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Favorite adult fantasy?  

post #1 of 26
12/4/08 at 1:19am
Thread Starter 
Not adult as in aDULT, ya know But not specifically written for teens?

I feel like I'm very good at finding great teen books (a boon as I was a high school English teacher). But I'm trying to expand my experience with the fantasy genre and I just don't know where to start. There are just masses of books on the shelves at the bookstore and library... what I've liked before has been Robin McKinnley, Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, LeGuinn. I certainly liked Tolkien but I'm looking more, right now, for stuff like A Great and Terrible Beauty or the Sally Lockheart series, but for adults. Like if Laurie King (Mary Russell books) was writing fantasy

I'm planning on starting Pratchett's Discworld series finally, too.

Lay your ideas on me! Thanks!
post #2 of 26
12/4/08 at 1:20am
Uhmm, well its both adult and pretty aDULT.. but I liked Jaqueline Carey's series. Never did finish them but the first few were good.
post #3 of 26
12/4/08 at 1:21am
oh DOH!!! the very best is Juliette Marilier (sp) Daughter of the Forest trilogy... beautiful, awesome, great!
post #4 of 26
12/4/08 at 3:14am
I've really enjoyed the Mists of Avalon books by Marion Zimmer. I think they fall into historical fiction/fantasy since it's King Arthur legend.

The Time Traveller's Wife is fiction/sci-fi and one of my favorite books of all time. I can't recommend it enough! :

I've heard good things about The Outlander series though I have yet to read it myself.

Ursula Le Guin writes great fantasy/sci-fi that's very character driven. The Earthsea Series is my favorite but she has lots of great books to choose from.
post #5 of 26
12/4/08 at 4:32am
: I tried reading the Septimus Heap books and I got about 1/3 through the first book in the series (Magyk) and just couldn't finish it. It was just too predictable and the dialogue was very childlike. Same thing with Eragon, etc. Yet the Narnia series and Harry Potter falls into the category of juvenile fiction, but they are still very captivating for adults. It just depends on the book. I second Time Traveler's Wife! You might like these:

The Book of Lost Things by John Connely
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Little, Big by John Crowley (LOVED this - it's not very fast-paced, but the writing is beautiful)
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

I thought this thread was gonna be about something else when I clicked on it.
post #6 of 26
12/4/08 at 6:10am
George R.R. Martin has some great books, I read them as a teen.

A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords - and there are one or two new ones in the series but I haven't read them yet.
post #7 of 26
12/4/08 at 8:51am
China Miéville! And then you can flip over to the authour's picture and have an "adult" fantasy (he's kinda' hot).

And enjoy yourself in the Discworld! If I had to pick a favourite authour, Terry Pratchett would be it!
post #8 of 26
12/6/08 at 12:50pm
Thread Starter 
but I guess I got you to read my thread, right?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the recs (and for what to avoid probably too!). Some of these I've never even heard of, and now I'm excited to check them out.
post #9 of 26
12/6/08 at 1:10pm
My favorite authors for fantasy are Robin Hobb (I'd start with Assasin's Quest)
and Lois McMaster Bujold. I love Curse of Chalion, but her recent Sharing Knife series is lovely too -- and surprisingly romantic.
post #10 of 26
12/6/08 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaliki_kila View Post
The Book of Lost Things by John Connely
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
I second the recommendation on both of these!

Actually, didn't Stephen King write a pretty decent fantasy book once? I seem to remember reading it when I was in high school.

I loved The Mists of Avalon, too. My best friend read a lot of Bradley's other books and loved them, as well.

How about the Dune series by Frank Herbert? They're not fantasy in the magic-and-dragons vein, but they're still really great.
post #11 of 26
12/6/08 at 2:15pm
I wasn't wild about Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant chronicles, but they are fairly popular-- you might like them. They are influenced by Germanic myths like Tolkien is.

Also C.S. Lewis wrote some fantasy-for-grown-ups. It is more heavy-handed Christian than the Narnia books, and parts are rather misogynist, but if you can ignore that it's still a decent read; I can't remember the name of the series but it's three or four books and one is called That Hideous Strength. Plus another, without those problems (well, for some they aren't problems!), Till We Have Faces, which is the Cupid and Psyche story from the sisters' point of view.
post #12 of 26
12/6/08 at 2:47pm
Anne McCaffery's All the Weyrs of Pern

Hands Down.
post #13 of 26
12/6/08 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meg_s View Post
George R.R. Martin has some great books, I read them as a teen.

A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords - and there are one or two new ones in the series but I haven't read them yet.
I really like these as well, I think the dwarf's humor was a bit crude for my taste, but.. I liked the female figures quite a bit..

My father and George RR Martin used to be pretty close friends when they were younger... they used to go to the movies and such.. (double date kinda deal)..
post #14 of 26
12/7/08 at 12:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by alaskanteach View Post
Anne McCaffery's All the Weyrs of Pern

Hands Down.
I second
post #15 of 26
12/7/08 at 1:04am
Subbing, I was just going to ask this same question, lol.
post #16 of 26
12/7/08 at 1:36am
Thread Starter 
Yay, join in, Jeca!

Oooh, oooh, yay for more titles and authors! This thread is in my bookmark list right next to my library's, so I can just click here to get a new book idea before placing my holds for the week! Weee!

I did read Strange & Norrell and loved it. And Mists of Avalon, although none of the others... after reading the ONE huge book I was done... for a while-- maybe I'll have to check out the others now!

I can do Christian but not mysoginistic :P and romantic is always lovely

Thanks, mamas!
post #17 of 26
12/7/08 at 1:58am
Anything by Sharon Shinn. She is one of a few authors that I will buy in hardcover as soon as her books are released.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is really good but it reads more like historical fiction with a bit of time travel thrown in. I wouldn't really call it fantasy.
post #18 of 26
12/7/08 at 2:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charbeau View Post
Anything by Sharon Shinn. She is one of a few authors that I will buy in hardcover as soon as her books are released.
I was trying to remember this name, too. Definitely another one in the category of romantic fantasy....
post #19 of 26
12/7/08 at 2:27am
Dave Duncan
post #20 of 26
12/7/08 at 2:38am
I've heard good things about the Bitterbynde Trilogy by Cecila Dart-Thornton.
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