I enjoy reading Romantasy/Fantasy Romance, but I'm really tired of reading about teenagers. Can you please recommend some books for me along the following criteria:
– no teenagers, I want adult protagonists. Preferably 30+ years old, but I know it's rare, so let's say around 25+?
– no trials/deadly games/competition/arena
– no school/academy (unless the adult protagonists work there as professors or something else)
– nothing too dark (no rape; no graphic description of torture etc)
– spice is ok, but not necessary
Please also let me know if you have fantasy recs that fit the criteria but are not heavy on the Romance or have no Romance at all. You see, I'm pretty desperate for some adults and Romantasy is full of 18 year olds.
I know the Emily Wilde series which is excellent. And The Everlasting also fits these criteria, but I wasn't a fan.
I read many books that don't fit these criteria, many of which I liked (see below). But now I really want some adult characters for a change!
Here are some books that I liked: The Poet Empress, Wild Reverence, Our Infinite Fates, This Woven Kingdom series, Rose in Chains, The Knight and the Moth, Quicksilver, Katabasis, The Spell Shop, Heartless Hunter, Break Wide the Sea
Thanks!
by ina_sh
19 Comments
You will have better luck checking on the Fantasy genre than the Romantasy one. For example A Song of Ice and Fire by G.R.R. Martin.
Saints of Steel
Mages of the Wheel
Ilona Andrews any of their series,
Thousand Autumn by Meng Xi Shi both 30+, not romance heavy, but there is lot of build up to relationship, no spice, I felt like they act on their age. Low fantasy, heavy on action and history.
Violet Thistlewaite is Not the Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz.
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett.
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner.
Also, look at the work of Patricia A. McKillip. I think a lot of it might work for you (though avoid Forgotten Beasts of Eld, SA).
Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews. It is part of a series, but absolutely stands alone.
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn.
Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.
Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. Also seconding books by T. Kingfisher, Ilona Andrews, and Patricia Briggs
T Kingfisher generally.
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The Three Worlds series by Emma Newman
Spookshow by Tim McGregor
Expendable by James Alan Gardner
The everlasting by alix harrow
I feel ya. Highly recommend you try The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith.
Also:
– The House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune
– All Souls trilogy – Deborah Harkness
– The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton
– Piranesi – Susanna Clarke (no romance but a stunning adult fantasy novel)
The Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Discworld is full of middle-aged men and senior ladies. Even the young have a certain sensibility that puts them beyond their years. It’s low on the romance and violence, all suggestive rather than graphic.
It quite a surprise it’s so entertaining.
The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (this is the first in a series of novellas, there are six currently, with a seventh coming out in May)
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
Chalice by Robin McKinley
Agreed with the T Kingfisher recommendations. Swordheart is a good starting point.
The Peaches and Honey duology by R Raeta.
Darkness Births the Stars by Sarah Lee Wohn
^^all romance forward, all adults, all well worth the read
Also just want to say Poet Empress was SO good!!
N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth series. There’s not much romance, but it’s gripping and the protagonist is a middle-aged woman. Her world-building is amazing.
So I know you said no deadly games, but I have a book recommendation that you might make an exception for: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
I say you might make an exception because the “deadly game” is purely magical and involves zero fighting violence. There is only one scene which involves any sort of violence/death, its a quick scene without graphic gore, and its more of an accident than anything.
The story is set in Victorian times, about two (adult) magicians who are trained in two very different types of magic from their early childhoods. They are pitted against each other by their respective teachers in a years-long duel, where the arena is a magical circus which opens at night and closes at dawn. They each take turns creating new elements of the circus to show off their respective magical skills, and they eventually fall in love, not realizing that they are bound to the game, and its to the death.
I liked A Song to Drown Rivers, and I hear its similar to Poet Empress, which you’ve listed as one you enjoyed. No spice but a few relationships, the characters are probably young adults but it doesn’t really feel like it. There’s none of that cheesy YA immaturity and miscommunication to “advance the plot”
Autopsy of a Fairytale by Nicole Scarano