Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 11 2013, 00:22:52 UTC
I have a soft spot for UF, even if I don't read a lot of it. It's about the only fantasy I read these days, since I've sorta found typical high fantasy/"farmboy" of destiny to become a bit rote and boring to me, to be honest. Except for Discworld - that doesn't count, and I don't really consider ASOIAF high fantasy (it really, really reads like historical fiction to me).
Anyway, I'll throw out Amber Benson's Calliope Reaper-Jones series (no, I'm not kidding with the name), just because it's one of the few UF series I've seen with Hindu gods. (If anyone knows of any more, or any with non-typical gods in fiction, please hit me with them!) Kali is in the first book (Death's Daughter) and is pretty kickass, also Hell is interesting in that series. Well, interesting from what little I've seen...I like Benson's world-building, but I find her protagonist a bit annoying, so I haven't gotten around to reading past book 1 yet.
If you like UF dectectives, there's Kevin J. Anderson's Dan Shamble series. I've only read the first book of
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 11 2013, 14:22:14 UTC
Ooh, thank you for the wealth of recs! (Though, yeah, I'm starting to disbelieve your claim that you don't read a lot of UF XD)
Except for Discworld - that doesn't count,
I actually had this whole paragraph I gave up on and took out about how I feel like Discworld is really more of an urban fantasy, just one where the urbanity happens to take place in a secondary world, but that got too abstruse so I decided not to go there. But Discworld is absolutely in a class of its own regardless of where one buckets it.
Amber Benson's Calliope Reaper-Jones series (no, I'm not kidding with the name)
Ooh, I heard about this one (b/c I remember the Reaper-Jones name, lol) and is this *that* Amber Benson, as in Tara from BtVS? And, ooh, Hindu gods are a plus!
(As for non-typical gods, I'm assuming you've read American Gods? Since you mentioned Hindu, I thought of Zelazny's Lord of Light, but that's sci-fi, and, uh, vintage, and they're not exactly gods anyway... but I still really enjoyed the book, and especially Zelazny's Yama-Dharma
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 11 2013, 15:55:18 UTC
But Discworld is absolutely in a class of its own regardless of where one buckets it.
I agree, but if you polled a lot of people, they'd probably stick it in high fantasy, just because it seems "olden" and there are horses and wizards. XD When people say urban fantasy, I tend to think they are talking about *contemporary* urban fantasy, but you're right, historical-esque urban fantasy is a subset. I think it just tends to get sucked into high fantasy a lot, though. Because of the horse and wizard thing. XD If you wanted to get really edgy, you could argue that Discworld has a bit of steampunk, too. I tend to think of Pratchett like Jasper Fforde - kinda hard to put in a little box, which is a very good thing, imo, b/c I eat that stuff up. Publishers haaaaate it, though. They love their little boxes, I think, and cuddle them at night. ;-P
is this *that* Amber Benson, as in Tara from BtVSYep, that's her! XD She's written quite a bit, actually, and has/had some other writing collabs going on, as well. I also didn't know
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 11 2013, 19:51:51 UTC
f you wanted to get really edgy, you could argue that Discworld has a bit of steampunk, too
True, the Moist books especially.
I like stuff that doesn't fit into little boxes also, because it generally means it's either more complex or is possibly colonising a new niche which will become a little box at some point in the future :P
we are a hotbed of lady astronauts
That is a pretty awesome thing to be a hotbed of! XD And, huh, didn't know that about Felicia Day or Amber Benson, or Condoleezza Rice for that matter (who was out here at Stanford for a while, so that's what I associate her with, before politics).
I really like American Gods -- I'm a fan of Gaiman in general, but I think this is his best. And Zelazny is interesting -- I loved Chronicles of Amber (well the first five books; the second series gets really weird really fast, and is much weaker, I think) and Lord of Light is pretty brilliant (it's supposed to be his masterpiece), but there are bits here and there where I think his writing shows its age.
Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 12 2013, 17:40:54 UTC
Yay, someone else who likes Jasper! (I am also curious to see how he goes forward with his Shades of Grey series. Write faster, dude!)
If you like weird, you may also want to try Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas and Electric. I didn't like it remotely as much as Fforde's stuff, but apparently I find Ayn Rand trapped in a hurricane lamp mildly humorous.
Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 13 2013, 18:08:55 UTC
I think it's going at the top of my to-read-in-2014 list, based on the number of people who mentioned it, and so enthusiastically, in this post :) , so thank you!
Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 12 2013, 20:00:18 UTC
I think Alabama is kinda like what a former co-worker said about Memphis: "it's a great place to be from, but some people can't wait to leave" - striking out the "great place" part, since most famous people tend to hide Alabama origins/pretend they don't exist (I guess I don't blame them) when compared to Memphis (looking at you, Courteney Cox). This is why I will always like Charles Barkley, no matter what weird stuff comes out of his mouth, tbh. If he ever ran for governor, it probably wouldn't be any worse than some of the yahoos that have been elected.
(and much stronger than the other thing by Moore I read, one of the vampire ones)
I've only read 4 Moore books so far (I just like the Dirty Jobs cover, which is why I have it as an icon), but my favorite, so far, was the 3rd vampire novel, Bite Me. The other two were alright, but nothing spectacular. I like humor in my fiction, so I tend to forgive more than with plain fiction. For example, I am still reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series even though it is very
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 13 2013, 23:24:18 UTC
I read You Suck of the vampire ones (I think that's #2?) and it was fun, but not anything spectacular, I though -- I found Lamb much more impressive. But maybe I should try Bite Me, since it sounds like that might be the best of the vampire ones?
(And I'm with you on giving more of a pass to books that make me laugh.)
I liked Norse Code, but a little less than I'd been expecting to given how much I like the Norse gods (I liked them better in American Gods, e.g.), and the Gods Behaving Badly book better than I'd expected (but my expectations were pretty low, for whatever reason).
Right, I was trying to think of books with non-European gods and not coming up with much. Divine Misfortune sounds pretty cute, though!
Poison Study is what was originally rec'd to me for Snyder, I think, but I can't remember if I looked through it and it didn't grab me or if the books of hers I kept coming across where something else, and it was those that didn't grab me.
"Phillipa Bornikova" I'm randomly amused that people are assuming Slavic-
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 14 2013, 01:00:27 UTC
Bite Me had a different narrator so you might like it more, I dunno. It was from the POV of Abby "Normal," the goth chick hanger-on to the main couple. I liked the voice Moore used for her, but I could see that it might not be everyone's cup of tea
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 15 2013, 23:30:48 UTC
The Kushiel books definitely have a romance component, but the political intrigue and mystical whatsits are more prominent, I would say. And even what romance there is doesn't feel like paranormal romance, because for most of the books the magic is actually very low touch, sort of numinous, there are (remote) gods and visions and things, but nothing like vampire or werewolf boyfriends. There's a lot of fantasy BDSM though; I found that aspect of it not very interesting (even though I like BDSM in fic just fine); I know people who love the series for that, but to me that wasn't a selling point.
But, yeah, she does have some UF, and although I haven't read it myself, I've heard good things about it. The Kushiel prose tends towards purple and stylized, so I wonder how her UF writing is -- rather different, I assume.
Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 11 2013, 14:22:24 UTC
I love the Chrestomanci series! There are a couple that I don't think I've read -- The Magicians of... wherever, and I should probably reread Witch Week one of these days, because that was the one I started with and it's been like 25 years.
I sort of bounced off Duane's So You Want to be a Wizard, but I hadn't heard of Jenny Nimmo, so thanks for the tip.
I read the first Sorcery & Cecelia book (and loved it! SO CHARMING!) but the second one didn't work as well for me so I think I just left it unfinished. I never read either of their solo work and had forgotten about College of Magics -- that does sound up my alley
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 11 2013, 16:45:02 UTC
I wouldn't call College of Magics as charming as the Cecelia and Kate collaboration they did, but it has quite a bit of magic school stuff, IIRC, but not as epic as Harry Potter or anything (for one thing, these books are much shorter and there aren't as many). The Jenny Nimmo series kinda seemed Harry Potter-ish from the description, so you might like that one, I dunno
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_OhamsterwomanDecember 11 2013, 20:19:21 UTC
It's sort of frustrating when there's an author who has gobs of books on a topic that you like, but you're just not that into them.
Oh, I hear you on this! This is my tragedy with Seanan McGuire (compounded by the fact that I really like her writing when it's just her blog, so clearly she can write in a way that appeals to me, just... apparently that's not how she writes her books XD) -- she is super-prolific and has several series that sound entirely up my alley -- UF/mystery with fairies set in San Francisco! badass families and cryptids and magic mice! UF set around the fairy tale trope index! -- and, well, I haven't read the last one (because I want to live in hope, albeit faint, that it will work better for me) but I read the Toby Daye books with the background resentment of how much more I should be enjoying UF/mystery with fairies set in SF, and I couldn't finish Discount Armageddon at all... (I've heard awesome things about Seanan-as-Mira-Grant's Feed books, and maybe the trick will be to read the series that doesn't appeal
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Re: Will I be able to stick this all in one comment..... o_Oms_geeketteDecember 12 2013, 17:19:00 UTC
Seanan is a crazy person. I'd have to think there's something out of her insane voluminous output that you would like. Have you tried her Discount Armageddon series? I haven't read that one, either, yet, but it seems some folks don't like it as much, I dunno. Never mind. Indexing looks like it would be fun. Since she wrote it a bit differently (I assume) than her other books, it might come across unlike her other work, perhaps
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Anyway, I'll throw out Amber Benson's Calliope Reaper-Jones series (no, I'm not kidding with the name), just because it's one of the few UF series I've seen with Hindu gods. (If anyone knows of any more, or any with non-typical gods in fiction, please hit me with them!) Kali is in the first book (Death's Daughter) and is pretty kickass, also Hell is interesting in that series. Well, interesting from what little I've seen...I like Benson's world-building, but I find her protagonist a bit annoying, so I haven't gotten around to reading past book 1 yet.
If you like UF dectectives, there's Kevin J. Anderson's Dan Shamble series. I've only read the first book of ( ... )
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Except for Discworld - that doesn't count,
I actually had this whole paragraph I gave up on and took out about how I feel like Discworld is really more of an urban fantasy, just one where the urbanity happens to take place in a secondary world, but that got too abstruse so I decided not to go there. But Discworld is absolutely in a class of its own regardless of where one buckets it.
Amber Benson's Calliope Reaper-Jones series (no, I'm not kidding with the name)
Ooh, I heard about this one (b/c I remember the Reaper-Jones name, lol) and is this *that* Amber Benson, as in Tara from BtVS? And, ooh, Hindu gods are a plus!
(As for non-typical gods, I'm assuming you've read American Gods? Since you mentioned Hindu, I thought of Zelazny's Lord of Light, but that's sci-fi, and, uh, vintage, and they're not exactly gods anyway... but I still really enjoyed the book, and especially Zelazny's Yama-Dharma ( ... )
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I agree, but if you polled a lot of people, they'd probably stick it in high fantasy, just because it seems "olden" and there are horses and wizards. XD When people say urban fantasy, I tend to think they are talking about *contemporary* urban fantasy, but you're right, historical-esque urban fantasy is a subset. I think it just tends to get sucked into high fantasy a lot, though. Because of the horse and wizard thing. XD If you wanted to get really edgy, you could argue that Discworld has a bit of steampunk, too. I tend to think of Pratchett like Jasper Fforde - kinda hard to put in a little box, which is a very good thing, imo, b/c I eat that stuff up. Publishers haaaaate it, though. They love their little boxes, I think, and cuddle them at night. ;-P
is this *that* Amber Benson, as in Tara from BtVSYep, that's her! XD She's written quite a bit, actually, and has/had some other writing collabs going on, as well. I also didn't know ( ... )
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True, the Moist books especially.
I like stuff that doesn't fit into little boxes also, because it generally means it's either more complex or is possibly colonising a new niche which will become a little box at some point in the future :P
we are a hotbed of lady astronauts
That is a pretty awesome thing to be a hotbed of! XD And, huh, didn't know that about Felicia Day or Amber Benson, or Condoleezza Rice for that matter (who was out here at Stanford for a while, so that's what I associate her with, before politics).
I really like American Gods -- I'm a fan of Gaiman in general, but I think this is his best. And Zelazny is interesting -- I loved Chronicles of Amber (well the first five books; the second series gets really weird really fast, and is much weaker, I think) and Lord of Light is pretty brilliant (it's supposed to be his masterpiece), but there are bits here and there where I think his writing shows its age.
I need to read ( ... )
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If you like weird, you may also want to try Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas and Electric. I didn't like it remotely as much as Fforde's stuff, but apparently I find Ayn Rand trapped in a hurricane lamp mildly humorous.
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(and much stronger than the other thing by Moore I read, one of the vampire ones)
I've only read 4 Moore books so far (I just like the Dirty Jobs cover, which is why I have it as an icon), but my favorite, so far, was the 3rd vampire novel, Bite Me. The other two were alright, but nothing spectacular. I like humor in my fiction, so I tend to forgive more than with plain fiction. For example, I am still reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series even though it is very ( ... )
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(And I'm with you on giving more of a pass to books that make me laugh.)
I liked Norse Code, but a little less than I'd been expecting to given how much I like the Norse gods (I liked them better in American Gods, e.g.), and the Gods Behaving Badly book better than I'd expected (but my expectations were pretty low, for whatever reason).
Right, I was trying to think of books with non-European gods and not coming up with much. Divine Misfortune sounds pretty cute, though!
Poison Study is what was originally rec'd to me for Snyder, I think, but I can't remember if I looked through it and it didn't grab me or if the books of hers I kept coming across where something else, and it was those that didn't grab me.
"Phillipa Bornikova" I'm randomly amused that people are assuming Slavic- ( ... )
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But, yeah, she does have some UF, and although I haven't read it myself, I've heard good things about it. The Kushiel prose tends towards purple and stylized, so I wonder how her UF writing is -- rather different, I assume.
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I sort of bounced off Duane's So You Want to be a Wizard, but I hadn't heard of Jenny Nimmo, so thanks for the tip.
I read the first Sorcery & Cecelia book (and loved it! SO CHARMING!) but the second one didn't work as well for me so I think I just left it unfinished. I never read either of their solo work and had forgotten about College of Magics -- that does sound up my alley ( ... )
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Oh, I hear you on this! This is my tragedy with Seanan McGuire (compounded by the fact that I really like her writing when it's just her blog, so clearly she can write in a way that appeals to me, just... apparently that's not how she writes her books XD) -- she is super-prolific and has several series that sound entirely up my alley -- UF/mystery with fairies set in San Francisco! badass families and cryptids and magic mice! UF set around the fairy tale trope index! -- and, well, I haven't read the last one (because I want to live in hope, albeit faint, that it will work better for me) but I read the Toby Daye books with the background resentment of how much more I should be enjoying UF/mystery with fairies set in SF, and I couldn't finish Discount Armageddon at all... (I've heard awesome things about Seanan-as-Mira-Grant's Feed books, and maybe the trick will be to read the series that doesn't appeal ( ... )
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