Oct
16
2014

High Fantasy Here I Come!

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

High Fantasy Here I Come!

Before I discovered Young Adult and started blogging soon after, I read primarily Adult High Fantasy. But since then, I’ve read almost nothing but YA. Part of the reason for this is that I am really loving YA,  but another, perhaps bigger part, is that I have a really bad habit of deprioritizing books that I won’t review, which, by being a YA-only blog, includes all of those Adult High Fantasy books. Even though I have started reading and enjoying other genres, Fantasy is still my favorite and I forgot how much I once loved to read Adult High Fantasy. I still read Fantasy, but it's been Young Adult Fantasy and although there is nothing wrong with those books AT ALL, they do read differently.

But all of that has now changed. I recently listened to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and OH MY GOD I COULDN’T STOP LISTENING. I usually just listen to audiobooks when I drive but I had to listen to this book at every freaking opportunity that’s how good it was. I kid you not, I was listening when I worked out, when I got ready for work in the morning and for bed at night, while I fell asleep, when I did mundane chores, when I ate, when I “worked”. Basically, if it could involve multitasking and even if it couldn’t, you bet I was listening to this book. And when I finished it, I needed more and thankfully The Wise Man's Fear was available and the same exact thing happened. I couldn't put it down. This series totally reminded me of all that I love about Adult High Fantasy and led me to promise myself that I was going to stop ignoring these books. So I went ahead and made a list of all of the Adult High Fantasy series that I’ve been meaning to read and will now start working through (in no particular order)

And here it is:

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
1. The Name of the Wind 
2. Wise Man's Fear 
3. The Door's of Stone (unreleased)

Gentleman Bastard by Scott Lynch
1. The Lies of Lock Lamora *next up!
2. Red Seas Under Red Skies
3. The Republic of Thieves
4. The Thorn of Emberlain (unreleased)

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
1. The Way of Kings
2. Words of Radiance
3. Skybreaker (unreleased)
(Books 4-10)

Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
1. The Way of Shadows
2. Shadow's Edge
3. Beyond the Shadows

The Riyria Chronicles by Michael J. Sullivan
1. The Crown Tower
2. The Rose and the Thorn
3. TBD (unreleased)

The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan
1. Theft of Swords
2. Rise of Empire
3. Heir of Novron

Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson
1. The Final Empire
2. The Well of Ascension
3. The Hero of Ages

Wax and Wayne by Brandon Sanderson (follows Mistborn)
4. The Alloy of Law
5. Shadows of Self (unreleased)
6. TBD (unreleased)

The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler
1. The Thousand Names
2. The Shadow Throne
3. TBD (unreleased)

The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence
1. Prince of Thorns
2. King of Thorns
3. Emperor of Thorns

As you can see this is quite the list but I am still open to suggestions! Did I miss any must-reads in this genre? I would love to hear your thoughts if you've read any of these!

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Comments (14)

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YESSSSSSS!!!!! I approve of so many on this list, omg. LOCKE LAMORA!! (SO excited that that's starred as "next up"!!) That book. It broke me, but it's amazing. Also STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE!! MISTBORN!!! I know you said this list is in no particular order, but I'd definitely recommend tackling Mistborn *before* Stormlight. Just FYI. ;)

I still have to get to The Broken Empire trilogy - that's been on on my radar for a while. Another high fantasy that I'm dying to read is the Eli Monpress series - have you read that one? It sounds AWESOME. Thieves and magic, yes please! ;D
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1 reply · active 545 weeks ago
LOVED waking up to this comment. You enthusiasm is infectious! I will definitely read Mistborn before Stormlight Archive - thanks for the heads up!!

And I haven't heard of the Eli Monpress series but adding it to the list RIGHT NOW. So excited!!
I haven't read any fantasy :( But that's great that you have a list!
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Chenise J.'s avatar

Chenise J. · 545 weeks ago

I started Locke Lamora but for some reason I never finished it, which I think I should do asap.

I've been wanting to read Mark Lawrence's series for the longest time and I just recently bought the second and third book from bookoutlet so now I just have to get my hands on the first book and binge read them.

I always get a bit intimidated by high fantasy series but I need to get over that because they're always so, so good!
1 reply · active 545 weeks ago
Same on the intimidation front! They are definitely much more of a commitment but I always end up loving them!

And Book Outlet is the best! I don't own all of these books yet so I should check it out and see which ones I can grap!
Pam@YA Escape's avatar

Pam@YA Escape · 545 weeks ago

I'll have to check a lot of these out, I've been loving fantasy lately (YA and Adult). I'm reading the Mistborn trilogy right now and LOVING IT. So I need to check out his other books. Have you read Juliet Marillier? She writes both YA and adult fantasy. I read her Shadowfell series and loved it.

I started The Name of the Wind…and…I just couldn't get into it. I don't know why. I read about 120 pages and it's interesting but I don't know. I'm not giving up yet, but I put it aside for now. Don't hate me!! :)
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1 reply · active 545 weeks ago
The Name of the Wind didn't have me obsessed right away. It wasn't until Kvothe got to the University that I really couldn't put it down. Are you there yet? And I will probably start Mistborn after Lies of Lock Lamora so I'm glad to hear you are loving it!!

And I haven't read Juliet Marillier but I have a couple of her books on my TBR, including Shadowfell. I need to bump her up the TBR too!
So I noticed your comment for The Name of The Wind on goodreads and I knew I wanted to read it right then. Then I told my husband (who reads on and off) and he wants to read it so we are thinking about reading it together. Anyway.... this is a great idea! I also like to mix in some adult books when reading because sometimes I miss them or sometimes I just want short breaks from young adult books. I'm looking forward to keep seeing what you think about your adult fantasy books on goodreads because I don't read a lot of adult fantasy for whatever reason on my own, but when I have a good recommendations I tend to. Enjoy your adult books and never feel guilty for reading a book just because it doesn't deal directly with your blog. I know I have struggled with that many times and still do. Happy reading! :D
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1 reply · active 545 weeks ago
YAY I hope you and your husband like it!!! It doesn't have the quickest of starts but then it gets SO GOOD!

And yeah I need to stop ignoring Adult and this is the first step. I will definitely keep you posted on what's good, hopefully my fantasy goggles don't make me too biased :)
Have you read A Song of Ice and Fire, aka Game of Thrones? Because that would be at the TOP of my list! I read all five books in a 4 month span and it was glorious, though the wait for Book 6 might kill me.

The Troy trilogy by David Gemmell is amazing, though it's more Adult Fantasy/Spec Fic. It's a reimagining of the Trojan War and it is EPIC. Loved the characters. First book is Lord of the Silver Bow :)

I haven't read a lot of Adult High Fantasy otherwise, but I have Locke Lamora which I'm curious about! I also want to read The Thousand Names.

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1 reply · active 545 weeks ago
I have read ASOIAF! And I binge read it too and am dying for Book 6!

And thanks for recommending the Troy trilogy! I'm def adding it to the list!
What a fantastic idea! You know, I've been actually thinking about reading some more adult fantasy books as well. Like you, that was the only thing I read before blogging and then I switched to YA, but sometimes I miss those adult books a little. The Mistborn series, The Kingkiller chronicles and Gentleman bastard's are all high on my TBR-soon-list.

It's a bit of a mix between YA/Adult, but it's one of my favorite authors: The seven waters trilogy by Juliet Marillier! It's Celtic, it has strong female characters and the first book is a retelling from a fairytale. I love the first three books! All the others after that aren't necessarily and they lose some of the quality, but she's still a Queen to me.
I don't really read any adult books but I know there are a bunch of people who have been RAVING about the Gentlemen Bastard series. I love that you're going back to what you starting out reading and hope they don't disappoint you! Sometimes we get so wrapped up in review copies and what publishers and our readers want that we forget what WE want.
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I feel like this entire post is made up of good life choices. I love love love love The Kingkiller Chronicles, both in print and via audiobook. I am hesitant about ordering The Slow Regard Of Silent Things on audio because it's not Nick Podehl reading, but the author. Still, excited.

LOCKE LAMORA. That series is a game changer, how exciting that you get to read it for the first time.

AND OMG MISTBORN. I read those books in a fever pitch when I started blogging and ugh, still love them so.

I really liked The Way Of Shadows, but to be honest, I never expected it to be so dark. Great book though. I have yet to continue the series after book one. Maybe this post will inspire me.

ALSO, going to repeat Mel's recommendation of The Sevenwaters trilogy, it is EXCELLENT.
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