BEFORE I START: This is not a Sanderson hate post. I’m just burnt out on his style and looking for something different.
I’m basically looking to get back into reading fantasy after I’ve been on a big sci-fi and horror binge. My issue is that I totally burned myself out on fantasy by trying to get through Brandon Sanderson’s whole bibliography a few years back. So I’m looking for fantasy books that do its protagonists and world’s like, the exact opposite of how Sanderson does his.
-A protagonist with no magic powers. If they’ve got some plot armor or are OP in other ways that’s fine, but I fundamentally want someone to be using their wits and skills to get out of problems rather than suddenly getting better at whatever their version of magic is.
-A world / magic system that isn’t well explained. Since it’s fantasy there should be magic and things that don’t exist, but I’m tired of having every detail of how magic is done and the government is run laid out for me. I want some things to just be left mysterious and fantastical for its own sake.
-Excellent dialogue and prose. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sanderson, but neither of these are his strong suit. I don’t want MCU dialogue, and I’m fine with sacrificing a perfect ending with every little thread tied up perfectly for some excellent prose.
by BagOfSmallerBags
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The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner – Eugenides is one of the best 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.
Try The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Very imperfect, vulnerable characters, a mysterious fantasy-based world that’s brilliantly developed and feels lived-in but never over-explained or encyclopedic, and a crackling, heist-based action filled plot and razor-sharp dialogue.
Susanna Clarke; either {{Piranesi}} or {{Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell}} fit this prompt perfectly. Unknowable magic/fantasy elements, gorgeous prose, realistic characters.
Equally, {{The Buried Giant}}. Leans more to the side of lit fic.
Also {{The Night Circus}}, although the characterization is quite a bit weaker. Still, excellent atmosphere.
There’s also {{Titus Groan}}, though it very much was not my cup of tea. People who like it *love* it, though.