The best stories that conjure another world with craft while you craft

I return to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss again and again. It is a masterful account of magic, music, and memories. The prose is stunning and full of wonder. I catch new things in Rothfuss’ writing on every reread, from the recurring seven words of true love to the hidden rhymes within the prose. It is a book full of hidden mysteries and the subtle art of naming. I recommended it to friends and coworkers to scratch that magic school itch. It is a meditation on the nature of stories and magic itself. The music and legends we tell ourselves. It is an amazing book and one of my best loved.

The book resonates with me even more since I discovered that the author also has ADHD, something I was diagnosed with during the pandemic. I can see it in Kvothe, the main character. Each reread adds more texture and leaves me in awe at the command Rothfuss has over language. The audiobook of The Name of the Wind accompanied me on a recent drive across the U.S. and it is a fitting companion for any hobby. I cannot recommend this book enough, even as we all languish in wait for the third entry in the series.

I read this book two years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. It is a book about a woman who joins a failing army in order to rescue her family. Along the way, she finds unexpected love, unexpected companions (including a vampire and an Igor), and a way to win a war against a far superior foe. As ever with the brilliant and biting Sir Terry Pratchett, there is so much humor, warmth, and craft poured through every inch of his magnificent prose. There are so many moments that brought actual guffaws from me, including a particularly memorable sock. I highly recommend this book for anyone needing a laugh at the absurdity of society, gender roles, and the military. All of which are topics we should be exploring.

Jackson Crawford’s lectures on Norse mythology make a wonderful accompaniment to any bit of hobby-doing. It fits, I think, with the venue these stories would have originally been told, something to pass the time, to make work of the hand and eye go by a bit faster. What better to help inspire some fantasy making, like painting miniatures or knitting something more elaborate than stories of gods and heroes of a bygone age, when magic was real, and the gods and giants battled around us? I started with Dr. Crawford’s YouTube lectures on all things Old Norse and came to appreciate his engaging style and masterful depth of the subject. He brings the stories to life and reveals the language as it may have been spoken. He puts the myths in their contexts. I view any day that I haven’t learned something new as a bit of a waste and Dr. Crawford is a great resource for learning something new.

I am relatively new to the writing of T Kingfisher and my introduction was the fantastic Nettle & Bone. Her prose is wonderful. Her story is whimsical. Strange magic runs throughout the book as an almost-nun determines she needs to kill a prince with the help of a dust-wife, a disgraced warrior, and a godmother who isn’t very good at her job. I am a complete sucker for faerie markets, in this case the Goblin Market. Her writing style is refreshing, and I have already bought a bunch more of her books.

Nicholas Eames crafted a radical take on the standard fantasy adventuring party by giving them rock band style. This book is a fun take on the fantasy genre with a group of over-the-hill mercenaries getting together for one last score. It isn’t often that a book comes along and grabs me by the ears and sets me to head banging. Kings of the Wyld was that book. I couldn’t put it down as I followed Clay and his ragtag band of mercenaries. I love the mix of humor and epic fantasy with the found family thrown in. The audio version is a riot that preserves the rock and roll tone and makes for a great time painting your newest D&D miniature.