MWT's Book Recommendations

[barbedxcap.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone! This is a very old account, but I finally managed to log in to it. I've been a long time lurker and it's nice to finally post something.

So I've been a fan of The Queen's Thief series since I was a kid, got to experience the excitement of waiting for Conspiracy of Kings and buying it new as a teen, and my family loves this series as well, As a youngster, what I loved just as much as the book was MWT's essay at the end that talked about older books and her favorite reads. I ended up reading Howl's Moving Castle, another favorite, because of that, and The Winter Prince.

Now that I've been rereading this series, I've decided that my reading goal this year is to read the books and authors MWT has recommended! I found the entire Winter Prince series and some Rosemary Sutcliff books on Kindle Unlimited, and I bought Gullstruck Island. On the flipside, I also want to finish off the Finnikin of the Rock series, which was inspired by the Thief books.

So what do you guys think of MWT'S book recs? Which are your favorites, and can you see how she was influenced by them? I started a Rosemary Sutcliff book and I can see the similarities already.

Comments

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed with Finnikin of the Rock, perhaps because I had higher expectations. I'm not even sure if I finished it. :O Prior to MWT, I was only familiar with Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth. But thanks to MWT, I soon re-read Eagle and then moved on to Sutcliff's other writings, which I adore. Howl's Moving Castle and other DWJ books likewise. I have yet to read The Winter Prince.

Welcome back to Sounis!

[barbedxcap.livejournal.com]

I did find Finnikin of the Rock a bit over the top in terms of darkness and violence. The ruthlessness reminded me of the adult grimdark books that are popular right now (I'm not really a fan of that subgenre). I still want to give the sequels a chance though, in case they're better, like how The Thief series gets better as it goes on.

And thank you!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

The sequels were even darker than the first, but I really liked them all. And I'm not much for grim books or lots of violence. I guess I just really liked the characters and wanted to see how things ended up for them.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I did not enjoy FINNIKIN at all myself, and was so disappointed because I absolutely loved SAVING FRANCESCA and JELLICOE ROAD. I skimmed the last third and part of the sequel, and then sent them back to the library. Alas.

I just re-read HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, though, and it's a delight. I never read DWJ as a kid or even a young adult, so I think I missed the window of adoring everything she writes, but HOWL is definitely one of her books that hits all the right notes for me.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way with DWJ. I can sit down to read anything she's written as they're all very good, but the one I keep coming back to is Howl's Moving Castle.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Update: I have now read The Winter Prince and I'm about halfway through A Coalition of Lions. Wow.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

I had no idea Finnikin was inspired by MWT! I have to say, I like the rest of Marchetta's work much more. It wasn't my favorite.

On the other hand, Frances Hardinge is a genius and you should read everything she's written.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much of Joan Aiken's books but MWT likes her stuff a lot and has said that she wanted to write in a similar style.

[filkferengi]

I recommend starting with one of Aiken's many short story collections. She writes in a variety of styles, & that's a good way to try them out.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I read The Winter Prince -- er, listened to it, as an audiobook. I think it's still available on Audible and I liked it very much. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting to like it that much, since I only read it to get to the later books in the series and everyone told me I had to read them in order, but I did like it!

Unfortunately, none of the rest of Elizabeth Wein's books are available on Audible and it's difficult to get ahold of physical copies, so I haven't gotten around to continuing with the series yet. But I can definitely recommend TWP; the characters are all multifaceted and grounded in their world and a little bit mysterious, and the book has a cold, eerie edge to it that made me shiver in places. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, yes! I think The Winter Prince is my best book find since I discovered the Queen's Thief series. It is dark, maybe too dark for some people, but I like that it's psychological and poetically written.

I like the 4 others that follow it, with different main characters, but nothing will top having Medrout as the narrator.

-frosted_feather