Serpent mage Book

You know, whenever I'm lucky enough to find a reasonably literate person who has read some fantasy novels, I'm always surprised by the fact that - as far as I can recall - none of them have read The Death Gate Cycle. Granted, I had some holdover nostalgia from the Dragonlance Chronicles for Weis and Hickman, and so I probably had more cause to read them than most, but, even solely on their own merits, these are really excellent books. They're filled with interesting and nuanced characters - Hugh the Hand is still one of my favorite characters ever - and the plotlines are expertly interwoven. The real mastery, though, is in the novels' 5 distinct - geographically, sociologically, politically, ethnically - worlds.

People who enjoyed Harry Potter or Tolkein should give these books a shot.