I am reading One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake right now, and it’s making me want to give fantasy a try (I’ve been avoiding all fantasy for a few years now).
– I like to read books with a more sophisticated writing style, so I’d like fantasy or sci fi that reads like literary fiction.
– I do like romance, because it’s fun, but it doesn’t have to be the primary plot. I’d definitely rather beautiful descriptive writing than a silly romantasy.
– World building is not my favorite thing to read, so I’d like stories set in modern day or a world kind of similar to ours.
I ultimately am looking to push my boundaries a bit and read a fantastical story that draws political parallels with the present day. I especially have interest in themes of climate change and immigration.
I also really like magical realism if you have any good recs for that too:)
by shortcircumference
6 Comments
I’ll be honest, magical realism isn’t my thing. But you might like **Salman Rushdie, and Devotion by Hannah Kent**.
You might like David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is the famous one, but I had more fun reading The Bone Clocks.
{{Dies the Fire, by Stirling}}
[*Nettle & Bone* by T. Kingfisher](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56179377-nettle-bone) – for your first request, Kingfisher writes so beautifully and this was one of my favorite reads of last year. It’s a typical fantasy setting but it’s more character focused so there’s not an overwhelming amount of fantasy worldbuilding. Gorgeous, luminous, and dark.
>After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.
>Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.
>On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra’s family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.
[*The Past is Red* by Catherynne M. Valente](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55077652-the-past-is-red) for your second, pushing boundaries. Where Kingfisher writes beautiful and luminous prose, Valente writes prose that is sharp and biting. It’s clever and fantastical and VERY out there. Prickly, unapologetic, fierce.
>The future is blue. Endless blue…except for a few small places that float across the hot, drowned world left behind by long-gone fossil fuel-guzzlers. One of those patches is a magical place called Garbagetown.
>Tetley Abednego is the most beloved girl in Garbagetown, but she’s the only one who knows it. She’s the only one who knows a lot of things: that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place in the world, that it’s full of hope, that you can love someone and 66% hate them all at the same time.
>But Earth is a terrible mess, hope is a fragile thing, and a lot of people are very angry with her. Then Tetley discovers a new friend, a terrible secret, and more to her world than she ever expected.
NK Jemisin’s The Fifth Season
Lit. sf/f is my fav genre so here are some recommendations:
– David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks. Ticks almost all your boxes, it’s both sci-fi and fantasy and it’s even related to climate change.
– Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility. Bit of time travel, not too much worldbuilding. Very enjoyable prose.
– Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark. Starts with a pandemic caused by climate change before turning into futuristic sci-fi.
– Rebecca Campbell’s Arboreality. A novella about climate change, very lowkey and a quick read.
– Simon Jimenez’s The Spear Cuts Through Water. Character-focused fantasy with experimental but beautiful prose. Has a slow burn romance