I am looking for a fantasy recommendation for people who don't like fantasy. The only fantasy book I've enjoyed were the first Fire and Ice books. I have tried some Brandon Sanderson and NK Jemisin but couldn't get into it.
What is it about fantasy that turns you off usually?
Usual turn offs include:
The goofy names? Ie “Prince Lielleiewnenine of the Uvonehagdnohn?
Plodding pace and long-winded descriptions of landscapes?
Suspension of disbelief? Ie just too unbelievably weird?
Saying more about what you *don’t* like may help!
elinorsara18 on
i’m following cuz i’m a bonafide fantasy hater and am looking to broaden my reading horizons. you may like magical realism since those books often take place in the ‘real world’ so they are easier to understand
ClimateTraditional40 on
Sharps, K.J. Parker
Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay
First Law (And the rest) Joe Abercrombie
shlubmuffin on
Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
kjb76 on
I’ve struggled with finding fantasy I like. I kind of gave up.
youngjeninspats on
Try Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s very light on magic, and is centered around a fantasy version of Constantinople.
FloridaFlamingoGirl on
The Night Watch series by Terry Pratchett is basically a police procedural comedy that happens to have fantasy creatures.
Queasy_Antelope9950 on
His Dark Materials. It’s so different from the usual fantasy fare.
masson34 on
Red Rising series
YA, Nevermoor series
The House in the Cerulean Sea and sequel
Legends and Lattes, prequel and sequel
MailKirin on
Maybe urban fantasy would be more for you? Popular work includes Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs and October Daye, and lots of ilona Andrew’s.
I would recommend the hidden legacy books by ilona andrews- some of the covers are a bit romance forward and there is romance but I think the world is very easy to get into. The first one is burn for me.
gonzo_attorney on
I like low stakes fantasy, like Starling House by Alix Harrow or The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
I love getting lost in something that doesn’t feel all the way like real life, but the universe is still “normal.”
High fantasy? Urgh. If I have to spend 200 pages just figuring out where we are on the map, no thank you. Learning a whole new society in a couple hundred pages is usually too exhausting for my old brain.
Actually, the map thing is a good arbiter. If the book has a map in the front, question what youre getting yourself into. AND never start fantasy series that aren’t done.
freerangelibrarian on
The World of the Five Gods series by Lois Macmaster Bujold. There are no complicated magic systems, or elves, or dragons.
Very well written with wonderful characters.
Try Penric’s Demon first, or The Curse of Chalion.
Zealousideal-Ad4457 on
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Awesome book, even though it’s called fantasy I never thought about it as fantasy.
PatchworkGirl82 on
The Once and Future King by TH White is an excellent retelling of the King Arthur story, but it has some deeper themes to it too. The second half of the book doesn’t even really feel like fantasy.
Extreme-Donkey2708 on
I recommend Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. The first is Burn For Me. The first 3 books (the only ones I’ve read so far) have all been (rare) 5-stars from me last year. I don’t usually read this genre. It is more of an urban fantasy/romantasy but I loved it. Strong characters working together and communicating to solve the problem.
dudestir127 on
I’m not intof fantasy either, but I love Stephen King’s Dark Tower books
16 Comments
What is it about fantasy that turns you off usually?
Usual turn offs include:
The goofy names? Ie “Prince Lielleiewnenine of the Uvonehagdnohn?
Plodding pace and long-winded descriptions of landscapes?
Suspension of disbelief? Ie just too unbelievably weird?
Saying more about what you *don’t* like may help!
i’m following cuz i’m a bonafide fantasy hater and am looking to broaden my reading horizons. you may like magical realism since those books often take place in the ‘real world’ so they are easier to understand
Sharps, K.J. Parker
Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay
First Law (And the rest) Joe Abercrombie
Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
I’ve struggled with finding fantasy I like. I kind of gave up.
Try Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s very light on magic, and is centered around a fantasy version of Constantinople.
The Night Watch series by Terry Pratchett is basically a police procedural comedy that happens to have fantasy creatures.
His Dark Materials. It’s so different from the usual fantasy fare.
Red Rising series
YA, Nevermoor series
The House in the Cerulean Sea and sequel
Legends and Lattes, prequel and sequel
Maybe urban fantasy would be more for you? Popular work includes Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs and October Daye, and lots of ilona Andrew’s.
I would recommend the hidden legacy books by ilona andrews- some of the covers are a bit romance forward and there is romance but I think the world is very easy to get into. The first one is burn for me.
I like low stakes fantasy, like Starling House by Alix Harrow or The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
I love getting lost in something that doesn’t feel all the way like real life, but the universe is still “normal.”
High fantasy? Urgh. If I have to spend 200 pages just figuring out where we are on the map, no thank you. Learning a whole new society in a couple hundred pages is usually too exhausting for my old brain.
Actually, the map thing is a good arbiter. If the book has a map in the front, question what youre getting yourself into. AND never start fantasy series that aren’t done.
The World of the Five Gods series by Lois Macmaster Bujold. There are no complicated magic systems, or elves, or dragons.
Very well written with wonderful characters.
Try Penric’s Demon first, or The Curse of Chalion.
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Awesome book, even though it’s called fantasy I never thought about it as fantasy.
The Once and Future King by TH White is an excellent retelling of the King Arthur story, but it has some deeper themes to it too. The second half of the book doesn’t even really feel like fantasy.
I recommend Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. The first is Burn For Me. The first 3 books (the only ones I’ve read so far) have all been (rare) 5-stars from me last year. I don’t usually read this genre. It is more of an urban fantasy/romantasy but I loved it. Strong characters working together and communicating to solve the problem.
I’m not intof fantasy either, but I love Stephen King’s Dark Tower books