I really love epic fantasies with deep lore a great plot twists like Sanderson, however I finished all his work a few months ago and I've been stuck on what to read next. I started the Red Rising and Poppy War series, but I eventually had to give them up becuase they were too intense for me. I normally love "realistic" and gritty fantasy, however I'm just going through some things in my life where I can't handle all the depictions of torture, violence, and rape. Sanderson is the perfect balance of depicting realistic war and trauma without being too dark. However, when I look up Sanderson-like recs, a lot of them are much darker, and I don't know how to weed those out. Any book recs?
by DismalContext3242
3 Comments
You might want to go old school. Something like The Highwayman by RA Salvatore or Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks sound like they would be right up your alley. David Eddings and Raymond Feist are a couple other authors that are notable.
Don’t discount Tolkien either. I’m not a fan of his writing style, but The Hobbit is very approachable.
Theft of Swords by Michael Sullivan is a more recent take on that classic style of fantasy.
Spin of Fate by A.A. Vora is Sanderson-esque but for a slightly younger audience
Hmm idk that I could really describe Red Rising as especially “gritty” for fantasy in the grand scheme of things
I agree with other commentor recommending going with classic/vintage fantasy instead of newer publications