Epic Fantasy > The Chronicles of Amber

In truth, this is ten books, but they aren't stand-alone. I would call this two series: the Corwin series of the first five books, and the Merlin series of the second. Like most high fantasy, I didn't so much read these books as devour them. The series was excellent. Corwin's story is the story within all of us; a desire to be loved, to make sense of the world, to win back the castle from the evil usurper. Amber - the city upon which all other cities are but a shadow. Like CS Lewis, this earth is only a shadow of the real earth. Corwin is one of my favourite characters from a fantasy series; it's not often that you get to talk to someone who was a soldier in Napolean's army, who knew Van Gogh, who remembers Paris at the turn of the century (his section on the chestnuts is exquisite). There is so much good writing, so many beautiful places, that it is almost impossible to remember it all. Reading this book wasn't so much reading as being transported to faery for a day. I remember feeling totally at a loss after reading one afternoon, as if I had been transported; the next day, on top of a mountain, I had the exact same feeling, that I was somewhere else. Reading these books gave me the greatest joy that a book can give - being lost in another world. - @RichardLitt