fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2716 ]

[ SECRET POST #2716 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2716 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 044 secrets from Secret Submission Post #388.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - this is getting too obvious now, anon ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Yo ho ho, FS! I'm going on a really, really, incredibly, unimaginably long road trip soon and I'm looking for some Fantasy/Urban Fantasy book recs. I'm looking for good female characters, LGBT characters, characters of color (especially latino Americans). I prefer adult characters and happy endings (may not seem like it but I'm kind of dealing with depression because of a loved one's death so death/despair really freak me out right now). I figure you all are a good place to ask, right, cause you seem like you've got good taste?

* Oh yeah, I'm not a fan of the Nightrunners series, so I've been recced it before but it wasn't for me.

Will a mixture of post-apocalypse, fantasy, and urban fantasy be up your alley? There's something that, at least superficially, seems like it would fit a bit, but before I do rec it that setting is kind of a big thing to consider.

DA

It sounds interesting to me so...could I get a rec for it?

Send me a title! Sounds cool to me.

OP, Sounds good. I'd be happy if you recced it to me.

SA

Right, so it's a book trilogy called the Genesis of Shannara. In universe there was another series of stories called the Word & Void which are more urban fantasy than this but the main character is a man and while the first and third book also have a main protagonist in a woman (the same one), I have not actually read it. After the series I am about to describe there are more stories that are, for the most part, straight high fantasy, typically titled "X of Shannara." You don't really need to know anything about the other series to understand what is going on in this one.

Right, so the Genesis of Shannara by Terry Brooks, is set in a post-apocalypse, civilization collapsed U.S., specifically the Pacific Coast (mostly because the author lives there, in Washington). The world is this way because of wars, biological and chemical attacks, things like that. Not known to many people, things got like this because of the influence of demons(not the Christian kind) and their once-men (in the sense that they were/are corrupted human beings, not necessarily that they were specifically men), to which two of the main characters, both "Knights of the Word," endowed with magic staffs, who fight the demons. One is white man who has been fighting demons all his life (which is after a lot of bad things happened to the world) and his exploits, and a Latino woman, specifically having grown up in the L.A. barrio, and her actions trying to help save human compounds under attack by various demon armies. Also main characters are a group of wild kids in Seattle trying to survive a world with a lot of poisons and mutations (Fallout style), and the last remnants of Elves in the forest in their capital trying to survive, to get more into detail would probably be a bit spoiler-y. Starting towards the middle of the first book all four of these groups/characters begin to intermingle and help each other try to survive against the demons.

As for the checklist of the OP: No LGBT characters I can think of in any of this guy's series, but that might be because he primarily rights the series in a high fantasy setting. The female Knight main character is a Latino American (well "American" considering the setting), so there's that, and she kicks ass pretty independently, she never really needs help from anyone, except maybe once or twice when someone really has the upper hand on her in a fight. Most are adults, except for maybe the wild kids, but they are, for the most parts, teens, and all but maybe the youngest acts really kiddy, but they keep true to the seriousness of the life they lead. Perhaps a bit spoiler-y, but I'd say the ending of the trilogy is, for the most part, a happy ending, but I wouldn't exactly call it all sunshine and rainbows tier happy ending. Bonus in that the sort of motherly figure in the wild kids group is in a wheel chair, so there is that. For the most part all the other female characters I say are strong, although the ones that end up in relationships, that you actually see fully start, tend to be kinda lovey-dovey, though that's more or less because the author can't right a "on-screen" relationship to save his life; he's good at ones that are in progress or that are about to commence, but not the beginnings of one. I should also note that I'm never really sure if female characters are strong female characters, since it feels like every time I look the definition has changed in someway.

/I hope this essay hit the word limit
/This took me upwords of 20+ minutes to write

SA

Knew I forgot something. The books in the Genesis of Shannara are: Armageddon's Children, The Elves of Cintra, and The Gypsy Morph.

OP
Thank you, anon. I appreciate this. :)

Jim C. Hines' Princess series has...pretty much everything you're looking for, except maybe the happy ending at the end of the entire series...sort of.* There's a LGBT WoC [with other more minor characters who aren't white - particularly in the third book that's set in an African/Arabian inspired country], three very strong female leads, and aside from the last book they all have happy endings. The female leads are adults, two of which are mothers by the end of the series [one prior to it starting].

I will note that the back stories aren't always the happiest since they're based on the Grimm version of their respective fairy tales - but the series takes up after those are done so the descriptions aren't generally graphic.

*It's complicated, it's sad but it's got it's bright parts to the ending.

OP. Actually, Jim Hines was the guy I was kind of thinking of when I made the request. I've never read his stuff but it sounds promising. Should I just start at book 1 and go from there? Thanks for the rec, BTW.

Personally, I'd recommend starting there since they do refer to events that happen in earlier books later on, and it really sets the tone for the relationships between the three main characters.

OP
Will do. Thank you so much. This sounds great. :)

DA

Seconding the rec for the Princesses series. Book 1 is The Stepsister Scheme.

You might also want to check out his new series, I think the first one's Libriomancer. It's not finished yet, so no guarantees of happy endings, and some bad things happen, but it's more on the hopeful side for urban fantasy. And it has the absolute best description/feel of what it's like to truly *love* books. Seriously, I want libriomancy to be a thing like you wouldn't believe.

OP
Thank you! This book sounds awesome. :D

If you want something that's mostly just silly and fun, and enjoy Austen-esque regency pastiche, I'd recommend the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carringer. The first book is basically Pride and Prejudice, but with werewolf pack dynamics and vampire politics. The lead's a pretty awesome lady, and there's quite a few queer side characters. Plus happy endings abound. I don't recall any characters of color, but it's been a while since I've read the books.

OP
I've heard of that one. Thank you for the rec. It sounds totally promising. :)

IF ever you want some good fantasy that leaves you with a smile instead of the sads, I recommend Patricia C Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles! Don't let the cute covers fool you, they're very clever and there's something fun on every page without ever being outrageous. The main character is woman (other main characters are a female dragon and a witch) and basically they're full of wordplay and fairy-tale inversions and clever worldbuilding. A+

OP
Yes, thank you! A dragon main character?? That sounds awesome. :D

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[ SECRET POST #2716 ]

Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

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Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

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Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!

Re: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Recsssss, please!