My fascination with dragons began at a young age and has intensified over the years. I think I’ve watched every movie with a dragon in it and read many of the books. I've tried to incorporate as much as I can, plus my own little twists, into each species of dragon in my world. The most excited I've been about dragons was while watching a special documentary on Discovery Channel. They explained how dragons could fly, the mechanics behind them breathing fire, and what their diet consisted of. It was a great speculative show but had enough science to make you wonder! I hope you enjoy the books on my list!
In this book, we get to see the dichotomy of good versus evil in dragons, but both believe they have chosen the righteous path. Saphira and Eragon care for each other deeply and although they fight and argue, they have formed an unbreakable bond. Eragon is the “chosen one” and Saphira makes sure he knows it. She selected him. I particularly like the training that they go through with the experienced dragon rider, and enjoy how the experienced dragon plays a significant part in educating the new pair.
Fresh from their battle for the rebel state against King Galbatorix, Eragon has no time to rest.
He and his dragon, Saphira, must travel to Ellesmera, the land of the elves for more training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of a Dragon Rider.
Even though he's heading off on the journey of a lifetime, chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and Eragon doesn't know who to trust.
An avid reader my whole life, I jumped into epic fantasy at age eleven. Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan were all high school favorites (and they are wonderful) but by the time I had reached the age that I was supposed to be reading their books, my palette was fairly jaded. The thrill of discovering new worlds and surprising magic was growing elusive, but wonder remains my favorite beat as a reader. I consider it the ultimate challenge in my own writing, and I greedily collect books that surprise me with their scope and imagination, leaving me awed and wonderstruck.
Probably the most traditional book on this list, I am starting withThe Elvenbane because it is my measuring stick for other fantasy. I read it first as a preteen, and I have revisited it many years since, always to be delighted by the world Norton and Lackey created. The detailed illusions, varied settings, the disparate magics, and the mischievous dragons all kept me guessing and in a haze of delight. There was so much that was familiar but with fresh twists that made it new again. It might not be as novel as the other books on my list, but a fantasy has hit the spot if it brings me back to the wonder I felt reading The Elvenbane.
Possessed of great magical abilities, the Elvenlords can change the very world around them to suit their will. They rule their human slaves with an iron hand but they also fear them. According to an ancient prophecy, one day the Elvenbane - a person half-elf and half-human will be born, and the elvenlords will be overthrown. Neither the elves nor the desperate humans know that the prophecy was created by a third, hidden race: the dragons. The dragonkin love to secretly manipulate the elven society and they get a fresh chance when a human woman, pregnant by an Elvenlord, flees…
I love books that entertain and uplift when characters learn and overcome. As a teenager, things happened that threw me into a painful tailspin, ending in a wilderness program for troubled kids. It taught me that I can do hard things and face challenges in life. I’ve lost loved ones, have a special needs child, divorced, been broke, earned my black belt, returned to school as a single mom for a degree, and co-founded a nonprofit to support literacy for kids. None of that was easy, but it increased my compassion and hope. Stories can be powerful reminders of human resilience, and that battle scars make someone more beautiful than before.
This paranormal fantasy follows a story about what is possible when family and friends unite against evil. I stayed up late to finish reading–it really grabbed me!
I had to know how Lucy would overcome a very dark and scary generational curse. Don’t we all want to know how to do that on some level? I love the idea of breaking chains and having hope in an unseen future. I think it’s easy to feel doomed to whatever fate has been programmed in us–but there is always hope where there is love. It was a fun read.
For fans of Beautiful Creatures and Wicked Lovely comes this New York Times Bestselling modern fairy tale from National Book Award Finalist Nancy Werlin.
Inspired by the classic folk ballad “Scarborough Fair,” this wonderfully riveting novel is rife with suspense, romance, and fantasy. Seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers that she is the latest recipient of a generations-old Elvin curse that requires women in her family to complete three impossible tasks or risk falling into madness and passing the curse on to the next generation. Unlike her ancestors, Lucy has the support of her fiercely protective adoptive parents, and her best friend Zach,…
In writing character-driven space fantasy, heavily influenced by my training as an electromechanical engineer, I’ve realized a love for stories with a heavy emphasis on moral dilemmas and shifts in thinking. How does a character change direction after realizing much of what they always believed was a lie? When well-trained instincts pull them backward instead of propelling them forward? I love these stories, mirroring my own messy self-discovery journey through life. The settings and stakes are more fantastical, but that makes them more appealing. A way to confront my own trials without becoming burdened by them. If the characters can do it, so can I.
I’m a sucker for unique worldbuilding, and this book's combination of military traditions and the age of sail with magic space travel scratches that itch nicely. Dianne Morrison tells a heartfelt and deeply emotional tale that is at once both a coming-of-age story following a young elf’s pursuit of dreams as a star-pilot and a gritty cautionary tale on the horrors of war.
I felt for Shaundar and friends as they struggled through their own challenges to pursue their dreams, their patriotism as they snuck away to join the new war effort, and their horror as those dreams fell apart and survival became paramount. Check the content warnings on this one, as the narrative leans heavily beyond heroes and into the dark sides of war.
Toy Soldier: A derogatory slang term for an elven marine.Battles great and terrible, small and bitter, raged across Known Space as the wars of Elves and Orcs played out their legacy of hatred across the stars themselves. Epics would be written, songs would be sung; but wars are fought by real people with loves and families and homes.
All Shaundar Sunfall ever wanted to be was a Star-Pilot. Raised on his father's ship, he has found an affinity for the stars -- although as a mixed-race elf and a bit of troublemaker, he often runs afoul of his commanding officers.…
I am a 68-year-old Emergency Room Physician who deals with life and death and tremendous stress every hour at work. When I read, I want to relax and be entertained I personally like YA fantasy books. I do not want to read adult fictionized stories about the life I live every day. I want to be taken off to a new world. Emersed in it. And made to believe the unbelievable.
The Royal Institute of Magic was a story that was character driven. Victor Kloss did such a great job distinguishing each character from the other that I felt I knew them personally. At the end of each book, I found myself ordering up the next installment because I wanted to find out what happened to each character and how they grew into adults and as friends. It was pure entertainment.
Like most normal people, Ben hadn't the faintest idea there was an Institute of Magic...
Two years after his parents’ sudden disappearance, Ben Greenwood stumbles upon a cryptic letter that could shed some light on their whereabouts. But before he can track them down, he’ll need to find the mysterious organization that sent the letter:
The Royal Institute of Magic.
To succeed, Ben will have to navigate a land filled with fantastic creatures and Spellshooters, where magic can be bought and sold, to unravel an ancient family secret that could hold the key to defeating an evil the Institute has…
Homeland features one of my favorite characters of all
time — Drizzt DuOrden. So, obviously, Homeland was going to appear on this
list. R.A. Salvatore certainly knows how to construct a character and spin a
narrative that will have the reader hooked from start to finish.
If you’re a
fan of dark fantasy, I definitely recommend this book.
Strange and exotic Menzoberranzan is the vast city of the Drow. This is a world of dark elves, where families battle families and fantastic monsters rise up from the lightless depths. From the author of the "Icewind Dale Trilogy".
I’ve been more than lucky to live a life of adventure from the start. My family did things a little unusually – we lived on a boat, we bought a ranch, we trained (and I still train) horses, we traveled, and through it all, we read. My entire adventuring family always had books, even on that boat when we have very little space. We would all go to the main cabin at night and either escape to a new world in novel or, in my case quite often, a note book. I’ll be forever grateful for these experiences because it was adventure shaped who I am as an author and reader.
I won’t lie, I am an audiobook fan because I can listen to them as I work. The story in The Spirit of Things, combined with the excellence of Nigel Peever as a narrator, is seriously fantastic! A Human boy raised among elves wants to find his way to finally being accepted. After having a vision, Fulco realizes what just might be his answer – he needs to find a way to possess magic.
A land in peril, a traitorous goddess, a human outcast living among the elves. Will he learn to harness his mysterious powers before it is too late?
By the age of seventeen rotations, Fulco has had a tough time growing up in a forest village. Abandoned as a baby and raised by a loving elven family, he is despised by the village elves as humans are deemed a plague upon the land.
Hoping to gain their approval through sportsmanship, Fulco dreams of winning a position on the elven Portare team. An epic sport where players must ride upon a beast,…
just like in the real world there is a lot going on. Each plot line was so interesting and intertwined giving the characters enough time to accomplish their goals (good or bad). The character growth continued to be a central theme throughout this book, even when it meant that I was mad at the author.
A challenge from the Ancients.Daemus Alaric and his band of dauntless companions venture to the Devil’s Horn, the mystical home of Trillias, the mercurial Ancient of Sport and Tests. Their quest—to recover the lost Tome of Enlightenment, cast into the bowels of the mysterious Laurentian Labyrinth by the fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad. Will they survive the god’s gambit?
A villain rises and darkness follows.Far away in Castle Thronehelm, Princess Addilyn Elspeth and Sir Ritter of Valkeneer arrive, warning the kingdom of the fall of the Cathedral of the Watchful Eye. As they travel north to prepare for war, they…
I am a secret hearth witch, a simple gardener working hard to keep fairies, dragonflies, fireflies, and pixies alive. I love to cook, mixing in a dash of magic with flavors from all over the world. Dragons or cats are always welcome in my world, and I’ve been known to shelter a hellhound in need.
I love a lot of K.M. Shea’s work because her plots involve character growth as well as a mystery to be solved. One of my favorite series begins with The King’s Captive.
The main is a little cat shifter. She is not a powerful shifter or even a powerful person. She’s down on her luck but thrifty, scrappy, and courageous. She’s also a cat, so she’s sneaky and clever, even if she does lose tufts of fur to her enemies now and then. She needs help to survive, but finding it and trusting others, well, that’s all part of the great journey.
It’s a fun magic, except in a world filled with vampires and werewolves, it doesn’t exactly make me a powerhouse. Instead, the supernatural community has classified me as an outcast, which means one thing: picking on me is open season all day, every day.
The local fae are the worst of all, and it’s during one of their regular “capture the cat-girl” sessions that I shift into my cat form and meet HIM for the first time.
Noctus is so powerful his magic radiates off him like a sun, and my fae captors can…
I've been a fantasy reader since the fourth grade when my father introduced me to The Hobbit. As I grew older, I found myself drawn to female-led fantasy stories. Before I started writing fiction, I reviewed books on a (now defunct) blog, learning from those authors as I critiqued what worked and what didn’t. Now, as a fiction author in my own right, I’ve focused on the story elements that truly speak to me; characters who live and breathe on the page, adventures through magical lands and diverse cultures, myths that feel so true they could almost be real, and heart-pounding action that breaks me out of my own safe little world.
The Elf Tangent is an adorable (yet surprisingly dangerous) romp through the woods. Our heroine, Aldari, is an intellectual princess who has reluctantly agreed to marry the prince of a neighboring kingdom (sight unseen!) to save her own people. As she travels to her wedding day, her party is attacked and she and her bodyguard are kidnapped by elves who need her help to break a generations-old curse. For once, someone needs—and appreciates—her brains! Caught between the needs of her people and the intriguing puzzle presented by the elves (oh, and the enticing commander of their party), Aldari must use her wit—and at one point a shovel—to get out of her predicament.
As a princess in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria, it’s Aldari’s job to look pretty, speak little, and marry a prince.
Studying mathematics and writing papers on economic theory in an effort to fix her people’s financial woes? Her father has forbidden it. With war on the horizon, they must focus on the immediate threat.
Reluctantly, Aldari agrees to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance her people desperately need. All is going to plan until the handsome elven mercenary captain hired to guard her marriage caravan turns into her kidnapper. His people are in trouble,…
