Dunsany.

[Aquillion]

So, with so many fantasy fans here, there must be a few other fans of Lord Dunsany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_Dunsany) here. And, if not, there are at last lots of people who should be fans of Dunsany.

For those who don't know, Dunsany was probably the first modern fantasy writer; his first book, The Gods of Pegāna (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Peg%C4%81na), was the first to entirely invent its own mythology. Most of his others, like The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Fortress_Unvanquishable%2C_Save_for_Sacnoth), are the stories that set the mould on which entire fields of fantasy were later based.

The only thing is that reading things he wrote is sometimes a little sad, in that you realize how much of modern fantasy is just trying to imitate him and failing.

[banjo1985]

I've personally never read any of Dunsany's work, but I think I might like it if I did. I love H.P. Lovecraft's work, and he sights Dunsany as one of his key influences, so it's likely I'd like that as well.

[factotum]

Lovecraft may have said that, but Dunsany isn't really much like Lovecraft's work--Dunsany is a lot lighter and more fantasy-oriented.

[WalkingTarget]

His similarities with Lovecraft are mainly in that they both invented cosmologies (Dunsany's Gods of Pegana vs what became the "deities" of the Cthulhu Mythos) and a certain portion of Lovecraft's work (what is now known as the Dreamlands stories) have a definite Dunsany vibe. Dunsany actually represented what Lovecraft aspired to be: a gentleman who wrote not because it paid the bills, but because he loved doing it.

I highly recommend both writers for fans of fantasy (in the sense of the fantastic, not just the fantasy genre as it has become) and the weird (because it's hard to really shoehorn Lovecraft's work into conventional genres, some Sci-fi, some fantasy, some horror, all of it is strange).

While we're mentioning specific works, in addition to the ones listed already, Dunsany's short novel The King of Elfland's Daughter is a good one too.

[Aquillion]

I've personally never read any of Dunsany's work, but I think I might like it if I did. I love H.P. Lovecraft's work, and he sights Dunsany as one of his key influences, so it's likely I'd like that as well.Well, much of it is in the public domain on account of how long ago it was published. I linked to two in my original post; The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Fortress_Unvanquishable%2C_Save_for_Sacnoth) is a short story brief enough to read in a few minutes or so.

[Jorkens]

Erm, yes, I'm a fan as you might have gathered from the screen name.

While we're mentioning specific works, in addition to the ones listed already, Dunsany's short novel The King of Elfland's Daughter is a good one too.
Yes, great book. It's more like a dream or a fairy tale than a modern fantasy novel - there's no real characterization and no maps and appendices and explanations, but the atmosphere and the sense of wonder and magic are what it's all about.

Of the short stories, I really like Bethmoora (http://www.gothic.ru/literature/eng/classic/dunkani/bethmoora.htm) and (don't do drugs, kids) The Hashish Man (http://www.gothic.ru/literature/eng/classic/dunkani/hashish.htm) and The Exiles' Club. (http://www.gothic.ru/literature/eng/classic/dunkani/exile.htm)