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[giddygeek]

Hey gang--any recommendations for a fantasy-type novel, slashy a plus but not required, more heavy on culture/politics/mythology? Like, if i hadn't read all the N.K. Jemisin, that would be a great rec. Available on kindle preferred. I have a flight tomorrow and I have books but they are not hitting that spot right now

Comments

[dogeared]

Have you read Graceling (by Kristin Cashore)? Not quite as dense or sophisticated as the N.K. Jemisin books, but I really loved it, and it meets many of your requirements, and there are three of them if you end up liking it :D

[dsudis]

Ooh, yes, seconded!

[giddygeek]

Oh, that was recently recommended to me and I forgot all about it! Hurray perfect, thank you! :D

eta: hee, and Martha just looked over my shoulder and fourthed the recommendation, so that might be a winner!

[dogeared]

Ha, I love it!! :D

[snacky]

I really really liked Evensong's Heir which, I feel, hits your requirements. :D Excellent worldbuilding - set in a Queendom (men can't inherit in this society, so everything is matrilineal), there is politics and intrigue - at first, mainly as concerns the Temple, which is the main male-oriented part of the society, but soon the plot is revealed to be much bigger. I really liked the religion she created for the society, and how music played such a huge role in it. It's slashy! There is m/m romance, but not explicit, and it's not a romance-first novel, it's woven in with the rest of the action. And it's very action-packed, starts fast, and keeps going at that pace

[dsudis]

I also love Mira Grant's books a lot but be warned for multiple significant plot points involving dead kids. :(

ETA: oh wait I was thinking this was for MissP! Um, still be warned for dead kids but maybe that's not a dealbreaker for you?

[giddygeek]

Hee, no, that isn't as much a problem for me as MissP--but Martha has unrecced it for me for grimness and zombies, which creep me out unreasonably!

[snacky]

Oh, sorry, I hadn't thought of that, but yes, child and animal deaths, they were tough.

[giddygeek]

A thief AND a magician! Omg I love that already! And in in in for that kind of world-building--it sounds like something I would love. I really enjoy when someone can deconstruct and reconstruct influences that way. It's always exciting! And I love UST almost more than I love resolution--I was raised in the xfiles. *g*

Hiiiiighly recommend N.K. Jemisin--the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms blew my mind with how much I loved it. Fantastic work. All the mythology and world-building and glorious characterization you could ask for!

[margueritem]

Here's my CA$0.02 on the Mélusine series: it's very much inspired by the horror genre.

I don't like horror and I read a lot of the first book before I realized it also fit the horror genre (as well as fantasy). Still, it didn't stop me from reading the whole series.

[reginagiraffe]

Second this!!

And there are some lovely strong female characters in them, too.

[giddygeek]

Oh, you know what, I have meant to try her stuff. Her Household Gods has come pretty highly recommended to me--but I like the summary of this one, too! I love other people's favorite things. :D Adding it to the list, and thank you!

[sheafrotherdon]

N.K. Jemisin's stuff is really great!!

(Someone had to be that person :D )

[giddygeek]

Hee, someone DOES have to be that person! But seriously though, her stuff is great! I had kind of been taking a break from fantasy, I wanted something more grownup than the YA stuff but less dismal than the GRRM stuff--I wanted, like, Peter S Beagle, poetic and full of amazing characters, you know? So when people started talking about her stuff, I was afraid to get excited--and then looooved The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms so much it killed me to wait for the rest of the trilogy. *g*

[sheafrotherdon]

I still haven't read the third one! I loved books one and two, I don't know what my problem is with three. I should've bought it for my flight!

Who is Peter S. Beagle?

[giddygeek]

Peter S Beagle wrote the Last Unicorn and A Fine and Private Place and Giant Bones and A Dance for Emelia and a bunch of other things that like, shaped my youth and my writing and my view of fantasy. He's got this way of delicately poking my heart with a stick that makes me happy-flail and bite pillows. It's just so gentle and kind and funny and warm.

And sometimes tear-jerking, but in a way that doesn't feel bad or exploitative? Like, Jodi Picoult; I read one of her books a million years ago and was like, EFF THIS, NO ONE DOES THIS TO ME. But A Dance for Emilia makes me cry 100% of the time I reread it, and that's PART of why I reread it, and I don't even LIKE crying. *g*

Anyway. My favorite. That'd be the guy. *g*