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Looking for a recommendation similar to Uprooted by Naomi Novik
I've stumbled across other fantasy with a similar feeling, but curious if you all have some specific direction to point me in. I've read all of her other books so other books of hers are already off the list. I think the qualities that I enjoyed so much about it were:
- decent writing style
- light love story that wasn't the total focus
- well developed characters
- fun plot that wasnt over complex but still intricate enough to feel satisfying at the end
- magical element with some novelty to it
I read a few others in the past that felt the same, the one that jumps to mind is Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Something about the plot or writing in these books is really gripping for me, keeps me hooked, and is really satisfying. I'm open to any suggestions you can throw my way, and thank you in advance!
It might be the overtly obvious choice but Legends and Lattes is a pretty easy reading fantasy novel where the pages just flow by.
I haven’t read ‘Uprooted’ personally, but judging by what you are looking for it might fit the bill.
Thanks for the recommendation! I looked it and up I will give it a read, but I think that may be missing the mark I'm looking for a bit based on the description. It's a little too....not serious? I'm not sure the best way to articulate it. I think the ones I'm looking for are 'serious' without being 'heavy' if that makes sense.
Regardless, it still looks like a fun read so I'll give it a go. Thanks again!
Most of T Kingfisher I think meets this:
Her Saint of Steel series has a romance in each book so far and has several series in the same world
Her fairy tale re-tellings tend to have some romance but it's more about the story - and surviving it
Her these and her horror and YA still both maintain twists of wry humor within even creepy premises. Someone called her the successor to Terry Pratchett and while that is high praise, I'd say it is a reasonable comparison. She's less cutting but her characters can still be insightful. And even her sex scenes will likely involve someone realizing the stone floor was a stupid place to do this.
Amazing, thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to look at these! They look like they totally fit the bill!
Lois McMaster Bujold's fantasy writing - particularly the Penric series beginning with Penric's Demon, also the Chalion series beginning with Curse of Chalion.
You may also like her later Vorkosigan books, although they are SF - particularly Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and A Civil Campaign. The earlier books are very good, but are much more "interesting military SF" than it sounds like you are lookng for.
T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon is a good recommendation too. I liked the Clockwork Boys, Nettle and Bone, and The Raven and the Reindeer the best; I found Swordheart and the Saint of Steel books to be okay but a bit repetitive.
I'm pretty stuck in scifi/fantasy and have come to the conclusion I might never read anything else 😅.
Thank you for the recommendations! I saw nettle and bone on a list so I have that one in the queue, and I'll be sure to look the others up!
I can't comment on all of the points of quality you're looking for because I've gone through dozens to hundreds of books since I've read these so I don't remember the details particularly well. But the books I've read that I group together with Uprooted (which I also barely remember besides a general feel):
Though these might include more overt romance than what's in Uprooted.
Ah! This is great! Night Circus is another one I'd put into the list. I'll look the rest of these up, thank you so much!
Consider Mercedes Lackey Valdemar series. I would start with Arrows of the Queen. Not every book has a love story, but I think it otherwise matches your request.
Thank you! I totally forgot about her - she was one of my mom's favorite authors!
Have you tried looking at her other books? I've enjoyed Spinning Silver and the Scholomance series, although the third one was not as good as the first two.
I came here to recommend Spinning Silver, which I think is an absolutely wonderful book!
The Mercy Thompson series is pretty good. Native American shapeshifter (basically a were-coyote) in modern day Washington state interacting with the local werewolf pack, fae, vampires, NA gods/spirits, etc. Around book 8(?) it dips into some soap opera romance/ex-wife drama, but the author seems to have taken the feedback that that's boring/silly and veered away since.
Tress of the Emerald Sea might fit the bill. "Inverted Princess Bride on a sea of magic 'spores'." It's technically a standalone but it also has ties to the rest of Brandon Sanderson's multiverse. Which, if you're looking for novel magic systems you can definitely do worse. Just not sure if they fit the vibe I think you're looking for here.
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and the rest of Becky Chamber's sci-fi books are almost ridiculously cozy/wholesome. Multi-species galactic civilization, but the books are mostly about small groups living their lives in it. Serious world but "down to Earth" plots? The 4th one is a bunch of people temporarily trapped at a space motel / gas station when there's a satellite collision, which effectively amounts to "people shelter in a tavern while the storm passes - in space" vibe. They're all connected, but none are really sequels. Mostly different places/characters with some relation to characters in other books, sister/former crewmate/etc.
This is great, thank you! I'm going to look for these.
This may be a bit more “advanced” than Uprooted, but Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice trilogy is one of my favorite series I’ve read this year.
Deep and moving characters, a large and believable world with just enough lore and back story to keep you reading; tons of moral dilemmas; light love stories; sweet and moving relationships with animals; magic and mysticism and stealth warfare.
I really enjoyed them.
While Hobb is wonderful I don't think they're in the vein the OP is looking for. Hobb is incredibly brutal to her characters. And while there can be moments of happiness, I'm not alone in finding them exhausting and emotionally devastating. Which isn't to say they shouldn't be read but I want to give OP some tone expectations.
I think I may actually have read the first one of this series years ago and really enjoyed it! I'll have to take a look and maybe pick it back up again!