Great video idea. I'm pretty burnt out on adult fantasy books with teenagers or young adults as their lead making naive decisions. Bring on the grizzled vets and older women 💪
There are adult fantasy books that have teens as protags?? Doesn’t that make it YA and not adult? (Unless u mean adults that act like teens which yeah I get u)
@@Srbthmlnsmth Not necessarily. A trope that's commonly used is the farm boy or sheltered youth that goes on a quest to achieve a big goal/save the world (Wheel of Time, Faithful and the Fallen, etc.) The books are written in a way so that they're clearly not YA even though the protagonists are teenagers. Now, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the trope, I enjoy it every now and then. But the real joy I find with new books nowadays is when the main character has an unexpected profession or a deep past that dramatically changes the story structure in a way that feels fresh and innovative. Take that racing book that was mentioned in the video with a fallen from grace racer struggling to keep here child from being taken away from her, that's a unique setup. Now don't get me started on the common tropes with YA fantasy, those paths are even more well-worn than the farm boy to hero trope nowadays.
@@SplinteredLight_ I see what u mean! But I think so many adult fantasy nowadays has adult characters, the kinds you mention are a minority (WoT is difficult cuz they age a lot thru the series). Even most epic fantasy (I’m thinking lord of the rings, song of ice and fire, malazan, first law, Green Bone Saga) has adult protags with unique backgrounds. Sun eater and KKC obviously don’t but honestly KKC I can forgive cuz it’s being narrated by an adult and Kvothe reads like he’s in his twenties (no teenager acts or talks like that lol or is that competent) and Suneater also he ages thru the books. Just some recs if u don’t know them already! Nowadays I think most of the teen protagonist books are written as YA such makes sense cuz they’re for actual kids Also Race the Sands is AMAZING but to me it reads v YA. I don’t mean this is an insult, I ADORE the book. But the themes & how they’ve been handled, the writing style, the simple plot, the fact that thereis also a young POV character… compared to a stand alone like Priory of Orange Tree, I’d say it’s a book geared for kids and I think the author deliberately wrote it that way and simplified things. But hey that’s no reason why it can’t have a competent adult character!
@@Srbthmlnsmth Oh that's a shame about Race the Sands coming off as YA, I had high hopes for that one (I know you say its great, but I can't do it to myself) but maybe I'll try out that other book you recommended, thanks! I've read fantasy and sci fi all my life but I recently found myself shifting into the historical fiction genre. Most of the books in that genre are written by old folks so many of the characters reflect their ages which is nice, I highly recommend the genre to everyone who loves fantasy as they're almost indistinguishable at times.
Naomi Novik's Temeraire series has a British naval captain as a main character. He is forced to quit his career and beloved sea, because he is suddenly responsible for a baby dragon. Because of his military career, most other characters are also adults. The themes are also quite adult.
Oh you don't know how much I needed this. I am not here to yuck anyone's yum, but I find myself growing increasingly unable to get into characters who are under 25, but I've completely lost the ability to want to read about characters under 20, and unfortunately everywhere I go I'm running over YA. Again, not yucking anyone's yum, and so many of those books do appear to be beloved and well-written and maybe one day down the road I'll come around again on a cast of 19-year-old characters, but for now I just can't get excited to read about them any more, and often find them just completely unrelatable. So: thank you for these recs!
Finally someone else is talking about Emperor’s Edge! It’s pretty much my favorite indie series, love Amaranthe and Sicarius. Y’all should give Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn a try if you’re craving a classic fantasy with adult characters, and Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard for an updated take on Tolkien (two of them are older teenagers but the rest are all adults.
I literally saved your last video on this topic to rewatch later today (to pick a new book) and now you've come up with an updated version!?! Also, thanks a lot for your Aurelian Cycle rec 💜 I finished the trilogy yesterday and loved it!
I just had to watch this before bedtime. Nice to see Race the Sands on the list. Finished it and absolutely love it. It's one of those books that I REALLY wish there'd be more of from that world. Yes, it was FANTASTIC.❤
i wanted to come back and comment that over the past few months i binged the entire emperors edge books on audible and THANK YOU for the recommendation. the action was edge of the seat every turn, the main protagonist is a joy to follow, she’s actually so smart and clever and her relationship with her team was very found family. i enjoyed each changing perspective in the books , getting to know the characters she works with was very fun. i got my boyfriend hooked on the series as well. highly recommended for car trips or long work hours in my case 😅❤
I liked Lindsey Buroker's 'Death before dragons' series, so fun. and i get what you said about her other book being new adult in vibes, i felt the same about this series, even though the main protagonist was 40 years old.
I'm currently 25% into Race the Sands, it has potential, it feels like all of the chess pieces have been placed and I have an understanding of everyone's path, now I'm waiting for some monkey wrenches to liven the story up. Also the audiobook for The Fireborne Blade just became available at my public library (thanks for the rec) so I'll be checking that out soon.
I absolutely love how you cover adult fantasy books in this video that aren't just the everyday, booktube "darlings." You offer meaningful selections and incredible value for your viewers. Would love your two cents on my own channel sometime (I'm sure you have VAST free time ;). Seriously though, thank you for being thorough and unique in a flooded landscape of same-same.
I think it was actually your channel I discovered it on, but Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher is charming, cozy, weird, and thoroughly entertaining. Each book in The Saint of Steel series has adult protagonists.
I could have sword you had mentioned the winnowing flame in one of the previous videos.😅 I started no gods foe drowning by Hailey Piper yesterday and it starts with a floodfighter finding a spot where someone killed people hoping to get the attention of their god. She knows she isn't cop anymore (Too kind for the job from what I figured out so far) and she should just let the cops do their job but she decides to go on investigation of her own. Also it's queer.
Hi! Would you consider making a book recommendation video style where you put forward books that are a mix of the fantasy genre and the SF genre ? Your videos are always so informative and I love how respectful you always are. Love your input on booktube.
SF as in scifi or as in speculative fiction? The latter is an umbrella term that already includes scifi, science fantasy, fantasy, new-weird, horror, some styles of historical fiction...
Also on note of books with crossover potential……. I wonder if u are still planning to read Fathomfolk? It’s a really great but misunderstood book imo (not one of my faves of the year but I gave it a 3.5-4 out of 5 stars) I remember u mentioning it in a haul but never saw it anywhere after so just curious… it’s an interesting one cuz it’s marketed as adult but I found thematically it reads very YA and one of the MCs is a super typical stubborn and gullible YA protagonist which is fine as a character archetype BUT it should’ve been marketed as such. But since u enjoy Race the Sands that mixes good worldbuilding with a variety of aged protags and a certain more straightforward way of handling themes, I think u may be able to appreciate Fathomfolk in a way other readers aren’t (it’s getting bashed a lot on Goodreads for reasons I can chalk up to missed expectations and people attributing American politics to a British Chinese author and reading the themes and messaging in a very wrong way, just my two cents) OK that’s a lot from me and it’s late, goodnight!! Always loving ur vids
Hi! Love the adult main character recs. Have you heard of Priestess by Kara Reynolds? I absolutely loved. It’s on KU book currently . 38 yr old woman as main character. It has an interesting magic system but focuses more strongly on friendships. Strong romance piece. I’ve been watching your hunt for fav romance in fantasy 😊 not sure it’s your perfect mix with politics but I know lots of ppl will enjoy.
The first full length novel I wrote had characters who are all in their 30s. I had no idea it was so unusual within the genre. It’s so hard to find protagonists who aren’t early 20s/ teens
Emperors age is a fun read the protagonist Weaponized optimism lol but how she did not recognize what a pile of garbage her society is as amazing selling children in the sexual bondage. Slavery in general, etc, phone read, but a bit oblivious as far as the characters go.❤
This is VERY random, apologies if I'm wrong but I swear Ive watched one of your videos and you mentioned that the most epic love story you've experienced came from video game! If this is true, what game was that?!
Am I alone in that I just can’t read books with female leads especially not in first person narrative I just dislike them from the start and their mary sue-ism. it’s just really hard to like female characters overall in books they are either too much like a man or too snarky
@@Tortuosit i don't think those could offer a somewhat dismissed human perspective to the conversation inside SF about women, whereas women... (You must be a joy at gatherings btw, so sharp)
Race the Sands in brilliant! Though I’d classify it as YA with crossover potential tbh. To me it was clear Durst wrote it for a young audience on how she handles the themes, plot, prose, pacing, etc.. no disrespect I like YA! I just mean I can’t compare this to adult fantasy books like Prioty of Orange Tree (taking another standalone example) cuz it’s simple in comparison (again not a bad thing I LOVE the book, but to me it’s been written FOR kids so should be approached as a standout YA)
Ninth Rain: A woman named Vin goes out of her way to research an ancient conflict/evil involving a faceless foe, for fear/premonition it might resurface once more... Where have I read that before, Kelsier? 🤔😅
Here is a funny thing I just thought about while mulling over this topic... "The Great Dr. Jordan Peterson" recently stated that he felt you were not mature if you don't have kids. This is the man who LOVES stories and analyzing them in a really cool way. I wish I could point out to him that almost NO stories involve married and kids!!!!😅😅😅 DUH. Its DIFFICULT, mot FUN, you can't ADVENTURE, etc. Hence why authors of all time have found it better to tell stories about individuals.
I'm 200 pages into The Ninth Rain and while I enjoy Vintage a lot, I'm so irritated by her constant "my dears" and "my darlings". I know it's petty and such a small thing, but it bugs me.
Omg, all the books on this list sound horrible, aside from The Winnowing Flame. I haven't read any of those, and I'll make sure I never will. Also, Vintage is one of the most insufferable characters I've ever read. She's a passive-aggressive smartass lesbian; come on, "darling."
there's a book called Magnetic Aura on borlest, and it talks about how using some secret tehniques you can attract anyone with charisma, it's not some bullshit law of attraction, it's the real deal
