Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic:

Top Ten Books I’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read X:

Well, if you’ve read this blog before you’ll probably realise I focus fairly strongly on fantasy with a sprinkling of sci-fi and a little horror, mystery and history.  So, for my ten choices this week I’m going for books from fantasy to give you an idea how you can read many different styles whilst getting your fantasy fix (let’s face it, I never miss a chance to bang on the fantasy drum).  This may seem like a bit of a cheat because I do have more than one example for each description but I do only have 10 descriptions!!

Fantasy:

1. Children: Something to read to your children (not too young though – particularly if they don’t like spiders!!): The Hobbit by JRTolkien
2. For the YA: I’m going to go with Harry Potter by JK Rowling, this is a series that a young person can get their teeth into and grow up with.  The series becomes progressively darker and the school setting means that a YA audience can easily relate.
3. If you want stories with a fairytale feeling: The Graveyard Book, Stardust, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – BUT not all of Gaiman’s work is a light read so be careful what you pick up!!  Or, Sarah Pinborough who recently wrote three short books that were fairytale retellings – Poison, Charm and Beauty.  They depict a different side to Disney’s princesses and although fairytale style are definitely adult books.
4. If you want alternative history: there are a few examples for this but, some are a bit deep if you’re new to fantasy and don’t want to move straight to epic – the major series that has turned people’s opinions on their head in terms of fantasy is the Game of Throne series by GRRMartin which is not so much alternative history but does have a mediaeval setting (that being said – this is fairly epic to say the least!). There is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. This is a very indepth venture set during Napoleonic times.  Alternatively, the series written by Jasper Kent  (The Danilov Quintet) which is an alternative Russian history with Vampires otherwise known as Vorodalak – starts in Napoleonic times and works up to early 1900s.  If you want an alternative Victorian history then a bit of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate might not go amiss – steampunk with a bit of spice.  Otherwise you could just opt for Bram Stoker’s Dracula which is a classic.
5. Light and whimsical, only bordering slightly on fantasy: I would suggest two authors for this – Joanne Harris (Chocolat, Coastliners or Blackberry Wine) or Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic, The River King. or The Museum of Extraordinary Things).
6. Grimdark – well, this is very popular in fantasy at the moment and maybe not for everyone.  However, I love Mark Lawrence’s Prince/King and Emperor of Thorns.  This series is dark and even more so because of the age of Jorg at the state of the story.  But, in spite of this Lawrence’s writing and plotting is second to none.  The vision he has for the whole series is nothing short of breathtaking.  If you want to try something a little lighter but set in the same world then ML has started a new trilogy starting with Prince of Fools – this is set in the same world as the Broken Empire (Thorn) books but has a different feel completely with two very enjoyable characters – I can’t deny that the ending gets a little bit more heavy BUT I think by then you’ll be totally invested in the main characters.
7. Military based, I recently read Django Wexler’s Thousand Names – this is alternative military, apparently known as ‘flintlock’ (thanks to Mogsy for letting me in on that secret!) which apparently means based during the musket era.  I really enjoyed this book, it is fairly in depth to be honest but for people who want to go easy on the fantasy element it’s very lightly done.  If you fancy something a little bit different then All You Need is KIll is very short, quick and enjoyable – set in the future with battles against aliens but the central character, who dies at the start of the story (that isn’t a spoiler) then comes back to relive the day over and over – groundhog style.
8. Something a bit more romantic: – The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  Involving a bit of jumping back and forward in time this is a good series (although I haven’t read all of them).  If you want something a bit more, ahem, spicy, then Karen Chance or Christine Feehan maybe (so I’m told…..!).
9. Detective based: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files – this is one of those series that has a world living in parallel to the everyday mundane world.  It involves a wizard called Harry who also acts as a private investigator and assists the police with ‘supernatural, cases.  A very entertaining series so far.
10. Classic:: I had to do it – I never miss an opportunity!  It would be rude not to mention Lord of the Rings by JRTolkien and this way I start and finish the piece with him.  However for other classic fantasy – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein – the list could very easily go on and then on some more!

Now, if you were going to dip your toe in the fantasy pond do you think you might be tempted by one of the above?????