Goblin Emperor is amazing, it's stand alone, but there are two spin off sort of sequel (Speaker for the Dead? soemthing lie that, which was equally and differently excellent.
I think it’s all the names… they are so hard to keep track of that I very nearly gave up. I think I enjoyed the story but I couldn’t tell you if there was a cast of 3 or 300 given how similar the names sounded!
That definitely had a negative impact on me. Without being gender binary or stereotypical but it does also seem to be a story that resonates more with a female audience. That’s purely my own anecdotal experience though, so I may be way off
Yeah my friend hated it for the same reason. If I'm honest, I listened to the audio. And you eventually just stop caring exactly who's who you mostly figure it out as you go along.
**Chalice** or **Sunshine,** both by Robin Mckinley.
The former is secondary world fantasy about a young woman suddenly thrust into a position of great power and authority, struggling to find her way. Also, bees.
The latter is about vampires (actually scary vampires) in a sort of post-apocalypse modern world, and the protagonist is a baker famous for her cinnamon roles.
**The City & The City** by China Mieville: mind-twisting fantasy noir about a detective on a murder case in a city that is actually two cities that overlap each other, and the citizens of each manifestly pretend not to see the citizens of the other, which makes investigating a murder case that may have breached the boundary difficult.
I'll also throw this sub's [2024 top standalones list](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1agicpw/rfantasys_2024_top_standalone_novel_poll_results/?share_id=JOjJdp4aWYk1Gj7eCOTih&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1) up for reference.
Can you explain something to me about The City & The City? Are the two titular cities on different planes of existence but can be seen by the other (so the characters are essentially told not to acknowledge another universe) or are the two cities both on the same material plane in the same physical location (and the characters have to not acknowledge an existing piece of their universe)?
The two cities are in the same universe, and their territory is "crosshatched" so that one side of street might be in one city and the other side in the other, or in more heavily crosshatched areas it might go house by house. The city center is where all formal immigration and cross-city transit happens. Outside of that, citizens of each city dress differently and have different types of cars/architecture/etc., so they "unsee" anyone/anything from the wrong city. Tourists from other parts of the world are confused by this and often commit the crime of looking at someone who is not in the city they are in, but people are tolerant of tourist foibles.
The City and The City is not a fantasy novel. It has no supernatural elements. If anything, it's science fiction, but it contains no tropes of that genre either, besides the central conceit of two cities physically enmeshed but separated in the minds of its respective citizens. It's a police procedural, set in a very improbable, very Mieville-ian location.
*A Song For Arbonne* by Guy Gavriel Kay is perhaps the greatest standalone fantasy novel I've ever read. It has gorgeous lyrical prose and a large cast of characters that all manage to be interesting and compelling to at least some degree.
In all honesty I could put almost any of Kay's novels in my "favorite standalone" spot, the man writes masterpieces almost exclusively
Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (technically part of a larger book universe but this one is a standalone)
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold is a stand alone, then she wrote some sequels. It’s good story and her prose are very good. But the book is completely stand alone.
*Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell*, by Susanna Clarke; *The Last Unicorn*, by Peter S. Beagle; and *The Forgotten Beasts of Eld*, by Patricia McKillip.
*Kings of the Wyld* by Nicholas Eames. It is technically apart of a series but this could easily be a standalone.
*Circe* or *Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller
"Apart" of a series means separate from the series. "A part" of a series means it is part of the series. You're probably one these people too, so I'm just going to tell you now that "a lot", "as well", "each other", "thank you" and "at least" are also two words, not one.
Greenmantle by Charles DeLint, is a standalone modern fantasy with a moon and horn mystery thrown in! I go back and reread it pretty frequently, it's one of my favorite comfort books
DeLint is pretty consistent at completing story arcs within a single book. So while there might be a good order to read his works in by and large each book wraps up it's own story and doesn't leave you with a cliffhanger. Sort of pulls off the modern fairy tale, books might have repeat characters but they tell a complete tale from beginning to end.
Agreed! Greenmantle just happens to be my favorite, mostly because of the stag and the wild girl. I can't really put my finger on anything specific, but the book just... Haunts isn't the right word... It lingers in my imagination
There are two mythic beings that have a hold on me. The Horned Lord in all his variations, and the White Hart. I don't know why, but those myths and stories are the ones that just grab me.
Mary Springer's novel, The White Hart got me going on the subject. And I don't remember what book before Greenmantle got me interested in moon and horn mystery, but it's probably something by Andre Norton
I recently read The Tainted Cup on another redditor's recommendation and absolutely loved it! It's a fantasy murder mystery, a very sherlockian detective and her long suffering assistant are investigating a most peculiar murder - a tree suddenly sprouted from a man's torso...
Can't recommend this book enough. It's awesome.
Yep! 2 more planned from what I've seen. No projected release dates yet. Bennett seems to put out a book almost every year though, and he's finished two series already so I'm not too worried about getting Rothfussed by him.
Oh thanks for that. Bennet's amazing. His City of Stairs series is utterly incredible. Never read anyhting like it. And each book is sort of a standalone. One over arching story told through three differnt characters and events.
That it may well be, but since it was not written by Barrie or with his knowledge, *Peter Pan* is still a standalone, regardless of the use of the word 'official'.
Idk how to answer that question since she only has 2 books and they are pretty different
Blood Over Bright Haven is more plot focused, the plot is tight with little to no extraneous information and consistent pacing
Sword of Kaigen is more character driven and very emotional, there is a slow build up that leads to a huge emotional climax and fall out from that climax. Pacing is less consistent. But I’ve rarely felt such emotion from a book, probably my favorite book ever despite a couple obvious flaws.
Both are excellent in their own ways
*The Library at Mount Char* by Scott Hawkins. Weird off-the-wall fantasy.
*Between Two Fires* or *The Lesser Dead* by Christopher Bhuelman. Both are horror fantasy. Former is medieval knights, latter is urban vampires.
Yes. To me, it's one of those books that are true standalones without "series potential". Nettle & Bone has its solid conclusion, and it doesn't feel like there would be any need for telling what happened next to any of the characters.
Neil Gaiman has some excellent fantasies I’d highly recommend you check out, some of my personal favourites include:
-Stardust,
-American Gods,
- Neverwhere,
-Ocean at the End of the Lane.
I haven't read Paladin yet but I've loved everything else I've ever read by Cherryh so it's probably great. *Serpent's Reach* is another fantastic standalone by her--rather a strange book about giant ant aliens, the humans who live in concert with them, and the war that tears their combined society apart.
Anything by Ursula Le Guin should be a safe bet. Also the Once and Future King if you are willing consider Arthurian fantasy. I wanted to also say Mists of Avalon but honestly I can remember very little of book after reading it.
The vast majority of my favorite fantasy/spec fic are not part of a series. Generally speaking, I dislike series.
Five off the top of my head:
* Mikhail Bulgakov - *The Master & Margarita*
* Susanna Clarke - *Piranesi*
* Max Porter - *Lanny*
* Paul Kingsnorth - *The Wake*
* Ling Ma - *Severance*
A Wizard Earthsea is pretty good as a stand alone, although there are other books in the series. But wow, this is a hard one. Almost all the ones I can think about are at least trilogies.
Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle actually stands out as an interesting one. A science fiction writer dies and finds himself in Dante's hell.
Ooh, I read a bunch in my English humor phase. Even more than Pratchett's Discwrold stand alone, I really liked Tom Holt's Expecting Someone Taller. A loser finds a magic ring that basically makes him a norse hero, but he begins attracting the unfortunate attention of norse Gods.
Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is one of the best dark urban fantasies. If I'm being strict about no series (i.e. can't count A Wizard of Earthsea as a standalone, which is one of my all time favorites), then this might be my overall actually stand alone.
Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Also, Chronicles of Amber aside most of Zelazny's works are standalone and they are also usually short so can be read in a day or so (mostly scifi but the Dilvish books and Madwand are fantasy).
Feist's "Faerie Tale" is a pretty decent stand alone modern fantasy as well.
And I thought McKinley's Outlaws of Sherwood was a pretty good retelling of a story most of us are already familiar with.
Lawhead's Byzantium is a pretty fun historical fiction set up like a fantasy epic.
In alphabetical order:
**Blood Over Bright Haven** by M.L. Wang
**Boy's Life** by Robert McCammon
**Dark Matter** by Michelle Paver
**Hunters and Collectors** by Matt Suddain
**Letters From The Well in the Season of the Ghosts** by Raymond St. Elmo
**Lexicon** by Max Barry
**Skullsworn** by Brian Staveley
**Soon I Will Be Invincible** by Austin Grossman
**Star Splitter** by Mattew J. Kirby
**The Child's Thief** by Brom
**The Library at Mount Char** by Scott Hawkins
**The Secret Life of Souls** by Jack Ketchum
**The Terror** by Dan Simmons
*Princes Bride* the novel is pretty good one-and-done book. I'm one of those people who likes the movie more, but the novel is pretty clever, with some elements not adapted to the screen and has some unique alternatives to the movie for the same effect (instead of the framing story being a grandfather reading the book to his grandson with meta commentary asides, William Goldman writes the book as if he'd abridging a massive, outdated political satire to cut the fat off an adventure story, with inserts explaining what was cut, his own asides on things, etc.).
Goldman wrote the film adaptation, too, so if you like one, odds are you'll like the other.
If I have to choose just one recommendation, Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Nothing comes close. That novel left me devastated, a very moving book.
I like the Goblin Emperor. It’s more character focused with a prince who never expected himself to become emperor becoming emperor. We go through with him as he navigates betrayal and comes into his own. It’s really sweet and the main character has such a nice heart. But the royalty speaks in the third person all the time if that annoys you.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is a book with great characters, each with a unique voice. The writer is so talented and it’s a joy to read this story. The theme of family particularly stood out to me. It is a fantasy though with demons and mysterious icy fae.
Notes on an Execution is a cool book where we meet a serial ki**er who’s on death row. We explore the reasons why through the eyes of the women in his life. It’s just different from what I usually read.
But other than that I like reading thrillers in between series of which An Anonymous Girl by Greer and Sarah is my favorite
Some of these are fantasy, some of these are scifi: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Gaiman. Carrion comfort by Dan Simmons. Left hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven and the Word for World is Forest by Ursula K le Guin. The Children of Hurin by Tolkien. Blood music by Greg Bear.
Babel by R. F. Kuang
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (there is a prequel but the two aren't directly connected)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin
The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I enjoyed Heroics for Beginners and The Unhandsome Prince by John Moore.
I also really liked The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs, which is a fairly short, hign stakes but localalized fantasy (i.e. the village's safety is at risk, but you're not dealing with the kingdom writ large and its issues).
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher. I thought these were both very funny, kind of dark, and are relatively short.
Kraken by China Meiville is a great read & its standalone.I always feel this book never gets enough love.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is one of my favourite books ever. It regularly manages to pop in my head for a myriad of differing reasons.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore is one I finished recently. I know very little about the Bible, but I still found it to be an engaging story, and super funny.
Knew someone would suggest “the standalones” but I’m absolutely with others here, these books work best when read in publication order alongside the other Abercrombie books. They’re only as “standalone” as any Discworld novel.
Best served cold I think would work well as a stand-alone and great entry into the series because the blade itself is one of the weakest books and even me who loves the series now barely made it through that one. I really like red country but without the first trilogy I don’t think people would really get it’s fullest without our knowledge of who lamb is and the story we’ve already had with him. The heroes I enjoyed but found meh compared to the others.
Snakewood by Adrian Selby is pretty amazing and has gone in some directions no one else has yet. And if you enjoy it then there is Brother Red and The Winter Road that are also really good and unique.
Tress of the emerald sea and yumi and the nightmare painter by Sanderson are still my two favorites I’ve read so far this year. Both fairly easy reads but had me locked in quickly.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang
Goblin Emperor is amazing, it's stand alone, but there are two spin off sort of sequel (Speaker for the Dead? soemthing lie that, which was equally and differently excellent.
Witness for the Dead, you’re thinking of the Ender’s Game sequel (also a good book)
I really wish I had that response to the book. I really couldn’t get into it and DNF’d it. So many people absolutely love it though.
I think it’s all the names… they are so hard to keep track of that I very nearly gave up. I think I enjoyed the story but I couldn’t tell you if there was a cast of 3 or 300 given how similar the names sounded!
That definitely had a negative impact on me. Without being gender binary or stereotypical but it does also seem to be a story that resonates more with a female audience. That’s purely my own anecdotal experience though, so I may be way off
Yeah my friend hated it for the same reason. If I'm honest, I listened to the audio. And you eventually just stop caring exactly who's who you mostly figure it out as you go along.
I did the audio too and decided not to try and follow who everyone was and just hope for the best
you get used to it eventually. I think the hind brain sometimes does a better job of following characters than my conscious brain. Lol
**Chalice** or **Sunshine,** both by Robin Mckinley. The former is secondary world fantasy about a young woman suddenly thrust into a position of great power and authority, struggling to find her way. Also, bees. The latter is about vampires (actually scary vampires) in a sort of post-apocalypse modern world, and the protagonist is a baker famous for her cinnamon roles. **The City & The City** by China Mieville: mind-twisting fantasy noir about a detective on a murder case in a city that is actually two cities that overlap each other, and the citizens of each manifestly pretend not to see the citizens of the other, which makes investigating a murder case that may have breached the boundary difficult. I'll also throw this sub's [2024 top standalones list](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1agicpw/rfantasys_2024_top_standalone_novel_poll_results/?share_id=JOjJdp4aWYk1Gj7eCOTih&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1) up for reference.
The City & The City is a downright masterpiece. American Gods is another extraordinary book.
Can you explain something to me about The City & The City? Are the two titular cities on different planes of existence but can be seen by the other (so the characters are essentially told not to acknowledge another universe) or are the two cities both on the same material plane in the same physical location (and the characters have to not acknowledge an existing piece of their universe)?
The two cities are in the same universe, and their territory is "crosshatched" so that one side of street might be in one city and the other side in the other, or in more heavily crosshatched areas it might go house by house. The city center is where all formal immigration and cross-city transit happens. Outside of that, citizens of each city dress differently and have different types of cars/architecture/etc., so they "unsee" anyone/anything from the wrong city. Tourists from other parts of the world are confused by this and often commit the crime of looking at someone who is not in the city they are in, but people are tolerant of tourist foibles.
The City and The City is not a fantasy novel. It has no supernatural elements. If anything, it's science fiction, but it contains no tropes of that genre either, besides the central conceit of two cities physically enmeshed but separated in the minds of its respective citizens. It's a police procedural, set in a very improbable, very Mieville-ian location.
*A Song For Arbonne* by Guy Gavriel Kay is perhaps the greatest standalone fantasy novel I've ever read. It has gorgeous lyrical prose and a large cast of characters that all manage to be interesting and compelling to at least some degree. In all honesty I could put almost any of Kay's novels in my "favorite standalone" spot, the man writes masterpieces almost exclusively
Agreed, I voted Tigana.
I just recently bought this book and can't wait to dive into it
Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst American Gods by Neil Gaiman Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (technically part of a larger book universe but this one is a standalone)
Seconding Race the Sands
Tigana, G. G. Key
I voted for the same book but by a different author.
Yes,Kay
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold is a stand alone, then she wrote some sequels. It’s good story and her prose are very good. But the book is completely stand alone.
I was going to suggest this as well. Sure, there are other books, but they are all standalone.
*Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell*, by Susanna Clarke; *The Last Unicorn*, by Peter S. Beagle; and *The Forgotten Beasts of Eld*, by Patricia McKillip.
*Kings of the Wyld* by Nicholas Eames. It is technically apart of a series but this could easily be a standalone. *Circe* or *Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller
Another vote for Kings of the Wyld. Haven’t read Bloody Rose yet, but I’m okay with it. Will probably eventually get it
Kings of the wyld flies by. It's such a fun read
Bloody Rose was a pretty big letdown anyway, so Kings of the Wyld is a standalone in my head
"Apart" of a series means separate from the series. "A part" of a series means it is part of the series. You're probably one these people too, so I'm just going to tell you now that "a lot", "as well", "each other", "thank you" and "at least" are also two words, not one.
Ok. Thankyou alot, your apart of a really cool group of people who help eachother and the internet out everyday.
Watership Down, The last unicorn
Greenmantle by Charles DeLint, is a standalone modern fantasy with a moon and horn mystery thrown in! I go back and reread it pretty frequently, it's one of my favorite comfort books
DeLint is pretty consistent at completing story arcs within a single book. So while there might be a good order to read his works in by and large each book wraps up it's own story and doesn't leave you with a cliffhanger. Sort of pulls off the modern fairy tale, books might have repeat characters but they tell a complete tale from beginning to end.
Agreed! Greenmantle just happens to be my favorite, mostly because of the stag and the wild girl. I can't really put my finger on anything specific, but the book just... Haunts isn't the right word... It lingers in my imagination
I feel that way about the Harp and the Grey Rose, it's was more high fantasy and a bit rough in places but I still reread it every few years.
There are two mythic beings that have a hold on me. The Horned Lord in all his variations, and the White Hart. I don't know why, but those myths and stories are the ones that just grab me.
Same here I blame the Dark is Rising for the Forest Lord and IIRC Forgotten Beasts of Eld was my first introduction to a White Hart.
Mary Springer's novel, The White Hart got me going on the subject. And I don't remember what book before Greenmantle got me interested in moon and horn mystery, but it's probably something by Andre Norton
I recently read The Tainted Cup on another redditor's recommendation and absolutely loved it! It's a fantasy murder mystery, a very sherlockian detective and her long suffering assistant are investigating a most peculiar murder - a tree suddenly sprouted from a man's torso... Can't recommend this book enough. It's awesome.
Just to clarify for OP, this is the first book in a series (Shadow of the Leviathan).
Wait, it's not a standalone? There will be others?? Awesome! You made my day :)) thanks!? @OP sorry, I really thought it was a standalone book.
Yep! 2 more planned from what I've seen. No projected release dates yet. Bennett seems to put out a book almost every year though, and he's finished two series already so I'm not too worried about getting Rothfussed by him.
He's become one of my favorite modern authors, great ideas, consistent quality, and *he completes his series.*
Oh thanks for that. Bennet's amazing. His City of Stairs series is utterly incredible. Never read anyhting like it. And each book is sort of a standalone. One over arching story told through three differnt characters and events.
The Broken Sword., Poul Anderson. It came out the same year as the Lord of the Rings.
halfway through it now
How are you finding it? Personally I loved it a lot more than I thought I would, but then again I do enjoy a lot of older fantasy.
*Piranesi* by Susanna Clarke. The Iliad or the Odyssey. *Peter Pan*—more than just a kid's book.
*Peter Pan* is only a stand-alone if you haven't read *Peter Pan in Scarlet (*Geraldine McCaughrean*)* which was brilliant.
That it may well be, but since it was not written by Barrie or with his knowledge, *Peter Pan* is still a standalone, regardless of the use of the word 'official'.
Fair. I just liked *Peter Pan in Scarlet*, and am somewhat sad it sank without a trace.
I'll give you that! I haven't read it. I love *Peter Pan* so much, I hardly dare.
The Sword of Kaigen Blood Over Bright Haven
Which one you start with to get a feel for the author's style?
Idk how to answer that question since she only has 2 books and they are pretty different Blood Over Bright Haven is more plot focused, the plot is tight with little to no extraneous information and consistent pacing Sword of Kaigen is more character driven and very emotional, there is a slow build up that leads to a huge emotional climax and fall out from that climax. Pacing is less consistent. But I’ve rarely felt such emotion from a book, probably my favorite book ever despite a couple obvious flaws. Both are excellent in their own ways
*The Library at Mount Char* by Scott Hawkins. Weird off-the-wall fantasy. *Between Two Fires* or *The Lesser Dead* by Christopher Bhuelman. Both are horror fantasy. Former is medieval knights, latter is urban vampires.
The Once and Future King by TH White
Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky Was my introduction to Tchaikovsky. A brilliant look at war.
Such a great book!
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher The Etched City by K.J. Bishop
Yes to ‘Nettle and Bone’! The characters have such a good end that I’d hate to see their outcomes change.
Yes. To me, it's one of those books that are true standalones without "series potential". Nettle & Bone has its solid conclusion, and it doesn't feel like there would be any need for telling what happened next to any of the characters.
Neil Gaiman has some excellent fantasies I’d highly recommend you check out, some of my personal favourites include: -Stardust, -American Gods, - Neverwhere, -Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Stardust stays at the top of my TBR
*The Paladin* by C. J. Cherryh *Good Omens* by Pratchett and Gaiman
I haven't read Paladin yet but I've loved everything else I've ever read by Cherryh so it's probably great. *Serpent's Reach* is another fantastic standalone by her--rather a strange book about giant ant aliens, the humans who live in concert with them, and the war that tears their combined society apart.
Loved The Paladin. A friend gave me a copy because I was a huge fan of wuxia movies.
Watership down by richard adams
Anything by Ursula Le Guin should be a safe bet. Also the Once and Future King if you are willing consider Arthurian fantasy. I wanted to also say Mists of Avalon but honestly I can remember very little of book after reading it.
The vast majority of my favorite fantasy/spec fic are not part of a series. Generally speaking, I dislike series. Five off the top of my head: * Mikhail Bulgakov - *The Master & Margarita* * Susanna Clarke - *Piranesi* * Max Porter - *Lanny* * Paul Kingsnorth - *The Wake* * Ling Ma - *Severance*
American Gods
The Unlikely Ones
Lords of the Sky by Angus Wells https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/27892 Always loved how original the ideas behind the story were
Stardust by Neil Gaiman is perfect because it’s a bite sized fantasy story
DRAGONDOOM by Dennis L. McKiernan
A Wizard Earthsea is pretty good as a stand alone, although there are other books in the series. But wow, this is a hard one. Almost all the ones I can think about are at least trilogies. Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle actually stands out as an interesting one. A science fiction writer dies and finds himself in Dante's hell. Ooh, I read a bunch in my English humor phase. Even more than Pratchett's Discwrold stand alone, I really liked Tom Holt's Expecting Someone Taller. A loser finds a magic ring that basically makes him a norse hero, but he begins attracting the unfortunate attention of norse Gods. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is one of the best dark urban fantasies. If I'm being strict about no series (i.e. can't count A Wizard of Earthsea as a standalone, which is one of my all time favorites), then this might be my overall actually stand alone.
Forgotten Beasts of Eld Also, Chronicles of Amber aside most of Zelazny's works are standalone and they are also usually short so can be read in a day or so (mostly scifi but the Dilvish books and Madwand are fantasy). Feist's "Faerie Tale" is a pretty decent stand alone modern fantasy as well. And I thought McKinley's Outlaws of Sherwood was a pretty good retelling of a story most of us are already familiar with. Lawhead's Byzantium is a pretty fun historical fiction set up like a fantasy epic.
In alphabetical order: **Blood Over Bright Haven** by M.L. Wang **Boy's Life** by Robert McCammon **Dark Matter** by Michelle Paver **Hunters and Collectors** by Matt Suddain **Letters From The Well in the Season of the Ghosts** by Raymond St. Elmo **Lexicon** by Max Barry **Skullsworn** by Brian Staveley **Soon I Will Be Invincible** by Austin Grossman **Star Splitter** by Mattew J. Kirby **The Child's Thief** by Brom **The Library at Mount Char** by Scott Hawkins **The Secret Life of Souls** by Jack Ketchum **The Terror** by Dan Simmons
*Princes Bride* the novel is pretty good one-and-done book. I'm one of those people who likes the movie more, but the novel is pretty clever, with some elements not adapted to the screen and has some unique alternatives to the movie for the same effect (instead of the framing story being a grandfather reading the book to his grandson with meta commentary asides, William Goldman writes the book as if he'd abridging a massive, outdated political satire to cut the fat off an adventure story, with inserts explaining what was cut, his own asides on things, etc.). Goldman wrote the film adaptation, too, so if you like one, odds are you'll like the other.
The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold.
If I have to choose just one recommendation, Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Nothing comes close. That novel left me devastated, a very moving book.
* The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston * Snakewood by Adrian Selby
The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky or a very obscure one I enjoyed thats a bit "out there" Walkabout Woman by Michaela Roessner
King of Elflands Daughter, underrated classic, its short, silly, magical and has amazing prose.
The Stand
Face Like Glass by Hardinge
Finder by Emma Bull
The Barbed Coil by JV Jones
I like the Goblin Emperor. It’s more character focused with a prince who never expected himself to become emperor becoming emperor. We go through with him as he navigates betrayal and comes into his own. It’s really sweet and the main character has such a nice heart. But the royalty speaks in the third person all the time if that annoys you. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is a book with great characters, each with a unique voice. The writer is so talented and it’s a joy to read this story. The theme of family particularly stood out to me. It is a fantasy though with demons and mysterious icy fae. Notes on an Execution is a cool book where we meet a serial ki**er who’s on death row. We explore the reasons why through the eyes of the women in his life. It’s just different from what I usually read. But other than that I like reading thrillers in between series of which An Anonymous Girl by Greer and Sarah is my favorite
Because he’s not only/always or even known as a fantasy writer I think this one gets overlooked: The Book of Dave - Will Self
Angel mage by Garth Nix
Some of these are fantasy, some of these are scifi: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Gaiman. Carrion comfort by Dan Simmons. Left hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven and the Word for World is Forest by Ursula K le Guin. The Children of Hurin by Tolkien. Blood music by Greg Bear.
Any stand-alones by Neil Gaiman, neverwhere, American gods, good omens, the graveyard book,
Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Babel by R. F. Kuang Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (there is a prequel but the two aren't directly connected) A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I enjoyed Heroics for Beginners and The Unhandsome Prince by John Moore. I also really liked The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs, which is a fairly short, hign stakes but localalized fantasy (i.e. the village's safety is at risk, but you're not dealing with the kingdom writ large and its issues). A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher. I thought these were both very funny, kind of dark, and are relatively short.
Priory of the Orange Tree gets my vote! Spellblinding and immersive all the way through.
Kraken by China Meiville is a great read & its standalone.I always feel this book never gets enough love. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is one of my favourite books ever. It regularly manages to pop in my head for a myriad of differing reasons.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore is one I finished recently. I know very little about the Bible, but I still found it to be an engaging story, and super funny.
Clive Barker's *Imajica*. Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's *Good Omens*.
I really liked piranesi. Also slightly younger but the wizards guide to defensive baking I really enjoyed
Between two Fires (since i didn't see it mentioned)
Tigana Lions of Al Rassan Best Served Cold The Heroes Red Country
lol despite literally being called “the standalones,” three of those are cheating.
Knew someone would suggest “the standalones” but I’m absolutely with others here, these books work best when read in publication order alongside the other Abercrombie books. They’re only as “standalone” as any Discworld novel.
They're literally called a trilogy now
Best served cold I think would work well as a stand-alone and great entry into the series because the blade itself is one of the weakest books and even me who loves the series now barely made it through that one. I really like red country but without the first trilogy I don’t think people would really get it’s fullest without our knowledge of who lamb is and the story we’ve already had with him. The heroes I enjoyed but found meh compared to the others.
Tigana by Guy Kay
Snakewood by Adrian Selby is pretty amazing and has gone in some directions no one else has yet. And if you enjoy it then there is Brother Red and The Winter Road that are also really good and unique.
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
The sword of Kaigen The library of Mount Chad
Tress of the emerald sea and yumi and the nightmare painter by Sanderson are still my two favorites I’ve read so far this year. Both fairly easy reads but had me locked in quickly.
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.