So I want to get into reading, since I never got to read for fun, and only "read when I had to" in school, but there's a lot more options and I wanna dig into them and I'm not familiar with ALL that's out there!
I'd love to go into fantasy, but a lot of what I'm finding is YA romantasy, with the "main character girl who's Not Like Other Girls" and her YA romantasy options are "safe blond childhood friend who's the captain of the guard" or "broody edgy guy with ebony hair, aquiline features and his name is a corvid," and that sorta thing doesn't pique my interest lol.
Anything with intricate world-building and magic systems, characters that don't have Main Character Syndrome, the plot not just boiling down to romance as an end goal… that would be ideal. I'm not afraid of heavier topics like war and death either.
TIA, and sorry for potentially being a picky pain in the butt! 😅
by PotatoTaicho
12 Comments
I liked Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I listened to the Graphic Audio Version, which I thought was fantastic.
Can’t go wrong with starting with *The Hobbit*. Even if you’ve seen the movies, it’s pretty much a perfect gateway into fantasy, and reading the story is still a vastly more rewarding experience than watching the movies. If you like it, I’d also encourage the dive into reading *The Lord of the Rings* again even if you’ve seen the movies! There are parts of those books that will make you question whether you got the full story even if you’ve seen the extended editions.
You could also instead go the direction of Brandon Sanderson’s *Tress of the Emerald Sea* to see if you vibe with Sanderson’s storytelling before diving into his more substantial works/series.
Riftwar Trilogy by Raymond E Feist, Race of the Anandulin by Vincent Kane
This one isn’t very heavy which makes it a great “getting into reading” book, check out The House in the Cerulean Sea
*Sabriel* by Garth Nix— an adventure of a girl who just graduated boarding school and goes on a quest to rescue her father. The secondary genre is horror, as young Sabriel fights the living dead and lays spirits to rest— and some of the spirits get rather gruesome. Nix lightens the story with humor and great characterization. *Sabriel* works find as a standalone, but it also opens a neat trilogy with *Lirael* and *Abhorsen.*
For something a little more philosophical, try *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. le Guin— a pared down legend of an arrogant young boy who trains to be a wizard in a vibrant, Iron Age-esque archipelago. This book opens a series. One of the great things about Earthsea is that le Guin revisited the world again and again at different stages of her life— so it’s the same world but viewed with more wisdom and perspective each time.
If you like *Alice in Wonderland* you may like *The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland* by Catherynne M Valente, which is a middle-grade novel. It opens in Omaha Nebraska during WW2 and follows an obstinate girl who travels down the path of fairytales and brings down a tyrant. Valente is known for her elaborate prose and vivid imagination— she’s written a lot in a variety of genres, but *Fairyland* makes a good intro.
Hmm, all the books I’ve listed can be shelved as YA or middle grade. Well, I stand by my recs. Real quick, let me round out with some other books I love: *The Curse of Chalion* (Lois McMaster Bujold), *Kushiel’s Dart* (Jacqueline Carey, check for trigger warnings), *The Mistress of Spices* (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni), *Wyrd Sisters* (Terry Pratchett, it’s like #6 in a series but don’t worry about that, it’s a sufficient introduction to the world).
Happy reading!
Intricate magic systems suggests Brandon Sanderson. I’d recommend The Emperor’s Soul as a place to start because it’s one of his few short works that isn’t tied into a larger plot or full of spoilers for his other books. Shai is a thief and a forger, which here means she’s learned to change things by editing their past, for example convincing a door that it was left unlocked or reassembling something by writing that it was never broken. She’s imprisoned and has a hundred days to write the emperor into not being brain dead. No love triangle, no chosen ones.
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin is fantastic. Protagonist is a middle aged woman, minimal romantic storylines, and excellent world building.
The Name of Wind by Patrick Rothfuss also is wonderful and has excellent plot and characters. Book 2 is very good as well although it drags in a couple of places. Still waiting on book 3.
Witch King by Martha Wells
Naomi Novik and Shannon Chakraborty have been some if my favorite recent authors in fantasy. Also T Kingfisher, but she’s more on the horror sure depending on the book.
Imajica by Clive Barker. It’s his masterpiece. Or, Weaveworld is also a great fit.
Little, Big by John Crowley
A couple fantasy series that I really enjoy and are definitely not YA. all of them have some pretty interesting world building and pretty unique magic systems. And while there’s some romance included its DEFINITELY not the end goal.
The Bloodsworn Trilogy by John Gwynne
The Malazan Book of the Fallen (though that might be a bit of leaping into the deep end)
The Licanious Trilogy