I’ve been looking for a while for a book I can get fully immersed in and fall in love with, and I’m struggling now. I’m in the mood for either fantasy or supernatural fiction, or historical fiction (my interests are mostly in ancient history, but I really don’t like myth retellings), and I’m desperate for something that’s well-written, with lyrical prose that hopefully isn’t too pretentious or dense, with characters I can really get attached to and feel a connection with. I find a lot of fantasy focuses on “badass”/brooding/edgy characters and that kind of thing just really doesn’t interest me at all?
I’m particularly interested in things that involve political intrigue and courtly drama, religion, seers/divination/foretelling the future and characters that are writers/artists etc. so if it has any of these things that’s a huge bonus, but it doesn’t necessarily have to? Also if you know of things that *do* include these sorts of things and meet what I’m looking for, I don’t mind ideas outside of the fantasy/supernatural/historical fiction genres either. Thank you!
by caellych
4 Comments
Have you read [The Girl Who Drank the Moon](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/b8b6a493-2301-493a-bc3e-d4e79c04f4a3) by Kelly Barnhill?
The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner for political intrigue fantasy.
Guy Gavriel Kay is the author you are looking for. He does historical fantasy – historical fiction with a quarter turn to the fantastic.
My favourites of his are Lions of Al-Rassan (based on Moorish Spain) and The Sarantine Mosaic (based on 6th century Constantinople).
Two fantasy books set in the same world, but both novels are pretty standalone. Both feature protagonists who are at least 30+ (MC in CoC is 35, can’t remember how old MC from Paladin is), neither of which is “brooding” or “edgy” by any means. Bujold is known for her beautiful prose. Also, both feature some kind of political/courtly intrigue and religious/magic themes:
– Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
– Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
For a fantasy author who writes very nice prose and for a book that includes an artist as the MC who isn’t “bad ass” (there is one character who I found annoying in that sense, but she wasn’t the MC) etc.:
– Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
Fantasy that definitely has its share of political intrigue, deals with religious themes, and by an author who is known for his prose:
– Dagger & Coin series by Daniel Abraham
For some historical fiction/mystery, this suggestion is about a lawyer who starts off the series working for Cromwell. It’s set during the reign of Henry VIII and definitely includes a lot of political intrigue:
– Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Samsun (starts with Dissolution)