I absolutely adore fantasy! I love leaving our world and being transported to another. I love that characters might have magic or crazy heritages. I love the creatures that come with the genre. I adore everything about fantasy. Throwing romantic elements into the story just makes it all that much sweeter. Having a hero with a weakness for a heroine is so comforting to read. Giving the characters someone else to fight for is also a heart-warming, sometimes gut-wrenching, affair. But in the end, having romance in a fantasy just gives it a little extra push to the readers.
This book was a pleasant surprise for me. The covers look a little bit cheesy, which might be off-putting to some. However, and that’s a big however, I adored this trilogy. The main characters gave off Feyre and Rhysand vibes, the main characters from my first pick. I love a book that is inspired by a popular book, but can hold its own. This can definitely hold its own. And it has the ever-popular “enemies to lovers,” which is my favorite trope to write.
As a long-time lover of all things giant and monstrous, I can think of nothing better than kicking back with a gripping and exciting novel and reading about some sort of man-eating (or woman-eating) creature wreaking havoc. You know, the kind of story that makes you think twice about going into the ocean or wandering off into the foggy forest. And in that spirit, please find below my top five best monster novels, all personal favourites and hopefully ones you will enjoy checking out, if you haven’t already.
A thoroughly enjoyable romp that is still relevant today, Prophecy is a story of mankind’s decimation of the environment and the disasters that can result from this neglect. It can be a little draggy at times, but with a monster mutant bear chowing down on everyone, it makes for an entertaining novel to while away the time on a camping trip, if you dare. I saw this first as a movie, starring Robert Foxworth and Armand Assante, and then read the novel shortly thereafter. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a monster completist like me, and as always, great fun to see the film adaption of a story you’ve enjoyed and how it compares to what you imagined.
All of these books come with elements of uncertainty and risk – it takes heroism (or stupidity) to tackle them head-on. Fantasy and Science Fiction are nice settings for it – authors can and have conjured up situations that we possibly couldn’t tackle in the real world – but their solutions are often very much what we would go with in the real world. Besides, anxiety creates problems. The more we have anxious, unprepared people – the more problems we get – which is why it should be important to learn everything one can about uncertainty, heroics (and not the pathological kind), and risk.
Since I have been thinking in the direction of creating an RPG/Action/Adventure game out of the universe that I'm baking, I picked up something that has already achieved that (note: that's before the fancy TV series came out). Witcher is a messy book, and I'm not exactly in love with the characters (except for the vampire), yet, it is hard to put down. The events unfolding with and around the characters are... well, eventful, and the questions the author manages to bring up in my head need answers. The complex universe is complexly done—the lore is rich with earthen mysteries—suppose, Polish folkloreand such attempts of folklore honoring or revival, to my mind, seem like an interesting thing to do – it is the untapped power of exoticism. I mean, aren't we all worn out by the most common, comic-book revived characters from the…
Geralt’s encounter with a beast reveals the truth behind fairy tales in this graphic novel adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's original short story.
Geralt takes a short cut down a beaten path, where he makes a grim discovery of two corpses. Backtracking their trail, he’s led to a derelict mansion secured with elevated walls and a gate—mysterious and ramshackle, yet adorned with a rare elegance Geralt could not ignore. He is met with the mansion’s owner—not quite human, but a beast with the faculties of a man. With Geralt unfazed by his monstrous appearance and displays of aggression, the beast invites…
I’m a LitRPG author and narrative designer for the video games industry. I’ve written and designed for many RPGs and have always found it satisfying when the player character’s actions tangibly improve the in-game situations of the NPCs. In my own LitRPGs and interactive fiction, I intentionally place the player characters within communities they will come to care about and see grow as their own personal power grows. To me, a character build is more about relationships than upgrades. Stats are just numbers until they affect the lives of others. Then they become story.
Edward Wright is portalled into an RPG world as a bad guy, but he’s determined to use his dark powers for good. What’s lovely about The Wraith’s Haunt is that Edward doesn’t just build a dungeon. He builds a community. He offers shelter for the disenfranchised, many of them monsters, and knits a motley, heart-warming alliance for the betterment of all. And this is all done within the comfortable progression architecture of a classic dungeon core LitRPG.
Dark forces have extended Edward Wright an offer of incredible power at a terrible cost...
...and Edward has chosen to make them regret it.
When Edward is swept into the world of Ivalis as a Dungeon Lord, the Dark's most powerful servant, he has no servitude in mind. He'll oppose the evil plans of the Dark god Murmur, whatever it takes.
Through only his wits and his guts to help him survive a weakened arrival, Edward must rise to power if he is to earn the right to live another day.
When I was nine years old, my first poem was ‘published’ in my elementary school’s annual creative writing booklet. It was such a thrill to see my poem in print and to know lots of people would be reading it. I was hooked on writing, but it would be many, many years before I was published again. While I know it’s never too late to publish a book, I regret how long I waited. Young writers, don’t be afraid to go for it and don’t ever feel you’re not old enough for your words to matter. Readers need your unique, fresh vision.
I love that this book was the result of a dare! In 1816, eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley and three friends held a contest to see who could write the scariest story. Mary’s story—like her monster—has since taken on a life of its own and today permeates all forms of storytelling.
I find it amusing that my favorite version of the monster is the one Mel Brooks gave us in Young Frankenstein. I wonder what Mary Shelley would think if she knew how much her acceptance of a dare would change storytelling forever.
I like to revisit the original story from time to time to savor the gothic drama and flowery writing. If I’m reading it on a dark and stormy night, all the better.
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'
'That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York Times
Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake Geneva. The story of Victor Frankenstein who, obsessed with creating life itself, plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, but whose botched creature sets out to destroy his maker, would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity. Based on the third…
Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic. Well, take that idea and turn it into a novel. I could not stop
reading.
The "wizard" in this low-tech world is a stranded anthropologist
from an advanced race of humans who settled on this planet thousands of years
before. When the local princess calls upon him to destroy a monster, they
build a friendship that changes them both.
I so loved this setup and the way
Tchaikovsky unfolded it. It's one of my favorite science fiction reads in a while.
In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.
Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.
But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she's an adult (albeit barely) with responsibilities (she tells herself). Although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as…
I love books that whisk me away and keep me reading long into the night. There’s something so exciting about realizing you’ve been reading for so long that you have no idea what the time is or if it’s even the same day. I’m also incredibly passionate about horror and what it can teach us about ourselves and our society. Being diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 12 made me feel isolated and alone, but horror granted me a form of escapism and taught me to embrace what made me feel different, something each of these books does. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!
A 90s, queer, coming-of-age story mixed with cosmic horror, I would have read this in a single sitting if I didn’t have to get off the bus. The protagonist, Heath, is an artistic teen who recreates horror movie posters during his habitual trips to the local video store and is slowly starting to realize he is gay, something discouraged by his fellow students at his Catholic school.
I loved the lack of explanation about the supernatural elements. Was the monster all in Heath’s head? I love the ambiguity, but I also love it as a metaphor. I really enjoyed the emotional journey, which felt very autobiographical. My favorite thing is the video store itself. I’m 33, so this brought back fond memories of visiting the video store with my parents.
The story of a boy who dreamed of becoming a man… But dreamed up a monster instead
You’re on the run. Marked. Don’t think about the kid you used to be when you’re homeless and dumpster-diving in the rain. Just eat whatever you find to keep your engine full. Because the shadow with too many teeth wants you tired.
You’re easier to catch when you’re tired.
It has hunted you since the summer of 1994, back when we confessed who we were through mixtapes. When every movie at the video store had dirty heads. You were thirteen and thought you…
I’ve been a huge fan of D&D and RPG games since I’ve been old enough to play them. The idea of grooming a character, growing it in terms of strength and levels until it becomes powerful enough to take on gods always captured my imagination. LitRPG is a relatively new book genre, and reading it (the good ones at least) makes you feel like you’re playing those games yourselves. Following a new protagonist growth and journey, often illustrated by actual numeric values you can easily keep track of (like skills and levels) is so much fun, and I think more people should be aware it exists.
Want another new hero perspective? How about storytelling from the point of view of a rock? Well, that rock grows to become a full dungeon including traps, monsters, and hidden treasures. It's an amazing journey from a small crystal entity who just wants to survive to become humanity’s only hope for survival.
My first dive into dungeon core books, and boy, this one is hard to top. Carl is just a great character, how he figures out to grow himself as a dungeon, eat people and whole, yet retain his own streak of 'humanity,' and it's a pleasure to watch him evolve both as a dungeon and as a person. A must-read!
A powerful dungeon. A sheep-herder turned Noble. Their path to ascendance through cultivation.
Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the ‘rewards’ of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-sake, why are there so many monsters?
Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions for a very simple…
I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy, especially anything involving superheroes or D&D-style adventure. For the longest time, I had to find queer representation through subtle glances and creative readings of characters. I loved these stories for the sci-fi and fantasy elements, but it was frustrating that every love story that came up was straight. It didn’t feel possible for queer love to be a part of a plot, and even when there was a queer character it had a “very special episode” vibe to it. Finally, queer characters are becoming part of the story, and it doesn’t have to be a “big deal.”
It took me months to pick up Carry On after it initially caught my eye on the bookshelf. It was everything I could have wanted.
It is a less problematic Harry Potter, if Harry and Draco ended up getting together. It shows a really authentic representation of unrequited queer love and recognizing one’s own queer identity. It is character-driven, but also full of fun magic adventure. I love a book that knows how to give you exactly what you want.
#1 New York Times best seller! Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015 - Youth! Named a "Best Book of 2015" by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer!
Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.
That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.
Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's…
