Fantasy novels have a bad name. And it’s not unjustified, as most of them are terrible — full of unpronounceable names and randomly tossed in strangeness in an effort to feel ‘different’ and ‘other-worldly’. I’m currently reading a not-very-good fantasy that, not content with dishing out most of the standard fantasy stuff, seems to have lifted the majority of the story from Star Wars. And not the good three episodes either.
Let’s be positive though, I’m not going to name the book I’m reading. I’m going to recommend a set of good fantasy books that even fantasy-haters will love. I promise.
So go read The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. The first book, Sabriel, is a nice little story on it’s own. The other two, Lirael and Abhorsen, are really just one story split over two books. I’m not going to say too much about then but they prove that you can create likable characters in an interesting and believable fantasy world without the problems that plague some of the weightier fantasy novels.
And the second two have a talking dog in them. What’s not to love?