September 2025
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    I love fantasy, it's my genre. but I feel like there's no fantasy books that I actually want to read. Nowadays browsing the fantasy isle at bookshops it's 50% porn for women, 30% works aimed at kids, and then the rest is Tolkien (which ive read already multiple times as a massive LotR fan) or G R R Martin, whos work I don't care about very much.

    I don't care about "magic systems", gimmicky hooks like "everyone uses magic except the protagonist" or post apocalyptic worlds that have regressed into a medievalesque technology, or any other forced attempts to be different for difference sakes.

    I'd love to read a fantasy story akin to Tolkien, where inspiring heroes overcome odds and good triumphs over evil, even if it is bittersweet. Where the world and characters feel authentic because the author is inspired rather than trying to be quirky, and where the themes are about universal human experiences, for example how the overarching theme in LotR is hope, and how good deeds are equal in heroism no matter the stature of the person.

    Also as a history buff, it would also be great if the world didn't try to depict medievalesque society as overly cynical (reason I dislike grr martin) where every noble is a scheming tyrant and every priest is corrupt and decadent, and the ordinary class lives in perpetual muddy and drab squalor devoid of color and joy. Grimdark is fine, if the story is about how you can overcome that darkness, rather than trying to show how it's impossible.

    As a lifelong comicbook fan and hobbyist artist/writer myself, I read all the Conan the barbarian stories, and enjoyed them, but it's a shame that they are just short stories.

    I also love the witcher series, because the world and the characters are cynical and grim, but the characters find a way to overcome those feelings and their cynical nature from friends and love, which is beautiful. And Geralt is of course badass and cool, and the main/supporting characters are great, which is what I like a lot. The final book also had probably the greatest battle scene I've ever read.

    I also read the hussite trilogy from the same author, which wasn't that great, but I respected and enjoyed the effort to historical authenticity a lot.

    Ideally I'd like a series I could be invested in for some time. I know I probably seem very picky, and maybe I am, so I'm willing to compromise on some of my peeves in favor of a good story. I started really reading books when I was an adult so theres probably a lot of classics I have never read.

    So any recommendations for a picky reader?

    by scubajulle

    1 Comment

    1. I’d recommend Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. The beginning might feel a bit cynical, kind of like how you described, but it really opens up and gets so much better. The magic system is unique and easy to grasp, the characters are really likeable, and the story just keeps pulling you in!!

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