Genre Series Primer for Newbies and everyone

[plaidfroggie]

I looked over this thread and have to say that I am not really interested in reading any series.  I am more interested in checking out a few stand alone paranormal/urban fantasy books.  I have read some of the Mercedes Lackey books mentioned that qualify under this genre, I agree that she is rather off and on and have quit reading her books in general because of that fact though I did find that I liked her Romance series about the 500 Kingdoms(the two I actually read) much to my suprise.  I really liked learning about so many different cultural fairy tale type of creatures more than the romance aspect.

I would like to concentrate on shifters and witches than any other creatures.  I am not interested in anything by LKH.  I read some of her books when they first came out and frankly while I am not a prude by any means there is a line I didn't even know I had that she managed to cross in the sexual content she included.  I have to admit I didn't like Anne Rice, or at least I thought the vampire in Interview With a Vampire was too jaded and in my opinion whined too much so I didn't really get into her books.  I forget the title of the other book by Anne Rice I tried, but again it didn't really interest me very much.  I think it is primarily because I don't like vampires as much as many here seem to.

I am looking for a stand alone book where the hero/heroine does not end up sleeping with the Supernatural creatures.  I am going to check my local library for the Dresden Files, but I am not at all interested in investing money in a long series of books, I want one book resolution as I am sick of all the dedication a series takes.  I know my local library has the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, but am not even interested in them as a. vampires are not my primary interest and b. turns out she is sleeping with the undead.  I didn't even like that aspect of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved the series.  Definitely was not interested in Angel her vamp love interest.

Can anyone help me out?  I am sick of an author cashing in on one world series with sometimes dubious quality books added in an attempt to keep their name in the spotlight.  Sigh...I guess I am getting a bit jaded about what it takes to keep things going since I miss the stand alone King books that I grew up reading in high school.  No, he didn't create an entire universe, but he managed to scare the pants off of me many times and he did it without the romancing the undead or supernatural creatures aspect that I find to be kind of silly.   I don't mind romance where a character sticks to their own species, but I am finding the obsession lately with humans sleeping with vampires, werewolves and other supernatural beings to be a bit overblown.

[FaeryQueen]

I've recommended this book to someone before, but try Benighted by Kit Whitfield.  It's about werewolves, but they are the majority where plain humans are a small minority.   The humans are responsible for policing the werewolves on full moon nights.  As far as I know it's not part of a series.

You may want to look at Lilith Saintcrow's books.  The Dante Valentine series is only 5 books and the Kismet series only has two books so far.  Her books have some romance/relationship stuff, but tend to be more action packed.

[plaidfroggie]

Thank you very much FaeryQueen I will look into those books.  I know I am a little disappointed that so many of the books mentioned on so many of the genre boards are series these days.  I liked the fact that I never knew what kind of monster Stephen King was going to dream up next in his horror books, I miss that a great deal.  I truthfully feel that I basically got vamped out when I watched the Buffy the Vampire series because thought there were a variety of different demons and supernatural creatures there was a heavy vampire presence.

[Ryan_G]

I know this is for series but I will post five stand alone books that everyone should read.

Two are by Richard Mattheson

Hell House (Ghosts)

I Am Legend (Vampire)

The Haunting of Hill House (Ghost) by Shirley Jackson

Varney the Vampire, Or a Feast of Blood (Vampire)

Hell House 

I Am Legend 

The Haunting of Hill House 

Varney the Vampyre 

 

[Ryan_G]

Also I think a Satan (Satanism) Category could be added for stand along novels.  The three following are some of the best in this category.  All Three were made into good movies as well.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

The Sentinel by Jeffery Konvintz

The Exorcist by William Peter Blattly

I forgot on the previous post to also talk about two Whitely Streiber books

The Hunger (Vampire)

The Wolfen (Werewolfs)

Rosemary's Baby 

The Exorcist 

Message Edited by Ryan_G on 06-22-2009 10:59 PM

[VampAddict]

with the exception of lkh, you must read C.L. Wilson's Tairen Soul books.  (in my best obi wan voice) you must read the tairen soul series!  its the best fae books besides the aforementioned.

[morninglight67]

I think you're really looking more for horror than paranormal/supernatural.  Horror is going to scare the bejezus out of you, whereas urban fantasy (Buffy, Angel, Sookie, etc.) are adventures in the "real" world, but with magic added.

Not as scary as SK, but you might try some of Michael Crichton... his are definitely going to make you think and can give you heebee-geebee's at times.

[bengal77]

I'd like to add Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. I guess you would categorize it as a shifter book? But it also has vampire and fey elements.

I'd also recommend moving Karen Chance's Cassy Palmer series from ghost to witchy.

For ghosts I found Cassie Daniels' Pepper Matin Mystery to be an enjoyable, light hearted series.

[CleverTwenty]

 I absolutely love series, vampires, witches, shapeshifters etc.  I feel as if I have read all the ones that would keep me interested.  As much as I hate to admit I did enjoy a few YA. I also enjoyed Sookie Stackhouse series. There are so many others I have read. I wish I would have made a list of them. I have gone through the posts and read the few I thought I would enjoy, (which I did) Now I am at a stand still.  

   I am looking for a book (series) with a hero/heroine preferably with a little romance but it doesn't have to run the store line as I actually want a plot to the book besides them hitting the sack. Any help would be so kind!

[TiggerBear]

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CleverTwenty wrote:

 I absolutely love series, vampires, witches, shapeshifters etc.  I feel as if I have read all the ones that would keep me interested.  As much as I hate to admit I did enjoy a few YA. I also enjoyed Sookie Stackhouse series. There are so many others I have read. I wish I would have made a list of them. I have gone through the posts and read the few I thought I would enjoy, (which I did) Now I am at a stand still.  

   I am looking for a book (series) with a hero/heroine preferably with a little romance but it doesn't have to run the store line as I actually want a plot to the book besides them hitting the sack. Any help would be so kind!

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Kat Richardson - Greywalker seires

Which reminds me I need to update my master list. Stay tunned later in the week, I've got a few freaking wonderful authors to add in.

[paulgoatallen]

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TiggerBear wrote:

Kat Richardson - Greywalker seires

Which reminds me I need to update my master list. Stay tunned later in the week, I've got a few freaking wonderful authors to add in.

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Tig:

Excellent suggestion! Also, I'd throw in Adrian Phoenix's Maker's Song saga (A Rush of Wings and In the Blood).

Paul

[FireFly191]

LOVE the list. I have read several series on the list and they are exelent, and now i have some more books to read.

[RedCarver]

Thanks so much to everyone who keeps adding on!  I am a "complete freak" (my husband's words) when it comes to reading, and now I have even MORE books to look for!  Also just wanted to add to the Demons list the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter.  Very good, but if you don't like a lot of sexual content you might want to stray away from these.

[SciFiCanuck]

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plaidfroggie wrote:

I looked over this thread and have to say that I am not really interested in reading any series.  I am more interested in checking out a few stand alone paranormal/urban fantasy books.  I have read some of the Mercedes Lackey books mentioned that qualify under this genre, I agree that she is rather off and on and have quit reading her books in general because of that fact though I did find that I liked her Romance series about the 500 Kingdoms(the two I actually read) much to my suprise.  I really liked learning about so many different cultural fairy tale type of creatures more than the romance aspect.

I would like to concentrate on shifters and witches than any other creatures.  I am not interested in anything by LKH.  I read some of her books when they first came out and frankly while I am not a prude by any means there is a line I didn't even know I had that she managed to cross in the sexual content she included.  I have to admit I didn't like Anne Rice, or at least I thought the vampire in Interview With a Vampire was too jaded and in my opinion whined too much so I didn't really get into her books.  I forget the title of the other book by Anne Rice I tried, but again it didn't really interest me very much.  I think it is primarily because I don't like vampires as much as many here seem to.

I am looking for a stand alone book where the hero/heroine does not end up sleeping with the Supernatural creatures.  I am going to check my local library for the Dresden Files, but I am not at all interested in investing money in a long series of books, I want one book resolution as I am sick of all the dedication a series takes.  I know my local library has the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, but am not even interested in them as a. vampires are not my primary interest and b. turns out she is sleeping with the undead.  I didn't even like that aspect of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved the series.  Definitely was not interested in Angel her vamp love interest.

Can anyone help me out?  I am sick of an author cashing in on one world series with sometimes dubious quality books added in an attempt to keep their name in the spotlight.  Sigh...I guess I am getting a bit jaded about what it takes to keep things going since I miss the stand alone King books that I grew up reading in high school.  No, he didn't create an entire universe, but he managed to scare the pants off of me many times and he did it without the romancing the undead or supernatural creatures aspect that I find to be kind of silly.   I don't mind romance where a character sticks to their own species, but I am finding the obsession lately with humans sleeping with vampires, werewolves and other supernatural beings to be a bit overblown.

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Well I haven't been to this thread for a bit...it seems you might have a hard time finding something that isn't a series because I think most of them do turn into more than just one book.  I think these ones are stand alone, although I haven't read any of them yet...  But they are supposed to be good:

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

My daughter also caught a really good movie on Showtime or Movie Central...Let the Right One In.  It's actually a book that she says is pretty good.  The author is John Ajvide Lindqvist.  It's about a 200 year old vampire who is trapped in a child's body and she befriends a little "human" boy.

[TiggerBear]

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SciFiCanuck wrote:

Well I haven't been to this thread for a bit...it seems you might have a hard time finding something that isn't a series because I think most of them do turn into more than just one book.  I think these ones are stand alone, although I haven't read any of them yet...  But they are supposed to be good:

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

My daughter also caught a really good movie on Showtime or Movie Central...Let the Right One In.  It's actually a book that she says is pretty good.  The author is John Ajvide Lindqvist.  It's about a 200 year old vampire who is trapped in a child's body and she befriends a little "human" boy.

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Haven't read an Octavia E. Butler that wasn't a stand alone. She uses same theme, different characters a lot, but the books aren't connected.

[dalnewt]

Pladfroggie:

If you're still occasionally looking over this thread perhaps you could concentrate on older but still contemporary classic or award winning fantasies such as:

War for the Oaks 

A captivating fae/human story featuring a female musician who unwillingly becomes engaged in the war between the seelie and unseelie fae. 

Neverwhere 

An extremely entertaining journey through a hidden underground London.  

Perdido Street Station 

A dense and extraordinary steam-punk/horror fantasy involving a scientist who unwittingly unleashes monsters within a bizarre and teeming city (think Calcutta). (Note, it takes a couple of days of dedicated reading to finish this book.)

The Scar

A wonderful searborne fantasy with cinematic descriptions and an absorbing but lengthy plot. (Note, this book is a stand alone although it initially alludes to Perdido Street Station.)  (Also note it takes a couple of days of dedicated reading to finish this book.)

The Wolfman

I also loved this stand alone book. It's not a fantasy but it's really good fiction with a horror/mystery/thriller twist. The author died before this debut novel was published. 

I haven't read many steam-punk novels, but I think many are stand alone books. Both the following are on my wish list: 

The Women of Nell Gwynne's 

Boneshaker

[Purplebri]

One of the best books in this genre I have ever read is:

Gil's All Fright Diner 

My reading group finally caved in and got a book that I wanted to read, and I read it in one 4-hour sitting. This is a stand-alone, and well worth the read.

[paulgoatallen]

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Purplebri wrote:

One of the best books in this genre I have ever read is:

Gil's All Fright Diner 

My reading group finally caved in and got a book that I wanted to read, and I read it in one 4-hour sitting. This is a stand-alone, and well worth the read.

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Aw, man..... I almost read this one too a while back but didn't. Looks like I'll have to put it back on my to-read list....

Paul

[vampmama120704]

ok so im new to this book club thing and im so thrilled about it ! im gettting so much great advice but i want more im a book junkie it drives my husband insane he says i love my books more than him! hahaha not true but i do love my books and its to the point now that when i go to barnes and noble i will wander and just look and not find anything because im new to reading i just started a few months ago before than i hated it i dunno what was wrong with me but i guess u could say i came to my senses. lol so far my collection is made up of about 45 books mostly series which i like but i need more suggestions! SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!  I LOVE VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLFS!!! AND I CANT GET ENOUGH

[paulgoatallen]

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vampmama120704 wrote:

ok so im new to this book club thing and im so thrilled about it ! im gettting so much great advice but i want more im a book junkie it drives my husband insane he says i love my books more than him! hahaha not true but i do love my books and its to the point now that when i go to barnes and noble i will wander and just look and not find anything because im new to reading i just started a few months ago before than i hated it i dunno what was wrong with me but i guess u could say i came to my senses. lol so far my collection is made up of about 45 books mostly series which i like but i need more suggestions! SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!  I LOVE VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLFS!!! AND I CANT GET ENOUGH

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Well, geez, paranormal fantasy is overflowing with vamps and werewolves... I would suggest Adrian Phoenix's A Maker's song novels (A Rush of Wings, In the Blood and the forthcoming Beneath the Skin). It's got vampires, rock n' roll and is one of the coolest sagas out there. AND Adrian Phoenix will be visiting this forum in January to talk about Beneath the Skin – which just came out – so you can not only read a kick a$$ series but talk to the author too! 

Paul