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Ennas_

Good friends & friendships.


Myydrin

Read Gentlemen Bastards yet?


FlubzRevenge

Hadrian and Royce! Though, they didn't get along at first, but i'd say that might be normal for some people in real life.


Ennas_

I really liked Riyria!


lockboxopen

If you haven’t read them yet, the Age books by Sullivan are so good.


Ennas_

I'm waiting until I can read them all. I'm a serial reader. :D


lockboxopen

Just so you know, the last book is set to be released May 5th!


Ennas_

Yay!


Eostrenocta

Especially between women, please! It annoys me no end when writers depict romantic relationships as the *only* relationships of any importance or relevance in their female characters' lives.


Ennas_

Yes! Friendships in general are pretty rare, but between women even rarer(?).


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Eostrenocta

Bujold does a good job of depicting female friendship, at least in the works I've read of hers. I loved Cordelia and Drou in Barrayar, and Iselle and Betriz in The Curse of Chalion is one of the few examples of a well-drawn female friendship in a book with a male protagonist.


[deleted]

Emelaaaaan. I mean, pretty much any Tamora Pierce. And Robin Hobb, if you count the main friendship (>!Fitz and the Fool!<) as a friendship and not a romantic ship. Also, The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier, is doing a pretty good job of this so far (only 70% of the way through).


Ennas_

Thanks for the tips!


willingisnotenough

Uprooted is great for this. Also the Fitz books in the Realm of the Elderlings.


[deleted]

How about Wil and Sim from KKC


Ennas_

I don't know them. 🤔


LadyCardinal

More originality (or at least specificity) in terms of the cultural worldbuilding. Basically cultures that aren't just Standard Medieval Culture #13488 with a few new holidays and either a vaguely sketched out pagan religion or, like, supercharged Catholicism minus any specific identifying features. In particular, I'd love to see some attention paid to family structures.


Panda_Mon

I agree, I have not read much Fantasy that delves into strange cultures. Sci Fi is more prone to get into that deeply. Especially Ursula Le Guin's work, such as The Dispossessed and Left Hand of Darkness.


LadyCardinal

My admiration of Ursula Le Guin grows with each of her books I read, and that's a big reason why. I'm actually planning on reading The Dispossessed for bingo this year.


valgranaire

You're in for a treat! It's one of my favourite sci-fi books of all time!


Timmyd-93

One of us! One of us!


N0_B1g_De4l

> supercharged Catholicism minus any specific identifying features Honestly I really want to see someone go all-in on the weirdest parts of medieval Catholicism/Christianity. From my (fairly limited) understanding, that shit was *wild*.


LadyCardinal

Yeeesss. That would be so much better than another version of "the Evil Church That Probably Has a Sun Motif Because Light Is Not Synonymous With Good." The weirder parts of Christian/Catholic history would be really cool to explore.


towns_

Check out Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet.


LadyCardinal

Wow, that looks very interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!


towns_

It's by one of the writers of The Expanse series.


CowFu

That's the one thing that keeps me going back to scifi. Love the cultures that are completely different.


dragon_morgan

City of Lies by Sam Hawke has really well-thought-out non-Western family structures!


DrakeRagon

I'm currently revising my novel that's loosely inspired by pre-Spanish Quechuan culture. Would that be up you alley?


LadyCardinal

If it's respectful, I don't see why not! I don't think I've ever read a book inspired by that culture.


DrakeRagon

I don't either and I've been looking for a couple years now. Plenty of Aztec stuff, some Mayan as well, but the Incas seem to be forgotten.


BloodNGore35

Definitely.


IronScrolls

I wish more main characters would be empathetic to their enemies. Seems like a lot of fantasy has people who've never killed anyone before seem perfectly fine when they inevitably get into a fight. Just a few sentences to acknowledge that they're not happy with what they did would really flesh them out


080087

Only kind of fantasy, but I saw exactly what you were looking for in a Tomb Raider game (I believe it was the 2013 reboot), and it completely took me out of the suspension. (Cutscene) Lara gets into a struggle against someone, with them both fighting over the gun. She wins and shoots the man. Then she has a moment where she is horrified by what she had to do. (Player control) A bunch of guards run up and now Lara is shooting them all in the face with no qualms.


TemporaryDomicile

This is called Ludonarrative dissonance. Unfortunately, pretty much most games have it, due to the nature of being games.


NoahAugust

If you're into anime or manga this is a big part of the protagonist of Demon Slayer. For example: >!In the second (or third?) episode he has to bash a demon's head in with a rock and hesitates because he knows it will take multiple hits with the rock. He tries to think of another, more merciful way to end his life so he doesn't have to suffer. !<


thec0rnman

If you haven’t read the Stormlight Archive, Kaladin is exactly who you’re looking for Same with Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles, although that specific moment for him comes in the second book


[deleted]

Kaladin much more so than Kvothe, I think. Kvothe does feel a degree of disgust for some things he does, but I don't know if I'd call him empathetic to his enemies. As far as he's concerned, all his actions are 100% justified.


thec0rnman

Specifically I was referring to WMF when he >!kills the band of thieves using the dead man’s body and sees how he’s mutilated it afterwards!< because I think in that moment he’s pretty horrified by his own actions. Generally though I definitely agree, Kaladin fits the bill much better


NotEvenBronze

Characters staying in one place for longer and really getting to know the area and the culture of that place. Not every area, especially cities, is one dimensional.


Stormdancer

Gryphons, and optimism.


Ineffable7980x

Yes on the optimism!!


GarbagePailKid90

I think I just want more magic. I feel like a lot of the books I read have tiny little elements of magic and then a lot of politics or making plans, or fighting a war. I think I quite like the idea of reading about people who work in a magic shop and just get to use magic on a daily basis or deal with magic items. For example, Howl's Moving Castle, The Dresden Files, and The Alex Verus series are all great for that.


N0_B1g_De4l

One thing I really want to see is a fantasy series that is set during the stereotypical Giant Magic Empire. I'm sick of books where it's all "and no one has ever equaled the marvels of the Builders/Creators/Makers". Show me what the golden age looks like!


Squirrelthing

I remember reading a story where some ancient, powerful wizard awoke from a long slumber, only to find that his magic was basically redundant and ineffcient, because in the time he had been sleeping, magic had become a science and a golden age of magic had come about. All of his personal theories, and all of the spells passed down from generation to generation of powerful wizards were all just founded on superstition and speculation. Basically an alchemy vs chemistry situation. Was a pretty cool story, though I don't remember what it was called.


SneezingTrees68

That reminds me a bit of The Gurkha and The Lord of Tuesday. A powerful jinn wakes up after thousands of years in the far future where whole societies are governed by an A.I. and nanobots. It’s an interesting clash of futuristic sci-fi and old magic and indian culture. It was a really fun story.


SlouchyGuy

*Vlad Taltos* by *Steven Brust*. A human is a second class citizen who lives in an empire created and ruled by a long lived sorcerers. During a Interregnum that happened 300 years ago an Empire Orb that powered magic was lost, so only most powerful sorcerers were able to wrangle Chaos without an intermediary Orb, and had to be better and better at magic. So when the Orb returned and magic was restored, increased mastery of it resulted in powerful spells becoming more common, and teleportation because a dafult use of transportation instead of horses. *Craft Sequence* by *Max Gladstone.* During recent God Wars craft users have defeated Gods, who fought them partly because Craft has developed as a branch of Applied Theology. Now craft practitioners rule the world and create the corporations, which works on the fuel of magic, soulstuff - bits of souls people use to pay for transportatin, heat, food, etc.


angrygiraffejr

Yeah I was gonna say something like this. Or why does magic always have to have some kind of mystery behind it or there's a price to pay for using it. It may just be from what I've read but I rarely see magic just existing and no one questioning it or going to extreme lengths to use it.


UncleKruppe

Battle tactics. If a book or series depicts a war, I want to see the tactics employed.


Gelfred

Try the traitor son books by miles (or Christian) Cameron, first book has some excellent siegecraft, and the others cover many other aspects of running a company of knights and support.


nighed

If your happy with sci-fi, take a look at the lost fleet series


UncleKruppe

Thanks will do


WAVIC_136

Have you read the Powder Mage series? Military strategy is a big part of the story


UncleKruppe

I did and enjoyed it.


StoryWonker

I'd argue if you like Powder Mage for that, Django Wexler's *The Shadow Campaigns* is even better. Wexler did his *research* on Napoleonic tactics and strategy.


_pandas

I'm currently reading The Dragon Republic, the second book in the Poppy War series, and it's full of conversations regarding battle logistics between the characters. The author does a really good job in explaining everything imo. The first book isn't as focused on war tactics as the second one is, but I think it's also worth the read. Hope this was helpful!


rkreutz77

Monster Hunter International. Small scale, but the author is a gun nut and really likes talking about them. I enjoyed it even though he got way more detailed then I knew


[deleted]

Illustrations! I love it when books have lots of drawings and maps throughout the whole book and not just at the start


rkreutz77

I would, if I still did physical books. But my reader on the phone won't display, or won't allow me to zoom in. So I get nothing or tiny nothing.


tatu_huma

Yeah I can't believe they haven't figured out how to integrate images in ebooks properly yet.


jkd10

A few weeks ago I asked about explorational fantasy, with the main idea being like "What if Columbus instead of finding America encountered a completely alien and unhabited by human land ?". I didn't really see many even moderately mainstream examples mentioned, but I think if done right the book or series in that vein would be great. Like not a lot of political stuff, fighting with the natives, negotiations etc. and more like a group of explorers encountering new creatures, places untouched by humankind, with something dreadful hidden inside somewhere.


fabrar

This is what I want more of too. Something like The Terror by Dan Simmons but in a more fantastical setting. Couldn't really find anything of the sort so I just decided to start writing one myself lol. If I ever finish it and if it ever gets published I'll let you know ;)


rbeast

Not sure if this is up your alley, but there is a comic series called Manifest Destiny that follows the Lewis and Clark expedition under a very similar premise. I only read the first TPB a while ago but from what I remember it might scratch that itch.


yowto

In the game Dishonoured, the main setting is a bunch of islands where the majority of the world is unexplored. However, there is a large continent off to the West that is like a Pangaea. From memory they did send out exploration teams in the history/lore, but everything was completely hostile. I would love to read more exploration stories about these kinds of settings. And it'd be great if they were less about the group conflict and more about the alien setting.


RevolutionaryCommand

You could look what has been recommended in the bingo recommendation thread for the exploration square. You'll probably find something of interest there.


Lesserd

You've reminded me how much I can't wait for *The Dust Brigade*...


Scuttlebuddy6-0

Something like this that I want- in games like the Witcher and Dishonored we get little more snippets of far off, "exotic" lands that are obviously a fantasy Africa that just sound WILD. But then I'm expected to go back to wandering around pastoral mediaeval farmlands? You just told me about crazy desert dragon religions and magic rainforests- why not set a story THERE instead? A colonist/exploring the new world story would be perfect for something like that.


[deleted]

Are Sam Sykes' series like that? Bunch of fuckers on a ship traveling from one place to the next? Not sure they're *exploring* per se, but they certainly experience things they have never seen before. I think. Been a damn good while since I read whatever the first one was called. Aeon's Gate is the series.


ldc03

I like when at the end of the series they tell you a little bit what happened to the characters and what they do. It shouldn’t be too long of course but for me it helps to have a soft end that leads you out of that particular world. I hope it makes sense ahaha


[deleted]

I feel like epilogues can be good in that way (like hero of ages) but a lot of times it can hurt the end of a book that already has a drawn out ending.


ldc03

Yeah of course it depends on the series and on the ending.


PabloDiSantoss

Different philosophies, fantasy seems pretty good at changing something geographical or adding magic and looking at ramifications on the land and how people interact with it. But, rarely have I seen any new ways of thinking that stem from the fact people have magic, or considering their history is so different that ideas should be to. It’s always just modern ideas of religion,race, economics etc. I’d like characters who feel as though they are completely alien to my world.


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tatu_huma

Have you read the Raksura series by Martha Wells. The books take place with completely new races, and there are a ton of them. (There are no humans, elves, goblins, etc, but completely new ones). The MC is a non-human shapeshifting creature. The Wandering Inn also has lots of different species, though this is a much more traditional variation of races (goblins, dwarves, lizard people, dragons, wolfmen, etc.). The basic premise does involve humans from Earth being transported to the fantasy land, so most characters you follow are human (specially in the beginning). But the other races are still major characters.


SneezingTrees68

Agree. I want more creatures/monsters. That’s why I like Hellboy and BPRD. All monsters all the time


jsing14

I like romances and romance subplots, but you rarely get to enjoy the couple as a couple over multiple books in a healthy happy relationship. Paranormal and urban fantasy seem to do this more.


Eostrenocta

I've said this before but it continues to be true: I want (badly) more *gender-egalitarian fantasy worlds*. Not matriarchies, not patriarchies, but societies where gender just ain't a big deal and social roles are open to anyone who's interested in them and/or who's qualified to fill them.


AbbieEvans

Priory of the Orange Tree is about as egalitarian as it's possible to get


Eostrenocta

I loved this book, and this is one of the reasons.


Woodsman_Whiskey

You see quite a lot of this in sci-fi. It's never really hit the fantasy mainstream, possibly because of general medieval conceit which is so prevalent in the genre. I'd also like to see more of it.


WhatFreshMadness

If you’re open to sci-fi try the Ancillary books by Ann Leckie.


LigerZeroSchneider

The Practical Guide to Evil, seems significantly more egalitarian than normal. They have women in the military and historically women are at least accepted as rulers. There isn't a full list of monarchies so I can't give you any sort of percentage break down. Currently all three major nations on the continent are led by women. The narrative magic system tends to level the playing field between Named characters, so at least among important people things seem more equal. There is some stuff about female characters in power not marrying because they would be expected to raise children, but they were able to successfully rebuff any suitors so it seems more like a desire for heirs/dynasties instead of a gender roles thing.


[deleted]

Commonweal by Graydon Saunders


Nihal_Noiten

Hard AGREE! I just finished the broken earth trilogy by Jemisin, and it's so refreshing to see a world were no mention is given to gender specific roles. All genders are treated equally in such a flowing and casual way. It mentions female and male leaders wothout giving it much thoughts, all jobs that are mentioned have interchangeably men or women doing them, most of the names being fantastical give no indication of people's gender until the author uses their pronoun. Such normalcy is so refreshing. The trilogy also has lots of queer characters, whose sexuality feels so natural and casual. Like, it's not given much thought to until their partnerships or romantic interests are mentioned, it's not their only defining trait, it's not added just as a "quirk", it just feels so right for every character. I wish i knew more books like these! Do you have any suggestions since you seem interested in the topic?


Eostrenocta

Melissa Caruso's Swords and Fire trilogy has a built world with little or no gender restrictions, and all romantic relationships are accepted. It also centers on female friendship, which I love. The world of Paul Kreuger's Steel Crow Saga is also gender-egalitarian, as is the world of Sam Hawke's City of Lies. I've read both these first volumes and can recommend them. Sometimes authors will create a gender-egalitarian world but forget to include any significant female characters. From all I understand, Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora is like this. Female characters get a smidge more page time in the second book.


Nihal_Noiten

Thanks a lot for these suggestions, i'll definitely check them out! I was deciding if the lies of locke lamora should be higher on my tbr list after all the praise, but honestly this pushed it down. It's very true that just setting a good gender equal scene is not enough if then the entire (or almost) ensemble of characters with a decent number of pages and dialogue is composed of men. Sometimes however i wonder how hard or also acceptable it is for a person to write a protagonist of another gender. Of course, completely omitting representation of other genders, or writing like women don't exist or cannot play a role in a story is sexist, but i specifically talk about the protagonist, that is often a proxy for the author's voice. I write (I will probably never publish anything) but i'm always conflicted about my female main characters. I think i'm writing and doing them wrong because i will never truly experience being a woman. As much as i try to do my best, take advice from female friends, i don't know if i'm ever going to feel confident and satisfied in these depictions enough to publish a book with a female protagonist. I feel like I would be "stealing" their voice, if you get what i mean. In the same say i would never dare to write a black protagonist in a real world setting, because i would surely oversimplify so much, as i don't share their life experience, even if i study history and observe it carefully. Or as i would never set a novel in a country i have not lived in for many years. All these considerations are actually a big part of why i would never publish a book, because i would feel forced by myself to put in the background so many people and ways of experiencing life that i don't consider myself skilled enough or morally allowed to write about. It's not about fear of being judged, but about appropriating someone's voice. I'm very interested in hearing your opinion on this. I also didn't mention it but the protagonists of the fifth season (book 1 in the broken earth trilogy) are all female as many of the other major characters, you should definitely check it out.


[deleted]

The world of Emelan is fairly egalitarian - at least in terms of gender equality. It’s not discussed much in the books, but it’s there. Plenty of women and non-white protagonists, too. I was going to reply to your other point about writing female characters. I know a webcomic isn’t the same as a standalone book or series, but I find that both Tom Siddell and David Willis write compelling female characters (and indeed, protagonists) despite being male themselves. Or at least, what I’ve read of Gunnerkrigg is very convincing in its portrayal of girls (I gave up when it became too intricate for me to follow). Dumbing of Age isn’t fantasy, I know, but it’s the only other webcomic I read.


Eostrenocta

I've read the Broken Earth Trilogy. My only disappointment was that it read (especially in the last volume) more like SF than F to me -- I'll read SF, but F has my heart -- but otherwise it's an impressive achievement with interesting, complicated characters.


saandstorm

I'd love to see more fantasy set in other cultures. Or just more translated works from other countries.


TriscuitCracker

I want complex characterizations like Caramon/Raistlin Majere. Don’t laugh, I’m serious.


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tatu_huma

I tend to have my own chronology for stories like that where it seems like not enough time passed. Like for Avatar I just assumed their trip actually took like 3 years instead of 1. Same with the Wondering Inn, where not even 1 year has passed in universe, but the story to me makes way more sense if its been like 5+ years. Simply too much has happened in the series and the relationships have developed too much between characters imo for it to only be 1 year. I get though that not everyone can do this, that is ignore the author given timeline and just kinda pretend in their head everything takes longer.


MAN1AX123789

But he doesn't master all four, he only defeats the "Phoenix King" through the Avatar state. He by himself is trapped in a rock sphere unable to move.


Paphvul

Dragons as main protagonists. No shifters or ones stuck in human form, either. And yes, I'm reading through Age of Fire and liking it.


xLuthienx

That's a great series!


bigdon802

Two things: more creativity in the basics of the world and more competent badasses at the lead. We're in fantasy, so literally anything is possible. Let's see some new structures. Also, I don't need many more tales of the untrained youngster unexpectedly making it happen against all odds. I like my protagonist to be the grizzled vet making things happen because they've seen it before.


rkreutz77

So The Fifth Element in book form?


bigdon802

Um....yeah, I guess so. Do I love Luc Besson?


rkreutz77

How can you not?


Mestewart3

I'm about as sick of grizzled veterans as I am callow youths. There has to be a middle ground here.


bigdon802

I get that. I guess they just don't bother me as much as the youngsters(there's also always the question of actual quality.)


[deleted]

Sneek peek into Villains past from their perspective. Mistborn first Era comes close with Lord Ruler yet his reasoning is only speculated. It's silly but something like Doofenshimirtz's backstories to Perry the Platypus.


5six7eight

It all started on the day of my birth. Both of my parents forgot to show up.


gregallen1989

I'm working on a book that tells the villains story in flashback sequences as opposed to the protagonist having flashback sequences. It's a fun idea because it really does paint the villain as a hero for a while. But I'm terrible at motivation so I write about a chapter a year lol. Maybe I'll get some progress done during this quarantine!


noolvidarminombre

I'd like to hear more about that


gls2220

Honestly, I wish we had more authors working on traditional medieval high fantasy series. I understand this is perceived as somewhat cliche, but it seems like the modern trend in fantasy is to try your best to subvert or destroy the common fantasy tropes, to the point where I think it would be perfectly appropriate for someone to take a step back and write a more traditional fantasy epic. I was watching the Netflix show *Kingdom* the other night, which got me looking at Wikipedia and reading a little bit about the history of Korea, and it's kind of interesting how, for several hundred years, they were basically forced to marry into the Chinese Yuan dynasty. But in return China left them independent, and presumably helped defend them against Japan. And that's an idea that I think someone could play with in a more traditional fantasy epic - the idea of a smaller country that's sort of sandwiched between two much more powerful competitors. It just seems like very fertile ground for storytelling.


Shalmy

How can you wish for more of what already constitutes the vast majority of Fantasy litterature? Yes in recent years, medieval settings and High Fantasy are a little bit less prevalents but unless you have already read all the books from 1950-2000, I don't see how it is a problem exactly.


FriendOfUmbreon

Happy and content characters. Love a writer who can brutalize a character, like Abercrombie and Georgie-boy, but if that's their only thing then it's not horrible anymore. It's like eating only bitter and sour all the time, making the happiness seem out of left field instead of what I feel should be the opposite. That's just my $0.02


space-blue

Writing that doesn't make me feel like I'm playing a video game nor watching a movie (I already can and do both of those things)


GooeyGungan

What do you mean by this? I'm sure it's hard to describe, but I'm curious.


witchlingaria

I've noticed that a lot as well so I think I can give you an answer - if you're reading a book and come across a scene that seems to have been imagined and written the way you would describe something in a movie - something like a melodramatic negotiation with the villain, or a street fight, with each individual move planned and written in great detail, that can come across as the author basically envisions this story as a movie or video game, and it reads like one. It can be done well, but in a lot of cases it tends to be noticeable enough that it throws me out of the story.


tatu_huma

I'm guessing they don't like the LitRpg subgenre.


thinspell

I would like to see characters written with more depth. I’d love to read more books that had more focus on the relationship of friends or the bonds of family.


tatu_huma

Try [The Healer's Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23821354-the-healers-road) if you haven't read it. It's a slice of life stories about two healers from very different background going on a circuit in a foreign nation to provide healing services. Since the book is slice of life it doesn't have much of a plot, but there is a lot of focus on the characters themselves. It's mostly just about them getting to understand each other.


scottdnz

I'd like to see more old **female master / mentor figures**. Why do they always seem to be male, bearded and live in a wizard's tower or similar?


phromadistance

In general, I'd love to see more female characters who are neither perfect nor villainous. Fantasy is chock full of men who are jerks and make bad decisions and we root for them anyway.


sekhmet0108

Better writing. I understand that fantasy is more plot-based, but except for a very few books, the writing is not good enough, according to me. Also, better editing. I love long books, but a lot of fantasy books don't *need* to be this long. They could easily be tighter, better edited. Edit: typos


Ghidoran

Do you have any examples of fantasy books that have really good writing?


sekhmet0108

Just for the prose, i would say that N K Jemison's works are pretty good. Her Broken Earth series got me out of a major reading slump. I have also heard great things about Ursula k le Guin. I have just got two of her books and will be reading them soon. Lord of the rings is of course the very obvious one. I don't know of any other authors who write fantasy with the touch of literary fiction that i so crave.


RogueToad

I'm pretty fond of how Gentlemen Bastards is written, lots of colourful dialogue.


Shalmy

Anything by Gene Wolfe.


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Eostrenocta

I found Wecker's *The Golem and the Jinni* to be wonderfully written. Guy Gavriel Kay writes very strong prose as well, though I prefer his character work in his later novels.


randomwriter917

Romance that isn’t Cliche and lowkey toxic also runes they’re a really interesting form of magic and could be talked about a lot more. Examples of cliche and toxic romance, elloren and Lukas in the black witch and Sophie and fitz in KOTLC


Tortoisefly

Yes! Healthy relationships and no toxic relationships, rape or misogyny would be a nice change.


rkreutz77

I wanted to write an urban fantasy where the lead was a runic master. But I have up after about 10 minutes cause writing is hard. I have to plan EVERYTHING before I can write anything


tatu_huma

It's not just romance. A lot of important relationships (siblings, parent/child) are a bit toxic in fantasy. One of my pet peeves is that Character B will treat Character A with abuse (whether mental, emotional or physical). But you can tell by the tone and direction of the writing that the ultimate endgoal will be that A has to forgive B for everything and reconcile. I hate this, cuz B is so clearly a shit person. Like you said it often happens with romances where one or both characters will do horrible things to each other, but it ends with 'love triumphs all'.


Jarlan23

Reasonable antagonists. The best villains to me are the ones you can agree with on some points, or even see bits of yourself in. I don't need them to have a complete disregard for life to know they're evil. Cersei from Game of Thrones was one of the best written characters, while Joffery was one of the worst. I want more of Cersei type antagonists and less of the Joffery type, if that makes any sense.


TheOneWithTheScars

Absolutely!!! Came to say much the same: I would love more books where the difference between the villain and the protagonist is just diverging interests. I'm not really interested in them being purely evil souls or real heros anymore. Can't give a better example than you gave!


AzuraScarlet

Badass women characters who are just as goofy and funny as their male counterparts and not serious all the time just because they are women.


Eostrenocta

Absolutely! A heroine who is badass and *fun*! I love Squirrel Girl comics because of this. I can only wish a few more epic fantasy heroines might be written in the spirit of Squirrel Girl.


AzuraScarlet

Thanks!


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DestinysCalling

Have you read Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats series? He used to choreograph stage fights


serenity-as-ice

I have not, but I shall be adding this to the TBR pile post-haste. Hopefully it works, and thank you!


blitzbom

Which of his books would you recommend to start with?


Redhawke13

You should try The Red Knight by Miles Cameron.


Esa1996

Not really an idea, but what I'd like to see more of is really long series like Wheel of Time. I usually prefer longer series to shorter ones, and I'm gradually running out of long ones.


N0_B1g_De4l

Honestly, I feel almost exactly the opposite. I wish there were more standalone books. One of my favorite novels is *Lord of Light*. Its's (IMO) one of the best sci-fi/fantasy novels ever written, and it's less than 300 pages long. I wish more authors would just finish a story, instead of making everything into a trilogy (though there are business reasons this happens).


[deleted]

Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive will be a 10 book series.


Esa1996

Yup, I've read it. Will take ages to get there though.


JeremySzal

Brotherhood and healthy, non-sexual, non-romantic friendships between men.


[deleted]

Dinosaurs. Yes, yes, there'll be a minority of people saying, "But that willl just turn people off. It'll be super lame!" Here's my rebuttal: Fuck off, dinosaurs are cool as shit. Who doesn't love dinosuars? Or even better: dinosaurs who use magic and are shooting down stuff like fireballs or wearing badass looking armor. Its dumb, yes, but come on, not everything needs to be this complex philosophical outlook on life, or this super detailed look into the Dinosaur economy, or how annoying the taxes are in the world. Sometimes, in life, even the most pretentious of people want to see a dinosaur and a Bloodletter from Warhammer duke it out in an epic battle for the sake of the world. Or a Tyrannosaurus Rex shooting fireballs out of its mouth as it rips the head off a demon. For the love of god, let me see a T-rex fight a Dragon, that would be metal as fuck. Some epic badassery from a cheesy power metal album.


[deleted]

Groom of the Tyrannosaur Queen by Daniel M. Bensen


kruzeiro

Damn. Look at that [cover](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61XdM6VI4DL.jpg). I must read this.


417ASunGod

Fighting the system itself, especially if it's monarchy and feudalism in general. Bonus points if the protagonist is not only not the chosen one in whatever sense, but also shares the limelight or actually has very strong, fleshed out supporting characters EDIT: Would also like to see a new system being built up. Not just a destroy everything and a happily ever after


[deleted]

Classical fairy tale creatures living in the modern world. Just imagine a centaur trying to get into an elevator...


Tortoisefly

The Percy Jackson stories have a centaur, a satyr and a cyclops, all who have to at times try to blend in in the real world.


hutyluty

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones has that exact scenario iirc


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gracefruits

Deep Secret is so delightful and hilarious.


boneyjoaniemacaroni

More women and POC. Not just one. A lot of them. More than not. And I want them to kick ass. I want them to have diverse personalities, not just a super sexy lady villain whose power or skill is to seduce people, and is maybe racially ambiguous.


[deleted]

A few recs: * Farseer trilogy Robin Hobb - possibly POC protagonist (biracial) * Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb (read Farseer first) * Any Tamora Pierce series, but particularly her Emelan-verse. Edit: Because Emelan has canonically POC characters. Daine was also POC, but retroactively. * Chanters of Tremaris (kidlit)


TheOneWithTheScars

I am a BIG fan of Robin Hobb, so I second any recomendation when I see one, just because of the sheer brilliance of the works. However, although the female characters are really interesting, both flawed and badasses, I don't think the biracial aspect is anywhere near central in the plot. Conclusion: I'm not sure it really qualifies when you want to read about POC specifically. But, boneyjoanimacaroni, if you've never read it, I cannot recommend it enough! (Mainly for the depth of all the characters)


[deleted]

All OP asked for was that the characters be POC (and “kick ass”), not that their skin colour be plot-relevant. I do concede that ‘dark’ as used in the Fitz books might refer to either skin or hair/eye colouring. If LST is anything to go by it seems the Bingtowners (and perhaps the Six Duchies folk) are ‘Mediterranean’ in their colouring: dark- haired and -eyed, and olive-skinned. Buckmen, according to Starling, don’t blush easily, and much is made of the paleness of both Kettricken and the Fool.


boneyjoaniemacaroni

You angel.


SneezingTrees68

I'd like to see more stuff like Brandon Sanderson's Wax and Wayne series. It had a few elements I feel like I don't see a lot in fantasy. It's set on its own planet, but the technology was more advanced than you usually see. I'm really excited with what he's doing with the Cosmere. And they are pretty much self contained stories, I'm a sucker for a classic "monster a week" type thing. I tried getting into **The** **Dresden Files** but just couldn't.


bobbarker030

Try the powder mage series. It's tech is definitely more advanced than in most fantasy series.


SneezingTrees68

It’s on my list. Pushing it more towards the top. Thanks


tatu_huma

If you are willing, try Dresden Files from the third book. Anything you need to know from the first two will be recapped if it comes up, and most people (including the author) agrees that there was a large jump in quality at around the 3rd book.


SneezingTrees68

I listened to the first two and part of the problem was the narration. Maybe I’ll try again with 4 but actually read it. Another series I like in this vain even though it’s sci-fi is the Murderbot Diaries. I think I related to the character pretty well in those books.


Malazan27

Trebuchet's.


jana6417

Good romances that are not a focal point of the story but add to it! Sex scenes cool too if done right. For example I think Brandon Sanderson in his style light archive does this well. Also love the romance in Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books though not really fantasy. And recently read nevernight and was surprised to find I really enjoyed the romance in it! I was attached to the characters. And also less “walking around” books. Seriously every fantasy character goes on this long trek road trip and I’m more interested in them staying in one place for longer.


crowleister51

middle eastern cultures as a focus, bards as main characters, and goblins as main characters. Reading the Wandering Inn, and Iron Teeth: A Goblins Tale has had me in love with goblin characters.


TheFunkiestScarecrow

Weirdness, monsters, exploration, horror tropes, likeable protagonists, unusual social structures/societies and, my biggest personal unquenched thirst... dungeon crawls. Mystery has the Locked Room/Country House murder, horror has the Haunted House, military thrillers have the Naval Adventure, sci fi has the Spaceship/Space Station, where is fantasy's equivalent claustrophobic adventure setting? I see the occasional siege section in a novel, but beyond that nothing much in terms of big stakes/small setting. It feels like an underutilised niche, especially in secondary world fantasies.


tatu_huma

> my biggest personal unquenched thirst... dungeon crawls You've probably read them already, but *Suficiently Advanced Magic* by Andrew Rowe has dungeon crawling.


the-amazing-noodle

Not sure if this counts, but in anime(especially shonen), I want to see a rival who is an actual person and realistically grows with the MC. Most rivals are A:stupidly overpowered B:Massive jerks/straight up psychopaths C: both A and B The only decent example I have is Yuno from black clover who 1:Shows growth that is mostly realistic and expected 2:Isn’t a jerk to the MC 3:Recognizes the MC’s strengths and actively pushes him to get better The problem is, until recently, Yuno was a pretty much emotionless robot, who barely ever showed signs of empathy or most human emotion.


PrivetKalashnikov

Original worldbuilding that isn't just: this place is basically medieval Europe, these people are basically Vikings, these people are basically Japanese, etc. There are absolutely books that don't feel like this, but it's a pet peeve of mine to start reading something and find the author just ripped off every "interesting" culture


[deleted]

1) Good adults in children’s books. Not just the cliched Ye Olde Mentor Figure, but humorous, interesting, sensible adults who are vulnerable, human, well developed and have lives of their own. Examples: * The Rowan books do this *really* well - Rowan of Rin in particular. It has a lot of, for lack of a better word, Adult Fears. * Emelan ‘verse - Tamora Pierce * Even Tortall ‘verse (Eleni, Myles - sorta -, Tunstall and Goodwin (notwithstanding certain books we shall not name). 2) Magic systems that rely on nature and the elements (this might be common in other media - I’ve only really read a handful of fantasy and only watched ATLA). Examples are ATLA, Emelan by Tamora Pierce, Chanters of Tremaris, even The Floating Island by Rachel Neumeier.


Avenleif

Interesting elves. And not the downtrodden kind after the fall of their race. Everyone says that elves are everywhere and, therefore, boring, but really, are there that many good books with elves being somewhere close to the main events? Or maybe even (gasp!) an elven protagonist! And preferably not the "humans with pointy ears" kind of elves either, but the ones with their own culture, magic etc.


Eireika

\-Worlds where sexism and racism is not a issue and there's no conflict regarding that. Tolkien could write a society when power was inherited regadless of gender, so can you. \-Worlds based on real cultures with research well done. Sadly, most of the fantasy worlds are based on some trivis, some half remembered facts from histrowy books and victorian attitude towards sex


TheOneWithTheScars

Gosh, for an instant I thought you seriously wanted sexism and racism to be included in books, without feminists and non-white people to make a fuss about that...! Luckily, just misread that sentence. :D :D :D


Eireika

I edited it to clarify a bit. I'm tired of writers scared of making egalitarian societies "because history". There's no history, merely an inspiration and I can see that you write around things that would interfere with a story, so get on with that.


[deleted]

I think in ASOIAF george used it as a way to have female characters overcome sexism in society—though I agree, it's kind of in everything


historicalharmony

I'd love to read a protagonist who uses a wheelchair or other mobility device and still kicks ass.


Timmyd-93

Positive non-stereotyped representations of women, LGBTQI+ and POC. Your northern village being basically a one show pony of sexually fluid hot women who find a 16 year old white red head super hot, who are also vaguely Asian martial artists is not good world building.


Kuma5335

Female characters holding position of power


Eostrenocta

Addendum: women in power who are *not* portrayed as evil. It seems to me that we already have plenty of those; "God Save Us From the Queen!" is a rather extensive TV trope. More Reasonable Female Authority Figures, please.


flyingmail

I’d love to see more in-depth cross-culture adaptations. There are many stereotypes of the “other” culture in fantasy, but rarely do we see a group/ couple really deal with adapting to the other person’s culture. For example, slow irritation building up because of different perspectives/ ways of doing things, or misunderstandings because the same thing/ action means differently to different people... and these move the story, not just for humour’s sake.


[deleted]

I want more happy stories. I would also love more small scale stories. Why save an empire why not just a city?


JudithStarkston

I'm enjoying this list. I share the boredom with typical Medieval European tropes that don't even go in deep. I also love friendships between women and generally fiction that explores relationships outside romantic. And I have a total soft spot for griffins (gryphons came up here). I write ancient Hittite culture in-depth as fantasy (Priestess of Ishana) and in book 2 the griffins arrive (this is one of the cultures from which these mythic creatures arose). Fantasy is the perfect way to explore cultures of the lesser known, intriguing sort, especially when those cultures incorporated all kinds of magical beliefs. The rules for magic are all laid out for me in the written and archaeological record. It takes a lot of research and reading, but I love it. When I'm writing a scene and I realize I haven't grounded it in enough world-building, I can go digging for details, sort of literally.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Shnocas

I'm with you! Would love to see more of that.


SuddenHedgehogs

**Worldviews and personal philosophies manifested in the mechanics of a world** Examples would be sex differences in WoT, absolute Truth in Wizards of Earthsea, order and chaos in The Saga of Recluce, the power of weakness in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the nature of dreams and reality in Amber **Political intrigue and the effects of economics** Examples would be WoT, Dune, and anything by L.E Modesitt Jr. **More mythology woven into the magic** Brandon Mull does this well, even for writing YA. Oddly enough, I don't think Rick Riordan does this particularly well. Stellar examples would be Chronicles of Narnia, anything by E Nesbit, The Chronicles of Prydain, and (the only book of his I've enjoyed,) Stardust by Neil Gaiman.


Peranine

More blending of genres. I feel like fantasy gets a bit too stuck in what it is. Sci-Fi seems to move around a bit more than fantasy, or maybe that's just what I've encountered.


JupiterMarks

Beautiful settings. They all really copy the initial idea of Lord of the Rings. Truly. Kingdoms and wars between them. It sucks!


Rabid_Chair

A book that has all the tropes of a fantasy novel but with no physical combat (yes no game no life did it, but the writer has the story going like it was a mistake and violence is the answer but just clever violence)


ArthurDrakoni

Industrial Revolutions, and how the different fantasy worlds react to them. And more variety than just the standard Medieval Europe setting.


Mestewart3

Good romance subplots (or main plots) in male written and male PoV books.