The New and Improved Recommendation - Fantasy / Horror

**algernoninc** · December 21st, 2010, 11:05 AM

if you like your magic over-explained there's Brandon Sanderson with his colour or metal based inventions: WarBreaker, The Mistborn and The Way of Kings. I haven't read the last one yet, but It has been discussed at length on this forum, together with Sanderson's efforts to finish the monumental Wheel of Time - the series with the most interesting epic magical system I have read until now.

Another favorite of mine is Vlad Taltos - an assassin with spell casting abilities from Steven Brust series.

**upperhi** · December 26th, 2010, 06:34 PM

Vlad taltos is a great character, love all the Brust books, including The Viscount of Andrilankha series (Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, Sethra Lavode) and The Phoenix Guards.

**trgdy** · January 2nd, 2011, 10:00 AM

A bout a week ago my roommate was reading a store called Masters Bloodline on his kindle. I've been reading it and i'm about one half way through, but so far it's a good read and its kinda Jim Butcher-ish. Well style wise anyway.

**NickeeCoco** · January 3rd, 2011, 05:39 PM

I've asked for similar recommendations in the past, but didn't really get a response, so I going to broaden the search a bit.

I'm looking for stand alone novels with female protagonists and strong themes. Style is a major factor as well. I prefer prose that's all showing, no telling and has lots of dialogue. I want to learn about the world through characters' actions and words, not through info dumps. The less adverbs the better. Young Adult fiction is totally OK to add in there.

Authors I've read that fit this bill (but not all of them):

- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Margaret Atwood
- Robin McKinley
- Sheri S. Tepper
- Elizabeth Moon
- Patricia A. McKillip
- Patricia C. Wrede
- Garth Nix

Thanks!

**upperhi** · January 3rd, 2011, 07:50 PM

I like action packed books with tough characters, or somewhat literate fantasy reads, but NOT tomes of wasted words or romancy fantasies.
That said, here are some favorites or recent fairly new authors you might want to look at

I won't bother with the obvious ones everyone reads, like Jim Butcher who is wonderful) (author with lst in series if there is a series). Some were already mentioned by others somewhere in this thread.

Well written, non-romancy vamps:
Kim Newman - Anno Dracula (Queen Victoria marries
Dracula- bloody and hilarious)
Clay & Susan Griffith- The Greyfriar
Ilona Andrews- Magic Bites (some schmaltz/romance)
Armintrout, Jennifer- The Turning: Book1:
Baker, Nancy-The Night Inside aka Kiss of the Vampire
Bowen, Gary Diary of a Vampire

Action packed fantasies: I just loved these.
Harry Connolly- Child of Fire
Warren Ellis- Crooked Little Vein
Kadrey, Richard Sandman Slim
Bell, Alex The Ninth Circle
Pratt T A (Tim) Blood Engines
Saintcrow Lilith Working for the Devil
Williams, Liz The Snake Agent

Weres/shifters
Kelley Armstrong- Bitten
Carrie Vaughn- Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Patricia Briggs- Moon Called
Cacek Patricia Canyons

Sword/sorcery but without the wasted words:
Janrae Frank- In the Darkness Hunting (every word counts)
Matthew Sturges- Midwinter
Steven Brust- Taltos or The Lord of Castle Black

Vamps who are sort of anti-heroes (tough, brutal)
Karen Taylor-
Sherry Gottlieb - Love Bite
Nancy Collins- Sunglasses after Dark
Charlie Huston- Already Dead
Cacek Patricia Night Prayers
Garton, Ray Live Girls

vamps who help human friends or at least don't kill them
Tanya Huff- Blood Price
Mario Acevedo- Nymphos of Rocky Flats
Martinez, A Lee Gil's All Fright Diner
Simmons, William Mark 1-One Foot in the Grave
Stein, Jeanne C The Becoming
Thurlo, Graham Pale Death

Dragons
Jaida Jones- HaveMercy (metal dragons with sentience)
Naomi Novik- Dragons used as fighter planes against Napoleon- gentle, charming
Alan Troop- The Dragon de la Sangre- Brutal, pragmatic, warning- children are special tidbits

**spiralcity** · January 19th, 2011, 01:56 PM

Ron Sarti?

Is there any info about this author? I searched the net and could only find his "Chronicles Of Scar" triolgy which was penned in the mid 1990's. I was curious as to what became of this author.

**ThaSensei** · January 19th, 2011, 05:55 PM

So after a couple "meh" reads, I figured it's time to post here for some suggestions.

I've been on an assassin kick lately, so I suppose a good thief/assassin story would be my top choice. Primarily though, I want something with good character development. As far as theme and genre, I'm pretty much open to anything fantasy related. I tend to like sword/sorcery more than modern day/historical, but I'm open to reading something different.

Here's a list of some things that I've read to hopefully help with suggestions:

Books I liked a lot:
Brent Weeks - Night Angel series
Scott Lynch - Gentlemen Bastards series
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn series
Joe Ambercrombie - First Law series
George RR Martin - Ice and Fire series (not so thrilled about the 4th book)
Terry Goodkind - The first 3/4ths of the Sword of Truth series (not thrilled about the last few books)

Books that were good, but not great:
James Barclay - Elfsorrow: I just finished this one and it's alright, but it's not really what I'm looking for right now. I didn't really feel any connection to the characters.

Raymond Fiest - Magician Apprentice/Master: I really really liked the Apprentice portion. The Master portion got a little crazy for me. I really did like the characters in this one, so I'll probably go back for Silverthorn soon.

Steven Brust - Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla: Not really sure what I didn't like about these. I think they just seemed a little light, maybe? They were enjoyable, but just lacking something for me.

Anyway, I hope this can help someone offer up some solid suggestions! I'm looking forward to getting hooked on something new.

Thanks in advance!

**AndrewF** · January 22nd, 2011, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by NickeeCoco

I've asked for similar recommendations in the past, but didn't really get a response, so I going to broaden the search a bit.

I'm looking for stand alone novels with female protagonists and strong themes. Style is a major factor as well. I prefer prose that's all showing, no telling and has lots of dialogue. I want to learn about the world through characters' actions and words, not through info dumps. The less adverbs the better. Young Adult fiction is totally OK to add in there.

Authors I've read that fit this bill (but not all of them):

- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Margaret Atwood
- Robin McKinley
- Sheri S. Tepper
- Elizabeth Moon
- Patricia A. McKillip
- Patricia C. Wrede
- Garth Nix

Thanks!

I want to recommend Spirals of Destiny: Rider by Jim Bernheimer, but I have to mention that it's not a well known author, there's still only 1 book out from this series (and it ends with a cliffhanger), and it's not exactly amazing... But I did enjoy it, and it seems to fit your requirements.

Out of the authors you listed I've read Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin (it's one of my all-time favorites) and Abhorsen series by Garth Nix (also enjoyed it very much) so it could be that you'll like this book I mentioned...

**Kazz Wylde** · January 23rd, 2011, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by ThaSensei

So after a couple "meh" reads, I figured it's time to post here for some suggestions.

I've been on an assassin kick lately, so I suppose a good thief/assassin story would be my top choice. Primarily though, I want something with good character development. As far as theme and genre, I'm pretty much open to anything fantasy related. I tend to like sword/sorcery more than modern day/historical, but I'm open to reading something different.

Here's a list of some things that I've read to hopefully help with suggestions:

Books I liked a lot:
Brent Weeks - Night Angel series
Scott Lynch - Gentlemen Bastards series
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn series
Joe Ambercrombie - First Law series
George RR Martin - Ice and Fire series (not so thrilled about the 4th book)
Terry Goodkind - The first 3/4ths of the Sword of Truth series (not thrilled about the last few books)

Books that were good, but not great:
James Barclay - Elfsorrow: I just finished this one and it's alright, but it's not really what I'm looking for right now. I didn't really feel any connection to the characters.

Raymond Fiest - Magician Apprentice/Master: I really really liked the Apprentice portion. The Master portion got a little crazy for me. I really did like the characters in this one, so I'll probably go back for Silverthorn soon.

Steven Brust - Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla: Not really sure what I didn't like about these. I think they just seemed a little light, maybe? They were enjoyable, but just lacking something for me.

Anyway, I hope this can help someone offer up some solid suggestions! I'm looking forward to getting hooked on something new.

Thanks in advance!

I'm about to rap up Michael J Sullivans first Riyria series books, The Crown Conspriacy, nice light read, you dig the characters. I'm in for this whole series, no doubt. I think you'll like these.

**Jay83** · January 27th, 2011, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by NickeeCoco

I've asked for similar recommendations in the past, but didn't really get a response, so I going to broaden the search a bit.

I'm looking for stand alone novels with female protagonists and strong themes. Style is a major factor as well. I prefer prose that's all showing, no telling and has lots of dialogue. I want to learn about the world through characters' actions and words, not through info dumps. The less adverbs the better. Young Adult fiction is totally OK to add in there.

Authors I've read that fit this bill (but not all of them):

- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Margaret Atwood
- Robin McKinley
- Sheri S. Tepper
- Elizabeth Moon
- Patricia A. McKillip
- Patricia C. Wrede
- Garth Nix

Thanks!

You should try jacqueline carey - kushiels dart

This is part of a trilogy and although the books should be read in order each is a stand alone. I think you would enjoy this book.

Jay

**finnskeeper** · February 3rd, 2011, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by NickeeCoco

I've asked for similar recommendations in the past, but didn't really get a response, so I going to broaden the search a bit.

I'm looking for stand alone novels with female protagonists and strong themes. Style is a major factor as well. I prefer prose that's all showing, no telling and has lots of dialogue. I want to learn about the world through characters' actions and words, not through info dumps. The less adverbs the better. Young Adult fiction is totally OK to add in there.

Authors I've read that fit this bill (but not all of them):

- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Margaret Atwood
- Robin McKinley
- Sheri S. Tepper
- Elizabeth Moon
- Patricia A. McKillip
- Patricia C. Wrede
- Garth Nix

Thanks!

We like a lot of the same authors and style. Based on that I think you'd like:

Sherwood Smith's Inda series. I love these books and its one of my all time favorite fantasy series. I'm suprised its not mentioned more. That said, I really hated some of the YA stuff she has written.

Sharon Shinn - love all of her stuff including the Twelve Houses, Angel and YA stuff. I would compare her to Robin McKinley.

Lynn Flewelling - All her stuff is great, but only the Bone Doll's Twinn has a female protagonist.

You might like Michelle Sagara as well.

I enjoyed Kate Forsyth's books which all have strong female protagonists.

Tamora Pierce is more YA but well written and tells a good story.

Moira Moore is enjoyable humourous fantasy.

Not a female protagonist but I love Naomi Novik's books. Also Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. They latter two have an Atwoodish wicked humor.

**Loerwyn** · February 4th, 2011, 09:43 AM

Less a recommendation of what to buy and more of one for what to read.

I've gotten started on Sanderson's Mistborn and whilst I quite like it, I got a bit confuddled over his different terms surrounding allomancy and how things are used. I'm also not really sure I want to read it at the moment, which is fun.

So, not sure what I can read. Whilst I wasn't overly enthused with Sheepfarmer's Daughter, I'm considering picking The Deed of Paksennarrion back up and getting through Divided Allegience (Or whatever it's called).

What else have I got? WoT and ASoIaF #1, Brooks' Shannara books, a truck load of King books. Uh... Can't think what I have now (Out of date - but still relevant - pics are in the bookshelf thread).

Edit: Oh! Oh! I have the second Shadows of the Apt novel, too.

**Bastard** · February 5th, 2011, 05:21 PM

Need to buy a book that was either released in the last couple of months or is going to be released between now and late March. Want to buy a book in Barnes and Noble, but I'm shy of the $25 order for Free Shipping and all the books that I'm interested in I've already bought or can find for cheaper elsewhere, be it from some other site or used books.

Thanks... recommend away without account for tastes.

**finnskeeper** · February 6th, 2011, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by Bastard

Need to buy a book that was either released in the last couple of months or is going to be released between now and late March. Want to buy a book in Barnes and Noble, but I'm shy of the $25 order for Free Shipping and all the books that I'm interested in I've already bought or can find for cheaper elsewhere, be it from some other site or used books.

Thanks... recommend away without account for tastes.

Well just looking at some on my pre order list at B&N

The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee

Lady-Protector by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Speak to the Devil (Brothers Magnus Series #1)
by Dave Duncan

The River Kings' Road
by Liane Merciel

Swords and Dark Magic
by Jonathan Strahan

If you can go into April:

The Dragon's Path
by Daniel Abraham

Among Thieves
by Douglas Hulick

Retribution Falls
by Chris Wooding

The Unremembered
by Peter Orullian

**Bastard** · February 6th, 2011, 07:18 AM

The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee <-- Already Have it.

Lady-Protector by L. E. Modesitt Jr. <-- Not following the series

Speak to the Devil (Brothers Magnus Series #1) <--- I'm interested, but expensive at the moment
by Dave Duncan

The River Kings' Road <-- Already have it.
by Liane Merciel

Swords and Dark Magic <--- Not interested in anthologies.
by Jonathan Strahan

The Dragon's Path <--- Already have it
by Daniel Abraham

Among Thieves <--- Already have it
by Douglas Hulick

Retribution Falls <--- Already have it
by Chris Wooding

The Unremembered <--- Going to wait to buy it used
by Peter Orullian

Thanks.