Fantasy recommendations please

[Polgara2]

If I liked :

Wheel of Time
Sword of Truth
All by Raymond E Feist

sort of thing what else would I like?

My first foray many years ago was David Eddings and I loved them so carried on!

I have a lot of books but nothing new as I lost my reading mojo for many years sadly.

I've just finished the ACOTAR series and enjoyed that.

Thank you kindly ☺️

Some UF recommendations (romancey ones are UFR):

• Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka (he sells this as British Harry Dresden)
• Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
• Aileen Travers series by TA White (not quite UFR but good slow burn - she also has some fantasy and sci-fi series that are excellent)
• Ollie Wit series by Donna Augustine (UFR; also Donna has some really good slow burn post-apocalyptic series that I also love)
• Mackenzie Green series by JS Kennedy (probably could be classed as UFR)
• Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
• Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter
• Death Before Dragons series by Lindsay Buroker, and all of the spin-off series. I think my favourite linked one is Legacy of Magic; the main character is half-Dwarven/half Samoan and she's fun (probably UFR, to be fair, but mostly just fun)
• The Portlock Paranormal Detective series by Heather G Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare
• Pretty much everything by Lauretta Hignett. She's mostly funny, but every now and then she hits you right in the gut and it's a lot.
• Everything by Helen Harper (UFR)
• Deals with Demons by Stacia Stark (UFR)

And if you like romantasy then Lady of Darkness by Melissa K Roehrich is also a good read.

If you have a Kindle then Kindle Unlimited is amazing for UF, UFR, and fantasy in general. I found most of those authors just by trying stuff, and if you don't like it then you've not paid lots to find that out.

Oh, and if you want extremely gentle, lovely cosy reads, then KM Shea, Shari L Tapscott, and Isa Medina are the best.

More romantasy, especially if you like having your heart ripped out before it's put back in slightly battered, then:

Sarah A Parker's To Bleed a Crystal Bloom, and When the Moon Hatched are amazing.

And Clare Sager's books are wonderful.

And A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark.

I'll stop now.

@GrouchyKiwi
I loved When the Moon Hatched. Slow to get into and them bam loved it!

Quicksilver was good too.

@chickpea1982

Absolutely agree with your recommendation of Jacqueline Carey's Phedre/Kushiel/Imriel trilogies. Great writer.

Ooooh, I’ve never met anyone else who’s read the Mordant’s Need books! I loved them.

I really envy anyone who still has all of Robin Hobb ahead of them. I loved all those books so much. The Assassin books are so good but you need to read the other trilogies too as they all join up in the end.

Assassin's apprentice by robin hobb (and the rest). You're welcome 😁

I second Fourth Wing and the sequel, Iron Flame for fantasy/ romance. I've just finished them and feel totally bereft - I can't wait for the third one to come out next year.

I would also recommend anything by Neil Gaimen - American Gods is a good place to start.

Oh also Trudi canavan books ❤️

If you haven’t started Robin Hobb yet, then you should push all these other books to the side and crack assassins apprentice open. just incredible stories and so well written

The Name of the Wind and it's sequel are very, very good, let down only by the fact that the author has still not released the third book in the trilogy, years later. But the first two are still worth a read.

Seconded!

It's nice to hear from someone else who has read them. They were so good I just wanted to recommend them to everyone, but because of the, ahem, unusual themes (!) I didn't feel like I could bring them up with anyone I know in real life! Such great stories though and so well written.

Mmm. I sometimes wonder what I'd do if I saw her books on a friend/aquaintance's bookshelves. Gushing enthusiasm? Discreet compliment on her taste in literature? Quiet smile? Embarrassed English silence?

Also, how far did you get with the Namaah trilogy? I only read Naamah’s Kiss and lost interest. Did the subsequent two improve?

Well now I'm very intrigued @chickpea1982 - what are the unusual themes?!

Kelley Armstrong does a good line in Urban Fantasy (also called Low Fantasy, which is fantasy set in 'this' world but hidden - HP would be low fantasy for example), with her Women of the Otherworld series.

Garth Nix's Sabriel series is YA but very good too (high fantasy - set in a mythical world).

Also really enjoy Jasper Fforde - particularly the Thursday Next series, I'm not so keen on his standalone stuff.

I really rate loads of the authors recommended on this list too - seconding Ben Aaranovitch, Naomi Novick, Trudi Canavan (particularly the original magician series), Patrick Ness (although I would recommend him more highly if he ever finished the bloody series), Pratchett, etc.

I didn't really get on with Fourth Wing. I mean, it was fine. I just didn't get the hype 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I've become less enamoured with Jennifer Armentrout with the more books she's released. I loved ACOTAR so I'm definitely not coming from a position of literary snobbery!

Along the booktok recommendation theme, I would recommend the Serpent With The Wings Of Night duology, IMO it's one which did live up to the hype.

Also... have you looked at any fan fiction? I'm in a bit of a Dramione phase at the moment and some of it is really very well written 😳

@LBOCS2 sado masochism (if that's how you spell it?)! I know, very unusual for a fantasy book. It put me off at first, but actually it just becomes an interesting feature of the plot. And while there is this theme, her novels are in a way a lot less sexual than some of the romantsy novels mentioned above. It's not my thing (honest!) but makes for a great series.

Interesting - I liked ACOTAR, (although mainly book 2), but thought that Fourth Wing was so much better. It might be because I listened to the audiobooks of ACOTAR, but read FW and IF in book form.

I did also like The Serpent and the Wings of Night, just waiting for the second one to come out in paperback, which must imply I wasn't obsessed with it in the same way as FW 😅

I used to love Trudi Canavan as a teenager - I might revisit her stuff soon.

@LBOCS2

"Also... have you looked at any fan fiction? I'm in a bit of a Dramione phase at the moment and some of it is really very well written"

Great suggestion! I'm an old-school Trekkie and love archiveofourown.org/, and goodness knows they have shedloads of other stuff on there. Give it a try?

PS I'd call Jacqueline Carey BDSM...

Dresden Files is great

@WolfFoxHare
I dig out Mordants Need and re-read them every couple of years 😂

I do too! In fact I’m about due a re-read.

So many more! Thank you very much everyone! Gonna read back again ☺️

I'm joining the chorus shouting about Robin hobb! Start with assassins apprentice. I'm so jealous you get to read them all for the first time!

Uprooted by naomi novik is a stunning book if you don't fancy a load of trilogies.

If you read ACOTAR may I suggest you read the Throne of Glass series & also the Cresent City books after!