I grew up on fantasy stories, with Tolkien being the first author I can really remember loving. I have read widely in the genre and love to explore the subgenres of fantasy as well. I have a great group of writing partners and readers who discuss the fantasy and sci-fi genres with me at length. I think all great fantasy stories have some element of what it is to love or be loved and find a place in the world. I am an avid traveler as well and often dream up stories in far away places.
I love Amazonia because it brings together the jungle setting that I feel adds a lot of danger and stress to the characters as well as a scientific puzzle.
I love survival stories when the protagonists are “tough” and these US Rangers meet their match. It also features a furry sidekick and who doesn’t love that?
From the author of ALTAR OF EDEN and MAP OF BONES comes another fantastic mystery adventure, this time set deep in the Amazon jungle.
Out of the inhospitable Amazon rainforest a man stumbles into a missionary village. Soon the CIA operative and former Special Forces soldier, his eyes wide with terror, is dead. The photograph of Agent Clark's corpse in the Brazilian morgue shows two intact upper limbs, yet Agent Clark had only one arm, the other lost to a sniper's bullet.
Nathan Rand's father led a scientific mission into the rainforest and never returned - the same expedition that…
I love the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy but I think to start an adventure you need to begin at the beginning!
The Hobbit has such charm and what are now classic quotes that I like to re-read this every year. Bilbo is relatable as a fellow who likes his home and routine, but decides that he can rise to the challenge and leave safety to help the group of dwarves.
Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End.
But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid…
What fantasy recommendation would be complete without Brandon Sanderson?
It took me a while to get through this series but well worth the thick books! Sanderson creates such lush world building and intense characters that it’s hard not to get swept up into the story. I like his unique magic system and has the feel of an old-world epic fantasy.
The Way of Kings is the first in the series, not yet finished, and the characters are so well drawn and relatable you can’t help but get invested in their struggles.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and…
This book may fall more under dark fantasy and the adventure it takes you on is more emotionally invested rather than swords and sorcery.
But I love origin stories and Kay does a fantastic job creating a world with tragic heartbreak and undying love. This book is based on The Phantom of the Opera and delves deeper into Erik’s origins and how he came to haunt the opera house.
It’s fantasy because while based in reality, the author also weaves a subtle magic that takes us on an adventure into the far reaches of a dark genius’ mind.
"Phantom of the Opera fans no longer need to ponder what was in Erik's past, as Kay has created one for him in this deeply moving, poignant story. . . This sad, but beautiful, novel will be especially popular with [those] who have enjoyed the current musical . . . " – School Library Journal “A MUST READ! Haunting and riveting.”– Rave Reviews “Do we really need another spin-off of Gaston Leroux’s horror tale, The Phantom of the Opera? IF IT’S AS GOOD AS SUSAN KAY’S PHANTOM, YOU BET WE DO! – The Times Picayune “A VICTORY! STAYS WITH YOU…
This is an older book, classic really, but I loved it growing up. Orson Scott Card is the king of sci-fi and Ender’s Game doesn’t disappoint.
It’s a fantastic story about Andrew “Ender” and his two siblings Peter and Valentine. The dynamics of family and war are intriguing, and I like that the protagonists are kids, but yet the gravity of their world makes it work. I don’t feel like I’m reading about a ten-year-old and thinking this is unrealistic.
Orson Scott Card's science fiction classic Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted…
Nora Grace Moon thought her toughest challenge this semester would be managing her OCD, but when her deceased roommate turns up as a reanimated corpse, her world starts to collapse.
When her uncle sends her a cryptic message, Nora realizes it must be a call for help. She reaches out to fellow gamer Wesley for advice, a US Marshal with real-life skills for tactical survival. They venture out into a world that's growing more and more deadly by the moment—not only are the undead spreading, but other humans are taking advantage of the societal breakdown. Unknown to Nora and Wesley, they've been targeted by an ancient archeological society who will stop at nothing until they have what Nora has: an artifact that will unleash a new world order of the undead.
In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading army of wolf-headed men on their borders and the infectious, ever-evolving, zombie-like Enemy that plagues them at home. When Svetlana meets Andrei, a traumatized and amnesiac soldier from another war, she embarks on a harrowing journey of adventure and self-discovery that leads her to question everything she was taught to…
A voice through Svetlana's mirror guides her beloved MotherLand from behind its' electric tower. The war with Wulfstan is not going as well as Sveta and her parents hope, but Sveta trusts the Voice. When her best friend Tattie goes missing, and Sveta saves Andrei, a soldier in summer uniform in the dead of winter, it takes Sveta through a crucible of Light, doubt, and back to the altar of true belief. Girl of Light unravels Sveta's beloved MotherLand in a war-torn adventure through monsters, missing eyes and broken mirrors.
