Life is just a fantasy

Fantasy novels are usually a poor investment for the reader. There is the reading opportunity cost to consider. You can rarely get a complete story in one or even two volumes. It is no big deal for a fantasy author to crank out ten volumes over as many years before you get to the end of the story. Then there is the suck factor. Most of these books are just slight variations on the Lord of the Rings. Seemingly unimportant person is actually hugely important and must endure great travail although he will be aided by trusty friends and wise allies. When someone takes a mythology different from Tolkein, like when Greg Keyes uses Native American and other elements, the nerd community is aquiver with delight. Finally there is the embarassment problem. When you walk around with books that have covers like this or this, you might as well have a shirt that reads "No, no, I'd rather not get laid, thanks."

Unfortunately, the book(s) I am going to recommend come with some of the worst covers of all. Try walking around town with this in your hand without blushing. So you're going to have to read it at home or tear the cover off the book. Anyway, Carol Berg writes succintly, only three books in her series! Her world is original with the heros serving as a kind of exorcist/psychologist class in a vaguely Asian world. My only complaint is that she feels the need to subject her main character to long passages of unpleasant torture. It got a little old at the end. Still, this is really good stuff and if you can stand the ridicule of your spouse/partner/housemates then you should really read these.