Title: Range of Ghosts
Author: Elizabeth Bear
Genre: fantasy, eastern fantasy, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
Ragged vultures spiraled up a cherry sky.
Tag Archives: epic fantasy
The Grace of Kings
Title: The Grace of Kings
Author: Ken Liu
Series: The Dandelion Dynasty, book 1
Genre: Fantasy, silkpunk, epic fantasy, low fantasy, slice of life, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
A white bird hung still in the clear western sky and flapping it wings sporadically.
The Curse of Chalion
Title: The Curse of Chalion
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Fantasy, epic fantasy, political fantasy
Opening sentence:
Cazaril heard the mounted horsemen on the road before he saw them.
I picked this up because I had just finished reading Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen and was reminded just how much I adore fantasy that is all about politics. Not the politics of our world (though I like that as well) but the political games of second world fantasy. I like intrigue, spycraft and political maneuvering in my fiction. There is a reason why West Wing and Spooks are among my favourite tv-series. The Curse of Chalion had turned up in my recommendations when I based them on Trickster’s Queen. It had really good reviews from a stack of authors whom I respect so I thought, why not give it a go.
The Goblin Emperor
Title: The Goblin Emperor
Author: Katherine Addison
Genre: Epic fantasy
Opening sentence:
“Maia woke with his cousin’s cold fingers digging into his shoulder.”
Let me start by saying, wow, just wow. The Goblin Emperor is good enough that I am buying a paper copy so that I may lend it to friends. This is just how I want my epic fantasy. Great world-building, political intrigue and lots of it, interpersonal relationships of all kinds, drama, a mystery and quality writing. It has now been a few days since I finished reading The Goblin Emperor and I am still in love with the story.
Chicks in Chainmail
Title: Chicks in Chainmail
Editor: Esther M. Friesner
Short story anthology
Genre: Humor, fantasy, portal fantasy, magic realism, feminism, fairytale, historical fantasy, fairytales, metafiction, mythology, high fantasy, epic fantasy,
I just got Chicks in Chainmail in the mail today, I ordered it after reading Tansy Rayner Roberts great post On Influence. I wanted to read some of the older works in the genre (this is 20 years old by now) so I decided to order it. I am reading the stories as part of my 100 Short Stories in 2014 challenge.
Don’t let the cover fool you, this is a feminist book, but it is is feminism with a big smile on it’s face and a wink. It is clever and it is funny.
21 epic fantasy books that I recommend
As a teenager I adored epic fantasy, it was pretty much all I was reading and it is the genre that turned me on to genre fiction in general. As an adult I get a bit bored with some of the clichés and tropes of the genre. A trope that really annoys me is “the chosen one”, so that is included in a story it has to be otherwise freaking amazing. I enjoy stories with strong female protagonists, as you have probably figured out by now, so expect a predominance of those. But I still love a good epic fantasy story, so thought I would share the ones that I recommend with you.
I have divided the books into the adult books first and the young adult and children’s book afterward. If I have already reviewed a book I will link to my review, but most have not been mentioned on the site yet. As always I do not summarise plots, I link to Goodreads so go read the blurb if a book sounds like something you would like.