06-27-2013, 02:48 AM | #1 |
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Looking for non-violent Fantasy and urban fantasy
My wife is interested in reading Fantasy and Urban fantasy books.
Mainly as she sees me reading stuff like "The Dresden files, Iron Druid" etc. The thing is she doesn't like violent stuff, meaning stories that are largely focused on violence. Now generally Dresden files and so on have a strong graphic violence theme, which is fine for me and many other people. However seeing as this is not my wife's thing, I'm wondering if there's books in these genres that don't focus on that. I'd be looking for something that is perhaps more political, intrigue, interaction between people , suspense, thriller, development of relationships etc. Obviously there would pretty much always be some element of violence in it, but not to be the focus and not graphic violence. Could be a tall order, but any suggestions? |
06-27-2013, 03:07 AM | #2 |
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An example of something Fantasy based that isn't violence focused maybe might be The "Earthsea" books.
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06-27-2013, 08:30 AM | #3 |
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Terri Windling's ``Fairy Tales'' series should be suitable --- even the most violent (Jane Yolen's _Briar Rose_ has most of the violence slightly off-camera [political]).
Charles de Lint handles things well and most of his books are very enjoyable. His _Svaha_ [political] is one of my favourites. Megan Lindholm's _Cloven Hooves_ [interaction between people/development of relationships] is only emotionally violent, but extremely moving and an amazing story. R. A. MacAvoy's books have only the minimal level of violence needed to create conflict --- _Tea with the Black Dragon_ [thriller] is fabulous (but I even enjoyed the sequel, _Twisting the Rope_ [suspense]), _The Book of Kells_ [intrigue] is mostly time travel, but still a lot of fun. William |
06-27-2013, 09:41 AM | #4 |
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Thank you all for the recs! I'm interested in this as well, and now I have some books to look for.
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06-27-2013, 10:24 PM | #5 |
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Thanks for the suggestions, checking them out
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06-28-2013, 12:11 AM | #6 | |
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I recommend War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. It is not necessarily a non-violent book, because it is about the faerie war and there is one huge battle that takes place.
But it is considered a precursor of urban fantasy before it was even known as that. (book is from '87) It also features a strong main female character, something your wife might enjoy? Here's the synopsis: Quote:
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06-28-2013, 12:51 PM | #7 |
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There were a _lot_ of books which are earlier than 1987 so as to be ``precursors of urban fantasy''
- 1965 -- The Dark is Rising (Over Sea, Under Stone) - 1978 -- Last Born of Elvinwood - 1983 -- Tea with the Black Dragon - 1985 -- Wizard of the Pigeons - 1986 -- Borderland Last edited by WillAdams; 06-28-2013 at 02:13 PM. |
06-28-2013, 01:08 PM | #8 |
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The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger is light, fun and quirky. The first one is "Soulless".
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06-28-2013, 01:42 PM | #9 |
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I found China Mieville's fantasy works focus much more on amazing me than on violence, but they do contain violent scenes.
Perhaps Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Anansi Boys? |
07-03-2013, 11:34 AM | #10 |
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She might like the Truth Series by Dawn Cook (Kim Harrison).
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07-04-2013, 02:27 AM | #11 |
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The Mythago wood books by Robert Holdstock doesn't have that much violence that I can remember. The first one is called "Mythago Wood". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Holdstock
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07-04-2013, 04:07 AM | #12 |
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wow lots to choose from thanx!
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07-07-2013, 02:36 PM | #13 |
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Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdom Novels would fit this. They are lighthearted fantasies based on fairy tales. My favourite is "One Good Night."
Then there are Piers Anthony's Xanth novels. Quests with very little violence and a lot of humour based on puns. |
07-07-2013, 02:45 PM | #14 |
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An obvious suggestion is "The Lord of the Rings", but if she's a fantasy fan I'm sure she's read that.
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07-08-2013, 03:18 AM | #15 |
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Terry Pratchett!!! Discworld!!!
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