ANYTHING by Mercedes Lackey is good. But if you've just started reading her stuff, I know you can't have read everything she's written. She's got over a hundred books out by different publishers, and each series is very different from the others. The Valdemar series is usually the one people pick up first, and it's my favorite. The 500 Kingdoms books are basically fairy-tale retellings with an adult audience in mind. The Elemental Masters series is based in our world at the turn of the century, and the magic involves the elements--people use magic by working with or controlling elemental creatures like salamanders, air sprites, earth gnomes, etc. The Bardic Voices series is more traditional fantasy I think, but I can't find the first book, so I haven't read them yet. She also has a really weird series called Serrated Edge which combines elves and fast cars, and it's set in our modern world. I haven't tried those, either. She's co-writing a great series with James Mallory that's already been mentioned, and I loved those.
For something good that's not Mercedes Lackey, one of my other favorite series is the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. It's similar to Valdemar in that people have a life-long psychic bond with another creature. In this case, they're dragons. They're really good, and if you would like to try those, start with Dragonflight.
posted 5 months ago. ( reply )