Recommendations for a new explorer to the fantasy genre

Hello.
I've recently fallen in love with this genre by reading The Golden Compass Triology and some of the lore books for WoW, and I would like to read some more of it! So do you guys know some similar books you would recommend? :-)

I think you are going to get a ton of recommendations.

However here goes

A Darker Shade Of Magic by V.E. Schwab. Four parallel Londons, each with a different history, ruler, and society. Grey London, a mundane place where magic is scarce; Red London, a place of copious magic; White London, a brutal world starving for resources, magic included; and the obliterated Black London.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen.

Both of these are fairly breezy adventure tales, both are the start of series (and both have just one other book published so far in their respective series).

I'd say Sabriel by Garth Nix, and then if you liked it Lirael and Abhorsen which cover a different tale a generation later. Two neighboring, very different kingdoms though we get to visit most the more magical and less modern one.

What about those books do you like? What kinds of non-fantasy books do you enjoy?

For example, if you liked how Lyra and Will spent time learning about and using their magic tools, I might recommend So you want to be a wizard by Diane Duane, the first in a series about teenagers discovering magic and working together to learn to use it.

If you enjoyed the different worlds they visited, I would recommend the Diane Duane series again and also The girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making by Cathrynne Valente, which is the beginning of a a whimsical and charming series with incredible worldbuilding.

If you liked the daemons (and who doesn't like the daemons?) there's nothing else quite like that but there are plenty of stories with talking animals and familiars. Again, both previous books I mentioned fit here, but also Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede (first in the Enchanted Forest chronicles) and Spindle's End by Robin McKinley (not part of a series).

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about WoW..

>1 Janne97: Maybe Gaiman's Stardust. It's a standalone novel, not part of a series.

>2 andyl: Funny coincidence; I'm about halfway through A Darker Shade Of Magic now. (Which reminds me; I should put that in the March 2016 reading thread.)

>1 Janne97:, Golden Compass suggests tastes that run towards young adult or tie-in, so in that case I'd second the recommendations for works by Catherynne Valente and Garth Nix. I don't know Diane Duane but I've heard good things. To those I would definitely add Jonathan Stroud; you could try The Golem's Eye, the start of a really great trilogy.

"Lore books for WoW" sounds a little deeper, where you might enjoy a more complex world. Brian Sanderson is probably the most popular fantasy author at the moment. Some of his novels are young adult, or you could try something geared older like Elantris or Warbreaker or Mistborn: The Final Empire. He's doing an interesting thing where his novels appear to take place in unrelated worlds but will eventually link up (the "Cosmere"), sort of like what's been done with Marvel superheroes at the movies.

WoW is set in a 'generic' fantasy world, which means the basis for the lore comes out of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, which then inspired the Dragonlance series. A lot of DnD style fantasy is set in similar universes, but the basis of elves, orcs et al comes from here. Still worth reading and a lot better/slower than the films!

>1 Janne97:, As >7 reading_fox: implies, LotR is THE classic of the genre. I see you have Jane Eyre and other classics in your library, so maybe that would fit the bill. It doesn't have the speed and pacing of modern lighter offerings, but it's hard to top for majesty and you'll see how it all began.

Maybe the Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal would be a good fit. First one is Shades of Milk and Honey.

Try different types of fantasy, to get a feel for which sub-genres you like.

Very different from the Pullman books, but a classic that everyone should try, is a series by Ursula Le Guin starting with A Wizard of Earthsea.

Or something by Charles de Lint, maybe Someplace to be flying or Forests of the Heart.

Or still travel between worlds, with a sword & sorcery flavor, with Nine Princes in Amber.

The list could be expanded indefinitely (happily for us).

Thank you!

Thank you all for taking your time to find some suggestions! I'll definitely look at as many of them as possible.

Be sure to let us know how it goes!

WHEEL OF TIME. That's what you need in your life right now.

Charmed Life is book 1 of the Chrestomanci novels. Some of the wisest and most intriguing writing in English. They are all equally brilliant.

rshart is right about Le Guin. Her science fiction too.

Hi Janne97. Here are some works to try:

To get in touch with some classics:
The Hobbit (Tolkein) (seconding someone else’s recommendation)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis; note this would be categorized as children’s)
The Once and Future King (White; Book 1 only, after that it drags IMHO)

Heist gang in fantasyland:
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Lynch)

Contemporary setting:
The Magicians series (Grossman)
There’s a SyFy series based on this; from what I hear it mutilates the series.

YA:
The Bartimaeus series (Stroud) (seconding The Golem’s Eye, etc.)
The Eyes of the Dragon (King)

Good action scenes:
The first Mistborn novel (Sanderson) (seconding)

With a religious or near-religious good-versus evil theme:
The Book of the Dun Cow (Wangerin)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe also fits this description.

If you (a) like Jane Austen period fiction, and/or (b) don’t mind a slow beginning:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Clarke)

One of my earliest finds, and one which I still love today, is Barbara Hambly's The Darwath Trilogy. I think it has one of the best treatments of magic and wizardry ever. It's also a supernatural horror story, a medieval political thriller and has two (three?) love stories weaved in, so there are those little things too :)

I heartily second the recommendation that you explore Charles deLint - it doesn't matter where you start. I recently read Moonheart and Spiritwalk, which were excellent, and I can also suggest Little Grrl Lost.

I would add Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series to the above excellent suggestions.

>19 BruceCoulson: Hmm. I recently read Weirdstone as an adult, for the first time and didn't care for it. I think you have to read that one in your youth. But Prydain, absolutely. That series has adult-oriented threads underlying it that kids miss entirely.