Looking at the original posting, I'd like to suggest a series by Steven Erikson: The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Its projected to be 10 books! (not to mention the companion novels) For people who are starting to detest predictable plotlines and stale cliches, this is the right series for you. Let me copy and paste a review from amazon:

Profound dialogue , Believable and Memorable Characters , Fast tension-filled action scenes, these are the reasons I so admire Eriksons series. The reader may indeed feel frustrated with the level of detail ecompassing this epic series , yet you will find , as I did, that the interweaving of myth and new fiction used to create this series gives birth to an astounding depth of history and sympathy never seen before in this genre.

When the series is compared with Tolkein it is adult , with George R. R. Martin it is cerebral, and with Raymond E. Fiest it is epic. Gods and mortals , elder races and demons , mages and assasins , there is a veritable feast of mythology and grandeur to be seen in the series , as vast continents struggle under the yoke of the Malazan Empire. Rebellion is rife throughout the series , a palpable edge and tension that lends itself well to the storyline and fast-paced action.

A typical (but not unwanted) trait of Eriksons writing is a 'convergence' at the climax of each book , this allows the major characters to meet and interact , how will they act towards eachother , what are their relative strengths , will they be allies or enemies, who will live and who die .

The exciting possibilities are endless as the conclusion nears , characters reveal their true natures to either sympathy or disgust from the reader , and deeper still enigmatic characters who remain aloof and mysterious , yet hinting at a great power and fated with missives from the gods themselves.

The Gods in fact are characters too , individual as their mortal progeny , it is revealed in the series that any mortal can 'ascend' and that the gods are indeed as fallible as any acolyte, some you will love , from the rogueish Cotillion to the battlehardened Treach , some you will loath like the insidious chained god. It is their very fallibility and indeed vulnerability that make the gods an immediate and dangerous presence in the series , lending an edge that will delight in its unpredictability , a major character may be about to die , when a God sweeps in the incredible force to save the hapless hero , for purposes known only to themselves.

In conclusion Eriksons series and his first book are among the most compelling , heartwrenching tales I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
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A major reason I reccommended this series is because the OP requested a story that has assassins. The first novel has some amazing battles between the Empire Claw Assassins and a city-state's guild.

 

Any of the books written by Guy Gavriel Kay are very good with plenty of action and some magic thrown into them.

 

Map of bones- James Rollins/Andrew Gross


The Jester- James Patterson


Mein kampf- Adolf Hitler


Angels & Demons- Dan Brown

 

His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novick Set in Napoleon times, It follows a British Navy Captain who has become a captain of a dragon. Dragons apparently in those times were viewed as large battleships of the air variety.
Excellent read, with better sequels. I don't give it justice.

The Ringworld books, but read the first and then decide on if you want to read more about how big it is. and keep in mind that this was written long before Halo ever exsisted.

 

Don't even start with those. Everything is ripped off another series. Even the magic system is from A Wizard of Earthsea - which, by the way, is the most dissapointing series I've ever read.

I'm into Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter right now.

Silence of the Lambs , Red Dragon , and Hannibalare all fantastic books - much better than the movie adaptations.

Freakanomics is good for an intellectual read.

Read two or three of Dan Brown's books and you've got all four. The man writes like he has a formula somewhere. They are, however, exceptional books.

I've heard The Bible is pretty funny. Forgot who wrote it though.

Other than those...1984 is also a fantastic book. The Talented Mr. Ripley, if you haven't the movie, is also pretty good.

I've heard Bangkok 8 is good, but I haven't read it yet.

 

I'll second the rec of Jennifer Government and Robin Hobb's books (I really liked the Liveship Trilogy).

For new recs, I'm surprised no one has reccommended anything from Marion Zimmer Bradley, Thomas Malroy, Lord Tennyson, or T.H. Whyte. If you like the Arthurian Mythos, and Merlin by extension, these authors really brought it all together.

Also by MZB, the Darkover Novels are full of magic and politics.

If you want a good scifi story filled with believable science and fast paced action, try The Weapon or Freehold by Micheal Z. Williamson. They are two stories about the same war, told by two people from the opposing planets thrust into battle. If you like Indy!Harry or Dark!Harry READ THESE BOOKS. The Weapon IS the independant/dark story everyone wishes they could write, if Harry were a badass with no magic.

 

The books written by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. are great and there are quite a bit of them but the 2 series I recommand in the fantasy section is the Saga of Recluce and the Corean Chronicles. If you want something in the sci-fi try any of them as they're all good.

Also try the Halo series, only 3 books so far but they're quite good.

 

Has any one read anything by Trudi Canavan? I really enjoyed her 'Black Magic Trilogy', and I'm reading her new one, 'Age of Five', but still waiting for the last book to be released, don't even have a date yet, which is a shame.

I would also recomend 'The Dark is Rising Sequence' by Susan Cooper, which I first read in year 6, but is one of the few none theology books I brought back to uni with me. It's a set of five books and is about magic and King Arthur and Light vs. Dark. But despite being a childrens book I think everyone should read it and I keep trying to pressure my friends into doing so.

Also 'The Thief' and 'The Queen of Attolia' by Megan Whalen Turner.

 

The 'Abarat' series by Clive Barker is fantastic. It comes highly recommended by me and is an excellent read if you like magic, dark magic, and politics/intelligent conversation.

Ray Bradbury = the awesome, so anything by him is bound to be interesting (even if it might not suit your tastes).

'The Caves of Steel' collection is also wonderful.
...

Other authors I would recommend (if no one has yet, that is) would be Neil Gaiman ('The Sandman' [comic], 'Neverwhere' [TV series and novel], 'American Gods' and 'Anansi Boys' [both books] and/or Terry Pratchett [Discworld series--books]. Anything by them is usually a win.

 

Someone has probably already mentioned these but;

The Dresden Files is my main read at the moment, a modern fantasy that is quite twisted with large amounts of violence, destruction, plot and brilliant characters.

I would second a number of suggestions made on the thread, The dark is rising, Hannibal and the like and most things by Garth Nix are enjoyable, if a little simplistic in places.

 

Humm.

I do really like Vonnegut; I think my favorite of his was Galapagos, and so I'd recommend that. Also, he publishes books under a pseudonym, Kilgore Trout, that tend to be accordingly more bizarre. The first one I read of that was Venus on the Half-Shell. The more you read of his stuff, the more interesting it is as he is one of the authors that tend to recycle things.

In terms of Science Fiction, I really enjoyed Douglas Adams' Starship Titania.

The Dragonriders series is pretty good. Start off with the Harper Hall series though.

I'd recommend anything by Graham Greene. Not Sci-fi, but very intelligent and very well-written, usually about spies and assassins.

Personally, and this is just me being a freak - I'd read Virgil or Homer.

 

Some other books that I have recently got into are novels by a writer called H.P. Lovecraft. Dunno if anyone here has heard of him but he's really good. More of a Horror/Sci-fi genre though.

 

Read him. I find him a little bit bizarre, to say the least.

 

Lovecraftian Horror is a genre all by itself. I'm a big fan of the Cthulhu mythos, I even have a plush Cthulhu sitting atop my bookshelf. People often try to crack on me for it, but it's by far the evilest stuffed animal one the market.

My favorite Lovecraft book has to be the Dunwich Horror, even though the Great One is only mentioned once.

Remember; Vote Cthulhu for President in 2008, why vote for a lesser evil?

 

This isn't a scifi book or anything but easily the best book I have ever read is Shattering Glass

 

I suggest giving TA Barron's Merlin set a try. For something less fantasy, give The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Lundum a shot. I still prefer classic literature, though it isn't exactly the popular choice.

 

I always liked several of the ideas portrayed in His Dark Materials, a trilogy of books which can get a little fluffy at points, but the idea of killing God, and god not being an all powerful being, just a senile decrepit angle were quite refreshing along with other ideas.

 

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, if you want assassin-based fantasy.

 

I would highly recommend "The Chronicles of Sirkara" by Laura Resnick.

The books go In Legend Born/The White Dragon/The Destroyer Goddess I tell you this for the fact that The White Dragon/The Destroyer Goddess are also called "In Fire-Forged" books 1 and 2. But the first book in he series is In Legend Born

It's got magic, sword fighting, devious plots, betrayal, Relationships, and everything to go with it.

One of my personal favs. I give it a 5/5 rating.

 

R.A salvatore of the dark elf series. Popular books and some of the characters are bad ass. and the story it self is increadiable. wouldn't be suprised if half of the users here heard of him.

it has got everything and i mean everything and a little touch of romance.