Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
4people
2015–2022years
80% recommend20% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I do!
- Django Wexler's THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS - flintlock fantasy with demons! First book is titled "The Thousand Names"
- Robert Jackson Bennett's THE DIVINE CITIES trilogy, of which the first book is THE CITY OF STAIRS. For what it's worth, everything Robert Jackson Bennett writes is fantastic. He's one of the authors I consider to be at Sanderson's level (or better!) without much of the acclaim.
- Will Wight's CRADLE series, starting with UNSOULED. Like a lot of long-running series, first book is standard fantasy fare, but starting with the second book it turns into its own incredible world. If you like Dragon Ball Z and Chinese wuxia genre, this is fantastic.
- Max Gladstone's CRAFT SEQUENCE - Imagine legal contracts as magic. A secondary world urban fantasy, wildly imaginative, mostly involving mysterious events and the characters that investigate them. First book is THREE PARTS DEAD.
- Sebastien de Castiel's THE GREATCOATS series was described as the "Scott Lynchiest book since LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA." I don't really but _that_, but I did thoroughly enjoy the series, and have read everything else de Castiel has published on the strength of these books. Really good!
- Scott Lynch THE GENTLEMEN BASTARDS, of course, has to be on the list, with the first book being THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA. The series is unfinished, sadly, but the way the stories are structured, you don't really miss it. LIES is one of my favorite books ever
- Dan Wells' I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER follows a sociopathic kid named John Cleaver who... well, he's not a serial killer but he kinda wants to be. And it turns out he can hunt demons. Horror stories, but very well done. The series is complete. There's also a movie version of the first book!
- Josiah Bancroft's THE BOOKS OF BABEL are my favorite reads of 2022. It follows a schoolteacher who loses his wife on a tourist trip to the legendary Tower of Babel. Wildly imaginative, engaging characters, and a crazy trip! Series is complete and the first book is SENLIN ASCENDS.
- Fonda Lee's THE GREEN BONE SAGA is a secondary world fantasy following Godfather-style mafia families on an Asian-inspired island. Jade gives them super powers, which they use to enforce control over the island. Very political and violent. Trilogy is complete and the first book is JADE CITY!
- For a standalone novel, check out M.L. Wang's SWORD OF KAIGEN, which is another secondary world fantasy following a Japanese-inspired honorable patriarchal society that more or less refuses to modernize with the rest of the world, but this island is the first line of defense against invaders. And, of course, there are invaders. Really good, character-driven story.
- Michael Livingston's THE SHARDS OF HEAVEN is an alternate history fantasy following the children of Cleopatra, a few Roman soldiers, and Augustus Caesar as they hunt down magical artifacts known as the Shards of Heaven. Very well done, historically accurate (as much as it can be). Criminally underrated, IMO.
- Evan Winters' RAGE OF DRAGONS is an African-inspired fantasy, with a character who grinds for power in a way that reminds of old-school video games. It's NOT a LitRPG -- it's straight up fantasy -- but the mechanic there makes me think of it. It's also a straightforward revenge fantasy ("you killed my father, prepare to die"), but it's told very well and both of the books so far are fantastic. Third book coming soon!
- C.L. Clark's THE UNBROKEN is also an African-inspired fantasy, focusing on an imperial regiment that occupies a city in order to stabilize it, and one of the soldiers falls in love with the princess. It's sapphic, but I really enjoyed it.
- Charlie Jane Anders' ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY is where urban fantasy meets science fiction. A witch and a wizard become friends in San Francisco and their lives intertwine over the years until they come face to face in a final confrontation. One of my favorite books. Anything by Charlie Jane Anders is gold, for what it's worth. Instant buys for me.
- Mary Robinette Kowal is better known for her LADY ASTRONAUT series, which I thought were good (Sanderson-level), but I really enjoyed her most recent book THE SPARE MAN which is a murder mystery... on a cruise ship! in SPACE! A SPACE CRUISE SHIP! I wound up devouring the entire book in a single night, from about 10pm-4am.
- Lindsay Buroker's DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS series is an urban fantasy set in Seattle. I wouldn't say Buroker is better than Sanderson, but she publishes more often -- typically 6 books per year -- and they're all really enjoyable reads. Not going to win any awards or anything, but if you want reliably enjoyable and cheap reads, she's your girl. DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS is her best, so far, but I've read all 60+ books in her catalog and I would recommend any of them to anyone who tires of the huge, epic fantasy worlds and wants something simpler. If Sanderson's Cosmere is STAR WARS, then Buroker's books are episodes of FRIENDS.
- Daniel Green's LAWFUL TIMES series is surprisingly good. The first book, BREACH OF PEACE, is a novella, and it's dark and has horror-vibes. The second book is even better, though. I'm really looking forward to book three!
Hope that helps. If you have more specific types of fantasy or sci-fi that you like, let me know and I can recommend some more :)
- I'm also reminded of Max Gladstone's "Craft Sequence" novels, which have some meso-american themes in a universe where "lawyers ride lightning bolts, souls are currency, and cities are powered by the remains of fallen gods". Highly recommended.
- Given that these are the five most popular series in modern fantasy, you've certainly got good taste! I'm always on the prowl for new books to read. Do you have any favorite SF/F books that are less well known?
Here's a few dozen or so of my favorites. I'd love to hear what HN thinks is good fantasy!
My recs (in no particular order):
- Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett -- heist novel with talking objects!
- Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente -- David Bowie meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
- The Sacred Throne series by Myke Cole (book 1: The Armored Saint) - Steampunk armor!
- The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston - Great historical fantasy set in the time of Augustus Caesar
- The Red Threads of Fortune / The Black Tides of Heaven by Jy Yang - Two paired novellas!
- The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone -- Law = Magic! Extremely well written
- Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy) by Robin Hobb -- One of my favorite series of all time.. I cried!
- Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly -- A spy thriller set in a Vaudeville-era secondary world. Burlesque! Spies! Politics!
- I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells -- Title says it all, really...
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin -- Fascinating series...
- All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anderson -- A mix of sci-fi/fantasy set in San Francisco, incredible
- The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anderson -- A tidally locked planet! Monsters! Escapes!
- The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg -- Origami as magic!
- Damselle in Distress by Kiley Kellermeyer -- Fairy tale satire!
- The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns series) by Django Wexler -- Napoleonic era military fantasy!
- The Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage series) by Brian McClellan -- Dudes snort GUNPOWDER and get magic!
- Wool by Hugh Howey -- Post-apocalyptic world where everyone lives in a silo! NUTS.
- Disenchanted by Robert Kroese -- Hilarious fantasy world, several books in this world
- The Lies of Locke Lamora (The Gentlemen Bastards series) by Scott Lynch -- Best heist novel of all time? You decide!
- The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler -- Secondary world that feels like King Arthur and the Round Table adventures
- The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers -- A space ship with crazy aliens!
- City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett -- The gods are DEAD! ...or are they??!
- Saint's Blood (The Greatcoats series) by Sebastien de Castell -- Snarky adventurers? Yes. Rodents of unusual size? No.
- Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne -- Fantasy satire, with a FEARSOME Dark Lord Toby who yells about crackers!
- Spellslinger (Spellslingers series) by Sebastien de Castell -- Snarky magicians? Yes. Talking squirrel cats? ALSO YES.
- Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress) by Annie Bellet -- A lil romance + A lil D&D = fun times!
- Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence is a lot like this.
- Now I find myself wishing Max Gladstone would feature venture capitalism in his next Craft Sequence book.
Related
Crafting Interpreters
295 recommend · 521
A pattern language
110 recommend · 368
Code
243 recommend · 385
Programming Pearls
158 recommend · 315
Game Programming Patterns
120 recommend · 161
The art of computer programming
336 recommend · 1,799
Code Craft
3 recommend · 4
