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05-29-2020, 10:25 AM | #1 |
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An adventurous fantasy novel with a clean side romance and male lead
Hey guys!
I'm looking for a fantasy adventure novel with a clean side romance. I've recently read through the Mysteries of Cove and Percy Jackson series and would like something that captures the feeling of both of these great reads, not only in terms of the adventure itself (doesn't have to be centered around mythology or steampunk necessarily), but also the 'innocent' romance that develops alongside the adventure. I know I'm somewhat out of the target demographic of these books (I'm 19), but the fact that it's aimed at a young audience spares me the focus on the appearance of the characters and how hot everyone is, which is prevalent in YA literature and just brings the whole thing down for me. One thing this category doesn't offer in spades is the depth of the world-building, which I understand, seeing as your audience is young and you'd rather focus on the action to keep them hooked. That's why I decided to broaden my horizons and look into the YA category as well (doesn't mean I'm not open for any tween/middle-grade books though!). If there is another thing that both of those series share, it's the somewhat dense male lead. I really enjoy seeing the mc get confused about how the whole thing works, miss some hints along the way, get fought over without realizing it, and just come out of the story mature enough to understand that he's not as unpopular as he thought he was. Love triangles and the like are fine as long as they don't feel forced. Thank you. |
05-29-2020, 02:20 PM | #2 |
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The author of the Percy Jackson series actually has a number of books out, you might want to check some of his other series out.
You also might want to consider some of the older YA authors, i.e. the books that have been out a while - Tamora Pierce and Patricia Wreade come to mind. There is always the Harry Potter books, but I assume you have read those. |
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05-29-2020, 02:33 PM | #3 | ||
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By "clean", do you mean no sex at all, or no explicit sex?
Sarah Rees Brennan's "In Other Lands" is one of my favourite books, a portal fantasy where Elliot from our world travels to the Borderlands when he's thirteen, and we follow him for five years. It's both hilarious and heartbreaking. Quote:
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Last edited by hildea; 05-29-2020 at 02:50 PM. |
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05-29-2020, 02:34 PM | #4 |
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The series set in the Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland should fit the bill. There's a prequel that's a novella that I recommend reading first (and reading them in order). It's in a book of 3 or 4 other novellas by other authors. Wikipedia or her site should provide the details.
Last edited by hobnail; 05-29-2020 at 08:27 PM. |
05-30-2020, 01:55 PM | #5 | |
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05-30-2020, 02:16 PM | #6 | |
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05-31-2020, 04:02 AM | #7 | |||
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I thought of another book which you might like: The Spirit Ring, by Lois McMaster Bujold. It takes place in a renaissance Italy with magic, where a young man and a young woman get caught up in dangerous political/magical/military intrigues. The chapters alternate between the male and the female lead. The main focus is on the plot, but the romance is also an important part of the story. Quote:
Another book which may fit the somewhat dense male lead who doesn't understand his own strengths is Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer. This is a historical romance, not fantasy, so you might not be interested. There's no sex in Heyer's books. Quote:
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05-31-2020, 08:09 AM | #8 |
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Thank you all for the suggestions. I still have yet to find something that suits my taste, but I really do appreciate you guys taking the time to leave an answer.
With that said, I think I have a preference for middle grade novels just because of how innocent the romance can be, as well as how back seated it is most of the time. So if you have any more of those, please don't hesitate to leave a recommendation |
05-31-2020, 12:13 PM | #9 | |
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05-31-2020, 03:07 PM | #10 |
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How about something classic, like John Carter of Mars series?
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05-31-2020, 07:29 PM | #11 | |
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For young adult try the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. Similarly The Queen's Thief series by Turner. |
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07-06-2020, 06:48 PM | #12 | |
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I was going to say Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels series, but they have a bit of sex. Only a tiny bit in Mercy Thompson. The Inkeeper series is almost sex free, one scene where it was mostly a fade to black. Go to Goodreads, look up the Percy Jackson series, and there will be books similar to it shown. Last edited by Rellwood; 07-06-2020 at 07:00 PM. |
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07-07-2020, 06:07 AM | #13 |
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How about the Chronicles of Prydain by Alexander? It's about as innocent as they come. I recently read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. You can buy the omnibus at Amazon. It's actually 5 relatively short books.
Forgot to mention, it has a clean side romance between the mail lead, Taran and the Princess Eilowny. Last edited by drofgnal; 07-09-2020 at 06:14 AM. |
07-07-2020, 11:42 AM | #14 |
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Lois Bujold: The Penric and Desdemona series.
David Eddings: The Belgariad series Margaret Mahy: The Changeover (Female lead) Patricia Mckillip: The Changeling Sea and The Riddlemaster Trilogy, and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (All but Riddlemaster have female lead) Robin Mckinley: The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown (female lead) Andre Norton: The Crystal Gryphon (Split leads) Tamora Pierce: Song of the Lioness Quartet, The Immortals Quartet, Tricksters Choice and Tricksters Queen (female lead) Last edited by crossi; 07-07-2020 at 12:07 PM. Reason: Sorry. Didn't see that bit about male leads |
07-09-2020, 08:17 PM | #15 | |
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It's a story with a mature MC, and two other adult characters and six highly unusual kids that are all central to the plot - and is like a big hug in book form. It is a rare book written for adults that can just as equally be read by kids due to the lack of any graphic content. TJ Klune is one of my favourite authors who was written some of my favourite books in a variety of different genres/sub-genres and also has a YA debut due out next week called The Extraordinaires. Those two (and Olive Juice which is an excellent but hard hitting contemporary) are probably the only ones that are totally free of any sexual content though! |
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