Book recommendations

[lu-tze]

There are only so many times I can re-read The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer in a row. I'd like to mix in some new novels before coming back at SA. So: I'm looking for book recommendations; what would you put forward as similar to SA, but different enough to be fresh? Or maybe just some recently-finished books that come to mind.

I can start with some recently-finished ones

Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Andrew Rowe)

This has a sequel, On The Shoulders of Titans, which was recently published. I would describe these as a cross between Harry Potter and D&D. It effectively starts with the main character's entrance exam to school, during which stranger-than-the-expected-amount-of-strange things happen, culminating in a Quest. This Quest winds up being tied into Far Larger Things of an Epic Nature. The magic system is quite detailed -- perhaps a step too far for my taste (mana is, for instance, quantified numerically, there is a class system like you would find in an RPG). Compared to SA, the focus on the characters is impersonal. For instance, Kaladin's motivations clearly come from aversion to failure, and ensuing self-recrimination; Dalinar's from a sense of remorse combined with respect for discipline; Shallan's from feeling like she has to present a different face in different situations combined with the desire to define her true self. I couldn't say the same about the main five of these books; the main motivations are generally external (getting stronger, helping others). The story is much more combat-heavy than SA; but these scenes are done very well. My largest gripe is that (especially with book 2), the main characters routinely get in far over their heads (like sailboat-attacks-battleship) without significant-enough consequences. Probably 7.5/10 for #1, 7/10 for #2.

Similarity to SA: Some. Positive outlook. Magic, some (hinted-at) politics, talking non-humans, involved divine entities, (largely-unknown) before-the-gods magic and history

Perdido Street Station (China Mieville)

This is a beautiful book, with a heavy emphasis on physical description. The world is incredibly varied, with sentients spanning the gaps between subterranean extradimensional spider-things, a race of sentient but parasitic pairs of hands, anarcho-communist tengu communes, garbage heaps with emergent AI, and actual devils. And everything in-between. Much of the plot -- particularly in the first 20% of the book or so -- feels like an excuse for more excursions into the various unique little niches of culture and history and biology found within the setting. If you liked the bit of TWoK with Shallan and the Santhid, or Rysn's interlude in the Reshi isles, or the Kaza soulcaster interlude, you might find this book appealing. 

There is no magic system. Magic exists in a kind of scientific form ("Thaumaturgy"), and lots of magical things happen, but the "how" is not a concern of the book. Magical creatures do this sort of a thing, and it's an instance of that kind of thaumaturgy, but nobody really knows how it functions. The character's don't extensively use the magic, and the story isn't about them learning to use it or getting stronger with it; so this approach works quite well. In contrast to SAM, the characters have clear personal motivations (needing intellectual and social validation; regaining a core component of self-identity). The story can be summarized very succinctly: Boy plays with Science, Science decides to try to kill everyone, Everyone doesn't know what the heck to do so tells Boy to fix the problem, Boy (nearly fatally) attempts to fix the problems several times before finally succeeding. None of the 867 pages is devoted to political machinations, the bulk of it is details and vignettes and interludes. I loved it -- but if you want the plot to drag you along by your ears from page 1 to page 600, this isn't the book for you.

Finally, the prose itself is a world apart from SA. It is verbose, descriptive, and logophilic. I had to look up a word or two ("etiolated") for the first time in years. I think this adds to the aesthetic of other-worldliness; at the cost of feeling slower and a bit pretentious. The tone is definitely darker, coarser, and grittier than SA. Nonetheless 8.5/10.

Similarity to SA: Not much. Forces More Powerful Than Us; world-building; magical creatures

 

 

 

[Lunamor]

Hmm.. have you tried the Kingkiller Chronicles? They are amazing! (although it’s going to take quite a while for Rothfuss to write the third book!)