Recs, anyone?

[sky]

Hi, I'm new to the community :)

So I've just finished reading everything that's out so far of otterdance's amazing Nightrunner series, and having absolutely fallen in love with the characters and world (although I see from previous entries that not everyone agrees with me :D;; but to each their own, right?) I've been hoping to find something with a similar feel to it to tide me over until White Road comes out next year. I particularly enjoy the strong, lovable characters, the running-about-being-ninja-y and the political intrigue/high-society schmoozing aspects of the series; romance, slashy or otherwise, is a nice bonus but not the main attraction for me. Also, I find it hard to get into books where there's a lot of character death.

So does anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks in advance for giving it a moment of thought!

Comments

[asinter]

Oh, oh! Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint. It's got assassins and political intrigue, and admittedly less ninja-ing about, but it's brilliant anyway.

[foxfirefey]

Possibly maybe Robin Hobb's The Liveship Trader's series, if you haven't already? Her Assassin's Apprentice one might work, too, and be more ninja-y but I haven't read it yet so I couldn't say!

[esther_asphodel]

The Liaden books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are more science fiction than fantasy, but they mostly have a mix of those elements. The set consisting of Agent of Change, Carpe Diem, Plan B, and I Dare are more ninja-y. So are Crystal Solder and Crystal Dragon. The rest are more comedy of manners.

Or you could try The Death of the Necromancer or The Element of Fire by Martha Wells. The last one is up free at the author's website

[shanaqui]

Hmm. Ninja-y only in the sense that the main character trains to be an assassin, but I've adored Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy for a long time. The Liveships trilogy that someone else mentioned are... harder going than Farseers, and also, Farseers comes first, chronologically.

Also, if you don't mind BDSM sex, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series is amazing. Spies, strong characters (particularly female), political intrigue, high society, desperate gambits, lots of sex... the thing that deters some people is the slightly too perfect main heroine and her consort, the sex, and torture scenes. But I think they're worth it. It's an incredibly rich fantasy world, very carefully built up and the language is amazing. I've done proper reviews of all the books of the first two trilogies: if you're interested in hearing more I could point you at those on goodreads or dreamwidth.

[pyrofennec]

The Nightrunner books portray gay men that are, IMO, a teenage girl's vision of what gay men would be like: masturbatory aid, pretty, silly, and eternally young. If that--slash that appeals to the brain of pubescent fangirls--is what appeals to you, skip my rec.

If not, Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains is a much, much better and harsher take on a gay protagonist in fantasy. None of that prancing, emo, effeminate pretty-boy crap--it takes place in a culture where, if you're discovered to be gay, they'll impale you through the anus. There's no pussyfutting around the buttsex, no pussyfooting around the protagonist's gayness, no extensive idiotic whining about true love. Ringil doesn't give a shit about fashion, is a warrior among warriors, has a developing gut and ends up running a sword through two of his lovers. The writing isn't amazing and Morgan doesn't understand the concept of subtlety, but compared to Flewelling--who understands subtlety even less--he's excellent. Better yet, there's no godawful prophecy about saving the world and obviously evil psychopathic villains.

[sky]

Er... like I said, I did enjoy the books. ^^; I'm not really much of a debater, so I hope we can leave it at that. Thank you for the rec.