strong female leads are the best thing ever written __

i'm pretty sure i have the first trilogy & read the first book, now i just have to read the others. i remember really liking it! huh, the codex alera sounds really cool!

It's older but if you haven't read Anne McCaffrey's series about Pern, I highly recommend it. :)

I come bearing recommendations!

Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings Contains series in chronological order: The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders, The Tawny Man Trilogy, The Rain Wild Chronicles, the Fitz and the Fool trilogy

This series quickly rose above all the other ones I've ever read - it's captivating, original, and has some of the most diverse and engaging characters I've seen in a long time. The general gist is that there's a bastard assassin prince and his jester best friend, and together they travel around and fulfill a prophecy or three. Farseer, Tawny Man and Fitz & the Fool focus primarily on, well, Fitz and the Fool, but Liveships and Rain Wilds still contain story-wise important elements. It's not necessarily a romantic storyline, but it.. still has one of the sweetest romances, ever. (canonical lgbt characters)

Ellen Kushner's Riverside Chronicles
contains books: Swordspoint, Privilege of the Sword, The Fall of the Kings, and a few extra novellas.

I have to mention in advance that the books contain some mature scenes, although not particularly explicit. They take place in a fictional town, where swordsmen handle the feuds of lordlings and nobles. The final book takes place quite some time later, and focuses on University shenanigans and wizards. (canonical lgbt characters)

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials contains books: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass

HDM is quite familiar to many with its introduction of personal accompanying daemons into the fantasy world. A young girl travels north on an expedition, and metaphysical stuff happens, with an undertone of religious themes.

Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness contains books: Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker, Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker, Ghost Hunter

CoAD takes place in prehistoric Europe, and has some of the most immersive world-building I've ever read - the books make you really feel like you're there with the characters. The protagonists are young teenagers and their animal friends, fighting to save their clans from mages gone awry.

Naomi Novik's Temeraire
Contains books: His Majesty's Dragon,Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory,Victory of Eagles,Tongues of Serpents, Crucible of Gold, Blood of Tyrants,League of Dragons

Alternate world history, but with dragons. What more do I need to say? Napoleon is there.

JRR Tolkien's History of Middle-Earth [+ Silmarillion]
contains books: The Book of Lost Tales, Part One /Two, The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle-earth, The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, Sauron Defeated, Morgoth’s Ring, The War of the Jewels , The Peoples of Middle-earth + Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabêth

I see that you seem to be into Tolkien at least judging by your pets, and thus I come bearing recs, unless you have already read the series. HoME might sound a little boring, but it offers so much more insight to the world of Beleriand and Middle-Earth, with more extensive character backgrounds, especially for characters otherwise only mentioned in the Silm.

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series
contains books: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red seas under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves, The Thorn of Emberlain, The Ministry of Necessity, The Mage and the Master, Inherit the Night

Medieval Venetian con-artists. :D

Lynn Flewelling's The Nightrunner series contains books: Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness, Traitor's Moon, Shadows Return, The White Road, Glimpses, Casket of Souls, Shards of Time

more LGBT fantasy, very cute very sweet, very nice.

I haven't had the chance to read these yet, but I've heard lots of good things about Sam Farren's Dragonoak series (The complete history of Kastelir, The Sky beneath the Sun, Gall and Wormwood), as well as Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles (The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear, Doors of Stone)

i know i've heard of that & i thought i read one, but i can't think of it right now, lol. i will definitely check it out though :D

___ so many recommendations, i love it! i think i have the first book of robin hobb's series! i'm not very far in it, but i like it a lot. omg i love the temeraire series! sometimes i get so mad at the admiralty & just wanna reach through the pages & punch them! all the jrr tolkien books are on my list of books to read (someday, lol). i read the first 3 books in the nightrunner series, but i bought some more, so i have to do a re-read.

i'm loving all the lbgt fantasy recs. it's nice to see representation in what i read! :D now i have to make my way to thrift books & see what i can get there >:D

, the best place to start is with the first trilogy in the series, The Dragonriders of Pern. Pern is a really interesting world to get to spend time in, and while one reads through the books in the order in which they were published, one really gets to experience the world in this really intimate, but ever-expanding look at a whole world and history. The books in the series just keep adding layers and textures and experiences, and the story keeps growing over the course of the series; some of the books overlap each other in time, and the author revisits scenes from older books from other characters perspectives. Very neat stuff. blushes Clearly, I'm a fan. :)

:O that sounds awesome! i love it when authors really work on world building & everything making sense.

also, i love all the dragons you have in your HA __

, thank you so much! If you love those, then you will love the McCaffrey series for sure! :) Enjoy!

:D i love anything with dragons! they are my favorite!

, I think you would actually love the McCaffrey series then, for sure; the relationship in those books between humans and dragons is the kind of stuff one would wish for ... the dragons are as much characters in her books as the people, also. The Dragonriders of Pern is the first trilogy in the series. One neat thing is that when she just recently retired, her son took over writing the books first with her and then without, and while that might not work in many situations, I thought he did a really great job. He even tied up a loose end or two from the beginning of the series, which I thought was really cool. Anne McCaffrey "respectfully requested" that a reader of the series read them in the order in which they were published, and I did. I enjoyed them very much, and even hunted down the one or two short stories she published in magazines and such that fit into the series. One used to be able to find her books in libraries, also.

oh, that's so cool! i love it when new authors take over, but don't deviate too much from what people are used to. and i love when dragons are not considered evil or anything.

They are from evil, no worries! :) Let me know if you like them!

o/ yay! i have to finish like 5000 other books, but when i read them, i will totally let you know! :D

, LOL :)

I'm a huge fan of P.C. Hodgell's Kencyrath books, of which there are currently seven with an eighth coming out this August. They're epic fantasy in scope but much more intimate in feel, because most of the time we follow the heroine, Jame, on her adventures, or perhaps what's better described as a long string of disasters. It's very dark in tone but lively, with a deft comic touch to relieve the mood and prevent it from all being gloomy.

A couple of warning notes. One is that Jame is a definite wish-fulfillment character in many ways, and if you try and put her through one of those online "Mary Sue Tests", she scores in the "kill it with fire" range. But Hodgell makes it work. Jame faces serious opponents and has to struggle, and you see the effects. It feels plausible, y'know? Just like superheroes are wish-fulfillment characters yet you can write good stories with them. In many ways Jame can be viewed as a fantasy superhero.

The other warning is that Jame's culture practices incest in the ruling line, in a similar way to the Egyptians did, and while nothing explicit goes on there is a huge amount of sexual tension between Jame and her twin brother. If incest bothers you, don't read them.

that sounds pretty good! :D i don't mind mary sue's, as long as they aren't annoying, like so many gary stu's are, LOL.

i've just read two books with rape, so incest isn't a problem.

Figured I should warn for it though because some people are really disturbed by it; I don't want to feel responsible for not warning someone who didn't want to see that.

The books are pretty good in their depictions of mental illness and difference, too. The heroine, in my reading, is on the autism spectrum (what used to be called Aspergers); she displays a lot of the same way of thinking that I have and I really empathize with her a lot. Her twin brother, a friend tells me, exactly matches her Pure-O OCD. And pretty much everyone had an abusive childhood in different ways, and she really depicts well things like PTSD and other issues stemming from that.

thanks for the warning! :D

i love it when things like that are depicted well and not made fun of. i'll totally check them out!

I will also throw a vote of love at the Kushiel and Mercedes Thompson series! Some that I haven't seen mentioned:

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Wizards, trolls, vampires...a whole host of magical things set in the modern world. This is by far his best series (Butcher's) and every time a new novel comes out I re-read the whole series. Love it. Also, there was a short lived TV show, that once you think about it as AU is actually quite enjoyable to watch. I had warmed up to it just as I hit the last episode. -.-

The Bitterbynde Trilogy: The Ill-Made Mute, The Lady of the Sorrows, The Battle of Evernight by Cecilia Dart-Thornton. She really manages to make you care about the characters. Lots of rich folklore put to good use, with plenty of adventure! Just, peek at a back cover and I bet you'll want to read it. ^.^

You should also totally check out the Green Rider Series by Kristen Britain. Magic, danger, and pretty good adventure here. I still look for a new book whenever I can. I'm awful about describing things because I don't want to be the least bit spoilery (i hate spoilers XD).

Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara - If you love a wise-cracking miss-fit, this is your jam. These books have totally made me laugh out loud in public places. There are currently 12 with the next one slated in April. I will have it downloaded to my kindle or in my hand before you can say "boo" if that tells you how much I enjoy them.

I'm going to be looking at a couple suggestions here I haven't read yet myself.

i keep hearing about the dresden files, so now i have to check it out, lol

i only read spoilers if something super bad happens (ie character death), i just like to be prepared for that sort of thing XD

these all sound awesome, omg, i can't wait to get started on them.

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