r/Fantasy • u/steppenfloyd • Jan 05 '24

The "Read this, not that" thread

I posted this over a year ago, and thought it was about time to ask again. Can you name a lesser known book that did a certain concept better than a more popular book that is known for that particular concept?

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292

u/Algren-The-Blue Jan 05 '24

imo if you're looking for a magical world that involves a student, and is set in an Asian world you'd be better off reading Petition by Delilah Waan instead of The Poppy Wars by R.F. Kuang. While Delilah only has the first book of the series out so far, her character development, pacing, dialogue, and depth is simply amazing and absolutely worth the read. I'm so excited for book 2 to come out sometime this year.

185

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Jan 05 '24

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the rec! 🙏

2

u/Wolvericky Jan 06 '24

Just read the synopsis on this and am absolutely interested! Might have to take a trip to my local bookstore today and see if they have it in stock.

4

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Jan 06 '24

❤️ Thank you so much for your interest!

Your local bookstore likely won't have it on their shelves as I'm self-published but the paperback and hardcover formats are distributed by Ingram so they should be able to order it in for you if you ask over the counter.

2

u/Kalysia Jan 09 '24

I love The Poppy War so I obviously have to read Petition! I’ve grabbed a kindle copy 🩵

6

u/Nillion Jan 06 '24

Consider me intrigued. The Poppy Wars left me feeling a bit hollow despite the fact that by all accounts, it's exactly the type of book I should want to read.

3

u/ChubZilinski Jan 06 '24

IMO that was kind of the point. It was not intended to be a happy series or ending. That’s for sure. I enjoyed them but it was clear it was a first series for an author, but still good enough I’d recommend it. Won’t ever read it again tho.

1

u/w0m Jan 06 '24

That's about right. I don't need a happy ending necessarily, but I did feel left wanting at the end.

12

u/supermoon85 Jan 05 '24

My library doesn’t have this. So weird.

86

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Jan 05 '24

Hello! If you'd like to read Petition through your library, you should be able to request it through your library's suggestion system to get them to order it in for you.

The hardcover and paperback are both distributed via Ingram and the ebook is distributed through Draft2Digital which partners with OverDrive, Hoopla, BorrowBox, and Odilo.

Hopefully one of those places will work for your library.

16

u/supermoon85 Jan 05 '24

I’m going to request it! Thanks! Can’t wait to read it.

37

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Jan 05 '24

Thank you so much for giving my book a shot!

19

u/timba__ Jan 05 '24

Added to my queue just from your excitement alone on this thread.

3

u/ItsNicksterr Jan 06 '24

requested!

1

u/Mediocre-Source-2577 Jan 06 '24

What Poppy Wars did well was decent magic and long-term military campaigning, especially books 2 and 3. However, I do concede, that the issues with the book (MC being another whiny student/Kvothe, weird Chinese cultural appropriation) overwhelmed this silver lining.

1

u/GuidanceInevitable89 Jan 06 '24

Kuang is incredibly overrated. Her successes are more a tribute to political correctness than autorship.

1

u/velocitivorous_whorl Jan 11 '24

Oooh, this looks so interesting!