Looking for Recommendations

[sapphire]

One of my classes this coming semester requires that we put together our own reading list: ten books, which we may or may not get to over the course of the semester. So far, I have seven, and that's from scrolling through Amazon's Best Sellers list of sci-fi and fantasy.

So, I'm looking for recommendations that will fit my novel: books with dark main characters, the teaching and learning of magic, battle, magical connection to animals, vivid created worlds... Any combination of those, or anything else you think might fit. Fantasy is not a requirement, it just has to be among the best books you've read.

[crystalpisces]

Forbidden and Mortals by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

The Song of the Lioness Series By Tamora Pierce. Also by her, the Immortals and Protector of the Small series. All three series tie into each other and all are very good.

Eon and Eona(Can;t remember the authors name)

The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales(Free on iTunes)

[sapphire]

Thanks, Crystal!

I've read some Ted Dekker, and definitely enjoyed it, so I'll give that a try.

I've also read all three series by Tamora Pierce. Been meaning to re-read them, actually, to see if I still like them (that was before college, and I'm a much, much pickier reader now that I'm all educated ). I loved them back in middle/high school, though.

I looked up Eon and Eona, and they sound amazing! In fact, I may just go straight to Amazon and use some of the gift cards I got for Christmas to buy Eon.

[crystalpisces]

I could never outgrow those series. They are fun, but with a very series underlying message. I love them!

[sapphire]

Yeah, Tamora Pierce is good, and she'll always have a place in my childhood, if nothing else. She does have rather imperialistic themes, though, particularly in Song of the Lioness. It's very black and white - Tortall is good, everyone else is bad. It is meant to be a children's/young adult series, though, and she does get more complex in her later books.

[crystalpisces]

I meant the deeper meaning. I didn;t understand it when I was younger but re-reading the books I realize how much more adult they are. And I feel she writes that way because that's basically how it really was back then.

[sapphire]

Well, of course they have other themes. I think the imperialism is more a subconscious attitude that most Americans have, though - "we're good because we have democracy, they're bad because they don't" - and it just came out this way in her, even though she's writing about a monarchy. Because really, that's never the way the world has been. There is never just one side to the story. It's the winner who gets to write history, and that's why we only see the one side.
That's not to say the books aren't good - of course they are - it's just that I'm afraid I won't enjoy them as much, now that that kind of thinking is in my head. Education.

[crystalpisces]

I was referring to the feminism and the over coming a repressing society. Never thought of the democratic thing. I saw it as a Monarchy of Kings who only trusted others in grave times of need. Otherwise everyone is an enemy.

[Raphael]

It's funny though how 'movements' work because whenever one happens, it overshoots in the opposite direction, and then later another movement brings it all back in the other direction.

[Endovia]

"I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on th'other. . . ."
— Macbeth

First books that came to mind were Eon and Eona, but I see Crystal already mentioned those.

Other books:
Green Rider by Kristen Britain. There's a whole series to it. It's four books at the moment and not over yet. (That author is really slow at writing.) All of the books are great. Lots of magic.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. This is/is going to be a series. I've only read this first one. (I don't know if the other's are out or not.) It's cool because it is a futuristic spin on the Cinderella story. (For example, WWIV finished not too long ago from the beginning of the story.) A little bit sci-fi with androids and cyborgs. Although not the best book in the whole world (the major drawback being that it's predictable due to it being based off of a very-well known story), but the cyborgs are pretty awesome.

If you want gore and horror: Vlad: The Last Confessions is epic. (Sorry I don't remember the author's name.) I would definitely rate it as R material, and so it's probably not the best for school, but it is so good. Such incredible character development. Very realistic and gripping. I adore it.

Not fantasy, sci-fi, or horror related at all: Kings of Colorado by David E. Hilton. One of the best books I've read. It's a realistic fiction story about boys sent to a correction camp at a ranch in Colorado. No magic or anything like that, but I absolutely love it.

[sapphire]

Crystal, feminism, etc., is what I meant by other themes.
I did mention that she's writing about a monarchy - there's nothing democratic about Tortall. And that they only trust others in "grave need" is really the problem. Tortall has no allies - when has that ever happened in history? (Exceptions being great empires who didn't need any because they were huge.) They're the only good country in that world. Everyone else is barbaric or cruel. In Protector of the Small, she gets into that a little with Kel having grown up in the island country (don't remember the name at the moment) and facing a bit of discrimination because of that, but in Song of the Lioness, it's pretty blatantly "Tortall is good, everyone else is evil."


Thanks, Endovia! Those are awesome suggestions. My school is a very liberal one, so they won't care about R-rated material at all. I can pretty much guarantee that some of my classmates write worse than that book could be.

[Endovia]

Ha, that's fantastic. I just wanted to let you know so you weren't defending to your classmates, "I didn't know there was all this gore/sex/language/trauma!" If anything, I think it's more realistic to the times than obtrusively nasty (If that makes sense?) because of it being a kind of historical fiction.

[sapphire]

Yeah, that makes sense. I just ordered like four books on Amazon, and that's not even considering the five plus that I have sitting on the shelf waiting to be read, so it might take me a while to get to it... But I'm definitely planning to read it.
One of my classmates likes to write about porn stars, so... Yeah. She doesn't get explicit, but there are definite sexual themes.

[Angelica]

Jan 11, 2013 18:57:45 GMT -6 sapphire said:

I just ordered like four books on Amazon, and that's not even considering the five plus that I have sitting on the shelf waiting to be read, so it might take me a while to get to it.

I can beat you on that ( ). I have about ten or more books on my shelf waiting to be read, got three more today from Amazon and more have yet to arrive.

Anyways, the only really good books that I can think of that might fit your list is Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda. The only thing is, it's for young teens, so....

[sapphire]

Thanks, Angelica! I have my list put together at this point, but I'll look into those anyway. I'm always up for a good book.
My novel is for young adults, too, but the age level doesn't really matter for this. I need books that relate to my work in some way so that I can learn from them.

I would totally have more books waiting to be read if I had more money. College tends to make you rather broke.