Fantasy books with an original setting.

[Dethenger]

Try Brandon Sanderon's books. Warbreaker is one of my favourite books, Elantris was good, and what I read of The Way of Kings was very enjoyable.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy was also a good read.

All of the above switch character perspective in chapters, which I find really helps you get to know them all better. Warbreaker has two awesome characters, but unfortunately one of them doesn't get a whole lot of love. Elantris had a good story, but I don't remember going "Ooh, this is a such-and-such chapter!". The Way of Kings has a lot of characters, and I only remember two of them offering an uninteresting perspective; the only problem was that several pages in and the story had yet to kick in.
For Bartimaeus, the Bartimaeus chapters make the series worth reading.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I thought Scar Night by Alan Campbell was fairly original, of course towards the end and its sequels, it went downhill.

 

[zama174]

Hmm.. Sorta tolkinesque but I will have to suggest my two favorite series, A Game of Thrones, which if you haven't heard about it already.. What the hell is wrong with you?

And a far less known series, The Chronicles of the Necromancer. It details Martin Drakes survival of his brothers coup and his eventual war he leads against it while he learns to use his powers as a Summoner. (read epic mage) Its a great series with a lot of depth and a world you can really get lost in. Oh and it's vampires are real fucking vampires so.. Yay.

 

[thequixoticman]

If you've never checked them out, Roger Zelazny's "Amber" books are pretty good. The basic idea is that it's a struggle for power amongst the ruling family of the one "true" earth, of which every other earth is a shadow. The ruling family has the ability to walk into the other earths. I can only speak to the first five books, but I thought those were great. Granted, it's been years since I read them, so maybe they don't hold up as well as I remember, but the first one's worth a look at least. It's called "Nine Princes in Amber."

 

[spartan231490]

Take a shot at "Night Angel" Trilogy, by Brent Weeks. Non-tolkien setting and great story. You could also give "Sword of Truth" or "Wheel of Time" a try. Both great series, with "Sword of Truth" being my favorite series of all time.

 

[spartan231490]

Again, more Discworld books.

However, I also can't recommend Steven Brust's books enough. Fascinating world, interesting characters, etc.

Taltos and Jhereg to start off with. Fantasy setting with humans more or less conquered by elves featuring a human assassin in a mafia type setting. As it is a magic world, assassinations are somewhat like stern warnings. You kill someone, and then someone else is going to have to put up a few thousand gold to hire a mage to bring them back to life.

There are only a three authors where I will automatically buy hardcover books of whatever they write the instant it comes out. Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, Robert Jordan (now Brian Sanderson's) Wheel of Time books, and Steven Brust's Taltos books).

Steven Brust definitely wins for original setting. Warning, the books aren't really story driven, they're character driven, and god are the characters amazing.(actually, I'm specifically talking about the Vlad Taltos series, as I haven't read any of his others. Don't think I would like his style without Vlad and Loiosh though, if I'm being honest.

 

[Ninjat_126]

The Night Angel Trilogy combines Batman with your traditional fantasy, with a heap of obscure references and a great main character. Does have its weak points, but they just don't matter.

The Black Prism, by the same author, is a traditional medieval fantasy, but with guns, colour based magic and some weird religious stuff where the Prism is both Jesus and emperor but only lives for around 7 years.

 

[Darth_Dude]

The Wheel of Time series, and the Song of Ice and Fire series. Read em mate, you won't regret it.

 

[VoidWanderer]

The Sword of Truth saga is easily one of the best I've ever read.

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind is where the legacy begins.

 

[WaReloaded]

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist. It's an inspired and unique take on the Fantasy genre, the characters are memorable, the setting is both believable and original, and the plot is brilliant.

 

[WolfThomas]

The Wheel of time starts as a pretty generic fantasty, but after a few books really sculpts a unique world with it's own pseudo-magic rules, cultures and even sci-fi elements. There's also some great characters who really grow through the series organically (espeically as it's current 13 books).

Holy crap the last one is out soon.

 

[Volkov]

Song of Ice and Fire (starts with A Game of Thrones), by a long shot. Greatest fantasy series of all time, easily.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Brent Weeks has some pretty good stuff. Nothing Tolkieny at all

Dammit! Beat me to it!

In that case I'll follow up with Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear.

EDIT: The amount of people suggesting Brent Weeks in this thread is awesome, keep up the good work, Escapist.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

Brent Weeks has some pretty good stuff. Nothing Tolkieny at all

The Warded Man and the Desert Spear by Peter V Brett

Well, that takes out a couple of my suggestions (damn good books though).

Try the Godspeaker trilogy too.

 

[kjrubberducky]

Lots of good suggestions in here, and a few that are new to me, too.

I would recommend Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy. IMO, Kay's characters are excellently rendered, and the world he creates is full of life and beautifully realized.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

How about Yahtzee's "Mogworld"? The setting is quite original (the common fantasy tropes are there, but because of the narrative twist they're played off each other), though there is a Terry Pratchett feel to the style.

The "His Dark Materials" trilogy is good too. They tried to make a film series out of it and failed, but the books are very good.

 

[thespyisdead]

the Xanth series. its a story about a land named Xanth (which looks like florida), and the people within. every person has his own magic talent, and that talent is unique to him. the magic talent can range from making a plume of smoke, to very powerful magic. these are magician calibur, and usually people with this talent become the king of Xanth.

that's my little summary of the Xanth series. theres a plethora of book (30+) all written by Piers Anthony, who is still active churning out these novels. also, you "must wachout for puns, or you will end up in one"

 

[Rawne1980]

David Gemmell.

The Waylander series.
Troy series.
Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince.
The Jon Shannow series.
And the Last Sword of Power book.

He has quite a few books out.

 

[Nickompoop]

the Dark Tower series. i've only read the first two, but it's like a mix of fantasy, bit of western, it has a bit of modern day stuff with it, but how it mixes it keeps it in the fantasy genre. very good read, it's one of Stephen King's none horror series, so if you have read other King books you'll have an idea for the style of writing.

Damn, you ninja'd me. Also, you really need to read the next four books--they are even better than the first two.

So if I can't say The Dark Tower series....

Have you read Hyperion by Dan Simmons? You haven't? You need to, right now. It's incredible. Sure, it's more sci-fi than fantasy, but that doesn't matter because this book is really, really good. If you like space-operas, you'll have a nerdgasm when you read it. And that nerdgasm will last for months.