If you like books by Terry Goodkind...

Hello! I'm going to suggest a wide range of books in the hope that some of them will appeal to you!

Gene Wolfe - anything by him, but especially his latest pair "The
Knight" and "The Wizard". Here's a summary from the catalog -- "A novel
in two volumes, The Wizard Knight is in the rare company of those works
which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring of
myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all
the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful
work. The first half of the journey, The Knight -- which you are advised
to read first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning --
took a teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of
seven fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the
capricious Aelf, and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout
Mythgarthr, Able gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a
supernatural hound, and the desire to prove his honor and become the
noble knight he always knew he would be. Coming into Jotunland, home of
the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the High Heart --claims the
great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In reward, he is ushered
into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods of Skai. Thus
begins the second part of his quest. The Wizard begins with Able's
return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her
name. Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold
world and possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond
question, Able works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his
friends, his gods, and even his enemies. Able must set his world right,
restoring the proper order among the denizens of all the seven worlds."



Philip Pullman - "His Dark Materials" trilogy starts with "The Golden
Compass", which follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua and her daemon
(a creature who reflects her inner being) as she tries to uncover the
fates of kidnapped children being taken to the top of the world.



Ursula K. Le Guin - anything by her is a great read, but "A Wizard of
Earthsea" is especially good. It's the first in what started out as a
trilogy, but has come to include 6 books at last count! Ms. Le Guin
creates interesting, complex characters in her books - enjoy! Summary
(from the catalog) -- "Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea,
but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power
and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible
shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered
the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's
threshold to restore the balance."



Neil Gaiman - "Stardust" (soon to be a major motion picture!) - "In the
sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian Era, life moves
at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall--a secluded hamlet so named
for an imposing stone barrier that surrounds a fertile
grassland. Armed sentries guard the sole gap in the bulwark to keep the
inquisitive from wandering through, relaxing their vigil only once every
nine years, when a market fair unlike any other in the world of men
comes to the meadow. Here in Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his
heart to beautiful Victoria Forester. But Victoria is cold and
distant--as distant, in fact, as the star she and Tristran see fall from
the sky on a crisp October evening. For the coveted prize of Victoria's
hand, Tristran vows to retrieve the fallen star and deliver it to his
beloved. It is an oath that sends the lovelorn swain over the ancient
wall, and propels him into a world that is strange beyond imagining. But
Tristran is not the only one seeking the heavenly jewel. There are those
for whom it promises youth and beauty, the key to a kingdom, and the
rejuvenation of dark, dormant magics." - summary from the catalog.



Sean McMullen's "Souls in the Great Machine" is the first book in his
"Greatwinter" trilogy.

"The great Calculor of Libris was forced to watch as Overmayor Zarvora
had four of its components lined up against a wall and shot for
negligence. Thereafter, its calculations were free from errors, and that
was just as well - for only this strangest of calculating machines and
its two thousand enslaved components could save the world from a new ice
age. And all the while a faint mirrorsun hangs in the night sky, warning
of the cold to come. In Sean McMullen's glittering, dynamic, and exotic
world two millennia from now, there is no more electricity, wind engines
are leading-edge technology, librarians fight duels to settle disputes,
steam power is banned by every major religion, and a mysterious siren
"Call" lures people to their death. Nevertheless, the brilliant and
ruthless Zarvora intends to start a war in space against inconceivably
ancient nuclear battle stations. Unbeknownst to Zarvora, however, the
greatest threat to humanity is neither a machine nor a force but her
demented and implacable enemy Lemorel, who has resurrected an obscene
and evil concept from the distant past: Total War."-summary from the
catalog



Daniel Abraham - "A Shadow in Summer"

"Gesture and posture convey as much information as spoken words in
Abraham's impressive first novel, a fantasy set in a world where poets
create and bind powerful shape-shifting creatures called "andat." The
Empire hangs on, literally, by a thread; the cloth industry depends on
the ability of andat Seedless to magically remove seeds from cotton
plants to keep commerce flowing and the barbarians in check. Seedless,
who can also remove unborn children from their mother's womb, aims to
drive his poet-creator, Heshai-kvo, mad with grief." (Publisher's
Weekly)



Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" starts a series that
offers satisfying characters and lots of action. Summary from Library
Journal: "Betrayed by an unknown enemy into slavery, former soldier and
courtier Lupe dy Cazaril escapes his bondage and returns to the royal
household he once served. Entrusted with the teaching of the sister to
the heir to the throne of Chalion, Cazaril finds himself drawn into a
tangled web of politics and dark magic as he battles a curse that
threatens the lives and souls of a family he has come to love. The
author of the "Vorkosigan" series of dynastic sf turns her hand as
competently and engagingly to the fantasy genre in a tale of quiet
heroism and self-sacrifice."



You may also enjoy the works of these authors: Terry Brooks, Gordon R.
Dickson, David Drake, David Eddings, Katherine Kurtz, Garth Nix, Terry
Pratchett, Jules Verne, Kurt Vonnegut, and Tad Williams.



I hope some of these titles are appealing to you! Please let me know if
I can be of further assistance.


Yours,

Mary M. Buck
Reference Librarian

Hello! Thank you for requesting a book match. "The Sword of Truth" by
Terry Goodkind is hugely popular for its exciting blend of action and
philosophy.

"The Knight" by Gene Wolfe

The hero, a young boy, slips out of this world into another, to find
himself in a man's body. His friendships, loves and trials explore what
it is to become an adult. Especially poignant is the way the hero keeps
telling others that he's not as old as he looks (literally), only to
have them respond to the metaphor and comment that they often feel that
way too.



"The Last Dragon" by Silvana De Mari

Struggling to survive in a post apocalyptic world after his village is
destroyed, Yorsh, the earth's last elf, must embark on a perilous quest
to decipher a powerful prophecy and find the last dragon, who holds the
key to saving the world from the Dark Age that has begun.



"Lord Foul's Bane" by Stephen Donaldson

"The first book in one of the most remarkable epic fantasies ever
written, the "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever". He called
himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because he dared not believe in
the strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself. Yet he
was tempted to believe, to fight for the Land, to be the reincarnation
of its greatest hero...."-catalog summary



"The Darkness that Comes Before" by R. Scott Bakker

"Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with
characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott
Bakker's The Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from
whole cloth -- its language and classes of people, its cities,
religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals -- the kind of all-embracing
universe that calls up comparison to the worlds of such contemporary
fantasy masterworks as George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series
and Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.
It's a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both two
thousand years past and two thousand years into the future, as untold
thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are
ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasurimbor Kellhus -- part warrior,
part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence -- from lands
long thought dead. The Darkness that Comes Before is a history of this
great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its
conclusion."-summary from book jacket



"Ship of Magic" by Robin Hobb

"Not far from the Six Duchies lies Bingtown, hub of exotic trade and
home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships--rare vessels carved
from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness.
Bingtown's Old Traders, their wealth eroded by northern wars and the
rapacity of southern pirates, now face an influx of upstart merchants
who bring change to a complex society. The Vestrit family's only hope of
renewed prosperity is the Vivacia, a liveship they have nurtured for
three generations. Now, as old Captain Vestrit lies dying in Bingtown,
the Vivacia cuts homeward through the waves, about to quicken into a
living being. The ship carries Vestrit's daughter Althea and the
conniving son-in-law he has named as the Vivacia's next captain. But
lovely, wild-spirited Althea, sailing the Vivacia with her father since
childhood and sharing its half-awakened memories and ocean secrets, has
bonded with the ship in her deepest soul. Joined by Brashen -- her
father's first mate, now demoted by the Vivacia's new commander -- she
will stop at nothing in a bitter quest to claim its captaincy.
Meanwhile, in the rocky cays known as the Pirate Isles, a ruthless man
lusts after his own kind of power. The pirate captain Kennit, in his
scheme to be king of this outlaw realm, has vowed that he will wrest a
liveship from its owners and turn it to his own use. His twisted
ambition will bring him into a strange partnership with a boy-priest
turned seaman--and into violent conflict with the wizardwood magic of
Althea and Brashen. From the peculiar magic realm of the Others to the
bawdy, raucous lair of the pirates, Ship of Magic sweeps a dazzling cast
of characters into an epic of terrible beauty and mysterious
sorcery."-catalog summary



"The Once and Future King" by T.H. White

A retelling of the Arthurian legend based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's
Le Morte D'Arthur.



"Celtika" by Robert Holdstock

Centuries before he meets Arthur, Merlin wanders the earth, eternally
young, a traveler on the path of magic and learning. During his journeys
he encounters Jason, and joins his search for the Golden Fleece. It is a
decision that will cost him dear... Hundreds of years later, Merlin
hears of a screaming ship in a northern lake, and divines that it is the
Argo ... that Jason still screams out for his sons, stolen by the
enchantress Medea and thought dead."-catalog summary




Please let me know if you would like more author suggestions. I love to
help folks find great books to read!



Yours,

Mary M. Buck

Reference Librarian

Porter Branch