Pete Thiel

The Black Company Series
        Glen Cook's entertaining series of a mercenary company in a sword and sorcery world. The character development is the best.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series
        By Steven Erikson. The books are written in immense scale but it is still managed to give the characters real depth.

Novels of the Malazan Empire
        by Ian C. Esslemont. Stories that are smaller in scale and more directly impacting specific groups of characters.

The Horseclans Series
        by Robert Adams. The way alternate history and the future is used to create the world of the Horseclans makes for a fun and interesting read.

Alex Verus Series
        Benedict Jacka's modern day magicians and magical society are handled superbly and the characters are not good or bad, they act like real people.

Sandman Slim Series
        Richard Kadrey's writing is irreverent, inappropriate and very entertaining.

The Eternal Champion Books
        Michael Moorcock's creations with Elric of Melnibone, Jerry Cornelius, Corum, Dorian Hawkmoon, Erekose and many others. It is hard to go wrong with a Michael Moorcock book but the interrelated Eternal Champion books are my favorites.

Garrett, P. I. Series
        Another series by Glen Cook. Private eye noir in a fantasy setting, what's not to love. Cook's writing style keeps it from becoming too fantasy, he maintains a dose of gritty realism that pulls it all off wonderfully.

The Dresden Files
        by Jim Butcher. The writing style is entertainng and the characters are fleshed out and real.

The Rivers of London
        While the series is Urban Fantasy it is not the normal urban fantasy. The UK influence makes the writing, the characters and the fantasy itself fresh and fun.