I stopped reading a long time ago but the more I think about it, the more I want to get back into it.
I loved ASOIAF and I’m a lifelong LOTR/Narnia fan. Fantasy stories are probably my favorite but it can be kind of embarrassing asking my librarians as a grown man in my 30s for fantasy book recommendations.
There’s some hard qualifications that might make recs a little difficult but I still wanna give it a try. I don’t know what I like, but I do know what I *really don’t like*.
It has to have Central American influence. Not Mexican, not Puerto Rican, not South American. *Specifically* Central American influence.
Absolutely nothing revolving around immigration or border wall trauma. I’m sorry, but I don’t get why our stories always gotta revolve around trauma. Can’t books be an escape? I’m sure it’s possible to tell stories that contain elements of traumatic experiences without having the whole story being centered around trauma.
Is there anything you folks recommend
**Edit**
It doesn’t have to be a fantasy book, I’m open to any major genre besides erotica
by mc_hammerandsickle
2 Comments
Miguel Angel Asturias, *The Mulatta and Mister Fly*.
The late **Lucius Shepard** lived in Central America for a while and wrote a number of science fiction/fantasy stories incorporating some of the history and/or mythology during his early career. You can read his Nebula Award-nominated novella “The Jaguar Hunter”, which is set in Honduras, free online over at the old Infinity Plus webmagazine site. The eponymous collection, which won the World Fantasy and Locus Awards for Best Collection, should have a few more of his stories written during that period.
I haven’t read this, but **Monica Byrne**’s science fiction novel _The Actual Star_ takes place partly in a Mayan kingdom, partly in present-day Belize with an American woman looking into her cultural heritage, and partially in the far future, and it’s supposed to incorporate some Mayan mythology.
~~Also Mayan mythology-inspired, but probably actually set in ancient Mexico, is **Clare Bell**’s _The Jaguar Princess_, an historical fantasy where a Mayan girl lives among the conquering Aztecs and discovers her hidden heritage/powers, as you do. It’s pretty decent, and there’s an ebook reprint that might be borrowable from a number of common library services, depending on your region.~~ Sorry, this might actually be Olmec, which doesn’t seem to be from the requested area.
Hope this helps!