Recommend an excellent book series for a long trip?

June 4, 2024 6:53 PM

I'm going on a trip for a few weeks and I'd like to load up my Kindle with a book series or two. Basically some characters I can follow along a journey with and enjoy for the length of the trip. I lean fantasy and mystery with some romance, but open to all genres. No YA.

Recently, I've really enjoyed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett and wish it had like 5 more books following that I could read. I also tried Reign & Ruin by JD Evans, which was mostly enjoyable but I didn't feel like reading the others in its series. Series that I've reread and enjoyed include those by T Kingfisher, Andrea Penrose, Jim Butcher, Sharon Shinn, Katherine Addison. So usually competent, fun characters with an adventure and romance and friendship. I am on vacation so nothing too dark or sad.

posted by inevitability to Media & Arts (31 answers total)

Discworld?
posted by BungaDunga at 7:06 PM on June 4 [3 favorites]

specifically, the Witches or the Watch sequences, imho
posted by BungaDunga at 7:10 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]

I finished The Tainted Cup and immediately grabbed Foundryside by the same author and I'm really loving it. There are only three in the series but they're all out. He had an earlier series that started with City of Stairs, which was also excellent, though the books follow different characters.

Leaning a lot lighter but still tons of fun is Ilona Andrews, which is fantasy that leans much more romance. I loved the Innkeeper series--do not let the terrible covers distract you! There are I think five in the series now.
posted by gideonfrog at 7:16 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]

I liked Foundryside but the series as a whole veers quickly away from an adventure story and becomes something more like fantasyland military fiction. Entertaining but I'm guessing not quite what the poster is looking for.
posted by BungaDunga at 7:44 PM on June 4

I wish I could read the Wolf Hall trilogy for the first time again. I’ve listened to the audiobooks as well as read the books several times.
posted by hilaryjade at 7:45 PM on June 4 [5 favorites]

If you're a fast reader, it sounds perfect for Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence (eight books as of this spring) or one of Seanan McGuire's main cycles - Incryptid is at 13 books currently and October Daye hit 18. Or, depending on your reading speed, the entirety of Discworld (41 books!).
posted by I claim sanctuary at 8:13 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I'm sure you've read the Lord of the Rings, but maybe sometime give it a re-read, this time paying particular attention to how Tolkien describes the land. In my last read through, I noticed for the first time how the landscape changed throughout the journey, along with the plants and birds and the folk that dwelt in the land. It might prompt you to consider the same details on your travels.
posted by SPrintF at 8:30 PM on June 4 [5 favorites]

Liaden Universe books! There are so many! Here are some possible ways to start.

Co-sign on Ilona Andrews, their Hidden Legacy is my second favorite after the Innkeeper series. The longest series they have, however, is the Kate Daniels series.

Anne Bishop's The Others series is also quite good, but there are some darker plots, perhaps too dark for vacation.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:35 PM on June 4

Have you read any of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series? It is historical fiction about a sea captain and his best friend who is a ship's surgeon in the British navy during the Napoleonic wars. O'Brian is a brilliant writer but he makes a lot of use of contemporary accounts so there is a lot of naval jargon. I found Dean King's "A Sea of Words" helpful in getting started (a kind of guide for the perplexed for the O'Brian novels). The series has 20 books (plus one unfinished 21st book). The movie, "Master and Commander: the far side of the world" was based on these books. I would recommend that you start with the 3rd book in the series "HMS Surprise." It is relatively self-contained and not dependent on reading the first two books or the ones after in order to have a complete story.
posted by statusquoante at 8:38 PM on June 4 [14 favorites]

Oh! If you haven't been reading Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric & Desdemona novellas (set in the world of the Five Gods), there are 11? 12? The earlier, non Penric & Desdemona novels are good but somewhat darker.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:40 PM on June 4 [4 favorites]

You want the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch.

The Tainted Cup was my previous book before it & I also loved that.
posted by verbminx at 9:49 PM on June 4 [8 favorites]

The Belgariad Series by David Eddings is charming, in some ways similar to Game of Thrones in terms of the time period and the dialogue being funny. Oh, and the Belgariad books aren't violent.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:50 PM on June 4

Have you read any of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series?

This makes me think of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which has been described as Aubrey-Maturin with dragons. (I haven't read O'Brian so no idea if that's accurate. But it's good!)
posted by trig at 10:57 PM on June 4 [5 favorites]

"competent, fun characters with an adventure and romance and friendship" perfectly describes Celia Lake's Albion books.

You might also like the recent Liz Danger trilogy by Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer, starting with Lavender's Blue. Less positive review here.
posted by paduasoy at 12:08 AM on June 5 [2 favorites]

Nth-ing Discworld and Rivers of London.

Magical Midlife Madness, which starts the Leveling Up series, by KF Breene is definitely not YA and has 10 books of adventure without walking across the landscape because the-journey-is-the-destination or massively overpowered dragons.
posted by k3ninho at 12:48 AM on June 5

Jumping in to suggest Wolf Hall too - I remember reading the first book on a trip throughout India and it was strangely a great match.
posted by socky_puppy at 12:48 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman is brilliant. Set in a Steampunk version of the world, librarian Irene must protect the many worlds held stable by the Library while fighting various foes, and alternately assisted and foiled by fae, dragons and others.
Seven books, with great plot and character development.
posted by Enid Lareg at 2:16 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

The Dark Tower
posted by tovarisch at 2:35 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

One of the best series I recently read is the Green Bone Saga. It's essentially the godfather but with triads in a light fantasy alternate reality.

From Goodreads:

"JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion--but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself."
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon at 3:14 AM on June 5 [3 favorites]

Without a doubt, I'd recommend Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series, starting with the Farseer Trilogy. They have everything you're looking for, and in my opinion the best world building I've ever read. Plus, each trilogy gets better as you go along.
posted by rosiroo at 3:42 AM on June 5 [3 favorites]

It's old but how about the Mists of Avalon books?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:13 AM on June 5

The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin (The Passage, The Twelve, and City of Mirrors). If you like Stephen King and/or post-apoc science fiction, you will probably enjoy this. A man-made virus that turns people into psychic vampires gets loose and causes the end of the world; the fate of humanity is tied up with the fate of a girl who ages very, very slowly. The story starts in the present day with the world-ending crisis and then jumps forward a century. Lots of good characters and a story that's epic in scope but doesn't lose focus on individual people.

The Shardlake books by C J Sansom - historical crime fiction set in Tudor England under King Henry VIII and focusing on Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer who gets sucked into solving various crimes/mysteries and also working for the Crown, in the shape of Thomas Cromwell. There are seven novels.

Seconding the recs above for the Rivers of London and Discworld series.
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 6:59 AM on June 5

On the contemporary mystery angle, the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths hooked me, and I don't even like contemporary mysteries.
posted by spamloaf at 8:29 AM on June 5 [3 favorites]

Preston and Child's Agent Pendergast series for mysteries with occassional supernatural elements.
posted by audi alteram partem at 8:51 AM on June 5

Nghi Vo's Singing Hills cycle, Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series and her Monk and Robot books are all very positive SFF.
posted by indexy at 9:12 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

I wanted to recommend two of my favorite underappreciated authors: Victoria Goddard and Rachel Neumeier. Both of them are writing what I have come to think of as anti-toxic-masculinity fantasy, that is, flipping the in traditional fantasy settings dealing with political intrigue, war, conflict etc, to instead focus on men who learn to value friendship, kindness, and gentle strength.

Victoria Goddard has written several series in the same loosely connected universe. I recommend The Hands of the Emperor for a long, wonderfully slow read about the most competent administrator quietly going about the business of transforming an empire into a socialist utopia. If you prefer something quicker, the Greenwing and Dart series includes many shorter novels and novellas in the same universe that are more adventuresome but with the same focus on kind capability. This series starts with Stargazy Pie.

Rachel Neumeier has just concluded a fantastic series which starts with Tuyo, about two main characters from vastly different cultures at war who become friends and shape the destiny of their world toward mutual appreciation and respect. She also wrote the excellent Death's Lady series which starts with The Year's Midnight.
posted by Illusory contour at 9:31 AM on June 5 [5 favorites]

I'd suggest Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. It has teen leads, but it is not, in my estimation, YA fiction.
posted by the sobsister at 9:59 AM on June 5 [2 favorites]

I like Katherine Addison's Goblin Emperor/Amalo books, and Sharon Shinn's Elemental Blessings series, and I'd recommend Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm books as another series I really enjoyed that I mentally classify with Addison & Shinn's work.

These may be too YA/fanfiction-adjacent/dark-and-sad for the kinds of recommendations you asked for but I'm throwing them out anyway because I hugely enjoyed both as an adult and they're both kind of intense wild rides in a way that is very enjoyable if you can persuade yourself to get fully onboard with what they're doing (and I consider them both top-tier vacation reading): Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series and Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle.
posted by terretu at 11:55 AM on June 5 [2 favorites]

If you like fantasy, I can't imagine you don't know about Naomi Novik, but, in case not, check her out! The Temeraire series, which imagines the Napoleonic Wars fought with sentient dragons, was my companion when I had 36 hours of travel time in a 6-day trip and it was great for that. I loved Uprooted, that's the best of her books, in my opinon, and the Scholomance series is super fun too.

NK Jemisin's books are even better. I love The Broken Earth trilogy, but I've read all of her books and would recommend picking up whichever one catches your eye!
posted by snaw at 3:50 PM on June 5

+1 for Patrick O'Brian. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa is one book, but it's 984 pages in hardback, so that's long enough to be a series, right? It follows at least a half dozen characters through all kinds of ups and downs, chance meetings, and missed connections. And Musashi is super competent at swordfighting.
posted by dunhamrc at 8:51 PM on June 6

I'd disrecommend the Robin Hobb series mentioned- they are good but are definitely dark and sad. Awful shit happens to Fitz and it Does. Not. Stop. Happening.

Definitely second Bujold, Nuemeier, Vo, Pratchett, Aaronovitch, Older, Lake, Chambers, Goddard.

For a couple of other pleasant series that include literal journeying, Alma Boykin's Merchant and Magic starts off a fantasy series based on the Hanseatic League; book 1 follows a merchant from a free town on his regular trek in a wagon train to sell his goods. Some medievally-typical bad things happen, but mostly off the page (book 5, Miners of Empire, has one very unpleasant flashback).
The Healer's Road/The Healer's Home duology by S.E. Robertson starts with a young healer doing, essentially, a gap year in a caravan.

Aster Glenn Grey has a lot of romances, mostly historical or fantasy-historical, some straight and some queer, all lovely.

Marissa Doyle's Ladies of Almack series is a fun Regency fantasy romp; AJ Lancaster's Lord of Stariel series is a fun secondary-world-with-faeries-gaslamp (with a bit more action/peril).
J Kathleen Cheney has two linked series, Palace of Dreams and The Horn, which feel like low-fantasy detective stories but are actually science fiction, and are compelling. Her other books are very good too, but a bit moodier, I think.

If you like cosy mysteries, Donna Andrew's Meg Langslow series is excellent. The characters aren't frozen in time but get older over there series (except the small evil dog. He's middle-aged at the beginning and still middle-aged sixteen years later.)
posted by Shark Hat at 8:55 AM on June 7 [2 favorites]