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#mays book recs
brother-emperors · 3 months
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for enjoyers of rome and comics:
Les Aigles de Rome (The Eagles of Rome) by Enrico Marini is set in first century CE Rome and it’s a fucking visual and narrative delight. It’s like taking a bite of a delicious meal, the story arc and interpersonal character drama combined with the density of life in the backgrounds makes each page a fantastic time.
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Dead Romans by Fred Kennedy & Nick Marinkovich. Also set in the early Roman Empire! My feelings for this one are a little more complicated, but it there’s a sort of Hollywood movie appeal to the plot, and the illustrative work of the comic is stunning, a visual feast for the eyes and worth checking out for that alone.
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Cléopâtre, la reine fatale by Thierry Gloris & Joël Mouclier. Dramatic spectacle, drama, delicious visuals, and I'm kind of obsessed with the visual tone of it. The character interactions and snapshot glimpses into the interlocking relationships everyone has are honestly a high point for me with this one.
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mielmoreland · 3 months
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My greatest accomplishment of 2024 to date. Possibly the best thing I'll do all year.
("Assistant" is of course a loose general term for the relevant characters. And Csethiro is wonderful. But I'm queer, and AO3 understands my need for Csevet fic.)
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liliesbythewater · 1 year
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on icarus
The Secret History, Donna Tartt | "Goodbye", Bo Burnham | To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf | The Lament for Icarus, Herbert James Draper | "Pearl Diver", Mitski | "Climbing", Lucille Clifton (via @llovelymoonn) | The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath | detail from Through Cataclysm, Andreas Birath | In the Dreamhouse, Carmen Maria Machado | "Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart", Mitski | "A Burning Hill", Mitski
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moeblob · 9 months
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(it doesn't work)
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nellasbookplanet · 9 months
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Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition
A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!
I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.
(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)
Other book rec posts:
Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books
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For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.
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The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*
You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.
Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*
Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*
Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.
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NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*
This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.
The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly
1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!
The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*
Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).
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Peter Darling by Austin Chant*
Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.
A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman
Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.
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Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*
A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.
Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa
Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.
Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron
Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.
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The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!
The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck
Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*
Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.
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The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*
Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*
The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.
Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen
Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.
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The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones
1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.
Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton
1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.
Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke
German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.
Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool
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An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows
A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?
The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg
1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.
The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba
Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.
Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.
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blood-teeth · 1 month
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on the real, im trying to throw myself back into the IF/writing space because it really was the singular thing that had helped me heal the first time around.
im playing with the idea of another IF, and really just taking my time with it and letting myself not be so pressured by forcing myself to update or churn out chapter a ton - that’s where a lot of my angst came from with FTMB and when TMITAWH was an IF
also! I’ve been absent from the space long enough that im not sure im reading everything from my friends or if there’s been some really good stuff coming out lately.
If you have any recs, I’d love to read them!
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ssunshine-readss · 1 year
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I kinda forgot about tumblr but here is a cool book picture
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sbbarnes · 3 months
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Do you love a good friends to lovers story? What about a bi awakening? What about both? Check out my latest blog post for some thoughts on the trope as well as a reclist featuring bi awakenings as well as specifically acespec books in the genre!
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studentbyday · 5 months
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my 2024 reading list
(included are only the light reads, stuff i can read to wind down, stuff i can read with little to no context...i feel like i need to make a list of this or i will bog myself down with heavy stuff and never wind down 😂)
(i already started the dictionary of lost words. depending on my mood, i may or may not finish it in 2023.)
(in fact, if at any point it turns out i don't like a book or i'm not in the mood for it right then, i'm not gonna force myself to finish it bc my goal is for reading to be a fun, relaxing activity.)
(also might insert some unplanned reads like if i like before the coffee gets cold, i might wanna read its sequels, or i might wanna read more maisie dobbs, who knows? i'm keeping it flexible...)
ready to talk about the heavy nonfiction? 😬 (this is more like a hopeful list rather than "i will pressure myself to finish it at all costs or berate myself and feel disappointed for not meeting my goals" sort of thing which is a trap i tend to fall into...)
molecular biology: principles and practice (for my mol bio course ending this semester but the readings weren't required bc they contained lots of extra info 🤷🏻‍♀️)
bioinformatics algorithms vol. 1 & 2
music theory remixed
meditations by marcus aurelius (i need to understand the historical context first...)
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contracat25 · 1 year
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Alright as it is Trans Day of Visibility (Hi still not cis, still here etc.) and the final day of the extended Trans Rights Readathon I thought I would post about a few more of my favorite books by trans authors because hopefully everyone will be reading books by trans authors and about trans characters/topics all year round. Because to me this day is about supporting others in the community as much as anything else. The world is pretty on fire right now so if you can support a trans creator, artist, organization or friend today (and beyond) then do it!
So here are a bunch of shorter reads: books, graphic novels, novellas etc. I didn't really notice how many novellas I had been reading recently till making this list, but there is something about a wel- written short book that just really works for me. Also a lot of these just have really creative or lovely concepts and I am a sucker for those. Plus the characters in these are soooo good! Also a lot of these have lovely audiobooks or e-books, hence me not having a physical copy (yet). Many of these have trans characters as well, but not all of them. Though most have some form of queer rep because I don't read much that doesn't. I included muliple by some of the authors, including sequels because... I just really like them and couldn't pick just one. Most of these authors have other books that are also wonderful. And these are just a handful of examples, there are so many fabuluous books by and about people who are trans.
Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders
Peter Darling by Austin Chant
The Companion by EE Ottoman
The Barrow Will Send What It May by Margaret Killjoy
Taste of Marrow and River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Nimona by Nate Stevenson
Gender Queer by Mia Kobabe
The Seep by Chana Porter
Future Feelings by Joss Lake
Pet by Akwaeke Amezi
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
The Black Tides of Heaven; The Red Threads of Fortune; The Descent of Monsters; The Ascent to Godhood by Neon Yang
Finna and Defekt by Nino Cipri Coffee Boy and Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant
ID: Slide one has a stack of 10 books on a teal background. Slides two through four have a white background and four book covers and a boarder of books in the trans flag colors.
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Books of 2024: OFFENDED SENSIBILITIES by Alisa Ganieva.
Up next! This came in my subscription box last year, and I am ALWAYS down for Russian things.
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kyloreno-911 · 7 months
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Thaaanks for the tag Trish @absentviolet :)
Last song: Forgotten- The Plot In You 🔥🔥🔥
Last film: I believe it was Nightmare on Elm Street 2 ( my nerd has never seen any of them, he was very sheltered :P )
Currently reading: Wasn't a fan of the last book I was reading and haven't had any time to pick something else up. Any recs?
Currently watching: Our Flag Means Death! Just now getting into it, I love Frenchie SO much.
Current obsession: probably our flag means death, but obviously always Sleep Token. <3 <3 <3
I'm gonna tag : @soullessentity , @mmendez0124 , @murderofcrow , @tea-redacted-and-sitting, @secretheaveninhiding, @tangled-in-your-trance & anyone else who wants to do this
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morverenmaybewrites · 28 days
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One of your answers to an ask about Metahumans (specifically the black market potential of selling them) made me think of this book series called Market Of Monsters—
It’s about ‘supernatural’ people and the black market dealing that goes on surrounding these people. It’s a great read, one of the main characters is kinda like a version of Jason Todd, you (or others) may really enjoy it!
Oh, I believe I'm familiar with the webtoon, I didn't realize that it was a book series as well! Thank you for the rec, I'll definitely look into it!
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nostalgia-tblr · 1 month
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the marvel how-can-i-shoehorn-more-stuff-about-medieval-queens-into-this-fanfiction universe
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glassamphibians · 10 months
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nonfiction recs? love reading non fiction and i’m in a reading slump currently so maybe some inspiration will help
im sleeby so ur just getting covers all of these r science and nature writing except for monster she wrote which is history of literature ok love u xoxoxxoxox
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optimistpax · 2 months
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For comic recs:
Prowl (IDW1)
For Prowl
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
A murder mystery featuring an arrogant serial killer that is killing victims in alphabetical order sounds right up Prowl’s alley.
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For You
The Department of Truth vol. 1: The End of the World by James Tynion IV
If you’re a fan of Prowl I feel like you may also be a fan of this series about a shady government agency that’s job is to keep conspiracy theories from getting out of hand.
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