Hey Bookit,
I am looking for some fantasy novel recommendations for the new year. Here’s some of the ones I’ve read so far:
LOTR Trilogy (of course)
Wheel of Time Series — Robert Jordan
Sword of Truth Series — Terry Goodkind
Quarters Novels 1 & 2 — Tanya Huff
Mirror of Her Dreams / A Man Rides Through — Stephen Donaldson (I also started the Thomas Covenant series, but I didn’t like them as much as these ones.)
Assassin’s Apprentice — Robin Hobb
Earthsea Trilogy — Ursula K. LeGuin
Kushiel’s Scion — Jaqueline Carey
The Mists of Avalon — Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lots of Mercedes Lackey/Anne McCaffrey
Eyes of the Dragon/Dark Tower Series — Stephen King
Game of Thrones — George R.R. Martin (Not my favorite book. It was well-written, but I didn’t really get into it.)
In general, I like novels with strong female characters, magical storylines, and maybe a bit of romance/sexual tension thrown in (I’m a girl, I can’t help it. :D) I don’t like fantasy novels that revolve around wars or political intrigue as much; I tend to get bored with them quickly.
Thanks for your recommendations!
Mistborn should be right up your alley. Female protagonist, innovative magic system. That would be my number one pick for you. If you like the Mistborn saga, I’d also suggest trying out Sanderson’s newest series, The Way of Kings , I really enjoyed it.
Name of the Wind is a great book, don’t miss out on that one.
The Lies of Locke Lamore is a bit outside of what you might be looking for (more Ocean’s Eleven less LotR), but I’d suggest taking a look.
The problem with my books is that she seems to want less political intrigue/wars and more sword and sorcery/adventure. I tend to do quite a bit of the first.
Name of the Wind is a very good suggestion here.
Okay…less warfare/political intrigue. Female protagonists, high magic, some romance if possible. Didn’t like GRRM as much, liked some YA novels…
1) Sabriel, Garth Nix. Not much on the romance, but hits the other points solidly.
2) Dig into some Barbara Hambly books. Many of them are from the same era of fantasy as Lackey/McCaffrey/MZB at their height, and will have a similar feel. Dragonsbane is my go-to suggestion for Hambly.
3) Dragon Prince , by Melanie Rawn, hits all of your points solidly except has a stronger political intrigue plot than you might like. Great romance in the novel, however.
4) Also, if you’ve never read the Blue Sword …well, this book has a good chance of being exactly what you’re looking for. Really. Go for it. Note that it would probably be packaged as YA if it were released today.
5) Howl’s moving castle. Great book, has everything you want. I’d give this one a high probability of being a hit.
Honorable mentions to consider: Michelle West, Sherwood Smith, His Dark Materials . If you like stylized prose: Patricia Mckillip. If you want to get your Emo on: C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire Trilogy. If you want to laugh, Wee Free Men. (But really, go read the Blue Sword .)
–Brandon Sanderson
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