Books or Lit-r-cha Recommendations

Has Brandon Sanderson written any fantasy that isn't High Fantasy? I want to finish Way of Kings, but I dislike High Fantasy and Tolkien style fantasy(this includes the work of Tolkien) in general. I prefer Sword and Sorcery, so King of the Bastards sounds fun.

Anyone have any recommendations for a Dresden Files fan?

I'm also into Fantasy that isn't the strictly formula High/Heroic style fantasy.

There are videos where he talks about books he's read the past week.

The Last Dogs tetralogy by Christopher Holt.

I don't suppose anyone has any recommendations for Irish mythology? Like, about Irish mythology, not fiction featuring it.

Irish mythology is a wide field. Do you have any ideas about what interests you in Irish mythology?

Let's just say and leave it at that.

No, I just want to learn about Irish mythology and want reputable sources.

A lot of people read different types of books, from fiction to historical romance. From the humor stories up to the scientific articles, everything can be found at. So the question is what to read further became very important all over the world and for everybody. If you are going to make sure in the best choice, you are welcome to do so.

Edited by JuanMiller on Mar 29th 2019 at 5:30:19 AM

Finally coming back to this.

There's a lot of books on Irish Mythology and I know only a fraction of them. Since no one else has replied, and the reading of Irish mythology should always be encouraged, I suppose I can give a few directions; although the selection is bound to be random to a degree.

A preliminary note: You'll often hear about "cycles" when talking about Irish mythology. An ultra-short guide:

• Mythological Cycle = the Tuatha De Danann
• Ulster Cycle = Cuchulainn &co
• Fenian Cycle = Finn Mac Cool [= Fionn mac Cumhaill] &co

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If you are looking for recent, professional English translations from Irish mythology, there is actually not a huge selection to chose from:

• There are two recent English translations of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the big epic central to the Ulster Cycle. One by Thomas Kinsella (1969) and a more recent one by Ciaran Carson (2007). The Kinsella translation additionally includes eight shorter stories from the Ulster Cycle that are connected to the Tain in some way or other.
• This book: Early Irish Myths and Sagas contains thirteen tales mostly from the Ulster Cycle (but not the Tain).
• There are two modern English translations of Acallam na Senorach, the single largest work in the Fenian cycle: One is called Tales of the Elders of Ireland, the other The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland. It is a collection of Fenian tales, embedded in a framing story featuring St. Patrick meeting the last living Fenian heroes. (To speak the truth, this has been sitting on my shelf forever. It's hard reading and probably not a good place to start.)

(All of these books come with an introduction and a commentary; which you will need.)

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There don't seem to be any comparable editions for most of the tales of the Mythological Cycle, such as The Battle of Magh Tuireadh or The Children of Tuireann or The Children of Lir; which is a shame because the Mythological Cycle is probably the most interesting part of Irish mythology. I also don't know of any recent translation of The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne, the most famous tale from the Fenian Cycle.

There are, generally, plenty of old translations from Irish mythology, which often are in the public domain. There are also many retellings for young adults, children, or the average reader, and the older ones of these are in the public domain as well. The problem with the old stuff is that it is often expurgated from sexual and graphic content, and if it is not, then it's probably an academic edition which is just not very easy to read. As usual with public domain books, there are also many offers of cheap editions with bad formatting, no commentary, and lots of typos, and which are mostly useless.

That said, you can get a lot of public domain stuff for free on the internet. This is probably the most complete collection of online texts/links concerning Irish mythology: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/index_irish.html

Here is another: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/index.htm#ireland

As for specific books for someone with no previous knowledge of Irish mythology, this is quite subjective, but the following are two books I have read myself and which have my personal seal of approval (whatever that is worth). They are public domain and you can get them as free e-books on the internet if you wish.

• Complete Irish Mythology by Lady Augusta Gregory. This was originally published as two books in 1902 and 1904 respectively, and which are also sold separately: Gods and Fighting Men (Mythological cycle + Fenian cycle) and Cuchulain of Muirthemne (Táin Bó Cúailnge and other stories from the Ulster Cycle). They are paraphrases of original sources, somewhat abridged, not quite translations but closer to the originals than most retellings. It is written in an unique style which imitates Irish syntax in English.— The good thing about this book is that you can read it from cover to cover and still understand it, without being interrupted by footnotes (there are none) or keeping a thumb in a glossary or commentary. It kinda takes you by the hand and walks you through the world of Irish mythology. The bad things are that it is expurgated, and that the paraphrased stories are often just not as good as faithful translations because of the condensation. But personally I think it is a good introduction for a beginner. Also adding that despite the title, it is far from "complete".
• I also enjoyed Old Celtic Romances (a.k.a. Ancient Celtic Romances) by P. W. Joyce. This is an old-timey translations from 1894, one of the first of its kind, and (unsurprisingly) bowdlerized. Verse parts in the originals are rendered as verse. The spelling of Irish names is rather unique; for example, the Fenian warrior Diarmuid Ua Duibhne is "Dermat O'Dyna" in this book. It contains stories from the Mythological Cycle, the Fenian Cycle (including The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne^note which is called The Pursuit of Dermat and Grania in this book), and several "miscellaneous" tales, but none at all from the Ulster Cycle.

There are also many recent retellings from Irish mythology, but I haven't read any of those and therefore can't say anything about them.

Hope this helps!

Edited by LordGro on Apr 1st 2019 at 11:26:31 AM

Let's just say and leave it at that.

Wow, great list was added, thanks!

Try The One Who Eats Monsters' by Casey Matthews. It's a gritty urban fantasy lesbian romance between Naomi, a senator's daughter, and Ryn, essentially an elder god. It's got cute romance, great action, and lovable characters.

I love Ryn so much. She makes the book for me. She's a brutal anti-hero but also some how adorable in other scenes, kinda like a cat.

I heartily recommend it. It's free with kindle unlimited trial so you don't have much to lose but time.

I'm looking for a good story where the villain dies at the beginning of the story, but has such an influence over the plot that he can still be considered the primary antagonist of the work.

To give an example, I once read this book where a woman saves her best friend from a rapist but accidentally kills him in her anger in the second chapter, but he happened to be a really popular guy in high school, so a lot of people, including the legal system, have a hard time believing the girls and instead are accusing the first woman of murder. Adding this to the fact that his actions were so traumatic to the friends and his past victims that he continues to feel like a real presence looming over their shoulders, and he could be considered the Big Bad for the story as a whole despite staying dead.

Can anyone recommend something similar?

RIP KissAnime.

Nahoko Uehashi's Moribito and The Beast Player are by far the greatest pieces of fiction I've ever seen. Both series have brave, resourceful and independent heroines in Balsa the spear-wielder and Elin the beast doctor respectively. In fact, reading The Beast Player for the first time was a turning point in my life. I don't think I can thank the author enough.

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit has a beautiful Animated Adaptation, but that's far from the only great adaptation I know. I would also recommend the radio drama adaptations of the Moribito series and the manga adaptation of The Beast Player if you can understand Japanese.

Unfortunately, only the first two volumes of the respective series have been translated into English. I wish to change this situation so everyone can share those rich stories.

Edited by IukaSylvie on Jun 27th 2020 at 9:57:58 PM

If someone heard about works, where vampires portrayed as insectoids, like in the Darkest Dungeon? I'm now working on the urban fantasy novel and intended to make my vampires insectoid, so I'm searching for references.

The Way Of Kings e-book is free on TOR for today only. There's really no reason not to get it.

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, however, I have a few questions: 1-When did literary fiction and genre fiction split up? 2-What is the origin of the franchise? How come a novel like Harry Potter becomes a multimedia franchise?

I'm currently reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, but I'm looking for other fantasy... that, you know, isn't Brandon Sanderson.

Brandon Sanderson gets recommended way too much for my taste.

(Though I like him)

Try Nnedi Okorafor, too. She's probably the top and most well known writer for africanfuturism in the SFF scene today. Jemisin is great in almost everything she does, too.

Bit late, but Will Wight is an up and coming fantasy writer. The Traveler's Gate is a close to standard fantasy series with a few twists (the main hero is the unlucky side dude while The Chosen One does his thing mostly offscreen), Cradle Series is a wuxia series with a dash of something like sci-fi, and The Elder Empire is Lovecraft-lite with the series split into two parallel trilogies for a hefty use of Hero of Another Story.

Just finished Kings of the Wyld. A debut fantasy novel about an old washed-up ex-hero who's Putting the Band Back Together for one last gig: rescuing his daughter from the world's biggest warzone. Told from the POV of the mercenary band's proverbial drummer, the premise and setting sound fairly silly (pretty much a Fantasy Kitchen Sink where roving bands of heroes are the equivalent of rock stars), but despite the usually lighthearted tone and narration, it knows how to tug on the heartstrings when warranted. It's the first of a series, but the rest star other characters so this works just fine as a standalone. Really recommend it if you like fantasy.

Edited by Ninety on Jul 13th 2020 at 7:30:19 AM

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

A short while ago, I read this new fantasy book called Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe, which is about a girl, Eva Evergreen, who only has a small amount of magic unlike her peers, and has to undertake a witch exam to ascend to the novice rank. But other than her parents, nobody believes she can pull it off, as her magic often goes haywire, and a member of the council even threatens to steal her magic away because he considers her a liability. She does manage to be given a task to protect a town called Auteri from a violent storm, and has to stay at the town for a month to prove that she can do good for the town, enough to be considered a proper witch. I read this, and I must tell you, it's really good! I know the premise sounds like Kiki's Delivery Service, but other than some superficial similarities, Eva Evergreen is its own entity, much more of a coming-of-age story with more stakes than the slice-of-life fare that Kiki offers (That's not meant to be a slight against Kiki. I bought the book and really liked it!). I highly recommend this one for anyone who wants a fun, wholesome fantasy that still has genuine nuance and emotion in it.

Does anybody know of any books in the fantasy genre that avoid the normal aesthetic/tropes that normally surround such stories? Earth-like medieval societies are cool and all, but I have somewhat grown tired of how ubiquitous they are.

Any preferences for subgenre (Children's vs YA vs adult, leans more political intrigue or grimdark?) Are non European historical fantasies okay?

Some I can think of:

• The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone - set in a magical version of the present day, where the magic is treated in a very practical way.
• The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir - lesbian necromancers in space. First book is kind of like a much bloodier The Westing Game, second is more psychological thriller. Lots of gore and memes.
• The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K Jemisin
• The Prey of Gods and Temper by Nicky Drayden. Both SFF, both really creative and really, really weird. The Prey of Gods is set in a near future South Africa where an ancient demi-goddess is trying to regain her power at the same time as an AI uprising, Temper is set in an alternate Africa that was never colonized, where almost every person has a twin, the seven vices and virtues are split between each pair, and society is stratified between the "greater" and "lesser" twins.
• A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge. Middle grade fantasy with really creative worldbuilding and great prose. Kind of like a reversed Alice in Wonderland meets Death Note. Has been described as "a stand-alone tale of deception, cheese-making, betrayal and strategic amnesia."

Really, anything on New Weird will probably be the sort of thing you're looking for.

Does anyone have any good comedy books, preferably audiobooks? Or even just a list of top 10 funny audiobooks? Because for some reason, I have no idea why, Amazon doesn't understand the concept of comedy as a genre separate from "books written by comedians." Any time I search for comedy, I just get a bunch of nonfiction whatever-the-crap written by Amy Poehler or Kevin Hart or whoever.

Normal science fiction and fantasy books, but funny. I don't know why Amazon finds that a difficult concept. I swear, half the reason I read fanfiction is because AO3 has a good tagging system.