Fantastic Fantasy and Science Fiction discussion

Can anyone recommend a Fantasy book with romance in it that is not YA? I have read the series and enjoyed it. I have read quite a few paranormal, but I am looking for Fantasy.

I like Guy Garvriel Kay's books. They're set in alternate history, so it's recognizable situations and countries, but with different names and some supernatural elements. They're well written and mysterious. Some are standalones, like Under Heaven (set in China), some are multi-book stories. All of them are good, though I think Ysabel is his weakest. The Lions of Al-Rassan (Spain), Tigana (Italy), Fionavar (Arthurian) are probably my favorites, but they really are all good. They're moodily romantic.

Elizabeth Haydon's series has Fantasy/Romance/suspence/time-travel..great story/plot. books are in order:
I loved this series..had me laugh & cry..the characters were great!

I did love the books by Haydon, and now that I've been reminded, there is a great series The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth that is pretty good. It may not be available on Amazon, but you should find those in bookstores

Yes that was a good series by Kate Forsyth! I lent them to a friend but havent gotten them back..I havent seen them in the book stores as they are a older series..maybe at a UBS they could be found?

I would recommend the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogy's by Melanie Rawn. I've read them a few times now, it's my favorite series. Here's a link to the first book, check it out =)

https://www.amazon.ca/Dragon-Prince-1...

Also the Diana Gabaldon books, more on the time travel lines, but a fun read. Another link to the first book lol

http://www.amazon.ca/Outlander-Diana-...

The Dragon Prince Series by Melanie Rawn is SO good! your right Claire...I still have mine.. should do a re-read,its been a while since Ive read them,but I only keep the REALLy good ones. Outlander..without a doubt my favorite.

A re-read sounds so tempting, so much to read so little time! Outlander is my fav from that series, am stuck on The Fiery Cross, had to walk away from it, felt too much like filler. Have to pick it up again at some point though, I'm told the next one picks up again.

I love The Shape-Changer's Wife--it's a stand-alone and a beautiful fantasy love story.

You might enjoy some of Robin McKinley's work--I particularly liked Beauty (though that may be considered YA) and Deerskin (which is definitely not YA--it's pretty dark actually).

The Shape-Changer's Wife, is fantastic,(personally anything by Sharon Shinn is), Summers at Castle Auburn is my favorite, but it is YA. I just finished The Black Swan, it is definitely Not YA and was really good. Actually Mercedes Lackey Five Hundred Kingdoms series is very Fantasy, fun to read and Not YA at all.
The Fairy Godmother, One Good Knight, Fortune's Fool, The Snow Queen, The Sleeping Beauty
One Good Knight is my favorite of the series

Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series are very good. They start with Sword Dancer. I also agree with the recommendations of Melanie Rawn's series. Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen has a romance element to it.

Also Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series has some romance.

I liked The Destined Queen she normally does romance (which I don't read) but this book was a pretty good fantasy.

I also like the romantic elements that Jennifer Fallon uses in her books. The Tide Lords Quartet was her most recent set. It starts with The Immortal Prince.

Elizabeth wrote: "Can anyone recommend a Fantasy book with romance in it that is not YA? I have read the series and enjoyed it. I have read quite a few paranormal, but I am..."
What book did you end up deciding on =)

I'm on Jennifer Fallon's Second Sons series. I love it! I love this author! There's really not any detailed sex scenes, which doesn't bother me at all.

Julliet Marilliar is very gifted. She's historical epic fantasy with romance, too. I'd recommend Daughter of the Forest or Wilwood Dancing to start with.

Cliche romance annoys me, so here are some things with slightly 'different' romantic plots:

- Daughter of the Empire (Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist) and its two sequels. They follow a young girl, Mara, in a sort of fantasy-Japan/Korea setting, whos father and brother have died, leaving her the head of a noble family under attack and on the brink of destruction. Through the three books we see her grow to middle-age while fighting off and out-witting rival houses - and being a woman in a male-dominated society, her tactics have as much to do with marriages and alliances as they have to do with battles and assassinations (but there are plenty of them too!), so her loves and losses play a major role. It's not great literature, but it's solidly entertaining epic fantasy.

- Ash, by Mary Gentle, is likewise not "a romance" per se (it's a sort of war-and-adventure story) but romance plays a big role. It's about Ash, a teenage girl in an alternate-universe 15th century, who also happens to be captain of a company of mercenaries. Needless to say, it's a position that makes conventional romance somewhat difficult, which isn't helped when she is forced into marriage with a man with whom she has a strange lust/hate relationship. In the background, the story also touches on the difficulties of being a lesbian in the 15th century. Oh, and there's a eugenics programme. And visigoths, and eternal night.

I like the romance in these novels because it's not overdone - both (in very different ways) make the point that love is a part of live: in the Empire Trilogy, Mara's romantic nature is continually having to fight against the pragmatic necessities of her position in an unkind and brutal world; in Ash, Ash would happily ignore all that mushy romance stuff, which just gets in the way of her job as a professional killer and leader of a band of professional killers, but can't avoid the fact that she (and those around her) do still, no matter how inconveniently, have sex drives, and even occasionally tender feelings.

So, neither are romance books, but both are "fantasy with romance in". Empire is completely fantasy; Ash starts out looking like zero-magic historical stuff with a strange little meta-plot about contemporary historians, but by the end it's DEFINITELY fantasy.

As for YA: both feature teenage girls as protagonists, but aren't really YA. Empire feels a little juvenile in places, i suppose, as most epic fantasy does; Ash doesn't. It's very well-researched and realistic (the author got a masters degree in war studies as part of her research), and the very first couple of paragraphs feature the multiple rape of an 8-year-old, who then murders her rapists, so probably wouldn't be recommended for children.

Great recommends Wastrel..I LOVED Ash by Mary Gentle
Totally different,I was glued to this story.

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Great recommends Wastrel..I LOVED Ash by Mary Gentle
Totally different,I was glued to this story."

so was I - although the glue did weaken a bit during the ENDLESS seige section.

but yes, I think it's a great book, and it's a shame (and a surprise) that people don't mention it more. Everyone I know who has read it has really liked it, but too few people have read it (and as it's the longest genre novel ever published in one volume, I can see how people might be intimidated!).

[That said, I'm aware my own attitude toward it is shaped by my pathetically predictable soft spot for gruff tomboy heroines.]

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While I'm here, something I didn't think of: Robin Hobb. Again, none of them are romance novels, but they usually have romance (and other forms of love) as fairly central themes, though in each case with some subversion: in Farseer, we see what a naive idiot the teenage protagonist is, in Liveships we get a lot of rape and unhealthy (delusional, power-imbalenced) relationships, and in Tawny Man we get a lot more focus on non-romantic love (and what exactly the difference is).

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And now I'm annoyed with myself for seeing a question with 'romance' in it and instinctively recommending three female authors. I don't usually like to re-enforce stereotypes.

The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. A fantasy story that takes place in the Victorian era. Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside by Holly Black.

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Elizabeth Haydon's series has Fantasy/Romance/suspence/time-travel..great story/plot. books are in order:
[bookcover:Rhapsody: Child of Blood] [bookcover:Destiny: Child of the S..."

i actually started that series and I LOVED it. but by the time i got to the end it just wasn't the same:)

I'm reading at the moment which is fantasy with romance and so far is very good

Karen wrote: "I'm reading at the moment which is fantasy with romance and so far is very good"

Iv'e heard this is a really good series Karen..let me know what you think?

Brandon Sanderson's "The Alloy of Law" has a romantic subplot in it like his earlier Mistborn books does. I tend to like romance that is more tastefully done (true romance involving feelings and reasons for falling in love without so much graphic sex) and I think Sanderson does a better job of this than a lot of other male fantasy authors. Romance is definitely not the main point of the book though. If you're looking for that you're probably better to take some of the other recommendations above.

Jesslyn and sandi are so right about the older Kate forsyth and haydon....WONDERFUL! My all time favorite series to read is Jacqueline Carrey's Kushiel and Naamah.

If anyone likes SciFi & Horror I can highly recommend a great read. Finished and loved it, can't wait to read the rest of the series

is a new YA Fantasy novel that has mermaids, underwater war, and magic. It has romantic elements to it, but it also has other story lines woven throughout. It's only on Amazon for Kindle though.

Hey, can anyone give me a suggestion of a Sci-Fi-Genetics/Mutation novel similar to the Germline novels. It doesn't have to be military but if so that is fine

Michael- when the wind blows by James paterson. ;-) not a bad read.

Redwych wrote: "Michael- when the wind blows by James paterson. ;-) not a bad read."

Ok thank you

The Griffin's Daughter series by Leslie Ann Moore is a wonderful fantasy that I've seen classified as romance, but, in fact, only the first book can be called a true romance. The other two have romantic elements, but are centered more on the action/adventure/political intrigue of the story.

I loved this series because I was looking for a more 'human' version of the typical elves one finds in many traditional fantasy stories. Ms. Moore's elves are not the cool, haughty beings of Tolkein, nor are they the tiny, mischievious creatures of fairy tales. They laugh, cry, eat, drink, love and hate just like their human counterparts.

This series is also available in a YA version, though the 'adult' version is quite appropriate for readers as young as 16. The language is cleaner and the sex is more of the 'fade to black' variety.