More book recommendations?

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Yes, another post requesting book recommendations. I don't know why I'm even doing this; my "To Read" list on Amazon is four pages long....

Anyway, I've been diligently considering all of the book recommendations that folks have named here (hence the really long reading list), and although there are many books that I'm excited to read, there is one thing that is bothering me...

Trilogies. And series.

Don't get me wrong, obviously I love a good series such as (*cough cough*) The Queen's Thief, His Dark Materials, Abhorsen, Airborne, etc......but what ever happened to single, stand-alone books? Fantasy in particular seems to have this fetish with trilogies. It's kind of driving me crazy. Not to insult fantasy writers, but it often seems to me that writing a series is a cheap way to sell a bunch of books without having to go through the trouble of developing new characters. Just come up with one set of characters and settings, and then spread a plot over three books, and then readers are duped into buying three books instead of one. OBVIOUSLY, this doesn't apply to all series and trilogies.....but seriously, I get a little tired of the same main character after a few books. (Thank god that MWT's characters are so awesome)

For example, I haven't even touched Tamora Pierce since finishing The Lioness Quartet. I mean, Alanna was a fun character and everything, but FOUR books felt a bit stretched to me, and now there are companion series?? Just looking at the Tamora Pierce section of the bookstore makes me feel exhausted. *prepares to be lynched*

When I go to a library to pick out books, series drive me nuts because often a library doesn't have all of the books (or only the middle ones), so I end up not checking out any for fear that I won't end up reading the rest. *sigh* My To Read list is littered with unstarted trilogies and series that everyone has recommended, but I haven't been able to commit myself to read for fear that I won't be able to read all three straight through and I'll get side tracked and never finish the series. *SIGH*

So, fussing and complaining aside....

What are some STAND ALONE books that you'd recommend? I don't mean books in a series that CAN stand alone...I mean pure, simple this-is-the-only-book-with-these-characters stand alone books.

And is anyone else tired of trilogies?

Comments

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

try East by Edith Pattou :]

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Oooo, yes. I have that on my bookshelf now. Thanks!

[ambyr.livejournal.com]

Sean Stewart's Nobody's Son ("what happens after the happily ever after" fantasy, character-focused, with a royal marriage that no one expects to work and yet, somehow, does)

Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest (dreamy, surrealistic fantasy about need, want, love, desire, and the differences between them)

Michael Marshall Smith's Only Forward (incredibly twisty science fiction with a narrator you can never, ever trust)

Patricia McKillip's The Changeling Sea (a little jewel of a story I love for the descriptions, the characters, and the ending, which manages to be satisfying while still leaving many threads untied)

Robin McKinley's Sunshine (a vampire novel that manages to make vampires both creepy and mesmeizing)

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any of these yet, except for Sunshine. I love Robin McKinley, but I wasn't a fan of this book. I'm not sure why. It felt like it took me forEVER to read, and I'm never excited for the style of narration where the main character tells you everything, rather than showing. "See, here in our town..." and "Oh yeah, did I mention the Voodoo Wars?" (not exact quotes)

But the others are getting added to my list. Thanks!

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

Sherryl Jordan's Winter of Fire. I loved this book for the plot and for the female main character, who is really strong.

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Yes, I loved that book. I read in in middle school, and after I moved on to high school (where I go special permission to leave study hall and go BACK to the middle school library to check out more books there), that's one of the books I continued to check out.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Most of Patricia McKillip's are stand-alones. My favorite is Ombria in Shadow; I see someone else mentioned The Changeling Sea.

Robin McKinley's aren't series, except for The Blue Sword and Hero and the Crown.

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

I really like Outlaws of Sherwood. It's a well-crafted and entertaining Robin Hood story.

Beauty and Rose Daughter are both good, too. And I know a lot of people don't like it, but I enjoyed the character interactions (ok, the romance) in Spindle's End.

[foxglove-chant.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I haven't read the previous recs, but in case these weren't mentioned, Brandon Sanderson (the author who was chosen to take over the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan died) has two stand along novels which I, for one, think are excellent. They are titled Elantris and Warbreaker. He also has a trilogy which I LOVE, but ... it's a trilogy =p Anyway, I highly recommend his stand-alones too =)

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

Just finishing the last Mistborn! Or were you talking Alcatraz?

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Hnnnnnngh it's been so long since I read a standalone novel.

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

[jezmitt.livejournal.com]

Fire and Hemlock, yes. I was totally about to rec that one. Probably one of my most favorite books ever.

[veriloquently.livejournal.com]

I love anything by Frances Hardinge, especially because her books are all stand-alone reads (I too have been suffering from series frustration). I read Gullstruck Island (also titled The Lost Conspiracy in the US I think?) a month ago and *have* to recommend it, especially to QT fans. It has politics and a wily, underestimated protagonist, racism/colonialism in a fantasy setting, and fantastic world building. Don't want to spoil it, but the premise is that a young girl, Hathin, belonging to a marginalized people, has spent her whole life caring for her older sister, who may be one of the revered 'Lost.' Or, her sister may be intellectually disabled. In one fell swoop, all the island's Lost are murdered, except for her sister, and her people are blamed. Through a series of circumstances, it is up to Hathin to figure out who the murderer is, and why the murders happened. Anyways, giving a plot blurb always sells the book short, as I'm sure mine does. But if it sounds at all interesting, do check it out!

A couple of other goodies: Nation by Terry Pratchett, and Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I second The Lost Conspiracy by Hardinge! One of the best books I've read all year, one of the most imaginative and different and layered. You gave a great description of the book, too -- it's a tough one to condense.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

The majority of McKillip and McKinley's books stand alone. Since Sunshine has already been suggested for McKinley, Chalice.

Patricia McKillip -- In the Forests of Serre. Also, Winter Rose and Solstice Wood, which are technically companion books but have very different styles and characters and stand on their own very well.

Patricia Wrede -- Snow White and Rose Red, if you can find it.

Pamela Dean -- Tam Lin (This one did get mentioned recently.)

Elizabeth Marie Pope -- The Perilous Gard (As did this one.)

Lois McMaster Bujold -- The Spirit Ring (Yes, she actually has written a complete standalone, and it's brilliant too.)

Steven Brust and Emma Bull -- Freedom and Necessity.

Ursula K. LeGuin -- Lavinia

R. A. Macavoy --Tea With the Black Dragon. (I was looking all over for this one so I could add a favorite first line, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Gah!)

Peter S. Beagle -- A Fine and Private Place

Neil Gaiman -- The Graveyard Book (I think this is his best yet, and I'm so glad it won the Newbery!)

C. S. Lewis -- Till We Have Faces.

George MacDonald -- Phantastes. Also, "The Golden Key" and "The Light Princess."

That's a start at least.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

Also, Steven Brust's Agyar. Don't read the blurb on the back, just read the book.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Chalice by McKinley. Nation by Pratchett. Has anyone else (other than emmaco) read the True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex? And did you love it as much as I did?

I've just looked back at the books I've read over the past few years and so many of them are series! I tend to lose patience with many of them, too. Especially because if they aren't that great I still feel obligated to read them all, sometimes. Anal-retentive person that I am.

Edited to add: Three years ago we came up with a massive list of 100 recommended books. You can read it here (http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/76784.html#cutid1).

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I was going to recommend To Say Nothing of the Dog! (c: I reread it every year and it always has me laughing.

Thanks for the massive list too. That was before I joined I think.

[inkasrain.livejournal.com]

This is a pet peeve of mine as well. It seems like every Joe Fantasy is turning what might be a decent stand-alone novel into a series or trilogy just for the heck of it. (And now, what with Eragon and Twilight setting the trend, "trilogy" has sometimes come to mean four books. I ask you.) If the quality is excellent and the story is truly best told in this medium, then great-- but quite a lot of what comes out seems to be mediocre stories stretched out over a number of books that it just doesn't need.

Warning: Rant Follows. (Feel free to skip.)
I actually read a book recently which still irritates me-- that might be why I'm so verbose on this topic. I had heard good things abut this book, but (I thought, and my sister agreed) it turned out really rather badly. I checked up online, and lo and behold, the story (which had come to a merciful only after a good deal of misery on the part of the characters and, more importantly, me!) was of course but the first installment in what seemed to me an entirely unnecesary trilogy. Hence, steamed Inky.

Anyway. Book suggestions!

- "Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay is just amazing, though very long and intense.
- "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke, ditto.
- "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman-- if Gaiman is your style.
- "Bad Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett. Pure hilarity.

Or if you want something all but guaranteed to remain sequel-less, you can always go with Shakespeare! (Stay away from the Histories in that case, though ;-))

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

GOOD OMENS. IT IS GOOD OMENS.

oh that was not angry capslock that was overly excited capslock. :-D

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, all of my favorite books are in series...I actually like more books if I enjoy the characters, but I know what you mean. Usually a trilogy will start out great and end terribly. I adore Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, but I strongly dislike the third book, The Child of the Prophecy, and Inkdeath (Inkheart trilogy) was sort of a disappointment. I'm having a hard time of thinking of stand alone books...if your a Robin Mckinley fan I'm sure I don't have to mention Chalice or anything else by her. Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier is a stand alone and very good. This is the billionth time I'm recommending this, but you should definitely read The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones...words cannot express how hilarious that book is, especially if your sick of typical fantasy trilogies and stuff like that.

[inkasrain.livejournal.com]

Did you like "Chalice"? I like a lot of McKinkey's books, but for me, "Chalice" seemed a little stuffy.

Oh, and speaking of Diana Wynne Jones-- it's been a while since I've read them, but her "Dalemark Quartet" is great. It is a small series, but the first three books are really stand-alone. If I recall correctly, they don't even have to be read in sequence, they are that independent of each other. (The first, "Cart and Cwidder" was my favorite, but you can enjoy any of them without obligating yourself to reading four books.)

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I'm totally the opposite... I love sequels. Although obviously I don't like them when they're pointless/poorly done, and I don't like it when authors just stretch a series on and on with no end in sight.

Anyway, I recommend both of Elizabeth Marie Pope's novels: The Perilous Gard, and The Sherwood Ring. Both are stand-alone novels, both are awesome. Other stand-alones that are favourites of mine: anything by Jane Austen, 'The Moorchild' by Eloise McGraw, 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith, and 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' by Betty Smith.

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Diana Wynne Jones: Deep Secret (my favorite of all her books) and its sort of sequel (although both are really stand-alones) The Merlin Conspiracy. Howl's Moving Castle (second favorite). Hexwood (third favorite).

Although its a quintet, if you haven't already you should read Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence. Fabulous.

Seconding the rec for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, especially if you're at all curious about very early 20th century New York City. A very, very affecting work which is quite underrated.

[main-titles.livejournal.com]

Oh, seconding Deep Secret! It's a very awesome book.

[main-titles.livejournal.com]

Standalone books? Those exist? ;)

- Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
- Of Nightingales That Weep by Katherine Paterson
- The Winter Prince by Elizabeth E. Wein
- Nation by Terry Pratchett
- Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
- The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
- Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
- Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
- Airman by Eoin Colfer
- Beauty by Robin McKinley

Of various genres, though most are fantasy.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Was Heroes of the Valley good? I'm obsessed with the Bartimaues Trilogy by the same author

[viviolo.livejournal.com]

Well, if it makes you feel any better about Tamora Pierce, each quartet does focus on a new cast of characters. :) (*clings to her bookshelves full of series*)

I second/third/fourth/whatever the many McKillip recommendations! Some standalones I haven't seen mentioned on Sounis:

Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy. Sci-fi, fantasy, time travel, circuses, delightful characters, is there more you could ask for in a book?

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley. Fantastic heroine, interesting world, lovely prose. I live in hope of finding other people who have read this book. It is too beautiful to live in obscurity.

And Ash by Malinda Lo just came out a few months ago, if you're looking of a re-telling of Cinderella with some interesting twists and a tone that manages to be both ethereal and dark. (disclaimer: I am currently in love with this book.)

[viviolo.livejournal.com]

OH OH, and A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer.

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

If you've never read The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, I highly recommend it. I love love love the first movie and all it's cheese FALCOOOOOOORRRRR!! And I totally have had a crush on Atreyu. But the book is more awesome than the movie (I know, I know, people always say it). I still love the movie a ton, but the book is definitely on my favorites list. Just...it's so great!

[keestone.livejournal.com]

OMG the library copy I read was printed in red and green ink and it was awsome!

[fushiforever.livejournal.com]

These are all what I can see on my shelf from where I am (it is very cold and I don't want to get up from under this blanket):

~Ella Enchanted-Gail Carson Levine
~Keturah and Lord Death-Martine Leavitt
~Dragon's Keep-Janet Lee Carey
~The Red Queen's Daughter-Jacqueline Kolosov
~Wildwood Dancing-Juliet Marillier
~To Catch A Pirate-Jade Parker
~Hero-Perry Moore
~Firebringer-David Clement-Davies
~Pride and Prejudice and Zombies-Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

There are so many more that I know I am forgetting. T__T

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Wildwood Dancing is actually part of a series, a trilogy...but I do love that book <3

[newsboyhat.livejournal.com]

I hear you. I SO TOTALLY HEAR YOU. I really wish stand-alones got more cred in fantasy, because I happen to love them, and I too get so intimidated by the multiple books in the series that are all 500 pages long. I admire stand-alones for their pacing, plot and containment. And resolution. E-gads, resolution!

(With that said, however, the Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce are my personal favourites of hers.)

Here are some of my favourites:

"Crown Duel" by Sherwood Smith (the 2002 Firebird paperback)
"The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle
"Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale
"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman (even if you don't like the other Gaimans, and especially if you do!)
"Deerskin" by Robin McKinley
"Graceling" by Kristin Cashore
"Fire" by Kristin Cashore
"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

Read these AS standaalones (there are sequels or references made to other books, were intended as stand-alones)

"Sorcery and Cecelia" by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
"The Privilege of the Sword" by Ellen Kushner
"Midnight Never Come" by Marie Brennan
"Poison Study" by Maria Snyder (actually, I can't stand either of the sequels, but I loved this)

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

PRINCESS ACADEMY.

SORCERY AND CECELIA.

[chachic.livejournal.com]

I totally agree that it's so hard to find stand alone fantasy books! I don't start reading books in the series for the same reasons. I wait for the book to come out in paperback and I only buy the books when the bookstore has a complete set. Otherwise, I feel like I won't be able to finish reading the series.

Anyway, here are a couple of stand alone favorites (although some of them have already been suggested):

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
The Trouble With Kings by Sherwood Smith
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (Hero and the Crown is just a companion book I think)
The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I've actually read most of these, which means I'll assume the rest are great as well.

[(Anonymous)]

So standalone books, hunh?
O.K. Chalice, by Robin McKinley. Completely original, a little bit of romance, fascinating mythology and you will never look at honey the same way.
Also Dragonhave by Robin Mckinley (hey, I love my McKinley!). Fantasy but feels like you could actually go to this place. It feels almost non-fiction but much more entertaining. Also dry humor, musinging on animals, and a coming-of-age story.
A series, but really excellent--Airborne by Kenneth Oppel. lIke Treasure Island, pirates in the sky! Set in pseudo Victorian times.
Anything Diana Wynne Jones.
Shannon Hale's A Book of a Thousand Days. Just reread and I love it even more.
Oh and there is so much more but that's off the top of my head. I hope you find a new love.
I can't wait to look at everyoneles's recomendations. Falling in love with a new book is one of the best feelings.

[queens-thief.livejournal.com]

oops. I forgot to sign in! So that's me.
I am so happy to see that we share a lot of the same loves. Great minds...

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Everyone seems to have some great recommendations, and they made me realize something...

I've become a MAJOR fan of retold fairy tales, and I see now that probably a big reason for this is because almost every retold fairy tale novel is stand alone. Awesome.

[chachic.livejournal.com]

I'm a huge fan of retold fairy tales as well! Here are other retold fairy tales that haven't been mentioned:

The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli

And the books from Simon and Schuster's Once Upon a Time (http://www.simonandschuster.biz/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=519335) series.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Fantasy Standalone: Taash and the Jesters (Ellen Kindt McKenzie); A Traveller in Time (Alison Uttley); Quest for a Maid (Frances Mary Hendry); How to Ditch Your Fairy (Justine Larbalestier).

A standalone Pratchett I haven't seen recommended: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.

Not fantasy but highly recommended: Marcelo in the Real World (Francisco X. Stork); Lord of the Nutcracker Men (Iain Lawrence); The Emperor's Winding Sheet (Jill Paton Walsh); The Kingdom by the Sea (Robert Westall); Not the End of the World (Geraldine McCaughrean); The Pirate's Son (Geraldine McCaughrean); The White Darkness (Geraldine McCaughrean -- do you sense a trend here?); The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie).

Not sure what this is, but it's lovely: The Underneath (Kathi Appelt).

I confess that trilogies are a bit of a pet peeve with me also. What bothers me is when the plot doesn't actually start until the end of book two.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Actually some of those fantasies are mostly historical, some of the historicals are flirting with fantasy...

[reader-marie.livejournal.com]

It's not fantasy, and I know other people here have read it (though my memory fails me as to exactly who), but the book I'm recommending to everyone lately is Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. It's...different than the books I usually read and recommend (mostly because it isn't fantasy), but it is beautiful.

And wow! What great book recs from everyone! (I swear every time I get on this site my list of books I MUST READ grows exponentially...)

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Haha, my "To Read" List is now up to 203 items, and that doesn't include the sequels of many of those books.

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I just realized how hard it is to find YA stand-alone novels. Yikes! I've got a couple books to recommend, but I also wanted to say that when I get tired of long stories and trilogies, I read short stories. There are a lot of amazing fantasy short story collections out there, many edited by Ellen Datlow or the amazing Firebirds collections edited by Sharyn November.

I think someone already recommended this, but Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier is a stand-alone supernatural Gothic romance. It's a lot of fun to read and I think MWT fans will enjoy the interactions between the two protagonists.

I also loved The Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins. It mixes the contemporary world with Skazki, the Russian world of story, and has tons of folklore and history all centered around this statue of a gold bear found hidden in the walls of a St. Petersburg bathhouse. Wonderful, well-rounded characters and a really excellent story. Wilkins is an amazing writer.

Also, this book doesn't come out until March, but I have to recommend Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver to everyone. It's a debut novel and not really fantasy, though it does have a fantastic premise. The basic story is that Samantha dies in a car accident Friday night on the way home from a party with her friends, but then she wakes up in her bed to find it’s Friday morning again. And again. It sounds like it wouldn't work but it's an amazing book. If you want to read my review before deciding here it is: http://crowinator.livejournal.com/30139.html

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. I do actually love series myself. When I meet one of those rare characters I can give my heart to, I love being able to follow them for weeks or even months, rather than having to say goodbye to them after just a few short hours. As it happens, I've just emerged from two delicious months immersed in around 5000 pages of Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series (and have instantly started rereading her almost-as-long Lymond series) and I loved the fact that I could stay immersed in that world for so long.

However, I totally agree that there are loads of books out there that are needlessly (in my opinion) expanded into a series, and would work far better in a smaller space. Hmm... Fantasy seems particularly fond of the "extending a single story over a series of books" approach, whereas some other genres prefer the episodic "endlessly retell the same story with some of the details changed" approach. I wonder why that is?

But I digress. (Sorry.) Many of my favourite books are in series, and most of my favourite one-offs have already been recommended here (Fire and Hemlock - and anything else by Diana Wynne Jones; The Sherwood Ring; Perilous Gard; Tam Lin; Crown Duel; The Trouble with Kings; Tigana etc.)

But let's see:

The Owl Service by Alan Garner
Seaward by Susan Cooper
Mistress Masham's Repose by TH White
Anything by Rosemary Sutcliff. They're historical novels, rather than fantasy, but I've always loved them. Although several of the books are often referred to as being part of a series, they're really not; they're entirely self-contained book set hundreds of years apart, linked only by a ring passed down from father to son.

And, cheating somewhat, there's Once a Princess and Twice a Prince by Sherwood Smith, which, yes, are two books, but they were published well-nigh simultaneously and in many ways they feel like a single book. I do so love Sherwood Smith heroes. Several of them have quite a lot if common with our beloved King of Attolia.

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

I've only read 'The Eagle of the Ninth' by Rosemary Sutcliff, and I was overjoyed when I finished it because even though I was done, I knew there was a 'sequel' and I'd get to read more about Marcus.

:-(