Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fantasy

Please tell me what to read!

Janta — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:22:54 -0800

Book-recommendation-filter: Can you help me find something to read? Parameters to follow. I'm desperate for new reading material. I typically read SF/Fantasy and some mysteries (innovative and edgy, I know), and lately I've found myself reading more non-fiction, simply because it seems like most of the SF/F out there has a lot of hackneyed, overblown prose and predictable plots. What I'd really like to find is SF/Fantasy that plays with the genre's conventions a little bit, I think -- actually, I'm interested in any book that twists the conventions of its genre. Additionally, I prefer books with a good deal of action, and absolutely love it when the characters engage in "witty banter" (it should be genuinely smart dialog, though). I'm not super-fond of hard/military SF, though if it focuses on the people more than the science and tech, I'll give it a try.

SF/F that I've enjoyed recently: everything by Terry Pratchett, most of Lois Bujold's books, Scott Lynch, John Scalzi, John Varley, Charles Stross, Guy Kay, George Martin, and Ken Scholes.

Bonus-round: I just re-read Soon I WIll Be Invincible; do you know of any books that mess around with the whole superhero/supervillain/metahuman concept?

Thanks, MeFites!

p.s. -- I've done the usual googling, looked at past questions, tried BookSeer and What Should I Read Next, and haven't had much luck.

The Nine Billion Stories About God?

jefficator — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:01:20 -0800

Please link me to Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories involving God--especially "surprise" God. I'm curious about Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories like the Nine Billion Names of God. Basically any stories in which God is a character--especially those in which God is a "surprise" character.

If you think a story might be relevant, please pass it along!

Thanks Everyone!

Book suggestions for a 19 year old

blaynerb — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:40:07 -0800

I'm looking for something new to read. I'm 19, any suggestions? For the first time in many years, I'm without a book to read. I'm a college student and need a reprieve from school work. I've looked on a lot of book websites but I'd like suggestions based on my actual preferences and I've seen a lot of successful book suggestion questions on here.

I'm in the phase where I still like some YA books but I'm not a big fan of obnoxiously angsty teenagers or messages of purity and abstinence. Some of my favorites:
Harry Potter
Eragon
Twilight
The Golden Compass

I like fantasy novels but not really science fiction, and I like action, mystery, and really need a romance aspect to keep my interest as well (sexual tension, steamy bedroom scenes, etc), unless the story is a good mystery or makes you think.

Some of these types of books I enjoyed:
The Historian
The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, The Lost Symbol
Jane Austin's books
Jane Eyre
Heart of Darkness
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Stranger in A Strange Land

Some Book I didn't like:
Chronicles of Narnia (thought I only read The Magician's Nephew)
All The Pretty Horses
Little Women

Although I sound picky, I'm pretty open-minded and try most books before discounting them.

fantasy novels with strong women characters

raw sugar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:35:20 -0800

recommend me fantastic fantasy novels or epics with strong female protagonists or characters! help me metafilter. i'm having something of a fantasy reading renaissance, but as an independent, strong-minded woman, so far i've been frustrated by one-dimensional female depictions in a lot of fantasy classics. i'm having trouble connecting to what feels like some kind of "boys club" at times. i don't want to read about the sidelined princess that's an object of longing, the beautiful slave who needs to be rescued, the noblewoman fretting around the castle, the "strong and equal" female magician who doesn't seem to do anything but have the chosen one's babies. i want to read about women who kick ass and/or take names, not just garnish the background with prettiness or grace or whatever. i'm not looking for feminist propaganda with obnoxiously strong or overbearing women and obviously weak men- just works where women are as complex and pivotal to the plot as, say, mists of avalon. when i say strong i mean strong and interesting of character- examples in things i've read which come to mind are lyra in the his dark materials trilogy, sophie in howl's moving castle, angua or susan of the discworld series.

i've already been recommended elizabeth moons' deed of paksenarrion series and garth nix's old kingdom series, but i'm looking for more reads. :)

Name-that-Film-Filter:

fook — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:52:36 -0800

Name that Film-Filter: I'm trying to think of the name of a movie that I'd like to buy before the liquidation of a nearby Blockbuster comes to a close. High fantasy, vignettes, made less than five years ago. Recollecting from the trailer: a girl is in a hospital (c. 1940's ???) where she begins to hear stories from a man (also there for treatment???) who recounts to her his ostensible journeys around the world. From what I could tell it involved many outlandish (fabricated???) vignettes, flashback style, but I don't know much more about the plot/setting other than my impression that it was a non-English speaking film. It should have been released within a few years after Pan's Labyrinth.

I mainly want to find it because of the visually stunning camera work and cinematography, which was touted during the trailer. Hopefully the hive mind will unblock mine!

Back when it was OK to read fantasy novels in English class....

otolith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:02:32 -0800

Okay, fantasy novel ID two-fer. Book One: people live in villages that are suspended on the side of an enormous cliff and a girl is born who has wings. Book Two: set in a world made up of bits of earth suspended in a void, cape-fighters, a spider-god.... I read both of these books sometime around 1992-93.

More on book one: specifically, the villages are attached to the cliff by the roots of enormous plants or trees. The axiom "measure twice, cut once" is used when setting up the plot, to underscore the precision it takes to engineer the support system for the villages out of these roots. The title of the book may have been something like "_____ Descends" or "_____ Falls", where the blank is the name of the winged, female protagonist. I seem to recall that the book had sort of a "Ursula LeGuin" feel, rather than a more standard fantasy novel.

More on book two: the bits of earth suspended in the void are of varying sizes, some are big enough to hold whole cities. The plot involves a thief stealing something of great value from a castle or mansion, then trying to escape with it. In the void surrounding the floating earth are "vampires", which, in this book, are small parasitic creatures. There is a character who is a "cape-fighter", who fights using a weighted cape that maybe has some blades on it. There is also some kind of spider-god who lives on one level of the void and I seem to remember the book ending on his "world". This book definitely had the feel of being a book in a larger series and I recall that it maybe wasn't very well written.

I was reminded of the first book over a year ago while reading about the hanging coffins in China and then the second book popped to mind as something I read at about the same time. It's been killing me that I can't track these down.

Are there more fantastical World War I novels?

Caduceus — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:08:45 -0800

I just finished reading Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and really enjoyed it. I'd love to read other World War I novels with fantasy/science-fiction/steampunk twists. Are there any? I'd also take fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk novels about other wars, like the American Civil War, the Crimean War, the Napoleonic Wars, or possibly imaginary wars set in Victorian/Edwardian times. I've pretty much had my fill of Occult Nazis, though, so unless it's truly amazing, refrain from suggesting World War II novels.

I'd also take movies and games and other media, with the same restrictions, and with the caveat that I've already played Shadow Hearts and the sequel. I've also I've read War of the Worlds and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Name that book series I barely remember

nomisxid — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:41:18 -0800

Back in the 70's/80's, I remember seeing a series of scifi/fantasy books, where the cover art for all the books had a consistent theme of a red/orange sun that figured prominently. What was it? I remember there seemed like a lot of books in the series.
As I recall, most of the covers were pictures of a character, with the omnipresent red dot in the background sky. At the time, I shied away from them because I was more into hard sci-fi, and it looked likely to be very fantasy-y.

Please design help me design a functionally medieval bedroom

jalexc — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:30:47 -0800

Please help me find tasteful, grown-up fantasy-themed decorative and design ideas for a bedroom. Longer explanation inside. I have a large bedroom that I'm considering decorating with some kind of medieval/fantasy theme. It shouldn't be too cute, but I also don't want it to be too severe. I'm not looking to go overboard on this, and don't want to put dragons and suits of armor all over the place. I've tried searching MeFi, Google, and various home design sites (like apartment therapy), but I'm having trouble finding descriptive terms for what I'm looking for. "Fantasy" might not be it.

The end result I'm going for is something where these three pictures (Joanna Newsom's Ys, Mastodon's Blood Mountain, and the Arnolfini Portrait) could all hang on the walls. I especially like the geometric patterns in the background of the Blood Mountain picture, and was thinking I could try to find some fabric with a similar design to stretch over wood squares and put up. Runes might also be good (something like this).

About the room: it's long, with hardwood floors and dark brown wood furniture. One long wall is all windows, so there's plenty of light. There are curtain rods, but we're just using blinds for now. There isn't a lot of space for free standing stuff, but there is a lot of open wall space and a lot of surface space and empty shelves.

Do you have any suggestions for nature/fantasy/magic decoration that won't make my bedroom look like a Spinal Tap show?

Or, do you have any suggestions for how I should phrase this so I can have more successful searches? ("watered down elder scrolls" "middle earth lite" etc. aren't turning up much) Is there a term for that geometric design, for instance, that would let me find similar things?

Happy to provide more info or clarity if needed. Thanks in advance.

Time won't fill itself...

zennoshinjou — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:54:05 -0800

Fantasy recommendations based on previously enjoyed books. So I enjoy a good fantasy yarn from time to time and would like some recommendations since like all genre fiction there is probably more crap than quality and would rather focus on the good stuff. Here is what I like:
George Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire (the last book was a little eh but otherwise I enjoyed this series quite a bit)
Robin Hobb - I enjoyed all the books the Fool was in (all 9.. great characters, good story)
Main storyline in Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms (including the ridiculous amount of Drizzt books) (admittedly I read this a long time ago so it could just be fond memories)
Wheel of Time - I only liked the first couple and then it all just became a blatant cash grab full of cliches and painful 2 dimensional characters and gender stereotypes.

Basically I like complex, well written stories with compelling characters (don't we all?) that don't start to feel like "hey I'm not sure when this is going to end so I'll drag it out to line my pockets." I would kind of prefer a longer series so long as it has direction but one offs are fine as well.

If it helps, I also really enjoy Neal Stephenson (basically everything hes written) and William Gibson (ditto). Things in this vein would be good also (for example I was effusively enthusiastic about the Baroque Cycle).

As a bonus question, are the ancillary Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance series any good? I never got into them.

Pan and the what?

tylerfulltilt — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:17:33 -0800

What is the name of this fantasy book that I only vaugely remember? I'm looking for the name of a fantasy book that I came across on someone's list of fantasy books they've read. But I don't remember where that page was or the exact google keywords that I used to find that list.

I remember that it's out of print now. It was the story of a little roman boy who was cast out of his family, possibly, something along those lines.

At the start of the story he's crying under a bridge and the demi-god pan comes along and inspires him to go on a journey to find his dad. That's all I remember.

It's not The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen.

The title is something like Pan and the boy or the god pan and the child or something like that.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Bonus internets to anyone who can find the list that I heard it from originally.

Superpowerdown

sio42 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:07:35 -0800

ComicsFilter: I like Harvey Birdman and recently picked up Incognito. I think it's a neat question to ponder what superheroes/villains do when they have to pretend to be normal. What else can you recommend in this genre? I'm looking for stuff about beings with superpowers that have to be mundane or retire and their struggles with doing so. Any kind of media is fine. Movies, cartoons, comics, graphic novels, regular novels.... It just occurred to me the Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul was kinda like what I'm looking for as well. The gods kinda didn't really lose their powers but sort of went into retirement.

It can be funny and silly like Harvey Birdman or more serious.

Please feel free to ask me questions about what I'm looking for in case I haven't been clear. I'm not really sure what to call what I'm looking for.

Best site to run a casual fantasy NFL football league for 2009

docgonzo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:25:01 -0800

What's the best site to host my fantasy NFL football league? I'd like to setup a fantasy football league for the upcoming NFL season. I'm a fantasy virgin (insert joke here) so would like a system that is free; easy to setup and administer; and allows for live or automated drafting. Some sort of iPhone integration would be a bonus. Recommendations? Thanks!

Recommendations for erotica

ninebelow — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:56:03 -0800

Recommendations for erotica I'm interested in reading erotic novels but I need a bit of guidance. Virgin Books are the biggest erotica publisher in the UK and I've dipped into a few of their titles at random but they've been uniformly awful. Google has not been my friend either because there is a lot of chaff out there. So I am looking for (ideally) a good reviews/recommendation site or (failing that) individual recommendations for novels, authors or publishers.

I'm a straight male interested in the porn rather than romance end of the spectrum and when I say novels I mean actual printed books. Bonus points for science fiction or fantasy recommendations (although I am not after a million recommendations for Jacqueline Carey).

Book ID: Painters trap their subjects in paintings by using bodily fluids.

snoogles — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:20:15 -0800

IDThisBookFilter: I'm looking for a fantasy book by several authors which features a family of painters who can trap people in a painting if they mix their bodily fluids in with the paint. The author(s) must have names in the second half of the alphabet, if I remember my library's old filing system correctly.
There's a scene where painters who make paintings as a way of recording contracts/transaction have an argument over what kind of style is most appropriate. I think there might be a girl who becomes a painter even though it's usually a man's job... (oh, the feminism of fantasy novels).

(I think the word gold or golden might be in the title, but it's a big stretch).

Potter, Norrell, and....?

Doctor Suarez — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:10:49 -0800

Suggest absorbing fiction about mysterious England. This is purely a mood-driven question. I want to read more books that combine ideally British or possibly Continental European settings, the past (anywhere from sword-and-board to the 1950s), and perhaps some element of the supernatural. To give you some idea what I mean, here are the books that are close, but already read:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Neil Stephenson's Baroque Cycle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Shelley's Frankenstein
The Harry Potter Books (which are really close, I suppose, but a bit too youthful for me. Actually, truth be told, I haven't read them, but I made the insane decision to experience the saga from the movies and have my wife fill in the gaps.)

Okay, so I'm making you all work as literary Pandora Radio. And yes, it's somewhat similar to this question, which is an excellent start, but my peccadilloes are a touch different. Think you're up to it, chaps?

Michael Clayton's fantasy book about "riverwynders"?

brownbat — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:07:20 -0800

What fantasy book was referenced in Michael Clayton? In Michael Clayton, his son talks about a book with gray mages and riverwynders. Is this book real, or just a device made up by the scriptwriter?

Info on a old fantasy book

Ron Ducz — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:17:11 -0800

Does anyone know the name of this book.I was 14 in 1977 and I read a book that had a black army and a white army that was based on chess pieces. I think the main character was a white pawn named Pawn, he was was trying to sneak into the black armys castle and was killed about 2/3rds into the story by a black chess piece, the book ended with a big battle between the two armies. The book may have been between 60-100 pages and may have been a young readers book written in the 1950s or 60s. I would appreciate any help in locating info on this.

The reluctant hero reluctantly survives

specialagentwebb — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:56:44 -0800

Help me identify this fantasy book, about a man who becomes a hero for the money. I read a book a few years ago from my local library. It was a fantasy novel (part of a series), and it involved a reluctant hero. His family was poor (maybe they'd had a few crop failures or something?), and there was a certain position within the kingdom that paid well, but was essentially a suicide role. The man travels to the capital city, knowing that he's probably going to die, but willing to do it so that his family would be set for life. He goes through some kind of interview/audition/trial period, and is appointed to the role. I forget what happens in the rest of the novel, except that (much to his chagrin) he survives, and completes his quests.

Things that I may or may not be remembering correctly:
-The man's name could have been something like Devon or Daven. Could also be the author's name?
-The cover might have had a painting of the main character, holding his fancy sword.
-The title might have included the word "King" or the word "Blade". Or maybe the position he applied for was something like "King's Blade". I know it's not "The King's Blade" series by Dave Duncan.

Good reads for my honeymoon?

mikeweeney — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:45:26 -0800

Can you recommend some good beach reads for my honeymoon in a few weeks? I'm getting married in a few weeks and we're taking a 9 day trip to the carribean. We're staying at a secluded, low-key resort and plan on spending a lot of time lounging around on the beach and on our deck... which means lots of time for reading. Genres I'm into include horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.

- In the last few years I've gone through most of Vernor Vinge and Dan Simmons' works. I'm looking for a new author to try out... hard SF is a plus, and the ability to tell a story well is also important.

-I wouldn't mind reading fantasy, but I don't want to get sucked into a long series that never ends. I made it through 7 books of Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series and 1.5 books of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, but I just don't have the patience (or time) for it anymore. I would, however, be willing to read a good one-book fantasy story

-I haven't been much into nonfiction, but on my last vacation I picked up Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil out of the ship library, and devoured it in 2 days. Anything like that?

-Finally, I'm interested in reading a really good historical biography... ideally in US history. Where should I start?

Thank you for your suggestions!

Make my fantasy a reality!

val5a — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:58:43 -0800

Help me find classification stickers for library books, specifically for "fantasy" books. Librarians and friends of libraries everywhere: I am searching for online stores where I can purchase classification stickers for library books. Specifically, I am looking for stickers for "fantasy" books. You know, the kind you see on the spine of a book or somewhere on the cover. They usually have the text "Fantasy" and a picture of a wizard or a unicorn or some other magical being. I am prepared to buy stickers in bulk because this is for an art project that will involve multiples. I have already found the Gaylord Brothers store. Are there any others?

MonkeyBone meets XXX

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:56:35 -0800

[AdultFilter] Recommendations for fantasy adult films [NSFW] Any recommendations for fantasy adult films? or websites?
By fantasy I mean the characters are wearing costumes/makeup depicting fantasy characters...it could be the 3 little pigglets where the girls are wearing pig noses, or fairy tale movies, or sci fi movies or any "fantasy" theme, but with an adult twist (wink)

Doctor Who withdrawal! What do I watch now?

giggleknickers — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:08:43 -0800

Please recommend sci-fi/fantasy shows to this Doctor Who fan. I'm sure I'm not the only one who loves Doctor Who and is in withdrawal right now. So what are you folks watching to tide you over in the meantime? I'm looking for some good quality, original, and interesting sci-fi or fantasy shows. New or old. Time travel is a huge bonus, but not absolutely necessary.

No space opera, please. I can't stand space opera.

Things that might get recommended which I already know about:
- Classic Who
- Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures
- Lost
- Bryan Fuller's creations: Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies
- Doctor Horrible
- Journeyman (didn't like it)
- Heroes (didn't like it)
- Eureka (didn't like it)
- Supernatural (didn't like it)

Nerd Grand Prix

Doctor Suarez — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:05:05 -0800

Please give suggestions for a Fantasy Formula 1 league. Four friends and I are interested in starting a Fantasy Formula 1 league next year. Now, I know there are already several pages out there with available formats, but I have my problems with them. One league, for example, gives the player $90 phony dollars to assemble two drivers, one car, and one engine. But the prices are pre-set by the commissioner, and are totally out of whack with the way this F1 season is progressing. (For example, Button and Barichello are the bottom two price-wise.) Also, they made Mercedes a mid-price engine, but there are six Mercedes cars on the track, two from elite teams.

My idea is based on the Home Run pool I participate in. We select a draft order at random, run a serpentine draft until all 20 drivers are taken, then simply track the points each driver accumulates and add them to the team's total. Then, at the end of the year, we give out a constructor's prize for the player with the best team overall, and a driver's prize to whoever has the actual driver's champion on their team. (I imagine that the constructor will get 60% of the pot, and the driver's champ 40%)

So, has anyone tried this? Can anyone see any obvious flaws with this model? Any other suggestions? I'd like to keep the league relatively simple.

Where's my jetpack?!

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:16:42 -0800

Is there a better word for this notion than "futurism?" What's the best word or phrase to connote desire for the idealized future -- that romantic, superficial imagining of things to come which is the flipside of nostalgia?

It's what can make science fiction and utopia/dystopia fantasy stories so alluring, can make you cry "where's my jetpack?!" but isn't confined to mere technophilia.

In the paper I'm writing, I'm using "futurism" to describe the visual style of the film a lot, so I'd like to have another, distinct term to describe the motivation of looking into the future with hopeful, fantastic, or romantic imagination. I figure maybe one of you smart sci-fi literate cookies might have figured this out by now.

Arguments for why "utopianism" or "futurism," etc. are actually the best options are completely welcome to me.