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Favorite villain is probably The Darkling in Shadow and Bone. He was deliciously evil. I'm pretty sure only women will appreciate that. The villain I hated the most however was Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter, was it book 5?

Hello! Today is Day 3 of our challenge!

Name your favorite book where the fantasy setting is atypical of the genre

For example: eastern or western culture, steampunk etc

I'm working today but I'll hopefully be checking in on my breaks! Have a wonderful day!

My book will have to be the Alloy of Law from Mistborn era 2, although some of the characters like Steris don't shine until later books I really felt like this book began a whole new genre with Flintlock. It's funky and it's fun!

I think this one will fit here: .
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.

It's steampunk.

I would probably say Mage's Blood as it has a lot of influences from middle-eastern culture, which I personally have never read in a Fantasy book before.

Malazan pretty much spans every type of background from desert to tundra and people that resemble Africans, Indians (turban and squah), European.......


I need to give a shout out to long price quartet as well. Best eastern culture fantasy series ever IMO.

Oh man I'm kinda stumped since o haven't read much stuff with atypical fantasy settings that are also my favourite but I think the closest to that would have to be the painted man where the krasian I think that's what there called and everyone south of thesa had eastern influences and while it's good it's not really my favourite

Well Ahdam, today's topic will be perfect for you then! You'll find lots of books with today's theme.

Scott- I was planning on mentioning LPQ in our list regardless of anyone picking it because it's just so great

And agree on Malazan, there is a lot of eastern flair that I've seen so far

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, India, Middle East

I'll go with Kameron Hurley as she creates some worlds that are very unique. In The Mirror Empire the world is filled with deadly plants that people also harvest for weapons. Magic is based off of which of the 3 moons is dominate in the sky at the moment. She flips the ususal gender roles and has 5 genders though they weren't really explained all that well in the first book.

I will go with The Gunslinger. A lot of different places and time periods within The Dark Tower world. Medieval, mid west, post apocalyptic and present day.

I'm going to say The Alloy of Law too.

Frank wrote: "Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, India, Middle East"

On my short list of series to start.

I have some to add at the end of the day if nobody has mentioned them ;)

Waking Fire. Hands down!

I also think Tinker, by Wen Spencer was bizarrely amazing with its mishmash of concept/genre. Space elves!!

I'm going to let my geekdom shine through a little here as I still consider myself a fantasy genre rookie. When I was a teenager in the mid 90s, I played a little game called "Magic: The Gathering" (you might have heard of it) and shortly after 3rd edition Arena was released. I read it then and liked it. But I found it at a garage sale a few years ago and gave it a re read. Now, it's not going to be praised for its depth, but it's entertaining, and it brings the cards and tournaments that I used to play to life. GEEK OUT FINISHED!

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Waking Fire. Hands down!

I also think Tinker, by Wen Spencer was bizarrely amazing with its mishmash of concept/genre. Space elves!!"

SPACESHIPS AND SPACE ELVES! I'm in! 😲

Scott wrote: "Frank wrote: "Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, India, Middle East"

On my short list of series to start."
Only read book one , excellent, perhaps a BR for the series.

Frank wrote: "Scott wrote: "Frank wrote: "Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, India, Middle East"

On my short list of series to start.""

I'm also interested in reading that to be honest and I think it would be a perfect buddy read

SPACESHIP!!! It's a very odd book, yet I found myself glued to it. I keep meaning to continue on...

Hmmm... is it ok to choose a book I haven't read yet? Then I will choose His Majesty's Dragon. The setting sounds really odd and special, it was the main reason for me to buy it. The Napoleonic Wars with Dragons, there was no way I could resist! I am looking forward to read it, even if there are mixed reviews...

I'll add a couple while I think of it

Divine Cities- Robert Jackson Bennett
Powder Mage- Brian McClellan
Shadow Campaigns- Django Wexler

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Waking Fire. Hands down!



I have to agree with Niki on this one. I have to say that I thought I didn't like steampunk until I read Waking Fire. Steampunk fantasy blend seemed to work for me with this book.

I usually find steampunk a little cheesy, but it worked so well in WF. I thought The Aeronaut's Windlass used it well too. Have you read that one?

No Niki. It's one of those books I keep meaning to read, but decided I really want to be up to date with The Dresden Files before I start another series by Butcher.

That's not a bad idea. I'm doing the same thing with Ilona Andrews' series. It feels weird doing two different by the same author at once to me for some reason. Lol

For what it's worth I think you'll like AW. I actually wish I had waited to read it though, because I'll have forgotten everything by the time the next one comes out.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "That's not a bad idea. I'm doing the same thing with Ilona Andrews' series. It feels weird doing two different by the same author at once to me for some reason. Lol

For what it's worth I think yo..."

Agreed. It feels odd to read two series by the same author at once.

Not sure it fits the prompt, but the one that came to mind was Sanderson's middlegrade/YA book The Rithmatist. It was an interesting mix of fantasy and dystopia, with a fascinating magic system. It also had some elements of steam punk (if I remember correctly). It was a lot of fun and I like how he played around with US, combining names and such to make it his own but still recognizable.

Sorry for the late start folks (sick baby all night)

Name a book/series that is your hidden gem.

You might feel like it's one of the most under appreciated or that nobody has read it but you. But it's a masterpiece in your mind.

Mine is the Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell

Have a beautiful day, and to our neighbors to the south: Have a wonderful Independence Day

I really enjoyed Lord of the Silver Bow. I never read the others in the series, which I should have...

The Naming This whole series is far above any other YA fantasy I've ever read.

Hope your baby is feeling better.

Inda by Sherwood Smith is one of the best fantasy series I have ever read. I did a group read of it on r/fantasy over on Reddit. I had it on my tbr but it was pretty low down.

I have two childhood books that I haven't heard anyone talk about
Muddle Earth, which is a parody of Lord of the Rings and Un Lun Dun, which is a wacky story and I still think about it today.

Okay this has to go to Riyria revelations hands down with Heir of Novron which shined a lot and to me personally is the one that put me on fantasy and showed me that it doesn't need to be complicated or huge to be amazing a simple story with amazing characters

Hadrian and Royce are my homeboys with there banter and chemistry

Arista is the love of my life no seriously I love her and her growth is amazing and I'm happy about her ending

Myron is my cinnamon bun who must be protected yes Myron I know your a monk but still

Yeah lets face it I am never gonna stop talking about this series until the day I die so SUCK IT UP

So yeah that my answer hahaha

I'll second Bill's post on Kameron Hurley's Worldbreaker's Saga. The magic system is pretty cool and the parallel worlds are just, weirdly fantastic.

Kelsingra and the Rainwilds n Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings are also really cool.

Well shoot I responded to the wrong question. Okay. For today's question, my hidden gem would be The Lockwood and Co and. Bartimaeus series from Jonathan Stroud. This guy is overshadowed by Rick Riordan (like in the last two annual goodreads awards) but seriously guys, he is MUCH better in writing middle-grade fantasy. Not cheesy at all. Funny (Brit cheeky humour) and great, memorable (often grey) characters.

I'm going to go with The Icemark Chronicles by Stuart Hill. I read the first two books years ago and then finished the series a couple of summers ago. It's YA fantasy and just a lot of fun. But I don't feel like a lot of people know about them.

I'm pretty excited about today's topic. So many books to add to my list

C.P. wrote: "I'm going to go with The Icemark Chronicles by Stuart Hill. I read the first two books years ago and then finished the series a couple of summers ago. It's YA fantasy and just a lot of fun. But I d..."

That looks good. I'm adding it to my list. I feel like there was quite a bit of good YA fantasy written in the early 2000s.

Just fantasy or any genre?

I think you would really enjoy them, Tammie. I didn't ever finish the Pellinor books, might have to try those again.

Wolfwalker by Tara K Harper

I feel like most of the series I really love I've talked about so much that they really aren't hidden gems.

I'll throw two I haven't brought up in a bit.

An Ember in the Ashes is going to be four books with two currently published. It's listed as YA but there's some real dark moments and the characters are written with a believable compassion.

Empire of Storms Hope and Red has a really gritty feel to it. I wouldn't give it a grim-dark silo but you feel like you're in with the dregs of society.

Any genre will do Samir

Riyria, hands down.

Ruckley's - Godless World underappreciated.

Think this is more fantasy than horror and is an epic book. I can remember reading this on my 1st kindle and reading for like 2 hours and it going up by 1%. Imajica by Clive Barker

Margret wrote: "Any genre will do Samir"

In that case, City of Thieves. This book rekindled my love for reading.

Dragon Weather by Lawrence Watt-Evans. And The Heart of Myrial by Maggie Furey. I'm due for a major reread of both because I remember nothing other than how amazing they were lol. The Thief's Gamble would be a third. So many good books!

Frank wrote: "Ruckley's - Godless World underappreciated."

I got Winterbirth on my shelf :) So due to your recommendation I might start this earlier.