Need Help Picking a Book

[Taem]

Hi,

I need something with a little more substance, where the characters have more depth, peoples actions have serious consequences, love is something more than just a peck on the cheek. I want something more adult in nature! Having said that, I'm interested in a fantasy setting novel, perhaps even historic in nature, perhaps a bit dark, definitely more on the realistic side, although a bit of magic is always welcomed as long as it adheres to its own rules (no Fizban type characters). Finally, if it had a bit of, Thriller in it, like a horror novel might, that would be grand.

By Poul Anderson The King of YS pretty much meets all your criteria. Also good by him in this genre are Hrolf Kraki's Saga and Three Hearts and Three Lions.

By Roger Zelazny the first Amber series is good, but a little light. The second series is so-so. The Last Defender of Camelot is an interesting twist on the whole concept.

Then there is Barnes and Niven's Dream Park, a detective novel inside a fantasy novel inside a science fiction novel -- brilliant and fun. Another good one (with Pournelle) is The Legacy of Heorot.

Give me some examples (authors, titles, series) of what you enjoyed, and I might be able to add to this list.

--Pete

I've had so many good suggestions I've been checking out from you guys on Amazon, it's fantastic! A few PM's also with great suggestions! I can't wait to sink my teeth into some of this material!

As for what I like; this list is from the Adult section I've read, as opposed to the young adult section. A lot of it does not fit my specific criteria I'm searching for in this thread, however conveys the writing style and authors I've read and enjoyed:

You might note of the passage in my Signature of Anna Karenina By Leo Tolstoy. The writing is so excellent, and the characters rich. This is a *bad* example of the "genre" of book I'm looking for, but a great example of the writing style I'm looking for!

Early Steven King works, while a bit crude and juvenile IMO, have that intensity as the story builds up that keeps you on the edge of your seat while reading it! I very much enjoy this.

Followed closely by H.P. Lovecraft; I love his stories, but not so much his writing style.

Also, I think I read some Alfred Hitchcock books and really enjoyed them!

Dislike:

Dune was a bit too dry for my taste. I like a vivid story that doesn't have to stop every couple of pages for an in-depth explanation of political factions.

From what I remember, LotR was similar in that it went on and on and on with vivid descriptions. If you could get past all that, the story was epic, but just not quite what I'm looking for (although, it has been awhile, and my tastes have certainly changed; who knows).

Hope that helps. Sorry I can't add any more examples, but my library is pretty sparse; after school, I filled it with video games and now, I've grown to enjoy reading in my free time and find video games... well, in a nutshell, they've lost their luster.