I love fantasy but have not been pulled into one yet for years. Maybe my issue is pure fantasy with too much fantasy jargon gets difficult for me to follow. I loved the Percy Jackson books as a kid and want something similar but where the characters are adults. As an adult I have read Killing commendatore by Murakami, I do not like how he writes women, it sort of takes me out of the story and I just find it kind of gross and unnecessary. But I loved the way he wrote his settings and just wrote a vibe. Like when he writes I would see a movie in my head. I tried reading name of the wind and got 200 pages in and got annoyed at how the author kept glazing the main character, and even had flashbacks to do it. I would rather the character do cool things rather then just have people talk about how cool he is. I got the wheel of time but something about its prose is not engaging me properly. I have tried starting it 4-5 times and cant get past the first 20 pages. I was thinking of starting the will of the many, the poppy wars, or the sword of kaigen next. Even jade city, but I am open to other suggestions.
by lordjigglypuff
7 Comments
Like urban fantasy? Real world + magic?
The iron druid series might hit for you
Have you tried The Magicians by Lev Grossman?
Jade City might actually be good for you
I loved Meg Shaffer’s The Lost Story. The characters are young adults most of the book.
These are both a little out there but I am currently reading dungeon crawler Carl and the humor sort of reminds me of Percy Jackson? I still like Percy jackson better haha but I have been thinking there’s a similar vibe there
And then the second one is mainly just because of the fantasy jargon part. I just finished the realm of the elderlings books by robin hobb (first book is assassins apprentice) and these definitely consumed my last year. I also don’t love fantasy jargon and, at least for the first trilogy, these didn’t seem like they had tons of fantasy elements to them. I think they do get more fantasy-y with the subsequent series but it was gradual for me so I got drawn in. These books vibe wise are definitely NOT like Percy Jackson though and are much more introspective and dark but there were (some) funny moments. So this is only a recommendation for trying to get drawn into a fantasy series and not necessarily for the Percy Jackson vibe part lol
I enjoy the Rivers of London series. Diverse cast of characters, and the narrator has a wry, snarky sense of humor like Percy. TBH I think reading Percy’s narration as a kid had a big impact on my sense of humor. The main character has really good growth over the series – he starts out as a bit of a perv, but he grows up.
I think urban fantasy is the right call here—the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews would be my pick. Percy and Kate start their series in similar situations and I think the way various mythologies come into play will appeal too.