Books or Lit-r-cha Recommendations

I was referring to the same political intrigue with polarizing characters mixed in with fantasy.

Then I'd say try Carey before Name of the Wind. They're both coming of age stories, but Carey's protaganist is trained as a spy as well as a prostitute. She becomes involved at politics at a the highest levels. Fair warning, she's also a masochist and the books do have gay sex, so if those squick you too much you won't enjoy the rest of them. If you like GRRM though, I'm guessing you can handle it. Carey's writing is also lush and lovely.

You might also like Michelle West's Sun Sword series too then; it's full of politics and intrigue as well, and the antagonists have believable motives and sensible reasons for what they do.

Hey there all! Any good fantasy books series that would be quite fast to read but have at least/around 300 pages each book? 500 pages is okay too if it's a fast read and not THAT small text. (Headache and all that...) Oh yeah, almost forgot. No much romance or adult content please. I like reading High & Urban (See below) Fantasy. Also Urban Fantasy =/= Supernatural Romance, those two are completely different things. Do not, I repeat, do not recommend me Lord of the Rings or any of the same kinds of books, things with loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong descriptions put me to sleep. If the book has 1+ page description of a thing, don't recommend it to me. So something Action/Adventure fantasy thing. Also note that Terry Pratchett ain't really my thing so no recommendations for books written by that guy.

What I've read so far (That I can remember reading.) Not in any order.

Harry Potter, Percy Jackson universe books (& the Olympians, Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus,) Artemis Fowl, Chronicles of Narnia, Spiderwick Chronicles, Dragonalnce Chronicles - Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Fablehaven. Power of Five/Gatekeepers, Everworld, (Up to the second last book.) Eragon. *slaps self* don't hurt me people!!! I already did it for you. The book was meh, better than the movie and that's all the praise the book is going to get.

edited 19th Aug '12 9:19:50 AM by drakonsenshi

The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. Awesome action-adventure series that's decently long and easy to read. Not too much romance, but there is quite a bit of violence.

Whims, the description that TV Tropes gives made me laugh... In a good way. Might check that series out at some point.

While there is some romance in both series, try Wen Spencer's series that begins with Tinker and Ilona Andrews books about Kate Daniels which starts with Magic Bites. You might also like the Jane Yellowrock books, the first is Skinwalker, I've only read the first and quite liked it. Emma Bull's War of the Oaks is excellent, but is a one-off book. These are all full of action and are easy-to-read urban fantasy.

ETA: Patricia Wrede's Frontier Magic books, Thirteenth Child is the first. They aren't quite urban fantasy, but deal with a fantasy world set in frontier times. Also her quartet that begins with Dealing with Dragons, again it is not urban fantasy, instead she plays with genre-savvy fairytale characters. They are very silly, but also very good.

EATA: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books.

edited 19th Aug '12 12:21:14 PM by Lightningnettle

Dresden Files and Frontier Magic seem kinda interesting. I'll add those to the list. Thanks. Oh and also note, I'm looking for High Fantasy books to read also. Not just Urban Fantasy.

How about anything by Tamora Pierce? Song of the Lioness is pretty good.

Since you seem comfortable with YA fiction, for high fantasy there's the classic The Dark is Rising quartet by Susan Cooper. The Belgariad might also be worth exploring, though it does have a lot of fun with the themes and if you're after serious and gloomy it might not be what you're looking for. I like the Sun Sword series by Michelle West, but it might be too descriptive for your tastes.

I don't think it quite hits all the high fantasy tropes, but Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs is amusing and has an heir seeking to reclaim his place. It's also a bit shorter than you want. It's a quick read and does have a sequel if you like it.

Michael Stackpole might be worth your time too. He's written a lot of books, some high fantasy, some not. I'd start with either Once a Hero or A Hero Born for his high fantasy.

P.C. Hodgell's books might also hit your target, the rerelease starts with The Godstalker Chronicles, which contain Godstalk and Dark of the Moon.

An older set of books are the ones starting with Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier, I think there are three total; but it's been a couple decades since I read them.

Oh, and Susan Dexter's books would suit you too I think. Both series fall in the same world, one starts with The Ring of Allaire, and the other with Prince of Ill-Luck. Again these are older books and I don't know their availablity.

edited 20th Aug '12 10:59:34 AM by Lightningnettle

If it's not too much trouble: aside from A Song Of Ice And Fire, The Lord Of The Rings et al., The Wheel Of Time, The Belgariad, The Sword Of Shannara and The Sword Of Truth, what are the classics of fantasy that everyone should have a nodding familiarity with?

A basic knowledge of Norse, Greek, Celtic and Roman mythology is helpful for basic fantasy literacy. Evangeline Walton has written a nice set of books using Celtic mythology which would work as an intro for most people.

The Brothers Grimm.

The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany, he was one of the early fantasists.

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.

Andre Norton's Witch World books.

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising quartet.

Lloyd Alexander's Taren series.

Pratchett

Franz Lieber

Lovecraft, duh, almost forgot him.

Almost forgot L'Morte D'Arthur or at least some familiarity with Arthurian legend

It'll be interesting to see what other people think too. I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting, this is just a top of my head list.

BTW, if you aren't talking about cultural literacy, but classics, I'd remove Wheel of Time, the Belgariad, Sword of Truth and Sword of Shannara from your list. They are popular, and I like the Belgariad for a nice bit of fluffy reading; but none are classics as either literature or by their influence on the genre.

edited 29th Aug '12 5:05:26 PM by Lightningnettle

Well judging from what Furiko listed, I think he means something more like "the contemporary modern fantasy canon".

...

In which case I could suggest including things like Neil Gaiman's fantasy works, The Chronicles Of Amber and even Harry Potter.

edited 29th Aug '12 5:20:56 PM by UltimatelySubjective

I keep forgetting I live in a world where people over the age of ten haven't already been exposed to this stuff. And you forgot the Bible; shit's terribly important to understanding a fair-ish amount of English-language fantasy.

I care not so much for influence as I do for impact on their readership; who is it who is best-remembered?

So who is codifying future fantasy?

Well aside from other media, Discworld is still quite popular isn't it? At the very least because it's so filled with tropes.

Yep, already read most of it. I hate to say it, but the latest books are getting a little repetitive.

And unfortunately I would agree with you.

I could give a couple of other similar recommendations, but they are more of the derivative kind.

Ah, okay. Then the two biggest influences on the next generation of writers are going to be Harry Potter and Pratchett. And yes, I did miss the Bible, that does have tremendous influence.

Other writers who will qualify are:

Charles de Lint

Mercedes Lackey (whether you like her or not, lots of people start with her)

Marion Zimmer Bradley, not least because of her Sword and Sorceress series and her willingness to pick the best of fan fic for her Darkover anthologies. She nurtured a whole generation of writers.

Rick Riordan who wrote The Lightning Thief and many others

Christopher Paolini who wrote Eregon, which a lot of kids are reading

Tamora Pierce

Patricia Wrede

Brandon Mull

whoever it was who wrote Twilight, it may be bad, but it got a lot of kids reading

Bram Stoker

Mary Shelley

And a lot of the contemporary YA writers who I'm not familiar with. It is the popular children's writers who get the next generation started reading and wanting to write, not necessarily the best writers.

If you want something new and different to read, you could try Liz Williams. There's nobody quite like her.

edited 29th Aug '12 8:19:55 PM by Lightningnettle

David and Leigh Eddings. Forget the Elder Gods stuff, stick with the ten books of the Belgariad Cycle and the six books of the Elenium. I know technically speaking it is four different series, not two, but since all the first lot of books have roughly the same cast of characters, with the same rule applying to the second lot, splitting them up into what the publishers call them is a bit ood.

Recommendation! The Dresden Files (detective/urban fantasy, my favorite series) and Codex Alera (Heroic Fantasy with an awesome setting and equally awesome characters) by Jim Butcher, and the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

Hello, being October and all Im in the mood for some Paranormal books.

NOT Paranormal Romances!!!

But Im looking for good ghost stories... Ghost Horror stories perhaps... or just fiction books with good hauntings in them.

I have plenty of "real" haunting literature, looking primarily for fiction!

The October Country, by Ray Bradbury. Pretty much all of his anthologies, in fact.

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories, by Edgar Allan Poe.

I have actaully read the Fall of the House of Usher and other stories by Edgar Allen Poe, my parents got me one of those fancy leatherbound editions for Christmas one year.

I love short stories but Im looking for something more Novel length if possible.

Im definitely going to check out October Country though

Ooh, how about The Turn Of The Screw, by Henry James? :D

Any recommendations for books with a main character who seems likable as first, but who gets less and less sympathetic as the story goes on and we find out more about him/her? Genre doesn't matter as long as it's not "chick lit", romance (as in love stories), or a cheap Dan Brown type thriller.