Hmmm....hidden gem recommendations: - The Bladed Faith - The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - The Stardust Thief - The Sunbearer Trials - Rise of the Mages - How to Succeed in Witchcraft
Sons of Darkness! It’s an epic fantasy in the same vein of GoT but with Indian culture/lore(?- sorry I’m not familiar with it all just yet), but the twists and turns that Gourav Mohanty writes make it worth checking out!
My hidden gem recommendation is: A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee It’s one of my favorite reads of the year, it has: -Quest story -animal companion -Japanese inspired fantasy world -spirits, demons, curses -no romance plot -rebellious female lead
Keen to try In a Garden Burning Gold! There's a self-pub fantasy book I love that no one seems to know about, Lovely Dark and Deep by Claudia Cain. Perfect vibes for autumn as well!
The big one for me is Spear Cuts Through Water but I also recognize it probably won't resonate with everyone and I think it suffered by having its release date get pushed back to August when so many highly anticipated releases came out.
I had already added Justice of Kings and Engines of Empire on my TBR this year, but you just convinced me to add Rory Power's novel as well (my Greece-loving heart couldn't help it!). I'm not really into Fantasy stories involving gods (but love political intrigue!), so it immediately sounded more interesting to me.
A Daughter of the Trolls by McKenzie Catron if you're looking for a whimsical YA fairytale that feels original and old with a mc in a wheelchair. So good, more people need to find it.
My top call for underrated fantasy is The Left Hand of God Trilogy by Paul Hoffman. It deserves a lot more attention than it gets. I have no idea why some studio has not picked this up for a TV series or movie.
I’ll add Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald! I thought it was a moving character-focused epic fantasy book 1 that kicked off a series I’m eager to continue! Also completely agree about Justice of Kings!
Listen... I'm here for the books just like the rest of you guys (Monsters We Defy-fanclub unite!) but can we talk about Elliots smokey-eyed look? You look stunning in this video is all I'm saying!
My favourite underrated 2022 release would have to be Blood to Poison by Mary Watson, it’s magical realism leaning fantasy which I don’t usually enjoy but I love her books. It’s rooted in South African history and covers generational trauma and anger while still being a coming of age story about family curses. I haven’t heard anyone mention it on book tube but after loving her Wren Hunt book as well as the companion I’m always on the look out for more from this author
I just finished Engines of Empire and I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for recommending it! So far everything I've read that you've recommended has been 💯
My fave hidden gem has to be Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler, the first book in the Burningblade and Silvereye series. I had such a fun time reading this story. I also think it lends itself well to a "readalong" format with the audiobook, which has an amazing narrator (I did a mix of audio and reading it by myself). Interesting characters and great world building.
I never see the Belgariad mentioned by David Eddings. I was under the impression that nothing could possibly be better than Harry Potter as a child until I stumbled on Eddings and my gateway to fantasy realized.
This is super not a new release being old enough to start to be published before I was reading, but I also really enjoyed it growing up (even if the series sort of felt a bit repetitive or self-plagiarizing with The Malloreon which continues the story and characters and The Elenium which feels some what repetitive). But I really did enjoy the characters of the Belgariad (especially Silk and Ce'Nedra). I do wonder sometimes if it would hold up as well given I read it 30 years ago as an early teenager.
@@michaelbodell7740 Oh Completely agree, The Malloreon is literally the same story with aged up characters. I wonder the same thing, I haven't re-read it since my first time in 2005 because I honestly want to keep looking back on it with nostalgia
Yeah Babel pretty much took ALL the hype for sure! I loved it but there are a lot of these that I am excited to read too! I have In a Garden Burning Gold that I need to get to, I have seen the not so good reviews but I do plan on reading it sometime soon!
I think a Garden Burning Gold was picked up by the wrong people. It is SOOOO different from her YA (queer, weird horror) and I think a lot of people were expecting that, not a fairly traditional high fantasy written in a very different voice than her YA. I personally didn’t love her YA and really, really enjoyed In A Garden Burning Gold! I wish this had been marketed better instead of a bunch of people who loved Wilder Girls picking it up and being disappointed it wasn’t written like that.
I loved The Final Strife and needs more hype. really looking forward to the next book, that ending I literally said OMG out loud. Do agree took a little bit to get into though
Love this! Will definitely be looking into a number of these. Particularly Justice of Kings... Older books that I recently read that I think are underhyped are the Daevabad trilogy. I feel like the first book got some traction, but the first book wasn't mind-blowing and the second and third books, which were substantially better, just didn't get the attention I feel like they should have. The other one that comes to mind is an older Middle Grade book. The Phantom Tollbooth. Not enough people have read that masterpiece.
I love that depending on the corner of the internet you’re in different books are hyped. I saw Daevabad EVERYWHERE for the longest time and everyone hailing it as their fave!!!!! I love knowing there are different pockets of booktube I’ve yet to discover ❤
Hidden Gems -In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McLellan. Also, I literally just picked up In a Garden of Burning Good but I put it down because of the low ratings. Maybe ill give it another try 😊
The Final Strife is in my top 5 of the year. I was sceptical because of some Booktubers, but then Jashana's video gave me the push. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.
When I first heard about The Justice of Kings many people were DNFing it and/ or found it boring... I personally loved it, gave it five stars and can't wait for more because of so much intrigue and possible other stuff! It is underhyped!!!
Justice of Kings was brilliant. I feel Konrad might go down a darker path in later books. The Tyranny of Faith is the next one I think. I've read RS Ford's Steelhaven and War of the Archons trilogies and Engines of Empire is by far his best yet. Some of the plotlines in Steelhaven I felt weren't resolved as good as they could have been. I like Demon in Silver, the first War of the Archons book, but they didn't really improve after that. They're not bad, but weren't as good. EoE is a huge improvement, I'm looking forward to Engines of Chaos. The author is from my neck of the woods so I'm glad to support a fellow Yorkshireman
Interesting, I think Justice of Kings was super hyped on Booktube when it first came out, but it definitely doesn't seem to have had staying power or been anyone's fav of the year. I personally felt it was pretty meh, but I could see people liking it. Yeah...they really messed up with the cover and marketing for Book of Gothel. The Rapunzel-esque parts felt tacked on it should have just been it's own thing. Yay Final Strife!
Interesting that you consider 3.54 a really low rating on Goodreads, Moby Dick's rating is 3.53 and some consider it the Great American Novel. Goodreads ratings need to be taken with a pinch of salt. With Fantasy books later books in a series tend to get higher ratings, presumably because those who kept on with a series like it and are invested in it....
Can’t agree harder about Phantom Tollbooth. Read it as a kid and then as an adult and was blown away with how clever it was. One of my favorites that you can access via Internet Archive is Mind Call by Wilanne Schneider Belden. 1981. After there’s catastrophic flooding, a group of teens are drawn together. Each as some sort of special ability. Low on angst-factor and well-rounded characters.
The lighting for your video is pretty dope. Looks ethereal 😌 And so glad you recommended a few times in other videos, The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams. They’re finally on Audible. As I’ve gotten older, I struggle to pay attention while reading, so now I can read and listen to these!
I find that when fantasy books are underhyped they are usually found to be diamonds in the rough. I still need to get to Justice of Kings though in light of my previous sentence.
