As an adult I’m rereading Percy Jackson, and I love similar series like Harry Potter, fablehaven, etc. I like the hobbit too but it wouldn’t be my fav.
I’ve tried reading the adult fantasy that gets trending on booktok, such as fourth wing, but it was so boring and the relationships in it were dull.
With kids fantasy I feel like I’m being immersed in a unique world, with adult fantasy I feel like it’s just cliche romantic tropes. In the adult fantasy I’ve read the world and plot has felt like a background for the main character, whereas in kids fantasy the plot is engaging, the world building is creative, and it’s actually fun to read.
Id also like to steer away from series such as Dune, where they’re long and heavy going. I just want a book that grips me in the same way Harry Potter gripped me as a kid.
And please no overdone booktok tropes. Give me something where I can’t see exactly what’s going to happen within the first ten pages.
by Quotech2
6 Comments
Maybe the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson? There is some romance, but it’s very plot relevant.
I totally feel your pain though. I’ve only recently managed to start reading more adult books (at 28 years old), because so often middle grade books just seem more appealing. If you *are* open to trying a middle grade book too though, I highly recommend the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend. It’s my favorite series, and I really want more people to experience it 🙂
The Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik – does have romance but not ROMANCE, it’s just a part of the story not the point. Ditto for the Daevabad trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty
The Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik is one of my favorite fantasy reads of recent years, with creative magic and social critique, interesting characters becoming allies, a murderous school, and battles to survive. Very immersive.
The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner has one of the most well-drawn characters in fantasy. He’s the proverbial character playing three-dimensional chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Clever and charming and always both untouchable and vulnerable because he must do the will of his gods.
Romance is very subtle in both.
Fablehaven series, Abhorsen series or Song of the Lioness series
I’m with you! I feel like a lot of kid’s books are better written in terms of focusing on characters and their development, rather than just what people expect out of a particular genre.
He’s mostly known as a kid’s author, but John Bellairs wrote one fantasy novel for adults: The Face in the Frost. Quick moving plot, a nice dose of humor, engaging characters, and some truly spooky images. No romance at all, aside from a delightful platonic bromance.
The Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin. a bit of romance but not much, and it’s not really the focus.
If you’re also a mystery fan, the Garret PI series by Glenn Cook is very fun. It’s set in a gritty fantasy city full of fantasy tropes, greedy gangsters, dark elf assassins etc. The stories are basically private eye noir mashups based heavily on the Nero Wolfe and Sam Spade/Phillip Marlowe stories. There’s a bit of romance in some of the books in that some femme fatales are bound to make an appearance in a noir story. It’s over the top and fun.
I’ve only read a couple of them, but you might enjoy the works of James Blaylock. He focuses on magic realism set in California and adds a lot of humor. I really enjoyed The Land Of Dreams and The Last Coin.
I have seen many of these other recommendations whose premises don’t grip me the same way. If you at all like dystopian worlds, I would suggest Oryx and Crake (first of the maddaddam trilogy). It is not a magic system, but the author (who also wrote the handmaids tale) is really good at building a world and tells her stories very intriguingly. It was a confusing start but it ended up being such a fantastic read, I couldn’t put it down.
I am only recommending this because I could not finish anything after rereading Harry Potter recently until I read this series. Not at all related but it somehow hit exactly what I needed it to.