I want to read a book that

[mer]

...is without cynicism
...is wildly romantical without being romance-focused
...is entanglingly character-driven
...has characters with swords
...has mysterious religions
...is written with transparent prose so I don't have to fight my way through it going, "Wait, this is what I wanted, but it's not."
...has assassins. Good assassins.
...and gruff old men with hearts of gold
...and lost heirs in disguise
...and is basically all wish-fulfillment fantasy, all the time, but for girls who used to like unicorns but don't anymore
...and maybe there's a desert. And if there's no desert, there's a mountain fastness. And if there's no mountain fastness, there's a some other fancy, dominating landscape.

I want, basically, The Blue Sword again for the first time. Plus a little Seven Daughters for Seven Sons and a lot of Crown Duel, and maybe even a tiny bit of Dragonsong, with a dash of David Eddings and Mercedes Lackey (no really). And little tiny bit of I Capture the Castle, but only in the voice.

Anyone know where I can find that?

Comments

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Swordspoint? Wouldn't say Alec has a heart of gold, but...

ETA: oops, NOT Swordspoint! I meant to suggest The Privilege of the Sword.

Also, maybe Stevermer's A College of Magics. Or A Scholar of, whichever comes first.

[aj.livejournal.com]

Dunno if it nails all those buttons, but my current favorite fantasy book series is the Twelve Houses by Sharon Shinn. It starts with Mystic and Rider and just.. *heart glows* And it's so... female. Which is odd to say, but it IS. For real, I wish I could make more people read this series.

[amberdine.livejournal.com]

Well, I have a manuscript which (IMO) meets about 8-9 of those criteria if you want a copy. :P

And you're making me want to write another one like that...

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

::sigh:: If you ever find that bookshelf, let me know.

I have high hopes for Graceling, based on reviews, but haven't read it yet so can't guarantee satisfaction...

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Alas, no, but now I want it too.

[ckocher.livejournal.com]

Hmm... Anne Bishop's The Black Jewels books have most of that.

[dailypie.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series has a lot of those. As you probably know. If not, though, the first one's A GAME OF THRONES.

[colomon.livejournal.com]

College comes first. (Well, technically When the King Comes Home comes first.) It was also what I thought of right off the bat, though it misses on a couple of the points.

As your first suggestion, there's an awful lot of cynicism in the Kushner books, IMO, but they are absolutely terrific.

[colomon.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I have a copy of The Blue Sword around here somewhere that I've never gotten around to reading...

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I think there's a lot less in TPotS than in Swordspoint though - or maybe it's just that the MC herself is totally not cynical, even though there's just as much in the world around her.

[stephanieburgis.livejournal.com]

Well, this doesn't include every single element, but Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls does include a LOT of those elements...! And it's one of my favorite fantasy novels. 40-year-old woman goes off adventuring, meets true love, fights battles, learns how cool she is. Awesome!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

OK, you've convinced me. I've not read any Sharon Shinn before but I've ordered the first two.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Lois McMaster Bujold's Curse of Chalion - which precedes Paladin of Souls - is my favourite book of the last twenty years! Caz is such a wonderful, unassuming, unheroic-while-being-totally-heroic hero. In fact - it ticks most of the required boxes, so that would be my suggestion.
Cynicism - none - tick
Wildly romantical - oh yes - tick
Entanglingly character-driven - bloody hell, not half - tick
Swords - tick
Mysterious religions - five gods in fact - tick
Transparent prose - beautifully written - tick
Assassins - well there's dirty deeds and murders - tick
Gruff old men with hearts of gold - Caz almost qualifies himself, except he's not anywhere near as old as he seems to be at first - kinda tick
Lost heirs in disguise - Not exactly, but heirs in danger - kinda-tick
Wish-fulfillment fantasy - ticky ticky tick tick tick and tickety tick
Mountain fastness - just as ordered - tick

And now, fairmer, you're going to tell me you've read it already, aren't you?

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I'd say "without cynicism" knocks the Martin stuff right out of the running. *g*

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Well, the good news is that I own all the ones you've mentioned, so I don't even have to delay my gratification much.

I read Swordspoint about a hundred years ago... okay, I was thirteen. Do I need to re-read it and Fall of Kings to get Privilege of the Sword?

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I've read all of those! *wail* But you're pretty spot-on. Those pretty much hit most of what I listed above.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I can't recommend her YA series enough, starting with Truthteller's Tale.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I'll take it, if you're really not minding it be read. :)

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Hm....

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Nope. In fact, I read TPotS first.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

It does. Not that I don't love those books, but there's something else I'm looking for right now.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the first one, and I do intend to read more... but I think I can safely say those are not the books I'm looking for.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

That book saved my childhood.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I am. :) And I do love it. If I hadn't already read it, it would probably fit the bill. I have high hopes for Privilege of the Sword as listed above, though. And A College of Magics. And amberdine's unpublished MS.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

I could probably stand to re-read that series...