SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

So basically I just read The Final Empire and I enjoyed it but not as much as I had hoped. Vin was a tragic character but I just wasn't feeling that interested/emotionally invested in her or the book in general.

Recently, I've really enjoyed The Chaos Walking series, so if anyone knows any similar books (emotional/cruel/bittersweet in a way/a bit of romance) I'd be really grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

I love The Kingkiller Chronicles, so if anyone also has any recommendations similar to this I'd be grateful. I'd be interested in reading another coming of age fantasy series with a tragic hero like Kvothe.

I've tried The Codex Alera series after someone recommended it and I didn't like it, too predictable/PG. I've read The Night Angel trilogy and enjoyed it. I like reading emotionally heavy books but they're pretty hard to come by in the fantasy genre.

I'm also like 20% into The Lies of Locke Lamora and not really feeling it, should I persist? The fact theirs pretty much no major female presence in the book has put me off a but, I prefer reading about male protagonists but you need some female characters. It feels like I haven't been sucked into a series for a long time, need some help!

This isn't normally my genre, but I was extremely impressed by Daughter of Smoke & Bone.
I also find most of Guy Gavriel Kay's books to have a wide emotional range.

To me the quintessential dark hero was Thomas Covenant in the famous series The Chronicles of the Unbeliever by Stephen R Donaldson. They are a fantastic depiction of a person who is challenged morally by his unworthiness and continues to evoke love and following from everyone he meets. the emotion and intensity of teh writing makes the series one of the best I have read......could not recommend it more strongly....start with Lord Foul's Bane.....

Thank you for the recommendations :) I will have a look at some of them soon as I have just finished The Assassin's Apprentice which I unfortunately found really dull. It only got a bit exciting after I read ~90% of it so I won't be continuing with that series.

I tend to try and avoid books that have been rated lower than 3.8 but the Thomas Covenant books look interesting and the ratings have let me down somewhat lately!

I'll have to agree with you on the Assassin's Apprentice. I just finished The Night Angels Trilogy and loved it. And am now reading the Farseer trilogy. I'm on the first book and it just isn't grabbing me.

Carol wrote: "I also find most of Guy Gavriel Kay's books to have a wide emotional range."

This.

GGK is just... he's mean. Likes to pluck heartstrings and then rip them out.

I've read all of his books(except his Poetry, which I will soon) and they're pretty much all bittersweet with tragic characters.

Try Tigana. It's one of the better ones and gives a good feel for the rest of his books.

I think you would like Guy Gavriel Kay, too. Another classic in this direction is Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. You might like Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, and you might be interested in Patrica Bray's Devlin's Luck, but I didn't like the sequels as much as the first in the trilogy. You also might want to check out Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars series starting with King's Dragon and her Spirit Gate trilogy (which I preferred). I thought the Crucible trilogy starting with The Nameless Day by Sara Douglass was exceptional.

It's a very different direction than the fantasy novels you've described, but I think Japanese SF/F authors do bittersweet the best. Try the recent short story collection The Future is Japanese: Science Fiction Futures and Brand New Fantasies from and about Japan. for a sampling.

Also it's historical fiction, not fantasy, but I think you could get the emotional punch you're looking for from Barbara Hambly's A Free Man of Color (she also writes SF/F but I think her Benjamin January series is the best).

I haven't read all of the examples you mentioned, but I'd second Swordspoint & Guy Gavriel Kay. For a tragic hero, I recommend Janny Wurts' The Master of Whitestorm. Tanya Huff's The Fire's Stone (which is less dark overall) might also interest you.

Now that I think of it, Carol Berg also does tragic/bittersweet well. I couldn't get into her Bridge of D'Arnath books, but I've liked everything else of hers I've read.

For something different, maybe Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer?

Wow, got a bunch of books to catch up on! I haven't even heard of a bunch of these. A good epic fantasy with a twisted love plot was If what I think is happening, is happening, then my heart is already breaking! Can't wait for the sequel!!

A good sci-fi series that I just started is There is only a hint of what is to come for these star-crossed lovers in a fun mid-grade sci-fi! I'm really looking forward to the next book, which will be out in July!!

In that tone I really liked "The broken sword" by Poul Anderson, an author contemporary to Tolkien.

Ala wrote: "GGK is just... he's mean. Likes to pluck heartstrings and then rip them out."

Too true! ;)

It's funny that when I read the header to this thread, I immediately thought of GGK, and with all the authors of the world to choose from, three of the ten responses also went the same way. My vote for tragic GGK characters would be those in "Lions of Al-Rassan". It doesn't take long after starting before you realize that you're going to be in for a rough time before you finish it.

Anytime GGK puts multiple honorable characters in a room together, you know that damned honor of theirs is going to take someone down the honorable path to some sort of honorable doom.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

Deshi wrote: "...Recently, I've really enjoyed The Chaos Walking series, so if anyone knows any similar books (emotional/cruel/bittersweet in a way/a bit of romance) I'd be really grateful if you could point me in the right direction..."

It's not fantasy, but I think Tess of the d'Urbervilles fits the bill. I got quite tearful reading it.