What to read after Sookie Stackhouse??

[raksmama]

I finished "Dead and Gone" by Charlaine Harris am so sad that there are no more Sookie Stackhouse books to read!

I've been reading them all summer and have been enjoying being in Sookie's World of vampires, shapeshifters and other magical beings. I hope a new book comes out soon!

Do any of you have any recommendations what to read now?

This is all new to me. I did not realise until I discovered this summer that I like what I guess is termed “urban fantasy”. I never cared for science fiction.

The librarian recommended “Moon Called” by Patricia Briggs. It was okay but the second one is checked out. She also suggested “Magic Bites” by Illona Andrews which I hated so much I could not even finish it.

I like the Sookie Stackhouse series because it is not too dark. I like a bit of humour and not too much graphic violence. For that reason I also enjoyed The "Twilight" Saga although I know the books are very different.


Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[raksmama]

Suggestions for Urban Fantasy Fiction Please.

Please Mamas!
I KNOW there are a lot of you on this forum who like these books!
I found out about them in the first place from many of you on this forum!
Why has no one responded!
I just re-read my post to see if maybe I did not make any sense of sound rude. I don't think so.
I am just asking for a few suggestions because I respect your opinions!
I'd like to continue reading in the same style but have noticed not all fantasy fiction is the same. A lot of it is more horror which I don't like.
Maybe I should have re-worded the title as Suggestions for Urban Fantasy Fiction.

[bajamergrrl]

Just saw your thread. Maybe you might like the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. I don't remember them being too graphic. I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse series yet so I can't really compare the two series.

[AuntNi]

Hi there! I'm just getting a chance to check the forums for the first time today. I'm sure no one was ignoring you on purpose - as you said, Sookie is pretty popular here.

Everyone might not agree with me, but I see similarities between Sookie Stackhouse and the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovitch. I liked Sookie for the same reason you mentioned: they're light. Stephanie Plum also solves mysteries and has two incredibly hot boyfriends. Nothing supernatural, but so many fun depictions of life in New Jersey, and many LOL hilarious family moments.

I looked on Literature Map, and the author listed closest to Charlaine Harris is Laurell K. Hamilton. She writes the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books, which start with Guilty Pleasures. Those were the first books I read after Sookie. I liked them because the author lives the next suburb over from me, and it's fun reading books that take place in my town. I also like the tough-as-nails heroine - she is so incredibly bad-a**. But they aren't light at all. I'm taking a break from them right now, because they get pretty dark.

Kim Harrison is another author listed close to Charlaine Harris on Literature Map. I haven't read anything of hers - I'll have to check her out.

Good luck finding another fun read!

[bajamergrrl]

I second the Stephanie Plum books. They just don't have any supernatural stuff in them.

The Anita Blake books are good up until about book 10 or so. If you can bring yourself to read through very violent scenes then you might enjoy them.

[Masel]

We just had a very similar discussion on another forum I often visit. I think you can view it without logging on
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=47994

My suggestion was Robin McKinley's Sunshine. It's a stand alone book.

[TEAK's Mom]

Sunshine is very good. Another book that I found surprisingly good was Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand. It is not, strictly speaking, urban fantasy, but is close enough to be satisfying.

[hdeering]

I like The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. It's different in that it's a guy narrating, but I enjoyed them.

And Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study by Maria Snyder are good too.

Check out www.fantasticfiction.co.uk for Sci-Fi/Fantasy suggestions.

[raksmama]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

I have also heard about the The Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. The first one is called Bitten. I've ordered it from the library (but I am 29 in the cue!)I wasn't sure because it is sometimes classified as Horror and as I mentioned already, the Sookie Stackhouse books are as "horror" as I can take and they aren't even!

Same reason I had not looked into Sunshine,I read somewhere it is "Stephan King meets Anne Rice"...but then again a lot of mamas on this forum like it so I will give it a try since I often liked the books that were recommended to me...

The same goes for Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books, I saw that on Literature Map too. For those of you who have read it, how much more violence is there in them compared to SS? I have ordered Guilty Pleasures too but am 20 in the library cue for that one!

I've heard good things about for Stephanie Plum so I've ordered it as well although they are not Fantasy.

BTW on this site http://urbanfantasyland.com/welcome/
this is their description of what it is considered to be Urban Fantasy: "What is urban fantasy? Glad you asked. Urban fantasy looks like our modern world, except for the creatures. You might walk into a department store and find vampires, werewolves, faeries, demons, zombies, ghosts and ghouls, where you would find other shoppers or clerks. Or you might be the only one who sees them. Sometimes the creatures are openly part of the world, and sometimes they are hidden. There’s not always a romantic story, but when there is, it doesn’t end happily. [Happily Ever Afters are considered Paranormal Romance.]"

So I guess that would make Twilight a "paranormal romance" and Sookie Stackhouse as well since I imagine in the end all will go well for Sookie?

Finally Masel, what forum is this:http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=47994????

[Masel]

That's a forum for discussion and debunking urban legends. It also happens to have a books section very like this one. Since the initial questions were so similar and I'm too lazy to copy all of the books suggested it seemed easier to copy the link. They use the same forum program vbulletin as here so navigating should be familiar.

I wouldn't consider Sunshine anything like Anne Rice or Stephen King. I can't stand either of them but have loved Robin McKinley's work for a long time. (Most of her other work is straight fantasy.) One warning on Sunshine. It left me craving cinnemon rolls. I still have that problem and its been a year since I read it last. On a similar food related note I was reading one of the earlier Anita Blake books and a vivid description of zombie parts kept me from finishing lunch. YMMV

[AuntNi]

Originally Posted by jalilah

For those of you who have read it, how much more violence is there in them compared to SS? I have ordered Guilty Pleasures too but am 20 in the library cue for that one!

About a million times, IMO. She makes Dirty Harry look peaceful. The only one so far where the violence *really* bothered me, however, was Obsidian Butterfly. It will really upset me to go into details, but I think any mom would be upset by it. I do find the characters' discussions about violence to be really interesting. It's made me analyze my feelings about why male-perpetrated violence in action movies doesn't bother me, but a woman's "shoot first/ask questions later" attitude makes me uncomfortable.

After reading your description of Urban Fantasty and Paranormal Romance, I think I prefer Paranormal Romance. My favorite parts of the Sookie and Anita Blake books are the romantic storylines.

[Valkyrie9]

I would definitely recommend Kim Harrison's series, "The Hollows." The books are about a witch named Rachel Morgan who is a runner, or someone who catches supernaturals who are doing things outside the accepted boundaries (black magic, etc.). They take place in Cinncinnati, in a sort of parallel world (to me) but where the supernaturals came out about 40 years ago after a plague wiped out much of the world's population. They're very fun, pretty light, and highly addictive. I can't think of what the first book is titled...maybe it's "Dead Witch Walking."

[candipooh]

I answered on the True Blood thread but I will reply here too. I have enjoyed Queen Betsy series. Some of the books are better than the others but all in all a very fun series. Betsy is a hoot. There are very easy to read and a very entertaining storyline.


I just started The Dresden Files and a few of the series mentioned here are on my wish list. The Hollows, Anita Blake series (I read a few of this authors Meredith Gentry series. I loved the first two books but not the 3rd 4th and 6th, those were so bad that I accidentally skipped book 5 and didn't even realize it,lol I heard that Anita Blake was much better)

Also on wish list
Sign of the Zodiac

[raksmama]

[QUOTE=AuntNi;14333522]About a million times, IMO. She makes Dirty Harry look peaceful The only one so far where the violence *really* bothered me, however, was Obsidian Butterfly. It will really upset me to go into details, but I think any mom would be upset by it. I do find the characters' discussions about violence to be really interesting. It's made me analyze my feelings about why male-perpetrated violence in action movies doesn't bother me, but a woman's "shoot first/ask questions later" attitude makes me uncomfortable.
After reading your description of Urban Fantasty and Paranormal Romance, I think I prefer Paranormal Romance. My favorite parts of the Sookie and Anita Blake books are the romantic storylines. QUOTE]


Yuck! Then I don't think Laurell Hamilton/Anita Blake will be for me!

I too prefer the paranormal romance. I tend to skim over the violent and action and enjoy the parts about the relationships. But I've never liked straight "Romance" novels.

Queen Betsy and Sunshime both sound interesting.
So do Elisabeth Hands books.

I had the impression Kim Harrison’s books were scary, but Valkyrie9's description sounds good.

Should we start up an Urban fantasy/Paranormal fantasy thread?

[crl]

Well, I love Patricia Briggs and Ilone Andrews, so I'm not sure I'm the best person to make suggestions. . . .

But the books I've read recently that reminded me the most of the Sookie Stackhouse books are the dragon books by Katie MacAlisister: http://www.katiemacalister.com/booksAG.php They are light reads with an emphasis on the relationships and not very violent. I don't care as much for her vampire books.

Catherine

ETA: Here's a recent related thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...353&highlight=

[crl]

Oh and as to Laurell Hamilton, her books are much more violent that the Sookie Stackhouse books, imo. And the violence is often tied to sex.

Catherine

[karen ann]

I enjoy Lynsay Sands's vampire romance series. They're based around a family of vampires from Toronto. Each book follows one member of the family (or a friend in a couple of the more recent books) as they find a life mate. Almost all of the books have some sort of peril/danger that drives the couple closer.

One thing I notice is all these different series have such different mythologies behind them (i.e. how and why the supernatural/paranormal elements exist in the modern world). Lynsay Sands's origin myth seems really practical to me and I can wrap my brain around it more than I can some of the other authors' explanations. And I like that her heroines are generally very strong and self sufficient.

[candipooh]

Originally Posted by jalilah

Should we start up an Urban fantasy/Paranormal fantasy thread?

yes yes yes!!!! :

[sebarnes]

If you enjoy the paranormal romance genre, you might enjoy The Darkhunter Series by Sherilyn Kenyon. The first few couple of books are a bit more romance than paranormal (although the paranormal is still a heavy component of the books), but as her writing evens out, it's a very good balance. As the stories progress she develops a very complex and interesting mythology involving gods, vampires, were animals, etc. There is violence, but not graphic, and all of the heroines are strong. There is a lot of snappy humor as well, which is an absolute must for me to enjoy a romance story. There are about 15 books and she just started a new arc called [I]The Dream Hunters[I] so you won't run out of books anytime soon.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by jalilah

The same goes for Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books, I saw that on Literature Map too. For those of you who have read it, how much more violence is there in them compared to SS? I have ordered Guilty Pleasures too but am 20 in the library cue for that one!

I know there are a lot of gory and violent scenes in Anita Blake, especially as they move on, but it's the constant orgies that got tiresome, especially since it was just Anita with a bunch of males--you'd think she'd throw in some other women just for diversity.

Anyway I'd say that the last Charlaine Harris book was pretty bloody and is about as violent as the Anita Blake books.