I started seriously reading fantasy as teen, with my first real fantasy books being the Dragonlance books, Stuart Hill's Icemark Chronicles, and a lot of the Black Library Warhammer Fantasy books. Not really great fantasy literature, but defiantly influential on the kinds books I enjoy now. As for my fantasy reading preferences recently:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
*I love the sense of history Erikson injects into the world. The gods, magic, and civilizations all feel incredibly old, and stand out in the face of most fantasy, where the same old expies of Western European cultures are used far too often. *It runs the widest gauntlet of emotions I've read in a fantasy series. From love, to sorrow, to humor, its all there. *It's cast of characters is so expansive covering just about every level of society and every faction in each conflict. *Erikson's sense of humor is great, ranging from gallows to the heights of absurdity. I don't think I've every laughed harder at a character than I have at Iskral Pust.
The First Law Series by Joe Abercrombie
I love Abercrombie's character development, and especially his ability to play with readers perceptions of characters . The impression we get of Bremer dan Gorst in the original trilogy is very different from his actual personality that we see in his PoV chapters in *The Heroes. Logen and Bayaz are also two examples of Abercrombie doing this really well. Abercombie rights the best action scenes I've ever read. They're just the right level of detail, focusing more on the characters emotions than on the intricacies of their fights. The "Casualties" chapter in *The Heroes is the perfect example of the quick and brutal nature of Abercrombie's fights, and defiantly style of action I enjoy reading the most.
The Traitor Son Cycle by Miles Cameron
*Well the world itself is not particularity unique as far as fantasy goes, I love the level of detail that Cameron gives it, and the obvious amount of research that went into presenting an accurate look at how 14th century medieval Europe may may developed if they had to coexist alongside your usual high fantasy elements of monsters and magic. *The battle scenes are absolutely fantastic. They feel very dynamic, and while Abercrombie writes my favorite action in general, Cameron has no equal when it comes to full on battles. *I love the depiction of the Wild in these books. While they may initially appear to be your standard fantasy villains, their grievances are actually quite legitimate. Yet Cameron never shies away from showing how savage they can be to their enemies, making it easy to see how the humans can view them as evil.
The Troy Trilogy by David Gemmell
Alright, I originally read this as a teen, but it probably holds up far better than most of my other earlier fantasy reads. Gemmell's strength is writing characters that remain heroic and larger than life despite not being flawless. I also loved blending the history of the bronze age (defiantly an underused fantasy setting), with the mythic story of the Trojan War.
The Engineer Trilogy by KJ Parker
I've admittedly only read the first book in the series, but it was defiantly one of my favorite reads of last year. I really enjoyed Parker's, dry witty writing style, combined with the slow burn of the plot and character development.
So to sum it up, I would say my tastes lean towards:
*Books that have settings that feel, unique, fleshed-out and lived in. *Characters (heroes or villains) that are morally ambiguous, change over time, and come from all walks of life. *Well written action and battle scenes that are entertaining while still maintaining some sense of realism *Include lots of elements of history, provided that it's relevant to the setting. I love historical fantasy that uses unique time periods. *Plots that are a slow burn, but come together with a bang. *Lots of Humor