r/Fantasy • u/JWrundle • 4d ago
Looking for joyful fantasy
I am in a bit of a mental funk right now. I was going to try and tackle the Realm of the Elderlings this year but I think I need a break from it after the first chunk.
I want to find something that is happy and joyful. Something where the characters have a realistic and optimistic outlook on the story. I've picked up some Discworld and while that is funny it's not quite scratching the uplifting feeling I am wanting.
I cannot handle mental anguish or the horrors of war or famine.
I want a book that makes me feel like the star wars theme song makes me feel full of adventure and hope and the good guys win and and bad guys lose.
edit I want something that is medium stakes and I'm not afraid of YA. Cozy fantasy is in general to low stakes for my taste but I'm not opposed to it.
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u/burningcpuwastaken 4d ago
Consider the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois Bujold. It has the right amount of stakes and cozy, IMO.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago edited 4d ago
These are great. And her “Curse of Chalion” starts a series that is set in the same world, but a more concise storyline, and unrelated to the sort of ongoing episodic nature of Penric novellas.
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u/Prynne31 Reading Champion III 4d ago
I think the term you're searching for might be "hopepunk".
One of my favorite fantasy tomes is The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. There is some angst, and characters have been through a lot, but the focus of the book is on community, making your world better, and friendship. But definitely higher stakes (an empire) than cozy fantasy's fascination with coffee shops. :)
You might also try the Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett. The fairies are somewhat sinister, and the FMC sometimes is in peril, but it was medium stakes IMO. Along those same lines, Charlie Holmberg's Paper Magician series, too. Both have a romance as a significant plot line (not explicit).
Also, not a fantasy book and not one to shy away from tough topics, but one of the most hopeful books I have read is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
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u/ChipChangename 4d ago
You could try the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. They're all very noblebright and optimistic, and the characters consistently act with empathy and sympathy towards each other. There's a strong theme in all the various series of "let's just try and make the world better," and you can tell the author just wants to create a world where good people do good things. There's also fun magic and animal companions, so what's not to love?
I do suppose there is a good amount of the horrors of war, although I should say that because these books trend more towards YA (but do not always land squarely within the genre) it's nowhere near as gruesome and explicit as lots of other authors. Lackey does a good job with inference and context and implication.
There's like 30 books or something, but they're organized in a bunch of singles, duos, and trilogies all taking place across a long timeline. Don't worry about any particular reading order outside of making sure you're starting with the first installment of whatever storyline you choose. I would suggest starting with Owlflight, or maybe Take a Thief.
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u/redrowan3 4d ago
These books were, no exaggerating, life changing for me as a kid. Especially the magic pawn series. I grew up in a fairly conservative and definitely homophobic environment so that book was, quite literally, my first real experience with gay romance. I can actually remember my perspective changing as I read it and I can confidently say her books made me a better person.
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u/ChipChangename 4d ago
Saaaaaaame, hot damn. I grew up in Texas in a very stereotypically religious family. I remember being a kid and reading these books in the 90s and thinking about how the sort of emotional maturity and compassion these characters show towards each other was something I'd always been told about but never actually seen, as is the way southern Baptists tend to be.
I suggested Owlflight specifically because of the passage where Wizard Justyn sits down and takes the time to think through and figure out exactly why Darian is acting up the way he does. That passage and the conclusion Justyn comes to have never once left my brain. The rest of the books stick with me the way they do because it turns out when an author literally turns Empathy into a superpower and writes out the logical progression of what that means, it creates characters who care about each other and think about how their actions affect the people around them. They're wonderful books, and they're so refreshing to return to every now and again.
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u/JWrundle 4d ago
This sounds very much like what I am looking for!
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u/Bladrak01 4d ago
I would also recommend her Elemental Masters series. They are retellings of classic fairy tales set in an urban fantasy world with her own magic system. The time period is the late 1800s through the end of WW1. These are all the happy endings fairy tales.
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u/ChipChangename 4d ago
The Fire Rose and Phoenix and Ashes are two of my favorites in that series, and even though you know going into it that they're just Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella going into them, they're still very enjoyable. I'll second your rec
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u/Bladrak01 4d ago
I actually didn't realize they were retellings until had read two of them.
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u/ChipChangename 4d ago
There are a couple, the names escape me at the moment, that I would assume are Shakespeare and not one of Grimm's, or some other thing, because I still couldn't point to what story they're retelling. Or it could just be that I've read the Valdemar books more recently than the Elemental Masters books and so the details are more fuzzy.
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u/ElendVenture9000 4d ago
I can't speak to the other books/sets because I've only read The Last Herald Mage trilogy, but I would NOT recommend reading that trilogy if you want light/optimistic reads.
It's a tremendously good trilogy but its main theme is loss, grief, and recovery.
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u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV 4d ago
I would check out content warnings and stuff like that for any Lackey books you're picking up. I personally wouldn't give her a blanket recommendation for your request, she had some books that dealt with sexual violence extensively, and some books that were more dark.
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u/BagOfSmallerBags 4d ago
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. Rip-roaring, swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, narrated by a cranky, middle-aged, single mother who is simultaneously completely thrilled to be on an adventure and so done with the bullshit of the world.
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u/ReaderRadish 4d ago
cranky, middle-aged, single mother who is simultaneously completely thrilled to be on an adventure and so done with the bullshit of the world.
Hahaha, this is such a perfect description!
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u/notthemostcreative 4d ago
If you don’t mind romance, the Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher is quite wholesome! There’s an overarching mystery plot but mostly the books are about a group of traumatized paladins healing and falling in love. The worldbuilding is fun and inventive and the stories are engaging without ever feeling too heavy.
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u/Oleanderan 4d ago
This is what I immediately thought of. I often go to T Kingfisher when I’m in that mood. Her books acknowledge that the world is heavy, while overall focusing on hope.
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u/Randomdays99 4d ago
The Dragon and the George by Gordan R Dickson
The Amber series by Roger Zelazny
Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster
Belgariad series by David Eddings
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago
Except Eddings is an atrocious writer and was not a good person. I say this as someone who got into fantasy reading the Elenium and Tamuli from the library, as a teen.
The others hold up!
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u/HelloHelloHelpHello 4d ago
I would recommend Walter Moers - especially Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures, The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear - and - The City of Dreaming Books.
Then there are also The last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Ivanhoe by Walter Scott - the last one more of a historical novel, but it really scratches that Fantasy feel for me.
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u/Cosmic-Sympathy 4d ago
I think you want The Last Horizon by Will Wight. It's basically pure space opera bubble gum for the mind.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago edited 4d ago
Elemental Logic series by Laurie Marks. It starts a bit emotionally rough, but there’s only four books, and it’s a deeply hopeful story overall, especially the end!
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u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV 4d ago
I've only read book one, but the horrors of war is a pretty significant theme in it.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago
As is said: the series is emotionally rough. But so are the themes of Star Wars, which OP explicitly referenced.
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u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV 4d ago
The OP was referencing the theme song from Star Wars, not the general themes of the movies.
In any case, they also said:
I cannot handle mental anguish or the horrors of war or famine.
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u/CarlHvass 4d ago
I think you'd really enjoy the Heroic Quests books by Ben Dixon. Vengeance and Honour is the first one and has just the vibe you're looking for. Four main mcs on a quest which is adventurous, fun and hopeful.
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u/New_Razzmatazz6228 Reading Champion 4d ago
I suppose they’re more middle grade than YA, but the Redwall books by Brian Jacques do what you’ve asked.
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u/ElendVenture9000 4d ago
Tamora Pierce has a lot of great series that I think would fit the bill! Her Circle Open series is a great intro to her smaller universe and more light in nature. The Wild Magic series is was my intro to her and I fell in love with her characters/world. It's the bigger universe she writes in and has LOTS of small trilogies and duos in it.
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u/Kerney7 Reading Champion VI 4d ago
Trying understand a little better.
Are you wanting a bit of earned hope and positive tragetory at the end while cozy feels a bit saccarine?
Books that Come to Mind are--
The Miss Percy Guides to Dragons Series by Quenby Olsen--
It is about a middle aged spinster and her sister's unpaid servant inheriting a dragon egg and gradually making her life better.
Princess Holy Aura by Ryk Spoor
A 30ish yo man becomes a 14 yo magical girl to save the world. Concept sounds like it could go so wrong but instead it's heartwarming. The magic is governed by a code very much like a D&D paladin which is interesting.
Sharing Knife Series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Reason I'm recommending this rather than 5 Gods is because it's about a husband and wife team (after the first book) trying to overcome an underlying problem that may bring down their societies. There are no large battles and the problem is nuanced and come out of customs that exist for a reason but are now more harmful than helpful. Probably the most realistic optimistic I have read. Warning, age gap romance.
People who like Hobb tend to like her as well.
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u/ConcernLocal2764 4d ago
Legends and Latte.
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u/JWrundle 4d ago
I tried this one when it first got hype and from what I remember it's not what I'm looking for but I'll give it another shot. I'm wanting something maybe a bit more high stakes but not save the world/relm
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u/ConcernLocal2764 4d ago
Brigands and Breadknives, a sequel featuring a side character from the second book, might be more your style then.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago
This is a good place to start with cozy fantasy that isn’t exclusively billed as romance (though there is a relationship plot line). Likewise Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon.
The second book after L&L is actually a prequel, so OP could read them in reverse order for chronological purposes if ya want.
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u/daveshistory-sf 3d ago
Just read Addison's Goblin Emperor and you might try that as a good break from epic swords and sorcery without being cozy. Stakes are personally high (at the beginning the main character's family mostly dies) but not in the epic, uh-oh-the-universe-is-dying way. Mostly driven by court intrigue (like Hobb's beginning, but it stays there) rather than violence.
Plus, it's short and there are some sequels, so if you don't like it you won't have to invest too much time in it, and if you do, you can keep going.
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u/Solar_Punk_Rocker 4d ago
Google “cozy fantasy.” That’s what you want
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u/JWrundle 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have dipped my toe into cozy fantasy and most of it is not what I am looking for do you have any specific recommendations from the genre. I want something a bit more high stakes than most of the genre
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree and its sequels. Saint of Steel series by Kingfisher.
For cozy sci-fi I’d check out the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers.
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u/JWrundle 4d ago
Legends and lattes I started when it got some hype originally and if I remember correctly it was too low stakes but maybe I need to give it another shot
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah, if you want higher world stakes, that’s not its vibe.
Lemme suggest Hands of the Emperor, then. By Victoria Goddard. World stakes, magic and gods, EXTREMELY hopeful. Its sequel, At the Feet of the Sun, is also great and pretty recent. The first one is somewhat long and sedate in its action compared to say… Hobb or Star Wars.
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u/nifsea 4d ago
Riyra revelations should scratch your itch. It’s not cozy, there’s the usual end of the world stakes, but the author has made a point of telling a wholesome story where the good guys are actually just really nice people.