I am an avid fantasy reader and I often find I get bored with other genres because they lack the world building of fantasy books.
However, I know there’s a world of books out there I’m missing.
What recommendations do you have outside the fantasy (or sci fi) genre?
I love compelling characters, I want to love and hate them, I think character dynamics and personalities would be my number one draw to a book. I enjoy battles and the historical aspects of fantasy. I tend to gravitate towards darker books.
I’m not a really analytical reader and can have a good time even if it’s not particularly well written if the characters are good. I do not like romance as a primary plot point.
Authors I like would be Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, R. F. Kuang, Travis Baldree, Katherine Arden, John Gwynne, Patrick Rothfuss
Any suggestions welcome!
by MeaDioMai
5 Comments
Historical fiction / aventures should hook you in.
The three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is amazing and a great classic.
The classic pirate adventure of Long John Silver in Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Pachinko, that follows a multi generational family from Korea to Japan through decades, before and after WW2.
The Kamogawa food detective by Hisashi Kashiwai if you like food, cozy and japanese culture.
I read almost exclusively fantasy and I loved Shogun by James Clavell, it sounds like it will tick a lot of your boxes for history and character development.
Three very different recommendations:
Beat The Reaper – Josh Bazell: A man works a shit shift as an intern at a hospital, and tries to hide from his past. Funny, character based.
1632 – Eric Flint: Falls squarely in speculative fiction; An American Coal town from 2000 is displaced through time and space into Germany during the 30 Years War. The why or how is never answered, focuses on the effects of technology and knowledge on the world.
The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett; Historical novel about the construction of a Cathedral in the 12th century. Very character driven story.
Sounds like you’d probably enjoy dystopian novels! the hunger games, maze runner, divergent, shatter me, the gone series and the uglies series are some examples, especially as these are all series where you can get stuck into the world
I spent 35 years of my life joyously in fantasy books and now just recently I picked up non fantasy. Have fun with fantasy