(no subject)

[darchildre]

Friends, I haven't read anything in a month or so that I really enjoyed. Would you like to recommend me some books?


I would like:
- Fantasy, horror, or sci-fi
- Engaging, likeable characters, some of whom are maybe not straight white cis-dudes
- Inventive worldbuilding
- I’m not looking for comedy specifically, but books that are fun and have something of a sense of humor would be great - I’m looking for engaging but not too heavy
- Adventure!
- Happy endings (not required for horror novels)


What I am not looking for:
- Gore is fine but would prefer to avoid sexual violence if possible
- Romantic subplots are fine but I am not looking for books where romance is the center of the plot
- I would also like to avoid feeling embarrassed for any character for any significant length of time
- Fantasy specific: I do not enjoy fantasy novels set in our world, or urban fantasy in particular (unless the urban setting in question is part of a secondary world)
- I am fine with being scared or worried while reading but I do not want to end the book being sad


Examples of things I have read that would fit the bill if I had not already read them:
- Discworld
- Anything by Frances Hardinge
- The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher
- Anything by Lois Bujold
- The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
- The Goblin Emperor

Comments

[mecurtin]

You can check out my goodreads for more detail, but of recent books I'd recommend:

- This Is How You Lose the Time War
- How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse
- The Outside
- Finders, by Melissa Scott
- Zen Cho's Sorcerer Royal series
- Alexandra Rowland's A Conspiracy of Truths series
- Elizabeth Bear's Ancestral Night

Several options!

[kendiefox]

I see T Kingfisher is already on the list for horror. Have you tried Minor Mage? It's about as close to YA as she's likely to get, no romance, slight horror, excellent armadillo, and some Adventure.

Have you tried Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Series? There are necromancers, an inventive magic system, and while the first book has a romance, it is not centered at all. (Sabriel is on a mission to rescue her father and other concerns have to wait.) There is a bit of a 'vaguely edwardian/early 1900s' feel to the non-kingdom parts of the world, but it's still meant to feel weird and jarring and in opposition to the kingdom.

I would also generally recommend Tanya Huff for humor interspersed with serious bits. There's a space marines series, and a few separate urban fantasy series (mostly noted so you can avoid), a total-fantasy setting (the 'quarters' books), and at least one standalone that was enjoyable (the silvered). Many of her characters both major and minor are queers of various varieties. Depending on the specific book there is an amount of romance I would class as "moderate to medium high" which could be a dealbreaker for you?

[schneefink]

If YA is fine, I'd recommend "Sorcery of Thorns." Also "The Gardener's Hand" (which is about, hm, maybe 30-40% romance, but it's not the main plot.)

[james]

Richard Kadrey's The Grand Dark might fit the bill. It might be too dark/heavy? I don't know how much it would come across to you as 'urban fantasy' though. Hrm.

Christopher Stasheff's Wizard series if you can find them. Humorous, witches in space, a bit 'cis white dude' but he marries and has kids and the wife and kids partake in his adventures.

Have you ever tried any of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden books? Very space opera, but overall very much what you describe (especially if you can handle 2 or 3 dozen characters.)

[skygiants]

I do not see Diana Wynne Jones on this list, which surprises me because I feel like many people who read Hardinge also read DWJ! For the ones that feel most like Hardinge to me, I'd recommend The Time of the Ghost, Archer's Goon, and the four books of the Dalemark Quartet. I'll also throw in a rec for Caroline Stevermer's When The King Comes Home.

[kendiefox]

Ooh! Seconding Diana Wynne Jones! I cannot believe I left her out of my recs as I adored the Dalemark Quartet.

[frenchroast]

I'm going to recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, which is about DRAGONS and fighting Napoleon. There is a crap ton of ADVENTURE, and while one of the main characters is a cis-british dude, he is not an asshat, and the other main character is a DRAGON.

Plus, the dragons are DELIGHTFUL in their variety and the world-building is some of the best alternate history-type stuff I've ever read (like, how would the world be if every culture had dragons? And how would those different cultures react to dragons/integrate them--or not--into their everyday culture? And if dragons are possible, maybe other mythic creatures are ALSO possible?). So it's *kind of* our world, but also definitely not because having dragons evens things out between the old and new world, so to speak.

There are nine books in the series, and it's a finished series. It reads pretty quickly, too. Also, it is NOT romantic, which I found to be a major plus. I just finished it two days ago, so I'm still a little high on the series, but it's one of the best series I've come across in awhile.