Another suggest me a book thread (but this one is different)
I am not too sure if everyone is familiar with the Liveship Trader series by Robin Hobbs but I just finished her 3 books and like that style. I am sort of new to her style of books and was looking for something similar.
One of the issues I have is that I am very sensitive, especially to violence and characters misfortunes.
Are there any books out there that are mostly upbeat that are similar in genre to the Liveship Trader series?
Maybe Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion books ( The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, The Hallowed Hunt ), C. S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy (Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, Crown of Shadows), or Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books?
I haven't read the books, the OP is referencing, but this would indicate that this is the opposite of what the OP is looking for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch26sf
One of the issues I have is that I am very sensitive, especially to violence and characters misfortunes.
Are there any books out there that are mostly upbeat that are similar in genre to the Liveship Trader series?
I'd pick up some Terry Pratchett (Diskworld) and Robert Lynn Asprin's "Myth-Adventures" series.
Both are very funny and have very little in the way of real violence or bad things happening. Even when people die in Diskworld, it's usually very, very funny.
__________________ "We are all Individuals! They chanted in unison...
I haven't read the books, the OP is referencing, but this would indicate that this is the opposite of what the OP is looking for.
That's why I was a bit confused. If you don't like 'dark' stories, the Liveship Traders books seem like a strange series to like. So my suggestions were going for 'good' protagonists that got stuck in some really nasty situations, but managed to come out of it okay.
I mean, Brust's Vlad Taltos books and Hobb's Assassin / Tawny Man trilogies both have an assassin as the main character, but the latter are much, much darker, whereas most of the former aren't dark at all and are usually somewhat funny; they're certainly a lot more light-hearted than the Liveship Traders books.
The liveship trader series was actually pretty upbeat imo, which I assume is unusual for Hobbs due to her other books. The protagonists in the liveship trader really went through a lot of hardships but it was clear black and white for the most part on where they stood, there was a happy ending, and nothing really terrible happened to anyone except the bad guy.
You might enjoy some of Guy Gavriel Kay's books. TIGANA would be right up your alley, and his Fionavar Tapestry, starting with The Summer Tree, would also fit your tastes, I think.
I love Hobb's books, but you may not want to read the other two trilogies; not because Fitz is an assassin (in the same way Hamlet is an assassin), but for everything he goes through...
I'd also recommend WINTER'S TALE by Mark Helprin. Probably my all-time favorite novel, and one of the most uplifting books I know.
__________________ What family doesn't have its up and downs?
You might enjoy some of Guy Gavriel Kay's books. TIGANA would be right up your alley, and his Fionavar Tapestry, starting with The Summer Tree, would also fit your tastes, I think.
I'll second Tigana. A fantastic book, stand-alone, and with a wonderful story and ideas.
The Fionavar Tapestry is also excellent, and generally very uplifting. However, there is a scene (at the end of the first book, iirc) that reduced me to tears and is quite shocking. Don't want to spoil it, because it really is an important part of the story and wholly appropriate to the larger picture. And very powerfully written. But a real gut-punch all the same.
Still recommend it though!
__________________ The name that can be named is not the true name. Darker Days - a World of Darkness podcast. Email Darker Days.
For lighthearted and lightweight fantasy reading where nothing really bad happens to the protagonists, I would also suggest the Belgariad and the sequel series, the Malloreon, by David Eddings.
The Ethshar books by Lawrence Watt Evans are mostly upbeat, with little in the way of really crude violence or such. I'd especially recommend Ithanalin's Restoration. It's a cute book with an apprentice trying all manner of things to restore her master after a miscast spell puts parts of his mind into the furniture. Furniture that can now move.
The characters in most of the books go through trials and such, but nothing really cruel or heartbreaking unless I'm misremembering.
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
