Recommend a fantasy book to a sceptic

[the Dept of Science]

Ok, I like reading but haven't really got into the whole fantasy genre. I tried LotR a couple of times but really didn't get along with it, nothing really sparked my interest or wanted me to keep reading, especially after watching the movies.
Every time I read the blurb of a fantasy book I groan, it always seems to be about some improbably named and unambiguously good hero going on a quest against some equally improbably named and unambiguously evil foe, sandwiched between turgid prose about the history of some non-existent land.
So, what do you recommend to challenge my scepticism?

Some other points:
"Sceptic" is the accepted UK English spelling of "skeptic"
I'm 19
Preferably no more than 300 pages (Edit: ok, this may be unreasonable, but lets just say something I could reasonably read in a week or 2*)
It would be nice if it had some breakout success (ie. acclaim outside normal fantasy readers, not some obscure personal favourite)
Some authors I like: Philip K. Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Bukowski, Alan Moore, John Steinbeck, Kafka
I do like Terry Prachet, but he is the Douglas Adams of the genre, whereas I'm looking for the Philip K. Dick or Frank Herbert.

*My new years resolution was to read more, as, looking back at it, I was very poorly read before this age, maybe reading a few books a year. As of yet, I have been averaging out at about 1 book per week (the longest being Crime and Punishment). I have been focusing mainly on getting through "classics" while also getting a good range of books in. So if someone recommends me a 7 book series, averaging out at about 1000 pages each, I do think "well, I could read that, or I could read the Great Gatsby, On the Road, Grapes of Wrath, Slaughterhouse Five and about 20 other books". I can read at a pace of between 1 and 1.5 minutes per page.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. The best book I have ever read. Just above American Gods. The plot is not the normal 'save the world' thing. It's about Fat Charlie Nancy, who after being at his father's funeral (who died on the stage of a karaoke bar), finds out that his father is Anansi, the East-African spider god, and that Charlie apparently has a brother named Spider. He then summons Spider, who gradually starts to interfere with Charlie's life.

 

[OmegaXIII]

Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin
EDIT: Sorry just re read the first post, though i still recommend you check these out because they are thoroughly enjoyable

Redemption of Athalus by David Eddings
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikkson (may have mispelled the surname)

 

[Queen Michael]

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie got this sceptic, that is to say, me, to start reading fantasy.

 

[itf cho]

Not more than 300 pages? fuggedaboutit. Honestly not a single fantasy novel I'd consider recommending that is under 300 pages.

 

[jman11288]

Try the Inheritance series. Eragon was an immediate hit when it came out and its sequels have only gotten better. Too bad the movie was a travesty.

 

[Axolotl]

Stormbringer and Stealer of Souls. Although you won't really be able to appreciate it fully without reading LotR or Conan.

Also anything by Howard, Leiber, Vance or Burroughs is generally good.

 

[Firoth]

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. It's a fantasy/detective series type thing. They go in order, the first 5 or 6 are numbered on the cover, but, I think it also has the order on the first page or so.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's about a bunch of thieves in a fantasy world. As far as I know there's only one.
Neither of them are under 300 pages, but, I don't think there's many good books that are, or at least none of the books I read are.

 

[Je Suis Ubermonkey]

Not more than 300 pages? fuggedaboutit. Honestly not a single fantasy novel I'd consider recommending that is under 300 pages.

Likewise.

Most of my favourites are trilogies (or longer) that run to at least a thousand pages.

And OP: Welcome to the world of fantasy, where if you want to kill an evil God, you'd better send some random peasant boy to do it. And rest assured, there are plenty of evil Gods about. They probably have a union or something.

It doesn't matter what the main plotline is in a good fantasy book because so much other stuff happens along the way (yay David Eddings!)

 

[ironduke88]

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie got this sceptic, that is to say, me, to start reading fantasy.

highly recommend this series very dark and very original. Superb use of Byronic heroism and heroic sociopathic characters.

I would also recommend Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny very short and very good, though maybe more of a Sci-fi novel, not sure.

The Waylander series by David Gemmel, this man may be a very generic writer but that is because he generally invented his genre. Waylander is good but also books such as the swords of night and day and Legend are definitive works in hero centric fantasy novels.

The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss was entertaining maybe a bit generic for a sceptic.

I am currently really enjoying the Mistborn trilogy which details a fantasy world where the 'great evil' won the final battle (although this really is a bit of a gimic).

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. The best book I have ever read. Just above American Gods. The plot is not the normal 'save the world' thing. It's about Fat Charlie Nancy, who after being at his father's funeral (who died on the stage of a karaoke bar), finds out that his father is Anansi, the East-African spider god, and that Charlie apparently has a brother named Spider. He then summons Spider, who gradually starts to interfere with Charlie's life.

Again highly recommend, this guys books are completely different to everything you have ever read (even though Zelazny did it first, Gaimen does it better).

I find that fantasy novels require a bit more suspension of disbelief, than Sci-fi novels, if you are going to truely enjoy them. Some people can' t do that, if that is you, you will never enjoy any of these books. Kudos for trying...

 

[Super Toast]

A fantasy novel less than 300 pages long? How about a crime movie where no one dies? (Bugsy Malone doesn't count)

 

[Yagharek]

Whitechapel Gods is an excellent steam-punk novel.

Short too.

The dresden files are urban-fantasy-detective novels. Not much too them, but highly enjoyable.

300 pages is a tough ask though. Most of my favourites are well above this.

On others recommendations: The Gaiman recommendation is solid, as is the Martin one(though there are some adult scenes, which some find puts them off). I wouldn't read Wheel of time though. It's good, but heavily cliched. Also gets quite slow a few books in. Eragon and Eddings books(though I've not read althalus, he himself admits to writing cliche books to introduce people to fantasy) are both pretty cliche. Heroic farmboy, magic sword, unambigious good vs. evil, so yeah, if you're specifically trying to avoid that, I'd leave them.

I've heard a lot of praise for Abercrombie, but was thoroughly dissapointed when I read them. Lots of people seem to like them though. Though most people I've heard talk about them as quite enjoyable, but not much to them, not very thought provoking. Personally I didn't like them though, so I'm not the best source for this.

My best recommendations for fantasy, with approx length:

Scott Lynch:The lies of Locke Lamorra(500 pages)
Neil Gaiman:American Gods is excellent(650 pages)
R Scott Bakker:The Darkness that comes before(650 pages). Peoples opinions are heavily divided. Quite philosophical at times.
China Mieville: Perdido Street Station(850 pages) Or The Scar(750 Pages). Part of the "new wierd" genre. Certainly are quite strange, but very good. My Copy of PSS seems a lot more than 100 pages more than the Scar(same width as some of my books with 1000 pages or more). Not quite sure why.
Steven Erikson: His Malzan Book of the Fallen series is excellent. Starts with gardens of the moon(700 pages). It's probably the weakest of the series, and at times inconsistent with the later books. The later books are around 1000-1200 pages. Incredible though.
Glen Cook: Black Company books. Each book is around 250 pages long. Very well written. A bit simpler than most of my other suggestions. Not your standard fantasy, but not as different as some of the others. Certainly not the cliche stuff that gives fantasy a bad name though.

 

[ironduke88]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's about a bunch of thieves in a fantasy world. As far as I know there's only one.
Neither of them are under 300 pages, but, I don't think there's many good books that are, or at least none of the books I read are.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is another great book. I read it in a day or so becuase I couldn't put it down. I was wondering how many other people have read it. It promises to be an interesting series

 

[Steve Butts]

Soldier in the Mist by Gene Wolfe
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
R.E. Howard's Conan stories (Tower of the Elephant, Queen of the Black Coast, Frost Giant's Daughter, etc.)
Anything by Charles Beaumont.

There are plenty of great short story collections out there. That might be better than trying a whole novella.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Skeptic.

OT: Less than 300 pages? You're crazy.

Really, I don't read fantasy much, but I read (and loved) The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Wheel of Time saga, both of which are well over 300 pages.

 

[Yagharek]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's about a bunch of thieves in a fantasy world. As far as I know there's only one.
Neither of them are under 300 pages, but, I don't think there's many good books that are, or at least none of the books I read are.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is another great book. I read it in a day or so becuase I couldn't put it down. I was wondering how many other people have read it. It promises to be an interesting series

Just so you know, there is a sequel called Red Seas Under Red Skies, and I think he's planning to release more.

It's not ass good though, in my, and most people i've spoken too about it. I found the side characters weren't as good. It's kind of just more of the same as well, very similar, plot wise9with a bit less of the con-artist side of things, I felt, sadly). It's well written, but doesn't really go anywhere in particular.

It's good, and worth reading if you liked the first, but not as good.

 

[Alfred Chicken]

I would recommend The Once and Future King by T H White. It's a lot longer than 300 pages but it's a very easy read, it's the only book I've read that i would definately recommend for both adults and children. It's basically the legend of Arthur with some various fantasy excursions of it's own. What I like about it is that whilst telling the usual Arthurian legend in a fairly family friendly way it will hit you with a very profound statement. For example Merlin tells young Arthur that he is constantly travelling back in time so that a final meeting is a great joy whereas the first meeting his a tragedy for him.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I'd say go for the sword of truth books there all pretty much way over 300 pages but i got through them and i'm not a huge fantasy geek!

 

[the Dept of Science]

Damn, I was really hoping of a way to just dip my toe in without committing myself to a 500+ pager. Pretty much every other genre has at least some classic books <200 pages.
I mean, within the first 3 posts or something is probably upwards of 2000 pages worth of recommendations. Oh well, I guess I'll get my wading boots on.

 

[Steve Butts]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's about a bunch of thieves in a fantasy world. As far as I know there's only one.

There's a second one out in paperback now. I liked the setup but it went in an unexpected and unsatisfying direction for me. It shifts from a great sort of con game with the Gentlemen Bastards into an exaggerated James Bond climax. The whole character of the book and the focus of the plot changes once the spymaster appears and I just didn't think the transition made much sense. I actually liked both halves of the book, but I just didn't feel they belonged together.