Hot Fantasy Needed

Hope my title isn't too misleading. It's hot out and I'm in fantasy binge mode. I go through different periods as a reader. Usually I read romance, because that's my writing wheelhouse. But lately I've been going back and re-reading my old fantasy favorites.

To list a few, and yeah, we're talking old school for some of them:

• David Eddings
• Mercedes Lackey
• Michael Moorcock
• Robert Heinlein
• Kim Harrison

World-building aside, there's something that really stands out when you read about today's problems in a magical setting. Things are the same no matter where you are, but how you deal with them varies. Whether it be taxes, politicking, crime, healthcare, policing, you name it, every place has its problems.

Right now I'm re-reading the Elric of Melniboné series by Michael Moorcock. Moorcock describes his hero (in the novel Elric of Melniboné) and I was immediately hooked:

It is the colour of a bleached skull, his flesh; and the long hair which flows below his shoulders is milk-white. From the tapering, beautiful head stare two slanting eyes, crimson and moody, and from the loose sleeves of his yellow gown emerge two slender hands, also the colour of bone.

So okay, we've got an albino sorcerer. He's so weak, he's kept alive only by drugs and sorcery. Then his cousin tries to usurp the throne, and to stop that from happening and rescue the woman he loves, Elric turns to the gods of chaos for help. It's terrific stuff, and it reminds me why I read this all the first time around.

With the popularity of Game of Thrones on television, you'd think fantasy would be getting a swift rise in readership again. But I don't see other TV shows or movies reflecting this. We've got dystopian fiction, romantic suspense, crime procedurals, a lovely bit of science fiction re-surging, and tons of superhero movies. But the old fantasy movies and books (oh, how we miss thee, Harry Potter) don't seem to be stirring the crowds.

And I'm not sure why. BUT... I'm always on the lookout for new fantasy reads. Anyone have any recommendations? I know there have to be some, because we have stellar HBM authors who write it! Feel free to recommend your own. I'm trying to build a new fantasy list, and so long as there's fantasy in it, I don't care what other genres come attached--though I will admit I'm partial to romance in the mix.