[Quiet Man Cometh]

I can vouch -a little- for Malazan. Of course, being lazy and picky I grabbed a random book in the middle of the series and started reading there so that I'd have an idea of whether or not I'd like the author before reading all 10. I've definately wound Erikson to be an attention grabber, I enjoy the writing, and I like the characters. He has a sort of neutral realism that I've noticed. He describes things as they are but doesn't try and doll it up with emotional decorations. The readers can react as they will.

I'm Currently reading Ysabel bell by Guy Gavriel Kay. The book got lots of attention in the media. I'm enjoying it, but I wouldn't call it rivetting.

On Martin, I like his writing, don't like Game of Thrones. Or rather, I'm ambivalent about it. There was ultimately too much politics and intruigue for my tastes.

Ursula LeGuin is something of a fantasy staple for the younger crowd. I read A Wizard of Earthsea in University for my kid lit course. It's a good book if considered as an introduction to fantasy. As someone who has already read fantasy for a while it didn't seem terribly special to me. I have another of her books but I haven't read it yet.

To be honest, the last truly attention grabbing book that I read was Harry Potter. ;)