If you like the RoL series, I think you would really enjoy the Matthew Swift books - I really love the writing style. You might also like Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books, also set in London - mainly Camden and northwards.
And for Tam Lin stories, I think my favourite is Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. But her books generally are my favourites in any category they fit into.
Thank you for the recs! I'm eager to read Matthew Swift because I've been thinking the same thing. I actually have The Midnight Mayor sitting in my to-read pile and am just trying to figure out if it's a decent starting point or not. Any thoughts on that?
I hadn't heard about the Alex Verus series at all -- thank you for bringing it to my attention!
I really like DWJ's stuff, but Fire and Hemlock is one of hers I haven't read. I keep forgetting it's a Tam Lin story, and being reminded, like now, and firming up my resolve to read it, and then forgetting again. But eventually it will stick! XD
No, I would really start with the first Matthew Swift book, A Madness of Angels, or you will miss a lot of essential information.
Alex Verus is fun.
And a lot of people consider Fire and Hemlock to be DWJ's best book. At the conference Iattended on her work it was definitely taken extremely seriously by academics and fans alike. It's more complex and definitely older than the Chrestomanci or Howl books, but it's about reading and Tam Lin and writing and TS Eliot - there is just no bad.
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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I've heard both this theory and the idea that now that she's the Winter Lady maybe she'll finally get over it, but I admit, I suspect you're right, based on how mishandled I feel this whole Molly/Harry thing has been, and really, really don't want to see that...
I've read a little bit of urban fantasy by Tanya Huff -- the first one or two Blood Price books and I think one of the Keeper's books, and found both rather charming (I also liked the Quarters books, which are not urban fantasy of course) -- would definitely read more by her if I came across it.
And I've bee wanting to try some Mercy Thompson -- I've heard really good things about it -- but kept coming across later books in the series. Is this a series that would be OK to read out of order, or should I really try to start at the beginning?
I've read the Blood & Smoke books after Keeper's Chronicles and I found the Blood books a bit too dark-ish in comparison (well, maybe not dark exactly, but they lacked the fun). The Smoke books were more to my taste, but Keeper's Chronicles is my favourite series by her. I still need to read her heroic fantasy. Also, grrr at the TV show for degaying the Blood books. >_>
It's better to start at the beginning. Also, when I caught up, I read all the Mercy books first, and then all the Alpha and Omega books, and it worked because there weren't many Alpha and Omega books yet, but the two series are related so you can also follow the order of publication and alternate between the two series.
Ah that's good to know, thank you for the Mercy primer!
And I knew there was a Blood Price TV show, but I didn't realize they changed the series / de-gayed it... That's unfortunate.
The Quarters fantasy has magical worldbuilding I really love -- basically, control of the elements, but I like the way it's accomplished. And does some things I like with presenting equal gender roles (you get things like characters referred to as "the river pilot", "the captain" and a few lines later find out that the characters in question are female, that sort of thing) and a setting where homosexuality and bisexuality are normal, and even some poly (which I think isn't presented as any big shocker either, in societal terms). I've only read book 1 and book 4, and I've heard books 2-3 have some really weird stuff going on in them which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I did like the first one a lot (and the fourth one enough to go back and read the first one, since that's the one I came across first).
I like Kim Harrison's books but somehow it always takes me ages to read one - about a week per book or so which is VERY slow for me.
Sookie- I actually like the books much more than the TV show. Sookie is a lot more likeable in the books, I think. Not as dumb as she's portrayed on TV - if you don't mind me saying that!
Oh ... and try the Mercy Thompson ones ... love them!
Have you ever read Kat Richardson? Pretty good as well ... :D
I find the Kim Harrison books also take me longer than I would expect them to, not sure why but I guess the pacing tends to not be of the variety that keeps one turning pages?
I've never seen True Blood the TV show, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of TV!Sookie, but I've heard what you say from a lot of other people, too, which has not made me very interested in watching the TV show :P
And I've bee wanting to try some Mercy Thompson -- I've heard really good things about it -- but kept coming across later books in the series. Is this a series that would be OK to read out of order, or should I really try to start at the beginning?
I was going to say that I hadn't read any Kat Richardson, but ms_geekette pointed out that I actually have, in the Mean Streets anthology. It was my favorite of the stories by new-to-me authors there (so, favorite out of 3), but apparently did not strike me enough to stick in my mind. I did like that the protagonist had a ferret though :) So maybe I should check out more of her stuff, especially now that I've
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I'd recommend reading the Mercy Thompson ones in order as the stories build up on each other. They're an easy read as well. And like ms_geekette said - the "Alpha&Omega" series is good as well ...
And I also recommend reading the Kat Richardson ones in order ... :D
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And for Tam Lin stories, I think my favourite is Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. But her books generally are my favourites in any category they fit into.
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I hadn't heard about the Alex Verus series at all -- thank you for bringing it to my attention!
I really like DWJ's stuff, but Fire and Hemlock is one of hers I haven't read. I keep forgetting it's a Tam Lin story, and being reminded, like now, and firming up my resolve to read it, and then forgetting again. But eventually it will stick! XD
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Alex Verus is fun.
And a lot of people consider Fire and Hemlock to be DWJ's best book. At the conference I attended on her work it was definitely taken extremely seriously by academics and fans alike. It's more complex and definitely older than the Chrestomanci or Howl books, but it's about reading and Tam Lin and writing and TS Eliot - there is just no bad.
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And thank you very much for the link to the conference write-up!
but it's about reading and Tam Lin and writing and TS Eliot - there is just no bad.
Indeed, it sounds very much like something I would enjoy!
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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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I feel like making Molly the Winter Lady is just going to take her crush farther :/ and I am not okay with this
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Keeper's Chronicles by Tanya Huff is urban fantasy of the kinda parodic variety (it makes me think of Pratchett) with some f/f in the last book.
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And I've bee wanting to try some Mercy Thompson -- I've heard really good things about it -- but kept coming across later books in the series. Is this a series that would be OK to read out of order, or should I really try to start at the beginning?
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It's better to start at the beginning. Also, when I caught up, I read all the Mercy books first, and then all the Alpha and Omega books, and it worked because there weren't many Alpha and Omega books yet, but the two series are related so you can also follow the order of publication and alternate between the two series.
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And I knew there was a Blood Price TV show, but I didn't realize they changed the series / de-gayed it... That's unfortunate.
The Quarters fantasy has magical worldbuilding I really love -- basically, control of the elements, but I like the way it's accomplished. And does some things I like with presenting equal gender roles (you get things like characters referred to as "the river pilot", "the captain" and a few lines later find out that the characters in question are female, that sort of thing) and a setting where homosexuality and bisexuality are normal, and even some poly (which I think isn't presented as any big shocker either, in societal terms). I've only read book 1 and book 4, and I've heard books 2-3 have some really weird stuff going on in them which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I did like the first one a lot (and the fourth one enough to go back and read the first one, since that's the one I came across first).
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Sookie- I actually like the books much more than the TV show. Sookie is a lot more likeable in the books, I think. Not as dumb as she's portrayed on TV - if you don't mind me saying that!
Oh ... and try the Mercy Thompson ones ... love them!
Have you ever read Kat Richardson? Pretty good as well ... :D
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I've never seen True Blood the TV show, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of TV!Sookie, but I've heard what you say from a lot of other people, too, which has not made me very interested in watching the TV show :P
And I've bee wanting to try some Mercy Thompson -- I've heard really good things about it -- but kept coming across later books in the series. Is this a series that would be OK to read out of order, or should I really try to start at the beginning?
I was going to say that I hadn't read any Kat Richardson, but ms_geekette pointed out that I actually have, in the Mean Streets anthology. It was my favorite of the stories by new-to-me authors there (so, favorite out of 3), but apparently did not strike me enough to stick in my mind. I did like that the protagonist had a ferret though :) So maybe I should check out more of her stuff, especially now that I've ( ... )
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And I also recommend reading the Kat Richardson ones in order ... :D
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