Best paranormal & urban fantasy books according to redditors
We found 2,415 Reddit comments discussing the best paranormal & urban fantasy books. We ranked the 516 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 2,415 Reddit comments discussing the best paranormal & urban fantasy books. We ranked the 516 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, if you like genre fiction.
http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396255614&sr=1-1&keywords=perdido+street+station
In lieu of the usual stiff promo spiel, I'm just going to list the cool shit in my series like the bullet points on a kitchen appliance.
The books have almost 200 reviews, four-fifths of them very positive, comparing the books to everything from King's Dark Tower to Martin's Song of Ice and Fire to Grossman's Magician series to Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Its ardent fans and supporters are making cosplays of the characters, ordering signed copies, and making TrueType fonts of the written languages in the book.
Reading the books is almost as fun as writing them. It'd make my motherfuckin year if you came along with me.
Some of my favorite books available on Kindle Unlimited:
They Mostly Come Out At Night and Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick
Paternus by Dyrk Ashton
Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes
The Half Killed by Quenby Olson
A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso
Here are some that I haven't read, but have heard mostly positive things about:
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan
Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher
A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura
Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher
Faithless by Graham Austin-King. He also has another series, The Riven Wyrde Saga, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt
Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer
Path of Man by Matt Moss
Threat of Madness by D.K. Holmberg
To Whatever End by Claire Frank
House of Blades by Will Wight
Path of Flames by Phil Tucker
The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley
Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell
Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton
Free the Darkness by Kel Kade
The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson
Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw
Benjamim Ashwood by AC Cobble
The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson
The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler
Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit
Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black
Here are some older fantasy and sci-fi books that I enjoyed:
Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany - African inspired S&S by an extremely talented writer.
Witch World as well as other good books by Andre Norton
Swords and Deviltry The first volume of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber - Many of the tropes of the rogue/thief came from this legendary duo created by Leiber. And it's worth noting that Leiber actually coined the term Sword & Sorcery. This collection contains 3 stories, two average origin stories for each character and the final story is the Hugo and Nebula winning novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" detailing the first meeting of Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.
Swords Against Darkness - A '70s S&S anthology. It has few stinkers, a few mediocre stories, and a some really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology that are well worth checking out. For some reason, there were quite a few typos in this book, it was slightly distracting, but may have been fixed since I read it.
The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female Sword & Sorcery character. I was suprised by how well her sci-fi stories held up, often times pulp sci-fi doesn't age well, but this collection was great. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. Both of their collections are basically collaborations, although I'm sure a few stories were done solo. His collection The Best of Henry Kuttner features the short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on. And, if you are into the original Twilight Zone TV series there is a story that was adapted into a memorable season 1 episode entitled "What You Need". Kuttner and Moore are two of my favorite pulp authors and I'm not even that into science fiction, but I really enjoy their work.
Not sure how popular this is, but the Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman is really nice.
Nightblade by Ryan Kirk is another one.
EDIT 1: If you delve into urban fantasy (or would like to for a change of pace) try Mind Dimensions. I love it when I find new competent authors!
EDIT 2: Starships Mage is really good if you want something that straddles fantasy and science fiction.
I will edit this post to add more once I peruse through my kindle in a bit.
DEAD WEIGHT is my serialized novel, a non-linear, near-future, dark-urban-fantasy, war thriller about the United States at war with the Faerie of Irish mythology. It's been called, Quentin Tarantino meets Apocalypse Now on peyote.
The first of six installments, titled "The Tombs" opens with "Boy Scout" who wants nothing more than to numb his mind with drugs and escape from the horrors that plague him from his time serving in the Faerie War. The conflict is not truly over, and he cannot hide forever. Forces from both worlds, Earth and Faerie, seek to use him again. Will he dance the same old dance from the strings tied to him, or will he cut those strings and write a new story?
Part One and Two are available now. Part Three DEAD WEIGHT: Search and Destroy is expected in mid September. (But don't hold me firm to that, I have kids and school is starting.)
Nice things people have said:
DEAD WEIGHT: The Tombs: Amazon -- Barnes and Noble -- Kobo -- iTunes
DEAD WEIGHT: Paladin: Amazon -- Barnes and Noble -- Kobo -- iTunes
International links:
U.K.- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Child-Places-Leonard-Petracci-ebook/dp/B076PGG2XK
AU- https://www.amazon.com.au/Star-Child-Places-Leonard-Petracci-ebook/dp/B076PGG2XK
Germany- https://www.amazon.de/Star-Child-Places-Leonard-Petracci-ebook/dp/B076PGG2XK
Canada- https://www.amazon.ca/Star-Child-Places-Leonard-Petracci-ebook/dp/B076PGG2XK
The first hit is free:
https://www.baen.com/monster-hunter-international.html / https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ/
I know its hyperbole, but banning books is almost always a dumb idea. If they’re gonna read schlock that’ll rot their brain though, make it good schlock and hand them a Larry Correia book
I think it’s fine if kids and young adults need different stuff to get them to read, the problem is when it just stops there. Moby dick and the grapes of wrath don’t need to be read by everyone, but someone in their 20s should be reading stuff that isn’t purposefully simplified for younger audiences. And even though people say Harry Potter matured with its audience, it’s still YA fiction.
A clone of the city makes up the bulk of the setting of The Carlucci Novels by Richard Paul Russo.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is heavily influenced by KWC, but the city in the book (New Crobuzon) isn't an exact copy of the city like in the other novel, just built similarly.
Advent (Red Mage Book 1)
Shadow Sun: Survival maybe?
list of linked fictions in order posted repeats omitted, see my other comments for what EY said about them.
Dungeon Keeper Ami by Pusakuronu As a .docx
Mandragora (HP)
To The Stars (Madoka)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Betrayal (MLP)
Earthfic
Unequally Rational and Emotional(Negima/damn near everything)
The Missing Risk Premium (Non-Fic)
Mahou Sensei Negima manga
Harry Potter and the Natural 20 (HP/DnD)
Naruto: Game of the Year Edition(Naruto)
Big Human on Campus(Ranma/RosarioxVampire)
Friendship is Optimal (MLP)
Myou’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me(MLP)
Prince of the Dark Kingdom (HP)
Fallout Equestria (MLP)
Time Braid(Naruto)
Hybrid Theroy(Mega Crossover)
Luminosity (Twilight)
[Discworld] (http://i.imgur.com/kvqoC1h.jpg)
The Best Night Ever(MLP)
Imperfect Metamorphosis(Touhou)
Sanctum
Friendship is Optimal: Caelum est Conterrens(MLP)
Tales of Mu
Black Cloaks, Red Clouds (Naruto)
Dirty Old Men(Naruto)
The Eyre Affair (first novel in the Thursday Next series)
Postnuptial Disagreements(F/SN / Sekirei)
Saga of Soul
Murasakiiro no Qualia
NGE: Nobody Dies: The Trials of Kirima Harasami(Eva)
Love Lockdown(Naruto)
Worm
MLP Loops(MLP)
City of Angles
The Last Christmas
Branches on the Tree of Time(Terminator)
How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Lord Voldemort(HP)
Emperor of Zero(Familiar of Zero/Napoleon)
Cenotaph(Worm)
Memoirs of a Human Flashlight(Worm/Exalted)
She Who Skitters in Darkness(Worm/Exalted)
Goblin Queen(Worm/Exalted)
Starry Eyes(Worm/Lovecraft)
Tale of Transmigration(Worm)
Bug on a Wire.(Worm)
Sunshine
Toasterverse(Avengers)
Back Again(LOTR)
Carpetbaggers(Narnia)
A Bluer Shade of White (Frozen)
Metropolitan Man(Superman)
Ra
Homestuck
In Fire Forged(Naruto)
Right Moments(Ranma)
Hitherby Dragons
Nice Dragons Finish Last
The Shadow of What Was Lost
The Unwelcome Warlock
Path of the King (F/SN)
Gate! Thus the JSDF Fought There
Weaver Nine(Worm)
https://www.fanfiction.net/community/Rational-stories/117575/99/4/1/0/0/0/0/
https://www.reddit.com/r/rational
First off, I got what looks to be some great books from my match. I got Perdido Street Station, Hyperion, The Sparrow, The Little Country, and American Gods. I have never read nor heard of these titles, but I'm excited to start reading them.
Now for the best part. My match sent me an original manuscript for a novel they wrote. How awesome is that? They also included a short story (a side story to the novel) that includes me as a character. I can honestly say that this is one of the best things I've ever received! I think I'll start with the novel first.
http://imgur.com/xVFbm
*update: Thanks for all of the encouraging posts! It seems that I really struck gold on this exchange. I sent a little reddit gold love to my SS for the wonderful gift. It's such a great collection that I feel like the books I sent to my match are woefully inadequate.
The link for those interested.
https://www.amazon.de/Beginners-Luck-Character-Development-English-ebook/dp/B076HJPCMH/ref=sr_1_61?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1536791890&sr=1-61&keywords=litrpg
He doesn't have low luck, he has no luck skill whatsoever.
Advent by Xander Boyce: https://www.amazon.com/Advent-Red-Mage-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07HMLK6JP/
Just read it, it's really good
edit: Hmm, the ebook was release October 5th but it seems to have been available on royalroad before that. Not sure if that counts as a october release then
Yeah he released it for Kindle on Amazon a few days back. Audio book, also.
Not sure about a print book.
Star Child: Places of Power https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076PGG2XK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0aBeAbK6TWV6Y
You might like Unbound Deathlord - the MC is fairly amoral in that one.
Awaken Online might also be to your liking.
I also like to recommend Unsouled, which is basically a xianxia novel written by an American. IMO cultivation / xianxia novels are basically litrpgs, with weird names slapped on top of the numbers.
Another one that kinda sorta straddles the line of LitRPG is Super Sales on Super Heroes - it's a superhero novel, and the MC's power is that he can spend "points" to upgrade things.
<with a french waiters accent>
For madam,
I would propose either china miéville "Perdido..." or Robert Charles Wilson "spin". Both weave interesting believable characters within a good sf plot.
But If you want a page turner, I would say Eliantris or Warbreaker both by brandon sanderson. They're fantasy and really hard to put down.
In the end, I would propose "To say nothing of the dog" by connie Willis. Very clever and funny with a time travel theme.
</with a french waiters accent>
( Damn, I really liked to be a bookseller...)
OP you should read this How To book before heading out.
https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ
Just in case. Cause that sure as hell looks like a coffin.
Perdido Street Station features a scientist in a bizarre and dark cyber-punk universe. http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407
I'd recommend Perdido Street Station. Not pure, but has some very steampunky stuff and more importantly is a great book!
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It's why I like Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. Monsters exist. People get paid to kill them. It's a pretty good time.
Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, I'm pretty tired of the elves, dwarves, orcs, and humans motif. To me, the term "fantasy" means "realms of the utter fantastic." So by comparison to that, Tolkien-esque worlds feel utterly mundane and don't hold my interest without a major kick in the premise pants.
Similarly, I'm tired of the knee-deep swamps of vampire and werewolf cultures in urban fantasy. That's what appealed to me about S.A. Hunt's The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, or Christopher Ruz's Rust. Magical gunslingers fighting steam-powered mechs? Cool. An afterlife full of Lovecraftian nightmares? Awesome. Anything but more of the quasi-medieval hick-with-powers yarn.
Paradoxically, it seems to me that the very authors given greatest licence to explore the bizarre seem the most trapped by the history of what has come before. Myself included. Once I've finished my current series (later this year) my next project is going to kick the stops out of convention and hit the world with something really unusual. Or at least, I hope it will. I'm still working on the details.
jumping on the Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree/Outlaw King train over here, it is literally my fav series of all time _ western, fantasy, sci-fi, action, adventure... a wonderful melting pot of genres all tied up with a little dark humor ribbon makes for an AMAZING package
Glad you liked it! I do the same thing with finding books in a bunch different places. I usually put them on my goodreads to-read shelf, but I never tag them as KU so I have no idea whats what without going through book by book.
If you want some more sci-fi Duel in the Dark by Jay Allen has been in my TBR list for a while, but it looks like a good series. Starship's Mage by Glynn Stewart is also decent. I like a lot of the ideas for his books they're just a little flat IMO.
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron. Like a breath of fresh air to the genre for me, while still having all that stuff you asked for. https://www.amazon.com/Nice-Dragons-Finish-Last-Heartstrikers-ebook/dp/B00LSV28DC
The Big Foot short stories have in fact just been collected into an independent mini-volume called Working for Bigfoot - you can grab the Kindle version for just $6.99!
(And a big vote for listening to the audiobooks eventually - Marsters is Dresden! You may even be able to check a lot of them out from the library.)
I'm so happy my books came in the mail.
GTA IV, as I'm sure you might have heard, was a pretty terrible port for PC, meaning it doesn't properly utilise awesome PC hardware, however it should run great on your rig, even with ICenhancer and texture mods, especially with a GTX 780!
Metro is definitely more than a benchmark. It's quite story-driven and is based on the books by Dmitry Glukhovsky. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which, due to nuclear war, the citizens of Moscow have been forced to take to the sewers for protection.
Good luck building it, I hope you have fun!
Emma Bull - War for the Oaks
Methinks you need to read a bit more widely.
From a random perusal of my paperback shelves (somewhere over 600 books...):
Or if that requires too much original thought... there's always dragons.
Walter Moers
Given the massive success of Adams, Pratchett and others, the rave reviews of everything in Moers' ever-expanding Zamonia series, the fantastic illustrations and the riotous and creative writing I cannot believe so few people have read these books.
These books have some deep social and psychological analysis alongside absurdity, humor, violence, love and adventure.
Reference books, chronologically:
Editorial reviews:
>“Cheerfully insane. . . . Remains lively and inventive right through the final heroic battle between good and evil.”
—The New York Times Book Review
>“Moers’s creative mind is like J.K. Rowling’s on ecstasy; his book reads like a collision between The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Brothers Grimm…. What a delightful book.”
—Detroit News and Free Press
>“An overstuffed confection… Cross The Lord of the Rings with Yellow Submarine, throw in dashes of Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Shrek, and The Princess Bride…That’s the sort of alchemy in which this sprawling novel trades.”
—Kirkus
may I introduce you to this book.
Monster Hunters International by Larry Correia is a good book. The size of the book may be a little off-putting if you’re just starting out, but it’s a fast read. It also opens with “On one otherwise normal Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth-story window.” which is an attention grabber. And it had tons of monsters, guns, and humor.
I just started Monster Hunters by Larry Correia--I'm less than halfway, so it's too early to give it a complete review, but so far, I'm enjoying it--not perfect, but a fun first in a series. It definitely reminds me of DF, but the protagonist is a normal human. Lots of monster fights. It's nice and long, and if you have a Kindle or Kindle app, you can get it free: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1452481390&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=monster+hunters+correia
Are you limiting it to just these categories? Because the publisher Baen has a lot of its first- in- a-series books for free - for example:
Monster Hunters International by Larry Correia
Wow these fill up fast! I know you got me in your last round for Below, but I've got other books that could use some love too.
Currently my book The Affix is free (until tomorrow!), so even if you fill up the list you could always pick this one up now and decide later if you want to tack it on as an extra. :)
It's free right now because the sequel is up, which means now it's the first in a series instead of a standalone.
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree also takes a western aesthetic and transports into a completely different genre, in this case it's a fantasy world.
It's a sort of fantasy/horror/western/drama if that makes any sense! Another parallel is the humour of the characters', which in both Whirlwind and Firefly really shine through.
I really recommend it: http://www.amazon.com/The-Whirlwind-Thorn-Tree-Outlaw-ebook/dp/B00BJCLMFU
Also - I saw someone recommend Farscape. Watch it, it's amazing.
Read any of China Miéville's Bas-Lag books - Perdido Street Station being an excellent place to start. Dark, strange urban fantasy in a world of his own design.
Also, if you like fantasy that's based in the real world, more or less, you might like Tim Powers's works; he writes what he refers to as "secret histories", which basically look at some event in recent (e.g. 20th-century) history where the historical record doesn't quite add up, and then he goes "How could I weave this all together by claiming there was magic going on behind the scenes?". Last Call and Declare are probably my favorites of his (although Last Call does use a certain amount of European mythology, it doesn't do so in the same way most fantasy, being set in pseudo-medieval-Europe, does; Declare uses Middle Eastern mythology instead).
UK friends, here's the link
> I'd love to see an example of a romance novel about a 6.
I'm not sure I could find you a romance novel about a completely average guy. Partly that's because I like romance novels with a bit of action, and action-novel heroes are usually well above average even if you leave the romance out of the equation.
But I can come close. Try Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake. It's brainless fun, but not bad. The guys in this series are just a smidgen above average: a divorced sheriff in a tiny rural town, a former firefighter struggling with PTSD, and so on. They're solid, decent guys, responsible citizens who do their best. It's the women in this series who are "wickedly dangerous," and who outshine the guys. The relationships are fairly cute and turn out to be pretty good matches.
An honorable mention goes to Julius in Nice Dragons Finish Last. By dragon standards, he's tiny, weak and pathetic, and he gets constantly abused by his family. But this is only an honorable mention, because (1) his niceness will eventually save the day, and (2) he's still stronger and faster than any ordinary human. This is still pretty brainless fun, but the writing is solid.
For more, you might have luck with a list like Beta Romantic Heroes:
> Other qualities of the beta male: shy, sweet, reliable, trustworthy, easygoing but not a pushover, quick to offer comfort, feels deeply, avoids confrontation.
"Beta heroes" is definitely a popular subgenre. There's some more discussion here and here.
On the physical side, I suppose I should make another honorable mention of Miles Vorkosigan, who gets a romance or two among all his action plots. Miles is extremely short, somewhat deformed, and suffers from extremely brittle bones. Physically, he's way below average. But he has inhuman determination. When he's thrown into a prisoner of war camp, he's attacked by other prisoners:
> The tunic was jerked off over Miles's head, the pants over his feet. Miles was too busy protecting his head from random kicks to fight much for his clothes, trying obliquely to take as many hits as possible on his belly or ribcage, not arms or legs or jaw. A cracked rib was surely the most injury he could afford right now, here, at the beginning. A broken jaw would be the worst.
>
> His assailants desisted only a little before they discovered by experimentation the secret weakness of his bones.
>
> "That's how it is in here, mutant," said the talker, slightly winded.
>
> "I was born naked," Miles panted from the dirt. "Didn't stop me."
>
> ...The second beating was worse than the first.
Miles is a born leader and tactical genius, and he's always in charge of any situation he finds himself in. Give him a vessel full of corrupt enemy mercenaries, and he'll bullshit and bluff and make them feel shame at their life choices and slovenly habits. Then he'll offer them the opportunity to feel pride again. Despite his physical limitations, Miles is far above average.
I have read a bunch of free books/series through Unlimited.
Ones I recommend (that jump to my head right now):
If you what you are looking for is 100% the game mechanics, give it a shot. Setting, game system, skills/magic, crafting, city building are all pretty cool.
If humor, prose or characters in any way, shape, or form have any impact whatsoever on your enjoyment, dont bother. Save your money for something with more profound conversations and character depth, like Dora the Explorer or something.
I wouldnt say there is many interesting ways of using the game mechanics. Theres a lot of "Deus Ex! Pow! I'm OP" and then dropping any relevance to that aspect of the story for 4 books. There could be some unconventional blends of power in the 7th book, but I didnt get that far.
Instead give Beginners luck a go. Unconventional setting and unique game-mechanics for the MC.
The following each only have one book sadly as not many books in the genre have a lot yet, some have second books coming soon.
The Game of Gods by Joshua Kern
The Great Filter by Russell Wilbinski
Advent (Red Mage) by Xander Boyce
Core Punk by Paul Bellow
First Song (Anthem of Infinity) by Blaise Corvin
This next one has three books but it also has a lot of sex, the story is good if you can get past that or enjoy that sort of thing.
Apocalypse Gates by Daniel Schinhofen
This next one is post-apocalyptic but the world ended a long time ago, it has 2 books. I should note that the "system" aspect is new in the book, it didn't happen when the world fell.
Radioactive Evolution by Richard Hummel
Lastly an honorable mention because while you wouldn't think it's post apocalyptic from the description it absolutely is which may be a spoiler but not big one. Again those the world ended a long time ago. It has three books.
Threadbare by Andrew Seiple
Given time i could probably think of a few others but these were just the ones that came to me the quickest and ones I can say having read them are all good. I also avoided the ones you mentioned or other people have already recommended. Hope this helps!
Link for lazy people :)
&#x200B;
https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Luck-Character-Development-Book-ebook/dp/B076HJPCMH
What is interesting is that LitRPG is basically a sub-genre of the "Portal Fantasy", like Narnia or The Chronicles of Amber. There are a number of LitRPG examples where the story has the main character transported to a fantasy world where everyone has "levels".
The "Chaos Seeds" Series by Aleron Kong has the main character transported to a world where all people have stats, levels, and skills.
The Arcane Emperor web series has a similar conceit - everyone in that land has stats, levels, and skills and a "character sheet".
Hero of Thera and Worth the Candle also has the MC transported to a fantasy/sci-fi world with a character sheet. (Worth The Candle, BTW, is excellent and updates regularly.)
In Super Sales on Super Heroes the main character gets a super power where he has character sheet "in the real world" - this is sort of LitRPG adjacent (Harem warning, Slavery warning). Decent book, even if the MC is a bit amoral.
One of the things I like about the genre is that there a many roads to the "game". Some are just VR based, others are a portal fantasy, while still others have game-like elements in "real life". There are a ton of approaches.
I am excited to see how the genre grows as new authors enter the space and we move further from the "Light Novel" origins. I can't wait to get further away from Asian style grinding and Russian style misogyny and misanthropy.
https://www.amazon.com/Working-Bigfoot-Jim-Butcher-ebook/dp/B00ZXPSA7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1487206410&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=working+for+bigfoot
It is, I think this should be the link for you Conor: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Advent-Red-Mage-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07HMLK6JP
I liked The Scar by China Mieville. It is the second book in a series; you do not need to read the first book to enjoy this one! If you are looking to start from the beginning, Perdido Street Station is the first book.
If you don't mind things set in our geography but with fantasy worlds added on there's:
The City and The City by China Mieville. I really didn't like it but lots of people do.
Not to give much away but towards your fantasy point [spoiler](/s"The story is set in a city that overlaps with another. There aren't other races etc though.")
Alternatively his Perdido Street Station has those of other species in something like our modern times.
Also I'm surprised to have not seen American Gods in here.
This is the book that some say originated Urban Fantasy: War Of The Oaks.
http://www.amazon.com/War-Oaks-Novel-Emma-Bull/dp/0765300346
Whether it did or not, it is a great read; particularly if you like rock.
Of Urban Fantasy series, I like the first four True Blood, the first five Anita Blake, the first few books of the Rachael Morgan series, the first two books in the Mercy Thompson series.
If you notice a pattern above, it is: these series almost always decline in quality. In the end they sink into formula and incoherence, where everyone has slept with everyone and gone evil and returned to good and found their inner power and has been facing bigger and bigger opponents till now they are only easily matched by Olympian-level super bad guys.
I except the Harry Dresden series. They improve as they go. I have no idea how he is doing that.
Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood
Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data
Fablehaven
The Origins of Totalitarianism
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Omega by Jack McDevitt.
Damocles by SG Redling.
I'd get him something a bit more intense then he expects, so his boring flights mediocre entertainment is enthralling. He's not a deep fan of any of these authors, I don't believe, but he still wants to be entertained so he keeps grabbing books. Books with a masculine tone. I think it's safe to get something with a bit of zing to it that he's not likely to grab off a prominently displayed shelf and hopfully he's grateful for it when he finishes the book. I've picked two from the best author I know at writting page flipping entertainment with mature and masculine tone that goes in line with his previous Stephen King, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown choices.
Dead Six by Larry Correia Military/mercenary fiction set in modern day, run and gunning, with the slightest hint of Cthulu horror.
That's the one I'd choose for him based on his books so far and for the purpose of keeping him entertained on a flight and taxi rides; however, the book I take on flights and to doctors offices and to DMV hell is
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia In the first couple pages our main character, a burly and overworked accountant, is attacked by a monster from a B horror movie that shouldn't exist. Our guy has nothing but a pocket knife, a .38 snub nose he's not supposed to have in the building and a million gallons of scared shitless adrenaline to survive a razor clawed tornado of furred rage. The cubicle battle royale is amazing.
The Kindle edition to his first book is free, at least as I type this.
Monster Hunter International (Monster Hunters International Book 1)
You'll need an Amazon account and the Kindle App, but the price is right.
If you have a kindle and are in the US, books 1 and 2 are cheap as dirt. The print price isn't too bad either.
I can't recommend this book enough to a person whose favorite series is The Dark Tower series. It's extremely well written, and you can't beat that price.
(I should probably get royalties for talking it up so much...)
I only read one fantasy book this month:
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by /u/AuthorSAHunt was pretty enjoyable! It was obviously inspired by Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" Series, but it stood really well as its own story. I was really happy with it overall, but because of my own schedule, I didn't have a lot of time to read it, so it took me a long time. That combined with the slow pace at the beginning meant that it took some time for me to really get into it. The last third of the book really picked everything up, but the ending felt a little more like a chapter ending than a book ending - not a ton of closure, but a nice hook to keep on reading.
I'll definitely read the second book soon. Right now I'm finishing a small non-fantasy tour (finishing up with The Winter of Our Discontent) and so it may end up being a December or January book.
I encourage everyone to check it out! The first two books are free on Amazon!
I'm gonna stretch the rules and include some comics on this list:
A bug/human theme?
Well, the obvious answer is Perdido Street Station. One of the main characters, Lin, is from a species that has a human body and an insect head. That would be a costume you could quite easily create.
Some artistic interpretations of Lin can be found at this GIS: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=lin+perdido+street+station&amp;safe=off&amp;espv=210&amp;es_sm=91&amp;source=lnms&amp;tbm=isch&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=pZEkU9-xMIPDkwXVhYGwAQ&amp;ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&amp;biw=2328&amp;bih=1123
cracks knuckles I have no idea if these have audiobooks. I'm sorry if they don't. Most of these are only three books long or shorter, sorry.
Sandman Slim and the sequel. It wasn't my favorite book, BUT it sounds a lot like what you're looking for. And it was fun.
China Mieville's Bas-Lag series (Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Three (~500 pg) books long, fantastic world building, twisty plots and great characters.
The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson (Quicksilver, The Confusion and The Confusion of the World. Three books long, but you could kill a small animal by dropping one of those books on it. These are good, but his stand-alones are better (Snow Crash and Diamond Age for sure).
Most of Stephen King's stuff has the kind of sprawl you're looking for.
Dune, at least until God Emperor (#4).
Honestly, I think if you liked John Grisham, you'll like The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo books. I think I'm making that leap based on the last book in the trilogy. They're definitely entertaining.
Perdido Street Station is realtively new and quite interesting.
Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is a great urban fantasy story that takes place in the unseen world below London and includes some magic, adventure and a great mystery.
If you haven't read the Chronicles of Narnia try those. After you get past the Christian allegories in the first book the series is enjoyable. If you have read them check out His Dark Materials. Another great book that has been called the atheists' response to Narnia.
China Mieville's Perdido Street Station would be a good one too. Definitely darker than the fantasy in Harry Potter but well written and a great story.
The Hunger Games trilogy has been mentioned a few times and is enjoyable. It is more Science Fiction than fantasy but is a great dystopian story. Written for YAs, like Harry Potter, but enjoyable for just about anyone.They're making a Hunger Games movie now so you'll be able to say you read it back before it was cool.
Edit: Forgot to mention The Dark Tower Series. A great series by Steven King that combines fantasy, western, science fiction and some horror. That sounds like a hodgepodge but the series manages to walk the line so well you end up staying awake until 2am reading to find out what happens next.
China Mieville always writes out there science fiction. Try Perdido Street Station and The Scar.
Look into China Mieville. Specifically Perdido Street Station.
Seeing as Blood Meridian is my favorite book, I'll try to give you some suggestions in a few different genres.
Jack O'connell's Word Made Flesh and Skin Palace are gritty, litty noirs. He has a way with verisimilitude and description. Also check out Jim Thompson's cynical 50's dime crime novels (Pop. 1250, the Grifters, and A Hell of a Woman are several standouts).
China Mieville's Perdido Street Station is an excellent, imaginative high concept steampunk-fantasy that dwells in grime and blood.
KJ Bishop's The Etched City, a rad, mad dream-like fantasy about love, cruelty, and loss.
If you desire something from the literary realm, I recommend 2666 by Bolano. Really, it's like nothing else out there and its depiction of violence in the fourth section is as bleak and unsparing as Blood Meridian.
Top 5 off those shelves would be:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Alt History detective novel by a Pulitzer winner
http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832
The Atrocity Archives - Lovecraftian spy thriller and IT hell
http://www.amazon.com/Atrocity-Archives-Laundry-Files-Novel/dp/0441016685/
Books of Blood - A compilation of Clive Barker's nasty little 80s horror anthologies
http://www.amazon.com/Books-Blood-Vols-Clive-Barker/dp/0425165582/
Perdido Street Station - Steampunky fantasy with excellent worldbuilding that's apparently a good example of the New Weird, whatever that is and however it differes from the Old Weird
http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407
American Gods - Gaiman's mythology based urban fantasy; a modern classic
http://www.amazon.com/American-Gods-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0380789035
As for the Weird Tales collection, it's Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors. It sets out to present the best tale from each year of the magazine's original run. Published in 1988 and edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz (as if the eldritch gods didn't inject enough unpronounceable names into the mix) you've got everyone from Isaac Asimov to Seabury Quinn to good ol' HPL himself with "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"
http://www.amazon.com/Weird-Tales-32-Unearthed-Terrors/dp/0517661233
Not quite the $1 deal I got from the library sale, but not as outrageous as some of the out of print prices on Amazon.
Perdido Street Station
It blurs the line between genres, but I'd highly suggest Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.
Since you liked Left Hand of Darkness, check out LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea, and if you like it, the subsequent sequels.
I would love love LOVE a Kindle...I want one so badly, as it would mean I would no longer need to lug round a heavy bag of books whenever I go on a long trip (Which is quite regularly) and I would also be able to read much more comfortably as I often read laying down on my side aha! Here is the E-book I would love, I've heard great things about it and stupidly I've never got around to purchasing it to read :/ Thank you for this contest btw :)
Try Metro 2033. It's about a post-apocalyptic Moscow, where all remaining civilization exists in the subway tunnels.
https://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=bseries_primary_1_0575086254
I'd say they are just different editions with no different content between each other. It also might be the handbook version. So I'd say they have nothing different between each other, but if you want the one with the original cover it is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1368129050&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=metro+2033 ;)
Have you read Walter Moers' The City of Dreaming Books? If not, it has a similar premise and would likely be a great source of inspiration!
Do you like Neil Gaiman? More to the point, have you read Neverwhere? It is that extension you want and the prose is just gorgeous.
For unique, I'd say The City of Dreaming Books. It is particularly good if you haven't read any of Moers other books beforehand.
9 year old girls
They're old enough to be reading chapter books, but you didn't mention how advanced they were...
Hmm...this might be tricky...
If they like animals:
Summer of the Wolves
A recently orphaned twelve-year-old girl and her younger brother leave a foster home in California to stay with their estranged uncle, a biologist studying a wolf pack in the woods of Minnesota. Heartfelt and informative.
If they like fantasy:
Fablehaven
Kendra and Seth's grandfather has a secret. His woods is a sanctuary for all creatures magical and mystic.
If they like mysteries:
Frightmares: Cat Burglar On the Prowl
Peg Kehret has written a score of mysteries, but the best for middle readers are the Frightmares. Kayo and Rosie run into quite a few mysteries, and quite a bit of danger.
If they want to read about normal kids:
You can't go wrong with Beverly Cleary; I will never not recommend her. If I had to choose a single book of hers to recommend...
Dear Mr. Henshaw
7 year old boy
If he likes fairy tales:
The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales
The best set of fractured fairy tales I can think of. And perfect for a seven year old boy.
If he likes mysteries:
Jigsaw Jones
Encyclopedia Brown and its emphasis on logic and catching people in lies might be a touch too much for him at the moment, so I'm going to recommend Jigsaw Jones, the other elementary sleuth solving mysteries at reasonable rates. There's approximately a bazillion Jigsaw Jones books, so take your pick.
4 year old boy
If he likes little stories:
Mouse Tales
****
I may need a little extra time to think of books for the other kids.
While I didn't think it was extraordinary, Damocles is about making first contact with an alien species and having to overcome the language barrier (and more) as told from both the point of view of the humans and the aliens.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
The Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia has a bit of that type of vibe. Plus it is smart and funny
Check out Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series. The overarching plotline takes entities and concepts from the Lovecraftian mythos. This is another series I'd list alongside the ones already recommended here (Peter Clines's novels, Stross's Laundry Files etc.) with the caveat that the Lovecraftian elements are only a part of this universe and not the main focus.
Looks like the first ebook is still (permanently?) free on amazon, and you can add the audiobook (highly recommended) for 2 bucks
Try the Grimnoir Chronicles (starts with Hard Magic) by Larry Correia. Amazing books regardless but the villain is great!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00APAHLMA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1
If you like badass protagonists, I'm here to recommend Hard Magic by Larry Correia. It has violence and badasses in spades. Its not a high fantasy though, its an alternate history/fantasy. But still well worth checking out. Faye is such a murderous little angel. I love her. Oh and linkage --> http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Magic-Grimnoir-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00APAHLMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1370350886&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Hard+Magic
PS, ignore the awful cover. This really is a case of don't judge a book by its cover.
I'm not sure what you like, but I have some suggestions:
S. A. Hunt's The Whirlwind in the Thorntree is pretty fantastic. It's perma-free on Amazon and is the first in The Outlaw King series. I'm reading the second book now. Sam also happens to be a really nice guy and a fantastic cover designer (check out his website if you have a chance). The Outlaw King series is supposed to be an homage to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, but I haven't read it so I'm not sure how similar it is. I read it as incredibly creative, a little dark but not grimdark, and very addicting.
And I also write fantasy - my Erdemen Honor series is epic fantasy lite (no magic, just a different world). It's also more character-driven and written on a smaller scale than a lot of epic fantasy... it's epic in tone, but not scale, if that makes sense. That series starts with The King's Sword. I also have a dark, urban, Christian fantasy series in progress called A Long-Forgotten Song. Only the first book, Things Unseen, is out now, but the second will be out this fall.
The links go to Amazon, but my books are available at other online stores and I think Sam's are too. Also, I enabled DRM on Amazon when I published, but now I think DRM is just an annoyance. So if you want a DRM-free copy, just let me know.
Ohh. I see.
Cradle Series
Overgeared
Red Mage
The Gam3
Limitless Lands
Divine Dungeon
Mirror World
The Good guys
War Aeternus
Dest March
Bushido Online
Dark Elf Chronicles
Djinn Tamer
Hero of Thera
Morning Wood
The Two Week Curse
Party Hard
Axe Druid
Ryan DeBruyn
Equalize: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 1)
The way of the shaman
Galactagon
I am just going to leave this here:
"SUPER SALES ON SUPER HEROES"
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Sales-Heroes-William-Arand-ebook/dp/B072HQF1B6
I’m not well versed on the trademark, but I’ve purchased books that simply say “Super Heroes” instead of “Superheroes”.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HQF1B6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CXDvCbYQBX5XV
Science fiction author that does a lot of military themed SF. He has a current series out right now about fast zombies
Awesome. I am keen to read it. For those you you in oz here is the Australian link
Hmm. I have Kindle Unlimited so Amazon won't let me easily look up if a book is in Prime Reading too, so this may or may not apply (sorry) but these were the best I've read recently:
edit: Also why do so many of these Prime/KU requests always seem unpopular? "What are some good affordable books you can suggest" seems like a very reasonable question to me.
http://amzn.com/B00LSV28DC
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron was great and funny at times. :)
Working for Bigfoot https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZXPSA7C/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_VVExwbQAAPJ8S
In Under A Graveyard Sky, by John Ringo, this attitude was one of the things called out as to why the zombie virus was able to spread so quickly.
Effectively, in NY, if you saw someone jump out of an alleyway, tackle a woman and start eating her face off, the average NYC citizen would probably shrug and just say "Damn meth head." and walk off, MAYBE calling the police.
It provides a lot of other interesting points, such as how in general we don't really think (from a legal standpoint) about someone as being beyond recovery UNTIL the point at which they are dead. So it doesn't matter that zombies have swiss cheese for brains, if a police officer shoots one (in the earliest days anyway), then standard procedure applies. Their gun is turned in and an investigation starts up to look into it. Similarly, no elected official was willing to sign off on killing the zombies because they'd immediately have to deal with genocide problems during the next election.
There is a new series starting by M Todd Gallowglas, Dead Weight. It has Faeries in it although the main character was human. I totally enjoyed it. I believe it will have 6 parts in the end.
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Weight-Tombs-Tale-Faerie-ebook/dp/B00I6UB1P4/ref=la_B004YXN326_1_8?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1395057808&amp;sr=1-8
I liked both Feed by Mira Grant and the Black Tide Rising series by John Ringo
https://www.amazon.com.au/Star-Child-Places-Leonard-Petracci-ebook/dp/B076PGG2XK
Dead Weight: The Tombs by M Todd Gallowglas
Rachel Aaron's heartstriker series is pretty good light hearted stuff.
Try Starship's mage by Glynn Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/Starships-Mage-Omnibus-Book-ebook/dp/B00QW6ZG14
This FTL system needs to be in the game,
Yeah, Beginner's Luck.
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https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Luck-Character-Development-Book-ebook/dp/B076HJPCMH
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Not the author, but I enjoyed it.
Is Bigfoot on campus the college One? That's the finale book in the trilogy. The easiest place to find it is on Amazon called working for bigfoot
You can get it on kindle for like 10 ish! If you don't have a kindle just use the app on your computer or phone!
Edit: :it's. Actually only 6.99! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZXPSA7C/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=
Hmmm, it is super hero genre, not magic, but the MC in Super Sales on Super Heroes has a pretty unique power
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Sales-Heroes-William-Arand-ebook/dp/B072HQF1B6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=super+sales+on+supers&qid=1574918522&s=digital-text&sr=1-3
The Kindle book is still available on the US amazon site.
China Mieville does this in Perdido Street Station, and it worked very well. Check out the Look Inside. The dream is the first chapter, then it transitions to 3rd person for the next one. As long as the voice is distinct, and the jump is clearly delineated (new chapter / section), I think you'll be fine.
Might try Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407
You will probably enjoy William Gibson for sci-fi / cyberpunk.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville also seems right up your alley.
Corroborating source (and a damn fine book)
For strange things, refer to literature. There's an entire sub-genre of fantasy around this. China Mieville is an ideal source for inspiration.
Take Perdido Street Station for example. You have a race of creatures that resemble human hands that act as parasites. They attach themselves somewhere discrete on a host and take over that host. Right hands and left hands have different impacts on the host and there is a caste system.
One of the races is, essentially, Final Fantasy cactuars. Except they practice ritual scarification, can't speak, and sometimes clip their needles. There's a whole network of really strange races and creatures in this book.
Another of his novels, Railsea, features a vast post-apocalyptic wasteland of deep sands. Standard yeah? Except the sands are covered in a criss-cross of railtracks. Thousands and thousands and thousands of them. So much that trains can essentially "sail" on them going in different directions while hunting massive, whale-sized moles. The entire book has a strong Moby Dick theme going on on of some other crazy things.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. The weird steampunky style of New Crobuzon would look amazing on screen. I think Guillermo Del Toro could do a fantastic job with it.
Perdido Street Station?
I would like to recommend this book to you.
Ulysses is Irish. Never, ever, describe it as an American novel in the company of an Irishman.
That being said, read it. You probably won't finish it, and you almost certainly won't enjoy it. I had a whole third-year class based on that bastard, and that was not a pleasant semester. Read it anyhow; who knows, you might love it.
Your question is awfully vague, so I reckon you'll get a range of answers, but if you want a recommendation from me completely unrelated to Orson Scott Card, Faulkner, or James Joyce, go pick up Perdido Street Station.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned any of China Mieville's work. Though he has a bunch of stand alone novels, he has 3 in a world he built: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council. All solid, but I think The Scar is the best.
Kind of steam punkish, but completely unlike anything else I've ever read.
Perdido Street Station.
Metro 2033 and 2034 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. Basis for the Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light games. Great post-apocalyptic book in an unusual setting. Focuses more on the people than the apocalypse, and is a very dark novel.
Amazon link.
> I'm not afraid of rats,
Me neither, but I spoke to a council rat catcher a few weeks ago (when came to eliminate some rats in my loft) and he said that they are becoming immune to all the poisons. It's a real problem apparently.
Now read Metro 2033 and these rat stories will become more entertainingly frightening for you.
The book "Metro 2033" also refers to stalkers quite a bit. I haven't played the game yet, but I assume that they are mentioned there as well. I thought that the book was pretty good. Didn't much care for the ending.
Oooh, that sounds interesting.
If you want some general inspiration on apocalyptic horror fiction then try reading Metro 2033 by Dimitry Glukhovsky. Tremendous apocalypse fiction
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1289835951&amp;sr=8-3
This says not til april 2011. I see some used copies though. I guess that will have to do. I loved the video game. If the book is anything like it, I'm sure I'll love it.
The UK version's still pretty cheap, try getting it from Amazon.co.uk.
She's one of those authors who's always 10 years ahead of the curve and likes to skip between subgenres. She wrote a mythic urban fantasy that's now considered one of the seminal works of the genre (War for the Oaks), a weird western way before that got popular (Territory), a gender-neutral/androgynous protagonist decades before Ann Leckie (Bone Dance), etc. Not to mention a straight SF novel (Falcon), the aforementioned historical fantasy novel with Steven Brust, and she's one of the creators/writers of Shadow Unit, a group author project that's told in episodes like a TV show. Plus a bunch of other stuff, and absolutely all of it is excellent.
Emma Bull did it first and better.
Fablehaven! (by Brandon Mull). Loved it as an adult, totally kid-friendly.
Honestly shocked it hasn't been recommended yet.
The cover and the fantasy world aspect sound like Fablehaven.
http://www.amazon.com/Fablehaven-Brandon-Mull/dp/1416947205/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414625520&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=fablehaven
It may be a bit too... easy, but I still would like to give a shout out to Brandon Mull's series Fablehaven if she is into fantasy. Great series that's a bit on the lesser known side in my experience.
Also, especially if she has any interest in mythology, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is really good too.
The Zamonia Books by Walter Moers. Seriously.
Start with either
Rumo,
City of Dreaming Books
or
Captain Bluebear
Don't let the cover illustrations fool you: these are seriously entertaining, thrilling, funny and sometimes brutal reads (check the commentaries on amazon).
The Zamonia-Novels by Walter Moers:
1
2
3
4
They are funny, gruesome, surreal and simply brilliant. Look at the reviews on amazon. Especially Rumo and The City of the Dreaming Books were unputdownable.
On the fantasy end of things (since you mention Neil Gaiman), is City of Dreaming Books. German author so there's a good chance she hasn't read it and this isn't the only one in the series.
Cory Doctrow also writes YA, Little Brother, comes to mind.
At that age I was working my way through the Golden Age authors (Heinlein, Bradbury, Clark, Asimov, etc). Even if I didn't understand all the finer points, I really enjoyed them.
I would recommend the Zamonia series by Walter Moers; Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear and The City of Dreaming Books. It's incredibly imaginative and great story-telling.
Easy! Fablehaven is great. The whole series is drastically underrated.
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And if into deep brooding with less fantasy (or none): The Book Thief, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, might be worth checking out. I read 'Perks of' when I was almost 20 and it pretty much wrecked me.
And not a book at all. But the piece I think that went the deepest with dark fantasy elements is Pan's Labyrinth lol.
I'm gonna go check out Django Wexler now though.
Yep, I am a nerd. So I wanna read about some fuckin' fairies.
What of it?
I saw a bunch of ads on my Kindle for Damocles and it looks way interesting.
And if I cut my hair, Hawaii will sink.
if you're in the US, look into overdrive. they team up with libraries to let you digitally borrow audiobooks. dunno if it's available outside of the US.
if you're not picky about what books you get, there are services like
audiobook boomwhich give out specific free audible books in exchange for reviews. i've been using them 1-2 months now and haven't paid full price for a book in a while.you can also checkout whispersync deals. sometimes it's possible to buy a kindle ebook for < 4$ and add on the audiobook for < 4$, which ends up being cheaper than just the audiobook. the most popular books are usually more expensive, so look into the lesser known authors. here's an example where the ebook is free and the audiobook is 1.99$ after you get the ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00APAH7PQ
So is Monster Hunter International
https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ/
I picked MHI up a while back (free Kindle version + $1.99 to add narration), but I haven't listened to it yet. Good to know it's enjoyable.
Still are, as far as I'm aware.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1453927926&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=monster+hunter+international
http://www.amazon.com/Basilisk-Station-Honor-Harrington-Book-ebook/dp/B00ARPJBS0/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1453927933&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=on+basilisk+station
http://www.amazon.com/Hymn-Before-Battle-Legacy-Aldenata-ebook/dp/B00BEQP50Y/ref=la_B000APPSXE_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1453927959&amp;sr=1-2&amp;refinements=p_82%3AB000APPSXE%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A618073011
several of the classics provide 99c audiobooks with the free kindle book. Check these: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=amb_link_420460782_5?ie=UTF8&amp;node=6522096011&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Also Monster Hunter International has a free kindle book, providing a $2 audiobook, rather than the $4.95 of the sale.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Hunters-Book-ebook/dp/B00APAH7PQ/
Monster Hunter International was a pretty good read. Seems like it would meet your criteria IMHO
I thought of the Salvation War as soon as the flier got shot down by missiles. Great series.
The story also reminded be of Monster Hunter International. Very similar recruitment process - except it was a werewolf instead of a vampire.
Try the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia. Ignore the corny book cover, the books are gold.
Canadian link
Found this
Oh this looks great! Wow, I have never heard of this this author. I have an Amazon gift card at home and going to buy this book and the first book in his Outlaw series.
I just bought a Kindle so my books to read researching techniques are in need of adjustment. However, if even half of the reviews for these Ebooks on Amazon are accurate/not inflated, then I will be happy.
Okay, this is a bit of a pet peeve for me; please excuse me. The idea that humans originated occurred on another planet is implausible. This idea might have sold back in the Golden Age of science fiction, but based on the current state of science, it's naive.
Aliens could have visited us at sometime in the past, and perhaps kidnapped our ancestors & ported them off-world. Damocles by SG Redling.
Or they might have messed with our ancestor's genes here on Earth The Atlantis Gene by AG Riddle.
But we didn't evolve on another planet. We are too similar to our closest relatives, and the fossil and genetic evidence of our Earth origins is too overwhelming to suggest xenogenetic origins.
There's a book series called Monster Hunter International where they kill monsters with guns.
Nova Terra
Star Child
fun ones you might like are Super Sales on Super Heroes by William D. Arand or the Waldo Rabbit series by Nelson Chereta
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1499160105&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=metro+2033
http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Metro-2033-Audiobook/B0082BEE88/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1499160116&amp;sr=1-1