Apparently you can't post a request for recs in r/fantasy subreddit, you have to ask in a comment below a bot's post that gets roughly 3 views total, and if you somehow happen to receive a single reply, it completely misses the topic. So, here I am, requesting recs solely from the fantasy genre, preferably high fantasy, mandatorily avaliable either in English or Polish.
I have just finished A Clash of Kings by GRRM, the 2nd book of ASOIAF, and I had no idea how much I needed a story like Jon Snow's in my life. It has it all – the desolate frozen wastelands with breathtakingly beautiful forests and mountains; a sworn brotherhood of dark warriors with the Assassin "we die in the darkness so you could live in the light" vibe; the ominous feeling of something ancient, unknown and sinister rising from the ashes; lone scouting escapades to the enemy land where the nature itself seems to be the enemy; two armies stalking each other in the wilderness; the feeling of isolation, duty over instincts and old, gritty warriors beaming "experience" with each of their words or actions.
I want more of that. I want winter, I want journey into the unknown, I want sneaking and discovering dark secrets, I want honorable sacrifices and beautiful describtions. What I don't want – and some people have recommended me such stuff already – are Russian/Slavic vibes, they put me off. I guess it's just a Polish thing, I'm more allergic to misinterpretation of our culture and at the same time we're all of us raised in a deep wary of everything with East Slavic sounds, ya know, generational trauma. Hard to root for somebody named like a guy who could have shot my grandpa. I'm also not one for horror stories, I'd rather feel spooked than scared shitless.
Thanks in advance!
by Sonseeahrai
1 Comment
You could take a look at Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, or maybe The Failures by Benjamin Liar (although the latter is a little stranger). Both grand-scale epic fantasy that really *feel* like fantasy I’ve enjoyed recently