Book Recommendations

[ravenDivinity]

I need some book recommendations because I'm looking for something new to read. I'm familiar with the classics and mainstream/highly popular works of fiction, but I want to read something that doesn't land exactly in those categories.

I particularly like books with:
- Fantasy. Fantasy fantasy fantasy. I love it. Both contemporary and original. Magic is a plus.
- Revolutions or uprisings. Any of those are always appreciated.
- A diverse cast.
- Races and politics and religion. I like developed worlds.
- LGBT characters and protagonists. Those are awesome, since I've yet to read a fantasy novel with an LGBT protagonist.
- Powerful vocabulary and a mature prose style that avoids redundancy, purple prose, and cliches.
- Tragedy is sometimes cool. Watching characters suffer and characters supporting the characters that suffer make my heart sink.
- Developed romance. Ordinarily, I avoid romantically-focused novels, but if you have a recommendation that has a romantic side-plot that isn't shallow or boring, that I can actually get behind, then please, show me.

Also, I'll go ahead and leave this thread open for other people who also want to find a good read, so please, if you need book recommendations, it's fine to ask here alongside me.

[FuzzyFly]

Okay so i'm going to plug a series here that I love and hopefully you'll like it. It's the Emberverse series also known as Novels of the Change by S. M. Stirling. There's currently 11 books in the series and the first being "Dies the Fire". The first two books are slightly sci-fi in the setting as the whole premise is that all power has suddenly stopped working no engines, no batteries, no steam powered engines, and also oh yeah guns don't work either. But by the third book it takes a twist into Neo-Fantasy and magic actually becomes a big force in the world. There is a big power dynamic that evolves through the books with four or five main factions and more being introduced in almost every book.

You meet an LGBT character in the first book but it isn't until the third and fourth that another LGBT character becomes a big part of the story and she's a really well rounded character. Lots of tragedy and roller coaster moments in the series as a whole. There is some romance in the series and it plays a big role but more in the interactions of other characters and how that effects power dynamics. The only thing is the author does tend to have some redundancy in his writing but nothing that is over obvious at least to me.

I hope this was somewhat helpful and i'm sorry if it's just me rambling.

[ravenDivinity]

FuzzyFly: Thanks for the recommendation! I'll add it to my list, I think it looks promising.

[HeySeuss]

Revolution? "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein.
Races and politics and religion? "Dune" by Frank Herbert.

Yes, they're sci-fi. Not sure if you've read them, but I recommend them just in case because anyone with a passing interest in books ought to read those two anyway.

Edit: Also, to round out the trifecta: "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman

Further Edit: These are all Hugo/Nebula winners. Literally some of the best the entire genre has to offer, but you said you're a fantasy fan, so I figured to offer really great books from a different genre that covers some themes. I can't remember anything with a homosexual protagonist, but Sci-Fi tends to cover it. Actually, the Forever War has some strong LGBT themes involved.

[ravenDivinity]

HeySeuss: Thanks a ton! Definitely checking those out.

[Nemaisare]

Allrighty, well, I’m not sure how well I’ll do with finding titles you don’t already know, but I figured I could at least try. If only by way of saying ‘oooh a book recommendation thread where I can find new books! Awesome!’ :p

All of these books/authors are fantasy, and some are more popular than others, I don’t remember any glaringly obvious LGBT moments, which could be a plus in how they’re handled, but also, none of them involve LGBT protagonists.

First off, Steven Erikson. You’ve likely heard of him, but just in case you haven’t… I love everything he’s written so far, and that’s at least 11 thick novels and several short stories. While his prose style does occasionally take a turn for the wordy, the world he plays in is extremely well developed, he has a huge cast of characters, is not afraid of tragedy. It is definitely epic fantasy. He also has a pretty good sense of humour. ;)

Dave Duncan. Simple, but not excessively so, the King’s Blades books all focus on different guardsmen, magically bonded to their charge. It’s not what I’d call high fantasy, but there’s definitely magic and adventure, a bit of romance in a few of them and plenty of excitement. I haven’t read his other books, but do plan on getting to them.

Jude Fisher’s Fool’s Gold trilogy is a good one for magic. With a developed world. That I remember, there’s not so much an uprising as one apprentice rebelling, and somewhat accidentally at that. But it’s fun.

Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos is a character with an amusing inner voice while he narrates his own stories. Having only read one of the books (my library is lacking when it comes to this author), I cannot for sure say it becomes great. But it definitely has a few different races, or species actually… and some interesting magic, though it’s a bit sci-fi/fantasy combined. I'm already of the opinion that Taltos has a bad habit of getting into tight spots.

Nancy Springer. Now, most of her books are young adult or for children, some aren’t bad for a quick read if you’re bored, but the two that I think should tickle your fancy are I Am Mordred and I Am Morgan Le Fay. Each are separate retellings of the age old King Arthur story, from their perspectives. And really well done. It has been a while since I read them though, so they might be for a younger audience than I remember, given as I was younger myself. *coughsyoungerpfftcoughs*

Jennifer Roberson has far more books than her Karavans series, but they are the ones I like best. The others are not horrible by any means, they just didn’t catch my attention half as well. But Karavans has a different world, a subtle magic, and different races that each have their own culture, which always makes a book worth consideration, at the very least.

[Dinh AaronMk]

Wiedźmin by Andrzej Sapkowski. Or My/The Comfy Chair by Arnolf Hiller.

Or FoE by Kkat and Project Horizons by Somber.