Welcome to our Starry Reads discussion of our Favorite Fantasy Series (with no spoilers!). Today we're discussing three fantasy series we all loved, what we loved about them and why we recommend them. And then, because we all love to add to our TBR piles, we give further recommendations. Series 1: Riyira Revelations: Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron A high fantasy series that is fun, has very well-realized characters, and is filled with swashbuckling adventures! These would be great for a family road trip listen. Series: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780316536165 Theft of Swords https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780316187749 Rise of Empire https://bookshop.org/a/127344/978031618770 Heir of Novron https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780316187718 Deanna recommends The Thief, first in The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780062642967 Natalie recommends The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780593725429 Delia recommends Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780060548254 Natalie recommends The Riyira Chronicles, the prequels to Riyira Revelations. Book 1 is The Crown Tower: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780316243711 Series 2: The World of Five Gods: Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, The Hallowed Hunt; the Penric and Desdemona novellas: Penric's Demon, Penric and the Shaman, Penric's Fox, and many more. Lois McMaster Bujold is truly a master writer! The world and characters really shine in these novels, which often have interesting spiritual elements. The Penric novellas are lighter and often funny, and can be read before or after the novels. The Curse of Chalion https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780061134241 Paladin of Souls https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780380818617 The Hallowed Hunt https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780060574741 Penric's Demon https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781504675284 Deanna recommends Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. There is some discussion about the proper reading order in this series. Do NOT start with Falling Free (it's only valuable later when you're devastated that the series is over). Deanna recommends Shards of Honor, Barrayar, then The Warriors Apprentice and so on. (We try to support independent bookstores with our links, but Bookshop.org does not have these, hence the following three Amazon links) Shards of Honor: https://www.amazon.com/Shards-Honor-Lois-McMaster-Bujold/dp/0671720872 Barrayar: https://www.amazon.com/Barrayar-Lois-McMaster-Bujold/dp/067172083X The Warrior's Apprentice: https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Apprentice-Vorkosigan-Saga-ebook/dp/B005DNGSUU Deanna recommends the Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch, beginning with the book Rivers of London: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781625676153 Delia recommends The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, which will feature in Episode 5! https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781625676153 Delia recommends Between Two Fires, also by Christopher Buehlman https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250439208 Natalie recommends City of Stairs, the first book in the series by Robert Jackson Bennett: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250439208 Series: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781984822116 Series 3: The Chronicles of Osreth: The Goblin Emperor; Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy: The Witness for the Dead, The Grief of Stones, The Tomb of Dragons This series is a delight with a peaceful air, even though we wouldn't call it cozy. There is a sense of resting in the characters that we loved. The Goblin Emperor is a standalone, more of a political intrigue. The Trilogy centers on a side character from The Goblin Emperor and is made of fantasy murder mysteries. We recommend reading them in the order given. The only downside to this series is the complicated names of places, people, and things. Check your copy for the glossary–its very helpful! The Goblin Emperor: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250303790 The Witness for the Dead: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780765387431 The Grief of Stones: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250813916 The Tomb of Dragons: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250821027 Deanna recommends Angel of the Crows, also by Katherine Addison: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780765387400 Deanna recommends To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers, which will we the subject of our next episode (we didn't know that when we recorded this) https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780062936011 Deanna recommends Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, which starts with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780062444134 Delia recommends The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, beginning with the novella All Systems Red, which is also an Apple TV series: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780765397539 Series, Volume 1: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250389824 Natalie recommends The Singing Hills Cycle of novellas by Nghi Vo, beginning with The Empress of Salt and Fortune: https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9781250750303 Our next episode will be the lovely science fiction novella To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers, just in time for the first book of her new duology to come out! https://bookshop.org/a/127344/9780062936011 Find all our recommendations on https://bookshop.org/lists/recommended-by-starry-reads To buy books, support independent bookshops, and support us (and not pay any more!), use our affiliate links in the post or shop https://bookshop.org/shop/starryreadspod Don't forget to Like and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and Follow the show on your Podcast app! We would love to have your review! Comment on the YouTube episode, or send us your comments at starryreadspod@gmail.com You can also subscribe to our email list by sending "Subscribe" to starryreadspod@gmail.com Happy reading! _____________________________________________________ Music: Light Sting by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100433 Artist: http://incompetech.com/
