Daughter of the Empire by Feist and...somebody else. Jay recommended it.
I really like that trilogy. Better than the other half of the Riftwar.
I've never read any of the Riftwar books. This is the first one in the entire series that I've picked up, and so far, it's pretty good.
I think Jay may be mildly disappointed by my appreciation for Mercedes Lackey, though. I'm not sure which books he's read, but he says they're too romance-novel-ish. I agree wholeheartedly on the 500 Kingdoms books (which are, in fact, classified as romance novels!) but a lot of her other books don't give me the romance-novel vibe at all.
Now, I just need him to read some Marion Zimmer Bradley. That woman could fucking
write.