It's awesome to have the wonderful Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time here today! Thank you for coming, Sophie!! And how cool that some of our faves are joining in with Month Of Guests!! :DMy Top Ten Paranormal Books!
I’ve recently fallen for YA fantasy so I thought I’d share my favourites! As I am quite new to the genre, I’m going to cheat and choose five fantasy novels and five urban fantasy novels (fantasy set in the real world, but not paranormal romance). Here they are in no particular order!
Fantasy
I read Kristin Cashore’s Gracelingearlier in the year on a whim and fell head over heels in love. I loved strong, fierce and feminist Katsa; she’s the type of girl I wish everyone had as a role model. The strength and subtlety of the feminism in this novel was phenomenal and empowering.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas was one of my favourite books last year and it was one that I took a gamble on. I loved it so, so much. The world! Caelana! The fact that I couldn’t predict the outcome of the love triangle! It was a breath of fresh air and I think it’d be a really nice gateway into YA fantasy.
My next one is far too unknown for my liking: Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I had never heard of this until the publicist emailed me about this, promising that I’d like it even thought it wasn’t my usual thing. She was right! Though a little slow to start, I became absorbed in the magical world and was devastated to learn that there would be a four year wait between books one and two!
I wasn’t too sure about Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study when I first started and I still wasn’t sure when I finished it. By the end of the third book, I was I love with Ixia, the magic, Snyder’s writing and the gorgeous Valek. I’ve bought every one of her books since!
Finally, one I haven’t actually read yet. I’ve heard endlessly good things about Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers and I’m really hoping that I’ll finally get around to reading it very soon.
Urban Fantasy
The Wicked Lovely series by Melisaa Marr is one of my very favourite series. I love her dark, dangerous and endlessly seductive faery world and the characters are breathtaking. From our heroine Aislinn to Keenan the Summer King; Seth, the tattooed mortal love of Aislinn to Niall, right hand of the Dark Court; Iriall the Dark King to Lesley, a mortal who becomes embroiled in the dangers of Faery; they all captivated me. Marr’s description is flawless and I want to live in her world.
Holly Black takes a grittier look at faeries in her trilogy that begins with Tithe. Kaye has seen faeries all her life, but it’s not until she moves to New Jersey that she becomes caught up in a war that could result in her death. Gripping, strangely romantic and beautifully twisted: a total win on the faery front.
On to a different type of supernatural creatures, Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments remains as one of my favourite series of all time. the tales of the New York Shadowhunters – half human, half angel – as they tackle demons and fight foes while Clary and Jace (oh, Jace. How I love thee...) battle the right to love each other. Death, danger and breath-taking battles; it’s an addictive series, even if I do think it would have been better to end it where originally planned at book three.
At fifteen books, The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine isn’t for the feint-hearted, but h it’s worth it. Super-clever Claire starts university at the age of 16 and ends up living with Shane, Michael and Eve after evil girls in her dorm hurt her. Little does she know that she’s just moved to a town run by vampires and Monica is the least of her worries... fast-paced, addictive and brilliant cliffhangers; I’ll be sad to see this series end in November.
Finally, back to the fey with Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey trilogy. Man, I love this series! Meghan is thrown into the magical and extremely dangerous Nevernever when her little brother is kidnapped by faeries. On her journey to rescue her brother she meets the impenetrable Winter Prince, a surprisingly familiar allie and Grim, the cat that knows everything. Kagawa’s writing is captivating and I fall into it effortlessly. I want to live in her world!
That’s it from me! I’m hope you’ve found something that’s piqued your interest. Thank you for having me, Megan!
Sophie
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Thank you so much for your awesome post, Sophie - so many of my faves here and also so many to read now!!! Stop by later for Maria V. Snyder and Julie Kagawa's posts!! :D
Oh, and did you know that Maria's signed on for three more books about Yelena?! Exciting, no? :D
I hope you all enjoyed Sophie's post! And don't forget to follow Sophie's Blog: So Many Books, So Little Time - and follow her on Twitter too! :D
And keep up to date with MonthOfGuests on Twitter using #MonthOfGuests2013! And stop by tomorrow for a brilliant post by the amazing Hollie from Music, Books And Tea!!