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Fantasy books
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Coke Slurpee




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 1:53 pm
I don't know why, but I was never able to get into The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.
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Coke Slurpee




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 1:59 pm
I just checked almost every book recommended on this thread and not one is available at my local library At wits end I put alot on hold, but with Corona, it means it takes over a week to get any book. I probably won't get any before Rosh Hashana!
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LiLIsraeli




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 2:00 pm
I love Juliet Marillier's work - my favorite was a stand-alone novel, Heart's Blood, though I've read all her series as well.

Also love Naomi Novik - in addition to Spinning Silver, mentioned above, there's Uprooted, also with a shomer shabbos heroine. She also has the Temeraire series, about an alternate universe where dragons exist in the time of Napoleon.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 2:06 pm
bigsis144 wrote:
The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
The trope of “kid falls through a portal to a magical world” doesn’t usually deal with the aftermath of coming home to an ordinary life after Wonderland or Narnia or the Land of the Dead.


The Wildwood Chronicles actually dealt with this a little but while I enjoyed the series, it kind of fell flat for me. I loved the illustrations, though.

Other series I read recently:

Bartimaeus (3 books): it’s told through the point of view of a demon and is pretty funny and fresh. The other main character is pretty unlike able but goes through a slow, 3-book redemption arc (kind of like Quentin from The Magicians- you too for him at the end even though he is so annoyingly negative till you get there).

Reckless (3 Books, by Cornelia Funke): very action-packed and full of familiar fairy tale characters brought to life in various ways. I enjoyed it a lot, although I’m annoyed that the last of the series didn’t come out yet. Book three has too many loose ends.

The Queen’s Thief series- almost like historical fiction (fictional history, though) with the smallest touch of magic. Each book is brilliant and really manages to surprise you. Also waiting for the last of the series

BigSis, thanks for all of the recs, I don’t know where to start first!
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 2:07 pm
Coke Slurpee wrote:
I don't know why, but I was never able to get into The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.


Start with LOTR, I found the Hobbit boring.
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Scotty




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 3:16 pm
Another vote for the Queen's Thief series. The first is sort of slow - until you reach the end and nearly fall over from shock and immediately page to the start of the book and reread it all over again, slapping yourself for being so dense :-)
The others just get better and better
JUST DON'T YOU DARE READ THEM OUT OF ORDER OR SPOIL YOURSELF WITH SYNOPSES ONLINE
...trust me, just don't.
(Just a heads up, they feature a fantasy pantheon of 'gods', if that's not your cup of tea)
but so ridiculously marvelous


Also Diana Wynne Jones, of course

If you couldn't get into Pratchett, try his Going Postal first. It's the best of all of them in my opinion and a great way to get into it. One of the most perfect books I've ever read.
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 4:42 pm
I love this thread!

Yes to Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett, though some of the latter's books are better than others.

I'm still giving Jim Butcher a chance, working my way through the Dresden Files. The sexism is so annoying.

I tried Mistborn as an audio book. It didn't enthrall me, but I should probably give it another chance as a physical book, because so many people love the series.

I loved Spinning Silver. Uprooted was weirder.

I'm still working my way through Lord of the Rings. I think it can be hard for people who are very familiar with literary tropes to enjoy the original books the tropes are based on. We're too jaded by the trope-breaking and genre-bending of today's books.

The Magicians is dark and intense.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman starts out amazing, but the end was hashkafically iffy for me, and the prequels didn't live up to the originals.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell is a huge fantastic book.

The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake is not exactly fantasy, but close enough. And a fun literary experience.

I've read some standalone fantasy books, if that's something you're interested in.

Neil Gaiman has some good books but they can be categorized as fantast horror and are somewhat gory. I liked his Neverwhere, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The Graveyard Book is supposed to be for kids but I can't imagine offering it to my kids.


Caraval by Stephanie Garber was light and fun.

I enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo was a murder mystery fantasy set in a college. Gory, of course. I think it's the first of a series.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a standalone.
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Siriusly?




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 4:50 pm
I loved the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card, it's a great sci fi/fantasy series. The first book is a great standalone, then it branches into two sub-series each focusing on one of the two main characters. One sub-series gets quite political while the other gets almost philosophical. The final book is supposed to combine the two threads again; it hasn't been released yet.
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Rubber Ducky




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 5:02 pm
LiLIsraeli wrote:
...Also love Naomi Novik - in addition to Spinning Silver, mentioned above, there's Uprooted, also with a shomer shabbos heroine...


I didn't know that and may read Uprooted just because of it, because Jewish characters in recent fantasy are so rare. Which character is Jewish?
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 5:05 pm
Rubber Ducky wrote:
I didn't know that and may read Uprooted just because of it, because Jewish characters in recent fantasy are so rare. Which character is Jewish?


I read it and don’t remember any characters being Jewish. It was fantastic as well, but did have a couple of scenes that were unnecessarily explicit.
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 5:17 pm
I enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh.
Am looking forward to the final Queen's Thief book coming out October 6. Hope it doesn't disappoint.
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bigsis144




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 6:21 pm
Oh! The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard.

Diane Duane wrote for Spider-Man and Star Trek, and it shows. If you love physics and astronomy and want teleportation spells to take the orbital motion of the earth into account, or how much oxygen you need to take with you if you go to the moon, this is for you. There are alternate dimensions and non-human wizards (whales, sentient trees, alien exchange students), and the villainous Lone Power is a very sympathetic personification of Entropy itself.

And the traditional way to address him when you meet (and every Wizard has an initiation Ordeal where they thwart him in some way) is: “Fairest and Fallen, greetings and defiance.”

And that’s just 💙
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Opal




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 8:05 pm
Such a great thread! I absolutely loved Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy, and Six of Crows, though I wasn't such a fan of Ninth House. Incredible writing and characters, and the Russian inspired world was so different and interesting.

The Winternight series by Katherine Arden is also one of my favorites - also with some Russian leanings, though it's more a mythology inspired fairytale than a science-y magic system like the Grisha trilogy.

I have some misgivings about Naomi Novik's books but Uprooted is worth a read - especially if you like enchanted woods and chosen girls Smile.

Finnikin of the Rock (forgot author) is good trilogy but gets quite dark and doesn't spare details on r*pe and violence... So not for everyone.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore! So good, and clean.
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amother
Blue


 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 8:08 pm
This is YA officially but the book Graceling and its sequel... So we'll written
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causemommysaid




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 8:24 pm
sequoia wrote:
The best fantasy series is The Magicians by Lev Grossman.


So interesting. I absolutely despised The Magicians.

The characters were all such dour, angry, depressed losers. I was rooting for their failure the whole book. Very Happy
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 9:38 pm
For oldies but goodies, try Robin McKinley. Esp The Blue Sword.
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rachel6543




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 10:06 pm
For Fantasy novels, I do have to say I like Sarah J Maas’s “a court of thorns & roses” series. It’s a series about human & fae. The first book in the series is a retelling of beauty and the beast. It’s definitely a series for adults (not kids), as there is adult romantic stuff in the books.

I also love Patricia C Wrede’s the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. The series is kid/teen friendly and makes fun of fairy tales. Such a wonderful series. I seriously reread it every year. Wrede has also written othery novels & they are all enjoyable.
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cbsp




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 10:12 pm
Chrestomanci (I have 4 books) - Diana Wynne Jones, I think.

The Magician world (and Krondor) books by Raymond E. Feist

Brent Weeks" Night Angel trilogy

Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas covenant (not sure if I read all but I remember the first trilogy as being fascinating)

Anything Jane Yolen

Harry Harrison's West of Eden series

Anne Mccaffrey, not just the Pern series. I enjoyed the Freedom series and the Crystal Singer series. (I think those might be less clean, though. The hazards of reading fantasy...)

Then there are the fairy tales redone as novels books - Robin McKinley and Patricia A. McKillip come to mind.

If you can handle Phillip K. d!ck, he's written some classic works as well.

Dean Koontz tends towards the fantastical side of life, especially with his later works. Some of his early stuff is dark and filthy, so you need to be careful.
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Cello




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 10:20 pm
The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles) by Patrick Rothfuss is amazing. There's a second book also, The Wise Man's Fear, but the third book isn't out yet. I see a few ladies have mentioned Mistborn/ Brandon Sanderson and I knew a few people who like both of those series.

If you don't mind something that's a little bit YA, Holly Black is also really good.
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shanie5




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Sep 13 2020, 10:59 pm
Jasper FForde. The Eyre Affair is the first in the series. I enjoyed all of them so far.
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