Now I've never been a big fantasy fan (shock, horror, I know) but I just didn't see the appeal. It was a whole genre that just left me feeling a little confused.
Magic? Fairies? Flying horses?
I wanted something a bit more realistic. A world of possibilities. Any possibility. Good or bad.
I want glimpses into the future, whether its grim and gritty or glorified and great and I want characters who were flawed and real and oh so human. Give me a world of spaceships and aliens and wormholes rather than worlds populated with elves and dragons and dwarves.
I have, of course, tried to get into fantasy. Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Raymond Feist, I've read them all at various stages with little success and when the Lord of the Rings movies came out it seemed like a good idea to try reading the books, after all so many people raved about how good they were. Perhaps if I read them, I too would finally understand the appeal of all things magical.
Sad to say I only managed to get half way through the first one before I tossed it across the room. I just didn't get it.
Then Game of Thrones came along.
This was fantasy?
Betrayal, bloodshed, murder and mayhem. How could I have not known about this. It was like Lord of the Rings meets the Sopranos with hefty dash of The Tudors and Spooks thrown in.
I was hooked.
This is a series that has it all. There's death and political intrigue and family feuds and well... more deaths. It's violent and sexual and raw and not for everyone, but for those who prefer their fantasy with a lot more grit and realism then this is a series for you.
In the world of Game of Thrones the magic takes second stage to the characters and what wonderful characters there are; from the sharp tongued dwarf to the bastard son who is torn between family and duty to the psychotic son of a fallen king, these are characters that you love to hate or just plain love. It is the characters that drive the story and for me that's a major part of it's appeal.
This is a world where good men can die from doing the honourable thing and bad guys can get ahead through lies and manipulation. It's about survival at all costs. As George R. R. Martin so aptly puts it.
"When you play a game of thrones you win or you die."
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin 
Once upon a time there was a kingdom and in this kingdom there was a king. One day this king asked his most loyal friend to be his right hand man. Now this man, who was torn between family and loyalty to his king, knew he could not refuse and so he agreed, if only to help his friend defend the kingdom from those who would take it from him.
Now like all good fairy tales one would think that everything would play out fairly straightforward but Game of Thrones is no fairytale. What happens next is a tale of deception, intrigue, torn apart loyalties, fighting families, sex, carnage and the pursuit of power. It's heady stuff.
Others in the series are:
Clash of Kings , A Storm of Swords , A Feast of Crows and A Dance With Dragons
Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton
Any book that starts off with an assassination attempt and the suicide of an emperor has got my attention.
Like Game of Thrones nothing is quite as it seems and there is treachery and secrets and a variety of characters all with their own agendas.
Continues on in City of Ruin and The Book of Transformations
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
Swordsman Mal is about to find out and it's a secret worth killing for...
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert Redick
The Chathrand is the last ship of her kind. Now, having survived countless battles and centuries of storms, it has gone missing.
Though at first this might sound like a nautical adventure it is in fact much more than this. This is a story of schemes and prophecies and mysterious artifacts all interwoven in the tale of the of Pazel a simple cabin boy who has a very unique ability.
Continues on in The Rat and the Ruling Sea and The River of Shadows
Tallow by Karen Brooks
When a simple candle maker has a bundle thrown to him in the dark of night he has no idea that it contains a child or that this child will grow up with the power to change the world, a power that others want...
Though aimed at teens this novel and its sequel has plenty in it that will appeal to adults also.
Continues on in Votive
Once upon a time there was a kingdom and in this kingdom there was a king. One day this king asked his most loyal friend to be his right hand man. Now this man, who was torn between family and loyalty to his king, knew he could not refuse and so he agreed, if only to help his friend defend the kingdom from those who would take it from him.
Now like all good fairy tales one would think that everything would play out fairly straightforward but Game of Thrones is no fairytale. What happens next is a tale of deception, intrigue, torn apart loyalties, fighting families, sex, carnage and the pursuit of power. It's heady stuff.
Others in the series are:
Clash of Kings , A Storm of Swords , A Feast of Crows and A Dance With Dragons
Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan NewtonAny book that starts off with an assassination attempt and the suicide of an emperor has got my attention.
Like Game of Thrones nothing is quite as it seems and there is treachery and secrets and a variety of characters all with their own agendas.
Continues on in City of Ruin and The Book of Transformations
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
Welcome to the world of Thomas Cale. It is hard and desolate and lonely. As a resident in The Sanctuary of the Redeemers his sole purpose in life is to uphold principles of the the One True Faith and serve without question.
When he witnesses an act that shaken's his belief in everything he has been taught he knows his only chance of survival is to leave and make his way to the city across the desert lands but the Redeemers do not let one of their own go without a fight.
Continues on in The Last Four Things
The Lies of Loche Lamora by Scott Lynch.
Described by some as Ocean's 11 set in a medieval fantasy realm this is the tale of Locke Lamora and his band of thieves.
Pulling of brilliant heists against even the best of the criminal underworld Locke has done well but there is someone in the shadows who has plans that may see Locke and his band face their toughest challenge yet - survival.
Continues on in Red Seas Under Red Skies
Alchemist of souls by Anne Lyle
Image an Elizabethan England where explorers have returned from the New World with an ambassador of a seemingly magical race, the skraylings. This is the world that this novel inhabits. How do the Tudors cope and what does it mean for the world they have always known and what exactly is the secret that the skraylings are hiding.
When he witnesses an act that shaken's his belief in everything he has been taught he knows his only chance of survival is to leave and make his way to the city across the desert lands but the Redeemers do not let one of their own go without a fight.
Continues on in The Last Four Things
The Lies of Loche Lamora by Scott Lynch.Described by some as Ocean's 11 set in a medieval fantasy realm this is the tale of Locke Lamora and his band of thieves.
Pulling of brilliant heists against even the best of the criminal underworld Locke has done well but there is someone in the shadows who has plans that may see Locke and his band face their toughest challenge yet - survival.
Continues on in Red Seas Under Red Skies
Alchemist of souls by Anne Lyle
Image an Elizabethan England where explorers have returned from the New World with an ambassador of a seemingly magical race, the skraylings. This is the world that this novel inhabits. How do the Tudors cope and what does it mean for the world they have always known and what exactly is the secret that the skraylings are hiding.
Swordsman Mal is about to find out and it's a secret worth killing for...
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert RedickThe Chathrand is the last ship of her kind. Now, having survived countless battles and centuries of storms, it has gone missing.
Though at first this might sound like a nautical adventure it is in fact much more than this. This is a story of schemes and prophecies and mysterious artifacts all interwoven in the tale of the of Pazel a simple cabin boy who has a very unique ability.
Continues on in The Rat and the Ruling Sea and The River of Shadows
Tallow by Karen Brooks
When a simple candle maker has a bundle thrown to him in the dark of night he has no idea that it contains a child or that this child will grow up with the power to change the world, a power that others want...
Though aimed at teens this novel and its sequel has plenty in it that will appeal to adults also.
Continues on in Votive
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