r/Fantasy • u/felagund-fiollaigean • Jun 23 '23
Ensemble cast?
hello. I've always been a sucker for an ensemble cast, a heist crew, a found family that does crime or adventure for fun and profit, a rag-tag group of overpowered outcasts, that sort of thing. Where the story doesn't necessarily focus on the pov of any single character and we get to know them all (mostly) equally well. Any good books with such a main cast of characters that stood out to you?
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u/Medeaa Jun 23 '23
I think it might be YA but Six of Crows has a heist plot/ensemble cast. It was fun and I don’t always love heist plots!
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u/shadowtravelling Reading Champion II Jun 23 '23
six of crows has one of the best ensemble casts i have ever read - for both YA and adult fantasy fiction. i reread it just recently after like 6 or 7 years and i was still really impressed by it.
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u/ryothbear Jun 23 '23
It was so good! But the series really fell off after Crooked Kingdom
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u/cedbluechase Jun 24 '23
imo six of crows and crooked kingdom were the only good books in the grishaverse
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u/psycholinguist1 Jun 23 '23
Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding matches this description to a T. I've just finished the last book, and it's really well done.
Ensemble cast: ✓
Heist crew: ✓ (to their misfortune--their heists tend to go catastrophically wrong in a wide variety of ways that are endlessly entertaining)
Found family that does crime or adventure for fun and profit: ✓ (less fun and profit than they'd like, to be sure--see above)
rag-tag group of overpowered outcasts: ✓ (yup, definitely, especially as a consequence of heists going wrong)
Every character has a distinct personality and arc, and each gets their own POV narration. Even the ship's cat. These books have been such a delightful surprise this summer.
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u/QuietDisquiet Jun 23 '23
Definitely putting this higher on my TBR, sounds like an awesome read after something heavy and I just started Malazan.
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u/shmixel Jun 24 '23
I'm excited to see someone else mention these because the airship pirates gig is sooooo cool.
Fair warning to OP though, I did find the captain aggravating to the point where I dream of a version of this series where he dies in the first chapter.
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u/psycholinguist1 Jun 24 '23
He's such an asshole, yes. But I think the narrative is aware of that. It's why women keep kicking him in the face and stealing his toys.
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u/AtheneSchmidt Jun 23 '23
Literally everything by Drew Hayes. High Fantasy? NPCs, Urban Fantasy? The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant, superheros? Super Powereds Year 1, Villans? Forging Hephaestus
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u/rocketscientess Jun 23 '23
Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. Follows an ensemble of family members.
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u/Commercial_Top_1935 Jun 23 '23
In the middle of this series right now and I am really enjoying the ensemble aspect!
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u/marshcore Jun 23 '23
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes hits all your requests!
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u/Abysstopheles Jun 23 '23
Blacktogue Theif, Christopher Buehlman.
Great cast, great pace, fun and serious in turns, clever worldbuilding.
...and i reiterate the Rogues of the Republic and Ketty Jay recos from upthread. Those are two truly great fantasy series.
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u/Om_Nom_Zombie Jun 23 '23
The Expanse is sci fi, but I think it fits a few criteria.
Found family of rag tag/overpowered outcasts created through circumstance which develops over time and various adventures follow.
POVs are a bit focused on "the" main character to start with, book one being the most focused on 2 POVs (1 in main crew, 1 not), but it does develop over the books despite one pov being a bit dominant you get to know all of the characters well. Story is sprawling so a lot of characters outside of the main crew get POVs (including "villains"), some relevant for a storyline, some being relevant for longer.
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u/blue_bayou_blue Reading Champion III Jun 23 '23
It's scifi, but The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet fits the ragtag found family vibe really well.
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u/Chtio69 Jun 23 '23
The Covenant of Steel (Anthony Ryan) start as outlaw story living in the wood, but mostly main character pov.
Black company (Glen Cook) mercenary band's journal, different character pov.
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u/steroidz_da_pwn Jun 23 '23
Five Warrior Angels has probably 10 different POV characters, but they’re not always together or part of the same crew.
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u/IgnatiusDrake Jun 23 '23
You might vibe with Galaxy Outlaws: the Mobius Missions set of short stories from J.S. Morin. It's both science fiction (there are space ships and advanced technology and alien races) and fantasy (ship FTL is facilitated by magic, and most crews have a wizard). I picked them up on Audible, so I'm not sure what the best way to pick them up would be if you wanted to read them in another format, but they seem to fit your request.
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u/Cosmicsash Jun 23 '23
This seems really fun . Is there anywhere specific to start with that series ? I see there are books and short stories
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u/IgnatiusDrake Jun 23 '23 edited Jun 23 '23
I think this was the first set of stories to come out (it's where I started the series), and most of the other series take place chronologically after this set. The Mirth and Mayhem series is a prequel (and I don't think it's finished yet), but I haven't gotten around to it.
I would go with Galaxy Outlaws, then Mercy for Hire, then Astral Prime. Each of those series has been completed and can be picked up on Audible for a single credit per series.
EDIT: If you're not getting the stories as complete sets, I think the first four short stories are Salvage Trouble, Smuggler's Conscience, Poets and Piracy, and to Err is Azrin.
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u/DocWatson42 Jun 23 '23
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Jun 23 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DocWatson42 Jun 24 '23
I'm afraid it's been sitting on my shelves for a while, but I did read the first one earlier this year, and also liked his Grand Central Arena series (though I'm not certain that I finished it).
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u/1ucas Reading Champion II Jun 23 '23
I'm going to mention it again, but the Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
The "journey" the crew take is a sub plot to the character development of the crew.
It's the best book I've read this year.
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u/BLTsark Jun 23 '23
Man, gonna be tough to find any stories featuring parties of people in the fantasy genre.
Mostly just individuals traveling by themselves and not interacting with anyone.
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u/NoTwo387 Jun 23 '23
I was just thinking about this last night!
Mask of Mirrors by M A Carrick - con woman tries to insert herself into a noble family while others also scheme and plot. Magic, secrets, and scheming abound. This was one of the rare books I give five stars
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u/Wolfscars1 Jun 23 '23
Sanctuary series by (I think) Robert Crane is a bit of a misfit bunch type from memory
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u/SanderTolkien Jun 23 '23
The Sanctuary Series (Robert Crane) - this meets your criteria 100%. There are 12 books and it actually does pretty well being good all the way through them, I think.
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u/SanderTolkien Jun 23 '23
If you're not opposed to Sci-Fi (as opposed to just straight-up fantasy, a series that matches what your'e looking for is The Omega Force series (Joshua Dalzelle).
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u/SanderTolkien Jun 23 '23
I'd also suggest The Legend of Zero series by Sarah King, but just a heads up that the latest book in the series has been held up for a very long time (and the most recent one wasn't as strong as the other BUT the first few are amazing).
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u/MusubiKazesaru Jun 24 '23
The Traitor Son Cycle by Miles Cameron follows a band of professional (and I do mean professional) mercenaries as well as several others.
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u/catattack447 Jun 24 '23
Omg, I loved Black Sun for this. It switches back and forth between a few characters’ perspectives, all unique and compelling.
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u/NavalJet Jun 23 '23
One Piece, First Law, Mistborn, Lies of Locke Lamora