Recs for New Fantasy Readers

This is inspired by a tweet commenting about how it was weird that a recs list recommended so much old stuff. I mentioned that I'd probably recommend some of those books myself depending on the person. And that's the crux isn't it? Depending on the person. Not everyone's the same. Not everyone wants the same thing. Which is why I'm going to take a run at this - my "if you're into X, try this".

Notes: I am trying to aim for a range - dark books, cheerful books, old books, new books, books by authors from many backgrounds, and so on. I am a little biased towards simpler stories, but not always. I am a lot biased towards books I've actually read, but include a few things I've heard great things about, and a few things that aren't my thing but I think a lot of people will enjoy.

I watched Game of Thrones and want to read more stuff like that

I figure that's got to be a lot of new Fantasy fans right now. The obvious starting point is A Song of Ice and Fire itself but those are big hefty tomes and they already know the story, so lets talk some other options for stories with similarities. I'm thinking pseudo-Medieval/early Renaissance, lot of politics, plot twists, violence and family dynamics, with a few big fantasy touches.

RJ Barker's Wounded Kingdom series has a lot of those things. It's a bit more hopeful in tone, and it's a lot less sprawling for being centred around one person, but it's very focused on intrigue and shared families. The Empire Trilogy by Jannie Wurts and Raymond E. Feist is a classic and hasn't aged well in every respect, but it is at heart a very well executed book of politics with some big action scenes, and it's pseudo-East Asian setting is something some people might prefer while still feeling Medieval enough to appeal to many. Finally, if you liked the sense of something different and cynical to what you thought was fantasy, and enjoyed the various journeys alone a bit more than the intrigues, Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy is well worth a look and features one of Tyrion's few equals in the genre for wit, honesty and unique world view in the crippled torturer Glokta.

I watched American Gods/Good Omens/Lucifer and want to read more stuff like that

I am possibly wrong in assuming a lot of fantasy's new fans are being drawn in by the glut of genre programming on TV. But there is a hell of a lot of it. It makes sense. In any case - the idea of the myths and legends we hear about walking around the cities we know and love is a big part of Fantasy. And it has a big appeal - I mean, it must do to get that much TV programming, right?

It feels like a good time for this sort of fantasy, particularly if you count near-modern set books like Erin Mogernstern's The Night Circus or Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Djinni, both of which have a very poetic feel to them and closely follow the tales of a few particular individuals; two magicians competing to influenced a circle full of wonders, a Golem and a Djinni stuck in New York. There's also the more irreverent and action filled takes like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (maybe more Preacher-esque in some ways), in which a gung-ho wizard detective meets many supernatural types and pisses them off. And of course there's Neil Gaiman, involved in the books behind all three of those TV shows in some ways, and who has other similar awesome stories in the form of Anansai Boys and Neverwhere.

I watched Lord of the Rings and want to read more stuff like that

By this, I mean people who want adventures and quests and fantastical races and a sense of something grand. They want it to feel Fantasy like everyone says it is - elves, dwarves, fantastic beasts. My first recommendation is Jen Williams' The Ninth Rain, an adventure heavy book full of eerie landscapes, majestic warbeasts, and a vampiric elf. Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is a bit more GoT-esque in terms of the politics, and more about the spirits and giant wolfmen than the elves and beasts, but it's a got similar sort of heart to it. The real king of that traditional elves and all type stories that I'm aware of today is Michael J Sullivan, although I've yet to read his Riyira Chronicles yet. And if people want to try the best of that 80s/90s wave of fiction when this was all the rage, I heavily recommend looking at Katherine Kerr's Daggerspell and Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry.

I want to try Fantasy because I like the idea of Historical Fiction with some bits added

Well, there's certainly a lot of Fantasy that fits this bill. Miles Cameron's The Traitor Son has a clear feel for the medieval period and stays faithful to the known record. I've never read it myself, but Mary Gentle's Ash: A Secret History has a formidable reputation for the level of research and verisimilitude, although it's more Secret or Alt History than Straight History - and also a very big book. If you want something more recent in terms of history, Naomi Novik's Temeraire are fast fun reads that read like Hornblower with extra dragons. And if you want something a bit more early medieval, then Katherine Kurtz's Deryni Rising and Guy Gavriel Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan are oldies but goldies.

I'm into mysteries, any good Fantasy mysteries?

Yes, yes there are. Urban Fantasy is chock-block full of them, from the aforementioned Dresden Files to Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London. Then there's those set in near-modern Fantasy cities, like the post-colonial spy thriller that is Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs, the noir-ish Straight Razor Cure by Daniel Polansky, or the brooding gothic occult mysteries of Aliette de Bodard's House of Broken Wings. And some embrace the more mythic historical roots of history. Barry Hughart's Bridge of Wings is a cult classic for its humour and reinvention of Chinese fairytale, the aforementioned Age of Assassins has a big murder mystery at the heart of it, and Sir Terry Pratchett's satirical Watch series bridges the gap between near-modern and medieval-esque at times.

I'm into action stories and fight scenes

Fantasy has no end of blood and thunder - and sometimes thud and blunder - so you're well served here. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn or Fonda Lee's Jade City would be my first two recommendations who wants supernatural action hero-esque fights that can chew up the scenery. If you want to hear the clash of swords and see brave warriors fight foes no man should face, then Robert E. Howard's Conan stories are a classic for good reason, and David Gemmell's Legend should be just as classic.

I'm into romance. Are there some good love stories?

Yes. But I don't know them that well. Well, tell a lie, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart has a lovely slow burn romance right at the heart of it and the series. It also has a lot of BDSM sex. So maybe not everyone's idea of a romance.

Firing up the search engine suggests that people look up Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel or Sarah J Maas' Court of Thorns and Roses, and I can at least tell you I've read both authors and found them competent writers - and really enjoyed some of Clare's YA Urban Fantasy stuff (which was full of love triangles now I mention it). I'll have to seek out more recs from other people when I update this (it's clearly a first draft to me by now).

I just want to read the classics

There's certainly worse places to start - although sometimes there's better, with many of Fantasy's classics now featuring rather dated language and the preoccupations of another age. JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are well known, but Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea deserves to be just as well known. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast is fantasy in terms of it featuring a society and environment that never truly existed, and is hugely well thought of (only seen the TV show). More recent classics would include Robert Jordan's weighty, slow moving but absorbing Wheel of Time and Emma Bull's War for the Oaks, a fast moving and fun adventure story that helped make Urban Fantasy what it is today.

But what would *your* personal recommendations be?

Haha, like anybody's actually asking that.

But to pick 3 books/series I haven't mentioned yet that I think are truly, absolutely wonderful:

Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora - Heist Fantasy set in not-Renaissance Italy; vibrant sense of fun, gritty without being overwhelmingly so, and twisty as a snake in the good way. About as much fun as it gets.

Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead - This wowed me. This wowed me so much. It treats gods and religions like modern corporations and it makes perfect sense. Part travelogue, part thriller mystery, wholly incredible.

Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld - I'm cheating here, but Pratchett is by so far and away my favourite author, and his Discworld series features a number of sub-series and standalones that offer something for everyone. Not everyone gets his sense of humour, but if you do, you'll have so much fun, and his books come with layer after layer of meaning. Try the Witches series if you want to read a twist on wicked witches, where the witches are still rather wicked but all in the service of good; Mort for a take on what it'd be like to be Death's apprentice; Small Gods for a satire on religion and what it really is to believe that is very respectful of the faithful; or Monstrous Regiment if you want a war story that doesn't think war is a terribly good idea.

I want to read about people like me and I'm not a straight white male

I left this one until last because it would be the one that took the most space and I wanted to try and address it well. I'm not sure I have, but I've tried, for it is important. It's a not unreasonable fear given Fantasy's history as a genre and depicted fanbase that people who fit the above description wouldn't find a home. It is becoming less and less true, although it can feel like nothing has changed at times, so I encourage everyone to have a look at the genre, but people will only feel at home if we make the effort to ensure they are welcome. Hence the importance.

Seth Dickinson's The Traitor Baru Comorant features a gay main character and has the need to hide that as a fairly prominent sub-plot. Mercedes Lackey's Magic's Pawn follows a similar slant in terms of dealing with homophobia. Aliette de Bodard's House of Binding Thorns by contrast is a world where homosexuality is common and discrimination is not shown. Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint is one of the classics when it comes to 'Fantasy of Manners' and has a M/M relationship; Max Gladstone's and Amar El-Mohtai's This is How You Lose the Time War is built around a F/F relationship (even if it is Sci-Fi), and I've heard good things about Lara Elena Donnelly's Amberlough series.

Moving onto ethnicity -

East Asian: Fonda Lee and Aliette de Bodard have already been mentioned; Jin Yong's A Hero Born is part of the biggest selling fantasy series of all time and has been translated from the original Chinese. Rebecca F Kuang's The Poppy War is a grim and gripping retelling of the conflict between China and Japan in World War 2 with added shamanism. And it would be remiss not to mention the current winner of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer is Jeanette Ng.

South Asian: Tasha Suri's Empire of Sand is an atypically character driven study of staying true to one's roots when faced with overwhelming power. Saad Z Hossain's The Gurkha and the Lord of Thursday is definitely on my list as well.

Native American: Rebecca Roanhorse's Trail of Lightning is based on Navajo/Dine beliefs, that being the tribe into which she is married into.

Black: Forgive me for being crass and not differentiating between Caribbean, African, and various diasporas; it is easier to do it this way given how many authors would fit into multiple categories in some way. The obvious example of that is Marlon James, the Jamaican author whose Red Wolf, Black Leopard is heavily based on the mythology of Africa; similar in that regard is Nalo Hopkinson's The Salt Roads. Would they be Caribbean or African? If there is a right answer, let me know. For now, it is all under one category.

NK Jemisin is one of the brightest stars in fantasy today thanks to the Broken Earth series; personally I've only read Dreamblood, which is probably the best book I've not fallen in love with. Everyone says the Broken Earth is better. Also highly recommended to me is The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle's take on Lovecraft's The Horror at Red Hook.

Forgive me also for having nothing representing other ethnicities; at the moment, I know of nothing I would recommend, and hope in time I can rectify that (I am deliberately not recommending the Magical Realist books from Latin America, seeing it as somewhat different to Fantasy).

As for female authors writing about women - I believe the article has named most of the ones I'd recommend but I will add a few extra names as well as noting Suri's Empire of Sand is very female orientated. Marion Zimmer Bradley's actions make her unreadable to some but Mists of Avalon is a classic of female orientated fantasy. Marie Brennan's Turning Darkness Into Light was one of the most delightfully ambitious and well executed books I read all last year and focuses on a female academic. And for those who want some of that old 'boy becomes a badass knight' stuff but with a girl, Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness still reigns supreme for me.


So there we go. A long and hopefully helpful list. In the process of writing this, I've come to realise I should have asked more people for advice when doing this. Hopefully I'll get some and can produce an updated version some time; maybe if I get enough advice, I'll have something comprehensive enough to be worth submitting to one of the major fansites. But for now, this is my list of recommendations, made in the belief everyone enjoys different things so everyone needs different recs.