Uuh⌠right now I canât think of anything particularly with Faes butâŚ
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is a gorgeous piece of art and I totally recommend it, it doesnât have faes but itâs one of my inspirations!
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden: fairytale-like and Russian folklore! Def another of my inspirations!
Mahou Tsukai no Yome by Yamazaki Kore. Itâs a manga but itâs a HUUUGE INSPIRATION, with Faes and magic and Celtic folklore, the art is gorgeous, the characters are lovely and the story is just enthralling!! I feel like reading it gives you a better hindsight on Stories of Qelt haha >u>â
With Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama. Another manga which inspired me a heckton, and the art is beautiful!! I totally recommend it!
Aria/Aqua series by Kozue Amano is not exactly a manga but it has some supernatural elements which make the whole story (gorgeously drawn, wholesome and makes you fall in love with the little things in life) even more enthralling.
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss mentions Faes (I only read the first book for now tho) and is beautifully written. Iâm in a period where Iâm getting tired of traditional medieval fantasy so I didnât expect myself to be so taken by the book and to finish it so fast!
AND ANY BOOK BY BRANDON SANDERSON, WHOSE EXISTENCE REASSURE ME EVERYTIME I GET ANOTHER IDEA FOR A NEW PROJECT BECAUSE THAT MAN IS WRITING SEVERAL 800+ PAGES BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME (also writes beautiful non-traditional fantasy with amazing characters and well-crafted magic systems)
Thatâs all I can think for now! I did read some other book with faes but the only one I can remember, I didnât really like it >_>â and for now I donât remember any titles⌠shame on me.Â
If anyone else has recommendations for good fae books, feel free to shoot me an ask!!
Saving
Askara by J.M. Link
Victoriaâs
day starts out like any other aboard the transorbital ship, Phoenix.
Such is the life of an emergency medicine specialist in the age of
âpost-discoveryâ. Sure, she had always dreamed of
interacting with intelligent extraterrestrial life- the real thing,
not those microbes on distant moons. Who wouldnât? She was still
happy with her career, however mundane and demanding it might be.
Thatâs what it took to run a ship the size of a small city smoothly.
Monotony. But all that changes one morning, and suddenly sheâs not so
sure she didnât stick her foot in itâŚÂ
Be
careful what you wish for.Â
***Â
Escape
had been their only drive, and even death was preferable to the
alternative. But they never thought their flight for freedom would
put them in an uncharted system. Forced to interact with an isolated
world and its inferior, albeit curious people. When it affords them
an unforseen and unprecedented opportunity to take back their world
from those who seek to destroy them, however, Aderus begins to wonder
if it wasnât fate. Earthâs proposal is shocking and uncomfortable for
a fierce, independent race that relishes in their solitude. But the
more he learns of humans, the more he comes to admire and respect
them. One, in particular.Â
*WARNING*
Not intended for readers under 18.Â
Contains
explicit sexual content.
Attention
Monsterfuckers
This
is a good one.
The
novel introduces a group of (all male) aliens who managed to escape a
prison. They are at war with another race and their main goal is to
free their females who are still imprisoned. Seeking
help they contact earth.
Ok,
letâs get my only point of critique
out of the way before I start gushing: The plot explains some things
a little too conveniently. For
example the way the heroine remains practically the only liaison
between the aliens and the humans requires some suspending of
disbelief. But this is nitpicking when applied to a book about highly
fuckable aliens. đ
Now
the gushing:
The aliens in this book are not just humans with different
skin color and some fun accessories like a spare dick but
truly alien in appearance. They
reminded me of the Yautja
from Predator with
only their mouths being not quite so extreme. Coming from a violent but advanced society their rules and behaviors are quite different from human norms. Also their females are described as stronger and even more
violent than the males. Only the strongest get to mateâŚ
The
protagonists Victoria and Aderus experience neither instalust nor,
god forbid, instalove.
Instead
they slowly get to know and become
strangely fascinated by each other. Lots
of talking, confusion,
awkwardness and cultural misunderstandings ensue. Itâs adorable.Â
Victoria is the first who realizes that sheâs sexually attracted to
Aderus and she definitely acts upon it. To ascertain her dominance
and therefore
desirableness she even manages to knock him out (by surprise) in
front of an audience. Poor Aderus doesnât know if he should be angry, embarrassed or horny.
Saving Askara is a wonderful character driven slow burn romance with an
emotionally satisfying pay off. Nothing
is rushed, everything happens at the right time. When they finally
have sex itâs hot and sexy but also awkward, a
little bit frightening
and confusing which keeps
their first time from being unrealistic (as far as alien fucking goes) and
makes it even more intense.
Oh,
and the best thing? Saving Askara seems to be the first in a series.
đ
SKYFARER (The
Drifting Lands #1) by
Joseph Brassey
An
apprentice sorceress is dragged into a vicious quest across an
endless sky in this Star Wars-inspired space fantasy
The
Axiom Diamond is a mythical relic, with the power to show its bearer
any truth they desire. Men have sought for it across many continents
for centuries, but in vain. When trainee sorceress Aimee de Laurentâs
first ever portal-casting goes awry, she and her mentor are thrown
into the race to find the gem, on the skyship Elysium.
Opposing them are the infamous magic-wielding knights of the Eternal
Order and their ruthless commander, Lord Azrael, who will destroy
everything in their pathâŚ
This could have been the perfect novel with heavy Reylo vibes but unfortunatelyâŚ.it was not. Usually I only recommend stuff I really like so this post ist a bit different. Itâs just that it had so much potential but realized none of it. Iâm just bemoaning what could have beenâŚ
I
remember that somebody recommended Skyfarer here on tumblr on a post
about books with a Reylo vibe. It definitely has some really strong
Star Wars vibes and arguably also a heroine/villain interaction that resembles the Reylo dynamic but unfortunately without
any of the nuance and layered characterization the real on-screen
Reylo has. For me it left an impression of TFA fan fiction
for an exclusive audience of twelve year old boys.
Ok,
lets check the similarities:
genre:
science fantasy (some cool world building here, no planets but
drifting lands like a universe full of flat earths, navigation
between these lands requires sorcery)
some
McGuffin needs to be chased
lots
of fight scenes and battles (skipped most of them, enjoy them in
movies, in books not so much)
First
Eternal Order (evil)
some
kind of Snoke who messes with the head of his protege and right
hand:
Lord
Azrael, Not His Real Name (= off brand Kylo Ren, complete with mask
and good hair)
really
buff Hux (actually more chemistry between him and Lord Azrael than
the real Kylux, the impending hate sex was practically oozing off
the pages)
a
Phasma (really cool looking female warrior, absolutely useless
plotwise)
legacy
sword
a
lukelike (ha!) character who is awesome and cool and loves mentoring
his student and is probably everything the TLJ haters wish for (âŚ)
rich,
blonde Rey
force
bond mind link between the heroine and the villain
The
plot wasâŚok I guess (mostly chasing and fighting).
The
characterization was abysmal. Almost all the characters were
cardboard cutouts. Only Lord Azrael/the villain has something resembling actualÂ
characterization and back-story going on. Itâs still a far cry from the complexity
of Kylo Ren.
The
most disappointing character is Aimee. If Iâd have to describe her
I wouldnât be able to come up with more than blonde, pretty and
overconfident (sheâs acing all the sorcery stuff). Her backstory is
being rich and overconfident, also her blonde hair features a lot in
her past. Her character arc takes her from being a pretty
overconfident blonde to fucking up one time (but not really as it
later turns out) which leaves her less overconfident for a short
period of time until she regains her overconfidence. Oh, and she has
compassion for the very redeemable villain because they do some kind
of force bonding. Aimee is presented as a main character yet
characterized like a trophy girlfriend. Now compare that to actual
Rey⌠(This book was written by a man in case you couldnât tell
by now.)
I
know itâs a bit unfair to compare this book to actual Reylo in
actual Star Wars but that was the sole reason I picked it up and the
similarities were so blatant as I continued reading I really couldnât
help myself. It certainly made me appreciate characterization in Star
Wars even more.
The cover doesnât really do it justice. Itâs dark. Itâs got depth. It takes its time building the plot so when things really get moving you care what happens to the characters.Â
It really is dark. Itâs got violence, references to rape. People get attacked and assaulted. Itâs not fluff, but itâs so good.
This book was so intense, it literally gutted me and I LOVED IT! It was also recommended by @fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains and Iâm so glad Iâve read it.
But seriously, this book is really dark, it had me crying a few times so be prepared to suffer!
Hey guys, theyâve also wrote a book called The Last Hour of Gann. Itâs one of my favorite books of all time! Itâs about a plus size woman on a pilgrimage with a badass religious lizard man and a bunch of incompetent human assholes. She writes some of the best character you will Fuckingloathe. The main character Amber is my spirit animal and her lizardman Meoraq does not put up with humanâs bullshit. Plus, itâs HELLA long. You have time to get super invested in all the characters. I love it.Â
 However, I need to warn that if anyone has suffered from sexual abuse they may want to skip this read. Itâs well written, but there is an entire chapter that will trigger some people. Smithâs books are always VERY dark and not for the faint of heart. That chapter is very uncomfortable, but if you can get past it then please give this book a chance.Â
I was kind of looking at The Last Hour of Gann(Which is over 1,000 pages)Â and also Heat* (about 600 pages). Both are by R. Lee Smith. All the books by this author look somewhat heavy, and like they deal with darker themes; the shittier sides of humanity, rape, torture, and brutal deaths, so honestly if you want happy fluff please steer clear.
As one person described it in their reviews; âIf youâre used to reading romance, itâs going to be really dark. If youâre used to reading horror, itâs about average.âÂ
*Heat gets its own disclaimer as being extra dark even on the scale of this author. One of the main characters is an evil sadist. Tread carefully.
I can absolutely confirm everthing thatâs been said about this author. Iâve read three books by R. Lee Smith so far and I have to say that there are hardly any writers out there that got me invested that much in their characters. The plot, the descriptions, the world building, actually everything is unbelievably good.
Imagine my surprise when I started The Last Hour of Gann for the space lizard-man alien erotica but got so much more. But yeah, it left me emotionally drained. The themes and descriptions are VERY intense.
Cottonwood was a light fun read in comparison. Although this still might not be the the book for you if you are easily triggered.Â
Unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me in comparison to the two other books. The writing is still top notch, I simply wasnât overly invested in the main characters. The male main character has a harem (yes, yes heâs lonely and tortured and a manâs gotta cope…) and the heroine is a mix between a âsacrifice everything for the causeâ and a âstand by your manâ type. Iâm into neither of those things. Still, great writing, far above the average fare within this genre (or any genre, actually). Donât let my personal taste deter you from reading! đÂ
For centuries, there has been a legend of a hidden school where magic is taught by the demons who dwell there to anyone who seeks them out, but they ask a terrible price: Anyone who reaches the door of the Scholomance may enter, but the Devil takes every tenth student who tries to leave.
A hidden school. Demonic masters. An inescapable fate for one out of every ten graduates. But Connie would do anything to have the magic her best friend was born with.
And Mara would do anything to get Connie back.Â
X-rated Harry Potter but with a female protagonist and demon sex? Yes, please!!!Â
As far as I could glean from the reviews on Goodreads this might feature a love triangle, a trope which I normally loathe (unless it ends in a three-way, then itâs fine). But if thereâs one author Iâd trust with the execution of a love triangle itâs R. Lee Smith.
Fifteen-year-old Alys is not a witch. But that doesnât matterâthe villagers think she is and have staked her out on a hillside as a sacrifice to the local dragon.
Itâs late, itâs cold, and itâs raining, and Alys can think of only one thingârevenge. But first sheâs got to escape, and even if she does, how can one girl possibly take on an entire town alone?
Then the dragon arrivesâa dragon that could quite possibly be the perfect ally⌠. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/372807.Dragon_s_Bait
********************************************
Finally I have found a book with a dragon I really like.
Although itâs a YA fantasy, and probably one thatâs geared at an even younger audience than many of the contemporary YA books, itâs an absolute delight to read even for adults.
The themes of this book are revenge and responsibility and the wonderful thing is that the author doesnât spell out every message hidden in this little gem of a book. Like the heroine, the readers have to come to their own conclusions.
Neither the heroine nor the dragon are morally pure to begin with nor are they by the end of the book. But both are changed by each otherâs company.
The dragon in this book can change into (a very handsome) human form, so the monstrous aspect of the dragon is secondary. What makes him alien is his personality. He doesnât adhere to human morality and his motivation is mysterious at best. His character really conveys a feeling that dragons are truly otherworldly creatures.
The interactions between the heroine and the dragon are delightful. There is bickering, there is jealousy and there is romance but it is very subtle.
Furthermore the book avoids all my personal YA pet peeves: no neverending self-indulgent introspection of the heroine, no over explaining of everybodyâs motivations, no first person narrator and no fucking love triangle.
My only criticism: Itâs too short. Otherwise itâs perfect.
Vivian Vande Velde is one of those YA authors whose works Iâve loved but who I always forget about. What this means is that whenever Iâm reminded of her, I get this burst of happy nostalgia for her writing.Â
Companions of the Night was one of hers after I finished Blood & Chocolate (by Annette Curtis Klause.) Donât watch that stupid movie. Read the damn book. Much like Ella Enchanted or Howlâs Moving Castle, the book is far superior.Â
Theyâre not Terato, but A Well Timed Enchantment and A Hidden Magic were both books by her that Iâve loved. (At least, theyâre not terato that I remember.)
If youâre looking for more Dragons, check out One Good Knight (by Mercedes Lackey, itâs part of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, but it doesnât really need to be read in order.)Â
Or for Dragon-shifter-smut thereâs always Ruby Dixon. She writes some dirty stuff. (Her Fireblood Dragons series is specifically what you want if you like Dragons, but Ice Planet Barbarians is all naked aliens wooing human women if thatâs your thing.)
Now that Iâve totally derailed this with stuff about other books, to get back to the original point. YES! I agree, OP!
Fifteen-year-old Alys is not a witch. But that doesnât matterâthe villagers think she is and have staked her out on a hillside as a sacrifice to the local dragon.
Itâs late, itâs cold, and itâs raining, and Alys can think of only one thingârevenge. But first sheâs got to escape, and even if she does, how can one girl possibly take on an entire town alone?
Then the dragon arrivesâa dragon that could quite possibly be the perfect ally⌠. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/372807.Dragon_s_Bait
********************************************
Finally I have found a book with a dragon I really like.
Although itâs a YA fantasy, and probably one thatâs geared at an even younger audience than many of the contemporary YA books, itâs an absolute delight to read even for adults.
The themes of this book are revenge and responsibility and the wonderful thing is that the author doesnât spell out every message hidden in this little gem of a book. Like the heroine, the readers have to come to their own conclusions.
Neither the heroine nor the dragon are morally pure to begin with nor are they by the end of the book. But both are changed by each otherâs company.
The dragon in this book can change into (a very handsome) human form, so the monstrous aspect of the dragon is secondary. What makes him alien is his personality. He doesnât adhere to human morality and his motivation is mysterious at best. His character really conveys a feeling that dragons are truly otherworldly creatures.
The interactions between the heroine and the dragon are delightful. There is bickering, there is jealousy and there is romance but it is very subtle.
Furthermore the book avoids all my personal YA pet peeves: no neverending self-indulgent introspection of the heroine, no over explaining of everybodyâs motivations, no first person narrator and no fucking love triangle.
My only criticism: Itâs too short. Otherwise itâs perfect.
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isnât just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all sheâs known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.
Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.
If Draven doesnât write an additional book for Anhuset and Serovek and makes them finally kill each other during sex or something, I will riot. The plot of Kirgipa and Necos was also interesting and I would love to see how their stories developed.
âI want something better than this for women. Intelligence, compassion, integrity, persistence, the ability to look beyond oneself â these are qualities that we should encourage all genders to value and embrace, both in themselves and others, from a young age. But the assumption that heroines need to be good-looking creates a corresponding assumption about women who are not. Books have the power to combat the idea of appearance as defining currency. Books can show us that admirable and interesting women come in all shapes and sizes.â
Very good article on female beauty standards in genre fiction. This topic is very close to my heart and I agree with most of it. The author is unfortunately a bit dismissive of women having romantic plot lines and I get where sheâs coming from. Still I donât agree with her.
Of course we need to see heroines who have other worries besides their love interest but she makes it sound as if a romantic love diminishes the female protagonist and takes away from the realistic depiction of a character. Romantic love is for most people a very important part of our daily life and I love to read about it in my fantasy and science fiction novels.Â
That cover looked so amazing I instantly headed over to Amazon and YAWN.
Book descriptions that use “beautiful” as the defining descriptor of the heroine instantly sound so off-putting and boring to me. I’ve read and seen too many stories with that kind of character and NOPE. I have zero desire to hear more about the tragic condition of “too beautiful”. Yes, it’s possible to turn that into a plot device but never an interesting one.
Double YAWN if the beautiful heroine is destined for some destiny because she has the most magical magic in all the land.
I don’t want to be negative but I’m just tired of all these unbelievable beauties. I just wish there were more female characters who are ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. You know, like their male counterparts…
Monsters and Villains 