top ten fantasy series i want to start

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 |
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we all get to exercise our OCD tendencies and come up with bookish lists.  If you’d like to play along, check out this post.

top ten tuesday

There are over 300,000 new books published in the United States each year. I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 books per year (and no, my Goodreads stats won’t back that up – I’m choosy about what I claim on the internet).  This means I am missing… so many books.  And I will never catch up!  Even if we narrow it down to fantasy novels, there are still too many for any one human being to read.  So.  How do I ever choose?  I take suggestions, I store bits of conversations in my brain, and I bide my time.  This week’s list is about series I know I want to start (and for some of them, I've known this for years) – books that have stellar recommendations from readers whose taste I trust.  I can’t wait to dive in!

Top Ten Fantasy Series I Want to Start


1. Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce – Take away my YA fantasy fan card, I've never read ANY Tamora Pierce.  I know.  I know.  I plan to fix that soon (probably when I find the entire series at a used book sale).

2. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor – I've had internet and IRL (in real life) friends telling me to pick up this series for a while now.  I even have all of the books.  Just need to dive in!

3. Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier – Angie of Angieville is a huge fan of this series, and she's never steered me wrong before.  Plus, the cover artwork is gorgeous.  I show a consistent weakness for pretty things... (but especially books!)

4. Temeraire by Naomi Novik – Dragons + Napoleonic Wars.  It's the kind of crack-y concept that I would have devoured back in the day when series were just an excuse to spend more time buried in books (these days there's a bit more of a time crunch). This series would make a good holiday gift for my youngest brother - and of course it's only polite to read the books along with him so we can discuss!

5. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson – I've read one Sanderson book, The Rithmatist, and that was enough to convince me that I need to check out his other worlds.  This series also came with a very high recommendation from a real life friend.  So there's that.


6. Cecelia and Kate by Patricia C. Wrede – Well, you'd think I'd have picked this book up on the series title alone, since one of the characters and I share the same name and all.  But.  I've been holding off, Not sure exactly why, except that I always love Wrede's books, and maybe I'm hoarding for a later (bad) day.

7. The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin – Here's what I know about these books: they're complex, epic, political fantasies with well-developed worlds, written by an author of color, and very well received by fans of fantasy.  Also, the first one is on my shelf.  

8. The Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner – When I moved home to Seattle in 2009 after leaving grad school (I abandoned a PhD program), I did a bunch of odd, part-time jobs until I made the move to DC and found full-time work.  One of those occasional things was to drive a family friend's teenage son to tutoring.  He had a well-loved copy of The Thief in his backpack, and he was so in love with the book (and eager to tell me all about it) that I promised to eventually give it a try.  I now have a copy on my Kindle app, and given the amount of love I see everywhere for this series, I know I need to read it.  Soon.

9. The Books of Raksura by Martha Wells – I can't remember who recommended this series so strongly to me... but I remember thinking, "Oh, those sound like my sort of books."  I promptly purchased the first one, and it has been waiting on my e-shelf ever since.  It's kind of my M.O. at this point.

10. The Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox – Emma (Miss Print) convinced me to move these books up my TBR (to be read) list, and I broke down and bought myself copies a month or so ago.  I just need to move from owning to reading.  Which shouldn't be hard, because I adored Mortal Fire, the only other Knox book I've read.

What is one series you’re excited to start reading?

8 comments:

My Thoughts.... Literally! said...

I need to read a lot of these as well. I will say however, MISTBORN IS EVERYTHING! I marathoned it last month and I seriously loved it, definitely a new favorite fantasy series! Great list!
Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally

Anonymous said...

I didn't think I wanted to start any new series books but several of these are on my list. And really, you must read The Thief and Sorcery & Cecelia I am 99% sure you will love both.

Kristen said...

I need to read Daughter's of Smoke and Bone, too! I've seen nothing but positive reviews for it!

Happy reading!
Kristen @ One Chapter Ahead

kayerj said...

There are so many good series to read, I could read nothing but. Nice list this week. Have a good week! kelley—the road goes ever ever on

Lisa Mandina said...

I loved The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I really need to read on! Great list!
Check out my Top 10

Liviania said...

I need to read most of these myself. Especially the Raksura books.

Jenny @ Reading the End said...

Oh, oh, the wonderful Queen's Thief books! You should read those ones first! I love them so painfully much!

It's still very strange to me that the "Cecelia and Kate" books are plural. I grew up with Sorcery and Cecelia being a standalone, and as the second and third books aren't nearly as good, I've mostly carried on pretending it is a standalone. :p A very very good one!

Melanie said...

I accidentally bought the second book in The Queen's Thief series a year or two ago and still haven't gotten around to buying the first one. If I ever do, though, I guess I'll be set!

I'm just about to start The Young Elites by Marie Lu, and I'm hoping it'll be a series I absolutely adore.

Newer Posts Older Posts Home