Readers--what would you like to see?

[The Corvidian]

Oh hey, meant to ask this since we're talking about alternate genres.  Has anyone heard of any books that are mysteries set in a high fantasy world?  And I don't mean like about a wily assassin or mercenary.  Maybe like someone who freelances like Harry or is part of some law enforcement equivalent (royal guard?) and continually finds themselves unraveling small, intricate things that aren't necessarily about some great evil overlord overtaking the kingdom?

Not sure if I'm explaining this right.  It makes sense in my head.

There was a series written a few years ago about an investigator, in a high fantasy setting, who had the help of a miniture dragon. The name of one of the books is Beggar's Banquet.

I'd like to see a series of novels about a husband and wife team, ala The Thin Man, who handle supernatural mysteries. The closest was the DC published comic, Midnight, Mass.

[blgarver]

It's hard to tell what I'd like to see next, becuase quite simply, I haven't seen it yet.

Right now, I'm in the middle of my "what's next" with the Dresden Files.  I read mostly fantasy, but I get tired of Tolkien knock offs.  I've read the Hobbit and LOTR already...

But this sort of hard boiled detective fantasy adventure stuff that Butcher has created is just delightful!  Having only recently discovered Dresden, I'm still wading happily through the series.  I just started book 3.  It's awesome.

I don't read SciFi, just because I have the assumption that, like fantasy to Tolkien, most SciFi stuff is Star Trekish.  I've never been a fan of ST.

More stuff like Terminator and the Alien series would be great.  Old school, gritty scifi.  The stuff that really scares you.

By the by, if any of you have a suggestion for a scifi book that might break my close mindedness, please let me know.  If there's something out there worth reading, I want to read it.

[Lord Arioch]

ahh... but GOOD SF, while it may BE Trekkish, doesn't SEEM Trekkish.

Of course, that is just my opinion and my limited experience therein.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Oh hey, meant to ask this since we're talking about alternate genres.  Has anyone heard of any books that are mysteries set in a high fantasy world?  And I don't mean like about a wily assassin or mercenary.  Maybe like someone who freelances like Harry or is part of some law enforcement equivalent (royal guard?) and continually finds themselves unraveling small, intricate things that aren't necessarily about some great evil overlord overtaking the kingdom?

Not sure if I'm explaining this right.  It makes sense in my head.

There's Glen Cook's Garrett books, starting withSweet Silver Blues, of which there are now about eleven, all of which have titles of the form "$adjective $metal $noun".  Garrett is a hardish-boiled human PI in a city with a reasonably standard post-D&D mix of sentients; no evil overlords, but a fair number of evil crimelords involved.  They vary quite a bit in quality, and are reasonably stand-alone - there are ongoing plot elements, but no real overall arc.  My personal favourites are Cold Tin Sorrows and Red Iron Nights.

[ptenerelli]

I'd like to see more books in line with the Dresden series - Paranormal Detective stories - with a male main character.  The genre seems swamped with female leads (ie. L.K. Hamilton).  And before anyone brands me a Chauvinist - I've read all of Hamilton's books - loved the first 1/2 dozen - as well Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris.  They're great - they give me a quick fix - but more and more they rely on romance/sex/etc to move the story along - and not enough mystery/plot.

Has anyone stumbled across a series - or even a lone book - that fits the bill.  It would have to be fairly new - or fairly old - as I've read just about everything on the B&N bookshelf.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

I'd like to see more books in line with the Dresden series - Paranormal Detective stories - with a male main character.  The genre seems swamped with female leads (ie. L.K. Hamilton).  And before anyone brands me a Chauvinist - I've read all of Hamilton's books - loved the first 1/2 dozen - as well Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris.  They're great - they give me a quick fix - but more and more they rely on romance/sex/etc to move the story along - and not enough mystery/plot.

Has anyone stumbled across a series - or even a lone book - that fits the bill.  It would have to be fairly new - or fairly old - as I've read just about everything on the B&N bookshelf.

Mike Carey's Felix Castor novels; The Devil You Know had a UK release in April, Vicious Circle just out last month, gettable online or due for US publication starting April of next year.  There's one more sold, and I believe three more are intended altogether. I didn't stumble across them, exactly, I've been a huge fan of Mike Carey's work on Lucifer for years, but it doesn't feel like that's a deal-breaker on the recommendation.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Has anyone stumbled across a series - or even a lone book - that fits the bill.  It would have to be fairly new - or fairly old - as I've read just about everything on the B&N bookshelf.

Oh, also, Gerard Houarner's The Beast that was Max and Road to Hell are sort of in this direction; paranormal assassin rather than detective, but it's a similarish sort of world.  Fair warning; they are very dark indeed, in a bloody rather than an existential sort of way.

[ptenerelli]

Mike Carey's stuff looks great - I've just ordered them both on Amazon.
Thanks for the recommendation!

[The Corvidian]

There's Christopher Golden's The Menagerie seires.

[Velkyn_Faer]

I'd love to see an epic Lord of the Rings -style book where, at the deciding moment when the forces of good are about to be overrun, they are indeed defeated. The world then falls under Darkness, or Shadow, or The Semi-Darkness-Right-After-Sundown, or whatever.

While the nice little stories where all the good guys get to walk away are heart warming and usually good, I'd still like to see something where the good guys don't always win. That's just me, though.


Velkyn