Foreboding discovery of a main character’s past - in-depth book discussion and recommendations request
Hoping to generate discussion and have a few books recommended that have some of the following characteristics:
- foreboding discovery of a main character’s past
- a plot conflict that with a focus other than war or physical/political fighting
- preferable plot conflict examples: exploration, escape, grand heist, obtaining wisdom, treasure hunt
- undercurrent of a great unused power or magic that has been long lost
btw, I’m borrowing this format from r/Fantasy
Books I have liked:
Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series
Samantha Shannon The Priory of the Orange Tree
Michael Crichton The Eaters of the Dead
Lara Prior-Palmer (non-fiction) Rough Magic
Arthur C. Clarke (sci-fi) Rendezvous with Rama
Neal Stephenson (sci-fi) Anathem
Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive series
Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy:
Settings within the wilderness, crypts, large buildings/structures, caverns are all great.
Series vs. standalone preference:
No real preference, but longer is better I suppose.
Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc):
No strong preference, but mystical, ancient, and dark comes to mind.
Complexity/depth level:
Preferably on the more intricate side.
Thank you, let’s chat!
So, I’ve been tearing through the very engaging The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, but I’m ready for a change of pace. Searching for discussion and recommendations for books or series that do not revolve around so much pitched battle. Anyone who has read Abercrombie will know full well how visceral the fight scenes become!
Definitely Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I think it hits basically everything you're looking for, aside from perhaps complexity and length - it is written very straightforwardly, apparently in contrast to her previous work (which I haven't read but know about).
I won't say what it's about, since part of the intrigue is discovering things about the character he no longer knows himself. But it touches on themes of memory, identity, and isolation (including how isolation interacts with and influences memory and identity). The author has a chronic illness like me, and I can very much see how it influenced what she wrote. It was also strangely timely for COVID and lockdowns, so the isolation part might resonate for more people than it otherwise would. Aside from the themes, it's also simply a very atmospheric and engaging book, with a fascinating setting and very likeable (yet unreliable) narrator.
I wholeheartedly agree! I just recently finished that book as well. I managed to forget to list this book above... my bad.
The airy and watery world of Piranesi was very fun to imagine.
Darn! :D
Well hopefully someone else reading this thread will be intrigued~ Good luck finding similar books! (That sounds a bit sarcastic, but it isn't ...)
Webfiction as opposed to a novel, but I highly recommend A Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, a science fantasy murder mystery at a medical convention where the protagonist learns more about her grandfather's dark secrets and her own past while trying to discover the serial killer. It sounds super tropey, but it's truly brilliant, written with such attention to detail you may actually be able to solve it yourself, and it hits each and every one of those points perfectly, though explaining how would spoil so many things.
I’ll give it a try, thank you.
If you haven’t read it, I’d suggest Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. It’s not quite discovery of a character’s past but I think it ticks most of the boxes here.
Considering all of these:
Oedipus Rex, Frankenstein and The Stranger.
I know most people probably read these in high school or something, but if you've never gone past a surface reading I highly recommend going through them. Engaging deeply with these texts to understand what they depict and how they relate to each other is very rewarding.