PFS2012 Blogger Guest Post: Erica from The Book Cellar

Fantasy For New Readers to the Genre
I love fantasy. It is absolutely my favorite genre to read, whether it be adult, young adult, middle grade, or high, epic, or urban. I just love it all. When Asher asked me to guest post, I was so happy - as I love to talk fantasy whenever I get the chance. I couldn't decide on what to write about at first, then I decided I'd talk about some books I thought would be a perfect beginning for someone who hasn't read much fantasy in the past and wants to give the genre a chance.

Two books instantly jumped to my mind: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - both of these are high fantasy that are simply beyond brilliant. Brightly Woven is one of my all time favorites and I own way too many copies. It is a gorgeous story filled with lush writing. Shadow and Bone is very different from a lot of other fantasies - it is Tssarist Russia inspired fantasy, which is different from the many fantasies that are inspired by medieval England. It was something new and the book overall was so metaphorical and is just really an expertly told story.

Meandering into the middle grade area of fantasy, there are two that clearly need to be

read: The Echorium Sequence by Katherine Roberts and A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. The Echorium sequence is an awesome high fantasy trilogy that I have been rereading for years since I first discovered it when the first book came out in 2002 and I have since destroyed a few copies from all the rereading. A Tale Dark and Grimm is one of the best retellings I've ever read - a truly marvelous take on the tale of Hansel and Gretel.

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy is a historical fantasy that I never tire of rereading. With strong female characters and an enticing story, it is sure to be a favorite.

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is another long time favorite I have had. It is so incredibly long, which is awesome given the epic nature of the story. (Note, this is an adult series)

I also have to throw a few urban fantasy recommendations out -- they are some of my favorites: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton and the Mythos Academy series by Jennifer Estep. Angelfire is a truly original take on angels with epic battle scenes and Mythos Academy is a cool blend of all different mythology, mainly Norse though, which is so entertaining.

And last but not least, Happy Birthday Asher! Hope it's a fabulous one.

(Oh, and be sure to leave YOUR favorite fantasies in the comments, as I would love to discover some new ones!)

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Thank you, Erica! My birthday was an OVERWHELMING BLAST and I loved it! I'm so stoked about your recommendations because some I've read, which makes me even more thrilled since I know some are going to walk away from this post definitely intrigued enough to want to read them, and I myself didn't expect to garner a few awesome recommendations as well! Duuuude, this stuff - especially the MG stuff - looks legit and amazing :DD

I looove reading posts from Erica's blog, so I say go check out her
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I'm all antsy for some of these middle grade recommendations, since I'm utterly determined to read more of them this year! This is fabulous, thank you so much, Erica! And good luck with your production ;) Comment down below if you have to buy your breadcrumbs or if you're a tyrannical Russian tsar. Either is cool with me; I don't judge.