Hey! I’m looking for fantasy or sci-fi books that someone in their mid 30s would enjoy. I’m looking for something more in the cozy / exciting side than something gruesome or hard to read because of how much violence there is.
I’ve already read and liked:
Fantasy: LOTR, ASOIAF, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games saga, the Kingkiller Chronicle two published books, the Song of Achilles, Circe, Percy Jackson saga, the Nicholas Flamel saga by Michael Scott
Sci-fi: 1984, Fahrenheit 451, the Martian, project hail mary, 1Q84, 11/22/63, I robot (but not the rest)
Thank you!
by mntb_
18 Comments
I think Guy Gavriel Kay might work. Maybe start with Tigana. It’s very well written, engaging, easy to pick up and get sucked into. My biggest complaint is that it ended.
On the easy-to-read side of sci-fi, I recently read the first couple Murderbot Diaries and it was pretty fun.
Fourth wing by Rebecca Yarros
It has a very early 2000’s YA vibe like Harry Potter/hunger games/divergent but aged up. Easy to get into and a fun read. It is set at a war college so there is violence but not gruesome at least to me.
A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J.Maas also comes to mind. The ACOTAR series seems like a gateway into more fantasy.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novic
Interesting twist on some classic fairy tales.
I also like Rebecca F.Kenney for fantasy adventure. She has a lot of fun retellings too. Captive of the pirate king and Healer to the ash king are my favorites.
If you liked the Martian, you’ll like his other book Artemis. It’s about living on a lunar colony. Like the Martian it’s some well-explained straight-up science.
I also like Dawn by Octavia Butler. It’s got really compelling themes and concepts. Don’t bother with the sequels, though.
And as always, Dune or Hitchiker’s Guide. Sci-fi staples.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
A River Enchanted
Spells for Forgetting
Recursion
The Undertaking of Mercy and Hart
The Dead Romantics
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emerys
Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow
All Systems Red (Murderbot #1)
You might like Lois McMaster Bujold – she writes both sci-fi and fantasy. I loved her Vorkosigan series
Lois McMaster Bujold. She writes both SF and Fantasy and they are all good. She’s a SFWA Grand Master and tied with Heinlein for number of Best Novel Hugo wins and is, IMO, one of the greatest SFF authors.
Ditto C.J. Cherryh, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula LeGuin, Ailette de Bodard, Nnedi Okorafor, and Martha Wells.
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke and the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K Le Guin
Both Murderbot novellas and the Vorkosigan Saga are good recs. They have humor and heart to offset the violence/assault (which are there as part of the plots). For the Vorkosigan books, start with the Cordelia’s Honor duology for a romantic adventure and some political maneuvering or with The Warrior’s Apprentice for a coming-of-age adventure/comedy.
Ryria Revelations by Mark J. Sullivan.
It’s a fun fantasy buddy adventure series about two thieves. I found it at a time where i was burned out on the fantasy genre and it really reinvigorated my love for fantasy. The writer uses pretty standard fantasy tropes and world building so there aren’t a ton of info dumps or lore to learn. Just good storytelling and characters.
Here are my coziest recs with a little excitement. Very heartwarming:
1. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers — It’s like The Little Prince but with a tea monk and a robot on a road trip. No major romance.
2. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree — An orc mercenary retires and opens up the very first coffee shop in a fantasy town. FF romance.
3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — this science fantasy novel might be too sweet because it mixes a burned out bureaucrat with a bunch of orphaned magical children. If you don’t mind that, it is a sweet story. MM romance.
4. Witchmark by CL Polk — This one has the most excitement because of a murder mystery and politics in a gaslamp fantasy setting. Interesting world and magic. Gentle, slow MM romance.
The Dresden files series by Jim butcher
Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer was a fun series.
Here are some in-between fantasy series that have some violence, but are not grimdark or saturated in blood, gore, or non-stop character deaths. They are fun and fast paced with likeable characters.
1. The Dresden Files (Storm Front) by Jim Butcher — sort of an urban fantasy noir-ish set up. MMC is a wizard detective in Chicago who is a little unlucky in love and misogynistic, which fits with his character and the detective novel vibes. He grows a bit. Lots of action and enjoyable secondary characters. Great audiobooks read by a James Marsters. Series quality markedly improves a few books in.
2. Three modern fantasy adventure series by husband-wife author Ilona Andrews:
The Kate Daniel Series (Magic Burns)—urban fantasy, good for magic and mythology
The Innkeeper Chronicles (Clean Sweep)—cozy science fantasy with off-world visits and visitors
The Hidden Legacy Series—near future magic/psychic powers/science fantasy romance with power tripping families in Texas (Burn For Me).
The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton, starting with [The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55502861-the-wisteria-society-of-lady-scoundrels?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_18)
[Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56179377).
Richard Adams: Shardik, Maia
Isaac Asimov: the Gods themselves, the End of Eternity
Katherine Addison: the Goblin Emperor, the Cemeteries of Amalo (2 vols)
Greg Bear: Eon-Eternity, Darwin’s Radio-Darwin’s Children
Gavin Chait: Lament for the Fallen
Stephen Donaldson: Mordant’s Need (2 vols)
Frank Herbert: Dune-Dune Messiah
Ann Leckie: Ancillary trilogy
Doris Lessing: the Marriages between Zones 3 4 and 5, the Sirian Experiments
Ursula Leguin: the Earthsea books
Mervyn Peake: the Gormenghast trilogy
Kim Stanley Robinson: the Ministry for the Future
Roger Zelazny: Lord of Light
“The Space Adventures Of Commander Laine.”