Hi guys,

A friend of mine quite a long while back was strongly recommending to me some novel but I can't for the life of me recall anything about it to find it for myself. Here's the clues I can remember... I think it was a series. It was about the fae, or fairies, and their court, and I was told it was very dark fantasy with adult content. I'm not certain, but I assumed at the time that it was sort of fantasy like swords and sorcery? I could be wrong about that. I just mean I don't think it was a story set in the modern world, but a "magical world" or something. I assume this because, if memory serves, the conversation was in relation to fantasy gaming and D&D. The conversation also took place easily over 5 years ago and maybe longer, to try to put a date on it.

Any help? I had no interest at the time, but now I'd like to take a look. I think the series was pretty popular, but I'm having no luck finding it on my own. Thanks in advance, guys!

I'm grapsing at straws here, because there isn't much to go on, but could you be thinking of one of Tad Williams' works or series? His Otherland series features a "magical" world of sorts -- a virtual world through a "network", so gaming was a factor, and it was a popular series in the late 90's to 2005 or so?

He has some other more "traditional" fantasies with elves and things, many of them dark.  Perhaps something there will spark a neuron?  He writes the kind of books that seem to stick in your head.

The only Tad Williams book directly about the fae is War of the Flowers which is fantastic, but not really what I'd call dark.  His original trilogy - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is wonderful too, but isn't really about the fae, other than a few major fae characters.

I think Duainfey and Longeye are too new to be what you're looking for.  I'm pretty sure they were published less than 5 years ago.

This is a shot in the dark, but what about Kristine Katheryne Rusch's Fey series?  The first book is: The Sacrifice (Fey, Bk 1)   The series is about a Fey army invading an island, and follows both sides of the conflict over several generations.  I've only read the first book, and it's decent.  Definitely a lot of gore, if thats what you meant by adult content, and it did remind me a lot of gaming and D&D.

Unfortunately, most of the books about the fae I can recall are urban fantasies, not traditional/high.  I can remember lots with major fae characters, or trips to a fey court, but very few just soley about the fey.  Can you remember any other details that might help?  Was the "adult content" violence, gore, or sexual in nature?  Was it more about military, adventuring, politics, romance, ordinary life?  I know you might not remember, since you never read it, but every little thing can help.

The War of the Flowers was written in a light tone, but also has some pretty dark themes.  It's the first thing that popped into my mind.  

If by "adult content" you mean sex, it could be Laurell K Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series.....