Fantasy is a genre that I’ve only
really ventured into in the last couple of years so I always feel like I’m
playing catch-up! I was always really intimidated by fantasy, and I guess I
still am to a degree, but I’m getting better at going for it because I tend to
love whatever fantasy novels I pick up. Here are some of my very favourites:
Snow
Like Ashes, Sara
Raasch
Balzer + Bray|14th
October 2014
Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of
Winter was conquered and enslaved, leaving only eight survivors who search for
ways to bring magic to the kingdom and free the slaves. One of those wo escaped
is Meira who has lived her whole life as a refugee, training to be a warrior
alongside her best friend, the Winterian King, and the boy she’s in love with.
When scouts discover a possible way to bring magic back to Winter, Meria goes
after it herself in an effort to prove herself.
I loved the complexity of Sara
Raasch’s world. There are layers of history, politics and magic that should
have drowned me, but I loved learning about Primoria and how it all works.
Meira is the perfect heroine to lead you through such an adventure: stubborn,
hot-headed and fiercely loyal to Winter. She wants to reclaim the life that was
stolen for her and make herself worthy of Prince Mather. But it doesn’t quite
work out how she expected, of course…
Red
Queen, Victoria
Aveyard
Orion|12th
February 2015
Mare
Barrow’s world is divided by blood: the Silver elite and the Red commoners.
She’s Red living in poverty until she ends up working at the Silver Palace and
discovers she has a deadly power, even with her Red blood, and it threatens to
change the power balance of her world.
It took
me a while to get involved in Red Queen, but
once I was, I was hooked. I was on tenterhooks for most of the novel and I
never knew who to trust, especially after a particularly staggering betrayal
took place that changed everything for Mare and the reader. It blew me away!
A
Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah
J Maas
Bloomsbury|7th May
2015
Feyre hunts in the forests by her
home to feed her family, but she still fear what lies in the depths and the
high price of killing a magical creature. While imprisoned in her enemy’s
castle for her crimes, Feyre learns of an ancient evil that is growing and
growing, threaten to destroy the human and Fey worlds. All while fighting the
appeal of her captor’s captivating stare…
ACOTAR is a beautifully crafted
mixture of high fantasy, faeries and a Beauty
and the Beast reimagining. All of the elements intertwined wonderfully and
it really felt like an original take on popular elements with strands of
mythology thrown in as well. And as always, Sarah J Maas’s characterisation is
on point. It left me aching for the next instalment in the series.
Pantomime,
Laura Lam
Strange
Chemistry|7th February 2013
Iphigenia
Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets
and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a
runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice
and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing
acts of their own to perform, a secret in their blood that could unlock the
mysteries of Ellada.
Set in an
alternate Victoriana, Pantomime takes
you on a wondrous trip through the circus, sexuality, gender, gender roles,
social class and its rules and restrictions and it really is brilliant. I loved
the danger and corruption behind the acrobats and illusions and the way it led
to a heartbreaking conclusion. The second book, Shadowplay, is just as excellent and I’m so excited for the third
book to final come out hopefully soon!
Posion
Study, Maria
V Snyder
Mira Ink|21st
September 2007
Imprisoned in the palace
dungeons, Yelena is given a choice: be executed for murder or become the food
taster for the Commander. She jumps at the chance. The palace is full of
mysteries, secrets, dangers and betrayals but she finds herself in even more
trouble when she discovers she has magical powers. Using magic is Ixia is
forbidden and punished by death.
Yelena is strong, brave, witty
and completely badass – what a heroine to lead one of the first fantasy novels
I read. Being knew to the genre, it took a while for me to become accustomed to
the world and the politics and the magic but I slowly fell in love with Yelena,
Valek, Ixia and Sitia over the course of the trilogy. Snyder is extremely
skilled at world building and characterisation, so much so that she brought
Yelena back for another trilogy set five years after the original ended. This
series has a legion of fans.
The
Sin Eater’s Daughter, Melinda
Salisbury
Scholastic|5th
February 2015
Twylla is
the Goddess embodied. Her touch is lethal. She's the executioner. No one wants
to know the girl with the deadly hands. Until a new guard arrives at the castle
and looks past her destiny. Unfortunately, she’s promised to the prince and you
don’t cross the queen.
Mel
Salisbury’s rich, evocative prose builds Twylla’s world beautifully. Though the
world is complex, it’s completely accessible and engaging and I particularly
loved the way Christian origin stories and meanings of different foods were worked
into the basis of the novel’s mythology. So clever! There’s also a healthy dose
of doomed love, life or death situations and a pulse-racing showdown.
Graceling,
Kristin Cashore
Gollancz|3rd September
2009
Every one born in the Seven
Kingdoms gets a Grace: an exceptional skill. Katsa’s is killing. Her skills are
renowned and she wields her power as the King’s right hand man, putting done
everyone who’s done him wrong. While out on a mission, Katsa comes across a
Prince with skills that rival hers…
I adored every single world of
this book. As well as being beautifully written and crafted, containing
endlessly lovable characters and taking you on an epic journey, Graceling is a triumph in feminism. Katsa
is strong, independent and powerful and refusing to twist her beliefs and
morals to what is expected of her as a woman and as a girlfriend. This was one
of the first openly feminist YA novels I read and it was a complete revelation.
Throne
of Glass, Sarah
J Maas
Bloomsbury|2nd
August 2012
Celeana
Sardothien is Adarlan’s Assassin. She’s beautiful, clever and completely
deadly, but she's also been caught. She’s serving a life sentence in the salt
mines of Endovier until the Captain of the Guard offers her freedom for a
price: a to-the-death tournament to become the King’s Champion.
You can't
miss the crazed excitement for Queen of
Shadows invading the internet at the moment – and justly so! I don’t really
need to tell you much about Throne of
Glass but this book, and this series, if full of danger, romance, secrets,
betrayals and magic like you’ve never seen before. Add on the mind-blowing
world-building, second to none characterisation and break-neck pace and it’s no
wonder thousands have fallen under Celeana’s spell.
What are your favourite fantasy
YA novels? Have I missed any that I shouldn’t have?
Sophie
I loved all these books with the exception of Snow like Ashes - unfortunately that one I couldn't get into. But I would also recommend some of the oldies, like Garth Nix's Sabriel Trilogy and Phillip Pullmans Northern lights Trilogy. And... well, I love fantasy so the list could easily go on lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the recommendations! Ive been meaning to read Pantomime for ages. I'm very rarely in a fantasy mood though
ReplyDelete