The Obsidian Trilogy

This is a trilogy I was fortunate enough to stumble onto during one of my many forays through the Science Fiction/Fantasy section at Barnes and Noble. It was written by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.

The first novel of the trilogy, released in 2002, is called The Outstretched Shadow and follows the young disenchanted nobleson Kellen Tavadon. He lives in the magical city of Armethalieh, which has cut itself off from most of the world because of its perceived superiority. Kellen is banished from the city for heresy and this book chronicles his experiences outside the City as he discovers a devious threat against the Light.

The second novel, released 2004, is titled To Light a Candle and describes the beginning of the war between the Light and the Dark. Kellen, now an Elven-trained Knight-Mage, leads the first maneuvers against the Demon allies threatening the Elvish lands. Together with the elves and another banished mage from Armethalieh, they discover the weapon that could destroy their Demon enemies.

The concluding novel, published in 2006, is called When Darkness Falls and describes the final battles between the Light and the Dark as the Demons try to gain control of Armethalieh.

You'll have to read them to find out how it ends. I highly recommend it. It's been one of my favorite reads in quite a long time.

The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead

King Arthur's been pretty much done to death: Crystal Cave, Once and Future King, etc. Now if you're like me, you're a huge fan of Arthurian legend but are becoming disenchanted by the huge volume of work on the subject that's pretty much all the same.
Enter Lawhead's "The Pendragon Cycle," a 5-book series that takes the King Arthur legend and breathes new life into it, setting in a distant Celtic past. (Yes, I know that "Crystal Cave" did that too, but trust me. This is MUCH better.) All the characters from the Arthur legend are present, but in different guises, so that it's always a surprise when you figure out somebody's identity. If you've read "American Gods," you'll recognize that feeling.
If you enjoy old Irish and Welsh mythos, there's a good chance you'll probably like this series. There's a lot of elements of classic myth here, mixed with a healthy dose of early Christianity and even the story of the lost kingdom of Atlantis. (Disclaimer: It's not nearly as stupid as it sounds. You'll have to trust me on this one.)
Pictured in this post, assuming I can get a picture up, is the cover of the first book "Taliesin," which focuses on the story of Merlin's parents: a druid bard and a princess of Atlantis. At its heart is a sort of classic Romeo & Juliet love story, but there's a lot more going on also.
Aside from being unique, visionary and all-around awesome, these books are beautifully written as well. Highly recommended.

The Eyes of God by John Marco

The Eyes Of God by John Marco is the first in an epic fantasy trilogy (The Devil's Armor, The Sword of Angels) that I found psychologically intriguing. The author seeks to wrestle with what it is exactly that makes a person what they are- their intentions, motivations, desires, personal demons, inhibitions, and everything else that twists them up inside. He questions the nature of good and evil, what exactly it is that places an individual on one side versus another. The novel takes place in a setting reminiscent of early 2nd millennium Jerusalem and has a fair amount of middle-eastern contextual influence. The first part of the novel seems to be your typical run-of-the-mill quest narrative, but stick with it- the story develops far past the standard cliches, and the trilogy as a whole, although the page count makes it look daunting, is well worth the time you put into it.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis is about a group of Oxford-based "historians" who travel through time to experience history first-hand. These particular historians are appropriated by a terrifying, headstrong woman who is dead-set on rebuilding a medieval church that was destroyed during World War II--complete with disgusting Victorian artifacts.

This is a very clever novel and--unlike many convoluted time-travel plots--it actually made sense in the end. I loved the characters, the setting, the style, and just about everything about this novel. I kept forgetting it was science fiction while I was reading it. It comes off as an engrossing story rather than an explicitly sci-fi work. The majority of the plot takes place in the Victorian era, which is a lot of fun because the book picked up on lots of conventions of Victorian novels, as well as paying attention to the real societal pressures and limitations that the characters would be experiencing. But what's even more fun than actual Victorian novels is that the narrator is from 2057 so you get built in snark and amusement. Aside from Cyril the English Bulldog (one of the only creatures with sense in the entire novel), my favorite thing has to be "time-lag." Time-lag is what happens when you go on too many "drops" or time-travel trips. You basically become an overly-sentimental mess who cannot hear properly, see properly, or function at all. Sleep deprivation on steroids. And in the end, the very core of the novel is just a simple love story between the two main characters from 2057 as they try and fix the rift created in the time-space continuum when one of them brings a cat back through the net.