SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hello fellow readers,

I'm craving for new books recommendations! 😭

So please, feel free to recommend anything that is not ehm, just High Fantasy... So yeah, I'm basically looking for ROMANTASY, Y.A./N.A. don't care, not really into defining favourite Tropes (open for everything)... Don't mind some spice, but is not necessary. I just wanna dive in some new worlds and get inspired 🤗

I don't want to make examples of what I've already read or what I am looking for, because I want to keep an open mind, and maybe help other readers find their pick!

Thank you

Grace Draven's Master of Crows

Just to clarify, are you only looking for YA/NA, or saying that YA/NA is also OK?

@netanella thank you ❤️ added to my list :D
@Anna, of course ☺️

Netanella wrote: "Grace Draven's Master of Crows"

I loved that book! Also, Heart's Blood, Wolfskin, The Curse of Chalion.

Shard & Shield is a good one for the YA column.

I'm sorry- I appear to be on a roll. Paladin's Grace might work, too.

Kathysh⁠♡☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ wrote: "@Anna, of course ☺️"

Of course which? :)

edit: I'm asking so that people know what to recommend.

This series was heavily recommended at the Nebula Conference 'Writing Romance for SFF' panel yesterday.

I haven't read it, (but am thinking I might want to because the blurb of the first book says 'cozy'!) and it's written by a New Zealander, which might tick some boxes if you're looking for writers who aren't from either the US or UK.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/2527...

I'm currently reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, which is the starter of a new fantasy series. Dragons, gripping storyline, YA-ish feel, there's romance. Though there's also a somewhat uncomfortable amount of deaths of minor/secondary characters :( The cover does proclaim the book has 'brutal games', so I guess I was warned. Bk 2 out next November apparently. *Further comments on Fourth Wing added in message #21 below.

I'm guessing you may have already gone down the path of shifter romances: Patty Briggs' Alpha and Omega; Nalini Singh's psy-changelings; Dannika Dark's Seven series etc. The list goes on.

You may not have come across Merry Ravenell's NightPiercer series. An unusual mashup of sci-fi/space opera and fantasy. Yes, there is romance too. Werewolves in space LOL. I liked it. The fourth (and I think final) book is expected in October 2023.

Thanks for posting this topic. I'm interested to see what others suggest too.

Heartstone, by Elle White. Basically Pride and Prejudice with dragons. I felt it had a lot of good fantasy elements, while hitting a lot of the emotional beats of P&P. It's a trilogy. I've only read the first so far.

Two LGBTQIA+ romantasy recs: Witchmark, by C. L. Polk, I think would fit (another trilogy where I've only read the first so far). And Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country, Greenhollow duology by Emily Tesh.

T.J. Klune has some that fit for sure (The House in the Cerulean Sea) but if you go with some of his older stuff the Green Creek series was so good. You will get all of the angst but I promise that the series has a satisfying conclusion with HEAs for all who deserve one.

oh, what a great lista!
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawett is my contribution to it.

Link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

You might consider Aliete de Bodard's Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders and Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances. There is a strong romance component, although that's not the primary plot of the books.

Anna wrote: "Just to clarify, are you only looking for YA/NA, or saying that YA/NA is also OK?"

I actually mean both :) I'm personally open for suggestions regarding both, New Adult and Young...

Uuuuh! I've already added so many new books to my "want to read" bookshelf 📚 ❤️ Thank youuuu

Kathysh⁠♡☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ wrote: I actually mean both :) I'm personally open for suggestions regarding both, New Adult and Young..."

OK, so YA/NA recs only, got it!

edit: I added that to the thread title.

Claudia Gray's Constellation trilogy is a sweet romance that is also a thought-provoking look at the line between human and computer.

I absolutely adore the Mairelon duology by Patricia C Wrede. It is set in a Regency-era England with magic and has a delightful street-waif protagonist who accidentally gets herself tangled up in the magical dealings of toffs. The romance is more subdued - in keeping with the setting - but they are some of the best characters! One of my favorite series.

Slightly off-topic here, but one of the most romantic hard science books I have ever read is 'The Gold Bug Variations', by Richard Powers. It is the only romance fiction I have ever raved about. It is adult not YA, and it is hard science, not science fiction. By adult that is not to say there is explicit sex in the book. There isn't. But the characters are adult. And the romance is handled beautifully, and woven into a fascinating tale of genetic science.

Edit to my message #10, above. I've dnf'ed Fourth Wing, for several reasons, foremost among them the frequent, routine violence depicted in the created world. I just decided I didn't want to be in that world any more. The book has many great reviews though, and there is a romance. So by all means try it and see for yourself, as many clearly love the book.

#Histrio and #Mike, I'm intrigued by the Mairelon books and the Gold Bug Variations and will have a look at these. Thanks.

Keep up the recs!