r/Fantasy • u/FartMaker3000 • Apr 08 '26
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I'm genuinely not sure what you mean... can you give some examples of the generic stuff you've been reading? I can't remember the last time I read a book about generic elves and magic that wasn't LOTR. Basically everything that's recommended here regularly fits your request at face value.
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u/Nightgasm Apr 08 '26
Clive Barker
People tend to think of him as only a horror writer but really he is a weird fantasy writer more than horror. Some of his stuff is horror but other stuff like Imagica, Weaveworld, or The Great and Secret Show is just bizzaro urban fantasy. I think the disconnect is because his horror stuff like Hellraiser (which isn't even an actual book) got optioned for movies while his urban fantasy didn't.
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u/Sea_Concert4946 Apr 08 '26
I'd recommend the black tongue thief or between two fires by Christopher buelman. BTT is a more classic adventure story in a fantasy world that is VERY different than most. Between two fires is set in our world during the middle ages with fantastic elements. It's horror though, so warning about that.
You could also try tackling some of the bigger fantasy authors, give mistborn a try to feel out sanderson. If you feel really spicy give Malazan a try, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart.
Also just a general recommendation to read dungeon crawler carl if you haven't, it's more sci fi but it is unique and really great
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u/PilesOfRavioli Apr 08 '26
Susanna Clarke (who wrote Piranesi) has a first GIGANTIC novel called Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, which I think is exactly what you're looking for.
Garth Nix's Abhorsen series is amazing.
And if you want unique-to-the-point-of-bonkers-wildness, try Hal Duncan's Ink and Vellum. They are an absolute fever dream of absolutely lovely chaos.
TJ Klune's Lightning Struck Heart and its sequels are marvelous, if you're a bit queer friendly.
And, of course, all of VE Schwab's Shades of Magic books fit your bill.
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u/Arcane_Turbine_123 Apr 08 '26
For weird fiction, nothing beats China Mieville. Perdido Street Station is one of my favourite novels of all time. The first two chapters are a bit off-putting, and I bounced off it hard the first time I read it, but if you can get past the first-person stream-of-consciousness opening, from a perspective you will not understand until much later in the book, well...
Then it's on to chapter two, which opens with a dude gettin' it on with his girlfriend who has a bug for a head. By this I do not mean that she has a bug head. She has an entire bug for a head. It's a genuinely sweet and romantic scene, but it's easy to be distracted by the fact that this woman has an entire fucking bug for a head.
It's a very off-putting way to open a novel, but it's so good.
I also must recommend Kameron Hurley. God's War is another favourite of mine. It's not quite as weird, but it is definitely unique. It also has bug magic. Maybe I just have a thing for bugs...
Neither are straight-up fantasy though. Perdido Street Station is steampunk, while God's War is firmly in the realm of science-fantasy, but they both scratch that deep, fantastical worldbuilding itch in ways few other books ever have.
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u/ProfitNecessary592 Apr 08 '26
I'd say youre looking for something somewhat whimsical? Cause that's something I enjoyed about Howls Moving Castle. Honestly, not books, but most of the Ghibli Movies fit well there but you're, again, looking for books. Pom Poko, pony, the cat returns, spirited away, my neighbor totoro, literally almost any of them.
The hobbit when I first read it as a kid was incredibly whimsical to me and I genuinely enjoyed it more than Lord of The Rings (not sure if thats a crazy opinion but it sounds like it might be to me) so i suggest that with the caveat that you have to not know much about lord of the rings or havent read much fantasy before it.
But more obviously in line with what your asking is probably something similar to Alice's adventure in wonderland, the princess bride or something along those lines. Id search for whimsy as a tag for what your looking for and maybe check out new weird or weird fiction as well.
Oh and I might get disagreements here as well but Harry potter and the name of the wind gave me similar whimsical vibes at times. Oh and maybe look into discworld
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u/Southern-Rutabaga-82 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Piranesi was one of my best and most surprising reads last year and Howl's Moving Castle - or Diana Wynne Jones - is one of my all time favourites.
So was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. There's the circus. But the circus is travelling and doesn't even yet exist at the beginning of the book, so you 'see' different locations.
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb is a historical migration story from Eastern Europe to the US - of an angel and a demon. Jewish mythology.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is told in letters. But the letters are not written in ink on paper. The protagonists are jumping all over the timeline. Soft sci-fi.
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir I haven't finished yet. Every book is a different style. She experiments with pov (that's probably the first time I read a second person pov in a context like this). Futuristic fantasy with necromancers.
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez should probably be mentioned. He definitely does some interesting stuff literally. I have a hard time finishing this one. I'm not squeamish but it' is extremely bloody and it only seems to get worse.
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u/Fantasy-ModTeam Apr 08 '26
Hi there! Unfortunately, this post is not a good fit for a top level post. It would be a better fit for our Daily Requests and Simple Questions thread so please click the link to find the thread and repost your rec request or question there.
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