Steven Erikson: here's a world that contains millennia of anthropologically grounded cultures that got spiced up by some interdimensional elves, orcs, gods & dragons that me and my buddy use to play D&D in, have fun reading through the eyes of over 1000 characters lol
Erikson ruined fantasy novels for me. Book of the Fallen was the most challenging and rewarding read of my life. It made almost everything else feel like YA fiction.
Seriously. I only finished the main Book of the Fallen series this early this year and just can't get interested in anything else fantasy now.
It's one thing to make you feel something when a character you've been with for 10 books dies, but when an author can do the same with a character you're with for a handful of pages, it's something else.
!Abasard's death in Reaper's Gale still resonates with me. !<