(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best fantasy action & adventure books

> Hey! Thanks for responding. It means a lot for my first 'published' review to be responded to by the author. I know my review may not make it seem like it, but i really did love your book.

You're welcome, and I'm glad you generally liked it! And please don't let my questions discourage you from leaving constructive criticisms around here - I appreciated them, and I suspect most of the other authors around here would as well.

> To respond to one of your major points, I have a question. Was the first person pov necessary, and would it have gained more from a third person limited perspective?

Purely a stylistic choice. My other published series, the War of Broken Mirrors, is third person limited. I chose to use third person for that one because it's multiple POV, whereas for a story like Sufficiently Advanced Magic with a single perspective, I feel first person allows me to tailor the narration to the character's voice and make it more engaging. This clearly worked for some readers more than others.

I've also written in first person from the perspective of other protagonists with different narration styles, and some of those were less conversational. You'll probably see at least one of those other ones published eventually.

> I don't think Corin is compelling enough of a character to demand a first person perspective, and by providing a third person perspective one could delve more into the other characters. I am not saying you should write it in third person, and it's a little too late to change it, but I am just curious about your thought process behind choosing this POV.

I respect your opinion, but I felt Corin was perfectly fine as a sole protagonist. I think part of this just comes down to the type of story that I was trying to tell. Corin, unlike man first person narrators in fantasy, is not an exemplar - at least a the start of the story. He has a lot of flaws, especially when compared to some of many of the more traditional fantasy main characters in this style. His strongest characteristic is his analytical ability, but it's also one of his greatest weaknesses, since he has a tendency to fixate on specific subjects and get tunnel vision.

There are people out there that loved this style of character purely for his flaws, or because they like underdogs, or because they enjoy seeing the thought process of an analytical character.

There are also people who loathed that Corin didn't conquer his fears outright in the first book, or that his fixations led him to failing to follow up on plans that he'd made, or that he was underpowered compared to the rest of the cast.

I also have seen a number of criticisms of his pacifism - either because they don't think he could fight if he's a pacifist, or because they don't believe he could be a pacifist with his upbringing. I would disagree on both counts.

I think it's purely a matter of taste.

There are a lot of people out there who would much rather read about someone like Keras, who is written as much closer to one of the traditional protagonists of this genre, or even Sera, since she's clearly much more in control and more powerful for her age. And those would be valid novels - they just weren't the style of story I wanted to tell. Maybe I'll write them eventually, though, or someone else will.

> The POV statement wasn't as much a criticism as question. Your book brought challenged my own taste in literature, and made me ask the question above over and over again. I really do like having my views tested like that.

Good! I enjoy reading broadly and seeing a variety of styles. I draw a lot of my inspiration from foreign fiction these days, which is probably a part of why my novel deviates from some standard Western story telling conventions.

> In terms of grammar, there were a couple instances of missing words or awkward phrasing in both the narration and the dialogue that made me stop and reread the sentence. This took me completely out of the book. I really wish I had marked down a specific example. There are only 4 or 5 times I can remember it happening so it wouldn't be easy to find. You did overall a very good job with the editing though. In the future, I need to get better at marking down passages if I want to write more reviews.

No worries at all, if it's just missing words or awkward phrasing I'll probably track them down eventually on another editing pass. I was more concerned about if something more significant had slipped through, like a find and replace error that garbled a character's name or the manuscript spacing, etc.

As for remembering specific errors, don't stress over that at all. Most reviews wouldn't include that level of detail, I'm just asking because I'm right here and I figured I'd check and see if you remembered anything specific that bothered you.

Thanks again for the review!

I highly recommend:

1. The Orphans of Chaos trilogy by John C. Wright. He really pushes the boundaries of the imagination by writing about a universe in which there are 4 different paradigms of magic/power, each of which cancels one of the others out and is canceled out by one of the others. It's an epic Titans vs Olympic Gods fantasy, and I've read it several times--which is rare for me to do.
   
   
2. Obviously read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin if you haven't already done so! I delayed reading it a long time but then read all of them in a week and a half when I finally succumbed.
   
   
3. ALWAYS recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
   
   
4. ALSO always recommend Lies of Locke Lamora and its sequels by Scott Lynch.
   
   
5. The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. It's YA, but pretty mature YA, and IMO could easily transition to the regular fantasy section.
   
   
6. Books by Diana Wynne Jones. She writes YA, but fantasy that I wouldn't call immature. The best word I could use to describe it would be "whimsical." If I could compare her style of fantasy to anyone's it would EASILY be the filmmaker Miyazaki. (His films include Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, etc.--he even adapted one of her books!) I think her best work is her Chrestomanci series which has 3 volumes (each volume is made up of several novellas), but she is best known for Howl's Moving Castle, which I also highly recommend (along with its sequels Castle in the Air and The House of Many Ways).
   
   
7. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It's fun, original, often dark, often humorous, fast-paced, and FILLED with action. As noted by someone else, there are vampires in the universe, but they're not the central motif. There are also other scary things, like fairies, goblins, witches/wizards, demons...the list goes on and on.
   
   
8. Terry Pratchett's Discworld canon. There are many, MANY books, and they're not written in series so you can jump in almost anywhere. I recommend Small Gods to start.
   
   
9. The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier, starting with Daughter of the Forest. There are also spin-off novels, though I haven't read them all. Her writing is beautiful and mystical. She almost makes me believe magic/fae could exist.
   
   
10. The Passion and The Promise (a duet) and, separately, The Alchemist by Donna Boyd. These are really, really excellently written. "Lush" would be the word I'd use. They're not hugely well known, and I find that utterly boggling considering how good they are.

• Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson: I think this might be literally the only book I've ever pre-ordered, and it actually managed to exceed expectations. I was already a big Sanderson fan, but this is probably his best book yet.
  
  
• The Sarantine Mosaic, by Guy Gavriel Kay: Ok, so I hadn't read anything of his before this year, and most of his books could qualify for this list. But I only wanted to do one per author. The portrait he paints of the city and its empire is absolutely fascinating. Loved the characters, loved the setting, and some of the plot twists really caught me by surprise. (though to some extent, that might be because I was familiar with the history this was loosely based on, so departures were a bigger shock to me than they might otherwise have been).
  
  
• Pact, by Wildbow: Its predecessor, Worm, was one of the best things I read in 2013, so I came into this with high expectations. And for the most part, it meets them with flying colors. Especially impressive, since its dark supernatural fantasy strikes a really different tone than Worm's world spanning superhero tale. Pact does an especially good job exploring the idea of identity, and what it means to be human. It's dark, magical, and spooky in all the right ways, with a couple of absolutely great villains. Also, it's free, so go read it here. Like, right now.
  
  
• Twinborn Trilogy, by J S Morin: Flat out one of the most fun reads for me this year. A really neat concept, explored wonderfully. The first book is free on amazon.

I don't read enough books to know where to look for reviews, but I'll do my best. I got like 200 pages into ADWD before no longer caring, whereas with the first 3 I finished them all in days. It's like he looked at the last books and thought "hmm, people like seeing bad things happen to the characters. I'll just keep throwing bad things at them over and over again and they'll be so shocked they love it!"

AGOT - 4.5 stars. Top reviews are all of praise.

ACOK - 4.5 stars. Most of the top reviews are praise, some notice a dip in quality. I agree, though still a great book.

ASOS - 4.6 stars. Top reviews are praising it, much deserved.

AFFC - 3.8 stars. Top reviews say "it's okay, but..."

ADWD - 4.0 stars. Top reviews are even worse, despite the higher score.

Good books? Maybe, but they're not on the quality level of the Harry Potter books and the first 3 asoiaf books, which was what most people were expecting again.

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.

If you've never heard of Terry Pratchett he's a humorous writer, similar to Douglas Adams... but under the humor he typically has something very important to say. Things like the role of the police, the power of government, gender and race relations, etc.

Pratchett's writing is special because it manages to analyze the human condition, highlighting all our ridiculous foibles and petty selfishness, without judgement. It's an unblinking satirical look at what we really are, all the while saying "isn't that both funny amazing and beautiful in its own strange way".

He has been quoted as saying he'd always rather be the rising ape than a falling angel.

He has numerous books that take place in Discworld... a sort of fantasy Victorian age world. But you don't have to read them in any particular order. Some books involve the same characters, others are one-ofs. It's like of like Marvel movies. You don't need to see Captain America before you watch Thor... but it probably helps to see Iron Man 1 before Iron Man 2.

Anyway, Small Gods is one of Pratchett's many books on religion. It's where I suggest people start reading his stuff because it's a great "one of". You don't need to know any of his other stories to get it. No characters carry over.

It involves the God Om, who has one of the most successful religions in the world. The problem: Nobody really believes in Om. Oh they go to church and they follow the pageantry, but that isn't quite the same as actual belief is it?

The other problem: Om is a bit of an Old Testament god, with fire and wrath. Now there is so little belief in him that he's lost any real power. The book is about how he and the one person who actually believes in him still go to reclaim his religion.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Gods don't like people not doing much work. People who aren't busy all the time might start to think.”

“Belief, he says. Belief shifts. People start out believing in the god and end up believing in the structure.”

“When you can flatten entire cities at a whim, a tendency towards quiet reflection and seeing-things-from-the-other-fellow's-point- of-view is seldom necessary.”

“...logic is only a way of being ignorant by numbers.”


“Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.”

“The merest accident of microgeography had meant that the first man to hear the voice of Om, and who gave Om his view of humans, was a shepherd and not a goatherd. They have quite different ways of looking at the world, and the whole of history might have been different. For sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.”

“The Ephebians believed that every man should have the vote (provided that he wasn't poor, foreign, nor disqualified by reason of being mad, frivolous, or a woman). Every five years someone was elected to be Tyrant, provided he could prove that he was honest, intelligent, sensible, and trustworthy. Immediately after he was elected, of course, it was obvious to everyone that he was a criminal madman and totally out of touch with the view of the ordinary philosopher in the street. And then five years later they elected another one just like him, and really it was amazing how intelligent people kept on making the same mistakes.”

“I think," he said, "I think, if you want thousands, you have to fight for one.”

See whether she has any interest in Bertrand Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy", available in various formats for free. It starts with the question "Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?" While it may be a bit dry for a young teenager, even skimming parts of it could help to open some horizons.

The general philosophical issue here, of how we determine which claims are true and should count as knowledge, is at the root of many questions of belief. Most people choose beliefs intuitively, and by following social precedent, and could not give you a coherent explanation of why they believe as they do.

A deeper understanding of what knowledge is, and how we can reasonably obtain it, allows us to more completely justify our beliefs, and this allows us to choose beliefs that are better justified, whatever they may be.

As for learning about atheism, atheism is merely the lack of belief in gods, and entails nothing further. If she wants to investigate atheistic belief systems, then there are various possibilities such as secular humanism, some varieties of Buddhism, as well as post-Christian churches such as the Unitarian Universalists, which does not require or assume theistic belief.

If she's focused on the question of whether a god or gods exist, as a religious person yourself, you might want to help her refocus on a more productive question - such as how we can understand religious belief in the context of modern philosophical and scientific knowledge.

We have no sound rational arguments that end with the conclusion "...therefore gods exist". As long as this is the case, belief in gods as something real, existing outside the imaginations of humans, will always require a faith that goes beyond rationality. This brings us back to the question above: should such ideas be treated as knowledge about the external world?

A simplistic answer to this is that from a rational perspective, no, gods are not demonstrably real in an external sense, so we are not rationally justified in believing in them, although we may nevertheless rely on faith to support such belief.

But knowledge about gods can also be seen as knowledge of another kind - not about the externally real world, but rather about the inner mental (and "spiritual") life of humanity. There's no doubt that people believe in gods, and in a sense, give them a life of their own through their belief-inspired actions. Charity by churches is evidence that gods do exist, in that sense. The oft-cited claim that "God is love" is another way of getting at such ideas.

With that in mind, perhaps the best book to inspire thinking along these lines is "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett. I looked for a review that captured what I think is relevant about this book, and found this one, which I've excerpted below:

> Terry Pratchett uses Small Gods to tackle the topic of religion and intolerance ... Pratchett is able to examine the difference between a belief in God and a belief in a religion.

> Small Gods may not be the most laugh-out-loud funny of the Discworld novels, but it is the most philosophical book in the series. Pratchett is able to remain on course as he explores the meaning of religion with a smattering of philosophy. His characters, plot and concepts all come together to form a cohesive whole which does not allow itself to get sidetracked for the sake of a joke or a situation.

> While most satirists have a tendency to focus either of the roles of God in religion, or, more frequently, the life religions have apart from their gods, Pratchett examines both.

Good luck, although by the sounds of it, neither you nor you daughter need it!

I always link to the Wikipedia page on world religions in discussions of building religions, because copious example are key to learning.

A quick outline of what I look to answer when I ask the question "What does this religion look like?" goes like this:

VALUES

• What is the culture that this religion primarily operates in? If you take Western Christian beliefs, change the name, and dropped it intro sub-Saharan Africa the resulting traditions look very different.
  
• What are the 1^st level values that are communicated in this religion? These are things like: kindness, respect, honor, obedience, piety, offerings, recognition.
  
• What are the 2^nd level of values? These are practical considerations that affect how people treat each other and cover things like: castes, sexism, sexuality, and business values. These are extremely important in building a community as it will link the tenets of a faith with people's day-to-day lives.
  
• How does this religion view other groups? Does it promote any forms of xenophobia?
  
  DEITY
  
  
• Are the god's real beings or are they symbols only?
  
• Where did the god(s) come from? The book Small Gods by Terry Pratchett is a great stroy about where gods come from and where they go.
  
• What do the gods value? How is this different from what the people value?
  
• On what scale do the gods operate? Local, Regional, Global, Star System, Galaxy, Galaxy Group, Cluster, Super Cluster, Universe...
  
• What is the god's interaction with their believers? Tools, witnesses, sources of power, symbols of their power?
  
• What time-scale do the gods work on? Do they care if they avenge your family 100 years after you asked for vengeance?
  
• What are the long term goals of the gods?
  
  SYMBOLS
  
  
• What are the primary religious symbols?
  
• What do the symbols represent?
  
• How sacred are the symbols in day-to-day life?

I love this thread idea, though I feel like it's already mostly covered by the "What did you read this month?" thread. Still, far be it from me to not shove my preferences in everyones face.

Anything Lindsay Buroker puts out. Most known for her Emperor's Edge books. First one is free, just try it. Steampunk, bit of romance, fun cast of characters. It's nothing revolutionary, honestly, but I just have so much fun reading her stuff and I can't even tell you why. I'm just an absolute addict and she provides the crack in a timely manner. You think Sanderson writes like a machine? This woman must have self-triplicated somewhere along the line. 5+ books a year.

Next up would be J.S. Morin's Twinborn books. It's not exactly unknown on here, but it still needs a mention. Two series, one building on the other. Excellent work-building, cool characters, can't wait for what the author does next. It's mostly traditional Fantasy as you can get, but featuring Pirates, Magic, Empires, Demi-Gods and as of the 2nd series Steampunk, bit of SF and Transhumanism. Excellent stuff.

I also greatly enjoyed the short, fun read that was Larkspur. Not unknown on here either as the author frequents /r/fantasy relatively often, but still. MORE DAMN YOU!

Also, [Fae - The Wild Hunt] (http://www.amazon.com/Fae-Wild-Hunt-Riven-Wyrde-ebook/dp/B00IWOW2Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986097&sr=1-1&keywords=graham+austin+king) by Graham Austin-King. He has a promo thread for the 2nd volume up on here right now anyway, but who cares? I loved the first book. Dark fairy-tale, novel approach to multiple POV story-telling. Can't wait for tomorrow. (2nd book release)

Lastly, [Book of Deacon] (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Deacon-ebook/dp/B0036FTF4S/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986518&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+deacon) by Joseph R. Lallo. Counting by the Amazon reviews it isn't exactly obscure, but I never saw it mentioned on here. Quite traditional "chosen one, save the world" Fantasy, but what makes this series is the diverse cast. There's a human magician and there's a fox and a dragon and... I'll just shut up now. Traditional in many ways, not so much in others.

Hard copy - Scott Pilgrim volume 2 (in color!) I fucking love Scott Pilgrim, it's one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. I picked up the first volume of the colorized version, and it's gorgeous! The coloring is perfect and the binding is even better if that's possible.

Kindle book - Mistborn Trilogy! I adore adore adore high fantasy, and hear consistently good things about this series. It seems a good length and plot, and I really want to get sucked into something like this.

If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.

Overall, really enjoyed it. Copy-paste from my review in the "What did you read in October?" thread:

> I enjoyed them a lot, although not quite as much the the first Twinborn trilogy. The plotting is interesting, because you're never quite sure where things are going to go next. It's a story that feels grown rather than constructed, where the author took a bunch of characters and circumstances, dropped in newly-discovered world portal technology, and then just explored the repercussions. A lot of it works really well, and it's fun to see all the creative things steampunk tinkers and magicians can do with a portal capable of connecting arbitrary points across three different worlds... especially when most of the main characters live in two of those worlds at once. It makes for a really fun read. That said, the ending felt a little rushed: all the conflicts and crises that had been steadily (and alarmingly) escalating over the course of the series were wrapped up, perhaps, a bit too quickly to be as believable as their growth.

> It's a story I'm happy to recommend, and if you enjoyed the Twinborn books you'll like these ones too. However, although the first book is fairly independent of the previous series the remaining three end up tying pretty closely to it. I would definitely recommend reading Twinborn first, then Mad Tinker Chronicles. You'll probably get pretty lost otherwise.

And for those of you who haven't tried any of J.S. Morin's books... The first one really is free. Go get it.

If you liked Song of Ice and fire you might really like Erikson:

Malazan Book of the Fallen is a 10 book series, might take you a bit to get into in the beginning but once it gets going I was not able to put it down. It's extremely gritty and has a lot of characters and plot lines, but they are all done extremely well, it gets to a point that you just start following the bigger picture of what is happening even as you read the events that each character is involved in. (I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes fantasy in shades of gray)

Another great book I read recently was Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson is a very good page turner, had a couple of late nights not being able to put it down. The "magic" (don't know what else to call it really) in the books is really creatively done, his writing style keeps you reading late into the night.

And off the top of my head I also liked Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. This one is a fun read, not as involved as the others mentioned above.

I wouldn't want it for me, but I'd want it for my mom! She's been hinting here and there that she wants a tablet/ereader, and I can't afford to get her one (at least not anytime soon!) Her computer is usually taken by her boyfriend (who is, for lack of a better word, a dickbag), and she likes the lit screen/bigger font of my Paperwhite for reading.

I want her to stop borrowing my Paperwhite! lol.

As for an ebook, I've been lusting after this, personally. My mom mostly reads classics that I can find free on Gutenburg or Amazon, so I wouldn't know what to ask for for her. :)

I hope you really do have to write your username on your hand. The idea of that is completely hilarious to me lol.

Good, solid week for me.

I just published my fourth book, Mad Tinker's Daughter, the first book in the 5-book Mad Tinker Chronicles. It's steampunk-flavored fantasy (gadgets, trains, airships, and steam power, not so much the fashion or Englishness) with a Whedon-esque heroine. It revolves around the plots of two humans who are trying to better the lot of their own kind in a world where humans are treated as talking chattel. One wants to get them away from their oppressors, the other wants to buy their freedom in blood.

I've also somehow managed 11k words toward the second novel in the series, Rebel Skyforce. That puts me at about 78k words of a projected 95-100k.

For those of you who have expressed interest in reading my first series, I'm going to have the first book, Firehurler, available free this Saturday/Sunday with KDP Select free days.

If any of you end up reading either one, reviews are always welcome, and appreciated. :)

I haven't found anything quite like Mother of Learning but it happens to be one of my favorites since it hits everything I like in a book. One of my favorite aspects of MoL is how the main character progressively learns new things and get stronger. This is demonstrated a lot in the litRPG genre (which has a lot of ties with video game RPG style leveling up) so I think any fan of Mother of Learning would like litRPG.

Here are some good litrpg books on kindle:

1. Survival Quest. Book 1 in the Way of the Shaman series by Vasily Mahanenko. It is written originally in Russian but professionally translated into English. The main character is a prisoner placed into a Virtual Reality MMORPG to mine ore and soon he develops all kinds of unusual high level crafting and professions while finding continuous rare epic level questlines. It has tremendously fast pacing and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I really like the focus on the crafting aspects of MMORPGs and also how the main character chooses to take unusual and clever paths in completing quests and follows his intuition instead of relying on strategy guides and such (mainly because as a prisoner he is unable to access the outside internet). My only gripe is that there might a little too much Deus Ex Machina at times but really enjoyable read otherwise. 5 of the 7 books have been translated into English so far and the last two should be translated by the end of 2017. https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Quest-Way-Shaman-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B00VQRW14E/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495212440&sr=1-3&keywords=way+of+the+shaman
   
   
2. Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko. Book 1 in a new litrpg series. The main character joins a new immersive MMORPG and finds a rural village where he establishes roots. The NPCs are uncannily lifelike and he worries that when the main base of players reach the village they will abuse or treat the NPCs poorly. His real life friends meet up with him and they work hard to defend the village from an incoming army of violent players. Really cool story, the characters level up and gain new skills, magic, and abilities. https://www.amazon.com/Ascend-Online-Luke-Chmilenko-ebook/dp/B01M01ET8E
   
   
3. The Dragon's Wrath Series by Brent Roth - Really cool main character who builds his own village in VRMMORPG and starts caring for the NPCs as real people. He develops a unique fighting style and becomes really strong but his village becomes a target from other jealous players/guilds. Warning: This series might not finish though since the author has bad health and he has delayed book 4 for quite some time. Best series in the genre though. https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Wrath-Virtual-Dream-ebook/dp/B00W2L8VGU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495212376&sr=1-1&keywords=a+virtual+dream
   
   
4. Viridian Gate Online - https://www.amazon.com/Viridian-Gate-Online-Cataclysm-Adventure-ebook/dp/B01MU0DYXW/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495212396&sr=1-2&keywords=viridian+gate+online
   
   
5. Project Daily Grind. Mirror World Series - https://www.amazon.com/Project-Daily-Grind-Mirror-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B01AF0Z3CE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495742577&sr=8-3&keywords=mirror+world
   
   
6. Eden's Gate - https://www.amazon.com/Edens-Gate-Reborn-LitRPG-Adventure-ebook/dp/B01MV2A0L4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495742620&sr=8-2&keywords=eden%27s+gate
   

I have the perfect book for you, I hope you haven't read it already.

I also like books with female protoganists and I almost always dislike the way romance is handled, especially in Urban Fantasy (it's also borderline impossible to find an Urban Fantasy series with a female protoganist that isn't at least 40% romance.)

Anyway, Rook by Daniel O'Malley is one of the exceptions, and it's one of my favorite books in recent years. The protagonist is incredible likeable, probably my favorite female protagonist in that genre. The book centers around an organization that protects the world from supernatural threats and is mostly staffed by people with various supernatural abilities. Not a super original-sounding premise, but it's done really well. The main character is a fairly high-ranking bureaucrat in that organization who has just had her memory erased at the start of the book. She left herself copious notes about the organization and about her own life, but there's a lot of humor coming from the main character stumbling around trying not to let on that she has no idea what's going on. There's a really fun dynamic between the current main character and her relationship with her former self via the notes left behind.


I'd be a big fan of this book regardless, but there's also zilch in the way of romance, which is a huge plus for me (and yourself, it sounds like.) Give it a shot!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I'd definitely love an actual copy of any of them, but if I have to choose, I'd probably pick this one. I already have the e-books unfortunately, but I'd be more than happy with a cheap paperback. :)

Thanks for the contest! Also, I'm not just trying to win, but your kids are incredibly cute! :D

How about Inferno by Dan Brown?

Ha ha ha! Just kidding. How about some urban fantasy? It's all the rage in the finer boutiques. I would recommend Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. It has a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe, with a genuine three-dimensional kick-ass heroine, lots of magic, plenty of evil monsters to dispatch, and a will-they or won't-they plot thread with a handsome [Spoiler.]

There's also The Rook, a fantastic book which I don't think got enough love when it was released and also featuring a great heroine. This has a better plot than most.

Rivers of London is the start of another great series set in modern London. It's about a young copper who discovers that ghosts, vampires and what-nots are real. Exciting and told in the first person with an intelligent, dry-witted voice.

And finally, if you've never read American Gods, well, then you've just been depriving yourself.

I know these recommendations aren't exactly what you've been looking for, but I think these are all great books set in the modern world. Just with some extra magic.

If you want another Dresden-like book series, check out the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne. I'd say they are almost sue-ably similar. Main character is flippant and sarcastic, but also honorable and relies heavily on improvisation. I think these would be exactly what you're looking for.

I can also second the suggestion for Weeks' new Lightbringer series.

For your Night Angel fix, I recently read and loved Blood Song. The author is fairly new, but the book is absolutely solid and wonderful.

Another good book series is the Kingkiller Chronicles.

I'll stop the list there before I get carried away. But I think Iron Druid and Blood Song will be spot on as far as similarity. The other two are books I think you'll really enjoy, but aren't necessarily as similar.

So I have a friend in jail that I regularly send books to. This doesn't cover every situation, but I assume the circumstances will be similar.

He says that the (meager) prison library is very skewed towards religious books, classics, GED materials, and low-difficulty grocery store novels. Anything other than that will be appreciated. The books most requested are thick fantasy books, activity books (sudoku, physics workbooks, etc), science non-fiction, and coffee-table books or magazines with lots of pictures. These will be swapped with other inmates so that anyone interested has a chance to read.

Some things to keep in mind:

• There is often a limit on how many items can be kept. 3-books-in-1/omnibus editions help get around this.
  
• There may be monetary limits on gifts. Shop for deals and choose the cheaper mass market paperbacks whenever possible.
  
• Mail a receipt ASAP! She might not be able to pick up any books until she has that.
  
• Mail books through a big company (e.g. Amazon, B&N) or they might be destroyed. No third-party Amazon sellers or used book stores in most cases.
  
  Books that have gone over well and can be found in cheap forms:
  
  
• Mistborn trilogy
  
• His Dark Materials trilogy
  
• The Name of the Wind
  
• The Best American Science Writing/The Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies
  
• Sudoku
  
• Hyperbole and a Half
  
• A Song of Ice and Fire

Try the Malazan Book of the Fallen. First book is Gardens of the Moon The best fantasy series I've ever read.

EDIT: I feel I should say more...coming from ASOIAF, it'll be an adjustment. You have to be halfway through the 2nd book before you're hooked. The first book isn't like any others in the series. It was written a decade before book 2, and you can tell the difference. Good rule of thumb, if you finish Deadhouse Gates, and you're not absolutely hooked, you can safely put the series down. Anyway, the adjustment is that ASOIAF is politically inclined low fantasy, MBotF is dark high fantasy. There are some EXTREMELY powerful beings in the books. Gods can (and sometimes are) viewpoint characters. It has just as large (actually probably a bit larger) of a cast as ASOIAF, and "main" characters also die in it, but it is the overall power level that is such a huge adjustment. I hope you give it a try. If you do, feel free to join us over in r/malazan.

Also, Steven Erikson gave an awesome AMA just a couple weeks ago.

I'll tell you what I did and, hopefully, it'll work out for you, too.

(I'm in the US, so your results may vary.)

Books 1 - 5 were readily available in paperback and are fairly cheap here (about $6 each).

Books 6 - 8 are often called The History of the Lord of the Rings and I got mine in a bundled set. Amazon currently has them separate and about $11 each. But BEWARE the fourth book in the bundle, titled Sauron Defeated. That's only the first part of Book 9.

Books 9 - 12 are nearly unavailable in the US. I found some on ebay years ago for $50 and more each. That's when I discovered Amazon.co.uk. Yes. Looking there now, I see them at about $12 each right now and they're worth it. Very lovely covers ... I almost wish I got all of mine from there. (There was also a 13th book, an index for all twelve volumes. I got it, too)

I did some quick math and it looks like you could them all for between $100 and $130, depending on if you can find that LOTR bundle or just buy them separately.

Or you could spend $164 and just buy this complete set and save the effort.

I also would recommend The History of The Hobbit, a two-volume set from John Rateliff (since Christopher Tolkien didn't include the details in the History). Here's the first one, Mr. Baggins from the Amazon UK site, just $12. The set is about $50 on the US Amazon site.

I think you should start reading the Discworld series, but I'd love to see your dog wearing this, because just looking at the pictures made me laugh out loud.

Check out my WL and feel free to get what you like if you like my suggestions.

1. I went on a road trip across the country for 6 months! It was a wonderful experience. Traveling is really my thing these days! Picture!
   
   
2. My favorite book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower because it is a wonderful story to get lost in.
   
   
3. I would love to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because I haven't read it yet and apparently it's amazing!! :)
   
   Thank you for the contest!!

Have you tried .. every "pop" fantasy book ever?


The Shannara books are pretty popular. https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shannara-Trilogy-Terry-Brooks/dp/0345453751


So are the Discworld books (a bit more tongue in cheek).
https://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677


Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is really good. https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-First-Rule-Sword-Truth/dp/0812548051

If you want to branch out into fantasy that isn't swords and wizards, you can move into things like The Deathgate Cycle. https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Wing-Death-Gate-Cycle/dp/0553286390


All of these have pretty interesting worlds with a hero that saves the day.

Rendezvous with Rama the whole series is pretty good.

2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke Collection: The Odyssey) that series as well

Neuromancer

Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt, Book I: Bk. 1
the dark elf trilogy is pretty good

for amazingly deep and rich backdrop you can't beat the Dune (40th Anniversary Edition) (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) at least the first three.. others that were wrote by his son and other authors are ok but dont live up to the originals imho

pretty much all of Robert Heinlein's stuff stranger in a strange land, starship troopers (nothing at all like the movie), Glory Road, Have Spacesuit will travel.

Let's hope the sequel will bring you peace of mind. If you like books with a lot of mages and a generally positive vibe, I could recommend forging divinity to you for later: http://www.amazon.com/Forging-Divinity-Broken-Mirrors-Book-ebook/dp/B00TKFFR36

I got it from a recommendation here and was happy with the outcome.

The Land is pretty ok, you just have to get past A.K.'s writing idiosyncrasies. Everybody Loves Large Chest is an online serial. It's very gory, weird, and weirdly sexual. Ascend online is a great fantasy mmorpg. Really well written. Awaken online is very good book from the perspective of the "villain". Dark. Survival quest is pretty good Russian translated litrpg. Patch 17 is from a guy stuck in a mmorpg hell. Dragon's wrath is kind of just a town building litrpg, but is enjoyable enough. Unbound deathlord is pretty good dark book about the underdark, or whatever he calls it in that book.

They're all going to be complete versions. As long as it's the 50th anniversary text it'll be the most updated, but they'll all suffice. It really just depends on what he likes aesthetically. My favorites are the Alan Lee hardback illustrated editions. A lot of people also like the 3 volume 60th anniversary editions, because it uses Tolkien's original unused dust jackets.
There's also single volumes. I'm currently reading this one. The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544273443/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AbOlDb3T8NW54
It doesn't have any illustrations or anything, but it's great for a reading copy.

I love fantasy, Sci-Fi magic and what not. I'm currently reading The Night Angel Trilogy So far I like them a lot. The Inheritance Cycle is another one of my favorites, book four comes out soon :) Harry Potter is great too. I also really enjoyed The House of the Scorpion, although I'm not really sure how you'd classify this one, I guess Sci-Fi works.

Check out RA Salvatore's Drizzt books in the forgotten realms universe. These really got me into reading and they're just excellent. Start with the dark elf trilogy (homeland, exile, sojourn)

Edit: here is another recommendation I gave someone else that includes amazon links, not changing it because I'm on mobile

I know you want standalones but for beginning fantasy you can't go wrong with R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, and I'd definitely recommend starting with The Dark Elf Trilogy....you can get it used there, or new but it's a bit pricier (I've got the collectors which is apparently quite pricey by now) but with all this you may just be better off starting with Homeland then Exile then Sojourn, completing the trilogy (but not nearly the series, it's huge and one of my top favorites).

It sounds like the Riyria Revelations would be exactly what you're looking for, if you haven't already read it! It's very fast-paced, fun reading and the two main characters enjoy a lot of great banter. It can get darker at times, but it generally maintains a lighter tone.

Daniel O'Malley's Rook is more urban fantasty/sci fi, but it seems to be pretty overlooked and it's often hilarious. Speaking of urban fantasy, if you've never read the Dresden Files, that may be a safe bet as well. Lots of humor and pop-culture references even as the story becomes more and more dire and epic.

This isn't a series, and isn't so much pew-pew as BOOOM and "oh god, the several centuries of ramifications of that boom" but A Canticle for Leibowitz is my absolute favorite book. Sadly there's no Kindle version, but if your library has it, check it out.

For books that have a Kindle version, have you ever read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Absolutely hilarious.

As for fantasy, one book I've read recently that I thoroughly enjoyed was The Corpse-Rat King. Bonuses for being a cheap Kindle book and for being an indie author! It reminded me of my favorite D&D campaigns in all the right ways.

I'd say get in at least a few young adult fiction, as they're full of saccharine and angst ridden metaphor:

• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

• Looking For Alaska

A few historical fictions:

• Wolf Hall

• Memoirs Of A Geisha

Comedy:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

• Good Omens

Stephen king (just because he's a favorite)

• 11/22/63

• IT

And finally, some objectively "bad" books, to learn what not to do.

• Wild Animus: A Novel

• The Da Vinci Code

• Moon People


All of these books are personal favorites for one reason or another, and some may fit into multiple categories (see: looking for Alaska under YA fiction and "bad,").

That said, this should at least keep you busy for a bit.

Happy reading, and good luck on your novel!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Neil and Terry are actually friends. I read the story of how they met once but I can't quite remember all the details. I think they were on the same train to London or something. Neil is also friends with Tori Amos which is kind of interesting. He has sequestered himself away to her different homes in the past so he can quietly write his books. Terry and Neil even wrote a book together (Good Omens), to be honest it's not my favorite but I would definitely recommend you take a look at Neil Gaiman.

Oh... one more, you should read Neverwhere.

Lol. If you really don't like reading maybe you should try some different books. My first suggestion for anyone who wants to try something new is Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic
http://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413836312&sr=1-1&keywords=the+color+of+magic

It's the start to his absolutely amazing Discworld series. If you like comedy, amazing worlds, fantasy, sci-fi, and interesting characters, you really need to try it!

Just got off of work and working out so a little late on the reading schedule, but here it is for the first book of the end of the year series, Assassin's Apprentice (which is free from the library and only $2 off amazon for the free Kindle app)

October 3rd- read chapters Prologue-4

October 10th- 5-9

October 17th- 10-14

October 24th- 15-18

October 31st- 19-end

The posts for the Assassin's Apprentice will not be with the Literature off topic, but rather their own stickied post at 6:00pm

/u/carluun is helping me out with this, so if it is not up at that time PM him and he will make sure it will be up

> Think Witcher (of the video game series)

I can't tell if you're aware, but The Witcher is based on a series of books. The first two books are The Last Wish (which I'm currently reading and enjoying) and Sword of Destiny, which are collections of short stories. The first of the novels is Blood of Elves. The novels all take place prior to the first game. I think all but the last novel have official English translations (though it looks like the final official translation is due out in a few months).

EDIT: Here's the kindle link for Last Wish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also, it looks like Blood of Elves for Kindle is on sale for $2.99 right now.

In terms of stuff /r/fantasy loves, /u/MarkLawrence's Broken Empire trilogy (about an evil stabby bastard) has been a favorite (you can also start with Prince of Fools, which is the same world, but not as brutal), and I liked /u/robinhobb's Assassin's Apprentice (what it says on the tin) also. Robin Hobb's probably the best modern fantasy author I've found so far in terms of writing mechanics, but the first book is really slow until the last 1/3. Also really enjoyed Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (thieves in fantasy Venice).

For brain candy, I frequently return to Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice/Trickster's Queen. Spies and coups in fantasy Malaysia.

Further into YA, Incarceron and Sapphique (labyrinthine steampunk prison + faux medieval outside world) were quite good.

I bought a box set of the first four at Christmas! They are so good and I am loving them. I would love to get A Dance With Dragons because I know I'm going to need it at some point! I would prefer the paperback version (it's only a dollar more than the kindle version) because I don't have a kindle.

Also, your kids are ridiculously adorable! Thanks for the contest!

Some of my favorites:

• The Myth of Sisyphus for philosophical essays.
  
• The Road and The Stand for dystopian fiction.
  
• American Gods or Neverwhere for fantasy.
  
• Brave New World, The Picture of Dorian Gray or Les Miserables for classics.
  
• Harry Potter is my favorite book of all time. It's pure story that is fun to read, evokes emotion and has great depth.
  
• The Beach is good to begin with, better if you're a traveler or like utopian type fiction. (Think of it as a dirtier, contemporary version of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.)
  
• The Autobiography of King Henry VIII for historical biographies. Note that this one is fiction, but well researched.
  
• A few final random ones are Flowers for Algernon, Angela's Ashes and Italian Folktales.

Gandalf is a straight up badass. I would encourage you to go back and read [The Silmarillion] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Silmarillion-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0618391118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373920830&sr=8-1&keywords=silmarillion) as well as the [History of Middle Earth Volumes] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Histories-Middle-Earth-Volumes/dp/0345466454/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373920796&sr=8-1&keywords=the+history+of+middle+earth) to get a better understanding of the background of the entire world. It's by no means easy reading, and it's very in-depth and very dense, but it gives you a deeper understanding and appreciation for the world which Tolkien had created.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This one's getting a lot of chatter for the Hugos this year. Novik wrote the excellent Temeraire alt-history novels about dragons in the Napoleonic wars, and this is a more adult-themed fantasy novel. It's supposed to be awesome, and given how great His Majesty's Dragon was I don't doubt it at all.

From Amazon:

>Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

> Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

I might suggest The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. It's been a while since I've read it, but I feel like the chapters might be a bit long if you wanted to read one or two over a lunch break (depending on how long you have to read on a break). It's not quite as fun of a read as Kingkiller, I would put it between Kingkiller and A Song of Ice and Fire, but I do highly recommend it regardless. Also by Brandon Sanderson I highly recommend the Mistborn Series. Warning about the way of kings, it is part one of a planned 10 part series, with the second part only coming out hopefully next year, so that might be a turn off for you.

I myself have just started reading The First Law series, and while I can't quite recommend it yet, it seems to read and feel very similar to The Way of Kings, but with shorter chapters. I am expecting good things from it, and the lengths of the chapters seem very suitable to a lunch break.

Links to kindle editions to take advantage of the reading samples:
Way of Kings
Mistborn
First Law

It was actually a work of fiction that opened my eyes to heathenry and the idea of old gods existing. The series is called The Iron Druid Chronicles. Not sure if it's what you're looking for, but if it is and you don't mind a bit of poetic license (obviously)...
It's an urban fantasy series taking place in modern times and features a 2,100 year old shape-shifting, plane-walking druid, a hilarious talking dog, several pantheons (obviously as a Druid the Celtic pantheon is featured the most, but the Norse are also featured heavily), and lots of other adventurous things you'd expect in a fantasy series.
If you want to check it out I actually suggest going the audiobook route instead of the book route because the narration is fantastic. I've both listened and read but the narration just brought everything to life more than my imagination could. http://www.amazon.com/Hounded-Druid-Chronicles-Kevin-Hearne/dp/0345522478

The $1800 set is a "collectors hard cover edition" (archival quality, acid-free paper that won't yellow or deteriorate, etc).

Other "complete sets" that you will find on ebay and such are generally first edition hard cover.

What you want to do -- for reading purposes -- is pick up the first five in a paperback boxed set, and then start shopping the used bookstores for the remaining volumes (they've been published in various formats, hard cover, paperback, mass-market paperback, etc.) -- and single volumes are typically pretty cheap (especially the paperback editions), and often they are in pretty good shape, because most people really don't read the things.

Also, if you have NOT already purchased AND read BOTH "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales", you need to get and read those first... because if you've only read LoTR and/or The Hobbit... well, HoME is probably just going to be almost incomprehensible and "crazy shit" to you. (Ignibus is correct, HoME is not everyone's "cup of tea", and a good indicator is whether you really LOVE Silmarillion/Unfinished Tales -- if you don't think they are GRRRREAATT! then you're probably not going to like HoME.)

He gifted me those three, and intro'd me into the Mistborn series by Sanderson. My husband had recommended I read them, but I never got around the getting them...and now I have a love for Sanderson's books. The Mistborn Trilogy is another you should read, if you haven't already. Highly highly highly recommend it.

The 50th anniversary editions (paperback or hardback) are very good choices, with the best text available; there's also a recent "deluxe" edition in a semi-paperback that's a good value.

I'm not sure how you're feeling about the WoT after these comments. I read the first 4 and, well I prefer a little more action in my fantasy. With that being said IF you are waffling and looking for alternatives, I would highly recommend this series: http://www.amazon.ca/Homeland-Legend-Drizzt-Book-ebook/dp/B002DOSBMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373045175&sr=1-1&keywords=Drizzt

You will read those 13 books in the time you read 3 WoT books and they will give you some AMAZING memories. They are page turners! I still smile thinking about those books and characters. Check it out!

The Dagger and the Coin, this, Exhalation and The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by Ted Chiang, Unsong (once it's finished), /u/FarmerBob1's stories (reply with what works you're comfortable having on the list), Baby Blues and Pay Attention by /u/eaglejarl, The Whispering Earing and The Last Temptation of Christ and The Girl Who Poked God with a Stick by Yvain (and others I don't have the time to find, like that one where someone is confused into being unsure whether their life was or wasn't a simulation by changing beings wearing lab coats), Accelerando by Charles Stross (he has other rational works, too, I think), David's Sling and Earthweb by Marc Steigler, The World of Null-A and The Players of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt, /u/DataPacRat's works (reply with what works you'd like listed if any), David Brin's Reality Check (he has others I think), A Succession of Bad Days by Graydon Saunders, Fargo by an unknown published author, Crystal Society, The Time Traveler's Wife - /u/alexanderwales can say if it's rational, Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (I think he has other rational works but can't say which), Kindred by Octavia Butler, (/u/S3Prototype297, is Perjure rational?), Untitled Superintelligences Story by Scott Siskind, The War of Broken Mirrors series by Andrew Rowe, Eden Green by Fiona van Dahl, "Tower" by Alicorn, "The Simple Truth" by Eliezer.

That's me trawling through the threads with 20+ positive votes from the subreddit, through the monthly threads and the Q2 recommendation thread, and rational reads for original written fiction. Fargo is the sole exception because it's basically its own book and doing so might entice the author to add their own works to the list. I did this as original fiction isn't as exclusive as fanfiction and thus more likely to attract existing and new readers to the genre, and I expect others will recommend worthy fanfiction.

Book one

Book two

Absolutely incredible short story

Book one had such an uncomfortable start for me, felt too tropey and overdone, but I'm glad I stuck around and got into it because it really picks up into an amazing couple of books.

I just really hope book three is released during my lifetime.

One of the character's names is Ambrose.

You should definitely try Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It’s a fast-paced fantasy with a dark wood and awesome magic. It’s fantastic and very easy to slip into.

First line: “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley.”

Give This series a try. Great stuff.

Also, Dune. It's got magic, daggers, and a very deep storyline. If the first one is too boring, have her try the prequels. Best to try reading dune first, though.

Also, The Name of the Wind is a great one.

I JUST BOUGHT THE TRILOGY E-BOOK ON AMAZON, WAT.

The trilogy separately is $20 something or rather. Together, here, they are $5.75.

Here is my review of the first book on Good Reads. Looks like I was correct in my review! Friend me if you're on Goodreads!

Taking advantage of the snow day and I got the shopping done for three out of four of my Redditgifts matches.

My bookmarks match said she would like to have bookmarks made out of something other than paper, so I got her these.

My books match is a fantasy fan, so I got her a box set of one of my favorite fantasy series and something from her wish list.

And my colors match is a manicurist and listed "rainbow" as her favorite color, so she gets this.

I still need to shop for the 300th exchange gift, but I think I'll do that locally and ship a box. She talked about her kids a lot in her profile, so I'd like to include some stuff for them. :-)

You also need to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard. :)

I need book 5 in the ASOIAF series!

I'd like some butterbeer! Thank you for the contest. :)

For reading I really like this one It's made of a more flexible type of material than a hardback but is sturdier and put together better than a paperback. There are a lot of nicer editions but many of them are quite expensive.

You might like the Iron Druid Chronicles. Effectively immortal main character + bonus Irish wolfhound in a modern setting. The first one is Hounded.

Yes, Brent Weeks' trilogy is great :)

does this count?

thanks for the contest! aliens have always been interesting we actually almost went to the area 51 exhibit thing while i was over in vegas pretty big stuff :)

I will second The Lies of Locke Lamora (part of the Gentleman Bastard series) as an excellent choice.

If you like Percy Jackson because it is fantasy mixed with the real world (i.e. urban fantasy genre) you might like The Dresden Files or the Iron Druid Chronicles

You might also look at branching into historical fiction, maybe? There are a lot of books using real historical military campaigns as backgrounds that are very entertaining - if that is of any interest to you, start with The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield.

Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson - The Stormlight Archive

Peter Brett - The Demon Cycle

R. Scott Bakker - The Second Apocalypse

Joe Abercrombie - The First Law

Scott Lynch - The Gentleman Bastard

Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Chronicle

All excellent. Some slightly more excellent than others.

If you haven’t read any of the Russian LITRPG, I’ve found I really enjoy them in Audible. Like many, Way of the Shaman was my entry-level but recently I’ve loved the Disgardium series and the Npc Path series.


https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Rogue-NPCs-Path-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07B4Y1WJ9


https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Quest-Way-Shaman-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B00VQRW14E


https://www.amazon.com/Class-Threat-Disgardium-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07N33S8C6

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams is a book from the much beloved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Well worth a read.

I'll have to check this out when they see themselves in a book. My first book, Forging Divinity, is about a bisexual woman, but the main character in most popular fantasy, but it's well worth a read.

Oh my goshhhh this is awesome. I haven't read ADWD yet, so I'll add it to my wishlist now! Here 'tis!

I prefer a physical copy, but paperback is fine and used is fine. :)

Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt is on my Kindle wishlist. I started playing DnD over a year ago and I'm finding myself loving it more and more. Found out there are some books written within the universe and this is one of the best ones. Besides, it's fantasy. Who doesn't love fantasy?

Miskatonic University

My wife loves her kindle, it's alot easier for her to take places where she would normally take 2 or 3 different books with her. Plus, if she manages to finish one and still has time to kill or whatever, it's super easy to start another.

As for books, I've got 2 recommendations if you're into fantasy at all. One and two.

If you get this one, it's actually a deal on Amazon US right now for $2.99 for the Kindle edition, then you can buy the audiobook for $11.99 whispersync deal. I remembered seeing it on the /r/ebookdeals subreddit earlier today. Depending on how much you pay for your credits (and whether you have any interest in the Kindle edition too), this could be a good deal.

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Honestly some of the best fantasy I have ever read!

Just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik for the second time. It’s a fairytale/fantasy book, and I love the mysterious world it is set in. Medieval with magic.

I just started The Hazel wood by Melissa Albert , which I hope has the same fairytale/fantasy feel, eventhough it’s set in modern times.

I remember seeing this version on Amazon. Was considering getting it before deciding to get a split up version for more comfortable reading. It was a hard choice tho...looks beautiful.

And here’s a video of it in action!

If you haven't already, you should check out Uprooted

Female protagonist who becomes very strong and just a wonderful book.

It isn't a short story, but Firehurler by J.S. Morin is brilliant.

If you want some Snark & Sorcery then Sorcerer's Code by Christopher Kellen is right up your alleyway.

If you haven't read any Michael J. Sullivan then The Viscount and the Witch is a perfect start.

You've no doubt read this, but Beyond the Black River by Robert E. Howard is classic Conan.

I recently read The Last Wish and loved it. It's what The Witcher games are based on, and it's a very interesting world with interesting characters and a plot that really makes you take a moment to think about how you define a monster and what makes something good or evil.

I would recommend:

Patrick Rothfuss's Name of the Wind


Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, or his newest series The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive).

If you made it all the way through Sword of Truth series, you probably will enjoy Jordan's Wheel of Time.

Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora is also very enjoyable.

If you are looking for another big one, enjoy the gritty and dark elements from Martin, Stephen Erikson's Malazan series might be up your alley. The first book is a little difficult to get through, but it picks up after that.

Just to belabor the point, I've noticed a huge difference in the words I use in everyday speech when I'm reading fantasy novels or other fiction. Don't worry about books they make you read in English classes, any modern non-YA fiction will do.

If you like fantasy, I recommend Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice and the other books in the series.

Starts today! We'll have an AMA here next Friday, and one on the 3rd over at r/books giving a better idea of just how foolish we are. In the meantime: we're a bunch of r/Fantasy authors who've banded together for stuff and things. For those of you who don't want to go through the site (or if my abysmal web design is failing you):

• Unsouled by Will Wight /u/Will_Wight — Xianxia
  
• A Demon in the Desert by Ashe Armstrong /u/ashearmstrong — Sixguns & Sorcery
  
• Klondaeg Omnibus by Steve Thomas /u/SteveThomas — Comedic Fantasy
  
• Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher /u/StevenKelliher — Epic Fantasy w/ Eastern Flair
  
• Forging Divinity by Andrew Rowe /u/Salaris — Hard Fantasy
  
• A Star-Reckoner's Lot by Darrell Drake /u/darrelldrake — Historical Fantasy
  
  [Strangely, like four of us are under Asian Myths and Legends.]
  
  

• • -
    
    (Rest assured, we use only free-range ghouls.)
    
    
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    Also worth noting that Valley of Embers and A Star-Reckoner's Lot are part of /u/Hiugregg's Reading Resident Authors club. Ashe aims to have readers tackle Demon Haunted, which is the sequel to A Demon in the Desert, but stands well enough on its own. Still wouldn't hurt to have read the first book!

If you like sci-fi at all, I recommend John Scalzi's series that starts with "Old Man's War."

I haven't read them, but I've heard good things about Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and Tad Williams' Otherland series.

You said you weren't looking for fiction, but other people might come to your thread looking for those kinds of suggestions, so sorry to leave you hanging, but I'll put a few out there, because I've enjoyed this genre.

Opening Moves Aliens have taken over and ostensibly done away with war, but the main character finds out the stakes in the aliens' "Game" may be just as high.

Solarversia We've got a sort of reality show VR game where a hundred million players duke it out over the course of a year to win a big prize. It's easy to get sucked into this one as a gamer, because the author really captures this sens of video game action. There's pseudo-ai personality modeling based on social media, and even a fanatical AI doomsday cult.

Survival Quest Don't let the name turn you off here. In this trilogy the biggest MMO has become so big that prisoners are actually sentenced to server their time in VR capsules mining resources for paying non-prisoner characters. Where standard players get to choose their class and have access to outside materials like guides and wikis, the protagonist here (who's unjustly charged, of course!) gets his class selected for him, and must learn the nuances to this underplayed Shaman class, as well as figure out how to earn respect, while simultaneously earning his way out of prison. The third book just came out on the 10th, and I wouldn't have found out about it if not for writing this, so thanks! And enjoy!

What sort of literature are you into? I don't dedicate as much time to reading as I used to, which is unfortunate. I read House of Leaves in High School, but I sort of want to re-read it. I'm also in the third book of a song of ice and fire, but I've put that on hold for now. I'm about to start reading Homeland, on loan from my best friend. He liked it quite a bit, so I'm hoping I will too.

Edit: Homeland (and all of the Drizzt books) are set in the Forgotten Realms, if you're into Dungeons and Dragons at all.

Assassin's Apprentice If you like fantasy books this one is great. There is a lot of magic and intrigue.

This book would be great because I've done read the previous four in the series about 5 times now. I really would love to know... What happens to Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Sansa Stark? I got to know. Dx (Ok, I don't got to know. But I'd like to, haha.)

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

Thank you for this contest. :)

/u/JSMorin's Twinborn series, first book, Firehurler, here. The cover character is slightly misleading, but not quite. There's an unusual twist, and a character who is either an anti-hero or a villain depending on what happens next (I have only read the first book), but it's all about exploring a magical talent.

Raymond Feist's Magician is a true magnum opus dealing with the trials and tribulations of a young wizard named Pug. I found the first half a bit slow and rather generic, but it comes much more to life once Pug reaches the alternative setting of Kelewan and begins to train his powers in earnest.

Nice collection! My own modest collection has managed to take a couple feet of shelf space and I have been considering building a separate shelf for Tolkien.

I do have a question that I hope you could answer...

I've heard that the mass market paperback edition of Volumes I-V are riddled with errors and am currently seeking to replace those. Do you know if the hardback editions of Volumes VI-IX are better than the current paperback ones (ie. these)?

Try some LitRpg? The Way of the Shaman is pretty good. I'm waiting for the 3rd book to finish being translated.

TWoW Chapters Old Bold Barry does not appear to be available online, supposedly only available in ADwD paperback edition link to amazon paperback edition with the barristan chapter here. It is supposed to be a "thrilling sneak peek"