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Book Suggestions? (with some criteria)

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digitalninja

New Member
Hi all, I'm new to the fantasy world and was hoping to get some suggestions on some good starting points. However, I've got a few criteria that I'm looking for in a book.

1) No monsters, dragons, dwarves, elves, or other non-human characters. (Sorry, I know I'm eliminating a ton of stuff here)

2) "Gray" characters. I don't care much for black/white good/evil stories. I like my protagonists with some grittyness and my antagonists with some redeeming qualities or at least unstandable reasons for their actions.

3) Epic, sweeping story. A large cast of characters is a plus, as long as it doesn't get too confusing. Political intrigue, epic battles, betrayal, heroism.

4) A moderately easy read. I don't mind if the book is detailed and descriptive, as long as it doesn't bog down the story. Also, I'm not terribly interesting in elegant prose and inventive wordsmithing, just no-nonsense writing that doesn't get in the way.

5) Not terribly interested in magic. Swords, YES! Sorcery, NO. (Okay, now I probably filtered out even more good books)

Sorry for being so specific, I don't necessarily need a book to meet all of the above, but I just wanted to be specific about what my tastes are.

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me!

- Digitalninja
 
I've mentioned these before, but these seem to be the only fantasy novels that meet your criteria. You should try the Kushiel's Legacy series from Jacqueline Carey. There's very little magic in the books, and there are plenty of characters (too many, to be honest).

I also recommend the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Her style is conversational and unpolished, and she ends up creating an immense cast of characters as the series progresses.
 
Can't believe I forgot to recommend George R.R. Martin's series. Except for the "elegant prose" part, the books pretty much fit the rest of your criteria. A word of warning, however: Martin will kill off pretty much anyone in the series. So don't get too attached to the characters ;).
 
Anamnesis said:
A word of warning, however: Martin will kill off pretty much anyone in the series. So don't get too attached to the characters ;).
Click to expand...
Arrrgh, spoilers!

Man, if I were discovering GRRM for the first time, and I read that, I will probably kill you for that major spoiler! :) You preempted him from discovering GRRM's tendencies for himself!

ds
 
Arrrgh, spoilers!

Man, if I were discovering GRRM for the first time, and I read that, I will probably kill you for that major spoiler! You preempted him from discovering GRRM's tendencies for himself!
Click to expand...

Except... I haven't. If I really wanted to post a major spoiler, I would compile a list of the characters in the series killed thus far without any warning. Besides it's something he would have found out for himself if he read more information on amazon.com. I just gave him a small warning :).
 
Cool. Personally, if I wanted to recommend GRRM to others, I'd just say that's it's brilliant, but give nothing away.

This is because for myself, when I first read Martin (which was way before I joined this forum), I was shocked
that he spent so much time developing Eddard Stark, only to have his head lopped off
. Nothing prepared me for something like that, and I cannot forget how I felt from that point forward - this guy is something else.

If I had known of GRRM's tendencies beforehand, I'd lose that singular experience, and his books would mean just that little bit less to me.

ds
 
I personally am a huge Anne McCaffrey fan. Her Pern series (which is quite large) is partly about Dragons, so be forewarned, but they are not magical or mystical, they are engineered. Her Crystal Singer trilogy is free of mythical creatures, and is mostly humans though humans have traveled to many planets, there is some mention that there are aliens, but you don't meet them. And there is a fairly large cast of characters.
She has another trilogy where "Freedom" is the first word of each book title and I LOVE these books! I've read the trilogy about 4 times now, I think I would probably recommend them over most of her other books. Good luck!
 
well, eliminating magic pretty much eliminates almost the whole fantasy genre. but just a suggestions: for the reasons you mentioned and others, NEVER read eragon.

and jacueline carey's books have a little too much sex in them. Just a warning. It's basically about a prostitute who's worshipped because they're in this weird world and then she saves the world..long story. THe books are really long.
 
direstraits! You should be ashamed! This is the perfect thread to push some Guy Gavriel Kay! So, I will. digitalninja, look into Guy Gavriel Kay. Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan and Last Light of the Sun are good starting points.
 
ions said:
direstraits! You should be ashamed! This is the perfect thread to push some Guy Gavriel Kay! So, I will. digitalninja, look into Guy Gavriel Kay. Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan and Last Light of the Sun are good starting points.
Click to expand...


I second Tigana..very fine story.
 
You HAVE to read the Song of Ice and Fire series. It fits your description perfectly and is one of, if not THE, best fantasy series out there.
 
I'm rather surprised no one has mentioned The Chronicles of Narnia. They really don't have that many mystical characters, although they have a lot of talking animals. And there isn't much magic happening. I don't think it completely meets your requirements, but it's something you may want to look into.
 
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