Recs?

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Hey guys!

So after resisting reading these books for a couple years, I finally cracked and devoured them all within a few days. Sooo I guess now I'm also stuck waiting (im)patiently for the next book. Meanwhile, does anybody have any books that they can recommend that are similar to this series?

In particular, I'm searching for books with at least some focus on politics, but aren't necessarily quuuite as ruthless as something like Game of Thrones. More in the direction of The Lumatere Chronicles, for example.

...Although as I was typing this I realized that the character I adore most in the series is Costis, so maybe I should just ask for recs for books with extremely loyal, honor-before-reason characters instead... any additional recs for those, by any chance?

Comments

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

Hmm, politics and loyalty makes me think of the Farsala trilogy by Hilari Bell. There are some fiercely loyal characters in there, and a wily young man that's comparable to some level to Gen. Also, you might want to try Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It has more focus on magic and action, and the politics is a bit underwhelming when compared to QT, but politics does play a big part in the characters' motivations. I feel really bad though when I recommend these books, because it's like saying, "Here you go, cry your eyes out for the next few days", but at the same time, they're really, really good. If you want, you can start out with Elantris which is also by Brandon Sanderson, and is not as emotionally taxing as Mistborn. Plus, I kinda think that politics was handled a bit better in Elantris.

Er, what else? I have not read Game of Thrones, or The Lumatere Chronicles in its entirety, so I don't have much to compare to. I'll take a look at my Goodreads to see if anything else fits. ^^

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

I saw your post this morning, bought the whole Farsala trilogy on kindle, and did basically nothing but read until I finished it five minutes ago. Now I'm all emotional and somehow both sad and happy for all the characters and... wow, I did not think I'd get that attached. (Seriously, I was internally shrieking every time one of the main characters was mentioned in a positive light in someone else's POV chapter... *cough*)

Can't believe the very first rec has already made me so happy! Thank you so much-- sooo excited to try all the others now!! 8DDD

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Have you read Rosemary Sutcliff? No magic, but wonderful characters, and she's a strong influence on MWT.

Also, Elizabeth Wein's Aksumite books, which you can start with The Winter Prince or A Coalition of Lions (or even The Sunbird).

Or Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, which is a space opera set over the course of something like 40 years and is amazing.

There's also Katy Moran's Bloodline and Bloodline Rising, which are set in Byzantine-era Britain and Byzantium, with a hint of magic.

I think there's at least a few more, but I'll stop for now.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Seconding Rosemary Sutcliff. The Roman Britain trilogy is a good place to start: The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers.

[qwentoozla]

I would second the recommendation of the Vorkosigan Saga. I started reading it based on recommendations from here and I totally fell in love with it, raced through the whole thing, and it's one of my favorites now!

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of space opera, or most sci-fi in general, but if they're recommended by so many people, maybe I should check them out... hmmm...

Btw, is that a Mighty Boosh icon? Did not expect to see that here haha...

[canonisrelative.livejournal.com]

Oh honey, *hugs* welcome to the waiting club :) You will learn to be very patient here!

I also recommend the Vorkosigan saga, LMB is amazing.

My personal favorite political fantasy saga is by Feist and Wurts, the Daughter of the Empire saga. Fantastically rich worldbuilding, clever characters, scheming, female main character, all the good stuff. I'd take those books over GoT any day of the week.

I don't know that this is quite what you had in mind, but I'm currently reading the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik - the Napoleanic wars...with DRAGONS. The main character of that is pretty honor/loyalty/duty bound....and he has a dragon. Awesome.

I'd also recommend the Fionavar Tapestry, that has quite a nice, diverse cast, you'll surely find someone to love among them :D

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Oooooh the plot summary for the second book in the Daughter of the Empire trilogy seriously reminds me of these books I borrowed from the library when I was about 10 and seriously loved and then could never find again because I couldn't remember what they were called... Seriously, all I remember is that the heroine got a slave in the second book, who she later fell in love with, and at some point they were on a boat together?? And I think the heroine had magic, and there was possibly some kind of sex scene in them that really shocked 10-year-old me hahaha ...Sorry for rambling, what I mean to say is: I'm very excited to check them out, whether they are the same books or not!! (Re GoT: yeah, I spend most of the time when I watch/read impatiently waiting for Sansa or one of the other female characters to come up xD)

I've liked all the books I've read so far that were set during the Napoleonic wars (can't wait until the Strange&Norrell mini-series finally comes out!) so the Temeraire books sound awesome indeed. =D

Thank you for the recs!!

[lunefin.livejournal.com]

You've prob already read these, but hey: Robin McKinely's Blue Sword/The Hero and the Crown. Llyod Alexander's Prydain. Naomi Novik's Temeraire. Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon. Ursula K Leguin's the Left Hand of Darkness (basically an ode to unreasonably loyal/honorable people)

A little lesser known maybe?
Peter Dickinson's the Ropemaker/Angel Isle. Nancy Farmer's the Ear, the Eye and the Arm.

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

Lunefin, yes! Those are awesome!

Love, love love The Left Hand of Darkness. And Sarah Rees Brennan, and Peter Dickinson, and Nancy Farmer.

Great recommendations! (I think I have a lot of re-reading to do, as well as some new books to catch up on).

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

Welcome!

I'll third (is that a word?) the recommendations of Rosemary Sutcliff and Elizabeth Wein! And I love Farsala, too.

I'd also like to recommend His Own Good Sword, by Amanda McCrina. It's really pretty fantastic.

I also loved Rachel Hartman's Serafina (can you do dragons?)

It sometimes takes me a while even to get to my TBR list, so I haven't gotten to the Vorkosigan saga yet…but it does sound good.

And if you like SF, have you tried Ursula Leguin, or Terry Pratchett? I love them both!

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

His Own Good Sword was very good -- I know it was recommended to me during a WSK, I wonder if it was you? Anyway, seconding that one, especially for the loyal characters.

[live-momma.livejournal.com]

I love Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, but I think the first two books in her Chalion Series are closer to The Attolia series. They are The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls. The third book, The Hallowed Hunt, is actually a prequel and is very different from the other two. Politics plays a bigger role in Curse than Paladin. Having said that, Miles from the Vorkosigan Saga is as close to Gen as any character I've seen.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

The Chalion Series sounds really interesting! Will definitely be checking it out.

Thanks for the rec!

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I don't see it mentioned here, so if you haven't read it already, Howl's Moving Castle and sequels by Dianna Wynne Jones. The author has said Gen's personality was partially inspired by Howl.

As for the loyal character thing... It's very dark, so I won't recommend it unreservedly, but then again it's not that much worse than Queen, so: Transformation by Carol Berg, the first book in the Rai-kirah trilogy, features a character who is forced to serve someone he hates and ends up becoming very loyal and attached to him after he sees the good buried (deep, deep down) in the other character and realizes he's worth protecting. The hero, Seyonne, ends up using magic only he can use to protect Aleksander from demons so that Aleksander can go on to save the world. It and the following books in the series end up being a great portrayal of two characters from completely different worlds with completely different moral compasses who nevertheless become great friends, and their loyalty to each other and the tests they go through to maintain it form a huge part of the trilogy's emotional arc.

...on rereading, that sounds awfully dry. It's also a cool story with magic and demon-slaying and swordfights and people shapeshifting into giant werecats and some seriously epic badassery on Seyonne's part, especially in book 3. And not a few twists and revelations, too.

(edit for spell-fail)

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Howl's Moving Castle is awesome! (And remembering that Castle in the Air exists the other day made me finally get off my lazy butt and find a decent translation of 1001 Nights =D)

And that summary doesn't sound dry at all! ...Actually it's already tugging at my heartstrings a bit, I'm pretty weak like that.

Thanks for the recs!

[diadactic.livejournal.com]

The books of Sharon Shinn have a lot of loyalty running through them, and some of them have court intrigues.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The wiki summaries definitely sound pretty cool. =D

[furem.livejournal.com]

I push Lloyd Alexander on everyone, so I'd definitely recommend him. If you like politics than start with the Westmark Trilogy or more classically fantasy (talking animals, named swords and that sort of thing) Prydain. I also really like The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen and The Arkadians which takes place is a pseudo-Greek fantasyland.

If you like thieves (I do) than I'd recommend The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson and the Knight and Rogue Series by Hilari Bell, both of which feature characters who could be Gen's distant cousins.Also, those authors are not afraid to hurt their darlings. You've been warned. Actually, I might recommend Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce. I didn't totally love it, but there is a thief and some very interesting twisty-turny politics.

The Cinder series by Marissa Meyer is getting more and more political with each book too, if you like sci-fi.

ETA: City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster is full of intrigue and twists and turns and some of the best worldbuilding ever.

And Dragonfly by Julia Golding would be very, very good if there wasn't a creepy fantasy religion. So if that wouldn't bother you (it's really creepy) than I'd recommend it. Lots of politics.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! Dragonfly is excellent! I second that.

And yes, that religion is VERY creepy -- but it's not presented as an ideal, or anything.

deirdrej

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

Since a few mentioned LeGuin, I would absolutely recommend The Dispossessed. Very political - it's about not one, but two distopias - and the main character has the same kind of tormented, sometimes inconsistent loyalty and virtue that I also love about Costis (but is definitely not the same character).

Sutcliff is really beautiful, though if you do the Eagle of the Ninth series, you probably also would enjoy Sword at Sunset, the sort-of climax of the sequence, and direct sequel of The Lantern Bearers. And if you like those (and are still looking for heartbreakingly loyal characters), I strongly recommend Gillian Bradshaw's "Down the Long Wind" trilogy, Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, and In Winter's Shadow. Very much of a piece with Sutcliff's historical view of the Arthurian legendarium, but more fantastical/spiritual. Reminds me a lot of the worldbuilding of Attolia, with the gods poking in on seemingly completely materialistic situations and upending everything with tiny but vital actions.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the recommendations!

I've been thinking about checking out Eagle of the Ninth for a while now-- should finally get to it! And the Down the Long Wind books sound really intriguing too. Definitely a sucker for history mixed with slight spirituality and/or mysticism... =D

[helle-d.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, politically focussed books with honour-before-reason characters are certainly relevent to my interests!
Guy Gavriel Kay writes very good, meaty high fantasy, with complex situations and likable characters - The Lions of Al-Rassan, A Song for Arbonne and the Sarantine Mosaic, for instance.

Then there's Bujold, in both her Vorkosgian space opera series and the fantasy-historical Curse of Chalion and sequels also combines plausible, interesting characters - lots of awesome women in particular - with fun, fascination situations. Her hero Miles Vorkosigan, in particular, could definitely be seen as a wierd sort of Eugenides-Costis mash, with Gen's twistiness and Costis' stubborn determination and honour, even when he's shooting himself in the foot by acting that way.

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is great fun - it's set in a world where every single person has elemental spirits, or 'furies' that they can call on to help them, water or air or fire or earth, EXCEPT the main character, who is unable to call furies at all. Since furies give people superhuman abilities - flying, or high endurance or superstrength sorts of things, Tavi is at a serious disadvantage and has to use his cleverness and smart mouth to solve problems. Very similar in 'feel' to Queen's Thief, though the first book is definitely weaker than the others. (Do not be put off! It gets better!)

Most recently, I've been reading Seanan McGuire's October Daye books, which are urban fantasy, with a half-fae PI in San Francisco, who finds herself awkwardly living between the human and fae worlds. Really lovely characters, with a large cast of friends, and people who care about each other and look out for each other (even if Toby, the main character, spends the first few books insisting to herself that she's completely friendless and unlikable, despite ... all the friends who follow her around and help her out. It's charming.)

What else? The Name of the Wind is another I really like, with a clever, smart-mouthed protagonist in a gorgeously-drawn fantasy world.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Haha, all of those sound awesome!!

God, I'm not sure when to check out all these awesome books-- and they're all generally series too hahaha...

Especially looking forward to checking out GGK's books!

...I think you're the 6th person to recommend the Vorkosgian series; there's no excuse I can make for not reading it now =P

And the other books sound fun too, thank you for the recs!!

[ejmam.livejournal.com]

I just reread Jo Walton's _The King's Peace_ and _The King's Name_, which stars an extremely loyal, honor-before-reason character (Sulien). It's not really a King Arthur story, but it's definitely in reaction to King Arthur stories, if that makes any sense.

The first few chapters are very rough, but they pay off in the end.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds awesome! Looking forward to checking it out, thanks =)))

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Argh, Sounis, why do you keep reminding me of all the wonderful books I haven't read yet? Why?

Most of the books I would bring up have already been mentioned. Specifically, I would very highly recommend The Vorkosigan Saga, The Winter Prince (and sequels), and the Temeraire books, all of which were already mentioned but just wanted to say.

Not quite related but kinda: I got my boyfriend Young Miles (the first part of the Vorkosigan Saga) for Christmas, and yesterday he said he planned to start it, finally. Hopefully he likes it. From the types of books he's read and liked and recommended to me (including MWT's!) I think he'll like it, but, well... we'll see.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

I knoooow right? So far I've gone through two recommended trilogies, and the first two pages of The Winter Prince, and I've just barely started! But now there's a list to turn to whenever I have time... :)

[(Anonymous)]

I definitely recommend the Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier! They are decent-sized books, 400-500 pages, and I ended up finishing each of them within two days or so. They're adult fantasies, strongly inspired by Celtic myth and culture. Like the Thief series, they're more on the "lighter" end of fantasy, with some political intrigue and a historical fiction feel to them. Here's the order:

1) Daughter of the Forest
2) Son of the Shadows
3) Child of the Prophecy

Daughter of the Forest is based on the Seven Swans fairytale (which was inspired by the Children of Lir), and it introduces the conflict between the Britons and the people of Erin over sacred islands, while meanwhile the main characters' brothers are cursed by a witch. The heroine must go through a lot to save her brothers. Son of the Shadows is narrated by the daughter of the protagonist of Daughter of the Forest, and likewise Child of the Prophecy takes place another generation later and has another great female lead. Don't worry, there are still a lot of characters from the first book in the next two books despite the amount of time that elapses between them!

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Sounds really fun! Anything with good female protagonists is always awesome, and I do love Celtic myths... Thanks!

[filkferengi]

For "politically focussed books with honour-before-reason characters", Sherwood Smith's _Court Duel_ and _Crown Duel_ are unsurpassed!

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much! I've heard of them before; if they're recommended I'll check them out!

[archdyadove.livejournal.com]

I've been writing down all of these recs... As a result, I have five pages of notes.
So, to fill up everyone else's lists, I recommend:
Dianna Wynne Jones's Dalemark Quartet. I didn't think I'd like it when I started, because the first book takes place in a prehistoric world, but of course I did. The books progress in time, with various characters(okay, gods) appearing in each of them, and I was completely swept away... Honestly, I don't remember much of the plot, but it had a lot to do with carven images and normal people actually being immortal. My favorite thing was how the same world evolved over time, from pre-history to modern day.
Christopher Fry's The Lady's not for Burning. It's a short play, and actually really hard to find, but so so funny. The two main characters are a man who wants to be hung, and a woman who doesn't want to be burnt as a witch. If you look at it a certain way, it's also a critique of conservative government...
Ysabeau S. Wilce's Flora Segunda series. The setting is a mix between California, Mexico, and Scotland. If that sound weird-- it is. It's also really entertaining, with lots of fun slang and world-building. Flora's mama is basically the commander of all the armies, but Flora wants to study magic and become a spy instead of entering the barracks. Flora and all of the supporting characters are really charming and easy to get invested in... just a warning.
I can't wait until I can start reading some of these books people recommended! I anticipate a few trips through the "feels reel". Is that a thing?

[(Anonymous)]

I saw, then read, The Lady's not for Burning years ago. It was great.

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini. It's fluff, but it's delightful fluff. It's not a fantasy - it's set right before the French Revolution, definitely a focus on politics but not too much, and the main character is who I think of as the forbear to Eugenides and a lot of other characters like him. And the dialogue is witty and delightful.

Also the "Gentlemen Bastards" series by Scott Lynch - about of group of thieves in a faux Italian Renaissance like city, the main characters is the master thief and his loyal best friend :)

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

I do love fluff and loyal best friends. =))) Thanks for the recs!

[fccalumn.livejournal.com]

I love The Ascendance Trilogy (https://www.goodreads.com/series/67722-the-ascendance-trilogy) by Jennifer A. Nielsen.

The series starts with The False Prince, and sage, the protagonist, has become my second favorite book character after Eugenides of course. It's a middle grade book so it was not overly complicated and I pretty much saw all the foreshadowing and knew how it would end. But it is still a very clever book like The Thief.

If you have not read it yet, get it from your library and read it. The last book in the trilogy, The shadow Throne, comes out this Tuesday, February 25th. If you get all three books you could have a wonderful weekend. It wont take you long to read them.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Sounds really interesting! I like YA for the possibility to turn off my brain, but it's fun to read something a bit meatier too :) Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Someone mentioned Sherwood Smith's "Crown Duel" and "Court Duel" (there's also a prequel, "A Stranger to Command"); much longer and more complex and very political is her Inda series (Inda, The Fox, King's Shield, Treason's Shore)--very detailed world, with both everyday and terrifying magic, and complex characters--and a very loyal hero ("we never abandon crew"). Inda starts out as a 10 year old boy, but grows up rapidly. There are other books set in this world, one Smith has been creating since childhood; these are the best.

And I strongly second Bujold's Vorkosigan and Chalion books, and Sutcliff's. I'd also recommend LeGuin's Earthsea books. Elizabeth Moon's "The Deed of Paksennarion" is also excellent.

My thanks for many of the other recommendations here. I feel fairly confident in them, since you all like so many of the same books I do.

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Oooh, sounds exciting! Maybe I'll start with those one's instead then... Thanks very much for the recommendations!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Pirate's Curse, I'm deirdrej's sister! So glad you're eager to try His Own Good Sword and also Elizabeth Wein! I have a couple more recs that i"m surprised haven't been mentioned yet: they are oldies, but goodies.

1. Not sure how old you are? If you're high school or older, you'd be ready for Mary Renault's The King Must Die and The Bull From the Sea. Maybe some of her others, too, if you can find them.

2. And how about Mary Stewart, especially The Crystal Cave and the books that follow it? The Crystal Cave is about a 6 year old boy growing up as an illegitimate prince in a Welsh fortress. His name is Myrddin Emrys - or Merlin. And it's told straight, in a believable Romano-Celtic setting.

3. Finally, both deirdrej and I also love Michelle Paver. Not sure there would be enough politics for you, but she writes beautifully, and she's great with conflicted characters and twisty plots.

4. Oh - one more, speaking of writing beautifully. How about Catherine Fisher? You might like The Oracle Betrayed, but everything she writes is worth a look, IMHO!

[pirate-curse.livejournal.com]

Hey! Already bought His Own Good Sword and am looking forward to starting once I finish The Winter Prince =) (Kindle is such a useful thing!)

I'm um, actually a bit older than I must come off-- 2nd year at uni. Reading YA is a great stress relief after puzzling through morphology textbooks though haha...

The King Must Die sounds absolutely amazing; I can never get enough of Greek Mythology, and of all the various reinterpretations that spring up! I actually read a couple of Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness books when I was a kid, although I barely remember anything past the main character's name, the way the covers look, and a general positive feeling... Maybe it's time for a re-read. And I think a couple of my friends used to really like The Oracle Betrayed-- I should check it out and see if they have good taste =P

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Kind of trying to pace myself and not buy too many books at once (plus, you know, actually do some course work once in a while) but The King Must Die looks extremely intriguing...

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm. Usually, when I make Sounis recs, I look for tricky, clever, Gen-type characters. (That's what this GR shelf (https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7658657-shae-shelver?shelf=for-mwt-fans) is for.) Off the top of my head...

Loyal characters:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (for Mal)
Stolen Songbird by Danielle Jensen (Vincent, Victoria, Marcus, etc.)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Rudy)
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (Ron)
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (*wails*)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (Hector! Humberto!)
Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (Book 2 in the series, but Dimity shines in this one.)
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (Also Book 2, but NOAH.)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (Roar)
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen (Much)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Grover)
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand (Lawrence)
The Sherlock BBC miniseries :)


Politics:
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel
Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund [hat tip to the Gen/Eddis dynamic in this one]
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

*Note: Some books appear on multiple lists. Those are good ones to pay attention to. :)

[jenn hilgeman (from livejournal.com)]

I was just about to recommend Grave Mercy and its sequel, Dark Triumph. Love those ladies.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Grrr. My last (really long) comment was marked as spam. Can someone help me out? I really don't want to redo that list.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the comments being marked as spam, everyone. I wish LJ would send me an email when that happens, but I never know unless I stumble on it. Feel free to email me if it happens--my email is on the user info page.