Robert Asprin (1946-2008)
Died quite unexpectedly yesterday, it appears.
I never did get into his Myth series, but the Thieves World anthology is/was a huge influence on me, and remains my #1 recommendation for crunchy, unfluffy fantasy.
Aw, man. :/
(Related link: http://www.mythadventures.net/)
I liked his early Mythworld stuff, but am unfamilar with his Thieves World.
My first M* character cribbed her name from a TW character, Way Back When. Heh. ;)
Thieves World was a shared-world anthology. Asprin cooked up the world and many of the characters, then was the editor for the series. 12ish books, if I'm remembering right, plus a handful of (very good, IMHO) novels by Janet Morris.
I'm not sure I can pick apart my love of them enough to recommend specifics. A thing that stands out, maybe, is the power play between gods, wizards, and mere mortal man, and that magic is kept powerful yet fickle and completely uncodified.
I never did get into the Myth series, primarily because I thought any books with such stupid titles couldn't possibly have better contents. Puns and I still have an uneasy truce. ;)