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Lord of the Rings. Absolute game changer, it essentially created the genre that we love today. Without it, things would have been much different.
In my teenage years, it was the Dragonlance Chronicles and LOTR.
Then in my early adult years, it was Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.
Now that I have been an adult for a much longer time, today's writers that inspire me are Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, which I consider to have the best fantasy prose I have ever read. Several times I had to read some of the quotes to my wife, who gave me an odd luck and then a blank smile every time. But I had to share it.
The other modern writer which has inspired me is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. I have completed the first 2.5 books, and it is my favorite fantasy series I have started in over 10 years. I LOVE the beginning of the series, how everybody starts on a good note, and they instantly tear everybody down. It is shocking and a great tool to get to know the characters.
There's also GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire which was a game changer for me, but I really feel the series lost it's way. The first 3 books were among my favorites, then books 4 and 5 I just feel ... disconnected. Killing off main characters is what made the series so different, but at the same time, these characters were replaced with less memorable and likeable characters (and many many more of them), and I feel like I just don't care as much.
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