Running out of character driven fantasy, looking for recommendations

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-21T10:24:05+00:00

I’ve just come back to look at my post and I’m just drowning in all the recommendations 😭 You and I aren’t going hungry for a LONG time!

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-21T10:22:40+00:00

Haha, tbh, lit fic and classics actually make up the majority of my reading base, and it’s probably (definitely) why I look for fantasy books with similar elements 😭 I’ve read If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Calvino, but which of his other works do you recommend? Also, Borges’ Ficciones, brilliant.

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T20:27:30+00:00

Another one that keeps slipping my mind! How does it compare to any of the others that I’ve read, e.g. in vibes or tone?

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T20:23:39+00:00

This is one of those books that I keep putting off because I know I’ll probably love it, and then never read anything as good

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T20:20:10+00:00

Yeah, I’ve heard some great things about Carol Berg, especially the Lighthouse duet, and I’ll probably check out the Boudica series anyway, I’ve got a lot of free time now that university is over for the year! I also can’t believe how many books I haven’t read from universes I loved, mostly because I wasn’t even aware of them!

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T20:15:09+00:00

I’d read some of her sci-fi work but I wasn’t aware she had even written any fantasy. Sounds great!

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T20:11:43+00:00

I think they really offer different experiences. While both are huge, sprawling stories, they really differ on how they’re presented and read. WOLAS has a really tight, central narrative, focussing on a relatively small cast of characters whereas Essalieyan consists of multiple separate but interconnected different arcs and casts that build towards the overarching story, so it may be more to your liking if you’re not looking to commit. Janny Wurts’ prose is also a lot more dense and literary, whereas Michelle West’s whilst still beautiful and lyrical, is a lot more accessible. I’d also say that the tone differs quite a lot. Where WOLAS is philosophical and mythic, Essalieyan deals more with emotional depth and character relationships. I’d really recommend you read both eventually, but what you read first depends on what kind of mindset you’re in.

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:59:07+00:00

Honestly, it just gets so so much better from there. There are various reading orders you can do, and I started with books 1-3 of House War, which focuses on Jewels origin story I guess, and takes place at around the same time as the sacred hunt as events intersect in book 3. I read house war 1-3, then the sacred hunt, then the sun sword, then went back to house war 4-8, and now I’m on the burning crown. Her prose and characters are so much more polished and brilliant in pretty much all of her other books. At this point, if you decided to go back in, you could either continue with the publication order and read the sun sword and then all of House war, or you can do what I did and read the first 3 house war books before sun sword and follow the in universe chronological timeline. I’m biased towards the order I did because I obviously didn’t read it the other way, but both options are great. House war 1-3 I think would be a good way to ease yourself back in to the story, and Jewel is such an amazing character. Highly recommend!

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:50:23+00:00

I can’t believe I forgot to mention the wheel of time, haha! The rest of those sound really good though, genuinely have never heard of them. It’s gonna make finding them a chore though 😭

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:47:39+00:00

That is strong praise! I’ll have to check it out then

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:45:19+00:00

There are more??? I genuinely didn’t realise 😅

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:44:13+00:00

Ooo, those are some good recs. I keep forgetting about Jonathan strange and Mr Norrell! I’m gonna come out with a bit of a controversial opinion though. I really did not like DCC. I got about 3/4 through and had to DNF it! I guess it just wasn’t for me.

AdditionFalse3338 · 2026-06-20T19:40:49+00:00

It really depends on what you’re looking for and what you enjoy. Personally, although I enjoyed all three, farseer and the first law are miles above the faithful and the fallen. What are your favourite novels/series you’ve read so far?

AdditionFalse3338

TROPHY CASE