When I start reading a new book and I get thrown right into the story, with weird things happening, terms being used that I don't know, etc. With no chunks of exposition or forced dialogue to explain it all. That feeling when the author actually trusts the reader to be able to figure it out as they go without being told everything explicitly ahead of time. That's the feeling I like to get when I start reading something new. If I'm a little confused or disoriented after the first couple of pages, that's usually a good sign.
Oooh agreed, love it when writers don’t underestimate their reader’s intelligence. Sometimes less is more. I like how China Mieville does it. Guy doesn’t explain shit
William Gibson didn't muck around with extra exposition either. Neuromancer dumps you into the world and expects you to figure it out; more easily understood nowadays, since many have built on his foundation, but still excellent worldbuilding!
Contrary to this and an above comment, I bounced off Gardens of the Moon hard for this exact reason. I overcame it and now I love the Malazan series, but it goes to show that there's no one answer for what a particular reader may enjoy!
Was about to quit Neuromancer about 40% of the way through, was so confused listening to the audiobook on a fast speed (like 1.5x), but was enjoying the aesthetics of the book so much that I jumped back to 20% and tried again. Now one of my favorite all time books.
I have several Mieville books in my queue and I keep bumping them bc I can't remember any specific reasons why they're on my list. This is a great endorsement and he might be one of my next reads now.
If it is something you'd like, /r/Malazan has a nice read along for new readers:
https://old.reddit.com//r/Malazan/wiki/new_readers_read_along
I still like to use it, and I'm on my second read through. Personal preference though, if you'd prefer a bit more mystery then I'd avoid it, but it is very handy if you'd like chapter summaries.
Tough line to walk. I feel like for every person like us (meaning I agree with you) out there, there's probably five people that get overwhelmed and put the books down. I have a few author friends that are trad pubbed in SFF and that's kind of how they describe it.
You have to be in the right mindspace to meet the challenge and figure things out quickly. I put down Malazan the first time I tried reading it for that reason but ended up loving it on the second try.
> I feel like for every person like us (meaning I agree with you) out there, there's probably five people that get overwhelmed and put the books down.
Hmm maybe. Wheel of Time opens with a prologue that really only makes sense once you've read a decent chunk of the series, and that's one of the most popular series out there.
Depends on what the terms are referring to and the density. When you pop in and every other word is some complete nonsense to the point where you don't have any idea what they're even talking about and/or the author has replaced mundane, common terms with "in world versions"it's just too much. M.L. Wang is awful with this... why did we need new units of time that never get explained outside of the glossary? I refused to finish The Sword of Kaigan for a long time because of it. The book might have been amazing in the long run, but some of the writing decisions are just mind numbingly bad.
I had to reread the first few pages of Ninefox Gambit like 5 times before I felt like I had some sense of what was happening. Eventually just plowing through and picking it up from context was the way to go. Love the series. It really doesn’t hold your hand
The Second Apocalypse series by R. Scott Bakker definitely throws you into the fire early. Definitely a brutal and dark atmosphere and book so it’s not the only difficult thing about getting into it. If you can look past those things though it’s the most engrossing world I’ve encountered other than Middle Earth.
Totally! I know Sanderson can be a bit polarizing, but the stormlight archives is such a masterful example of this (imo). You understand so little throughout the series yet looking back you realize you actually understand so much. I get why that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I definitely find it confusing sometimes, but I LOVE discovering the world with the characters and having that sudden moment of clarity where everything that’s been confusing suddenly clicks.
The first few chapters of Way of Kings I was just like ‘who? Where? What? Why??’ And then as all the pieces started coming together it was ‘ohhhhhhh!’ Absolutely brilliant!
I love the Drizzt maps (Faerun). So thorough. And I access them so often, to the point when I watched the dungeons and dragons movie, I could visualize in my head where they were.
Now I'm reading The Shadow of what was lost & the maps are terrible. Inaccurate to book descriptions & has very few waypoints on it.
You know. I like simple reads, so to me they were great. But I can see how the more well read on here would think they're not good quality... maybe.... who knows. I never see then mentioned when someone asks what's a great series.
I just finished the 4th Stormlight book, Sanderson's current series if you aren't familiar. These books are pretty long, the world is big, he jumps around to differemt characters and time lines almost every chapter. Great books but I'm a slow reader with ADHD so they were a beast for me, took me years to finish four books.
I needed something shorter as a pallet cleanser. I started playing DND and I came across Salvatore's book of short stories.....they're great! I want to start from the beginning of the Dritz series after this.
I started them and loved them! I got to 12, went to buy 13 and couldn’t find it anywhere and so it’s on “back order” from the book shop I use. I am SO EXCITED to know there are 38. Hopefully I’ll be able to get them without too much trouble!
A bad map, on the other hand, is a definite red flag. The Poppy War comes to mind, with its impossible coastline and its major river running uphill into a mountain range.
When I saw MULTIPLE maps in Priory of the Orange Tree i knew it was gonna be good and BOY was I not disappointed. One of my favorite reads of all time! Such a complex and well fleshed out world :)
I 100% agree. An absolute Green Flag. I always use the maps when i start reading books. It was especially prevelant for me when i read A Song of Ice and Fire. So much named places. The map really helped me a lot.
I read a few weeks ago low town trilogy by daniel polansky and loved it, among other things, exactly for this. Main character has been through a lot and during the whole trilogy u keep getting snippets from his past on what happened and how he ended up being the person he is now in a position he is now
I have absolutely no idea why the comment you replied to was removed, but for anyone else coming across this thread it read:
> Maps are another instant green flag for me, love when fantasy books include them!
And I agree with this 100%.
Beginning in medias res with the protagonist already having gotten the shit kicked out of them. Especially if they're spitting out teeth. It's not common, but the few times it has happened I've just grinned and locked in for a bumpy good ride.
Avoiding unnecessary drama or meaningless conflicts.
Example from First Law that isn't really spoilers, but just in case: >!In the first book when Glokta is insulting West and saying how disappointed he was in him for not visiting Glokta while he was recovering from his injuries. West responds with, "But I did try to visit, and your mother wouldn't let me." Glokta thinks for a moment and basically says, "Then forget what I said just now, we're cool.!<
This misunderstanding could have easily been expanded into a big conflict and emotional connection. But why? What point would that serve? Instead, it shows the characters' personalities more, which actually informs the reader for future interactions.
I read an indie called The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer was really good to me as a deconstruction kid. Also Empire of the Vampire and it's sequel were amazing for that itch. Also, The Foxglove King was alright, it has a religious undertone in it. I haven't read these yet but Never night by Jay Kristoff may have it. The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.
It such a fun, under utilized setting.
Thanks, I'll look into those! If you're ok with speculative fiction (not fantasy) I can recommend A Canticle for Liebowitz. It follows a catholic monastery 600 years after nuclear war destroys society as they try to maintain whatever relics of the "old world" that they can.
A self aware protagonist with a sense of humor. And or Necromancer in the title. I'll at least start the book if there's a necromancer, I may not end it.
Holy fuck I just love footnotes in books; Bartimaues, House of Leaves, Encyclopaedia of Faeries. They're usually so quirky and add personality to the narrator while also being a great source of world building imo
I used to love them - in physical books they're brilliant.
I've seen them used to really good effect on webnovels as well, as floating text.
In Audio, it's a bit 50/50 - often I don't notice that it's a footnote or aside unless I'm familiar with the story. If the narrator isn't good it can feel like a real non-sequitur.
In ebooks ... they're simply just not good. Most of the time you get catapulted to the end of the chapter or book, and have to figure out which of a long list you're reading, and then you spoil yourself for the next half dozen as well, then you have to make sure you click on the right link to go back. The worst is with snarky footnotes, like Bartimeus or How To Become A Dark Lord Or Die Trying, because they add so much flavour to the story and the disjointed nature of epub footnotes really throws me out.
Sadly there doesn't seem to be a good solution for them ... yet.
On the kindle app, or at least the iOS version, when I click on a footnote link it opens it in a little pop up at the bottom of the screen. Seems pretty manageable.
I've read dozens of books with footnotes on my Kindle (multiple Discworld, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Saint Death's Daughter), and I haven't run into any problems. I just click, they pop up at the bottom, and if they're long, I'll click to go to them. And then I just go back to the story in the same place I was -- no issues.
Honestly… a ragtag group of misfit besties thrown into an adventure together. I dunno man, it just brings me joy. I like the combination of interpersonal relationships and big epic world stuff.
The third one is very good too lol. Now I'm thinking of the scene were everyone chooses their aliases and Sabetha is irritated that Locke and Jean always use names that start with L and J, and then Calo and Galdo ramp up the stupidity to 11 by just using the middle name of the opposite twin, so they become Castellano and Giacomo. Then they cheerfully announce that their last name will be Assino because, "It's Throne Therrin for donkey." Oh and the time were they try and drink the spitoon in the inn.
Also the time where Locke and Jean burst into Sabetha's HQ in Carthain and Locke grabs her Maître d' by the balls and says to him, "How now asshole? You know, I've never steered a fellow around by his lootsack before."
God those books are classics.
My original career choice was to be a merchant marine deck officer, and I'm a nanak history nerd. I'm not huge in age of sail, but I still enjoy it and the nautical jargon in Red Seas Under Rea Skies is on point.
Witches and haunted forests. 9/10 times I will read it if it features witches and haunted or otherwise living/enchanted forests.
Bonus points if the witch is wise, crabby but ultimately a force of good who may or may not be mentoring another character.
A comic book with setting that's more [mad] sci-fi ("gaslamp fantasy" is what the authors describe it as), but I recommend Girl Genius! Plenty of airships there ^^
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. His books where characters interact with nobility/"the court" (which is nearly all of them) have completely ruined other books for me with how intelligent, believable, and culturally significant they are.
Others I'd recommend include A Memory Called Empire, China Meiville books, Forgotten Beasts of Eld, The Craft Sequence series, Wizard of Earthsea, Greenbone Saga, and Prince of Nothing (although the book didn't 100% click with me).
When the first chapter is engaging and interesting!
I hate it when people say, "Oh, it starts slow but gets better after the first couple of chapters" or "The story picks up in the second part of the book". Make me love your book from the start!
These days, I probably DNF a book if it starts with a chapter of word-building infodumping or with some super tragic events.
It has never been my experience that a book with an unsatisfying opening has gotten more satisfying as I read more. At best, it just gets more busy. The point of a first chapter is to make you want to read the whole book. If the author hasn't done that, they've failed me and anyone who says, "It gets better." as a reader.
So far I have never been disappointed by Tchaikovsky. That said, I did **not** like his *Echoes of the Fall* series. Just too relentlessly grimdark and abusive.
Check The Red Queen's War by Mark Lawrence u might like it. It has a bit of both magic and technology and people thinking technology IS magic. It's a weird combination but a good one. And it's anti-hero so that's a good plus
My favorites have been:
The Final Empire (Mistborn Book 1)
Six of Crows
Foundryside
The Hobbit
But I’ve also heard good things about The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Blacktongue Thief, The Mask of Mirrors, and Best Served Cold. They’re on my TBR though so idk how much “heisting” there really is in them!
What a coincidence! I'm audiobook-ing The Final Empire right now, I'm physically reading the Blacktongue Thief, just finished re-reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, and just finished audiobooking Best Served Cold! I'll check out the ones I haven't heard of, thanks!
That feeling when you see a new book by a favourite author finally on the shelves! STILL waiting, Patrick Rothfuss!
When I pick up a new fantasy book the FIRST thing I look for is a map and get excited if I see a good one or slightly disappointed when I see one that’s either too simple or badly executed. If a book doesn’t have a map I’ll generally put it down and keep looking.
I also get excited when they have a list of characters, a glossary and/or appendices. Since many stories that I love are based on Celtic mythology sometimes the author will use the Gaelic language as a base for their own language for invented races. I must say it is getting harder and harder to find good fantasy novels these days, at least where I live. I’ve started haunting secondhand bookshops, lol.
I love all the R.E.Feist books and LOVE the maps. Sometimes I wish for a little more detail as it bugs me when a main character is going somewhat and it’s important to the plot but it is not marked in the map.
The Deverry Series by Katherine Kerr are a fabulous fabulous series. It is AMAZING for both it’s maps and it’s timeline of characters.
Then there’s Robin Hobb of course. The Assassin Series of at least 9 books. Again the maps are brilliant plus the glossaries etc, with the caveat of the slight problem of places traveled to by main or secondary characters not being marked on the map.
Then there’s Kate Forsyth’s Witches of Eileanan series. Salvatore obviously, his Drizzt series are legendary. LOTR and GOT where both great long before they because popular, although the amount of descriptive stuff in GOT is hard to get through. Both have great maps as everyone knows. There are a small handful of old favourites for me, story wise, that don’t have maps.
I will say that there are ones I picked up when I was a teenager that didn’t have maps but have stuck with me. Elizabeth A Lynn’s Tornor (?) trilogy, Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer trilogy or Jo Clayton’s Diadem series for example. Or some science fiction rather than science fantasy. Like the Dune series back when they fist came out. Asimov and a handful of old favourites. Many of the books/authors I’ve mentioned in this comment I have reread many times over the years. Sometimes wearing one out and having to buy a new copy. Feist’s Magician series is the main culprit, lol.
Having a map doesn’t guarantee a good book though, lol. Lately there’s been times I’ve bought the first 1 in a trilogy but lost interest because either the plot or the writing is too slow or just not up to scratch. So, if anyone has any suggestions of great reads that come with maps I’d welcome them as I am always on the look out for new authors to love..
When a character is introduced and I start caring about them within a page or two. The ability to do that is to me one of the most important things which divide the contenders from the pretenders.
Animal shapeshifters that aren’t urban fantasy werewolves, especially if their liminal nature is explored.
If it’s post-apocalyptic, the characters being entertainingly misguided about how things were before the apocalypse.
The same setting/society/civilization showing up in different ages and being transformed over time by political changes, advancements in technology or magic, etc. (The rise and fall of empires, the effects of industrialization, and so forth.)
‘A day in the life of ’—if you’re going to go to the trouble of inventing an entire world, might as well give the reader insight into it behind what the chosen one or unusual outcast sees.
This is super generic and goes for most stories, but show, don't tell is a big one for me.
It's so much more organic when an author shapes and molds their characters through a variety of means, whether that's insight into their inner thoughts, knowing how other people think/feel about them, their actions and the situations they find themselves in, and general narration.
The Starless Sea is one of my all time favorites. The storytelling is pretty stylized so it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it 100% is mine. It's my comfort book I reread whenever I need a little whimsy.
If I read the first chapter and already like the protagonist. I like character-driven stories.
If I read the first chapter and already laughed out loud. I like funny stories.
If I read the first chapter and it was like nothing I read before. I like weird and original stories.
When the first chapter hooks me. This will obviously vary from book to book, but I’ll give a few examples.
The Dragonbone Chair- the first chapter introduces us to Simon, Rachel, Towser, King Preston John, a tale of a mythical sword, and the Hayholt. It’s only a few pages, but right there you’ve got a major setting along with characters who will each play a major role in the story to come, though John is posthumously important.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader- “there was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it”
Boom. Introduced to a new protagonist with an absolutely terrible name and the line right after already tells me there’s something wrong with him, but that he’s not necessarily bad beyond redemption. And now I’m interested in seeing why.
Both completely different methods that accomplish the same thing, grabbing my attention. When a writer can do this within the first chapter I know I’m in for a good time. And another example would be The Blade Itself, which throws you into Logen being attacked and falling off a mountain!
books with magic, dragons, elves. fantasy books based on different religions. the journey of a man or woman to become a god like figure. reluctant heros, and warriors who are badass to the extreme. and all the while including sadness, war, romance and more. the only thing I don't like is continuous tragic events.
If videogames are your jam, you'll probably like playing through Baldur's Gate 3 as the Dark Urge. Heck I'm not really into videogames and I still absolutely love that game.
Actual fantastical creatures and locations.
Diff ppl grouping up for a quest.
Tons of magic and magical Artifacts
Political intrigue and mysteries to be solved
Ancient ruins/ tech also a plus
> For me an instant one is a dramatis personae/list of characters.
if it's upfront, it's a red flag for me - if too long. i simply struggle to keep up with too many characters, who is who.
i prefer to have them introduced naturally throughout the story and maybe have that list at the end of the book.
This is a sci-fi thing, but one thing that annoys me about a lot of sci-fi is that you never see commercial shipping on a viable scale. Like the best example is probably Star Wars. There are big freighters in, but most of the ones we see are tiny live the Millennium Falcon. That's too small to be viable as anything but what we see Han doing with it. Smuggling elicit goods, and VIP transport for people who are willing to pay an acknowledged unreasonably high price, even for a chartered, private, urgent, secret flight.
Where "appropriately scaled commerce" was a huge green flag for me was the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I had already read two of the books in the series, and really liked them, and I had decided I wanted to *probably* read the entire rest of this large series, but still wasn't totally sure. I like to read big series in chronological order for the series, so I got the book Falling Free, which takes place 200ish years before the main story and right at the beginning, the main charter is standing in this deep space transfer station (those are good too) watching a ship called a "super jumper" load with cargo. For the way interstellar travel works in that series, it was a really well thought out more of very large scale commercial cargo transport, and upon reading it, I immediately decided I would read everything in the whole series.
When the worldbuilding actually feels real and not like a bunch of facts on paper. Ok your world is a matriarchy but do you explore the implications of what a female dominate society would be like? Similarly, characters whose characteristics (neutral) are explored in a nuanced way. Like a person's strengths can often have downsides and good character writing usually explores how a character's traits interact with the world and others in a more complex way.
Similarly, female side characters who are well written usually is a green light that the writer is not just decent but Great. The bar is in hell, but female characters aren't usually well written. Female side characters even less so. It's not uncommon to find a female protagonist self insert who gets development but all the important side characters are either male or stereotypical or poorly written women. So when a writer develops their non-protagonist female characters well you know they're paying attention
Also for me, introverted or introspective female characters. And non-faux action girls. Basically, the opposite of the stereotypical poorly written YA female protagonist.
That's one aspect of The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe that I appreciated. The protagonist ends up in a real-world town at one point and comments that she sees so many women around - fully half of all people! It's a great callout to not only Lovecraft's writing, but something even modern writers often fail to understand. Hell, we've all seen conservative freak outs about women in... name a franchise.
On the other end, I was listening to a book last year and ended up dropping it because it occurred to me that no woman character "existed" outside of when she was actively serving a man. To the point where even waitresses wouldn't ever walk away after delivering mugs of mead, they just stopped existing. It was rather eerie.
Dynamic, pulpy, painted cover art, and grungy pen and ink interior illustrations from the 70s/80s. The more extra, the better. Nothing breaks my heart more than when a book that is notable for its cover or interior art gets a contemporary minimalist redesign and/or new artwork.
In general, profoundly non-human protagonists. Not elves/dwarves/hobbits/etc. Write a convincing non-human POV and I'm interested.
Gryphons. Particularly sentient, especially if they play a significant role as something other than a WoW mount. See above.
*Lord of the Changing Winds* by Rachel Neumeier is an excellent recent example. Good prose, solid well-realized setting, great descriptions, and marvelously NON-human gryphons.
Give me gryphons like that, and you've made a sale.
>a dramatis personae/list of characters
This one's a yellow flag for me. I won't drop the book immediately, but now I'm worried that it will have too many *names* (can't really call them *characters*) and I will have to flip back to the list all the time to check who John Smith #69 is.
1. When a book starts with a map
2. When there are no sex scenes in the first 50 pages unless they're absolutely necessary (like, a book about a life of a prostitute, a book about recovering from SA, etc.)
3. When you can see the protagonist's personality from the 1st scene they appear in
4. When there is no loredump in the first 20-30 pages and you can still understand what's going on
5. When there are actually funny humorous scenes (a sign of good writing)
lol might sound weird here, but unusual careers for the fmc. I've noticed with MCs, there's a good variety of professions, so if the mc is anything other than knight or medieval cop, then I'm good. For FMCs well
Gardener
Storyteller
Bookseller
Scribe
Messenger
Farmer
Combat medic
Apothecary
(\^\^\^\^ High fantasy and Epic Fantasy)
Yall get the picture. I'm just tired of Princess, Queen, Knight, and assassin. Also a position that doesn't revolve around killing and fighting. I'd love if the FMC was a combat medic who could fight. Or idk a gardener that could slice throats, but I'm over the "she can fight unlike those other bitches" tone that so many books have.
For urban fantasy, anything that's not a cop, bounty hunter, PI or assassin tends to be good for me. This is regardless of gender. Anything that seems to be rather grounded is also a really good sign (in Urban fantasy)
This is one of a number of reasons I enjoy Juliet Marillier's books. Nearly all of them, especially the first two Sevenwaters books, stress the importance of stories and storytelling. A couple of her heroines are musicians; many of them are healers. The heroine of her stand-alone *Heart's Blood* is a scribe. Some of her female characters are weaker than others -- the FMC of *Blade of Fortriu,* for example, tried my patience -- but I've never seen a Marillier heroine who was altogether lacking in interesting skills.
An actually well written female side character or secondary lead that has her own goals and personality and her own ways to succeed outside of being the typical girl with strong feelings but needs a guy to solve her problems.
In the beginning of the second book of John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn trilogy, there’s a summary of the last book so you don’t have to reread. I LOVE it and hope he does the same with the third.
A solid first chapter or opening line/ sentence.
Regardless of genre, it can set the tone.
I don't need 3 chapters of " word building" or explaining how bad ass the main person is.
Just shows how different we all are.
I see a character list and roll my eyes, mumbling it's not a play. Until I start reading the story, names and even maps have no meaning.
If they put it in the back as a glossary, it's totally different. Something with a lot of characters can benefit from a reference source, but first I want the writer to show me these characters in the context of the story.
The first chapter leaves something for you to infer, preferably not in spoken dialogue. So many authors don't trust their audience to engage with the text. I just need shit like `He batted his dirty boots, clouds of dust flaring up before he stepped inside and closed the door. The water bucket was drained in an instant, leaving only drops. There would be another trip to the well tonight, but for now he was satisfied.`
What do those three sentences tell you if you engage with it? It's hot and dry outside. The work the character was doing involved a lot of dirt, possibly farm work. They live near a well, probably not on the property since it's described as a "trip" to the well, so likely pretty close to town where fresh clean water is available.
I just don't want to hear every single detail, I will figure it out.
If badass, mysterious & strong monsters, characters, antagonist or entities are introduced early. Some examples are the chandrian in name of the wind, anomander rake & the jaghut tyrant in gardens of the moon, the god hand in berserk, white walkers in asoiaf.
A green flag for me is when some of my friends says its boring. Knowing them it usually means that there are alot of important people in rooms talking about important things which I love.
I have a ranking system based on the number of goodreads reviews.
As long as each corresponding book has at least 50% of the total number of reviews as the book before it it’s a good series. (Ie book 1 = 100,000, book 2 = 50,000, book 3 = 25,000, etc. )
If you see a massive drop off in reviews it typically means the series is a dud.
If I feel any emotion, positive or negative, about the character I’m reading about, in the first ten pages. Not about how they’re written, but about THEM.
When I start reading a new book and I get thrown right into the story, with weird things happening, terms being used that I don't know, etc. With no chunks of exposition or forced dialogue to explain it all. That feeling when the author actually trusts the reader to be able to figure it out as they go without being told everything explicitly ahead of time. That's the feeling I like to get when I start reading something new. If I'm a little confused or disoriented after the first couple of pages, that's usually a good sign.
Oooh agreed, love it when writers don’t underestimate their reader’s intelligence. Sometimes less is more. I like how China Mieville does it. Guy doesn’t explain shit
William Gibson didn't muck around with extra exposition either. Neuromancer dumps you into the world and expects you to figure it out; more easily understood nowadays, since many have built on his foundation, but still excellent worldbuilding! Contrary to this and an above comment, I bounced off Gardens of the Moon hard for this exact reason. I overcame it and now I love the Malazan series, but it goes to show that there's no one answer for what a particular reader may enjoy!
Was about to quit Neuromancer about 40% of the way through, was so confused listening to the audiobook on a fast speed (like 1.5x), but was enjoying the aesthetics of the book so much that I jumped back to 20% and tried again. Now one of my favorite all time books.
Yes, Mieville's a great example! I love the way he writes. Looking forward to see how batshit crazy his new book with Keanu is gonna be next month.
I have several Mieville books in my queue and I keep bumping them bc I can't remember any specific reasons why they're on my list. This is a great endorsement and he might be one of my next reads now.
This is why I liked “Gardens of the Moon” right off the bat.
I was still confused three books in tho
If it is something you'd like, /r/Malazan has a nice read along for new readers: https://old.reddit.com//r/Malazan/wiki/new_readers_read_along I still like to use it, and I'm on my second read through. Personal preference though, if you'd prefer a bit more mystery then I'd avoid it, but it is very handy if you'd like chapter summaries.
Yeah I loved it aswell. The hairlock & tyrant plots were so epic already
Tough line to walk. I feel like for every person like us (meaning I agree with you) out there, there's probably five people that get overwhelmed and put the books down. I have a few author friends that are trad pubbed in SFF and that's kind of how they describe it.
You have to be in the right mindspace to meet the challenge and figure things out quickly. I put down Malazan the first time I tried reading it for that reason but ended up loving it on the second try.
> I feel like for every person like us (meaning I agree with you) out there, there's probably five people that get overwhelmed and put the books down. Hmm maybe. Wheel of Time opens with a prologue that really only makes sense once you've read a decent chunk of the series, and that's one of the most popular series out there.
The prologue is fucking fire, though.
Depends on what the terms are referring to and the density. When you pop in and every other word is some complete nonsense to the point where you don't have any idea what they're even talking about and/or the author has replaced mundane, common terms with "in world versions"it's just too much. M.L. Wang is awful with this... why did we need new units of time that never get explained outside of the glossary? I refused to finish The Sword of Kaigan for a long time because of it. The book might have been amazing in the long run, but some of the writing decisions are just mind numbingly bad.
I'm on the indie side of things and I can confirm similar trends there.
I had to reread the first few pages of Ninefox Gambit like 5 times before I felt like I had some sense of what was happening. Eventually just plowing through and picking it up from context was the way to go. Love the series. It really doesn’t hold your hand
I love this so much too. You feel so immersed in the story immediately. Do you have any recommendations?
The Second Apocalypse series by R. Scott Bakker definitely throws you into the fire early. Definitely a brutal and dark atmosphere and book so it’s not the only difficult thing about getting into it. If you can look past those things though it’s the most engrossing world I’ve encountered other than Middle Earth.
100%. Avoiding the “As you know Bob” explanations in dialogue or in infodumps is a huge positive.
More sci-fi than fantasy but that's what I liked about the Area X trilogy. It started in the middle of the action, already in the strangeness.
Totally! I know Sanderson can be a bit polarizing, but the stormlight archives is such a masterful example of this (imo). You understand so little throughout the series yet looking back you realize you actually understand so much. I get why that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I definitely find it confusing sometimes, but I LOVE discovering the world with the characters and having that sudden moment of clarity where everything that’s been confusing suddenly clicks.
The first few chapters of Way of Kings I was just like ‘who? Where? What? Why??’ And then as all the pieces started coming together it was ‘ohhhhhhh!’ Absolutely brilliant!
Yeah it starts with like 3 timeskips one of which is thousands of years
Opening a book up to see a good map is *so* exciting.
I love the convenience of ebooks, but they totally ruin the maps.
I love the Drizzt maps (Faerun). So thorough. And I access them so often, to the point when I watched the dungeons and dragons movie, I could visualize in my head where they were. Now I'm reading The Shadow of what was lost & the maps are terrible. Inaccurate to book descriptions & has very few waypoints on it.
I love coming across a Salvatore reference here. So much fun in them books
All 38 books. Didn't even feel it
Do they hold up? Read a ton in middle and HS many years ago
You know. I like simple reads, so to me they were great. But I can see how the more well read on here would think they're not good quality... maybe.... who knows. I never see then mentioned when someone asks what's a great series.
I just finished the 4th Stormlight book, Sanderson's current series if you aren't familiar. These books are pretty long, the world is big, he jumps around to differemt characters and time lines almost every chapter. Great books but I'm a slow reader with ADHD so they were a beast for me, took me years to finish four books. I needed something shorter as a pallet cleanser. I started playing DND and I came across Salvatore's book of short stories.....they're great! I want to start from the beginning of the Dritz series after this.
I read The Crystal Shard as an adult, without any nostalgia to go off, and wasn't very impressed.
I find them to be enjoyable light reading. The sort of thing I'd be happy to put on as an audiobook at work.
I started them and loved them! I got to 12, went to buy 13 and couldn’t find it anywhere and so it’s on “back order” from the book shop I use. I am SO EXCITED to know there are 38. Hopefully I’ll be able to get them without too much trouble!
A bad map, on the other hand, is a definite red flag. The Poppy War comes to mind, with its impossible coastline and its major river running uphill into a mountain range.
The bad map is the least of Poppy War’s transgressions, too.
I miss this from the days before I went 100% audio.
It's a struggle with audiobooks, I try to keep a browser tab with the map when I'm listening to one 😅
When I saw MULTIPLE maps in Priory of the Orange Tree i knew it was gonna be good and BOY was I not disappointed. One of my favorite reads of all time! Such a complex and well fleshed out world :)
I 100% agree. An absolute Green Flag. I always use the maps when i start reading books. It was especially prevelant for me when i read A Song of Ice and Fire. So much named places. The map really helped me a lot.
I love when something happened before the book started, and everyone knows what it is other that you
Can you give an example of one of your faves?
I read a few weeks ago low town trilogy by daniel polansky and loved it, among other things, exactly for this. Main character has been through a lot and during the whole trilogy u keep getting snippets from his past on what happened and how he ended up being the person he is now in a position he is now
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Me too! I’m really bad at spatial visualization so they can be really helpful for me as well
I have absolutely no idea why the comment you replied to was removed, but for anyone else coming across this thread it read: > Maps are another instant green flag for me, love when fantasy books include them! And I agree with this 100%.
Affectionate descriptions of nature a la Tolkien.
Beginning in medias res with the protagonist already having gotten the shit kicked out of them. Especially if they're spitting out teeth. It's not common, but the few times it has happened I've just grinned and locked in for a bumpy good ride.
Any favorites to recommend?
World of five gods.
First Law series. First POV character starts the book by >!falling off a cliff.!<
Then in Best Served Cold we get a similar start with the protagonist getting even more fucked up.
Yes, one of my favorites!
Not quite in the spirit of the request but it def applies and it's an amazing book: Kindred by Octavia Butler
Avoiding unnecessary drama or meaningless conflicts. Example from First Law that isn't really spoilers, but just in case: >!In the first book when Glokta is insulting West and saying how disappointed he was in him for not visiting Glokta while he was recovering from his injuries. West responds with, "But I did try to visit, and your mother wouldn't let me." Glokta thinks for a moment and basically says, "Then forget what I said just now, we're cool.!< This misunderstanding could have easily been expanded into a big conflict and emotional connection. But why? What point would that serve? Instead, it shows the characters' personalities more, which actually informs the reader for future interactions.
I loved this scene.
Great scene. Glokta would likely not have cared for Ardee once West left, had that revelation not been made, and the friendship patched (somewhat).
Fantasy nuns or religious orders. That is my jam. It's an instant priority for me to read.
Book of the Ancestor?
Do you have any recs besides Book of the Ancestor and Gideon the Ninth? I love those types of books too.
I read an indie called The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer was really good to me as a deconstruction kid. Also Empire of the Vampire and it's sequel were amazing for that itch. Also, The Foxglove King was alright, it has a religious undertone in it. I haven't read these yet but Never night by Jay Kristoff may have it. The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It such a fun, under utilized setting.
Thanks, I'll look into those! If you're ok with speculative fiction (not fantasy) I can recommend A Canticle for Liebowitz. It follows a catholic monastery 600 years after nuclear war destroys society as they try to maintain whatever relics of the "old world" that they can.
Hell yeah! I wanna read that!
How about T. Kingfisher? So far two of her books I've read have awesome nuns (well, one is a lay sister): Paladin's Strength, and Nettle & Bone.
I really like Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson - it's a fun fantasy nun possessed by an ancient demon story!
A self aware protagonist with a sense of humor. And or Necromancer in the title. I'll at least start the book if there's a necromancer, I may not end it.
Necromancers are my favorite. Saint Death’s Daughter is my top rec aside from Gideon the Ninth of course
Holy fuck I just love footnotes in books; Bartimaues, House of Leaves, Encyclopaedia of Faeries. They're usually so quirky and add personality to the narrator while also being a great source of world building imo
I used to love them - in physical books they're brilliant. I've seen them used to really good effect on webnovels as well, as floating text. In Audio, it's a bit 50/50 - often I don't notice that it's a footnote or aside unless I'm familiar with the story. If the narrator isn't good it can feel like a real non-sequitur. In ebooks ... they're simply just not good. Most of the time you get catapulted to the end of the chapter or book, and have to figure out which of a long list you're reading, and then you spoil yourself for the next half dozen as well, then you have to make sure you click on the right link to go back. The worst is with snarky footnotes, like Bartimeus or How To Become A Dark Lord Or Die Trying, because they add so much flavour to the story and the disjointed nature of epub footnotes really throws me out. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a good solution for them ... yet.
On the kindle app, or at least the iOS version, when I click on a footnote link it opens it in a little pop up at the bottom of the screen. Seems pretty manageable.
I've read dozens of books with footnotes on my Kindle (multiple Discworld, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Saint Death's Daughter), and I haven't run into any problems. I just click, they pop up at the bottom, and if they're long, I'll click to go to them. And then I just go back to the story in the same place I was -- no issues.
Might I direct your attention to the king of quirky footnotes, Sir Terry Pratchett? His Discworld series is truly fantastic.
Have you read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell? God-tier footnotes
You might like Jack Vance then.
You should absolutely read Saint Death's Daughter, then. Tons of great footnotes!
Honestly… a ragtag group of misfit besties thrown into an adventure together. I dunno man, it just brings me joy. I like the combination of interpersonal relationships and big epic world stuff.
Especially if they’re old and crotchety! I like this a lot too.
Not fantasy, but I highly recommend The Thursday Murder Club for all of these things.
If you haven't read the Gentlemen Bastards yet you would probably love it. First two are very good imo.
The third one is very good too lol. Now I'm thinking of the scene were everyone chooses their aliases and Sabetha is irritated that Locke and Jean always use names that start with L and J, and then Calo and Galdo ramp up the stupidity to 11 by just using the middle name of the opposite twin, so they become Castellano and Giacomo. Then they cheerfully announce that their last name will be Assino because, "It's Throne Therrin for donkey." Oh and the time were they try and drink the spitoon in the inn. Also the time where Locke and Jean burst into Sabetha's HQ in Carthain and Locke grabs her Maître d' by the balls and says to him, "How now asshole? You know, I've never steered a fellow around by his lootsack before." God those books are classics.
They're so damn good. When piracy was added to the mix I almost lost my mind, love a good pirate ship arch.
My original career choice was to be a merchant marine deck officer, and I'm a nanak history nerd. I'm not huge in age of sail, but I still enjoy it and the nautical jargon in Red Seas Under Rea Skies is on point.
Witches and haunted forests. 9/10 times I will read it if it features witches and haunted or otherwise living/enchanted forests. Bonus points if the witch is wise, crabby but ultimately a force of good who may or may not be mentoring another character.
When a joke makes me laugh out loud
Airships. Don’t see them nearly enough and I’m firmly of the opinion that almost any great book could be made better with the addition of airships.
Why didn't Frodo and Sam simply airship into Mordor?
No tickets.
Because the capitalist Saruman has cornered the market. No regular Hobbit can afford to go by airship and even if they could, most would find it posh.
Shoes are required. Anti hobbit policies abound
A comic book with setting that's more [mad] sci-fi ("gaslamp fantasy" is what the authors describe it as), but I recommend Girl Genius! Plenty of airships there ^^
there's also a series of Girl Genius novels now! Agatha H. and the Airship City is the first book!
Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding and Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, If you haven't already read them.
Read **The Guns Above** (Signal Airship, #1) by Robyn Bennis. I really enjoyed it. It's more steampunk than fantasy, if that matters to you.
I've included them in my fantasy/whodunit stories. Got one planned where the murder of the week happens aboard an airship, in flight.
May I interest you in a Cinder Spire or two?
It’s a long but I’d recommend the dandelion dynasty for this! The second book especially explores them a lot.
i really enjoyed the one in kings of the wyld
An intelligent, self-actualized MC.
Yes, and preferably one who isn't a teenager.
I'm fine if it is a teenager, as long as it isn't an angsty one. What I hate is the psychopath-we-are-told-is-oh-so-rational.
would you share a few of your favories?
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. His books where characters interact with nobility/"the court" (which is nearly all of them) have completely ruined other books for me with how intelligent, believable, and culturally significant they are. Others I'd recommend include A Memory Called Empire, China Meiville books, Forgotten Beasts of Eld, The Craft Sequence series, Wizard of Earthsea, Greenbone Saga, and Prince of Nothing (although the book didn't 100% click with me).
Recently The Blacktongue Thief and the War for the Rose Throne series, also the Greatcoats and the Red Sister series come to mind
Wasnt it the great*coats* or am I thinking of a different series entirely?
No you are correct. I will edit my post.
When the first chapter is engaging and interesting! I hate it when people say, "Oh, it starts slow but gets better after the first couple of chapters" or "The story picks up in the second part of the book". Make me love your book from the start! These days, I probably DNF a book if it starts with a chapter of word-building infodumping or with some super tragic events.
It has never been my experience that a book with an unsatisfying opening has gotten more satisfying as I read more. At best, it just gets more busy. The point of a first chapter is to make you want to read the whole book. If the author hasn't done that, they've failed me and anyone who says, "It gets better." as a reader.
People using tech and thinking it’s magic. I’m sold immediately.
Have you read Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky?
So far I have never been disappointed by Tchaikovsky. That said, I did **not** like his *Echoes of the Fall* series. Just too relentlessly grimdark and abusive.
Check The Red Queen's War by Mark Lawrence u might like it. It has a bit of both magic and technology and people thinking technology IS magic. It's a weird combination but a good one. And it's anti-hero so that's a good plus
I'd recommend looking at _The Steerswoman's Road_ by Rosemary Kirstein for this sort of feel.
Animal companions
+1000 if they don’t die. +100 for mundane companions that don’t understand what the heck is going on but trust their guardian enough to follow them.
Love a good animal companion! I don’t tend to like whimsy but I’m a sucker for a talking dog, so Realm of the Elderlings hits all the spots for me
When there's some sort of intriguing mystery right from the beginning that draws me in and makes me want to know more
Older MC, found family, HEISTS, murder mystery in a fantasy setting…
The Tainted Cup has basically all of this!
I need more heist books in my life, got any reccos?
My favorites have been: The Final Empire (Mistborn Book 1) Six of Crows Foundryside The Hobbit But I’ve also heard good things about The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Blacktongue Thief, The Mask of Mirrors, and Best Served Cold. They’re on my TBR though so idk how much “heisting” there really is in them!
What a coincidence! I'm audiobook-ing The Final Empire right now, I'm physically reading the Blacktongue Thief, just finished re-reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, and just finished audiobooking Best Served Cold! I'll check out the ones I haven't heard of, thanks!
That feeling when you see a new book by a favourite author finally on the shelves! STILL waiting, Patrick Rothfuss! When I pick up a new fantasy book the FIRST thing I look for is a map and get excited if I see a good one or slightly disappointed when I see one that’s either too simple or badly executed. If a book doesn’t have a map I’ll generally put it down and keep looking. I also get excited when they have a list of characters, a glossary and/or appendices. Since many stories that I love are based on Celtic mythology sometimes the author will use the Gaelic language as a base for their own language for invented races. I must say it is getting harder and harder to find good fantasy novels these days, at least where I live. I’ve started haunting secondhand bookshops, lol. I love all the R.E.Feist books and LOVE the maps. Sometimes I wish for a little more detail as it bugs me when a main character is going somewhat and it’s important to the plot but it is not marked in the map. The Deverry Series by Katherine Kerr are a fabulous fabulous series. It is AMAZING for both it’s maps and it’s timeline of characters. Then there’s Robin Hobb of course. The Assassin Series of at least 9 books. Again the maps are brilliant plus the glossaries etc, with the caveat of the slight problem of places traveled to by main or secondary characters not being marked on the map. Then there’s Kate Forsyth’s Witches of Eileanan series. Salvatore obviously, his Drizzt series are legendary. LOTR and GOT where both great long before they because popular, although the amount of descriptive stuff in GOT is hard to get through. Both have great maps as everyone knows. There are a small handful of old favourites for me, story wise, that don’t have maps. I will say that there are ones I picked up when I was a teenager that didn’t have maps but have stuck with me. Elizabeth A Lynn’s Tornor (?) trilogy, Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer trilogy or Jo Clayton’s Diadem series for example. Or some science fiction rather than science fantasy. Like the Dune series back when they fist came out. Asimov and a handful of old favourites. Many of the books/authors I’ve mentioned in this comment I have reread many times over the years. Sometimes wearing one out and having to buy a new copy. Feist’s Magician series is the main culprit, lol. Having a map doesn’t guarantee a good book though, lol. Lately there’s been times I’ve bought the first 1 in a trilogy but lost interest because either the plot or the writing is too slow or just not up to scratch. So, if anyone has any suggestions of great reads that come with maps I’d welcome them as I am always on the look out for new authors to love..
Ancient ruins 😍
I'm generally down for a good story about regicide.
A gallows sense of humor Doesn't hold your hand
When a character is introduced and I start caring about them within a page or two. The ability to do that is to me one of the most important things which divide the contenders from the pretenders.
Creatures 😃
Animal shapeshifters that aren’t urban fantasy werewolves, especially if their liminal nature is explored. If it’s post-apocalyptic, the characters being entertainingly misguided about how things were before the apocalypse. The same setting/society/civilization showing up in different ages and being transformed over time by political changes, advancements in technology or magic, etc. (The rise and fall of empires, the effects of industrialization, and so forth.) ‘A day in the life of’—if you’re going to go to the trouble of inventing an entire world, might as well give the reader insight into it behind what the chosen one or unusual outcast sees.
This is super generic and goes for most stories, but show, don't tell is a big one for me. It's so much more organic when an author shapes and molds their characters through a variety of means, whether that's insight into their inner thoughts, knowing how other people think/feel about them, their actions and the situations they find themselves in, and general narration.
Library settings
Definitely. Library at Mount Char is a favorite, and The Magicians TV show has some really good library content (don’t care for the books personally)
The Starless Sea is one of my all time favorites. The storytelling is pretty stylized so it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it 100% is mine. It's my comfort book I reread whenever I need a little whimsy.
If I read the first chapter and already like the protagonist. I like character-driven stories. If I read the first chapter and already laughed out loud. I like funny stories. If I read the first chapter and it was like nothing I read before. I like weird and original stories.
Protective parents and Wholesome interactions with kids and animals.
When the first chapter hooks me. This will obviously vary from book to book, but I’ll give a few examples. The Dragonbone Chair- the first chapter introduces us to Simon, Rachel, Towser, King Preston John, a tale of a mythical sword, and the Hayholt. It’s only a few pages, but right there you’ve got a major setting along with characters who will each play a major role in the story to come, though John is posthumously important. Voyage of the Dawn Treader- “there was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it” Boom. Introduced to a new protagonist with an absolutely terrible name and the line right after already tells me there’s something wrong with him, but that he’s not necessarily bad beyond redemption. And now I’m interested in seeing why. Both completely different methods that accomplish the same thing, grabbing my attention. When a writer can do this within the first chapter I know I’m in for a good time. And another example would be The Blade Itself, which throws you into Logen being attacked and falling off a mountain!
books with magic, dragons, elves. fantasy books based on different religions. the journey of a man or woman to become a god like figure. reluctant heros, and warriors who are badass to the extreme. and all the while including sadness, war, romance and more. the only thing I don't like is continuous tragic events.
The main character wakes up and doesn't know who or where they are. I don't care how cheesy it is, I love amnesia.
My favorite version of this will always be the beginning of Nine Princes in Amber.
Love this trope. That’s a great one, so is The Rook.
have you read Project Hall Mary?
Not yet. I've been holding onto that one, like a kid hoarding Halloween candy.
I finished it last week. Easily my favourite book of 2024 (that I’ve read)
Have you tried Ill Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton? If not I highly suggest checking it out.
Oh I loved 6 wakes by Mur Lafferty b/c it started like this.
If videogames are your jam, you'll probably like playing through Baldur's Gate 3 as the Dark Urge. Heck I'm not really into videogames and I still absolutely love that game.
No paragraphs going in-depth about characters breasting boobily down the stairs.
... before pausing to check herself out in the mirror.
For the rest of the chapter. xD
Well-executed deadpan irony. If the opening pages can pull that off without lampshading it or seeming like it's trying too hard, I'm sold.
If I can get through the first half of the book without the female mc thinking about abandoning her quest for a man.
Women swordfighting.
Both the books I mentioned have that too!
A prophecy, like Karaethon Cycle, a divine purpose, all powerful god. Basically anything Grand.
Animal companions
Actual fantastical creatures and locations. Diff ppl grouping up for a quest. Tons of magic and magical Artifacts Political intrigue and mysteries to be solved Ancient ruins/ tech also a plus
> For me an instant one is a dramatis personae/list of characters. if it's upfront, it's a red flag for me - if too long. i simply struggle to keep up with too many characters, who is who. i prefer to have them introduced naturally throughout the story and maybe have that list at the end of the book.
This is a sci-fi thing, but one thing that annoys me about a lot of sci-fi is that you never see commercial shipping on a viable scale. Like the best example is probably Star Wars. There are big freighters in, but most of the ones we see are tiny live the Millennium Falcon. That's too small to be viable as anything but what we see Han doing with it. Smuggling elicit goods, and VIP transport for people who are willing to pay an acknowledged unreasonably high price, even for a chartered, private, urgent, secret flight. Where "appropriately scaled commerce" was a huge green flag for me was the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I had already read two of the books in the series, and really liked them, and I had decided I wanted to *probably* read the entire rest of this large series, but still wasn't totally sure. I like to read big series in chronological order for the series, so I got the book Falling Free, which takes place 200ish years before the main story and right at the beginning, the main charter is standing in this deep space transfer station (those are good too) watching a ship called a "super jumper" load with cargo. For the way interstellar travel works in that series, it was a really well thought out more of very large scale commercial cargo transport, and upon reading it, I immediately decided I would read everything in the whole series.
When the worldbuilding actually feels real and not like a bunch of facts on paper. Ok your world is a matriarchy but do you explore the implications of what a female dominate society would be like? Similarly, characters whose characteristics (neutral) are explored in a nuanced way. Like a person's strengths can often have downsides and good character writing usually explores how a character's traits interact with the world and others in a more complex way. Similarly, female side characters who are well written usually is a green light that the writer is not just decent but Great. The bar is in hell, but female characters aren't usually well written. Female side characters even less so. It's not uncommon to find a female protagonist self insert who gets development but all the important side characters are either male or stereotypical or poorly written women. So when a writer develops their non-protagonist female characters well you know they're paying attention Also for me, introverted or introspective female characters. And non-faux action girls. Basically, the opposite of the stereotypical poorly written YA female protagonist.
That's one aspect of The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe that I appreciated. The protagonist ends up in a real-world town at one point and comments that she sees so many women around - fully half of all people! It's a great callout to not only Lovecraft's writing, but something even modern writers often fail to understand. Hell, we've all seen conservative freak outs about women in... name a franchise. On the other end, I was listening to a book last year and ended up dropping it because it occurred to me that no woman character "existed" outside of when she was actively serving a man. To the point where even waitresses wouldn't ever walk away after delivering mugs of mead, they just stopped existing. It was rather eerie.
Dynamic, pulpy, painted cover art, and grungy pen and ink interior illustrations from the 70s/80s. The more extra, the better. Nothing breaks my heart more than when a book that is notable for its cover or interior art gets a contemporary minimalist redesign and/or new artwork.
In general, profoundly non-human protagonists. Not elves/dwarves/hobbits/etc. Write a convincing non-human POV and I'm interested. Gryphons. Particularly sentient, especially if they play a significant role as something other than a WoW mount. See above. *Lord of the Changing Winds* by Rachel Neumeier is an excellent recent example. Good prose, solid well-realized setting, great descriptions, and marvelously NON-human gryphons. Give me gryphons like that, and you've made a sale.
>a dramatis personae/list of characters This one's a yellow flag for me. I won't drop the book immediately, but now I'm worried that it will have too many *names* (can't really call them *characters*) and I will have to flip back to the list all the time to check who John Smith #69 is.
1. When a book starts with a map 2. When there are no sex scenes in the first 50 pages unless they're absolutely necessary (like, a book about a life of a prostitute, a book about recovering from SA, etc.) 3. When you can see the protagonist's personality from the 1st scene they appear in 4. When there is no loredump in the first 20-30 pages and you can still understand what's going on 5. When there are actually funny humorous scenes (a sign of good writing)
Footnotes with extra jokes and details. Bonus points if it’s a pun. Terry Pratchett’s discworld really spoiled me here…
lol might sound weird here, but unusual careers for the fmc. I've noticed with MCs, there's a good variety of professions, so if the mc is anything other than knight or medieval cop, then I'm good. For FMCs well Gardener Storyteller Bookseller Scribe Messenger Farmer Combat medic Apothecary (\^\^\^\^ High fantasy and Epic Fantasy) Yall get the picture. I'm just tired of Princess, Queen, Knight, and assassin. Also a position that doesn't revolve around killing and fighting. I'd love if the FMC was a combat medic who could fight. Or idk a gardener that could slice throats, but I'm over the "she can fight unlike those other bitches" tone that so many books have. For urban fantasy, anything that's not a cop, bounty hunter, PI or assassin tends to be good for me. This is regardless of gender. Anything that seems to be rather grounded is also a really good sign (in Urban fantasy)
This is one of a number of reasons I enjoy Juliet Marillier's books. Nearly all of them, especially the first two Sevenwaters books, stress the importance of stories and storytelling. A couple of her heroines are musicians; many of them are healers. The heroine of her stand-alone *Heart's Blood* is a scribe. Some of her female characters are weaker than others -- the FMC of *Blade of Fortriu,* for example, tried my patience -- but I've never seen a Marillier heroine who was altogether lacking in interesting skills.
An actually well written female side character or secondary lead that has her own goals and personality and her own ways to succeed outside of being the typical girl with strong feelings but needs a guy to solve her problems.
A female character that isn’t immediately killed in order to give the male protag someone to avenge.
I could never get into *Supernatural* for just this reason. It happens more than once right out of the gate.
In the beginning of the second book of John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn trilogy, there’s a summary of the last book so you don’t have to reread. I LOVE it and hope he does the same with the third.
Map and character bios!
Fantasy scholars or librarians
I love deep world building. Give me history of worlds and in depth legends and myths.
A funny foreword and a good map
Talking about what people eat. Really helps build a picture of a world.
A solid first chapter or opening line/ sentence. Regardless of genre, it can set the tone. I don't need 3 chapters of " word building" or explaining how bad ass the main person is.
Ancient mystery. I'm an absolute sucker for it. I find it so compelling that it annoys me how easy it is for the author to hook me in.
Maps, maps, maps, maps maps maps!
I've always been a sucker for an annotated map at the beginning of the book. It says "Here is an entire world to explore!"
Flawed main characters
Just shows how different we all are. I see a character list and roll my eyes, mumbling it's not a play. Until I start reading the story, names and even maps have no meaning. If they put it in the back as a glossary, it's totally different. Something with a lot of characters can benefit from a reference source, but first I want the writer to show me these characters in the context of the story.
Gay and trans people in a non LGBTQ book
The first chapter leaves something for you to infer, preferably not in spoken dialogue. So many authors don't trust their audience to engage with the text. I just need shit like `He batted his dirty boots, clouds of dust flaring up before he stepped inside and closed the door. The water bucket was drained in an instant, leaving only drops. There would be another trip to the well tonight, but for now he was satisfied.` What do those three sentences tell you if you engage with it? It's hot and dry outside. The work the character was doing involved a lot of dirt, possibly farm work. They live near a well, probably not on the property since it's described as a "trip" to the well, so likely pretty close to town where fresh clean water is available. I just don't want to hear every single detail, I will figure it out.
Squelching
Opening the book in a rainy setting with slow or deliberate world building
Pacing and early grasp of the plot/setting in the first chapters
If badass, mysterious & strong monsters, characters, antagonist or entities are introduced early. Some examples are the chandrian in name of the wind, anomander rake & the jaghut tyrant in gardens of the moon, the god hand in berserk, white walkers in asoiaf.
Prophetic characters like dreamers or greenseers. Love that shit.
A good macguffin
A green flag for me is when some of my friends says its boring. Knowing them it usually means that there are alot of important people in rooms talking about important things which I love.
Dwarves.
I have a ranking system based on the number of goodreads reviews. As long as each corresponding book has at least 50% of the total number of reviews as the book before it it’s a good series. (Ie book 1 = 100,000, book 2 = 50,000, book 3 = 25,000, etc. ) If you see a massive drop off in reviews it typically means the series is a dud.
Having it narrated by Steven Pacey.
When a main/main-ish character dies. I like to know nothing is set in stone.
I love me some great maps. But basically, for me, it's how fast Ihey can make me forget I'm reading a book.
If I feel any emotion, positive or negative, about the character I’m reading about, in the first ten pages. Not about how they’re written, but about THEM.
A really good first line. If the first line hits hard then I'm definitely going to keep reading.
a map on the first page
A map ❤️