or two reader reviews on Amazon.com referred to the series as "hard" sci-fi, but I wouldn't call it that at all, at least not unless I get to the end of the books and there's some incredible unforeseen scientific explanation for all the quasi-mystical stuff that's happened so far. On the other hand, it's not sloppy sci-fi ala Star Wars, either--Simmons presents a universe brimming over with technological advancements but does not hold it up to be gawked at. Instead, he introduces technology casually, the way his characters view it. It's pretty much done exactly the way Orson Scott Card prescribes in his book on how to write sci-fi. Technology that is well thought out, but given a supporting role to the plot rather than carrying the story all on its own.

I like the occasional recommended-reading threads that pop up on this forum. If anyone out there has their hands on a real gem, go ahead and put in your two cents about it!

Iss "Ahhhh.....Friday!" achar