#bnjymouse

[theladyragnell]

Ooh! Re: book recs for the new year, do you have any lesser known fantasy (or sci fi tbh) recommendations? Or better known but pre-2010s books - I've kind of devoured a lot of the modern stuff, and we have a shockingly similar taste in books

Ooh, excellent! I never actually know what's lesser known? So I'm going with things I haven't seen a lot of internet buzz about, with a decent amount of indie and self-pub. A lot of it will be fantasy romance, but I'll try for a variety!

The Devotion of Delflenor by R. Cooper (I'm going to keep trying until someone reads this piney piney lady knights book, damn it)

The Tea Princess Chronicles by Casey Blair

Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch (a lot of people were talking about Seducing the Sorcerer by the same author a year or so ago, but I like this one better!)

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and then if you like the concept behind that, try the Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein

Ariah by B.R. Sanders is very worldbuildy and cool

Sharon Shinn flies under the radar sometimes but tends to have cool worldbuilding concepts, I'm midway through the Elemental Blessings series and really enjoying it

Felicia Davin's Gardener's Hand trilogy is great, and Davin now has a historical fantasy romance(/verging on erotica in places) epistolary series coming out, of which I've read the first, The Scandalous Letters of V and J is very fun.

I've only read the first of Effie Calvin's Ieflaria series of largely sapphic fantasy romance, but I had fun with that one!

I like Amy Rae Durreson, who usually writes m/m fantasy romance, try Reawakening on for size but be warned the second book has a plague in it

If you like middle grade, I really like Merrie Haskell's fairy tale retellings and her short stories for older readers too, she's very Robin McKinley-esque

(Speaking of, if you haven't read Robin McKinley, please do, any of her you can get your hands on but particularly her fairy tales and Chalice)

Three Princes by Ramona Wheeler is one I don't remember a lot about but the concept is great, it's the kind of alternate history I wish more people were writing instead of 18,000 "The Nazis/Confederates Won" books (and similarly, P. Djeli Clark's Dead Djinn books, though those have a much bigger dose of fantasy)

CJ Cherryh can sometimes be a bit dense for my mood, but I've read the first three books in her series that starts with Foreigner and there is SO much fun politics and worldbuilding. (I haven't read fantasy from her, just sci fi, sorry, almost posted this without making that clear, this is very much sci fi!)

Okay, that's what I've got for this exact second! I'm on a different floor from the bookshelf that has the most of my older fantasy on it, so there's not quite as much of that as intended, but it's what I've got in me!

[idiopathicsmile]

In case you haven't come across it, That's How I Heard It is wonderful. It's, like, six to 10 minutes of totally weird and unexpected backstory on a famous person or thing.

i have not yet come across it but hot damn does that sound directly up my alley

[theladyragnell]

Have you read any Guy Gavriel Kay? Politics-heavy fantasy of my teenage years. Though the fantasy skin he pastes over historical politics can be verrrry thin in some books, so that may or may not work for you. I think you’ve already read most of my standard recs though!

I haven’t! He sounds potentially intriguing, though, so I will keep my eyes peeled.

And to continue with some replies from last night!:

bnjymouse said: Have you tried the expanse book series? It deviates a fair bit from the show, particularly in terms of the awesomeness of the  ladies! Chrisjen avasarala deserved so much better…

I haven’t! I find the show a bit exhausting, honestly, so if the books were going to be more of the same I didn’t necessarily want to get invested in them? But I’ve been pondering it anyway, so we’ll see!

mr-chatterboxs-column said: Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series is incredible alternate-universe Greco-Roman politics (the first one is a road trip about politics, but the series gets more diplomacy all over the place very quickly. Lots of twists, not good to research too much in advance)

I find fantasy of manners books often have enough intrigue to feel politicky? All of Ellen Kushner, Crown Duel (court politics), Caroline Stevermer’s College/Scholar of Magics duology (both academic politics and international), Delia Sherman’s The Porcelain Dove (court politics)

You and I clearly have similar taste in books! I love fantasies of manners and definitely get the right intrigue feel from them. I haven’t read College of Magics since high school and haven’t read the sequel, so thank you for reminding me to find them again! And I’ve never heard of The Porcelain Dove, but considering you’ve mentioned some of my favorites in Crown Duel and the Queen’s Thief series, I am definitely intrigued.

kekela717 said: I loved the Centenal Cycle trilogy by Malka Older, which is all about elections, leadership, and information flow in a world where technology is very available and country borders have been replaced by micro-democracies. The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells also deal a lot with court leadership in the face of difficulties with a lot of found families and polyamory.

I’ve never heard of the Older books, which sound very intriguing! I’ll have to look into them. And I’ve loved Wells’s Murderbot so much that I took note of some other series names from her but haven’t tried them yet. Found families, poly, AND politics, though? That’s definitely moving up my list!

attilarrific said: A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland, if you haven’t read it, and A City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet! (The second one is a little more action-heavy, but it’s still pretty politics focused.)

Also Kushiel’s Dart, but those books are, uh, obscenely long, so only if you’re in the mood for something extensive. (Also, check the warnings, there’s some nasty stuff in there.)

And there’s a second on City of Stairs! I’d never heard of it before, but it definitely looks like it could be very much up my alley. The Rowland is on my longlist of things to acquire, I should see if the library can interlibrary loan it for me now that it’s been out for a while.

And I’ve read the Kushiel’s Dart trilogy! Sometimes I think about trying some of the other trilogies in the world, but as you say, they are obscenely long. A bit much of a commitment! (Though the Cherryh books that kickstarted this are probably in the same ballpark.)

shadaras said: Gamechanger, by L. X. Beckett. Near-future sci-fi about reversing climate change, VR games, and AI rights (sort of). All nice and queer, too!

This looks really interesting! Maybe a bit engaged with reality for my current desires, but still super cool and one I’ll have to make a note for when I’m feeling a bit more resilient.