I’m someone who values immersion when reading a book, playing a game, watching a show, etc…
Character development, world building, magic systems, plot structure, and such are essential to me as both a writer and a reader of fantasy.
Plenty of you have probably noticed blatant attempts on the part of publishers and book sellers (NOT authors necessarily!) to capitalize off of packing as much spice into a book as possible. Even to the point of sabotaging any substance or potential that a story might have originally had.
This post isn’t to patronize anyone who likes to read that type of literature. I’m simply looking for somewhat recent releases (within the last five ish years or so) that aren’t tainted by this gross marketing trend.
I’ve actually been reading a lot “older” fantasy books such as Anne Rice or Andrzej Sapkowski. Sapkowski is probably my absolute favorite author of all time at the moment. Looking for things similar to or inspired by him??
by batsdontwearhats
3 Comments
The market right now feels like someone threw glitter on cardboard and called it gold – try diving into some translated works or indie authors who haven’t been steamrolled by the algorithm yet
Not sure if these are exactly what you’re looking for as I haven’t read the authors you mention, but The Great When by Alan Moore and Nonesuch by Francis Spufford are recent, different and well written.
Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett