Like none of this “girl gets swept into fairy world and meets mysterious boy” cliché crap.
No children’s books, just adult novels. (I guess young adult is okay if it’s like, not written for and/or about 16 year olds)
If the book has romance in it, that’s like *extremely minor* and not important at all, that’s okay.
And if there aren’t–
are there suggestions for informational type books about fae mythology and lore?
by pendemoneum
35 Comments
The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowana Miller. It’s about a family that lives on a hill where the fae live. The plot kicks off after a relative gets stolen and must be retrieved.
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams
Seanan McGuire- October Daye series is about faeries in modern San Francisco. Series modern fantasy.
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
CJ Cherryh’s Dreamstone/tree of swords and jewels is an adult take on the sidhe
Gael Baudino’s Strands of starlight series and Gossamer axe
*Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries* by Heather Fawcett
*Half A Soul* by Olivia Atwater
Faerie tale by Raymond feist might fit? It has been a good decade since I read it though
I think *Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell* by Susanna Clarke would fit the bill – it’s definitely for adults, and while there is a romantic thread to part of the narrative it’s not the focus. Fae lore is not initially at the centre of the book but becomes increasingly important as it progresses – and it’s also an exceptionally entertaining and evocative book, albeit extremely long and dense.
It sounds like you’re looking for the Goblin Emperor.
Under the Pendulum Sun
The Last Smile In Sunder City by Luke Arnold.
It’s a 3 book set. Fae/ fairy and lore in an adult style of writing. Almost no romance lol.
I guess ACOTAR is out
I think you might be interested in books by Charles de Lint. His Newford series of books are about a town where a lot of fae/fairy stuff happens. These are adult novels, some romantic sub-plot lines but that’s not the primary point at all. I read a couple of the books and I enjoyed them though they aren’t really my thing. I know a lot of people who really really love them. These are urban fantasy, meaning they take place in our world rather than in a fully fantasy setting
The Brothers K
Julian May’s Many Colored Lands series
Little, Big
” The Eleventh Age”, by Luthien T. Kennedy
Informational: The poet WB Yeats collected fairy stories and lore throughout Ireland. You might enjoy his collections *Irish Folk and Fairy Tales* or *The Celtic Twilight*.
Okay hear me out:
The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning fits the bill, almost? It is shelved with the romance books because KMM’s other books are romance books.
There is a relationship that develops between the MC and the dude she meets, but it isn’t the main plot. The main plot is that the MC’s sister gets murdered in Ireland and the police don’t seem to be interested in doing anything about it. So she goes to Ireland to try to find out what happened to her sister. (Hint: it’s the fae, and they are the bad guys). Everything goes to shit for the MC from there.
I’d characterize it as a ‘fish out of water’ story mixed with a ‘David and Goliath’ theme, because she has so much less power than the fae.
There isn’t much romance, but there is (eventually) a lot of sex, so that may be a nonstarter for you.
Also, the MC is really very stupid and naive in the first book, but I promise she learns and grows. The character development is satisfying after you get past the first bit of stupid.
So I’d say this is a partial match that you may or may not like, depending on what you specifically don’t like about romance novels.
It has light romance, but Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries is good!
The Changeling
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Gretchen Galway’s Sonoma Witches series has a wonderful fae subplot.
The Absolute Book – a little bit thriller, a little bit travelogue, and a lot of bit fairy story
The best i can suggest is Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, which IS A LOVE STORY, but not the kind you’d expect. It also features a main character who has The Sight and has spent her entire life hiding from the Fae. I always thought it was an incredibly unique book in so many ways. There is no kidnapping, and the romance is not with who you think it is or would be. It’s more about a battle and prophecies than anything else. I can’t say more without major spoilers lmao
Hmm, maybe not *quite* the genre that you’re looking for, but I can’t help but mention *The Wee Free Men* and the rest of the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett. It’s amazing.
The Demon Accord series by John Conroe is about vampires, werewolves, Witches and Fae. The series of books is about an ensemble of characters and different books focus on different characters so some are absolutely not what you’re looking for but others I suspect would be exactly what you’d like, I hate fantasy novels in general (at least I thought I did) but it’s a cracking read.
The Stolen Child – Lisa Carey
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – definitely fae, even if it’s not outright said to be.
The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín.
The Rivers of London series by David Aaronovitch. Not exclusive to fairies but is magic folk in London.
The books of Graham Joyce. He was a British author who died too soon about ten years ago. He wrote amazing novels about fae and the liminal state between reality and fantasy worlds.
I know these two best, but always wanted to read more:
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
The Tooth Fairy
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Don’t worry about it being book 4 of the Dresden Files. The author does a good job of explaining the story for new readers as he goes along. If you like it you can just keep reading the series from there. Each book in this urban fantasy series deals with a different supernatural faction and the subject rotates. This book introduces the fey courts and if a perfectly good book on itsown. The characters come back later in the series but you will have to wait awhile before they have their own book again. I am particularly found of the books that deal with necromancy and often tell new readers to start on book 7 but you do you.
Finder by Emma Bull
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope is what spurred my interest in the fae in the first place
I know it’s technically a kids book – but it’s a classic she gets kidnapped into the mound and lives with the fae and their rituals
There’s some romance happening in the background…but it’s mostly taking the form of trauma bonding lol
And the dialogue is fun and snappy
In any case, def worth a read
I’m writing one. It should be out next summer but that doesn’t help you now. I’m enjoying the research into fairy lore tremendously. I’ve had Barkskins by Annie Proulx recommended to me. It’s on my bedside table waiting for a turn.
Seanan McGuire (of October Daye fame, seriously read them) also has a series of short novels about teenagers who cross portals into fairy and other worlds. When they come back to our reality and can’t fit in, they end up at a boarding school for wayward youth. It’s really good. It sounds YA, but doesn’t feel YA. They’re like books teenagers who don’t fit in with other teenagers would want to read, but actually resonate with adults who were those teenagers but don’t want to read about teenagers (yet are reading them anyway). Lots of darkness, lots of hope, lots of truly messed up wonderlands. And romance isn’t really even a factor. The first book is Every Heart a Doorway.
Zen Cho: *Sorcerer to the King* and *The True Queen*
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23943137-sorcerer-to-the-crown