#fae books

[belle-keys]

this is the worst book description I’ve ever read like I’m actually having a stroke

[rorydm]

whenever i see jude and cardan’s arts, i am internally screaming!!

[rroderickrowe]

Go back to the start of the Elk Creek Tribe and visit the Founder and his cohorts as the cataclysm of the Cascadia Subduction Zone quakes have devastated the land. Follow as the tribe fights for survival in a post-apocalyptic world then watch the miracle of shamanism manifest when the Christian taboos are abolished.

Rodney is the Founder's Son, yet the Founder, Justin Earl Knight acts like he doesn't even exist. What does that do to a young boy? Then, when he thinks the worst has passed, the other villages attack. Rodney's talent may be all that stands in the way of destruction when other villages, desperate for survival, seek to take by force what they could have by teamwork instead.

An adventure in strife, war, survival, and human nature at its best and worst.

[philosophy-with-anxiety]

does anyone have any good fae/forest nymph/ forest magic fantasy books? preferably w a romantic subplot. something that reads like a hozier song?

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

Ppl are (understandably) upset abt fae shit taking over YA/NA romance but I think getting mad at the very concept of fae and why it's popular won't really do much. Mainly because the "fae" we see in popular books are just the same flavor of guy, with minor variations based on author appeal. The "fae" are no different from the vampires back in the Twilight ripoff era (in fact they can be traced all the way back to Twilight itself), they're just using a different word for that specific flavor of Straight Romance Guy and his associated tropes, which is what you're really mad at.

Usually the main fae guy is a bigstrong man, there's some sort of mating system, potentially some gender essentialism, and everyone's a model. It's a generic but "appealing" (to mostly straight women) enough concept that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be, all while tapping into that high fantasy/"political intrigue"/enemies-to-lovers buzzword soup. I think the only reason this trope is specifically called fae and not elves is because you want to be darker and edgier, and elves have a cultural association with being more ethereal and sexless. So we have these guys, who are really just the same guy, who are really just elves who fuck, and we call it fae because it sounds more mysterious and, well, fey than elves.

(It could also be argued that fae and elves are the same guy also, but most girlies are not ready for that conversation.)

I think it's understandable that it became this way, as the concept of "fair folk" exists across different cultures and has fewer set rules compared to Tolkien/D&D elves. It has a bigger and more varied pool of inspiration for writers to take ideas from. However, instead of actually taking ideas from any folklore, a lot of the current fae shit is just repackaged vampire/werewolf stuff: these are guys who are better than you, they have superpowers, they fight and fuck like animals, and they claim your weak human body with their bites, and the ultimate upgrade is becoming one of them. It's the same old shit under a different name.

The reason it feels like an epidemic is because smaller authors are just cribbing shit from the bigger ones and using the same names for the same guys, the same tropes, the same plots. Like "oh this made me horny, so I'll just repeat it!" and this echo chamber has begun spawning its very own lore and mythology, and newer authors are assuming that this is based on real folklore and not some woman's personal wank bank, and don't bother to check because this is good and made them horny, so why change what works? Like, I've legit seen authors claim that SJM didn't invent fae mating because "it's part of the original mythology." Which, to be very clear and admirably restrained, is not the case. SJM didn't invent mating, but it's not becuse it's "original folklore." It's just the same old stuff but with a different name, and unfortunately, the fair folk and associated folklore is a lot more vague than, say, werewolves or vampires, and that's why these tropes are now becoming "canon" lore.

We've basically taken a vaguely defined existing concept, slapped its name on the old paranormal romance tropes of yore, and because there's no cultural understanding of fae the same way there was vampires, there's no "vampires don't sparkle" pushback, and we've begun adopting a few women's fetishes as the Universal Truth, and that's the part you hate. The part where it's the Same Guy again, but he's wearing a different hat.

And while I get why you'd be tired of this shit specifically (I am also tired), I think to dismiss fae in general is like dismissing vampires back when Twilight was popular. It's a type (or types, rather) of supernatural creature that has a rich history across cultures and it's a well of inspiration for writers that has been used before and will be used after. I think to blanket-dismiss the concept of fae in a book is counterproductive. You want to encourage writers to tap deeper into that well if you want that generic samey-ness to go away. What you want to dismiss are the tired tropes that are forced on otherwise interesting folklore/mythology that's open to endless different interpretations.

At the same time, I do fully understand why wouldn't want to do that, because as much as writers like to complain that readers just don't get their flavor of unique, sometimes there's just not a lot to get. It's the same fucking guy, girlies. You wrote the same guy again! To find one unique and interesting take on the fae, you have to sift through a thousand of That One Guy, and it's just not worth it.

(There are also and will always be really cool books about fae that aren't romance as well, but I'm specifically talking abt romance because it's infested with fae shit right now and I get it. I really do get it, I get both sides of the issue. I'm part of the problem, I wanna see cool fae shit with romance so I keep reading them, but it's the same guy again, so I'm writing my own, but it might be the same guy again because I'm also braindead!)

Anyway, I look forward to years from now when fae get their renaissance and we get wacky and interesting takes on them. First we had Twilight, now we get What We Do in the Shadows. First we got ACOTAR, and eventually we'll get ... ??? We'll see! We can only go up from here!

[la-libreria-chula]

Has anyone read these?!!?

I literally finished all three in a week! While I was a little disappointed in the novellas (The Sword and the Scepter) because I was hoping to see more of Rooke's time in the Northern Lands, still glad to have read them.

But The Crown of Oaths and Curses?? I loved it! At first, I thought it was going to be straight up romantasy (because of those two novellas and the whole fated mates thing) but now it's just a fantasy to me with the aspect of romance not being the central thing (or least I hope so). I can't wait for the second book. I know there has been something going on where it's been delayed, but I'm waiting for the paperback version anyway.

[mollyringle]

ARC reviewers wanted!

Please reblog if you know any avid readers who frequently review books online! Especially if they enjoy novels containing: - fae - witches - angst-free queerness - romance - a cozy noblebright mood even amid magical disaster - '90s cover bands I seek reviewers and general word-of-mouth-spreaders for my novel Ballad for Jasmine Town, which contains all of the above. (As to the romance and queerness, the main couple is a trans man and a bi woman, in case you prefer to know such details.) It can be requested on NetGalley and Edelweiss right now, or I could email you an ARC in PDF or epub format.

Here is the publisher page if you’d like to read more about it. (Though distributed by Simon & Schuster, the book is independent-press-published. The publishing world is complicated.) For those who've read Lava Red Feather Blue: it takes place in the same country and has some overlapping events, but you don't have to read one book to make sense of the other. They are both stand-alones. Thank you in advance, and I hope it finds some happy readers!

[menagerie-of-monsters]

Today's the day!!! Claimed by the Flame of Faery is out on Kindle Unlimited, ebook, and paperback~

[shunnao-addict]

I swear to god if I see one.more.fucking.porn.romance about dangerous&tortured fae and some human girl I'll get into a murder spree and not one court would condemn me

[zaeyos]

I had such a blast creating these two massive character montage pieces I had the pleasure of painting for Chloe C. Penaranda late last year for her An Heir Comes to Rise series ✨

[belle-keys]

“It isn’t that mortals can’t be pretty—many of them are—but their beauty doesn’t make you feel pummeled by it. I feel a little pummeled by Oak’s beauty. If I look at him too long, I want to take a bite out of him.”

- The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

[rorydm]

jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude jude

[godzilla-reads]

Oh, my… the Fair Folk shelf has split into another shelf because there are too many books. And I still desire more 👅

If you have any Fae books to recommend, I’m all ears (but nothing by SJM)

[noahhawthorneauthor]

Author versus books! Hi gentlefolk, I'm Noah, and I write queer fantasy books with disabled and/or neurodivergent characters. ✡️🏳️‍⚧���

The Eternal Machine was my debut book, and it's the first in an dark steampunk fantasy series with morally wrecked fae and a love triangle that develops into a polycule. 🏴‍☠️🗡️

Phantom and Rook is a cozy urban fantasy, with found family, forgotten love, and mental health discussion. I'm hosting a Read-Along for this on Halloween, and I'll be revealing the cover for the next book soon! Each book in this series features a different couple, and the next is dark academia chaos. 🍁✨

The Rebel Foxes is the last book I released, and it's the first one under my new pen name, Noah Hawthorne. It's a dark and dieselpunk standalone in an interconnected series. It's full of mutant shifters hellbent on breaking society, T4T, and a polyamorous relationship.🔥🐾

Here's my Linktree, where you can find my books, playlists, and more.

[lannegarrett]

Run from me, darlin'... You'd better run for your life...

The Seven Year Crow

In Whitwick Gates, where every mortal child faces the risk of almost certain death at the hands of Fae, Perdi is named the next Crow, a sacrifice to Elphame. But once inside the Sidhe, the Fae will question if they’ve Taken the wrong Crow, the last Crow.

Available Today!

Amazon: a.co/d/bRVssmW

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