Fantasy: reliable content

[mtbikemom]

  Hey, fellow time-wasters, I am having a bit of a difficult time finding fantasy reviews that reflect my own sensibilities.  I'm tired of starting a recommended book, getting attached to certain characters and story lines and then, all of a sudden and often unnecessarily, the graphic sex, torture, really sick stuff in general . . . kicks in and I have to skip, scan ahead and decide whether or not to continue reading.  I generally put the thing down and brood over the wasted time. 

   I sense that there are others on this forum whose preferences run in the same vein as mine.  I can handle a certain amount of graphic detail, especially violence, as long as it does not cross the line into indulging the sick fantasies of the author. (George RRM comes to mind as I've ranted before.)  This seems hard to avoid in most modern fiction and I would like to avoid it.

   SOOOO, what have you read and loved that you would feel comfortable passing on to a beloved, impressionable son, daughter, niece, nephew? 

    As an example, I did a Google search for "good traditional fantasy" and came up with a few book lists on Amazon lately.  I decided to try Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.  There was a sex scene early on and it was very well-written, but had an element of pain/pleasure that I considered potentially unhealthy.  It was so well done, though, that I am still reading and hoping I don't regret it.  The way Kay writes the inner thoughts of his characters rings very true to me, unlike some authors who practically castrate their young male characters to avoid writing about sex at all.  Both extremes are not to my liking.   I've gotta believe my fantasy to enjoy it!

   I read a lot of YA (young adult) novels to keep my heart and mind where they ought to be and indulge my passion for a good story.  I think a lot of YA is just as good, if not better, than most of what is put out for general consumption, so please include any really good YA novels you have come across, if anyone posts here.  Patrick Carman is a favorite.

   I know there are a lot of gray areas on this topic and that the line is not a fine one and that one person's "clean content" is another's semi-porn, but I hope to get a few good recommendations out of this and discover previously unknown gems of fantasy.  Sci fi is also welcome.

[ErikHolmes]

You should try the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton.

(Ducks all of the things thrown at him).

Ok, J/K.

Actually, the first one that comes to mind is Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. It's really good and about as clean as they get.

Aprillynne Pike's Wings is also very clean. It's more of a modern fantasy thought. I girl in high school discovers that shes a fairy.

Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice was pretty clean, and very good.

I'd give Roger Zelazny's Amber books a light PG-13 rating. It's also my favorite series period.

You also won't find anything cleaner then David Farland's Runelord series.

I seem to remember the Deeds of Paksanarion to be very clean as well. And a great Fantasy series. Really cool Paladins.

E. E. Knight has a series about Dragons. The first book is called Dragon Champion. Everyone should read it. Best Dragon book ever written IMO and E. E. Knight is the best author that no one knows about.

[firstRainbowRose]

I read a lot of romantic/fantasy, and most of it is YA, so let me run through some of my favorite authors.

Mercades Lackey.  As I recall the most sexual thing she wrote was the character didn't think he knew what another was doing and then it was "correction, he did know what he was doing." (it makes more sense in context).  Her 500 Kingdoms is more chick-lit, but the early Valdamar has some good stuff.
Jane Yolen "Sister Light/Sister Dark"
Cassandra Claire (clare? Clair? Clare?  It's one of the three)
Robin McKinley

I'll add more when I'm not helping my brother with his drivers ed.

[mtbikemom]

Thanks, Rainbow!

[mtbikemom]

Actually, the first one that comes to mind is Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. It's really good and about as clean as they get.

Aprillynne Pike's Wings is also very clean. It's more of a modern fantasy thought. I girl in high school discovers that shes a fairy.

Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice was pretty clean, and very good.

I'd give Roger Zelazny's Amber books a light PG-13 rating. It's also my favorite series period.

You also won't find anything cleaner then David Farland's Runelord series.

I seem to remember the Deeds of Paksanarion to be very clean as well. And a great Fantasy series. Really cool Paladins.

E. E. Knight has a series about Dragons. The first book is called Dragon Champion. Everyone should read it. Best Dragon book ever written IMO and E. E. Knight is the best author that no one knows about.

   I don't want anything too clean, unless it is as good as Brandon's.  I've commented that Mistborn, as wonderful as that was, left me a little empty because certain sexual feelings were largely ignored that really should have been included.  I just don't want to read anything disgusting, y'know?

  I've always thought that Robert Jordan struck a good balance.  Most of the sex is off-camera and some of it included the humor that I think is lacking in most male authors depictions, especially of first encounters.

Thanks, Erik!  E.E. Knight sounds intriguing.  I love finding good, unknown authors.

[mtbikemom]

Been meaning to read Robin Hobb.

[Silk]

Only read one of Daniel Abraham's books so far (A Shadow In Summer, the beginning of the Long Price Quartet), but he's an excellent author and I don't remember any excessiveness in there.

Kay is the other one who comes to mind, but you've already mentioned him. Most of his sex scenes are a little easier to get past than the one in Tigana you mentioned.

[ErikHolmes]

 I don't want anything too clean, unless it is as good as Brandon's.  I've commented that Mistborn, as wonderful as that was, left me a little empty because certain sexual feelings were largely ignored that really should have been included.  I just don't want to read anything disgusting, y'know?

  I've always thought that Robert Jordan struck a good balance.  Most of the sex is off-camera and some of it included the humor that I think is lacking in most male authors depictions, especially of first encounters.

Thanks, Erik!  E.E. Knight sounds intriguing.  I love finding good, unknown authors.

Ok, in that case:

Read the Amber books by Roger Zelazny first. They are amazing and you won't ever read anything like them again.

You might like E. E. Knights Vampire Earth books. There's sex, swearing, etc. But its not really graphic or anything. I think the most graphic sex scene might be when he and his partner are pretending to have sex so that the informant in the next room can't hear them. She yells and moans, while he pushes the bed back and forth with his foot while debriefing her. But that's like in book Four.

And I'll say this: David Valentine, the Protagonist of The Vampire Earth series, is the most heroic character I've ever read about. Just hardcore valiant. Imagine if every day when you went to work you had to be a character in a horror movie, and knew it. Today you're one of the Marines in Aliens. Now you're one of the campers at Crystal Lake. Now you're a police officer during Dawn of the Dead. Can you infiltrate Nazi Germany? Oh ya, its full of Vampires.

The Vampire Earth: If The Red Badge of Courage had been written by H.P. Lovecraft

David Valentine is Metal.

[sortitus]

Bookstore Guy just created a review site and at the bottom of each review he gives a content rundown.

I second the Amber recommendation. Despite some typos still present in the most recent editions (yeah, I obsess a bit), it's an awesome read. The series is earthy without being dark or dirty, and my favorite fantasy series ever.

[Bookstore Guy]

Thanks Sort, I was just about to link the review site Nick and I run.

Look, mtbikemom, I get where you are coming from. That's why we put a content breakdown at the bottom of every review. Really what we try to do is give you enough info--without spoilers--so you can decide if all these millions of books out there are ok for you. Head over there and start reading our reviews, hopefully some of them will grab you, and you'll follow the inbedded links to Amazon and grab some stuff (that's the only place we really shop now).

In the mean time, until we get more reviews up, here are some good reads:

EE Knight (Erik is right, his Vampire Earth series is great - there is some sex and swearing, but its not graphic)
David Farland
Scott Westerfield (YA - I prefer the Midnighters series)
Simon R Green - Nightside series (swearing, but no sex)
James Clemens (simple fantasy, along the simple lines like Jordan wrote)
Steven Erikson (this is very, very, hard fantasy. hardest learning curve, but well worth the read)
David Weber (military SF)

Those will keep you busy for a while. And keep an eye on the blog, we do lots of reviews.

elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com

[Frog]

My favorite 'adult' series is still Deathgate by Weis and Hickman. It has some innuendos (especially in the second book) but I don't remember anything being on screen. But then, it has elves so I don't know how popular they would be on here.
I can also recommend lots of YA/middle grade stuff if you need more of those because, above all, I refuse to grow up and like jumping around sections.

[Sigyn]

Oh, I love this question.

Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs - these are urban fantasy but still a lot of fun.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - great space opera.
Death of the Necromancer and Fall of Ile-Rien series by Martha Wells - cool Victorianish and WWI-like settings
Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara - oh so much fun
Anything by Patricia McKillip - she has really beautiful prose

YA recommends
Anything by Patricia Wrede
Anything by Robin McKinley (except Sunshine and maybe Deerskin)
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones (especially Howl's Moving Castle)
Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

I also really like Jasper Fforde, but he has a good bit of bad language, and I like Steven Brust, though his books aren't to everyone's taste since the main character of his Vlad series is an assassin and the Phoenix Guards series is written in mock Alexandre Dumas style.

What other things do you like, mtbikemom?

[WriterDan]

So, I haven't read a whole lot of YA stuff.  I'm sure that there is a whole lot out there that would be great for teens and adolescents.  In fact, I'd probably suggest that most teens and adolescents stay in that realm of books because there can be soooo much "content" in some books.  Even some of the really good ones (eg. Bakker/Abercrombie).

I just finished the Long Price quartet and absolutely loved it.  I'd suggest these to just about any group of college-age kids.  There is some swearing (most of it is concentrated in the first book) and probably constitutes a PG-13 "movie-like" rating.  The sex is very well done and non-explicit from what I recall.  In general, Abraham stays very high-level with his sexual encounters--even in his urban fantasy book.  On a large scale, I'd probably set this series as a little more detailed than Jordan's WOT books.  Violence is low.  There are people that get killed, and there is a war in the third book (no spoilers, as the book is entitled "An Autumn War").  I suggested that my younger brother read this series and had no problems with doing so.  This was an amazing series.  Hands down.

As far as other series with minimal content, try:

KJ Parker's Engineer Trilogy (minimal swearing, no sex, no graphic violence)
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Writers of the Future anthologies (these are targeted toward a high-school audience)
Shannara series by Terry Brooks
Dune books by Herbert
Dragonlance by Weiss and Hickman
Seventh Son series by OSC

Some decent ideas, anyhow.

[mtbikemom]

What other things do you like, mtbikemom?

Ooh, I love that question!  Who doesn't love talking about themselves.  (humility check; need more)

I love Jane Austen, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, the Bronte sisters, Carol Berg, Robert Jordan, Len Deighton (spy novels) and, of course, Tolkien for fiction, but not in that order and I've probably left some important ones out.  My non-fiction author list is full of Christian missionary stories and treatises on intelligent design and history.  I like to listen to YA novels on my Ipod. 

Thanks to everyone who has posted recommendations.  I hope this thread is useful to many.

[readerMom]

The Deed of Paksennarrion is good, but there is a long and involved torture scene towards the end that made me mad I read all the other 600 pages just to get to that.
I love Dianna Wynne Jones. Officially most is YA but I know many adults who enjoy it.
Shannon Hale is good and she writes in a variety of genres.