Fantasy Reading List - B
Fantasy books I recommend, sorted by author's last name in alphabetical order.
Currently Reading
Cordelia's Honor (Hugo Winners) (Hugo Winners)
By Lois McMaster Bujold
- Song of the Beast by Carol Berg Stand-alone novel about a bard who has been imprisoned and punished. It's a grim story as he is in pretty bad circumstances (i.e. torture) so it is not so much a coming-of-age story but a coming-to-terms with life story. Very good read.
- The Rai-Kirah Trilogy by Carol Berg
I haven't read the rest of the trilogy but I'm happy just from reading the first book, Transformation. The main character is Seyonne, a former mage who has survived 20 years of slavery and expected to be a slave for life until circumstances conspire to free him. Transformation's kinda awesome because Seyonne's natural rebellion that he had suppressed for so long revived when he meets Aleksander, the heir to the freaking warrior empire that enslaved him. The interplay between the two characters, master and slave, and their transformation from that relationship to a genuine friendship is really awesome. Plus, the two cultures that the both of them exemplify are really realistically drawn. Seriously, it's cool. Objectively, in lesser hands, this whole book coulda came across as a bad fanfiction since any stupid fangirl would just slash the relationship and totally make Seyonne some Gary Stu. But nooooo, Carol Berg has to make it an actual story and not some cheap fantasy fanfic. So, I think she's awesome just for that. - Tiger Burning Bright by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mercedes Lackey & Andre Norton Great stand-alone novel set in a fantasy world about three generations of a royal family who must deal with sudden political and magical threats to their life and country. I really loved the story of the daughter the most just because it tied up nicely but at the same time, it wasn't a fairy tale ending. I think I liked her story the most because it involved the most supporting characters and the supporting characters made the book for me. It didn't hurt that the daughter knew what she wanted and she wanted to be a freaking spymaster-warrior, dammit and no one would stop her. Although the superhero alter ego type of life that the grandmother had and the pirate that the mother had at her beck and call was kinda awesome too.
- Sword of Change Trilogy by Patricia Bray I actually didn't enjoy this trilogy on the whole because I felt that the overall structure of the series suffered from the author's relative inexperience. But the strength of the first book of the trilogy made me include this trilogy in the list. Perhaps it's because the author came from outside the fantasy field but it was the first time I read about a middle-aged hero who is disillusioned but still honorable enough to fit the hero stereotype. It's just too bad that (in my opinion) Bray fumbled with the subsequent sequels to Devlin's story.
- The Hurog Duology by Patricia Briggs Hopefully to be a trilogy! I love both of these books and it is a rarity indeed because usually the first book is hard to beat. But in Patricia Briggs' case, she actually trumped the great job she did on the first book. Wardwick of Hurog is an awesome character. I mean, you've got to give props to a dude who had a pretty nasty family situation and basically had to FAKE BEING RETARDED for ten years just to survive. That takes gumption. I love Ward.
- Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust Pretty cool novel series about a human set in a world that is fairly overrun by non-human races. And get this! The humans are actually not worshipped as the best! Actually, humans are seen as lower so the main character is actually pretty incredible for even getting to the status he has gotten to. I have to admit that the reason why I love this series is the smart-aleck dragon familiar that Vlad is partners with, Loiosh. Because yeah, Vlad uses human magic and for that he needs a familiar. He's also part of some underground dealings and stuff as he's a mercenary P.I. so he always has some adventures going there. Although I have heard that the author, Steven Brust, is guilty of letting his real life intrude on his writing a la Laurell K. Hamilton (although not to her degree). But only on Vlad's love life, which is actually still peripheral to the main novel. The non-alien race that the world is governed by seem to be a pretty Mary-Sue-ish race like Tolkien's elves but I can live with them because they're not really the focus of the story and they're part of the background culture. Really, it's about Vlad and Loiosh. But Loiosh is really the main draw for me.
- The Book of Jhereg (Jhereg, Yendi & Teckla)
- The Book of Taltos (Taltos & Phoenix)
- The Book of Athyra (Athyra & Orca)
- Dragon
- Issola
- Dzur
- The Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold I primarily know Lois McMaster Bujold through her sci-fi books, which I love. Lord Miles Vorkosigan is always so awesome~! So I was pretty curious as to how her writing ability would translate over to fantasy. I actually haven't read the first book yet but read the rest. So it's a bit weird as the second book, The Paladin of Souls, sort of gives away some of the events that transpire in The Curse of Chalion. However, all of the books are stand-alone reads as far as I can tell since Lois McMaster Bujold has good experience with that from her long running Miles series. The first two books are more related than the third book though as the Hallowed Hunt seems to be more set in the same universe but doesn't actually involve any of the actual characters mentioned in the previous two books except distantly. It's interesting to note that these books actually have a strong theology current along with the magical themes so it was a cool to read since it was a change from the usual bombastic sci-fi space adventure type of story I'm used to reading from her.
- The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold
A plus is also that the author actually responds to fanmail!
Apparently, this is one of Lois McMaster Bujold's earlier works so it's not quite as polished as the books that I first read of hers. A stand-alone work that is really nice. Set in a historical fantasy setting during the time of the independent Italian city-states with magic that co-exists uneasily with the powerful Church. Very cool mix of political intrigue, clash of white, black and gray magic with theological subtones. The research that went into this is rather impressive too and this book has one of the most kick ass endings I've seen.
Currently Reading
Cordelia's Honor (Hugo Winners) (Hugo Winners)
By Lois McMaster Bujold