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"Fantasy" often conjures up visions of elves and gentle beasts and the odd sword fight or two. But there is another side to the fantastic, the side where the good guys aren't always nice and the bad guys aren't always clear and sometimes the hero is more of an anti-hero. In every case, though, you can count on even the good guys getting their hands dirty (or slapped).
The first two in a series of 12 anthologies set in the gritty, anything-goes city of Sanctuary, home to thieves, assassins, strange creatures, alien races, and most everything in between. These books include stories by legends in the fantasy and SF genres like Marion Zimmer Bradley, David Drake, Philip Jose Farmer, A. E. van Vogt, Joe Haldeman, and many, many others. There's magic, evil, shiftiness, good guys, bad guys--you name it, you'll find it in Sanctuary.
Berg has a way of sweeping you straight into her books, and
this one, the first in her Collegia Magica series, is no different. A failed
sorcerer is recruited by his distant royal cousin to discover who is trying to
kill him. In company with a foppish knight and a prickly (and really powerful)
mage, Portier de Savin-Duplais sets out on a quest for which even he feels is
not qualified. Berg's ability to bring characters to instant life and her
smooth writing style are a pleasure to read. She draws the reader into the
mystery of the plot against the king from page one. Nicely done.
This is the first in Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Usually classed as epic fantasy, this underrated series is very dark, with an unusual protagonist. A leper whose body is rotting around him, Covenant is swept without warning into the Land, a pristine alternate reality attempting to fight off Lord Foul, who, unsurprisingly, destroys everything he touches. Covenant is foul in his own way, raping the first woman who is kind to him, siring a daughter who grows up to hate him. Bitter and suspicious, clinging to the Land because while he is there he is no longer a leper, Covenant is torn between disbelief and a very human desire to be the hero everyone wants him to be. Donaldson has a rare ability to bring every character to life and to draw a believable magical world.
In a genre dominated by European mythology, it is refreshing to run across a book centered around American myths and ancient beliefs. At times, however, this novel feels like a road trip to every obscure tourist trap in the U.S., as though Gaiman was fascinated early on during some otherwise boring vacation with his parents. The end is telegraphed a mile off and the protagonist seems a bit dim, considering the company he is keeping (ancient gods, wizards, and Native American shamans of the most powerful kind). It is, nevertheless, a good read from one of the new masters of the genre.
This book grabs the reader from the get-go and sweeps him straight into the world of young Fitz, a royal by-blow whose embarrassing birth forces his royal father, Prince Chivalry, to give up his claim to the throne. But Fitz has abilities of his own that bring him to the King's attention--and into the company of the Royal Assassins.
The series also includes:
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Quest
Set in a dark and strange London filled with outcasts known as Borribles, this is heady stuff. The Borribles' first rule is Don't Get Caught, which pretty much tells you that if you are a fan of law and order and prissy ethics, these incorrigibles aren't for you. Wild, interesting, and marvelously realized.
If you like this, you'll like The Borribles Go For Broke
This is unusual stuff, magic that doesn't kick in so long as the protagonist, a young witch, remains a virgin. But her lover will gain the power of her Blue Star, which allows him to see into the thoughts of others, and so a secret organization pushes an inept clerk to seduce young Lalette. Since neither one actually likes the other, things go south pretty fast. On the run in an empire where Lalette's magic is commonplace but not necessarily welcome, both of them must discover the power of loyalty. Offbeat and interesting.