thing i hate about browsing the adult fantasy section though is… I can’t gauge how much swearing, violence, and sex there’s gonna be in any book I just happen to pick up. like, it’s a nice day and I happen to be passing this book store of course I have to go in but I end up standing in the corner for 40 minutes trying to do in-depth research on one book I just grabbed because of its cover
whereas if I grab a pretty YA book off the shelf (regardless of whether I end up liking it or not) I’ll at least feel some security in the fact that it’s intended for a younger audience and therefore will not contain explicit sex scenes (unless it’s by someone who will not be named)
anyway what I really want is a MG level fantasy but with adults. any recommendations?
i sent you an ask but—i just remembered more so, here’s a list? (+ the ones i sent in the ask just in case tumblr ate it)
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle — very fairytale like & dreamy. no sex scenes & only mild violence. i don’t think it’s technically middle grade tho! Centers on the last unicorn trying to find out what happened to the other unicorns. + also an older / middle-aged lady who always wanted to meet a unicorn but never did; a somewhat bumbling magician still trying to master his power; & a prince who grows into being a hero.
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynn Jones — an anon already recommended this one to you so i won’t go deep into it! but much like the above it’s got a very fairytale like & dreamy tone 🙂
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip — fairytale like & dreamy as well! also includes lots of mythical creatures + an adoptive son / mother duo.
- Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip — a collection of short stories, all very fairytale like and dreamy. some are set in a fantasy world, some are modern but w/ fantasy elements.
- Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede — so… i don’t think that the first two books are centered on adults? though the princess is of marrying age, so… maybe? idk. anyway, each book follows a different character. i’ve read the first two! they’re very light-hearted & I believe actually middle grade novels. the first involves a princess deliberately being taken in by a dragon because she’s tired of being told her interests are unprincesslike.
- Discworld by Terry Pratchett — ive read all of the Tiffany Aching books & half of the Night Watch! you may have already read them since they’re recc’ed everywhere, but i thought i would add it anyway!
Okay, that’s a mood so
- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik NA, not MG, but no sex, none or minimal swearing, and only two violent scenes. It’s so good. It’s a loose retelling of Rumplestiltskin with a protagonist Jewish moneylender, a king of ice, a fire demon, and magic mirrors.
- The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (They’re more like teenagers but they’re of marrying age? Well, Isi is.) Everything Shannon Hale writes is so good, but this is my favorite. It’s a retelling of The Goose Girl (obviously) with a cool magic system and very fun characters.
- Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (I read this in translation so I don’t know about swearing but the violence is Avengers, Iron Man 3 type, not CA:CW type) Nathaniel is young at the beginning of the series, but he is forced to grow up quickly. Bartimaeus, the amazing narrator, is a thousands year old djinn. It’s told through a humorous voice but it explores very serious (political) things and it isn’t afraid to hurt you when it comes down to it.
- The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker This is adult but no swearing, no violence, no sex. I always forget this is a romance book because that isn’t the part I’m interested in but it is. It follows Chava, a newly made golem in the New World, who is doing her best to blend in, and Ahmad, a jinni finally released of his imprisonment in turn-of-the-century NYC.
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Another adult book. You have to have patience for this one, but in my opinion it’s worth it. Two magicians raise children to fight in a competition without telling them what they are planning for them to do. The competition is played out through magical rooms in a circus.
- An Earthly Knight by Janet McNaughton Another retelling, this time of Tam Lin and Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. I really wasn’t sure about when I first went in but I ended up loving it.
- The Obsidian Mountain trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic-or did they find him? Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City’s dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic-and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side. A little heavy on the war to my taste, but not explicit in violence except in the last book whenever there’s a scene with the Demon Queen (which you can skip).
- And last but not least, another retelling, East by Edith Pattou. A wonderful retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It’s been a long while since I read this but there are still scenes which stand out in my head. It’s a little slow, but worth every second, in my opinion.
Besides all this, I very much second Howl’s Moving Castle and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles!