want to get into fantasy! where should i start? ✨

[Pariss !!]

hi everyone! currently i’m having an itch to finally dive into the fantasy genre. i’m pretty much fine with any level of spice and open to various tropes! <3

[kermie]

I think you should start with Six of Crows or To Kill a Kingdom. SOC is one of my fav books and I found To Kill a Kingdom to have many good fantasy elements. (:

[Laura]

I haven't reread it as an adult but I'd say Eragon. Exciting coming of age journey with no spice except for a reference to it in the very last scene in the 4th book. This book series has been in my heart since I first read it and is why I wanted to write stories to begin with. It's about a boy who finds a dragon egg and winds up having to fight in a war to free his country from a dictator who killed off most of the other dragons. It just had a new book come out so this series has 6 books.

[Addy]

Fantasy is my favorite genre! Here are some really good fantasy books
Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
I love this duology with all my heart. Multiple perspectives, some gay main characters. Intrigue, stakes, and some interesting couples to root for.

Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1) - Christopher Paolini
Not queer, but a great story. A tetralogy, with lots of material.

Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1)
Currently reading this series, halfway through book two. I will say, that for the first book I had to push through the first half, but after that, I have been reading nonstop. Queer main characters (despite repressed feelings, though a certain couple may be confessing in Chain of Iron (I feel it building up maybe???)) Talk of angels, gods, demons, prayer, gay characters being outcasts of the high society of 1900 London, etc. but not too much or conservative messages so far.

House of Dragons, Jessica Cluess
I DO NOT SUPPORT THIS AUTHOR, buttttt its a great story. If I remember right, gay characters.

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sara J Maas
Not queer, very mainstream, very spicy. I did enjoy the story, and lots of material.

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard
Not queer, but so good

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
Same universe as Six of Crows, not queer that I remember (I could be wrong, their might be queer characters but not the main characters) So good as well!

Not read yet but have heard good things:
Priory of the orange tree
Fourth wing
Cruel Prince
Simon Snow Series

[Jaelynn]

There are so many amazing fantasy books out there! Here are a few of my recent favorites:

A Taste of Gold and Iron
- A wonderfully tender queer romance!
- A fantasy-style setting, though the magical elements are fairly mild.
- Court intrigue, slow burn, protector/protected dynamic.

A Marvelous Light
- Equal parts fantasy and mystery.
- A focal queer romance.
- Super satisfying ending!

Also, if you're interested in Cozy Fantasy:

Legends & Lattes
- Super cozy and cute!
- Sapphic main characters.
- A light introduction to fantasy where a lot of the focus is on the characters and domestic moments.

The House in the Cerulean Sea
- Super cute and lovely.
- Queer characters.
- Magical realism fantasy (a.k.a mostly a version of our world plus magic)
- A tender story of found family, acceptance, and love!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries
- A fun delve into fantasy creatures and magic!

[Lara]

Here are some sapphic fanstasy books i like;
Girl, serpent, thorn
Sweet and bitter magic
The midnight girls

[maya ☆]

i'm going to propose a big book. it took me a month but it was so worth: the priory of the orange tree is literally one of the best sapphic and fantasy book i've read, like i'm sorry i should have married queen sabran the ninth. the world is expansive, the lore runs deep and the girls are so badass. 830 pages but worth it!! i'm so excited for the prequel a day of fallen night.

[Sam]

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal, Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber,Six of Crows & Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson, Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

[Charlie]

Cemetery Boys and The Sunbearer Trials are both SO good, queer and with trans representation and that made me love the fantasy genre! I've also heard that Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is good! Also, I just got Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens and I hope it's great!

[Annie]

A lighter fantasy read in my opinion is Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. It has a queer cast and a trans main character with fantasy elements but not a difficult fantasy to get into!

[Jess]

Not sure if anyone’s mentioned NK Jemisin yet :)

[Ennu]

I really loved A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland! It's a slow burn m/m romance between a prince and his bodyguard. The story deals beautifully with mental health, friendship, devotion and love, and the world building is very interesting. It's not high fantasy by any means, but i'd really recommend checking it out.

[Finn]

It definitely depends on what your thing is. For me, I'm not a big fan of the books that focus on romance.
I started with the Shades of Magic series by V.E Schwab. I'd say it's a good all-round fantasy series to begin with.

[Sunny]

The first fantasy book I ever remember reading, and the one that drove me from pictures books into the fantasy genre was Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. At this point she has actually released a sequel, not that it necessarily needed one.

I've seen a few folks throw out Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. It's short, sweet, and cozy, and doesn't contain any spice like some of the more recent fantasy novels.

I think Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen is also a wonderful addition to this list, if you like books influenced by culture. It's an almost retelling of the little mermaid, but with cultural influences from Yoruba.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is also a wonderful route to go. I must confess that I haven't read Shadow and Bone, but it currently sits on my bookcase waiting.

[Ｂａｙｌａｎ]

The Fell of Dark, Foxen Bloom, Lion's Legacy, The Tribulations of Ross Young, Supernat PA: The Complete Works, Pyre at the Eyreholme Trust, The House in the Cerulean Sea and basically anything by Rick Riordan, Roshani Chokshi and Nnedi Okorafor

[CJ]

Jess wrote: "Not sure if anyone’s mentioned NK Jemisin yet :)"

Just want to say that some of Jemisin's books have very questionable representation of disability and disabled characters (I stopped reading the Broken Earth series because of this and don't want to read anything else by her). Also, she was one of the people involved with the social media mob that attacked Isobel Fall.

[Brianna]

Aurora's Angel

Def one of my favorite sapphic books!

[Platinum]

I saw some good recs in this thread! I'm here to add a couple more ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ

♡ If you like Avatar the Last Airbender, I would suggest The Rise of Kyoshi. This is a book about Avatar Kyoshi, and how she came to embrace avatar-hood. She's also GAY!

♡ Howl’s Moving Castle is great if you liked the movie! Super quick and sweet read.

♡ Tress of the Emerald Sea is a cute book about a girl leaving her island and discovering herself, while searching for her long-lost love.

♡ The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is very wholesome

ฅ՞•ﻌ•՞ฅ Happy reading! Fantasy is a great genre. You have a lot of books in this genre to choose from!

[Kestrel]

CJ wrote: "Jess wrote: "Not sure if anyone’s mentioned NK Jemisin yet :)"

Just want to say that some of Jemisin's books have very questionable representation of disability and disabled characters (I stopped ..."

I just finished the Fifth Season and will keep in mind to look closer at her disability representation going forwards, but have really enjoyed her work so far.

Here's a link to Jemisin's statement about her involvement with Isabel Fall:

https://nkjemisin.com/2021/07/stateme...

[casper ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶]

the house in the cerulean sea! I just read it it's rlly good it's queer, found family, fantasy, and cute! It's 400 pages but I read it in abt 2 days! one of my favs

[Rebecca]

The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider