One of the tropes I love (if it's done right) is the enemies to friends to romantic interests. I just like "slow burning" romance and banter so I just enjoy it a lot. I think it also stems from the fact that I hate instalove soooo much. Another trope I like is the "discovery of hidden powers " I can't help it lol
My favorite trope in books is probably strong no-romantic relationships. I LOVE when there's a strong friendship in the book, or a strong relationship with a sibling or parent(s). Don't get me wrong, romance is great, but I'd take a friendship over it any day, to be honest.
These make a good list!! I also love the trope when characters switch sides or you think they are good but are actually bad! Or they were bad but become good! I also love the unexpected hero trope, like a sidekick that ends up saving everyone
Stephanie Warner I agree! I think it’s great that so many authors show the angst between families, as that’s how it is for some people, but I really love seeing great parental figures too :D
I adore enemies to bromance, uh, I'm weak for those! Also, I love brother characters (Sanderson provides this in every fantasy book of his, which I love, even when he dosn't focus on the brothers [partly the reason why I'm enjoying The Well of Ascension so far... Zaaaneeee. Unless, of course, he will be killed off soon, then I will totally hate this book.]) So basically, I live for every kind of bromance.
Kal and Adolin developed such a beautiful friendship since The Way of Kings ;^;. OOOH, noo, what are you doing to me?! :D Why, I'll have to buy the second era books as soon as I finish the first. Though I heard they're not as good..?
Eirvven I personally don’t care for them as much, but they’re fun reads. That’s kinda the thing; I wouldn’t exactly call the first era “fun” but I do think it’s cool that Sanderson didn’t just repeat himself with the second era :)
Congrats on 6k! This is one of my favourites of your videos so far! Rags to riches is a personal favourite of mine. I find it really satisfying when characters start doing well. It feel almost as good as when I make an improvement in my own life? I just love it when people overcome things in fiction or otherwise. And I agree on the empathy thing too. Assassins are so interesting because of that diverse skill set as well as the moral ambiguity. That level of cunning and darkness always leads to something twisty and out of left field.
The Book Armada gah, you articulated those points so beautifully! :D I 100% agree. And I totally get what you mean about how you feel almost as happy for the character as for things in your own life. It’s almost like hearing a happy story on the news-you don’t know the people, but you feel joy for them 😊 And thank you!!! I’m so excited to have 6,000 book friends :D
I love that you shared a bit of your personal story in this one. I’m lucky enough to have gotten to know you a bit behind the scenes, but it’s still nice to see
The unexpected heir trope is strong in Raymond Feist's Rift War Saga, with kitchen scullery Pug and with street urchin/thief Jimmy the Hand. Also the mentor (parental) trope between Jimmy the Hand and Prince Arutha.
I also love assassins and unexpected heirs! Oh you’re going to love Hans Alister’s character arc!! I can’t wait for you to read the rest of that series, I just finished the last book in Feb and I loved it so much. Political intrigue is sooooo good too! Wheel of time is so good with that. 🤪
I was nodding along with every word when you mentioned books having elements that reflect on our real world, especially with struggle and strife in seemingly mundane ways, like poverty and hunger. It is all very real, and attacking it head on with fantasy elements (or fictional) can be so rewarding or interesting. Also hearing you talk about what people go through really touched my heart, you are so sweet.
ink bringer thank you so much!!! I know for myself personally that when I get stressed out, I have to reflect on how much harder it is for lots of people in the world. And I love when books help show that :)
I have two i love. Having a chosen one or other type of main charachter with a lot of power, and plot armor. I swear i like plot armor for some reason.
One of my favourite series of books is "The Dark Tower" by Stephen King, of course :) The relationship between Roland and Jake is a great example of the parental love for a child, maybe to an extreme in some ways.... I've only just discovered your channel so I don't know if you've read these books but from looking at the books on your shelf i can see you love the Fantasy genre so I'll assume you have and if you haven't, you should!!.. Great video and good vibes always
I absolutely adore a good makeover scene. Mia in the Princess Diaries movie, Darrow being carved from a red to a gold in Red Rising, even teaching Vin to read and stuffing her into a dress every once in awhile... totally here for it. It doesn't have to be the typical female "ugly duckling to beautiful swan" type (although I love those too), just any description of taking someone from point A to point B and teaching them something about themselves along the way.
Like I said on the other video, I really LOVE the parent type relationships in books and that's my favorite!! But I also LOVE female and male friendships, like pure friendship without love triangles :)
Elliot Brooks They are definitely hard to find and my favorite examples of those friendships are on TV and not in books. But book wise, the ones I can remember is The Lunar Chronicles - which you're reading now right? - there's the romance, but then the friendships also start to build and they're really GREAT; and then probably the friendship in Landline by Rainbow Rowell, I really LIKE how that's handled :)
Well, it's just my two cents but I think that assassins are cool because it's not what you would call a morally upstanding occupation. Assassins kill people for money. Murder is a deed that sane people find abhorrent, for someone to first become a killer and then to turn that into a profession, they must have some, let us say, "interesting" circumstances. An assassin who kills others in order to make a living cannot possibly be a good person. So, as soon as a character is introduced as an assassin, you know you are dealing with a morally ambiguous character- which in itself is always fascinating. For example, this is the mechanic that makes Geralt from the Witcher series- although not strictly an assassin- intriguing at first glance, he makes a living out of killing monsters, so right off the bat you know he is not some noble hero who helps others but is simply doing his job. So for people who like morally gray characters I think that assassins have every reason to be an instant like. Secondly, it's interesting to observe the reasons why someone is driven to even do something like that in the first place. A character becomes mysterious the moment the reader realizes that their traits stem from unusual circumstances- and someone who chooses to kill people for money when they could be baking pies instead, MUST have unusual circumstances. All that being said though, I don't like the "said character kills people for living simply because they enjoy killing" excuse. A character may grow used to it, or even learn at some point to draw pleasure from it, however I want the author to explain the reason why they became this way to me- especially if we are talking about the protagonist. I'm not sure if I can express this well but I feel like assassins in fantasy books are often watered down a little, in the sense that the books often treat this part of the character that is so big and defining as if it's not a big deal, not something worthy of dwelling into as much as any other part of the book. They rarely ponder on the morality of it, or the devastating consequences it ought to have on someone's consciousness- unless they are completely unfeeling. Many authors write assassins yet they do not breach this morality/action-consequence issue very often- they give me the feeling that they wrote an assassin just because killing sounds cool and dangerous and edgy teenagers are gonna love it.
Chief Purrfect you articulate the curiosity behind assassins in so much depth! Your two cents is very well thought out and interesting :D I think it’s very true that reading about assassins in fantasy is very different than in other genres. I mean...they’re often serial killers or soldiers in other genres. And your comparison to Witcher was spot on! Geralt has morals and ethics, they’re just not what you’d expect when you hear “monster hunter” :)
I completely agree with your point :) I understand there are mainly practical reasons as to why this part is usually skipped but as you said it's a missed opportunity for character development if the setting actually supports dwelling a little deeper into the issue. I mean, when I say "ponder on it", I neither expect or want the author to devote half the book explaining to me in depth and detail how the character feels after killing someone, but I think that a single small and meaningful passage in the entire book wouldn't be too much- just so to convince me that the character is still human. I'd like to see that character maybe hesitate at times or try to avoid senseless killing whenever able, or maybe even show signs of remorse in a more vulnerable state (like the "struggles with nightmares at night" trope). Anything to show me that the character is actually either troubled by their deeds or at least thinking about them. But then again, someone who loses their sleep over killing isn't exactly an efficient assassin, while at the same time someone who doesn't isn't a decent person. There's always this delicate balance and that's why I like assassins in fiction personally. If I had to choose between reading a story about a heartless sociopath who is the most badass assassin ever, and a story about a tortured person who struggles to balance being an assassin and a human being- and maybe even occasionally fail because of it- I'd chose the latter in a heartbeat. But I'm just a sucker for inner conflict and tragedy so maybe that's just me :P
I really love friends to lovers, there's this warm feeling I get from it, plus I think it's a great foundation for a relationship. I would love to read more books with assassins, it's a topic that interests me a lot, but I don't think I have any books in which they are included. I also love good family bondings, if I see that in a book, I get instantly happy, there's enough family drama in books, give me more close families and siblings!!!! (insta; meijerdp)
Desireé I agree, the is a lot of family drama in books!!! And yes to the friends to lovers one. That’s always nice to see. You’re completely right too that it usually provides a healthy foundation for the characters :D
I love assassin books 2! I also like (idk if it’s a troupe) the academy setting especially for fighting or magic. Have you read nevernight by jay kristoff? (I apologize if you have talked about it before I’m new to your channel) I really enjoyed it it is probably one of my favorite books right now I think you will enjoy it because you like assassins. Also I really love your hair haha that probably sounds really random.
Lexi L. Well thanks :D I was actually having a “I hate my hair” day, so that’s appreciated 💕 I started Nevernight awhile back but had to put it down cuz some stuff came up. I need to read it though-everyone says it’s so good 😆
That's why I love The Game of Thrones books. Having the good guys always win is a common trope that I find too predictable and boring. Nothing wrong with letting the bad guys win now and again lol
I feel partly responsible for this! 😃 I'm glad you are in a better mood on this video than the last one. Haha. Rags to riches sounds like something I would enjoy, any suggestions on that???
Kile's Fantasy Attic hmm, well right now I’m reading the Seven Realms series, and one of the characters starts off as kind of a street rat. I’ve not finished the series, but I think he’s going to work his way up :) Also, Red Rising, and kinda Mistborn :D
Elliot Brooks I'm currently reading Morning Star. Mistborn is also one of my favorites. Enders Shadow has a really good street urchin. I also enjoyed Kvothes time in Tarbean almost as much as I did at the university, though I know that isn't your favorite book.
If you like assassins, try out Kel Kade's King's Dark Tidings series. Main character is a bit of a Gary Stu, but his unique and interesting take on morality and his trouble with social interactions (the guy is a living, breathing, Chinese-Room) make up for it I think. The audiobooks are also narrated by Nick Podehl, who is one of the best in the business if you ask me.
Hello :) I totally agree with you! Could you next time tell us few your favorite books in any tropes (like you do it in The Witcher, and Sanderson)? Probably you know this books... but my favorite series about assasins is The Way of Shadows (Brent Weeks), Nice trope about relationship betwen master and his student you can find in Ranger's Apprentice (John Flanagan). Firstly young boy is scared but then, they are like son and father. Is more young adault than fantasy, but I love this series! :) And political schemes hmm... Black Prism (Brent Weeks) and Priestess of the White (Trudi Canavan). But my favorite trope is about soldiers. Not big heros, just troopers who don't like war but they fight becouse they can't do anythink else or they need money and thinks like that e.g Chronicles of the Black Company (Glen Cook) or Malazan Book of the Fallen (Steven Erikson). If u never read, check it in free time :) Oh and thank you for recommend Blood Song. It's realy awsome. I couldn't stop read this book :) but Tower Lord looks not as good as Blood Song. But only 100 pages behind me, so I hope it will change.
Wontys I’m so happy you’re liking Blood Song! I’m sorry the sequel isn’t as good. I’ve heard the first one is the best, but hopefully you end up liking it more :) If you like soldiers, I’d recommend Stormlight Archive. Kal is the best, and he’s hands down one of my favorite characters of all time :) Also, I took a screenshot of your comment because you recommended so many books that I need to check out :D
I love assassins in fantasy books too. I think that is because I like gritty violence and protaganists with different morals. I think it adds another level of freedom to reading. In real life I couldn't even stomach thinking about seriously hurting another person, forget killing anyone. But I'm completly fine with reading about all kinds of horrible things in fantasy novels. I specify fantasy because it is a lot harder in non fiction and even contemporary books. I think that is because while reading fantasy we can partially set aside the moral compass we use in the real world and that gives a sense of freedom. I really, really want to read Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, I read his Broken Empire trilogy and loved it. This book is about a young girl who is trained to be an assassin by an order of assassin nuns. Sounds absolutely badass. And I know Mark Lawrence doesn't pull his punches, so I know she won't be a total disappointment as an assassin, like those goody goody girls who never really wanted to be evil but had to become bad bad assassins, and oh, how does it tornent them. A trope I would love to see in a book is: I would like the main characters of the book to be happily married and they have adventures in a fantasy world together (as bountyhunters maybe). Their relationship should be part of the story but not at all the focus. Does anyone know a book like that?
May Say well you’ve sold me on Red Sister. I personally found Prince of Thorns a little too dark for me, but I might have to check Red Sister out :) And that premise sounds so cool! The end of Mistborn KINDA has that, but it’s very serious and not at all lighthearted. I can’t think of any books at the moment where that’s the main premise the whole time 🤷🏻♀️
Elliot Brooks I haven't read Red Sister my sister myself yet, but I really want to. Prince of Thorns was really dark and the world building had a few problems. But I guess I was so frustrated by all those perfect morally upstanding good heros that I just enjoyed reading the very opposite. I wish more authors would write books that concentrate on telling a story without relying on all that relationship drama to keep it interesting. I think a marriedcouple could be the perfect dynamic for that.
Great video! 😍❤ Assassins: the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep (Gin Blanco, the protagonist, is The Spider, an Assassin ❤) Parental Types in books: the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (Curran, werelion, has a surrogate father in Mahon, a wearbear; Curran is in turn a surrogate father to Derek, werewolf; Kate adopts a young orphaned girl in book two; and lastly, Kate's birth father proves to be the main - and biggest - antagonist ❤) Unintended heir: the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton (In the beginning, Merry is in hiding from her aunt the Queen and her Unseelie court. Very soon, she's drawn back into that world, into a competition to become the Queen's heir. (It'll be whoever has babies first. The sex is graphic from book one, so if that's not your thing...) Rags to Riches: Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews (Nevada, the protagonist, works very hard to keep herself and her family afloat. To explain how she's rag to riches would be a major spoiler, and the riches haven't actually arrived, yet, but the main male character is a billionaire. 😉❤) Also, the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (when the series opens, Kate is working her butt off to live, and then she meets Curran, is drawn into the Pack, starts a new business... 😄❤) Political Intrigue: Any of the four up above, really: 1) Gin retires, still takes on some jobs, gets drawn into others; it's complicated. And some of the complications are political in nature. 😉 2) Kate deals with Pack politics, Order politics, Guild politics. It's hugely fun. 😄 3) Merry is drawn back into court politics - and not just her court's, the Unseelie - but the Seelie court's; the goblin court's; the demi-fey court's; the court of the Sluagh. So many courts! All with political intrigues, both within and with other courts! 😄 4) Nevada gets drawn into a conspiracy by/of Primes (meaning the superior magic users of her world). Primes have their own rules, too, and have wars between Houses. It's great fun! 😄 I have a lot of love for all of these series, so if you read any of them, I hope you'll enjoy them! 😄🎉❤ My favorite tropes include fantasy worlds set in our world (like the four above: Gin's series is set in Tennessee, if I remember correctly; Kate lives in an apocalyptic Atlanta, where magic battles it out against technology; Merry's series is set in both Los Angeles and Missouri [I think MO]; and Nevada lives in Texas). I also love it when emotionally strong and smart women fall for emotionally strong and smart men (again, as in the four series above). And lastly, I LOVE books that feature non-standard creatures and beings (again with the four above: Gin is an Elemental, with dwarves as good friends/family; Kate's world has VERY non-standard vampires, plus a menagerie of wereanimals, including a werehoneybadger, a weremongoose, werehyenas, and a werebuffalo!; Merry's world includes fae of all kinds, like demi-fey, the Sluagh, goblins, and weird powers among the Seelie and Unseelie; and Nevada's has all kinds of magic users, including pyrokinetics, ice mages, psionics, empaths, telepaths, telekinetics, shapeshifters, sirens, and more! 😄❤)
I see the Queen of Blood behind you, have you read that yet by any chance? It has some of my favourite tropes, as well as some of the ones you mentioned in this video. It's got great female friendships as well as a lovely mentor type relationship that borders on parental. I also love training sequences, which it has as well.
Oh! You are of Cuban ancestry? Cool! Probably you have some spanish in you from your cuban granparents! Happy to hear that since im form Spain, well Basque-spanish.
Except for the heir to a kingdom..I agree with you on all of them.Especially political intrigue. I've read The Winner's series this year and it has a high dose of sneakiness and spying and lying and also a slowwww burn enemy-lover romance .😍
I really like enemies that turn into friends. And sisters or really good girl friends! Can't get enough. Extra points if one is an assassin. ;) @ChristieTank
LOL when you said "just pull it out of your butt!" And so true- Sanderson's outlining is amazing. If I could show a 10th of his outlining/forshadowing skills in my book, I would be a happy girl. Also, I just tagged you in my "No Disclaimer Book Tag" video if you are interested! I would love to see how you answer the questions :)
Have you read Discworld? if not, I recommend you Mort, the first in The Death series, it's basically about an assassin, a poor guy and a it's comedy, who doesn't love parodies of epic fantasy? xD I love strong friendship relations, but in groups more than couples. I think I started liking it more with D&D stories. When there is a group of friends in which anyone would sacrifice himself for any other one. Or like in a band, when the one who could be a star by himself but he doesn't want to go for that because he wants to succeed together with his friends, like in the BECK manga. It's so good T_T It's funny because I don't find the poor hero trope so interesting, for a similar reason. When I was a kid, my family was very poor, a lot of children, no father, my older brothers couldn't go to school because they had to work, etc. I don't think that trope is bad at all, sometimes I like it, it's just that when I read "this guy is so poor, has no house, nothing to eat" I think "I know a lot of people like that, I'm Mexican", lol. I love the intrigue and conspiracies in stories. When I was younger I liked detective stories, those always have that, but I really, really appreciate when a fantasy author put some mystery to solve in their books, and it's not just casting rays to kill dragons (although I love that too). Another trope I like (well, I'm not sure if it's a trope) is when the evil guy thinks he's doing things for a greater good, or he just thinks he's the good one. I don't like when the bad guy is just evil without a reason. When I was a kid, I went to the church, and I always thought even Satan had good reasons to be bad. In fact I always thought their god was just jealous of Luzbel, lol.
Xacur I always appreciate a complex bad guy too!!! And the mystery in fantasy is why I enjoy Dresden and Mistborn so much. Not so much the first Mistborn, but the others :D And I’ve not read Discworld, but it sounds really fun 😄
I loved this video, I prefer these ones that are in positive :) I like Assassins too, also Spies and those characters who are always thinking about people's motivations, what the next 4 moves are, etc Political intrigue, like you say!! Not just for a kingdom, it's also great when it's in a smaller scale. And rags to riches, yes! I also really enjoy when there's a clash between two characters (politics, religion, race, status...) and they disagree, and discuss things and so. And I have a huge weakness for Found Families
Oh yes, when an author can pull off the feel of politics, you know you're in for a good read. Simply the logistical planning necessary for the author to even understand how politics would apply to a fantasy world is awesome. Like anyone can say; "Oh the government's corrupt." but in reality there's spies, assassins, information brokers, everyone's working towards different goals, how does money play into it? Trade. Economy. An author has to truly understand their world to pull of political intrigue. It's great.
Elliot I am curious do you read manga or comics at all. I recently have been really getting into reading because of manga. I have finished like 5 books already. Anyways just curious.
I so agree with the assassin part! I hope to sometime soon read His Fair Assassin series, how good is that series title!? xD And I love political intrigue! Or some military element, that always makes me happy too :) Twitter: @readingmissfrog
kimper0717 haha, I’m not a strong SJM fan, so I wouldn’t :) And I’d say Witcher, Mistborn, and Shades of Magic, the characters respectfully being Yen and Ciri, Vin, and Delilah :)
maria barco oh my gosh, yay!!! :D I will say that you can totally skip the first episode if you want as it’s not really from the manga. I don’t really know why they did it tbh 🤔 But anyway, enjoy!!! It’s so good :D
Ok, so you love political scheming. I do too! Now I'm thoroughly confused why you don't like the Wheel of Time. It's been a while since I read, so that stuff must really start to happen in the books that you haven't read yet. I feel like it's got to be picking up more in book 5 and 6 because I remember thinking it was a major part of the series. I wonder if you could do a video about the things you don't like about the wheel of time, and then try reading through book 6, or more if you can, and do another video about how your view point has changed. That would be really very interesting. You always talk about loving Brandon Sanderson (I do too!), and he learned to write by dissecting the wheel of time. There's an interview somewhere on CZcams. There's only one thing Jordan does that I can think of that Brandon doesn't that might be your reason for not liking wheel of time... is it the bratty women? I agree that's not my favorite part of the books. Anyway, just trying to understand your thoughts. Love your videos! Have a great day!
Hi my name is Andrew and my instagram is calvoknees (my pfp is a black clown fish). I want to try an enter for el secret giveaway. And I have to say I absolutely love political intrigue in a book series. Like the seven realms series by Cinda Williams Chima (like The Demon King and whatnot). Has tons of political intrigue. That series is my absolute favorite. It leads you absolutely all over the place with such an interesting story. The main character Cuffs is just the greatest trickster ever. Even better than the Norse god Loki. Another series that’s awesome but I’m not sure if it has as much political intrigue is Wereworld by Curtis Jobling. And that comes second in my favorites. It’s a fantasy series about a very different world from ours. So it’s full of werecreatures but not just werewolves. There is a we’re for every single creature. It also has a mix of horror in it that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Or a seat in your mind if you don’t sit and read. Dark magic sleeps through the pages as you read a character once good turn to the evils of murder and betrayal. Make sure you have a nice and happy book to read after because in the end your heart will be ripped out and thrown into an endless dark pit. You should definitely read the series it is awesome. I might have over exaggerated a few things but whatever. I love your CZcams and keep making this awesome content.
PotatoGod9000 thank you so much for he recommendation! And advice about what to read after 😆 I’m currently reading Seven Realms right now and loving it. I’m only on book two but I’m excited to see where the series goes :D
I am loving these types of videos.... And I think it’s so sweet how much you admire your parents. I love my parents so much, my mom is my best friend ♥️ (IG: elizabeth_d89).
One of the tropes I love (if it's done right) is the enemies to friends to romantic interests. I just like "slow burning" romance and banter so I just enjoy it a lot. I think it also stems from the fact that I hate instalove soooo much. Another trope I like is the "discovery of hidden powers " I can't help it lol
Megan Harris yes to that slow burn! Seeing the transition from enemies to lovers is the best
Noob Chic I think so too! I love the banter that goes with it and the level of empathy and growth that usually develops in the characters as well
Megan Harris I love the slow burn too. Especially, like you said, because insta love is basically the worst 😆
My favorite trope in books is probably strong no-romantic relationships. I LOVE when there's a strong friendship in the book, or a strong relationship with a sibling or parent(s). Don't get me wrong, romance is great, but I'd take a friendship over it any day, to be honest.
I love those kinds of relationships too!!! :D
Yes i want more parental figures in books! I’m so close to my parents and I love when I find that trope in books
stacisbookishprobs me too!!! I love my parents so much. I know that’s not how it is for a lot of people, but I personally love seeing that in books :)
Royce Melbourne fits many of those tropes. Love Heir of Novron ending.
Victorian London is one of my favs tropes. I think it is a very intriguing moment of history.
These make a good list!! I also love the trope when characters switch sides or you think they are good but are actually bad! Or they were bad but become good! I also love the unexpected hero trope, like a sidekick that ends up saving everyone
Leah K yes, I love those both too!!! :D
I love Kaladin's story in The Way of Kings. He goes from riches to rags and kind of back to riches.
I love it too. Such an amazing story and character ❤️❤️❤️
I love heirs! I love political intrigue. Oh I love rereading and discussing them.
Myn Kobayashi hahah, me too, me too 😄😄😄
Yasssss!! Love all these. And I love that you brought up the parent relationships. They are sorely missing in most literature.
Stephanie Warner I agree! I think it’s great that so many authors show the angst between families, as that’s how it is for some people, but I really love seeing great parental figures too :D
I adore enemies to bromance, uh, I'm weak for those! Also, I love brother characters (Sanderson provides this in every fantasy book of his, which I love, even when he dosn't focus on the brothers [partly the reason why I'm enjoying The Well of Ascension so far... Zaaaneeee. Unless, of course, he will be killed off soon, then I will totally hate this book.]) So basically, I live for every kind of bromance.
Eirvven haha, Kal and Adolin?!? 😄😄😄
Also, you’ll probably love the second era Mistborn books. They’re very bromance heavy :P
Kal and Adolin developed such a beautiful friendship since The Way of Kings ;^;. OOOH, noo, what are you doing to me?! :D Why, I'll have to buy the second era books as soon as I finish the first. Though I heard they're not as good..?
Eirvven I personally don’t care for them as much, but they’re fun reads. That’s kinda the thing; I wouldn’t exactly call the first era “fun” but I do think it’s cool that Sanderson didn’t just repeat himself with the second era :)
I think I'll leave them for later then. I prefer the angst of the first era.
Congrats on 6k! This is one of my favourites of your videos so far!
Rags to riches is a personal favourite of mine. I find it really satisfying when characters start doing well. It feel almost as good as when I make an improvement in my own life? I just love it when people overcome things in fiction or otherwise. And I agree on the empathy thing too.
Assassins are so interesting because of that diverse skill set as well as the moral ambiguity. That level of cunning and darkness always leads to something twisty and out of left field.
The Book Armada gah, you articulated those points so beautifully! :D I 100% agree. And I totally get what you mean about how you feel almost as happy for the character as for things in your own life. It’s almost like hearing a happy story on the news-you don’t know the people, but you feel joy for them 😊
And thank you!!! I’m so excited to have 6,000 book friends :D
I love that you shared a bit of your personal story in this one. I’m lucky enough to have gotten to know you a bit behind the scenes, but it’s still nice to see
Derby_Lane Reading 💗💗💗
Thanks Derby!!!
The unexpected heir trope is strong in Raymond Feist's Rift War Saga, with kitchen scullery Pug and with street urchin/thief Jimmy the Hand. Also the mentor (parental) trope between Jimmy the Hand and Prince Arutha.
I also love assassins and unexpected heirs! Oh you’re going to love Hans Alister’s character arc!! I can’t wait for you to read the rest of that series, I just finished the last book in Feb and I loved it so much. Political intrigue is sooooo good too! Wheel of time is so good with that. 🤪
I was nodding along with every word when you mentioned books having elements that reflect on our real world, especially with struggle and strife in seemingly mundane ways, like poverty and hunger. It is all very real, and attacking it head on with fantasy elements (or fictional) can be so rewarding or interesting. Also hearing you talk about what people go through really touched my heart, you are so sweet.
ink bringer thank you so much!!! I know for myself personally that when I get stressed out, I have to reflect on how much harder it is for lots of people in the world. And I love when books help show that :)
I have two i love. Having a chosen one or other type of main charachter with a lot of power, and plot armor. I swear i like plot armor for some reason.
I'm a HUGE fan of heir to a kingdom.... Honestly, I think 85% of my TBR have this trope 😂
khhmakeup same!!!
khhmakeup hahaha, I’m right there with you 😆
I LOVE your hair!
One of my favourite series of books is "The Dark Tower" by Stephen King, of course :)
The relationship between Roland and Jake is a great example of the parental love for a child, maybe to an extreme in some ways.... I've only just discovered your channel so I don't know if you've read these books but from looking at the books on your shelf i can see you love the Fantasy genre so I'll assume you have and if you haven't, you should!!..
Great video and good vibes always
I love assassins too, especially female assassins!
Zero to Hero trope! this always give me goosebumps
I only recently discovered your channel and have been binge watching your videos. You really make great videos and I love your passion for fantasy ^-^
Berthe Reads Books oh my goodness, thank you so much!!! I love fantasy!!! :D
Awesome video! :D I love your bookshelves
I absolutely adore a good makeover scene. Mia in the Princess Diaries movie, Darrow being carved from a red to a gold in Red Rising, even teaching Vin to read and stuffing her into a dress every once in awhile... totally here for it. It doesn't have to be the typical female "ugly duckling to beautiful swan" type (although I love those too), just any description of taking someone from point A to point B and teaching them something about themselves along the way.
Nicole Horstman I love that too! And you nailed it with Darrow and Vin. That’s part of why I love Red Rising and Mistborn so much :D
Like I said on the other video, I really LOVE the parent type relationships in books and that's my favorite!! But I also LOVE female and male friendships, like pure friendship without love triangles :)
Veridissima those are nice! They seem quite hard to find though. Can you by chance think of any? I’m totally spacing 😩
Elliot Brooks They are definitely hard to find and my favorite examples of those friendships are on TV and not in books. But book wise, the ones I can remember is The Lunar Chronicles - which you're reading now right? - there's the romance, but then the friendships also start to build and they're really GREAT; and then probably the friendship in Landline by Rainbow Rowell, I really LIKE how that's handled :)
Well, it's just my two cents but I think that assassins are cool because it's not what you would call a morally upstanding occupation. Assassins kill people for money. Murder is a deed that sane people find abhorrent, for someone to first become a killer and then to turn that into a profession, they must have some, let us say, "interesting" circumstances. An assassin who kills others in order to make a living cannot possibly be a good person. So, as soon as a character is introduced as an assassin, you know you are dealing with a morally ambiguous character- which in itself is always fascinating. For example, this is the mechanic that makes Geralt from the Witcher series- although not strictly an assassin- intriguing at first glance, he makes a living out of killing monsters, so right off the bat you know he is not some noble hero who helps others but is simply doing his job. So for people who like morally gray characters I think that assassins have every reason to be an instant like. Secondly, it's interesting to observe the reasons why someone is driven to even do something like that in the first place. A character becomes mysterious the moment the reader realizes that their traits stem from unusual circumstances- and someone who chooses to kill people for money when they could be baking pies instead, MUST have unusual circumstances.
All that being said though, I don't like the "said character kills people for living simply because they enjoy killing" excuse. A character may grow used to it, or even learn at some point to draw pleasure from it, however I want the author to explain the reason why they became this way to me- especially if we are talking about the protagonist. I'm not sure if I can express this well but I feel like assassins in fantasy books are often watered down a little, in the sense that the books often treat this part of the character that is so big and defining as if it's not a big deal, not something worthy of dwelling into as much as any other part of the book. They rarely ponder on the morality of it, or the devastating consequences it ought to have on someone's consciousness- unless they are completely unfeeling. Many authors write assassins yet they do not breach this morality/action-consequence issue very often- they give me the feeling that they wrote an assassin just because killing sounds cool and dangerous and edgy teenagers are gonna love it.
Chief Purrfect you articulate the curiosity behind assassins in so much depth! Your two cents is very well thought out and interesting :D
I think it’s very true that reading about assassins in fantasy is very different than in other genres. I mean...they’re often serial killers or soldiers in other genres.
And your comparison to Witcher was spot on! Geralt has morals and ethics, they’re just not what you’d expect when you hear “monster hunter” :)
I completely agree with your point :) I understand there are mainly practical reasons as to why this part is usually skipped but as you said it's a missed opportunity for character development if the setting actually supports dwelling a little deeper into the issue. I mean, when I say "ponder on it", I neither expect or want the author to devote half the book explaining to me in depth and detail how the character feels after killing someone, but I think that a single small and meaningful passage in the entire book wouldn't be too much- just so to convince me that the character is still human. I'd like to see that character maybe hesitate at times or try to avoid senseless killing whenever able, or maybe even show signs of remorse in a more vulnerable state (like the "struggles with nightmares at night" trope). Anything to show me that the character is actually either troubled by their deeds or at least thinking about them.
But then again, someone who loses their sleep over killing isn't exactly an efficient assassin, while at the same time someone who doesn't isn't a decent person. There's always this delicate balance and that's why I like assassins in fiction personally. If I had to choose between reading a story about a heartless sociopath who is the most badass assassin ever, and a story about a tortured person who struggles to balance being an assassin and a human being- and maybe even occasionally fail because of it- I'd chose the latter in a heartbeat. But I'm just a sucker for inner conflict and tragedy so maybe that's just me :P
I really love friends to lovers, there's this warm feeling I get from it, plus I think it's a great foundation for a relationship. I would love to read more books with assassins, it's a topic that interests me a lot, but I don't think I have any books in which they are included. I also love good family bondings, if I see that in a book, I get instantly happy, there's enough family drama in books, give me more close families and siblings!!!! (insta; meijerdp)
Desireé I agree, the is a lot of family drama in books!!! And yes to the friends to lovers one. That’s always nice to see. You’re completely right too that it usually provides a healthy foundation for the characters :D
I love assassin books 2! I also like (idk if it’s a troupe) the academy setting especially for fighting or magic. Have you read nevernight by jay kristoff? (I apologize if you have talked about it before I’m new to your channel) I really enjoyed it it is probably one of my favorite books right now I think you will enjoy it because you like assassins. Also I really love your hair haha that probably sounds really random.
Lexi L. Well thanks :D I was actually having a “I hate my hair” day, so that’s appreciated 💕
I started Nevernight awhile back but had to put it down cuz some stuff came up. I need to read it though-everyone says it’s so good 😆
That's why I love The Game of Thrones books. Having the good guys always win is a common trope that I find too predictable and boring. Nothing wrong with letting the bad guys win now and again lol
Jermaine Houkamau that’s true! In a series, that makes sense, as sometimes the good guys are going to get beat 😮
I feel partly responsible for this! 😃 I'm glad you are in a better mood on this video than the last one. Haha. Rags to riches sounds like something I would enjoy, any suggestions on that???
Kile's Fantasy Attic hmm, well right now I’m reading the Seven Realms series, and one of the characters starts off as kind of a street rat. I’ve not finished the series, but I think he’s going to work his way up :)
Also, Red Rising, and kinda Mistborn :D
Elliot Brooks I'm currently reading Morning Star. Mistborn is also one of my favorites.
Enders Shadow has a really good street urchin. I also enjoyed Kvothes time in Tarbean almost as much as I did at the university, though I know that isn't your favorite book.
If you like assassins, try out Kel Kade's King's Dark Tidings series. Main character is a bit of a Gary Stu, but his unique and interesting take on morality and his trouble with social interactions (the guy is a living, breathing, Chinese-Room) make up for it I think. The audiobooks are also narrated by Nick Podehl, who is one of the best in the business if you ask me.
Brandon Westfall whoa, you totally sold me. Good premise, cool trope, and great narrator?!? 😆😆😆
Hello :)
I totally agree with you! Could you next time tell us few your favorite books in any tropes (like you do it in The Witcher, and Sanderson)?
Probably you know this books... but my favorite series about assasins is The Way of Shadows (Brent Weeks),
Nice trope about relationship betwen master and his student you can find in Ranger's Apprentice (John Flanagan). Firstly young boy is scared but then, they are like son and father. Is more young adault than fantasy, but I love this series! :)
And political schemes hmm... Black Prism (Brent Weeks) and Priestess of the White (Trudi Canavan).
But my favorite trope is about soldiers. Not big heros, just troopers who don't like war but they fight becouse they can't do anythink else or they need money and thinks like that e.g Chronicles of the Black Company (Glen Cook) or Malazan Book of the Fallen (Steven Erikson).
If u never read, check it in free time :)
Oh and thank you for recommend Blood Song. It's realy awsome. I couldn't stop read this book :) but Tower Lord looks not as good as Blood Song. But only 100 pages behind me, so I hope it will change.
Wontys I’m so happy you’re liking Blood Song! I’m sorry the sequel isn’t as good. I’ve heard the first one is the best, but hopefully you end up liking it more :)
If you like soldiers, I’d recommend Stormlight Archive. Kal is the best, and he’s hands down one of my favorite characters of all time :)
Also, I took a screenshot of your comment because you recommended so many books that I need to check out :D
Of course I know Stormlight Archive, like you i love Sanderson's books
I love assassins in fantasy books too. I think that is because I like gritty violence and protaganists with different morals. I think it adds another level of freedom to reading. In real life I couldn't even stomach thinking about seriously hurting another person, forget killing anyone. But I'm completly fine with reading about all kinds of horrible things in fantasy novels. I specify fantasy because it is a lot harder in non fiction and even contemporary books. I think that is because while reading fantasy we can partially set aside the moral compass we use in the real world and that gives a sense of freedom.
I really, really want to read Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, I read his Broken Empire trilogy and loved it. This book is about a young girl who is trained to be an assassin by an order of assassin nuns. Sounds absolutely badass. And I know Mark Lawrence doesn't pull his punches, so I know she won't be a total disappointment as an assassin, like those goody goody girls who never really wanted to be evil but had to become bad bad assassins, and oh, how does it tornent them.
A trope I would love to see in a book is: I would like the main characters of the book to be happily married and they have adventures in a fantasy world together (as bountyhunters maybe). Their relationship should be part of the story but not at all the focus.
Does anyone know a book like that?
May Say well you’ve sold me on Red Sister. I personally found Prince of Thorns a little too dark for me, but I might have to check Red Sister out :)
And that premise sounds so cool! The end of Mistborn KINDA has that, but it’s very serious and not at all lighthearted. I can’t think of any books at the moment where that’s the main premise the whole time 🤷🏻♀️
Elliot Brooks I haven't read Red Sister my sister myself yet, but I really want to. Prince of Thorns was really dark and the world building had a few problems. But I guess I was so frustrated by all those perfect morally upstanding good heros that I just enjoyed reading the very opposite.
I wish more authors would write books that concentrate on telling a story without relying on all that relationship drama to keep it interesting. I think a marriedcouple could be the perfect dynamic for that.
Great video! 😍❤
Assassins: the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep (Gin Blanco, the protagonist, is The Spider, an Assassin ❤)
Parental Types in books: the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (Curran, werelion, has a surrogate father in Mahon, a wearbear; Curran is in turn a surrogate father to Derek, werewolf; Kate adopts a young orphaned girl in book two; and lastly, Kate's birth father proves to be the main - and biggest - antagonist ❤)
Unintended heir: the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton (In the beginning, Merry is in hiding from her aunt the Queen and her Unseelie court. Very soon, she's drawn back into that world, into a competition to become the Queen's heir. (It'll be whoever has babies first. The sex is graphic from book one, so if that's not your thing...)
Rags to Riches: Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews (Nevada, the protagonist, works very hard to keep herself and her family afloat. To explain how she's rag to riches would be a major spoiler, and the riches haven't actually arrived, yet, but the main male character is a billionaire. 😉❤)
Also, the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (when the series opens, Kate is working her butt off to live, and then she meets Curran, is drawn into the Pack, starts a new business... 😄❤)
Political Intrigue: Any of the four up above, really:
1) Gin retires, still takes on some jobs, gets drawn into others; it's complicated. And some of the complications are political in nature. 😉
2) Kate deals with Pack politics, Order politics, Guild politics. It's hugely fun. 😄
3) Merry is drawn back into court politics - and not just her court's, the Unseelie - but the Seelie court's; the goblin court's; the demi-fey court's; the court of the Sluagh. So many courts! All with political intrigues, both within and with other courts! 😄
4) Nevada gets drawn into a conspiracy by/of Primes (meaning the superior magic users of her world). Primes have their own rules, too, and have wars between Houses. It's great fun! 😄
I have a lot of love for all of these series, so if you read any of them, I hope you'll enjoy them! 😄🎉❤
My favorite tropes include fantasy worlds set in our world (like the four above: Gin's series is set in Tennessee, if I remember correctly; Kate lives in an apocalyptic Atlanta, where magic battles it out against technology; Merry's series is set in both Los Angeles and Missouri [I think MO]; and Nevada lives in Texas).
I also love it when emotionally strong and smart women fall for emotionally strong and smart men (again, as in the four series above).
And lastly, I LOVE books that feature non-standard creatures and beings (again with the four above: Gin is an Elemental, with dwarves as good friends/family; Kate's world has VERY non-standard vampires, plus a menagerie of wereanimals, including a werehoneybadger, a weremongoose, werehyenas, and a werebuffalo!; Merry's world includes fae of all kinds, like demi-fey, the Sluagh, goblins, and weird powers among the Seelie and Unseelie; and Nevada's has all kinds of magic users, including pyrokinetics, ice mages, psionics, empaths, telepaths, telekinetics, shapeshifters, sirens, and more! 😄❤)
I want a gif made of your face when you said, "political intrigue" with your fingers waving in your face. :D hahaha!
I see the Queen of Blood behind you, have you read that yet by any chance? It has some of my favourite tropes, as well as some of the ones you mentioned in this video. It's got great female friendships as well as a lovely mentor type relationship that borders on parental. I also love training sequences, which it has as well.
Nicole Glasson I haven’t read it yet! I need to; I’ve heard it’s great. And now you’ve said so as well :D
Oh! You are of Cuban ancestry? Cool! Probably you have some spanish in you from your cuban granparents! Happy to hear that since im form Spain, well Basque-spanish.
I unfortunately don’t speak it! My dad didn’t know Spanish, so my mom never really spoke it when they were together. I’d love to learn someday though!
Except for the heir to a kingdom..I agree with you on all of them.Especially political intrigue. I've read The Winner's series this year and it has a high dose of sneakiness and spying and lying and also a slowwww burn enemy-lover romance .😍
I really like enemies that turn into friends. And sisters or really good girl friends! Can't get enough. Extra points if one is an assassin. ;)
@ChristieTank
nenerson1195 Stormlight Archive has a good “we hate each other but now we’re friends” element :)
Great video!!! 😄
I hope ur going to have great birthday 🎂
LOL when you said "just pull it out of your butt!" And so true- Sanderson's outlining is amazing. If I could show a 10th of his outlining/forshadowing skills in my book, I would be a happy girl. Also, I just tagged you in my "No Disclaimer Book Tag" video if you are interested! I would love to see how you answer the questions :)
Lindsay Puckett oh, yay!!! I’ve seen that tag and it sounds so fun :D thank you so much! I’ll make sure to watch yours too 💕
I relate to all of these except the first one. I have read no books with assassins in it. 😶.
Fandoms Are Awesome oh, it’s such a cool trope if done well!
Fandoms Are Awesome I don't like books with assassins too. It's very demonic.
Lígia Catarina may I ask how you feel Assassins are demonic? 🤔
Rachel Brown Because in real life, demons want us to be assassins.
Lígia Catarina Was that in the sequel to Paradise Lost?
Have you read Discworld? if not, I recommend you Mort, the first in The Death series, it's basically about an assassin, a poor guy and a it's comedy, who doesn't love parodies of epic fantasy? xD
I love strong friendship relations, but in groups more than couples. I think I started liking it more with D&D stories. When there is a group of friends in which anyone would sacrifice himself for any other one.
Or like in a band, when the one who could be a star by himself but he doesn't want to go for that because he wants to succeed together with his friends, like in the BECK manga. It's so good T_T
It's funny because I don't find the poor hero trope so interesting, for a similar reason. When I was a kid, my family was very poor, a lot of children, no father, my older brothers couldn't go to school because they had to work, etc. I don't think that trope is bad at all, sometimes I like it, it's just that when I read "this guy is so poor, has no house, nothing to eat" I think "I know a lot of people like that, I'm Mexican", lol.
I love the intrigue and conspiracies in stories. When I was younger I liked detective stories, those always have that, but I really, really appreciate when a fantasy author put some mystery to solve in their books, and it's not just casting rays to kill dragons (although I love that too).
Another trope I like (well, I'm not sure if it's a trope) is when the evil guy thinks he's doing things for a greater good, or he just thinks he's the good one. I don't like when the bad guy is just evil without a reason. When I was a kid, I went to the church, and I always thought even Satan had good reasons to be bad. In fact I always thought their god was just jealous of Luzbel, lol.
Xacur I always appreciate a complex bad guy too!!! And the mystery in fantasy is why I enjoy Dresden and Mistborn so much. Not so much the first Mistborn, but the others :D
And I’ve not read Discworld, but it sounds really fun 😄
I loved this video, I prefer these ones that are in positive :)
I like Assassins too, also Spies and those characters who are always thinking about people's motivations, what the next 4 moves are, etc Political intrigue, like you say!! Not just for a kingdom, it's also great when it's in a smaller scale.
And rags to riches, yes! I also really enjoy when there's a clash between two characters (politics, religion, race, status...) and they disagree, and discuss things and so.
And I have a huge weakness for Found Families
Oh yes, when an author can pull off the feel of politics, you know you're in for a good read. Simply the logistical planning necessary for the author to even understand how politics would apply to a fantasy world is awesome.
Like anyone can say; "Oh the government's corrupt." but in reality there's spies, assassins, information brokers, everyone's working towards different goals, how does money play into it? Trade. Economy. An author has to truly understand their world to pull of political intrigue. It's great.
Isaak van Daalen yes yes yes!!! I completely agree! The planning has to be there, as well as the understanding to people’s motivations :D
Elliot I am curious do you read manga or comics at all. I recently have been really getting into reading because of manga. I have finished like 5 books already. Anyways just curious.
Epicklutcher94 I’ve just been getting into them. Fullmetal Alchemist and Fables are my favorites :)
Yes! Let's talk about the things we love for a change
Twitter : @pnhelm
finding neverland ha, yeah, that’s generally what I do :)
Your grandparents are Cuban? I have Cuban ancestry too? Did they pass down any traditionsns or language skills by any chance? I wish to know more....
I so agree with the assassin part! I hope to sometime soon read His Fair Assassin series, how good is that series title!? xD
And I love political intrigue! Or some military element, that always makes me happy too :)
Twitter: @readingmissfrog
Can you suggest fantasy books with strong female characters (no SJM)?
kimper0717 haha, I’m not a strong SJM fan, so I wouldn’t :) And I’d say Witcher, Mistborn, and Shades of Magic, the characters respectfully being Yen and Ciri, Vin, and Delilah :)
Elliot Brooks thank you!
ahhhh it was a joy to see you happy and excited! I'm going to start FMA: Brotherhood this weekend and I can't wait!!
twitter: @MariaABarcoC
maria barco oh my gosh, yay!!! :D I will say that you can totally skip the first episode if you want as it’s not really from the manga. I don’t really know why they did it tbh 🤔 But anyway, enjoy!!! It’s so good :D
Elliot Brooks Thanks I'll do that :)
Ok, so you love political scheming. I do too! Now I'm thoroughly confused why you don't like the Wheel of Time. It's been a while since I read, so that stuff must really start to happen in the books that you haven't read yet. I feel like it's got to be picking up more in book 5 and 6 because I remember thinking it was a major part of the series. I wonder if you could do a video about the things you don't like about the wheel of time, and then try reading through book 6, or more if you can, and do another video about how your view point has changed. That would be really very interesting. You always talk about loving Brandon Sanderson (I do too!), and he learned to write by dissecting the wheel of time. There's an interview somewhere on CZcams. There's only one thing Jordan does that I can think of that Brandon doesn't that might be your reason for not liking wheel of time... is it the bratty women? I agree that's not my favorite part of the books. Anyway, just trying to understand your thoughts. Love your videos! Have a great day!
Hi my name is Andrew and my instagram is calvoknees (my pfp is a black clown fish). I want to try an enter for el secret giveaway. And I have to say I absolutely love political intrigue in a book series. Like the seven realms series by Cinda Williams Chima (like The Demon King and whatnot). Has tons of political intrigue. That series is my absolute favorite. It leads you absolutely all over the place with such an interesting story. The main character Cuffs is just the greatest trickster ever. Even better than the Norse god Loki. Another series that’s awesome but I’m not sure if it has as much political intrigue is Wereworld by Curtis Jobling. And that comes second in my favorites. It’s a fantasy series about a very different world from ours. So it’s full of werecreatures but not just werewolves. There is a we’re for every single creature. It also has a mix of horror in it that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Or a seat in your mind if you don’t sit and read. Dark magic sleeps through the pages as you read a character once good turn to the evils of murder and betrayal. Make sure you have a nice and happy book to read after because in the end your heart will be ripped out and thrown into an endless dark pit. You should definitely read the series it is awesome. I might have over exaggerated a few things but whatever. I love your CZcams and keep making this awesome content.
PotatoGod9000 thank you so much for he recommendation! And advice about what to read after 😆 I’m currently reading Seven Realms right now and loving it. I’m only on book two but I’m excited to see where the series goes :D
I am loving these types of videos.... And I think it’s so sweet how much you admire your parents. I love my parents so much, my mom is my best friend ♥️ (IG: elizabeth_d89).
Elizabeth D aren’t parents great?!? I love mine, and it makes me so happy when other people have happy relationships with their parents :D
There’s many tropes I love, but the ones I do not like I can’t stand haha (ig: ashleyshiflett5)
Ashley Shiflett hahaha, yes! 🙌🏻