Book Recommendations?

[MusicalReader]

So I've been in this reading challenge (one friend dared me to read 250 books this year) and I'm about halfway through. The problem is, I'm running out of books to read! 

Does anyone have any recommendations? I like to read pretty much everything (I'm not particularly picky), though I prefer Fantasy and other fiction genres.

[+Invocation]

You should read the Cradle series by Will Wight (and his two other series, Elder Empire and Traveler's Gate). Also, Iron Prince by Bruce O'Connor and Luke Chmilenko is pretty good. I hear the Licanius Trilogy is good, but I can't personally vouch for that or not. The Art of the Adept series by Michael G. Manning is also decent. If you haven't hit Kingkiller Chronicles and don't mind the fact that it's probably never going to get its third book, it's decent. John Bierce's Mage Errant series is pretty good. The Demonata series is a neat series of quick adventures if you don't mind things being a little gory and dark. I hear good things about the Malazan series, but I haven't gotten there yet on my reading list.

[+Doomstick]

the 13 1/2 lives of captain bluebear/ the Zamonia series by Walter Moers (5 books)

an Absolutely Remarkable Thing/ the Carls series by Hank Green (content warning for strong language, possibly other warnings, but I don't remember anything) (2 books)

the Amulet of Samarkand/ the Bartimaeus trilogy (plus prequel) by Jonathan Stroud (4 books)

A Natural History of Dragons/ the Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan (5 books plus a sequel to the series a couple generations later)

Sabriel/ the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix (3 books in the main series, one novella, 2 in a sequel series)

the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (heavy content warning for a variety of topics) (17 books currently, 2 short story collections)

Ranger's Apprentice (fun kids series that I reread recently and was really good) (11 books, as well as an 8 book companion series and a 4 book companion series (ongoing) as well as a 2 book prequel series)

the Lies of Locke Lamora/ the Gentlemen Bastards series (3 books currently)

if you want descriptions of any of these I'm happy to oblige

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Doomstick

[Spren of Kindness]

The Harbinger series by Jeff Wheeler is really good. (middle grade fantasy - maybe YA, unsure) There are five books, all around the same length.

The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles.  (middle-grade sci-fi) Two books - unfortunately, the third one was never released, but I think that it's still an excellent series.

The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale.  (YA fantasy) Four books.  This series is one of my favorites, and I also really enjoy Princess Academy by the same author.

The Oath by Frank Peretti (Adult Christian thriller) is also really good.  Christian fiction is often hit-or-miss, and this one hit.  Peretti's a great writer.  

[Honorless]

Bartimaeus is pretty good. Mage Errant isn't bad either, though book one was so tropy I can't even, the latter books are better. Hmm... Luke Chmilenko isn't bad either, but I say pick Dakota Krout over him. Both Demonata and Darren Shan are by the same author and pretty short (but plentiful) books. Definitely don't read Gentlemen Bastards, the author seems to be pulling a Rothfuss-Martin maneuvre. It's been years. You could also try the Magician's Brother and Inkspice. I see no one's recommended Arcane Ascension yet, despite reccing Cradle, Mage Errant and Chmilenko! Definitely put that on your to-read list, it's very good.

Non YA, you could try anything by China Miéville, he's really good! I just read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and I'd recommend that as well. Oh, and the Goblin Emperor by Sarah Monette.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Honorless

[TheWanderer]

Can second gentleman bastards.
Wheel of time has 14 books so that would be a good way to add some numbers and it is hailed as one of the best fantasy series.
I personally greatly enjoyed Enderal dreams of the dying but that is only one book.
(Should probably add all those are fantasy series that do touch on dark topics and themes just fair warning.) 

[Elf]

Ya/middle grade

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. (Ya- Its a bit of a violent fantasy so please keep that in mind)

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater. (Ya- It is without a doubt one of the best series that I have ever read.)

The Ascendance Series (older middle grade to ya, id say. But oh so amazing)

Adult

The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence, like mentioned above. (its fairly cheeky, but also adult. It touches on some dark topics, and some graphic scenes are there)

The complete Sherlock Holmes (If you like mysteries, you can't go wrong with this. I dont like mysteries but I still loved this)

The Princess Bride( Oh, I love Buttercup and Westly.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Elf

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Count of Monte Cristo

Amulet series, this is a graphic novel series that is really short so it is a good short read.

Hardy boys, the first 58 are good I am told while the rest are trash, I don't actually know.

Leven Thumps.

Princess bride.

LotR

Narnia

Percy Jackson series, including the sequel series, these books are great.

Keeper of the lost Cities, amazing series until book six.

Fablehaven and Dragonwatch.

Harry Potter

The Austin chronicles, honestly the first book is the only one you should read, the second one is trash, and the third book is only starting to wash out the terrible taste of book two.

Wrinkle in Time series.

Well, these are great books u should read.

[MusicalReader]

Thank you everyone!! This is so helpful!! I'll be sure to check all of them out! 

Well I sure don't need to worry about too many more books now 

[Psykopathic]

Wheel of Time isn't nearly as action packed and fast paced as Cosmere but it's incredible. 

1st law series is very very good especially if you want a nice contrast to the more lighthearted fantasy. Every character is a self absorbed asshole. 

Gentleman Bastards is pretty great. I love Locke. The Oceans 11 of Fantasy. Lol. 

Dresden files is like 17 short urban fantasy detective books that have a lot of merit. 

The Demon Cycle books are pretty badass. The 1st book is The Warded Man. Very interesting book with a drawing based magic system. (Weird understatement) very character oriented. 

Another series with a cool  hard magic system is the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. He always does the Night Angel trilogy which the audio version has a Narrator that every word he says kind of makes him sound like a total smart-ass yet somehow it works great. 

Kingkiller is a good 1st read but not great for many reread. The main character gets his ego rubbed a lot so can get tedious hearing how awesome he is too many times over. 

And of course the Game of Thrones books are on point and I'm getting a good feeling book 6 may happen before old George bites it. 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Psykopathic

[Mage]

I too prefer fantasy and fiction but most of those seem to have already been recommended. If you want to go for a classic Frankenstein is excellent and still sort of SciFi fantasy.

By way of non fiction I would recommend a biography. Since those follow someone’s life it tends to be more narrative and engaging. I really like Walter Isaacson and David McCullough’s stuff. The Boys in the Boat is an excellent book. I never thought I would enjoy something about rowing that much but I did. Can not recommend enough. I struggle getting through non fiction without losing interest but these have all kept me engaged. 

[Psykopathic]

Had not even been thinking about non fantasy tbh. Try Pillars of the Earth. #1 in the Kingsbridge series. I'm not the least bot religious but this series is about building a church back in like the 1300s or something. Very dramatic tragedy story. Very different. Much worth the read. 

[Isabelle6060]

If you’re going for the numbers, The Magic Treehouse series is the way to go. They’re about 70-100 pages (pretty small pages) and there are over 100 books in the series. 

if you’re looking for actual books to read (not children’s books), then (kind of stating the obvious here) anything by the author Brandon Sanderson. Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, Warbreaker, Elantris, etc… 

another suggestion is the Nancy drew series. Similar to the magic treehouse option they’ve got more than 100 books to the series and they’re on the smaller size. However, they’re more adult sized books. Still pretty small, but may be more enjoyable to read than the magic treehouse books. 

[The Unknown Ajah]

I just got done reading the first book in the Seven Kennings series by Kevin Hearne. Cannot recommend enough, just, uh, don't get too attached to those characters. 

I haven't seen a series on hear that I read and didn't like, but I would like to reinforce the recommendations of Gentlemen Bastards, the Wheel of Time, and the Lightbringer series. Kingkiller is also excellent, and the first book has a good enough ending that the lack of any more isn't that big of a downside. 

I would like to recommend Middle Falls tine travel series, there are some really emotional books, other are just cool, others interesting, others all three. And more books are coming on a fairly regular basis. 

The Wings of Fire series is pretty good, but books 1 through 5 are pretty childish. After that, they're probably about YA level.

There are others that I'm definitely not remembering, but that quite a few books.

[MusicalReader]

You guys are awesome!! I just picked a bunch of these up from the library! Thanks for all your help!

[Ookla]

It's been said before, but I must say it again: Books of Bayern! In my opinion, they're some of Shannon Hale's best work!

[Treamayne]

On 8/10/2021 at 6:42 PM, MusicalReader said:

So I've been in this reading challenge (one friend dared me to read 250 books this year) and I'm about halfway through. The problem is, I'm running out of books to read! 

Does anyone have any recommendations? I like to read pretty much everything (I'm not particularly picky), though I prefer Fantasy and other fiction genres.

There is an entire thread for that here. People are encouraged to submit recommendations in the thread and I add them to the top of page 1*, indexed by genre with MG/YA separated. First post includes the information I need to keep all entries "uniform." Example (one per copied examples):

Spoiler

On 5/16/2023 at 9:43 PM, Treamayne said:

Epic Fantasy

  Hide contents

On 5/16/2023 at 9:41 PM, Treamayne said:

•  Codex Alera
  • Book one: Furies of Calderon
  • 6 Books - Complete
• Author: Jim Butcher
• Lost Roman Legion didn't disappear on Earth, they were somehow transported to the world of Carna where all "lost travellers of the universe" end up. Beset by enemies on all sides, they eventually developed the capacity for a symbiotic bond with the local "furies" (elementals) which gives them access to "Furycrafting" (possibly the best expression of elemental magic in SF - IMO). After over 1000 yrs of development, the former Romans have created the Aleran Kingdom spanning nearly the entire continent. As of book one, the Heir is dead and Alera begins it's steady march toward civil war as the High Lords begin to vie for power once the aging First Lord should retire or die (or be killed). Into this is born Tavi, a shepherd's apprentice who is the first known Alrean to possess no furycraft in centuries. (Note: Book titles are spoilers so beware of checking them out early)

Fantasy

Spoiler

On 5/17/2023 at 4:43 PM, Quantus said:

• The Fionavar Tapestry
  • Book one: The Summer Tree
  • Trilogy from the 80's - Complete
• Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
• Isekai, I suppose (Portal Fantasy)
• Five college kids from Toronto get pulled into a fantasy world after being invited to the world of Fionavar to attend the fiftieth year celebration of a king's reign, and discover various destinies.  Lots of real world mythological influences on the setting, mostly through variant European and Native American cultures and/or mythologies.  
• NOTE:  This is the author that co-edited The Silmarillion along with JRR Tolkien's son.  This was his first of many award-winning works since.   Most of his later works lean far more heavily into the Historical Fantasy genre, set in fantasy worlds that overtly mirror various historical places and periods.  

Urban Fantasy

Spoiler

On 6/11/2022 at 12:35 PM, Zurvanite said:

• Chronicles of Amber
  • Book One: Nine Princes in Amber
  • Two 5-Book Arcs (Corwyn Cycle and Merlin Cycle) - Complete
• Author: Roger Zelazny
• Fantasy Alt-Earth - Alternate and infinite universes are nothing new in sci-fi and fantasy. But what was the first world that all other worlds stem from? Amber. It follows the Nine Princes of Amber (but mostly Corwin and his son Merlin) who can travel to infinite parallel universes called Shadows and fight against the Courts of Chaos and themselves.
  • The Amber stories take place in two contrasting "true" worlds, Amber and Chaos, and in shadow worlds (Shadows) that lie between the two. These shadows, including Earth, are parallel worlds that exist in — and were created from — the tension between the opposing magical forces of Amber and Chaos.

 

I could probably populate another score of books and series easily, but I'm holding myself back because I do not want this to be "Treamayne's list" - I want this to be a list generated by the Shard for the Shard.

Though I did add a few to start off, so many of my entries are the first in their section. 

 

*Note: Page 1 post 1 = Instructions and index. Post 2 = Speculative Fiction, Post 3 = Other Genres and MG/YA friendly entries.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Treamayne
Note