Hey there!
After reading The Name of the Wind back in 2019, absolutely loving it and being fairly disappointed with the sequel I'm once again on a journey to find a book I can call amazing again.
I haven't read much the last couple of years but here's a very short list of books I finished and my rating for them so you can maybe get an idea of what I like:
- The Labyrinth of the Faun = 4,5/5 = loved the fairy tale-esque story and was genuinely invested, read it in two days
- Kafka on the Shore = 4/5 = took some time for me to like it but was completely invested by the end and loved the bizarreness of the events happening in the book
- 1984 = 3,75 / 5 = entertaining story, liked the characters and premise but felt a bit dry
- The Shadow of the Gods = 4,5/5 = Great setting, story and characters, another plus for being in a viking setting
- Fairy Tale (King) = 3,5/5 = One of the greatest first halves of a book I've read, despite not being entirely fantasy but quite disappointing later half
Here are some books I relatively recently tried and DNF'd:
- The Final Empire: just tried to read it again but I think it's just not for me. Everything was "just ok" for me, The characters felt meh and nothing really wow'd me
- The Pariah: got to 52% but I felt like nothing was really happening and I wasn't really invested in the characters
- Warbreaker: I honestly can't remember why I DNF'd it. I liked it but probably not enough to keep my interest
- The Will of the Many: Got to 16% and it didn't interest me enough to continue
- The Ember Blade: liked the prologue more than the actual story, characters were meh and I discovered my dislike for prison arcs
I'm not even quite sure how to describe what I really like and I'm uncertain if there are some overarching similarities in these books that I might've missed but here's an idea of my interests and what I'm looking for:
- I love medieval fantasy settings or for that matter anything to do with knights, magic and dragons
- I usually dislike stories that play in our real world but I'm largely ok with magical realism
- I really dislike sci-fi and anything with technology, it just doesn't interest me at all
- I love weird stuff and things that make no sense, if that makes sense. There were many "what the…" moments in Kafka on the Shore and I loved every single one
- I love sudden character deaths and like characters not having too much plot armor
- I like travelling with a group of characters who all fit different niches (warrior, archer, mage, priest, whatever it might be. Kind of like a party in an rpg)
- I love deep lore and dark themes (I'm a huge dark souls fan and love the way the world already had its best days behind it and you're discovering something that was one great)
- I'm not against romance but it shouldn't be the main plot (It's been five years and I'm a bit older now but when I read it, I was positively blown away by the romance plot in The Name of the Wind)
- I'm really interested in Greek mythology
I'm aware that these lists aren't super great and or detailed but I hope that it gives some kind of idea of what I like in a book and what stories I might be interested in. I'm very greatful for every answer, thank you for your time!
by LordOwlkwardVII