Fantasy works to expand literary horizons?

[ekbell]

One of my nephews wants "Unique and original well written novels of fiction, preferably but not necessarily fantasy, to expand my literary horizons. Books of longer length a plus."

I'm thinking Titus Goan (be careful what you ask for ) but other recommendations would appreciated

[kansaskyle]

What authors has he read and enjoyed?

How old is your nephew so we can understand how dark of stuff you would want him to read?

[Rbneader]

What age range does he typically read? That really impacts my suggestions.

Getting books for kids is tricky - some kids aren't prepared to handle some topics even if their peers are, and some are way ahead of their peers in certain areas. So YMMV on the age ranges below. Maybe check in with his parents about what he's had problems with in the past, or what they don't want him reading yet?

General suggestions:
Andre Norton has a lot of fantasy for different age ranges. Her Witch World series is great for middle school and up, and she also writes sci-fi that works for 10ish and up.

Also Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia C Wrede and Jane Yolen.

All of the above write books for both kids and lighter YA that works for 10ish and up, but is still a good read for adults. They also all have distinctive writing styles and worldbuilding, if that's what he's looking for.

Age-based suggestions:
I read The Hobbit in elementary school, so that's a suggestion.

In the definitely-for-kids range, E Nesbit and Edward Eager are pretty good.

If he's an older teenager, Martha Well's Books of the Raksura series are a lot of fun and very different from typical D&D style fantasy. They mention serious topics but in a lowkey, matter of fact way. I'd feel comfortable handing them to a teenager after a talk about how people live in fictional worlds doesn't necessarily reflect how things are in the real world.

If he likes lighter sci-fi, Timothy Zahn writes good adventure novels. I especially like the Blackcollar series and Icarus Hunt, the Cobra series is bad.

If he's an adult and prepared to confront serious topics in detail, Deed of Paksenarrion is amazing. But there is one attempted rape and one torture scene that get detailed and I wouldn't let a highschooler read them. Also Bujold's Vorkosigan series for space opera, but again definitely some scenes I wouldn't want a high schooler to read.

[Dazrin]

I will echo everyone else, we need more information about your nephew to have really good suggestions.

When I think "literary fantasy", The Golem and the Jinni is one of the first books I think of. Some others are Among Others by Jo Walton, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (and other books by him), and some books by China Mieville.

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry is fantasy/mystery, I listened to this and it was excellent.

[ZodWallop]

I just assumed anyone who wrote

Originally Posted by ekbell

"Unique and original well written novels of fiction, preferably but not necessarily fantasy, to expand my literary horizons. Books of longer length a plus."

could handle novels written for adults.

My first thoughts were Michael Moorcock (plenty to choose from. Elric might be a good start, though I'm not sure about the reordered way the series is available now), Gene Wolfe (The Book of the New Sun) or John Crowley (Otherwise collects three of his most popular novels, The Deep, Beasts and Engine Summer).

I may be taking the "expand my literary horizons" part too seriously if he's just looking for fantasy that is different from the Tolkein mould.

[GeoffR]

I thought these were all a bit unusual in one way or another, but also beautifully written and very enjoyable.

Robert Holdstock, Mythago Wood.
Guy Gavriel Kay, The Sarantine Mosaic.
Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné.
Gene Wolfe, The Wizard Knight.

[ekbell]

Whoops! He's nineteen and taking a gap year before university so adult/dark themes shouldn't be a problem.

I appreciate all the suggestions, I live a few thousand kilometers away so I'm not exactly sure of his tastes (and I'm planning to take 'expand my literary horizons' seriously).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné.
Gene Wolfe, The Wizard Knight.

I wish they'd kept the series in the old Daw, chronological order. The Elric books available in e-book form are in publication order. That means the earliest stories are the weakest and may not be the best way to first experience Elric.

[Dazrin]

I'm going to stick with my recommendations above then, all good books with literary merit.

Some others:
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie is very good. I haven't read the rest of his books but this seemed self-contained even though it has some characters from his other books. I haven't read the others and I didn't feel lost.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is supposed to be quite good as well. The first, Gardens of the Moon, is excellent but I haven't finished the series yet.

[ekbell]

Thanks for the recs. I've decided on The Golem and the Jinni (because I've actually read that one) but will remember the others for the future.

I'm also considering grabbing a few public domain books such as The Well at the World's End, Till We Have Faces *, The Once and Future King* ,The Worm Ouroboros, or books by Lord Dunsany & Charles Williams * to send to him.

*Public Domain in Canada where we both live