[daeken]

"A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin: http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553381...

GRRM manages to create an alternate world that feels real, where characters have flaws, nothing is black and white, and the good guys don't always (or even frequently) win. By far the best book (and series) I've ever read.

[Benjo]

Be forewarned. If you don't deal with cliffhangers well, it may be better for your mental health to wait for the series to be finished. The author is thoroughly committed to the quality of the series, no matter how long it takes. At the current rate it will probably be a decade before the final three books are finished.

On the other hand there is an HBO series in the works that looks to be very high quality.

[mkramlich]

I came to a similar realization but unfortunately not until 5 or so books into the Wheel of Time series. I think I found myself reading a 10+ page section in which several women were doing their hair and gossiping about the men in their lives and realized (based on that scene plus some other trends I started seeing in previous books) that the series had jumped the shark and the author was now just trying to pump up the page count and make the series run as long as possible, to milk it. Thankfully I got out well before he blew past what was originally intended to be the "final" book in the series, which of course was not.

I read the first one or two Game of Thrones books, thought they were awesome, and much much higher quality level than what Wheel of Tome became, but, alas, by then I had too much fantasy/medieval/magic fatigue and put them down. I will likely pick them up again.

[unignorant]

You might look back into the WoT. Since Jordan's death, Brandon Sanderson has been finishing up the series, and (IMO) the latest books have returned to a level of quality rivaling the first three.

[noodle]

agreed, although to note -- the last 3 are likely much better because their plot is so much more set in stone. the middle books meandered because RJ did so much in the first 3 books that he realized he had to let the plot catch up to the action in order to do what he wanted to do with the story.

[ramidarigaz]

I love the way he captures the total destabilization of the country. I don't believe I've encountered another book that paints that kind of image so well.

[daeken]

Yeah, it's downright incredible. It feels much more like reading a well-written history book than a fantasy novel.