[Suzerain of Sheol]

I somewhat doubt it, as these sort of books seem to be rather unpopular (not without reason, I think), but they're the only kind of fantasy I can tolerate anymore.

I am just so tired of the tropes and the slavish adherence to the classic hero-story mold. I like it when an author does something unexpected, turns a cliche on its head, makes you think they're going in a well-worn direction, only to surprise you with something refreshing. This... doesn't tend to happen in the fantasy genre, though this problem seems to finally be getting addressed by some more current authors. And it is about time.

If anyone's looking for recommendations in this vein,

The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson. 10,000 pages of taking everything good about the genre and killing the rest with fire.

The Prince of Nothing and Aspect-Emperor trilogies by R. Scott Bakker. Set in a world based on the First Crusade where religious belief affects reality. The main character is a sociopathic genius monk who is this world's Anti-Christ.

The Black Company series by Glen Cook. A fast-paced-, gritty 1st-person tale about a company of a jaded mercenaries put through hell again and again.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson. A writer with leprosy is hit by a police car and wakes up in a dreamworld that seems to be shaped by his subconscious, where he does everything he can to avoid all manner of responsibility, all the while refusing to belief any of it is real.

I don't classify GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire in this category, he's very much telling a classic sort of fantasy story, just telling it very well and in a much more mature way than a lot of what came before.

On my list are Joe Abercrombie's books, and the upcoming Prince of Thorns looks interesting as well.

And of course, if anyone has any to add to the above, I'd love to hear about them. I'm always looking for books that take the genre to places it hasn't been before.