Novel recommendations (Non-Light Novel)
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Everyone here is a fan of light novels and like to read (I don't imagine anyone who frequents these forums does not like to read). I doubt most of you will be against reading something that isn't a LN and I know some of you do read non-LN or have in the past. So if you have any books you would like to reccomend, feel free to do so.
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When I am not in the mood to read a Light Novel I read books that were read to me as a child while at home or in elementary school, stuff like:
The Hallo-Wiener
Green Eggs and Ham
Cat in the hat
Horton hears a who
The true story of the three little pigs
The giving tree (I still tear up when I read this)
Goodnight Moon
The Polar ExpressI like reading these they fill me with nostalgia of a slower quieter time, some might say a better time...
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I am currently reading The Hobbit or also called There and back again (for the umpteenth time). The thing that is special about this copy I have is that is the first edition (a copy, not original as those are EXPENSIVE) that tells how it was originally written before LOTR was even a thing. The Hobbit is a fantastic book that you just do not get from the movies. This is a book I highly reccomend you read one chapter at a time, it is very episodic in the way it is written. Each chapter is basically it's own adventure.
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As mentioned above, ‘The Hobbit’, a book I’ve Read countless times. I find it (and LOTR) especially interesting as they first defined much of the ‘culture’ of fantasy novels as they are now known. In that same vein, the ‘Dying Earth’ setting in several of the novels by Jack Vance, inspired much of the ‘culture’ of Dungeons and Dragons. I recommend most anything by him.
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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is a classic mystery that a lot of Japanese mystery stories were inspired by. Specifically, Decagon House Murders and 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors.
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I'm rather fond of Brandon Sanderson's works. He does really well with magic systems, and he's an expert at the of "Oh crap, he was foreshadowing there!" feeling.
For Urban Fantasy, Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series is great. It's about a dude who is an officer in the London police who becomes, well, basically an apprentice wizard. Think: Harry Dresden as a black British Copper. He's got snark galore, and it's a great series.
Scifi, I'm rather fond of the old Sector General series by James White. It's a scifi series with a lot of characterization, and is about doctors in a space hospital. It's pretty cool.
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The Kingkiller Chronicles
All Witcher novels -
So I've mentioned before about The Chronicles of Narnia and how it basically got me into isekai in the first place, so there's that :P
For fans of fantasy like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, or various fantasy anime/LNs, I would recommend The Prydain Chronicles, a 5-novel series that I enjoyed a lot, with fun characters and a great story that almost feels like it could make for a good anime (the second book did inspire the Disney film The Black Cauldron but apparently it's not well-liked by the book's fans).
Other than that, there's Anne of Green Gables, which introduced me to slice-of-life stories before I knew what slice-of-life was, so I guess that series is responsible for my love of those types of stories...
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I would say there are three books that really shaped my youth and what I look for in a series.
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The Hobbit - I went into great detail before but this is THE book I always fall back to when I want a fun adventure story. I have not read any of J.R.R. Tolkien's other books like LOTR or the Silmarillion (I plan to eventually). I have watch the LOTR movies like most people and I still like the Hobbit (book, NOT the movies) more. It is really a great and fun adventure that LOTR just does not have.
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The Spiderwick Chronicles - this series really kicked off my love of supernatural stories witch stories like Monogatari series and The Ancient Magus Bride would later stimulate. There is a very specific kind of supernatural that I like; I like the part of nature kind and the personal kind. Like if someone goes missing it is probably some sort of spirit like a will-o'-the-wisp or also known as ignis fatuus.
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Hatchet - I think this story really cemented my love for smaller more personal stakes and conflicts. You don't need the world to be at stake, you just need the protagonist to be. The MC has to worry about getting food and he can't just go to the hospitable if he gets badly hurt or eats poisonous food. There is real stakes and real conflict in this book that could kill him in worst case or fatal in the best case if things go wrong.
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@drone205 Gary Paulsen and his books were among my favorites when I was younger. I no longer imagine that I would be up to the things that Brian goes through, but it still has massive nostalgia value for me, and I still think they're great books.
LOTR is also great, although I would argue Tolkien goes a bit nuts with the details.
I haven't read Spiderwick, I'll have to check the series out some time.
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My recommendations, based solely on how much I liked them:
- Moby Dick
- The Godfather (really, anything by Puzo)
- The Good Earth (kind of depressing, but it definitely had an impact on my thinking growing up)
Those three all left me a changed person, for better or worse.
As far as garbage-y reading goes, anything by Steven King or Dean Koontz is fun. LOTR and The Chronicles of Narnia are probably where I get most of my taste for fantasy I guess. I used to read most of Gary Paulsen's stuff too, which kind of led me to read White Fang and The Call of the Wild, which are pretty great.
I hadn't been reading too terrible much since high school, so most of my recommendations are from around that period of my life. I did a lot of gaming, watching shit, and drug use that took up my time during college and in recent years. Reading light novels has been great; it made me realize how much I missed reading and has been good for keeping my depression in check lately, so, yeah, thanks j-novel staff for putting out some great content!
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Well non light novels also have interactive novels. In that i had only played novels of choice of games llc and choices of games (are part of same company). These are fully text base choice base games (or novel. Whatever you call them) available on play store and app store (dont know about window). They release 2-4 game every month.
Out of there novel i liked-
1-Choices of robotes (my fav. Must try)
2-The great tournament (there 1st game played by me. Have mult ending. I never find an ending which exist and in that a person dont die :-(. (also its free)
3-The last wizard (isekai. But in this we dont know which spell we should learn when so it is somewhat luck base. Also its ending is hard. But it has light novel feel)
4-life of a wizard (but it is very easy.)
And many more.
But i had not played there many novel (only nearly 8-10 and they have soo many). So i would say at least check out there games description on play/app store.
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@sinnoaria said in Novel recommendations (Non-Light Novel):
Also, what if I hate reading and just like stories more than I hate reading. (I somewhat really do end up hating reading around Volume 4 of every JNC series that reaches that point. I've already sort of mentioned why elsewhere).
Easy, just buy books digitally and have text-to-speech, or just get audio-books when available. I also recommend to take breaks when reading (especially if reading digital and it hurts eyes), unless you are engrossed in what you are reading (I read like 3 LNs in a day once).
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People who want a fun fantasy isekai adventure with a flavour of Irish mythology and don't need the protagonist to be super OP might wish to try the Shadowmagic trilogy by John Lenahan. It is available on paperback, on Kindle and as a free podiobook. I listened to it as a podiobook and thought that the author did a great job with it.
In terms of Brandon Sanderson, the most light novel style stories of his that I've read are his Reckoners books and I'd definitely recommend them. His other books are also generally great.
Those interested in giving Discworld a try can read it in publication order from the beginning like I did,
just note that the first two books have a different style as it is more of a satire of the fantasy book tropes of the era.I think the author has recommended people start with the third book (Sourcery) because that is when the series finds the style, but I don't think that book is as fun as the first two.
You can also follow specific storylines within the world by starting with one of the starting books listed at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg/390px-Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg which interest you. The Death novels and the Watch novels are some one of my favourites.
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Some of my favorites are:
American Gods (Neil Gaiman, need I say more)
Neverwhere (See above)
Perdido Street Station (China Mieville, man this guy has a way with words, I would say this is a gender-bender for the kind of story it wants to be. He loves to mix different genres)
The Seven days of Peter Crumb (beware, not for the faint of heart, but it depicts really good the downward spiral of the MC)
K-PAX (the book by Gene Brewer which was the manuscript for a good movie, a guy gets send into a mental ward as he claims he is an Alien)
Childhoods End (a classic Sci-Fi which had a huge influence on Hideaki Anno from Neon Genesis Evangelion fame)
Dune (hey, why did no one mention this till now or did I simply not see it?)
His Dark Materials (As with K-PAX the first book was the inspiration for a movie, "The golden Compass". But man is/are the book/s a lot better)
Mainly all works from H.P. Lovecraft@pjthomas404 Oh I get you with Tolkien. Felt 8 Pages to describe the environment every new scene.
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This bunch will enjoy Wen Spencer esp the Tinker series
Pratchett is phenomenal
Jim Butcher (though I recommend starting the Dresden Files on book 3)
Lois McMaster Bujold
