Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen

[Firewall]

This series deffinetly gets my vote and has everything that a fantasy setting needs. The way Erikson has written them is as a series of interlinked storylines accross three continients on an un-named world and it would be easy enough to set the core rules on the Malazan Empire and it's wars on one continenet and then bring the other continents, major races and nations in as source books.

 

[Silvereye]

I am currently reading Midnight Tides.

I read that the books were originally written based off material Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont wrote for a RPG background. Ian Cameron Esslemont is actually going to write a few books set in the same world.

I would recommend this series to anyone that likes a good fantasy series, particularly if they like to see a lot of the typical fanatasy ideas and character stereotypes swept aside.

Further details can be found here.

I'm sure Itkovian will be along at somepoint....