I'm going to recommend by author, since many do multiple series I enjoy.
Evan CurrieThis guy does space opera primarily. His
Odyssey One series is based on humanity discovering FTL travel and alien species and the fallout therefrom.
On Silver Wings is set in a similar reality, not quite the same, but focuses on a team of fighter pilots rather than the crew of a intergalactic vessel.
Steam Legion is just plain cool - a female Spartan soldier uses Roman-era versions of Steampunk tech to save the Library of Alexandria. I haven't read his other series (
SEAL Team 13 and
Scourwind Legacy) so if you do and like them let me know!
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Garrett RobinsonHis
Underrealm series (split into two main stories,
The Nightblade Epic and
The Academy Journals) is a fairly typical and slightly-unnecessarily verbose fantasy story mostly focusing on his versions of wizards. Still, despite the sometimes awkward use of language and dialogue and the rather unusual (or maybe just old-fashioned) forms of address and behavior, I found the story engaging enough to finish all of the currently-available books.
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Seanan McGuireSeanan McGuire is my third-favorite author to tell modern fantasy stories about fey - only behind M. Todd Gallowglas and Jim Butcher, and there are definitely times she's beaten Butcher to the punch. Her
October Daye stories follow the titular October, a half-fey in a modern California setting having to deal with the struggles of both her heritages and the schemings of those around her. I haven't read any of her other series, unfortunately. Let me know what you think if you do.
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Jim ButcherI'm willing to bet 95% of everyone here knows who Jim Butcher is, or at least knows of his
The Dresden Files series; I'm linking him for the purposes of advertising his two lesser-known series.
Codex Alera is, in his own world, "the Lost Roman Legion meets Pokemon", and it works
brilliantly.
Cinder Spires is his take on the steampunk genre, and features crazy wizards who cast their magic by pulling energy through their souls and talking cats.
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Ben "Yahtzee" CroshawYes, THAT Yahtzee. He's written two books.
Mogworld is the story of an NPC in an MMO who is really dissatisfied with his lot in life.
Jam is about an apocalypse in Australia... and it involves jam. Who'da thunk.
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Susan EeHer lone series is the
End of Days trilogy, involving a post-apocalypse (coulda seen that one coming, huh?) caused by angels (wait what?), and the survivors dealing with the results.
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Jasper FfordeFforde wrote the
Thursday Next series, a story focusing on a character with the ability to literally read herself into a story and interact with the characters therein. Gets a bit meta at points - when she meets her own literary counterpart, for example - but a very fun, very smart series with a lot of easter eggs for classics-savvy readers. He's done other series too, but I haven't read them. Once again, recommendations welcome.
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Dave GrossGross is one of the authors for
Pathfinder Tales, Paizo's partially-in-house and in-setting book publication series. He's most well known for his
Radovan and the Count series, currently five books starting Count Varian Jeggare, a Half-Elf mage and nobleman with an eye for adventure, and his bodyguard Radovan, a brawling, street-savvy bruiser of a Tiefling. A few of his short stories starring the pair are also posted on Paizo's blog, and are linked from the wiki.
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Kevin HearneImagine if Harry Dresden was an Irish-born immortal druid from the early days of Catholicism instead of a street-smart wizard from the mean streets of Chicago, and you have Atticus O'Sullivan, the
Iron Druid. If that isn't enough to convince you to look into this one, he has an awesome talking dog and a badass staff-wielding partner/apprentice as his main supporting cast.
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Christopher KellenAnother in the list of "typical fantasy" authors, Kellen's
Elements of Sorcery and
Arbiter's Codex series focus on a magical world on the brink of yet another inevitable apocalypse. Despite this I enjoyed it immensely. The former focuses on mages, as you'd guess, while the latter focuses on Arbiters, which are basically arcane paladins.
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R. L. KingYet another Urban Fantasy in the vein of Butcher and Kearne. This one is "what if Harry Dresden was an older, slightly cantankerous teacher as well as a wizard?". Pretty fun, though I've only read the first one. This one's on my to-do list to finish.
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K.R. MartinOnly one book out by this guy,
Micro God, the tale of an immortal having to deal with the fact that mortals all around him just keep dying. I mostly recommend him because one, I enjoyed the book, and two, I really like his YouTube show,
The Book Was Better.
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Brian McClellanThis guy's flagship series is
The Powder Mage series - yes, you heard me right, gunslinging mages. It's as awesome as it sounds. Check it out.
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Elizabeth McCoyThe only one of her books I've read is
Queen of Roses, the tale of an A.I. that manages a cruise spaceship while a whodunnit unfolds around (inside?) her. She's apparently got a small array of fantasy titles as well, none of which I've read. Let me know.
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Garth NixI've read two of Nix's series -
The Old Kingdom (also known as the
Abhorsen series) and
Keys to the Kingdom. Both are highly, highly recommended, and
A new Old Kingdom book is coming out this fall! Let me know what you think of his other series if you've read them.
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Frances PauliHer main series are yet another fey-heavy set of tales -
The Changeling Race and
Kingdoms Gone, mostly focusing on the mortal descendants of fey dalliances or magic. If you like Gallowglas, Pauli is credited as co-author on
Dead Weight: Warrior Poet, so check her out.
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Richard RobertsHey, do you like
The Incredibles? How about a story where the heroes and villains from that movie operated openly? If either of those were "yes!", you will probably love his
Please Don't Tell My Parents series. As you might have guessed, it focuses on the children of superheroes who, through a series of accidents and antics, become supervillains. Yeah. It's a TON of fun.
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Brandon SandersonIf you haven't heard of him before, you are missing a LOT. Everything this man touches is solid gold.
Mistborn.
The Stormlight Archive.
Reckoners.
Elantris.
Warbreaker.
The Rithmatist.
Infinity Blade. And more. If his name is on it, read it. I cannot recommend it more.
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Patricia C. WredeWhile a bit of a simpler series intended for younger readers,
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is nonetheless rather entertaining and a unique take on the old "dragons and princesses" myth cycle. There's a lot of fun in this one. And it's completely to blame for Megan liking making Cherries Jubilee.