Comments | unstoppablei: Book recs

unstoppablei

Book recs

Feb 20, 2011 17:04

So I'm working on this dark modern fantasy novel and I'm looking for other dark modern fantasies for adults. I say for adults because most of the stuff I find that sounds good is actually YA lit. Now I'm sure it's great, blah blah blah, and please don't get on my back about how seriously good YA can be if I give it a chance -- it's not what I want ( Read more... )

writing, recs, books

Comments 16

atalanta_mine February 20 2011, 22:29:31 UTC

I love Tanith Lee. She does dabble more in fantasy and such, but there are a few rare modern pieces of her's floating about. I mention her because of how incredibly graphic her work is; it definitely is NOT for young adults and may even be a bit much for many adults. I also enjoy how subtly she handles some truly dark themes and scenarios. She'd be a great read just for S & G but also in terms of research.

unstoppablei February 20 2011, 22:33:58 UTC

Sweet, thanks! Can you name any particular books of hers that you enjoyed? What's your favorite?

atalanta_mine February 20 2011, 23:01:16 UTC

I really, really enjoyed The Fair Folk. It's a short story. Also, her book Paradys is good. It takes awhile to get thru and it has a tendency to go off on tangents. But her prose is very rich and the entire thematic basis of the plot is some of the darkest stuff out there.

unstoppablei February 20 2011, 23:05:02 UTC

Thank you so much, I am in such need of good fantasy book. <3

Thread 6

snicks_chan February 21 2011, 02:56:10 UTC

Tanya Huff's Keeper Chronicles and the recent Enchantment Emporium are some of my favorite urban fantasies...but then I prefer the genre snarky and offbeat, rather than haunting.

I've not read the Dresden Files books, but they seem very Supernatural-esque.

unstoppablei February 21 2011, 02:59:22 UTC

I like snarky and offbeat!

Will def read, thanks <3

PS how ARE you?

snicks_chan February 21 2011, 03:11:08 UTC

Then you will definitely enjoy these! Enchantment Emporium is less episodic, but the writing in the Keeper's Chronicles is a bit tighter. And the cat has some zingy one-liners. Neither of the series are anything like Neverwhere but, then, what is?

Simon R. Green's Shadowfall and Drinking Midnight Wine kind of strike a Gaiman-ish note. Green was an awesome writer before he went and got all weirdly predictable. Blue Moon Rising (which is pure fantasy, nothing modern about it) is one of my favorite books of all time!

PS. Pretty okay! 2011 is looking to be batshit insane.

unstoppablei February 21 2011, 03:13:16 UTC

When is the big day? Facebook tells me you're going nuts.

Thread 8

anonymous April 13 2011, 15:09:25 UTC

Philip Pullman, though he's not exactly what you're looking for. His best series, "His Dark Materials", is set in a world very similar to our own, and does in fact cross over to this one for a significant portion of the second book. He conjures an irradiant atmosphere of surreality; it bristles with energy that is just that small amount of off that good fantasy has. The two main worlds are so like our own, yet not, like distorted reflections. These books may very well appeal to younger readers because of ideas like one's soul being embodied in an animal outside the body and of course the requisite wars and so on (they did to me when I was twelve), but the reason I recommend them as adult fantasy is their very serious engagement with notions of religion and humanity. It's rather like Gaiman in its rejection of absolutes, and to adults its symbolism is rather more apparent than to children. Imagine something transcending all possible universes in the search for an ultimate truth that need not be perfect, but is right. That's Pullman ( ... )

unstoppablei May 3 2011, 13:33:02 UTC

I've read HDM...definitely a unique read. Thanks!