Yep knives hav the added benefits they take less space than swords too. And polearms and spears .Quaterstuffs are nice and bit too. But knives, little space needed and youcan never have enough
I do like how Merphy seems to make a great effort to not "spoil" what event the time traveller in 11.22.63 is primarily trying to change, all while that front cover is blazoned across the screen 😄
Im so glad One Piece and the algorithm gifted me by making me aware of your channel. You have managed to reignite my love for reading and I'm forever grateful for that.
The Ember Blade and The Sword of Kaigen were two top-tier quality books that that I don’t know if I would’ve found without your earlier recommendations. Thanks Merph, you have great taste!
@@thefairylibrarian3282 I still Liked it coming from the movie seeing Frodo’s long plain to disappear from the shire was fascinating but it still low on action so it hard but worth it
I am reading scifi/fantasy series called "Horus Heresy". It is quite a long series, I myself still in book 32 right now. The story is set in the far future, about the fate of mankind in an uncaring universe. The series itself focusing on a story of a great man, but incompetent father who is so bad in becoming a father figure for his sons half of them trying to kill him instead. It is a grim dark setting and got me pretty engaged so far..
I read a few of those every now and then so I don't have to think much. Highly recommend thenSoul Drinkers and Eisenhoer, or anything by Abnett really.
This is a great time for u to drop this video. Coz a lot of one piece and manga fans are lurking around ur channel. So they'll atleast try to check a new medium of entertainment.
I would like to recommend a series called Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World it's an Isakai (a type of story where the main character if from our world and transported or reincarnated into a fantasy world) its "live die repeat" in a fantasy world where the main character has to endure the mental and emotional trauma, and address many of his own flaws to save the people he comes to meet and care for. It has a large cast of complex characters each with their own personal story arcs that play out in the main story.
"Kindred" is magnificent! Octavia Butler gives SF readers both intriguing and thought-provoking plots AND complex, interesting characters (two strengths that a lot of classic SF writers seem to feel they had to choose between). It's also a powerful gut-punch readers may need a little time to recover from -- which I say like it's a good thing, because it is. Good to hear so many wonderful heroine-friendly recommendations.
Can't go wrong with Station Eleven. It is technically post-apocalyptic, but reads like a literary book and so can serve as a starting point. Plus it's really good
I started on fantasy and sci-fi as a child, and that was when I began to develop my love for reading. Somewhere along the way I lost my enchantment with these genres, I genuinely get bored especially if the stories are too distant from reality. But now I want to return and you know like say hi, im sorry i left u to these two genres but I don't know where to start bc I only trust a few booktubers on giving recs aaaaa so thank you Merph for this u are a mindreader!! ♡♡♡
I finished the riyria a couple days ago having started it less than 2 weeks back. The story evolves incredibly well and the world is actually massive, but Sullivan takes it slllow, and even at the end of this trilogy he doesn't fully show you the world, but hints at way more to come. The characters are fun and funny and grow very naturally. On the whole an excellent series. Thanks to merph for bringing it to my attention with her review
Theft of Swords was my gateway to adult fantasy! I still remember vividly the first scene in the book which is kinda crazy considering how long ago it was. I owe Michael J. Sullivan a lot for introducing this genre to me.
I’m dying at the beginning because the info-dumping is just way too much for me and it gets me annoyed every time I pick up the book. However, I have heard many people said that the plot starts picking up after some point and it’s really worth the building-up that I wanna give the book a try again. If you don’t mind, can I ask around what page does the plot start picking up?
I don't remember the page number but it was around Chapter 10 I guess. Till then, we slowly get the build up. I hope you pick this book up. It definitely deserves more love.
The Licanius Trilogy really got me into books, a shadow of what was lost really pulled me in with an easy read... I'd recommend to anyone wanting to start fantasy
I HIGHLY recommend the green rider series as an introduction to high fantasy , with it's unique world and soft magic system it's a great start to the genre. Also ponnies
I would suggest The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet. It very character-driven, and would be a good introduction to sci-fi as it won't be too science-y. Plus it's a great, heartwarming book. 🥰
I find Sci-fi a bit more difficult to read but I read The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin recently and loved it. It's short and her prose is simple but elegant. And the premise is great, she manages to pull a lot from it. Things get a little crazy.
11/22/63 is one of my favorite books ever, and certainly one of my favorites out of Stephen King's catalogue. I would say though, The Expanse is a very accessible first adult sci-fi for people. It's fantastic and not overly complicated at all.
I got started with Fantasy reading the usual when I was around 14-15, Tolkien, CS Lewis, Robert E Howard, and my freshman year of high school they offered a Sci-Fi reading class for an English credit and we read Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, this was in the 1970s
Thanks to Andrew from Andrew's Wizardly Reads I have The Ember Blade on my January TBR! I can't wait to read it. I also have to find room to put Project Hail Mary and Kindred in my TBR somewhere...
@@jaimelannister1797 We need to learn to separate Art from the Artist. It's necessary because almost every single person has said something that they are sorry about afterwards. If we will stop reading books just because the author said something that was wrong or we didn't like, we won't be able to read any book on earth.
Very nice to hear how elements of Sci-FI and Fantasy intersect with literary questions of why are we here, who are we and who were we, and ofc what is our mission in life.
I recommend just jumping right into the most high fantasy difficult reads you can. Avoid starting with easier series just because they seem easier because often the quality isn't as high and you might get a false impression of the genre not being that great
11/22/63 reminds me of a Tim Powers book I read called "Anubus Gate". Anubus Gate is less about fixing one point and the troubles that causes, and more about how stubborn history is in fact checking itself. I can't even safely mention the MC as it counts as a spoiler technically. Its weird and divergent and fluid for a story that has magic used under extreme limitation rules and freak mutations that create some bizarre characters. The storys strongest element is that the plot twists feel like a mobius strip at times they are so surprising. A great first 3 reads as you pick the story about for every clue you missed. Mystery+Sci-fi+fantasy+alternate history is the genres I use to describe it.
I almost jumped when she said it and for a second I thought "But wait, since when does Merphy know Final Fantasy?", then my brain started working again and "Oh, she just means the last book" Funny thing Final Fantasy books are actually pretty good, but probably doesn't work for those who haven't played the games
I actually started reading _The Name of the Wind_ as my first big fantasy novel because of your recommendation in a previous, "..for beginners," video. Nice to see _The Sword of Kaigen_ also get recommended for beginners, because that's one of my next books in line!
My gateway drug for fantasy books was Color of magic and Discworld series as whole, the only con is you starts with the best ;). Seriously Pratchett is pretty good author and almost everything from him is great and I would say its also easy to read. My gateway to scify was Dune, great book, my absolute favorite, not good for beginners, like at all. The story is massive, complicated and philosophy heavy.
Oh myy, I appreciate this SO MUCH since i just deciding to actually start reading more and more, but i have been struggling a bit since im not looking for anything TOO complicated, sadly lots of great books are “complicated” This comes in handyyy thankss😮💨🥰
Ohhhh, you're reading the Neverending Story I see! I wonder if this would have made the list if you had finished it. I think it would be a good one for beginners - there's a lot of "world building" in a sense, but the reader's not required to remember very much of the details. Also it's very meta-textually all about it's own genre, and might well make one crave more like a gateway drug.
I'm not very into sci-fi. The only book from that genre i've read was the Scythe serie, but i wasn't disappointed. It was more about morality of people and very interesting
Is there a video for Slice of Life Books I haven't read any so any recommendations for Beginners would really be appreciated Also sorry for Slice of Life terminology if I am wrong
Interesting. I’m far from a fantasy beginner, but I haven’t read any of these. I do own Kindred and The Ember Blade and I’ve read Wooding’s previous series multiple times.
If I had to put my three favorite tropes off the top of my head: 1. Coming of age. Long character arcs offer plenty of conflicts but are still familiar and are often cozy or at least satisfying. 2. Re-incarnation. Even longer character arcs, letting me stay with the person/people I already love/hate, but give new perspectives with each life. 3. Healthy relationships. I can take a lot in stories, but I cringe so hard when the character's I know to be intelligent fall into drama for no reason besides plot. Unhealthy relationships as a trope are so abundant that when I read one that is flourishing, it makes me smile stupidly. There can be conflict, but healthy means those conflicts have to be resolved and be resolved maturely.
I read Sword Of Kaigen last month and it BROKE ME. It was really good! I'd also recommend Dark Matter by Blake Crouch as a beginner scifi book. It's a very tasteful mix of scifi, thriller, mystery and romance and it kept me at the edge of my sit. So good!
Great video merphy. I really like your content. It has a free flow almost like a convo. Ty for doing the op content otherwise i would have never found your channel 🤔😎 Also great suggestions 😊
I very much want to read Kindred. I like time travel stuff in stories, and I will like to read more because so far there is a total of two books I've read with time travel. I am also very interested in A Natural History of Dragons simply because I like when there is a focus or a passion in some kind of knowledge. It can be literature or science or philosophy - I don't care. I like seeing it, and this seems very much like that.
I'd definitely recommend The Star Diaries (Dzienniki gwiazdowe), written by Stanislaw Lem. It's a series of satirical short stories chronicling the (mis-)adventures of Ijon Tichy, a space explorer.
"Too many characters get into predicaments based off of their stupidity" - Yeah, if I wanted that I would read the indictments... no thanks, I have lawyers for that.
I miss having more time for reading because I enjoy sci-fi most when I have a long uninterrupted space of time to just sit and devote all my braincells to making sense of whatever science is being wrought. I miss picking up a Timothy Zahn book as soon as it's been long enough since I first read it that the details are fuzzy and internally transforming to that galaxy-brain gif guy. :') For beginner sci-fi I might recommend The Flight Engineer series by SM Stirling and James Doohan (yes, of Star Trek fame, they put his face on the covers and it's very silly but get that bread ig)! It's got some great future science and technology and some fun alien-civilization stuff and the overall tone is very light and readable. There's some laugh-out-loud scenes and lines--and some tear-jerking moments too! Highly recommended.
I do really like that all your recommended fantasy books had 'Sword/Blade' in their titles, despite being rather different to one another 😆 Thanks for the vid! You got any recommendations for gothic horror? I recall you saying you love gothic fiction when you were reviewing Thriller Bark and I was wondering if you got any suggestions for beginners (that's not the obvious big names!) 😃
Are you also interested in recommendations for Gothic novels that aren't necessarily horror? Most of the ones I've read have spooky vibes, but aren't really horror.
Thank you for this:) I'm a new booktuber who's actually looking for a new Fantasy series as the only fantasy I've read (and loved) is Harry Potter (unless you count Enid Blyton's Wishing Chair series), and so far haven't been keen on any of the popular ones. I'm looking for one heavy on mystery/drama/romance/family and without "too much" action/death (and no gore or stupid love triangle/not like other girls trope). I probably won't like epic fantasy, lol.
I suggest you try Percy Jackson series. It is complete with 2 sequel series. And Nevermoor the first 3 books are out but the 4th one will be released in 2022. The Magisterium series is another good series. And if you are more into world building and character driven stories, I would recommend The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.
If you want a 'feel good' book, try The House in the Cerulean Sea. Lots of focus on found family, with a bit of romance sprinkled in. The plot is a bit predictable like a children's book or a romance comedy movie, but it also has the quirkiness and nostalgic feel of a children's book. If you'd rather have a little more mystery, try Piranesi. It's about a guy who lives in an infinitely large house and believes this is 'the world' and thinks there are only two living people in the world. It starts out really weird and vague, but you soon figure out there's more going on than the main character thinks. Neither of these are series though. I can think of a series I enjoyed that fits your criteria, but it's not fantasy (it would probably fall under sci-fi?). The Mysterious Benedict Society. These books are aimed at children and they're full of mysteries and riddles and puzzles, and there's a team of four children who are all very smart in completely different ways. Book 1 is the best, but I enjoyed the others I've read as well (haven't read book 4 and have heard mixed stuff about it, so maybe skip that one if there's a love triangle or something).
@@myhobbies7091 Thank you so much for your suggestions:) I'll definitely check them out. I've watched the first Percy Jackson movie. It was okay, but I'm not sure if I'd be interested in the book. But I'll definitely check out your other two suggestions.
@@Tasha9315 You're welcome! I'm glad I could help :) I'm curious what you'll think of them! Percy Jackson wasn't personally my thing, but I would not base your decision on the movie. Most PJ fans actually hate that movie ;). I love Sanderson's books as well, but how much action and death is "too much" and is it still too much if there's a lot of hope and friendship to balance it out? For most people, Mistborn is a great place to start, but for you I'd recommend starting with Warbreaker instead. It has a bit less action and death than Mistborn, so then you can get used to it a bit before diving into Mistborn. Warbreaker's not a series (yet) though, if you were specifically asking about series.
Lol my introduction to Adult Fantasy was the Dark Tower series...Didn't really know what I was getting into but it had Stephen King's name on it so that was enough for me 😂
All I can say is that 11/22/63 is not good I got 100 pages in and could not finish it but I am going to try it again please stay safe and enjoy your reading love your Australia fan John xxx
Sword of Kaigen is truly great. But it takes a while to get going on the greatness. I could say the same about Hail Mary. I can't provide details without spoiling, but... give Kaigen 100 pages, and give Mary 200 pages.
Have you read Dragonlance series by Margret weise and Tracy Hickman . It’s a great series . Start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight , Dragons of Winter night and Dragons of Spring Dawning
I think Marry Robinette Kowal’s other book Shades of Milk and Honey is also a a good fantasy for beginners book. Especially if you like Jane Austen novels
If you liked 11/22/63 I think you might enjoy the anime/manga Tokyo revengers . Basically : A 26-year old loafer who has no real aspirations in life -- and what happens after he finds out his high-school girlfriend Hina was killed by gang violence.
Hi Merphy, how do you get onto so many self-published books? I use an apple reader and I only ever discover stuff through publishers, it's cool you seem to find self published work.
Pffffff these genres are for nerds. I only read historical figure based erotica LIKE AN ADULT!
;)
I can't wait for the inevitable Merphy/Daniel One Piece ultimate theory collab.
😂
I demand a similar list from the Goblin Leader
I see you are a man of culture 🎩
I'm waiting for merphy to roast disheveled goblins bookshelf
Same 😂
"YOU GAVE ME TWO KNIVES"
We have to be realistic about these things Merphy. You can never have too many knives.
Yep knives hav the added benefits they take less space than swords too. And polearms and spears .Quaterstuffs are nice and bit too. But knives, little space needed and youcan never have enough
I do like how Merphy seems to make a great effort to not "spoil" what event the time traveller in 11.22.63 is primarily trying to change, all while that front cover is blazoned across the screen 😄
RIGHT?! 😂 I wonder if she's talking about, I dunno, the Jack the Ripper killings... 🤔
Outside of that, the title also gives it away if you are knowledgeable in terms of history.
Any never ending TBR continues to grow
Im so glad One Piece and the algorithm gifted me by making me aware of your channel. You have managed to reignite my love for reading and I'm forever grateful for that.
SAME
The Ember Blade and The Sword of Kaigen were two top-tier quality books that that I don’t know if I would’ve found without your earlier recommendations.
Thanks Merph, you have great taste!
"The lord of the rings i would not call a good book for a beginner"
me (reaad lotr as my first adult fantasy): I-
Started Reading LOTR 2 chapters in and Hella enjoyed it but had to keep it on hold because of other works
Amaai Kaat, daar geraakte ik de eerste keer amper door :p
the hobbit is great but ya Fellowship alone is really hard if you can push past the first half it gets so much better
@@shaggycrow I loved the first half!
@@thefairylibrarian3282 I still Liked it coming from the movie seeing Frodo’s long plain to disappear from the shire was fascinating but it still low on action so it hard but worth it
I am reading scifi/fantasy series called "Horus Heresy". It is quite a long series, I myself still in book 32 right now.
The story is set in the far future, about the fate of mankind in an uncaring universe. The series itself focusing on a story of a great man, but incompetent father who is so bad in becoming a father figure for his sons half of them trying to kill him instead.
It is a grim dark setting and got me pretty engaged so far..
Now this is a good recommendation
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war!
It wasn't dads fault evil gods abducted his children at infancy and scattered them across the galaxy!
I read a few of those every now and then so I don't have to think much. Highly recommend thenSoul Drinkers and Eisenhoer, or anything by Abnett really.
the martian i think would also be a great choice for beginners
This is a great time for u to drop this video. Coz a lot of one piece and manga fans are lurking around ur channel. So they'll atleast try to check a new medium of entertainment.
Literally me rn
Sword of Kaigen is a must read!! Favorite book of 2021
Same!!
Always happy to see an 11/22/63 mention. I'll usually go with the greatest hits for this rec; Lord of the Rings/Dune.
I’m starting a project Hail Mary next month, I’m excited because I always see positive reviews
I would like to recommend a series called Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World it's an Isakai (a type of story where the main character if from our world and transported or reincarnated into a fantasy world) its "live die repeat" in a fantasy world where the main character has to endure the mental and emotional trauma, and address many of his own flaws to save the people he comes to meet and care for. It has a large cast of complex characters each with their own personal story arcs that play out in the main story.
I'll throw in a trailer to the anime adaptation too in case it helps czcams.com/video/Slz_rahWp6Y/video.html
"Kindred" is magnificent! Octavia Butler gives SF readers both intriguing and thought-provoking plots AND complex, interesting characters (two strengths that a lot of classic SF writers seem to feel they had to choose between). It's also a powerful gut-punch readers may need a little time to recover from -- which I say like it's a good thing, because it is.
Good to hear so many wonderful heroine-friendly recommendations.
Can't go wrong with Station Eleven. It is technically post-apocalyptic, but reads like a literary book and so can serve as a starting point. Plus it's really good
I started on fantasy and sci-fi as a child, and that was when I began to develop my love for reading. Somewhere along the way I lost my enchantment with these genres, I genuinely get bored especially if the stories are too distant from reality. But now I want to return and you know like say hi, im sorry i left u to these two genres but I don't know where to start bc I only trust a few booktubers on giving recs aaaaa so thank you Merph for this u are a mindreader!! ♡♡♡
I’ll be finished with 11/22/63 tomorrow. I absolutely love it!
I finished the riyria a couple days ago having started it less than 2 weeks back. The story evolves incredibly well and the world is actually massive, but Sullivan takes it slllow, and even at the end of this trilogy he doesn't fully show you the world, but hints at way more to come. The characters are fun and funny and grow very naturally. On the whole an excellent series. Thanks to merph for bringing it to my attention with her review
best squarespace ad I've ever seen! xDDD very rarely do i enjoy watching the ads, but this was great.
Theft of Swords was my gateway to adult fantasy! I still remember vividly the first scene in the book which is kinda crazy considering how long ago it was. I owe Michael J. Sullivan a lot for introducing this genre to me.
I absolutely loved The Sword of Kaigen. It was slow in the beginning but worth the read. It was just perfect.
I’m dying at the beginning because the info-dumping is just way too much for me and it gets me annoyed every time I pick up the book. However, I have heard many people said that the plot starts picking up after some point and it’s really worth the building-up that I wanna give the book a try again. If you don’t mind, can I ask around what page does the plot start picking up?
I don't remember the page number but it was around Chapter 10 I guess. Till then, we slowly get the build up. I hope you pick this book up. It definitely deserves more love.
@@just-another-fangirl Thank you!
The Licanius Trilogy really got me into books, a shadow of what was lost really pulled me in with an easy read... I'd recommend to anyone wanting to start fantasy
I HIGHLY recommend the green rider series as an introduction to high fantasy , with it's unique world and soft magic system it's a great start to the genre. Also ponnies
I would suggest The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet. It very character-driven, and would be a good introduction to sci-fi as it won't be too science-y. Plus it's a great, heartwarming book. 🥰
I have yet to have someone not love this one once they tried it, even if they don’t think they like sci-fi
@@hendrikscheepers4144 ok
you've recommended the ember blade in almost all of your fantasy related videos and so i'm gonna start reading it soon..
My introduction into high fantasy was the Earthsea trilogy. Still the trilogy I recommend to 'beginners'.
I find Sci-fi a bit more difficult to read but I read The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin recently and loved it. It's short and her prose is simple but elegant. And the premise is great, she manages to pull a lot from it. Things get a little crazy.
11/22/63 is one of my favorite books ever, and certainly one of my favorites out of Stephen King's catalogue. I would say though, The Expanse is a very accessible first adult sci-fi for people. It's fantastic and not overly complicated at all.
Thanks Merphy :) I love to reading Fantasy and Sci fi books.
your ads are the only ones that i dont skip
I got started with Fantasy reading the usual when I was around 14-15, Tolkien, CS Lewis, Robert E Howard, and my freshman year of high school they offered a Sci-Fi reading class for an English credit and we read Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, this was in the 1970s
Thanks to Andrew from Andrew's Wizardly Reads I have The Ember Blade on my January TBR! I can't wait to read it. I also have to find room to put Project Hail Mary and Kindred in my TBR somewhere...
I'm sorry but I just have to say it. I know it gets ripped to shreds a lot nowadays but Harry Potter is also a good entry point into fantasy.
You are soooo right! Just because everyone has watched the movies it doesn't mean they cannot read the books which are a lot better.
@@myhobbies7091 the movies aren’t why it gets ripped to shreds. It’s JKR herself that makes everyone hate on Harry Potter
@@jaimelannister1797 We need to learn to separate Art from the Artist. It's necessary because almost every single person has said something that they are sorry about afterwards. If we will stop reading books just because the author said something that was wrong or we didn't like, we won't be able to read any book on earth.
@@myhobbies7091 Yeah I agree with you 100%. I was just saying that is likely the reason for the dislike towards Harry Potter atm
@@jaimelannister1797 That's true.
Very nice to hear how elements of Sci-FI and Fantasy intersect with literary questions of why are we here, who are we and who were we, and ofc what is our mission in life.
I think the Murderbot series or just All Systems Red is a great start for SciFi. A short fun read with a lovable main character.
Finally i can show this to my friends, get them addicted to fantasy, and watch them cry at their fav characters' deaths
I recommend just jumping right into the most high fantasy difficult reads you can. Avoid starting with easier series just because they seem easier because often the quality isn't as high and you might get a false impression of the genre not being that great
I got into your channel because of your One Piece reviews, but now I love all your videos! You're so cute btw! I love your glasses :D
11/22/63 reminds me of a Tim Powers book I read called "Anubus Gate".
Anubus Gate is less about fixing one point and the troubles that causes, and more about how stubborn history is in fact checking itself. I can't even safely mention the MC as it counts as a spoiler technically. Its weird and divergent and fluid for a story that has magic used under extreme limitation rules and freak mutations that create some bizarre characters. The storys strongest element is that the plot twists feel like a mobius strip at times they are so surprising. A great first 3 reads as you pick the story about for every clue you missed. Mystery+Sci-fi+fantasy+alternate history is the genres I use to describe it.
"...the FINAL FANTASY book..."
I know what you were doing there
I almost jumped when she said it and for a second I thought "But wait, since when does Merphy know Final Fantasy?", then my brain started working again and "Oh, she just means the last book"
Funny thing Final Fantasy books are actually pretty good, but probably doesn't work for those who haven't played the games
I loved 11/22/63 so much. It’s an example of King sticking a landing at the end too.
I actually started reading _The Name of the Wind_ as my first big fantasy novel because of your recommendation in a previous, "..for beginners," video. Nice to see _The Sword of Kaigen_ also get recommended for beginners, because that's one of my next books in line!
My gateway drug for fantasy books was Color of magic and Discworld series as whole, the only con is you starts with the best ;).
Seriously Pratchett is pretty good author and almost everything from him is great and I would say its also easy to read.
My gateway to scify was Dune, great book, my absolute favorite, not good for beginners, like at all. The story is massive, complicated and philosophy heavy.
Oh myy, I appreciate this SO MUCH since i just deciding to actually start reading more and more, but i have been struggling a bit since im not looking for anything TOO complicated, sadly lots of great books are “complicated”
This comes in handyyy thankss😮💨🥰
Ohhhh, you're reading the Neverending Story I see! I wonder if this would have made the list if you had finished it. I think it would be a good one for beginners - there's a lot of "world building" in a sense, but the reader's not required to remember very much of the details. Also it's very meta-textually all about it's own genre, and might well make one crave more like a gateway drug.
I'm not very into sci-fi. The only book from that genre i've read was the Scythe serie, but i wasn't disappointed. It was more about morality of people and very interesting
Is there a video for Slice of Life Books
I haven't read any so any recommendations for Beginners would really be appreciated
Also sorry for Slice of Life terminology if I am wrong
I like Andy Weir as an author, Project Hail Mary is on my TBR, but I loved The Martian and enjoyed Artemis.
My personal favourite piece of SciFi is a short story called Space Time for Springers. But it’s super short and quirky!
Interesting. I’m far from a fantasy beginner, but I haven’t read any of these. I do own Kindred and The Ember Blade and I’ve read Wooding’s previous series multiple times.
I have read like 7 of these but will check out others. Thanks!
I am obsessed with "beginners" videos!!
If I had to put my three favorite tropes off the top of my head:
1. Coming of age. Long character arcs offer plenty of conflicts but are still familiar and are often cozy or at least satisfying.
2. Re-incarnation. Even longer character arcs, letting me stay with the person/people I already love/hate, but give new perspectives with each life.
3. Healthy relationships. I can take a lot in stories, but I cringe so hard when the character's I know to be intelligent fall into drama for no reason besides plot. Unhealthy relationships as a trope are so abundant that when I read one that is flourishing, it makes me smile stupidly. There can be conflict, but healthy means those conflicts have to be resolved and be resolved maturely.
Some great suggestions. The Sword of Kaigen is the best book I have read this year so far.
I read Sword Of Kaigen last month and it BROKE ME. It was really good!
I'd also recommend Dark Matter by Blake Crouch as a beginner scifi book. It's a very tasteful mix of scifi, thriller, mystery and romance and it kept me at the edge of my sit. So good!
Sword of Kaigen is like seven different genras mashed together and I love it!
Merphy, you NEED to continue the Lady Astronaut series!
Heck, I need to read them. My 2nd cousin is the author.
Great video merphy. I really like your content. It has a free flow almost like a convo. Ty for doing the op content otherwise i would have never found your channel 🤔😎
Also great suggestions 😊
I actually have Project Hail Mary on my list to read soon since I am wanting to read more sci-fi this year!
Omg I loved your squarespace ad 😂
You got me to read Kindred and I adored it
I'd recommend the Percy Jackson books as an introduction to fantasy
I tried the first book, got disgusted by the overt jingoistic racism in it, and never picked up the rest.
Added a few more to my tbr 🙌. I've read a lot of these though and great choices!
I very much want to read Kindred. I like time travel stuff in stories, and I will like to read more because so far there is a total of two books I've read with time travel. I am also very interested in A Natural History of Dragons simply because I like when there is a focus or a passion in some kind of knowledge. It can be literature or science or philosophy - I don't care. I like seeing it, and this seems very much like that.
Me, not a new fantasy reader: ooo keep going
Sometimes it's so nice going back to read some of these books after being crushed under the fantastic weight of the cosmere novels 😂
I loved The Sword of Kaigen.
Got into WoT because of you and Daniel, so thanks for that!
I'd definitely recommend The Star Diaries (Dzienniki gwiazdowe), written by Stanislaw Lem.
It's a series of satirical short stories chronicling the (mis-)adventures of Ijon Tichy, a space explorer.
haven't finished a book let alone a series (other than fluff for tabletop games) in a very long time, looking forward to trying....
"Too many characters get into predicaments based off of their stupidity" - Yeah, if I wanted that I would read the indictments... no thanks, I have lawyers for that.
I miss having more time for reading because I enjoy sci-fi most when I have a long uninterrupted space of time to just sit and devote all my braincells to making sense of whatever science is being wrought. I miss picking up a Timothy Zahn book as soon as it's been long enough since I first read it that the details are fuzzy and internally transforming to that galaxy-brain gif guy. :')
For beginner sci-fi I might recommend The Flight Engineer series by SM Stirling and James Doohan (yes, of Star Trek fame, they put his face on the covers and it's very silly but get that bread ig)! It's got some great future science and technology and some fun alien-civilization stuff and the overall tone is very light and readable. There's some laugh-out-loud scenes and lines--and some tear-jerking moments too! Highly recommended.
Love the shirt!!!!
Agreed!
I do really like that all your recommended fantasy books had 'Sword/Blade' in their titles, despite being rather different to one another 😆 Thanks for the vid!
You got any recommendations for gothic horror? I recall you saying you love gothic fiction when you were reviewing Thriller Bark and I was wondering if you got any suggestions for beginners (that's not the obvious big names!) 😃
Are you also interested in recommendations for Gothic novels that aren't necessarily horror? Most of the ones I've read have spooky vibes, but aren't really horror.
That add bit was hilarious
These may be 8 good reads but they are not foundational or beginners for anyone you want to dive deeper in the genres. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the recommendations
A comment to signal my engagement to the algorithm.
Good job with the square space ad, I found very enjoyable and creative. What was the book your husband was reading in it? it's cover looks cool.
It looks like The Never-ending Story.
Me, who isn't even new to the genre: *takes notes* 😂
Thank you for this:) I'm a new booktuber who's actually looking for a new Fantasy series as the only fantasy I've read (and loved) is Harry Potter (unless you count Enid Blyton's Wishing Chair series), and so far haven't been keen on any of the popular ones. I'm looking for one heavy on mystery/drama/romance/family and without "too much" action/death (and no gore or stupid love triangle/not like other girls trope). I probably won't like epic fantasy, lol.
I suggest you try Percy Jackson series. It is complete with 2 sequel series. And Nevermoor the first 3 books are out but the 4th one will be released in 2022. The Magisterium series is another good series. And if you are more into world building and character driven stories, I would recommend The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.
If you want a 'feel good' book, try The House in the Cerulean Sea. Lots of focus on found family, with a bit of romance sprinkled in. The plot is a bit predictable like a children's book or a romance comedy movie, but it also has the quirkiness and nostalgic feel of a children's book.
If you'd rather have a little more mystery, try Piranesi. It's about a guy who lives in an infinitely large house and believes this is 'the world' and thinks there are only two living people in the world. It starts out really weird and vague, but you soon figure out there's more going on than the main character thinks.
Neither of these are series though. I can think of a series I enjoyed that fits your criteria, but it's not fantasy (it would probably fall under sci-fi?). The Mysterious Benedict Society. These books are aimed at children and they're full of mysteries and riddles and puzzles, and there's a team of four children who are all very smart in completely different ways. Book 1 is the best, but I enjoyed the others I've read as well (haven't read book 4 and have heard mixed stuff about it, so maybe skip that one if there's a love triangle or something).
@@myhobbies7091 Thank you so much for your suggestions:) I'll definitely check them out. I've watched the first Percy Jackson movie. It was okay, but I'm not sure if I'd be interested in the book. But I'll definitely check out your other two suggestions.
@@booklanerecommendations Thank you so much for your suggestions:) I'll definitely check them out.
@@Tasha9315 You're welcome! I'm glad I could help :)
I'm curious what you'll think of them!
Percy Jackson wasn't personally my thing, but I would not base your decision on the movie. Most PJ fans actually hate that movie ;).
I love Sanderson's books as well, but how much action and death is "too much" and is it still too much if there's a lot of hope and friendship to balance it out? For most people, Mistborn is a great place to start, but for you I'd recommend starting with Warbreaker instead. It has a bit less action and death than Mistborn, so then you can get used to it a bit before diving into Mistborn. Warbreaker's not a series (yet) though, if you were specifically asking about series.
The Murderbot Series is good brain candy
Lol my introduction to Adult Fantasy was the Dark Tower series...Didn't really know what I was getting into but it had Stephen King's name on it so that was enough for me 😂
Decently recent is the Merph poetry I came here for - Saad
All I can say is that 11/22/63 is not good I got 100 pages in and could not finish it but I am going to try it again please stay safe and enjoy your reading love your Australia fan John xxx
Sword of Kaigen is truly great. But it takes a while to get going on the greatness. I could say the same about Hail Mary. I can't provide details without spoiling, but... give Kaigen 100 pages, and give Mary 200 pages.
My first fantasy book was the hobbit and scfi was Asimov´s The End of Eternity, not for beginners but i love them
Have you read Dragonlance series by Margret weise and Tracy Hickman . It’s a great series . Start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight , Dragons of Winter night and Dragons of Spring Dawning
this is the video I needed, I really want to start reading fantasy but i'm terrified on how big the books are 😅
I need the ember blade
Just stopping by for the recommendations from Luffy's ship Librarian
Not sure if this would be for beginners, but I quite enjoyed the Land of Elyon series, fantasy middle grade for young readers
I think Marry Robinette Kowal’s other book Shades of Milk and Honey is also a a good fantasy for beginners book. Especially if you like Jane Austen novels
Oh my gosh, I have that same shirt! Does yours have a hood on the back?
If you liked 11/22/63 I think you might enjoy the anime/manga Tokyo revengers . Basically : A 26-year old loafer who has no real aspirations in life -- and what happens after he finds out his high-school girlfriend Hina was killed by gang violence.
Hi Merphy, how do you get onto so many self-published books? I use an apple reader and I only ever discover stuff through publishers, it's cool you seem to find self published work.
Is it weird to say that I wait more for the ads in your videos than the recommendations!? 😅
"If you're tired of unsolicited advice... then I have some more for you." MERPHY PLS