5 Fantasy Series For People Who Don’t Like Fantasy

Fantasy is not a genre I read often; I simply don’t have the patience for it. Magic, adventure, leather pants and moldy cheese (most fantasy characters seem to tote around some all the time) are just really not my thing.

I’m saying this, but some of my all time favourite books are actually fantasy. But they all come with a little twist!

What are these, you ask? Well, let me show you.

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

Roland, a.k.a. The Gunslinger is on an epic quest to find the mysterious Dark Tower, his progress hindered by the ever elusive Man In Black. He comes from a sort of parallel world where he’s the last of the line of “Arthur Eld”, which is their equivalent of King Arthur. His land is a magical version of the American Old West. His joined on his journey by Eddie, Jake and Susannah who all come from the world we know as our own, alas from different times. The story has elements of horror, dark fantasy, sciency bits and western. I might also add, it’s damn delicious, and epic A.F.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

The books in this series are almost straight up fantasy novels in terms of setting and plot, and yet I found it just so refreshing. Kvothe, our main character is a loveable wiseass, and he’s only around twelve years old when his story begins with the first book, The Name of the Wind. Part of a troupe of Edema Ruh, traveling performers he spends most of his time acting along with his parents, until one fateful night their caravan is attacked by a group of mysterious figures, the Chandrian, and he remains the only survivor. Kvothe sets out on a quest to find out just who or what the Chandrian are and take his revenge.What I particularly loved about the story, apart from the charming, yet relatable main character was how it handled magic. Magic here is a sort of science that talented (and mostly rich) youngsters can learn at the University. The humour is brilliant and the writing is absolutely riveting.

The Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Also known as the Game of Thrones series, these books have some elements of fantasy: there are dragons, there’s some magic, giants, and a super creepy undead army, but it’s still feels more like a political story set in a sort of medieval, sort of magical land. There are a ton of characters to keep track of, but they are all amazingly well done, and all the books are pretty suspenseful page turners. Apart from the court intrigue, the adventure and plenty of murder and death there’s also some romance in the background, but nothing sappy or corny about it.

The Reckoners Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

Set in a slightly futuristic version of our world, these three books follow a group of ordinary people who fight the Epics: men and women with extraordinary powers. Nobody knows how they came to be, but the Epics are now ruling over everyone and it’s up to the Reckoners to stop them. It’s a YA series, so the main character, David, is a teenage boy, who is set out to destroy Steelheart, the epic who killed his father.
I was totally hooked on this one.

The Paper Magician Series by Charlie N. Holmberg

There’s just something magical about this series, and I don’t only mean the fact that Ceony Twill, our main character is a magic user. The setting reminded me of the Victorian version of England, and the practical side of magic through folding papers, creating glass bits and bobs or bending metal was quite fascinating. Ceony and her mentor Emery Thane had an obvious chemistry, but it was not cringeworthy at all.

Have you read any of these books? What are your favourite fantasy stories?

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Shanah @Bionic Bookworm, and this week’s topic was fantasy favourites.