Hey everyone,
I'm looking for an escapist fantasy with intriguing world- & plot-building, that can totally include dark parts as well but is overall "fun" to read, except I don't want those fun, lighter parts to be romance or smut
(counter example: I went into Kingfisher's Paladin's Grace with high hopes but so far I'm quite disappointed because of the strong romance focus)
Looking forward to your recs!
by MikasaMinerva
2 Comments
Got to be Dungeon Crawler Carl, based on a rpg style of story with a bit of sci-fi rolled in. Not a lot of smut but there’s definitely some crude humour
Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan, starting with **Theft of Swords (The Crown Conspiracy/Avempartha)**. It follows a ‘rogues-for-hire’ duo in a classic feeling fantasy world who take on a job and are pulled into an adventure bigger than they were expecting. A great cast of characters, rich world building, fun banter, lots of twists and revelations and adventure along the way. It starts off fairly light/low stakes but soon grows into something pretty epic, and if you enjoy it there are a number of excellent prequel series set in the same world that you can check out after Revelations (Legends of the First Empire, Riyria Chronicles, etc.).
If you’re ok with something darker, grittier, but still filled with lots of dark humor/cynical wit, that’s a lot of fun to read, check out The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie, starting with **The Blade Itself**. Endlessly quotable, featuring a cast of highly-flawed bastards you’ll come to love. Violent but also really funny a lot of the time, with lots of great commentary on the human condition and all that good stuff.
Abercrombie’s newest book, **The Devils**, is also a lot of fun, and leans a bit more into the straight up comedy side of things, though still with the expected dark moments and complex, morally gray characters. It’s a standalone unrelated to The First Law, so you could check that out too if you’re looking for an easy, fun intro to his writing. In an alternate history, medieval fantasy Europe, the ‘child Pope’ assembles a team of supernatural baddies for a top secret mission to the legendary city of Troy.