Steven Erickson seems to run his novels in pretty diverse fantasy settings pretty far removed from the typical Arthurian/European models you seem to think stale. I love Steven Erickson. Oh and there was a chick who wrote a great first novel about Northerner barbarians and hammer men and all sorts of cool **** like that, but then the second book kinda blew. For the life of me I can't remember her name though, there was a female orphan in the snow or something in the beginning.... damn... second book started off in some retarded slave mines... I wish I could remember.

Anyway I would say start off with world paradigms you yourself are not so much familiar with. As with the taiga you mention or arid areas or deserts. Or start off with setting paradigms untypical to fantasy, it worked for Josh Whedon in Firefly. Just decide whatever push off is more important or meaning full to you and then start building it from there, add characters you'd think would populate this area or culture and the things they'd value etc. Wow.. totally rambling tipsy here, sorry. Have fun with it but remember stories come from defining parameters and limits not from endless possibility.