fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3076 ]

[ SECRET POST #3076 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3076 ⌋

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

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

__________________________________________________

10.

__________________________________________________

11.

__________________________________________________

12.

__________________________________________________

13.

__________________________________________________

14.

__________________________________________________

15.

__________________________________________________

16.

__________________________________________________

17. [WARNING for rape/sexual abuse]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 103 secrets from Secret Submission Post #440.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

-preferably not part of 90872403 book series
-not crazy about vampires/werewolves/paranormal romance
-likeable characters please!
-angst is fine, not such a big fan of grimdark.

Examples of fantasy I like: Ursule LeGuin, Tolkien, Robin Hobb, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Lois McMaster Bujold, Zelazny.

Fantasy in the modern age which doesn't fall into standard urban fantasy tropes would be cool (I am familiar with De Lint and China Mieville).

The Bartimaeus Trilogy

A+ rec, super fun! (I have already read them, though :)

Have you tried S Andrew Swann's tow "Dragon..." books? Dragon Princess and Dragon Thief? They are funny and an affectionate pastiche of high fantasy, but also a skewed look at bodily identity too. I highly recommend them.

no, I hadn't heard of them! They sound great :D

We read Dragon Princess for book club several months ago. I thought it was pretty fun.

Do you have a link to that discussion by any chance?

Found it!

It's a smallish discussion, alas.

Scott Lynch? His Gentleman Bastard series is fun.

David Duncan's "The King's Blades" series is also neat, and as a bonus each book stands fairly well on its own so you don't have to invest in ALL the books if you don't want to.

Huh, the King's Blades books sound interesting. I like the concept! Thanks =)

I had always considered Scott Lynch, but somehow never bought any of the books. I will take another look at them.
Thank you so much!

Seconding Scott Lynch and came here to rec him. So very good.

Hm. I'm going out on a limb here and recommending "Last Call" by Tim Powers, which is urban fantasy I guess but is so different from the standard UF that I have a difficult time classifying it (maybe magical realism? is weird fiction still a thing?)
Basic premise is that Bugsy Siegel was the Fisher King of the American West, and his death left a power vacuum that many terrible people are trying to fill. In order to basically avoid having his soul eaten because he played a bad hand of poker ten years ago, Scott has to go thwart the plans of the man most likely to claim the throne... his father.

This book is fucking weird and there are no two ways about it. It's also really fucking good and is responsible for pretty much everything I know about the tarot, how to play poker, and Arthuriana.

Otherwise, I have a ridiculous love for Kat Richardson's "Greywalker" series, which unfortunately has 9 books which might be more than you're into, but has absolutely zero supernatural romance, a protagonist who takes no shit at all from anyone, and a recognition that if you can see souls, looking at a vampire would be fucking nauseating.

Well, you have successfully intrigued me in both of these.
It's true that I am a bit leery of investing in a 9 book series atm... I will try and see if I can get them from the library, though. I am definitely interested in taking a look.

Thank you for the recs :)))

If you're wary about it being 9 books, the first three or so books are absolutely self-contained and don't require any wrapping-up from the last half of the series, or even really needing to be read in the 'correct' order. 4 and 5 play off each other, as do 8 and 9, but the other ones are also pretty stand-alone as long as you've read in the right order.

I was about to recommend Last Call! Yeah, it's great and weird, and Tim Powers owns.

I'm probably still going to write a post, but let me just say that if you like Powers, you should definitely also check out James Blaylock.

Steven Brust is one of my favorites. There are quite a few books in the Vlad Taltos series but it's not important to read them all. It's sort of like Discworld where you can jump in anywhere.

I also always have to recommend Guy Gavriel Kay at these times. The first of his I read was Tigana and I loved it. I think it does moral complexity well without succumbing to showing off how GRITTY it is.

And if I can recommend something with the disclaimer that a friend wrote them, I love Shira Glassman's Mangoverse series. She says she made it so you could start with any of the three (so far) books but I still recommend starting with The Second Mango, the earliest one. These books make me happier than anything else. As far from grimdark as you can get. And I adore the characters.

Well I can confirm your taste because I have read (and liked!) the Vlad Taltos series - it's so weird, but definitely interesting. I love when fantasy does more out-there stuff.
And I have read a whole bunch of GGK and also own Tigana so there. And 100% on the moral complexity without being I R GRITTY LOOK AT THE BLOOD! That's one of the (many) things I liked about it.

I am actually familiar with the Mangoverse, too! Though it pinged my radar as being a bit to YA for me.

I don't know if I should be happy I made good choices or disappointed that I couldn't help. :p

If it helps, Shira didn't write the Mangoverse as YA, it just happened to sell to a YA publisher that was willing to market it as New Adult. I think there are ways to compare it to YA but I think you could make arguments against it too. I don't have a strong opinion either way on that. It still tackles some interesting themes. Climbing the Date Palm is all about workers' rights and inspired by her spouse's real life advocacy in that area.

Also, have you read Brust's Khaavren Romances series too?

Tim Powers and James Blaylock! Both of them (and I group them together because they're good friends and collaborators IRL) write a ton of imaginative, well-written fantasy, often set in our world, and that differs substantially from your typical urban fantasy stuff. And they're both really good, and out there. For instance, Powers' best known work is The Anubis Gates, which is, basically, about time-travel and Egyptian gods and trying to save the whole of history from evil magicians in Regency England. For Blaylock, I like his contemporary stuff the most; he's great for creating this atmosphere of weirdness and strange shit going on in the world that we know. Check them out!

Other authors I strongly recommend: Lois McMaster Bujold if you haven't read her. Patricia McKillip. John Crowley. Dammit, there's someone else but their name is completely slipping my mind. Oh well.

I'm a big fan of Rupetta for philosophical fantasy ala Le Guin. It's probably easiest to get a digital copy.

DA

LeGuin fan here, thank you for the rec!

Robin Mckinley does my favorite novel versions of fairy tales, most always with a twist and always with much elaboration. Warning; you either love or hate how she writes. Like long winding sentences? You'll love her.

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series is ostensibly YA but much better than a lot of that ilk.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3076 ]

looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books

Re: looking for fantasy books