Best Fantasy Books Subgenre Reading Challenge discussion
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I haven't read too much fantasy, so I was really interested to hear that there are so many subgenres and I'm looking forward to being introduced to some!
Mod
Awesome, A.L.! I couldn't believe there were so many either. We'll both learn a lot. :)
Hi Christie and all,I'm an avid reader (and writer), and fantasy is my favorite genre. When fantasy is good, it is incredible. Unfortunately, much of it is not. As a result, I'm always on the hunt for great new fantasy to try, so it'll be fun to, hopefully, find a few new gems in this challenge. It's unlikely that I will read all 65, but I look forward to participating to the degree that I'm able.
-Josh
Hello all,My name is Tom Fallwell, and I'm a great fan of fantasy, as well as a fantasy author. I have read quite a lot over the years, but not so much in the last several years until recently (2014) when I decided to become an author myself. I am reading more now, and reviewing what I read. I have many Indie books on my TBR list, and personally have found some of those Indie books better than some of the well-known published authors.
I am not sure I understand the Add Books thing, so further explanation would be helpful. I do have a favorite sub-genre or two and will probably want to stick with those, but am willing to try something new as well.
Tom
Mod
I'm an avid reader (and writer), and fantasy is my favorite genre. When fantasy is good, it is incredible. Unfortunately, much of it is not. As a result, I'm always on the hun..."
I'm so happy you joined, Josh! I plan on recommending your book and adding it to the bookshelf here under a couple of subgenres. It'll be great to hear your opinion on the books you have a chance to read.
Tom wrote: "Hello all,My name is Tom Fallwell, and I'm a great fan of fantasy, as well as a fantasy author. I have read quite a lot over the years, but not so much in the last several year until recently (20..."
Hi Tom,
I'm new to fantasy reading, and I'm interested to experience some of the different subgenres that I didn't even know existed! You said you have a couple of favorite subgenres, and I was wondering which ones they are and what it is you like about them?
Mod
My name is Tom Fallwell, and I'm a great fan of fantasy, as well as a fantasy author. I have read quite a lot over the years, but not so much in the last several year until recently (20..."
Hi Tom, really nice to see you here! I haven't had the chance to read your books yet, but I've heard good things. Let me know which subgenres your books fall under and I'll be happy to add them to the bookshelf here. Check out BestFantasyBooks.com if you're not sure under which subgenres your books fall.
I have found the same thing as you. Although I haven't read that many fantasy books, the bestsellers I've read I haven't cared for too much, but the indies I've read have been fantastic!
What are your favorite subgenres so far?
Can't believe I didn't say. Sorry, I've been running over 12 hour days for a week now and tired. I'm not sure of all the sub genre designations, but I like Heroic/Epic Fantasy, the type that involves whole new worlds and heroic adventures, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard, Anne McCaffrey ... to name a few.I've found no two people's ideas of sub-genrens tend to be the same. What one calls Swords & Sorcery, another calls Epic Fantasy, and so on. Do we have a standard lit for this group?
Tom wrote: "Can't believe I didn't say. Sorry, I've been running over 12 hour days for a week now and tired. I'm not sure of all the sub genre designations, but I like Heroic/Epic Fantasy, the type that involv..."I know what you mean about subgenre lines being blurred, I'm finding that in other areas also, especially as we indie authors look for (and possibly create, I think) subgenres and subsubgenres to make our books stand out from the pack.
I've always loved the idea of creating new worlds in writing, and even though it's not something I've ever attempted - especially since I haven't read fantasy yet - I do often find myself creating bits of worlds, situations, and races in my mind and really enjoying it.
Christie wrote: "Hi Tom, really nice to see you here! I haven't had the chance to read your books yet, but I've heard good things. Let me know which subgenres your books fall under and I'll be happy to add them to the bookshelf here."Hi, Christie. Dragon Rising is YA Heroic Fantasy, and A Whisper In The Shadows is Heroic Fantasy.
Both can be considered PG-13, with some violence, though not grizzly detailed. There is blood though. lol :)
The world created for my Rangers of Laerean series (A Whisper In The Shadows is Book #1) is growing in rich detail, history and lore. Book #2, Where Shadows Fall, will be out very soon. It is, in fact, complete, but waiting on the cover painting to be completed.
Adding my books would be wonderful, and thank you. :)
Mod
Yes, that's very true, sugbenres are easily mixed together or defined differently, and most of the time books fall into multiple subgenres anyway. We're using the standard set forward by BestFantasyBooks.com. This group is named after their website (with permission) because I felt their descriptions of what makes each subgenre what it is were very clear and pretty extensive. Their website inspired me to do this challenge!
Hello! This is exciting! I love fantasy, being able to dissapear to a completely different world, to meet wonderful creatures you'd never thought you would meet. A dream for the awake. I wasn't in fact aware that there were so many subgenres, I guess that makes some sense though. Only the mind can limit the world of fantasy, so one book can contain anything and everything. Easier to get an overview when dividing them, easier to find that specific type of book that you like and similar ones to it.
Hello everyone. My name is Mark, I'm a writer (mostly thrillers but I have just outlined and am starting a fantasy series) but first and foremost a reader. I enjoy fantasy stories very much. I don't know that I can say I have a favorite subgenre per se, but I do enjoy fantasy/sci-fi stories quite a bit. I'm looking forward to discovering new books and new takes on the fantasy genre.
Mod
I wasn't i..."
Welcome! I agree - fantasy really takes us completely out of our world and somewhere we couldn't even imagine. It really expands the mind, I think, and it inspires and excites me.
It seems there are more subgenres all the time, which I didn't know either until I started getting into it a bit. I definitely feel you can really pin down the books you might like the most with all these subgenres. Can you imagine if bookstores had the fantasy section broken down so well?
Christie wrote: "Can you imagine if bookstores had the fantasy section broken down so well? "That would've been something for sure!
Can you imagine if bookstores had the fantasy section broken down so well?But it sure makes it hard on the author, trying to classify something that actually fits several of the sub-genres available. For example, Amazon let's you choose three, but what if your books fits 4 or 5 or 6? :)
Mod
But it sure makes it hard on the author, trying to classify something that actually fits several of the sub-genres availa..."
That frustrates me in general! But yes, especially with all of these overlapping sugenres, that's difficult!
Christie, I think you've come up with a great idea and am looking forward to reading these books. I haven't read much fantasy but am working on a sub-genre challenge in another group. Overall, I love exploring new genres/sub-genres, but I find fantasy rather intimidating. (Might be the huge page count on some of these books!)I already found The Eye of the World at my library. Just waiting for January 1 to jump in.
Mod
Thanks, Bonita! What's the other subgenre challenge you're doing? What genre is it based in? Yes, I agree, the page count of so many fantasy books is very intimidating. The one thing I'll say about that is a good fantasy writer will use those pages wisely and they'll all count towards building something excellent. Pacing is key in most quality fantasy books. I don't know how the authors do it, but it can really make it difficult to put the book down.
I did try to select books that most libraries would have, so I hope many of the books in this group will be at your library. I'm looking forward to the first read too!
Christie wrote: "Bonita wrote: "Christie, I think you've come up with a great idea and am looking forward to reading these books. I haven't read much fantasy but am working on a sub-genre challenge in another group..."My other challenge from Crazy Challenge Connection and is a year long exploration of at least 3 main genres and at least 4 sub-genres of each but reading at least 30 books--so 10 different sub-genres of 3 main genres or 6 sub-genres of 5 main genres etc. I'm really geeking out with it and found a lot of sub-genres for mystery and romance which are my faves. I chose fantasy also but had not made much progress. Having a schedule and people to read with makes a big difference.
Mod
That sounds really cool, like an excellent opportunity to dig out some subgenres not often seen. This fantasy challenge has an aggressive schedule, but I also haven't take into account which books are shorter and which are longer, so we may spend less time on some and more on others. I think it'll give us a great overview of fantasy's plethora of subgenres!
Hi Christie,I write fantasy, so I'm joining to see what other folks are up to in the genre, and to hopefully get some good reads while I'm at it. Looking forward to it.
Mod
I write fantasy, so I'm joining to see what other folks are up to in the genre, and to hopefully get some good reads while I'm at it. Looking forward to it."
Hi Erik, great to meet you! What subgenres do you typically write? Our reading list will consist of mostly bestsellers, but I also have some fantastic indie recommendations. It's nice to have some fantasy authors themselves in the group! :)
Hi Christie, thanks for the invite to the group.Whilst I really enjoy reading I am not so good at reading full on fantasy books. I find it difficult to buy into a completely different world and names of people or places that I don't know how to pronounce or pronounce it differently everytime I read these kind of novels and I often exhaust myself.I don't mind reading novels with a very very slight fantasy twist, so the world is recognisable to me but with this fantasy edge.
I shall have a pick and mix to some of the novels on the book list. Some of the novels are already on my to read list so hopefully that will spur me on to read them sooner rather than later. Some authors I recognise or have other books by them so that is another appeal and some of the genres look to be worth exploring .
Mod
Whilst I really enjoy reading I am not so good at reading full on fantasy books. I find it difficult to buy into a completely different world and n..."
That's something I want to start a discussion on once we begin reading in the new year: what everyone finds easiest and most difficult to buy into in fantasy. I have heard a few people express the same feeling as you about names, world, cultures, etc. in fantasy, so I'd love to hear from everyone about their thoughts on that topic.
Great! I look forward to hearing what you think of the novels you have time to read as well as the subgenres that sound interesting to you.
Hi Christie and everyone;Although I am just starting to read more, I have read a few books in the fantasy genre; it was interesting to see which sub-genres I have sampled already.
One thing I missed at the Fantasy Book website was a list of recommended anthologies/short story collections..........did I overlook it?
Mod
Although I am just starting to read more, I have read a few books in the fantasy genre; it was interesting to see which sub-genres I have sampled already.
One thing I mi..."
Hi Holly! I'm also trying to read more, as in quicker. I read often but I'm very slow, so I'm hoping this challenge will encourage me to get through more pleasure books in a year. I hope you find some subgenres you're interested in trying out.
I don't think the Best Fantasy Books website lists recommended anthologies/short story collections separately because they don't count as a subgenre. Instead, they are listed within subgenres. For example, Cogs in Time Anthology is crowd listed as #11 on the Steampunk list: http://bestfantasybooks.com/lists/lis.... You can put the term "anthology" in BFB's search bar and at least three come up. Let me know if you find anything interesting!
Hi Chirstie!Great group you've put together here and I had no idea that all the genres including Fantasy had numerous subgenres! I don't know where it fits but The Crown of Stones books I just finished were both terrific. Any idea which subgenre they are in?
Mod
Great group you've put together here and I had no idea that all the genres including Fantasy had numerous subgenres! I don't know where it fits but The Crown of Stones books I just fi..."
Thanks, David! I'm so glad you're here! I just bought the first book in The Crown of Stones series, and I'm pumped to read it based on the reviews I've read, including yours. I think I'll ask Cindy where she thinks her books fit best, since I haven't personally read them yet to peg them to specific subgenres, and then I'll add them to the group. Thanks for the suggestion!
Hi! This group looks interesting. This has been a project of mine to learn more about fantasy and fantasy subgenres, but one that I've never undertaken in earnest or systematically.One question: where are you getting your list of subgenres from?
Thanks!
Mod
One question: ..."
Hi Jennifer! Welcome! It sounds like this is the right place for you. :) I've always wanted to connect with fantasy but never understood it well enough to enjoy it. Now I'm getting into it and I'm really surprised at how much I like each book so far.
The list of subgenres comes from http://bestfantasybooks.com. They're a great source of information, review, recommendations, and everything in between having to do with fantasy. At the time I made this challenge, they had listed 65 subgenres of fantasy, and it's higher than that!
P.S. I did speak to the creator of that site and he OK'd me using the website name for this group and the challenge, so that's where the name comes from.
Hope to see you around the forums!
Hey Christie, I don't know if it is me but I don't see 'The Borrowers' discussion thread?
Mod
You're right, Sue! I just put up the discussion under the subgenre juvenile fantasy. Thanks for catching that! :)
Thanks for inviting.My Wandering Feelings is now free on Amazon.
Best regards,
Boyko
http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Feeli...
How about you? Do you already love fantasy or are you looking to get to know it better?