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Clean Fantasy Suggestions


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1 hour ago, MasterJack said:

As an LDS teenager, I love fantasy and basically any book I can get my hands on, but so many modern fantasy books are full of sex, pornography, and dirty jokes. Are there any recommendations you guys have on CLEAN  Fantasy?

Hmmm, that is a bit tough as not everyone will agree on the definition of "clean". For example, one of the first books that came to mind is "Lords of the Sky" by Angus Wells. This is one of my favorite fantasy books from my teenage years and I still re-read it from time to time. That being said, there are a few references to prostitutes and there is also a suggestive scene where two characters are in bed together.

If you are looking for something that is 100% devoid of anything related to sex then there are some good YA series that, even as an adult, I enjoyed. That being said, here is a short list of things that might interest you.

1. The "Keys to the Kingdom" series by Garth Nix is a very fun, imaginative 7 book read.
2. The 5 book series by Rick Riordian that starts with "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" is also quite enjoyable (I never read any of the other series after that one).
3. If you want something that is a bit more "old school" fantasy then the Belgariad series by David Eddings is great; it was one of the first fantasy series I ever read. If you read the Belgariad and then the Mallorean series you are ready to read one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels: "Belgarath the Sorcerer". So. Good.
4. Sanderson often recommends, and I have also read, the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. It is a really good series.
5. I have only read one book by Terry Pratchett so far ("the Colors of Magic") but it was hilarious! I loved it! I have no idea how his other works hold up in the "clean" department but this is worth a read.
6. the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. (Maybe this is too obvious?)
7. Harry Potter (also, maybe, too obvious?)
8. the Multiverse series by David Weber and Linda Evans; book 1 is called "Hell's Gate" I believe. Fair warning, Weber's series have a distinct over-abundance of one-dimensional characters but the world building and overall coolness of the books generally make up for the weak characters. Also, I am 92% sure this is clean but it has been a while since I read them. 

If you want to branch out into sci-fi at all then there are a couple of great reads I can recommend that are quite clean.
1. "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein (do not be scared, it is nothing like the awwwwwwwful movie that was made of it)
2. "Dune" by Frank Herbert is a must read; especially if you ever want to understand jokes about spice.
3. "the Forever War" by Joe Haldeman is another classic that really digs into time dilation (like in Interstellar) and the pointlessness of war
4. "In Death Ground" and "the Shiva Option" by David Weber is an amazing 2 book space warfare series. Lots of massive battleships blasting each other apart in space with minimal boring character development haha
5. The Troy Rising series by John Ringo (book 1 is "Live Free or Die") is a hilarious, well-written space warfare series that has a deep premise: what if a pan-galactic empire really, really loved maple syrup? How far would that empire go to protect earth's precious supply of it?

Ok, that should be enough for now. If you need any more suggestions I can probably come up with a couple more. :) 

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Thanks for all the suggestions @CaptainRyan! I'll have to try a couple of these. My definition of clean is probably Warbreaker, if there's any more that you didn't include due to confusion on my definition please feel free to throw them in! 

Edited by MasterJack
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Feist's Riftwar Series

Ryria Revelations (original six in three omnibus) by Sullivan

Bone graphic novel by Smith (can now be bought as one omnibus)

Iliad by Homer (I like the Fangles translation)

Lord of the Rings

Bartemaeus Trilogy by Stroud

Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Scott

Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle

Ray Bradbury short stories (I really like The Stories of Ray Bradbury published by Everymans Library)

Ready Player one by Clines

Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Tanaka

 

Edited by Ammanas
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@CaptainRyan, thank you for reminding me of Keys to the Kingdom. I loved those books.

I also recommend Nix's Old Kingdom books, starting with Sabriel. They're a more mature epic fantasy, but a pretty clean one if I recall correctly. (This is also a series that influenced Brandon. He has specifically praised its magic systems.)

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14 minutes ago, Belzedar said:

@CaptainRyan, thank you for reminding me of Keys to the Kingdom. I loved those books.

I also recommend Nix's Old Kingdom books, starting with Sabriel. They're a more mature epic fantasy, but a pretty clean one if I recall correctly. (This is also a series that influenced Brandon. He has specifically praised its magic systems.)

You're welcome! Also, I've noticed your name before and was happy to see another fan of Eddings on the site. I'm 99% sure I had a mage in Everquest named Belzedar haha. 

I'll need to check out that series. I've been looking for something new to read. 

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I can second the Belgariad (also Belgarath the Sorceror and Polgara the Sorceress, same author) and Dragonriders of Pern series. Actually, Anne McCaffrey's other series are great too, such as To Ride Pegasus and Decision at Doona. But those are more scifi than fantasy. Also, Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit are good too, but I wouldn't recommend the Silmarillion unless you were really into it.

If you don't mind outright religion in books, there's a good angels v. demons trilogy by Chuck Black (Cloak of the Light, Rise of the Fallen, and Light of the Last).

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The Legend of Eli Monpress series is a little silly compared to Brandon's stuff, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it's completely clean as far as I remember.

The magic reminds me a bit of Soulcasting, as it has to do with talking to inanimate objects to convince them to do things.

Edited by Cowmanthethird
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Brandon Mull, done years ago with Fablehaven (I might read the new series sometime), the first Ranger's apprentice was great, but after that it was the same story over and over again, and none of the characters were ever at risk of death or injury despite the dozens of battles there were, the Brotherband books were all great until 5, at which point it started to have the same problem as Ranger's Apprentice (this is all in my opinion) I haven't read Septimus Heap, so I might try that. 

Another quick question, how are Terry Goodkind's books? I've seen them around, but I haven't actually picked one up and read it yet.

This is kind of turning into a book recommendation thread, which is great!

I've been thinking of trying a straight-up mystery, any suggestions?

Edited by MasterJack
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Just now, MasterJack said:

Another quick question, how are Terry Goodkind's books? I've seen them around, but I haven't actually picked one up and read it yet.

I've never read Goodkind, but this is from Wikipedia.

Quote

Library Journal called the novel "an intriguing variant on the standard fantasy quest" recommending the novel for "mature fantasy aficionados" noting the sado-eroticism of the Mord Sith might "deter purchase by some libraries".[6]

 

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On 11/3/2017 at 0:16 PM, Ammanas said:

Bartemaeus Trilogy by Stroud

Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle

Second both of these suggestions. Bartimaeus is HILARIOUS. I also recommend Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co series, which is a little more horror, but it's middle-grade/YA horror so not as disturbing as many other books in the horror genre.

On 11/3/2017 at 10:14 PM, Cowmanthethird said:

The Legend of Eli Monpress series is a little silly compared to Brandon's stuff, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it's completely clean as far as I remember.

The magic reminds me a bit of Soulcasting, as it has to do with talking to inanimate objects to convince them to do things.

Yes! The Legend of Eli Monpress is an excellent clean fantasy! Highly amusing but awesome and epic too. The author, Rachel Aaron, has another YA fantasy series I would also recommend called Heartstrikers. The first book is Nice Dragons Finish Last.

On 11/4/2017 at 9:03 AM, MasterJack said:

Thanks for all the suggestions! Quick question: How is Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, and Dune in this regard?

I can't speak for WoT or Dune, but it's no secret (even to people like me who haven't read the books) that GoT is full of graphic sex and violence. The opposite of clean.

2 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

If you haven't read Brandon Mull, read that. It's all clean.

Yes! Brandon Mull is fantastic! I know you said you'd already read Fablehaven, @MasterJack, but his other series are definitely worth reading too. Beyonders, Five Kingdoms, and Dragonwatch are all excellent. The Candy Shop War was just all right, IMO.

Other recommendations from me: Got Luck by Michael Darling. (Read my review of it here.)

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Bartimeaus Trilogy ROCKS! I don't own many books, but I own that series. I also recommend Leven Thumps, if you liked Fablehaven.

I don't know if you'd like them or not, but the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series has a fairly good plot. I feel like he gets a bit lost with too many characters about book 6 or 7, but I do love the story.

[Warning: rant ahead] Wheel of Time has the same issue, IMHO. Jordan got lost in all the side plots and lost my interest. Also, in addition to the occasional implied sex scene, his books are a little, how shall I say it ... sexist. The main character (a man) who is destined to save all of existence, has almost every woman jumping at him throughout the series. It gets annoying. The second main character (also a man) gets in bed with any woman he wants, practically. The third main character (man) gets married, but then has this one sex-crazed woman who won't take no for an answer (because it's not harassment if a woman does it, it's entertaining). And THEN I can't even begin to count how many times the women get naked for NO FREAKING REASON. The men don't strip down at random for some hokey magical initiation, and they don't have to walk naked across a desert, or through an entire camp, or freaking live a whole year naked as a penance (actually some men DO have to do this, but Jordan doesn't focus on them, just the women). It ... gets exhausting, to be honest. Jordan needed to tone down all the naked lady scenes. [Ok, rant over.]

tl;dr, WoT is a beautiful series with a number of serious flaws.

Oh, and read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Then read Tolkien's other works, because they are so worth it.

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If your looking for a mystery book try Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None. This is the greatest mystery book I have every read! The ending is crazy, with the reader usually going: WHAT IS HAPPENING!! It is Christie's best selling mystery and if it wasn't for Orient Express, it would probably be her most famous. So, I highly recommend this to you. And it's clean (aside from the murders of course).

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/3/2017 at 1:01 PM, CaptainRyan said:

2. The 5 book series by Rick Riordian that starts with "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" is also quite enjoyable (I never read any of the other series after that one).

I've read several of his other series, and they've been pretty good(liking mythology definitely adds to it). For the purpose of the OP, I don't remember any dirty jokes or the like in them, but I cannot guarantee without a full reread.


@Master OoklaJack If you are interested in fantasy that's based around old earth mythology, Riordan's books are a good starting point:

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: 5 Books, Greek Mythology
  • The Heroes of Olympus: 5 Books, Mixed Greek/Roman Mythology, Sequel Series to Percy Jackson
  • The Kane Chronicles: 3 Books, Egyptian Mythology, Standalone
    • Demigods and Magicians: Short Story Collection, Mixed Egyptian/Greek Mythos, Percy/Kane Crossover(because it's the same Earth, ya know?)
  • Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: 3 Books, Norse Mythology, Standalone
  • The Trials of Apollo: 5 Books(Book 3 coming in May); Mixed Greek/Roman Mythology, Sequel to Heroes of Olympus

If you are a fan of stories like those, I'd recommend the Sweet Venom Trilogy by Tera Lynn Childs. It's an interesting twist on the Medusa Myth, and a bit less blatantly "book for kids" than some of Riordan's early stuff was(so it might age a little better as you get older, rather than feeling childish like some books do).

I've also expressed some interest in the Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis, but as I haven't read it yet, I cannot comment on cleanliness yet. (It was in the Young Adult section of the bookstore, but so is Twilight, among other things)

Edited by The One Who Connects
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9 hours ago, The One Who Connects said:

 

@Master OoklaJack If you are interested in fantasy that's based around old earth mythology, Riordan's books are a good starting point:

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: 5 Books, Greek Mythology
  • The Heroes of Olympus: 5 Books, Mixed Greek/Roman Mythology, Sequel Series to Percy Jackson
  • The Kane Chronicles: 3 Books, Egyptian Mythology, Standalone
    • Demigods and Magicians: Short Story Collection, Mixed Egyptian/Greek Mythos, Percy/Kane Crossover(because it's the same Earth, ya know?)
  • Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: 3 Books, Norse Mythology, Standalone
  • The Trials of Apollo: 5 Books(Book 3 coming in May); Mixed Greek/Roman Mythology, Sequel to Heroes of Olympus

Percy Jackson & Olympians and the Kane Chronicles are good, but I highly recommend not reading Magnus Chase. I read the first two books, and they are awful. Truly awful. Heroes of Olympus is okay.

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