Books these days are either surrounded by hype, or they’re just…not. The presence of book community on social media sites as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube have led to a lot more popularity around books and reading culture, and we all fall victim to buying stacks on stacks of fresh reads because they’ve been so prevalent on every one of our social media platforms. So, I took the time to compile a list of mostly fantasy (some sci-fi) books that whilst not “underrated” in the normal sense of the world, are perhaps a bit older, and may have been left largely untouched by the hype-trains we are all so familiar with.

Either way, if you’re looking for a new book, or even if you’re not, and you haven’t read these guys, give them a go!

1. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Yes, this is definitely a rather bias choice, because it’s my favourite book of all time. But Finnikin of the Rock is amazing, and I definitely don’t see enough people talking about it. Finnikin and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not seen their beloved homeland of Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was brutally murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But after a prophetic dream, Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim; the heir to Lumatere is alive, and she knows how to bring them home.

This book is about lost people, the bonds between family and friends, and what happens to populations when they’re left without a home. It’s moving, funny, and full of action and romance, and I think everyone should read it.

2. Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

The first book in the Codex Alera series, we are introduced to the world of Alera, where for a thousand years, the people have been united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies: elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal. Following young boy, Tavi, who lives in a village far away from danger and politics, but who has a few struggles of his own. At 15, Tavi cannot Furycraft, but one night, after he saves a slave in a storm, he is thrust into a destiny far greater than he could have ever imagined.

Furies of Calderon is full of magic, and absolutely enchanting characters. Written as an experiment in what would happen if you combined Pokemon with the Holy Roman Empire, it’s a wild ride from start to finish.

3. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

It’s hard to describe The Eye of the World without giving too much away, but the first book in Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series sees farm boy Rand, along with a few friends, whisked away from the village they’ve lived all their lives by Moiraine, the mysterious Aes Sedai. What follows is the beginning of an epic adventure full of magic and set in an absolute masterpiece of a world that will leave you on the edge of your seat and desperate for the next book. “What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.”

4. Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Okay, I’m breaking my own rule here, because this book is definitely sci-fi, not fantasy. But given that these genres get lumped together in bookstores, I’m lumping them together here as well. One of the newer releases on this list, and an Anastasia-inspired story to boot, Heart of Iron is the tale of Ana. A young girl is found floating in space many years ago by the Captain of an outlawed spaceship, with no memory of her past, and an android by her side. Now seventeen, Ana is desperate to find a way to fix D09, her android best friend, who keeps glitching uncontrollably. As she embarks on this reckless quest with a spoiled Ironblood boy by her side, they battle to keep themselves alive, but what they uncover in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives completely. And Ana is faced with a terrible decision: to save the boy she loves, or protect the kingdom that wanted her dead.

Now, I’m not going to say that the romance in this book isn’t more than a bit cheesy, but space pirates! Adventure! Lost Princesses! Who wouldn’t want to give this a go?

5. Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Our second novel by Jim Butcher on this list, and urban fantasy this time! Meet Harry Dresden: a sarcastic PI and police consultant, and… wizard. Consulting on a grisly double murder for the Chicago P.D, Harry finds himself hunting for a mage who isn’t afraid to use black magic to get what he wants. And perhaps worse, he’s hunting for a mage who knows his name, and is hunting him right back.

Now tell me that you don’t want to read about a wisecracking wizard-for-hire with the most rotten luck imaginable?

6. Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Alright, now I’ll be honest with you here, I haven’t actually read this one myself. But, it’s on my TBR and I’m planning on starting it after I finish off my current read, so I’m putting it on here! Plus, the reviews on Goodreads seem fairly controversial, so it counts.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint, the city’s most (in)famous assassin. But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics – and cultivate a flair for death.

7. Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Once again living up to the expectation that fantasy series are both incredibly amazing, and incredibly long, and not to be confused with its poor TV adaptation Legend of the Seeker, Wizard’s First Rule is the first book in the Sword of Truth series.

In the aftermath of his father’s brutal murder, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher’s forest sanctuary seeking help. Swept into a world he knows nothing about, and ripe with magic, danger, and politics- Richard and Kahlan find themselves battling to survive… and to not fall in love. “This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend”.

8. The Gift by Alison Croggon

This one follows a fairly familiar fantasy trope, with main character Maerad living as a slave in an unforgiving mountain settlement. However, unbeknown to her, Maerad possess a gift that marks her a member of the School of Pellinor. It’s only after she is noticed and rescued by Cadvan, a Bard of Lirigon, that she starts of the quest to uncover the true secrets of her destiny. Maerad and Cadvan set out on a perilous quest against dark forces which threaten to overtake the world.

The Gift (also released as “The Naming”) is told almost as a historical retelling, with the author including lore and notes on ‘historical’ texts during her appendices at the end of the novel. This book follows an incredibly well-worn plot, and somehow, here I am recommending it to you; why? Because of the characters. Cadvan and Maerad are noble, and flawed, and a little messed up. They carry the plot beautifully as they attempt to open themselves up to each other enough to work to defeat the darkness that is threatening their world.

9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Such a true sci-fi classic that I don’t even know where to begin in describing it to you, but I’ll give it a go. Seconds before Earth is set to be destroyed to make way for an intergalactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect; out of work actor, researcher for ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and alien. What follows is the journey through space with a few other interstellar travellers, including a chronically depressed robot, the president of the galaxy, and a girl Arthur hit on at a bar one time.

Douglas Adams writes some of the most quotable and laugh out loud lines of all time (big claim, but I stand by it), and if you only read one book on this list, make it this one. It’s funny, and a little bit existential and all around amazing.

10. Legend by David Gemmell

This is quite possibly the oldest book on this list, first published in 1984 and follows the legend of Druss, the barbarian. His prowess in battle led him to become a living legend, and the stories of him have been told countless times over the land. But he is old, and spends his time in solitude in his mountain lair, awaiting the arrival of his old enemy, Death. But the Drenai fortress of Dros Delnoch is losing the battle against barbarians of the Nadir, and Druss reluctantly agrees to leave retirement to help. But can he live up to his own legend?

This book is hailed by many as a classic in the heroic fantasy genre, and to be honest, it reads a bit like a classic. However, it also embraces themes like honour, loyalty and redemption, and it starts with a very drunk and very reluctant hero getting into a bit of mischief, so what’s not to love?

And there you have it guys! Surely there’s something on here that you haven’t heard of or that interests you, so why not add to your overflowing TBR and give one of these books a go?

Have you read any? Or would you add any others? Tell us your thoughts below in the comments!

The post 10 Underrated Fantasy & Sci-Fi Books appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Whenever I tell people I’m an author, their next question is almost immediately “what kind of books do you write?” More often than not, I become pre-emptive in my defensiveness about the fact that I am currently writing a series of fantasy books.

It’s a response that has caused me to do much soul-searching as to why I feel this vague sense of shame about the genre I love. I think the most significant factor for this is the not uncommon perception that fantasy is somehow beneath other genres, that it reserved for childish escapism, or unhealthy adulation, for children, or people who want to remain in some way, children.

When I duly did the rounds of pitching my first manuscript to agents or publishers, for those who were accepting unsolicited manuscripts, one of the few genres which consistently was not accepted was fantasy. Yet a recent study conducted by #loveozya (admittedly with limitations on the sample, but nevertheless an interesting indicator) had fantasy as the second highest element that respondents indicated they wished to see more of in books. We are told by publishers and agents who style themselves as guardians of the literary community, that fantasy doesn’t sell, or that it’s an oversaturated market. Yet fantasy books—certainly in the young adult and new adult categories—are among the biggest movers. Think only of Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight chronicles, Leigh Bardugo’s GrishaVerse, or anything by Sarah J Maas. And that’s without going into the ‘adult’ fantasy genres of George R R Martin, Brandon Sanderson, or Raymond E Feist (just to name the first three who popped into my head).

Please don’t mistake this as a dig at the literary industry. Certainly, there are elements of it which frustrate me, and I ultimately made the decision to become an indie author rather than pursue traditional publication at this time, but that doesn’t mean that the literary industry is some behemoth that cannot see past its own shadow to actually interpret reader trends. For the most part, it is filled with people who are passionate about books, who are champions for authors, and who do a wonderful job day in day out. This article is about the malign which is often aimed at fantasy, and it seeks to explore why that perception is a silly one.

So, why should we laud the fantasy genre?

Because it is fundamentally a place where the human experience is transposed into a different environment (I could go on about the creativity and fastidiousness required to build an internal consistent fantasy world, but perhaps let’s leave that for another article) and then examined. Fundamentally, contemporary human beings are put in situations far removed from the society in which we currently reside, and the experiences they undergo—even the fabric of the world created by the author—speaks to something about human nature, some facet which the author is seeking to explore.

What is particularly startling and wonderful about this is it enables a point to be made without it becoming enmired within contemporaneous politics which can at times, leave readers resistant to actually engaging with the message itself.

Let’s take for instance one of my favourite fantasy series of all time, The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.

In essence, Pierce’s protagonist, Alanna, disguises herself as a boy to undergo knight’s training, because she lives in a silly society where it’s deemed only men are fit for such roles. Along the way, not only does Alanna succeed in becoming a knight, but she ends up being better than basically every man around her. In the world that she creates, Pierce masterfully conveys the message that women are just as capable as men, and that success and skill is the consequence of incredibly hard work.

Or, take The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta (author of Looking for Alibrandi—studied by many Australian year 10 English classes). The first book has a consistent thread of how the refugees from Lumatere were treated, thus making it a very meaningful commentary on how the plight of refugees is inherently determined by those upon whose mercy they throw themselves.

Or, to pluck from one of the examples I initially listed, let’s examine Leigh Bardugo’s initial Grisha trilogy.

One of its central concerns is the nature of leadership and power. The books are quietly scathing in the negligence of leaders who simply accept their power, and also cautions against power for the sake of power.

In my own books, The Ruthless Land is set in a society where men are utterly subservient to woman to the point that they are forced to veil, whereas in Queendom of the Seven Lakes and King of the Seven Lakes, one of the central conceits is the horror with which the country reacts to the prospect of a man sitting on the throne.

The above settings are oft-used ones, but more commonly with women placed in those positions of subservience. In making the suggestion that such subjugation and prejudice is fundamentally unideal, I found that making such a point in a world of my own devising, rather than having a setting that even vaguely correlated to our own world, was a far softer way to make such a point.

Obviously, at the crux of any book is the desire to tell an engaging and enjoyable story which sweeps the reader along. But I would argue in fact that what engages readers is the questions of human behaviour and experience, which are at their most interesting when they are looking to explore a particular idea, or make a particular comment about issues that in fact pertain to our everyday lives. When those issues are removed from the context of modern society yet remain engaging, it conveys to the reader the importance of these issues, as well as the way through them but crucially—without being a didactic clubbing.

To me, this is one of the most spectacular capabilities of fantasy, a magic within the genre that often goes unappreciated.

What do you think of the fantasy genre? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Hidden Power and Importance of Writing Fantasy appeared first on The Nerd Daily.