Jabotikaba’s Comments (group member since Oct 31, 2024)

Jabotikaba’s comments from the Scripted in Fantasy and Fiction group.

Reader wrote: "All of them sound really good and honestly will try to find either of them, in hope to find them all 🤞 Ty so much!"
You're welcome!
I bought Chimeras of Estmer and Midnight in Everwood on Amazon, and I think you can still find them there. As for Silver Hands, I can't quite recall which website I downloaded it from because it was a few years ago. I'm not sure if it's still available, but I hope so!
Here are the books:
Chimeras of Estmer
Midnight in Everwood
Silver Hands

My first favorite fantasy standalone is Chimeras of Estmer. It has a complex plot with several seemingly unconnected stories that gradually converge like streams flowing into a river. There are also many characters and points of view, as well as extensive world-building featuring many countries, cultures, and races.
This book is very well-written, with vivid descriptions, yet it is an easy read with many surprising plot twists.
There is also a bit of elegant madness. One of the main characters, for instance, spends roughly half of the story as a cat because a villain who murdered his teacher and stole his magic also transformed him into an animal. Magic in this book is like a wallet that a murderer can take from his victim, so this character must return to human form, find his teacher's killer, and retrieve his stolen magic. The book also features a sentient puddle of water that follows and spies on people, eventually falling in love with a human girl, a cunning pirate with a living ship, and many other strange creatures and characters.
Another excellent standalone is Midnight in Everwood. This fantasy retelling of The Nutcracker features a twenty-year-old protagonist living in Edwardian Britain instead of a child. While fleeing from a sorcerer, she finds herself in a world where it is always winter and a mad tyrant rules.
This story is a blend of fairy tale and dystopia, and I think the author has a really beautiful and unique writing style.
The third book I would like to recommend is Silver Hands. It's part horror, part historical fiction, and part fantasy. It's like the Shogun series, but it's about an English girl, not an English guy, who happens to be in Tokugawa-era Japan. On top of that, she's being stalked by a demon in human form who wants to marry her. It's not exactly our world, though, because there's a flying island called Laputa floating in the sky above Japan. So there is a bit of AU history in this book as well.
Also, it's a bit like the first book in the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy, where the main character also runs away from a dark enemy at first, but then finds the strength to turn around and face the enemy and take the fight.

Brittany wrote: "Hi everyone! looking to add more friends and connect. I’m a mood reader who mostly reads fantasy/romantasy. Will add you back if you add me ✨🤍"

added you

Adray wrote: "When the FMC hates her curls and has no idea how to/will never be bothered to learn to take care of them so at least 1/4 of the book is her reminding you how frizzy it is atm.

I first encountered..."
I have curly hair and I'm perfectly capable of straightening it. It's not rocket science.

I don't know if this is considered a trope, but I like fantasy books where humans and elves (or a similar fictional race) fight each other, as in The Witcher series.
Also, I like the Hidden Heir and the Reformed Villain tropes.

The Hanging City
White Stag
Greta and Goblin King

Meghan wrote: "When the main character is all powerful for no good reason at all😂 I like getting to see them become strong (even if they have power to start with) and getting that part of their development makes ..."

Totally agreed. The development of the characters is very important to the book.

P. Pherson wrote: "All of these traits that readers say they hate fall more to execution than a poor story choice. If executed well, you will find the diamonds in the ruff.

Jabotikaba wrote:
On the other hand, if so..."
To be honest, I think I was being ironic when I wrote that. In many books, characters often start acting as if they're on the spectrum when they're trying to communicate with their partners or friends, which seems a bit silly to me. That's precisely what I was implying.
There's actually a way to describe miscommunication between characters without turning them into part-time autists. They could simply hail from different cultures, races, or species. I think that's a good option for fantasy authors.

The Encyclopedia of Fairies by Emily Wilde!

I read these books and really enjoyed them, although I like the other two series (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn and Last King of Osten Ard) by the same author better.

𓆉 Elle 𓆉 wrote: "The Witcher series
Holly by Stephen King (amazing and grotesque at the same time! I have a review for it it you want to take a look at my profile lol)"

Two people have already recommended The Witcher here, including me.

Kathy wrote: "Jabotikaba wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Jabotikaba wrote: "I recommend The Witcher books too."

The witcher is a classic, I have read it but Insane Entities is different in a twisted way with subtle relig..."

These spiders sound really interesting. They are eusocial, like ants, and yet they can sometimes look like a monstrous mirror that scares people?
If you like twisted creatures, you'd be better off with Chimeras or Trollocs than Darks. Darks hunt humans and live underground because that is the nature of their species.
Chimeras and Trollocs have been twisted into monsters by their cruel creators, and it's definitely not nature that made them that way. But there is a clear difference between the two types of monster. Trollocs can reproduce naturally, and it is their distant ancestors who have been artificially turned into monsters. They have their own culture, albeit a very primitive one, and they play the same role in Robert Jordan's books as orcs do in Tolkien's.
Chimeras are much closer to Frankenstein's famous monster than to Tolkien's orcs. A mad alchemist lord makes them in his castle from parts of humans and animals, as well as pieces of broken things like weapons and farm implements, and they are apparently incapable of reproduction. They don't feel pain either. But the strangest thing is that chimeras, and especially spy animals, are quite funny. They mumble all the time, repeat the words of their creator and master, and often say inappropriate things. So chimeras are both creepy and funny.

Kathy wrote: "Jabotikaba wrote: "I recommend The Witcher books too."

The witcher is a classic, I have read it but Insane Entities is different in a twisted way with subtle religious controversy. Someone warned ..."
Perhaps you would like The Darwath Trilogy by Barbara Hambly. It describes monsters that look like living clumps of darkness. They live in the dark caves and tunnels and sometimes leave them to attack humans, bending them to their will, taking them underground, herding them like flocks and eating them one by one. When their human herds are exhausted, they come to the surface to find new humans for themselves.
In The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan describes Trollocs. A genetic cross between humans and animals, they are very stupid and aggressive. Their troops are usually led by Myrddraals, who are more like humans and much smarter. They can also use shadows to transport themselves anywhere. As well as Myrddraals and Trollocs, the Wheel of Time books also mention creatures that look like sirens, vampires and bats all at once. They lure people with song and then drink their blood, but I forget what they are called.
The chimeras described in Chimeras of Estmer by Heather Marsh are very similar to trollocs, but these creatures are made of humans, animals and various inanimate objects fused together by alchemy. One character even jokes about them, saying that a typical chimera is created when a blacksmith is fused together with his hammer and the horse he was trying to shoe. There are also small animals in the book that act as spies because they have parts of human brains in their heads and can talk. Unlike them, chimeras have usually had parts of their brains removed to make them stupid and obedient.
Maybe I'll remember more interesting monsters and write about them here.

I recommend The Witcher books too.

Murray wrote: "Miscommunication.. you mean to tell me you can ride dragons or fight giant beasts but you can’t CLARIFY or speak tf up?!?!🥴"
On the one hand, it looks strange and even silly. On the other hand, if some brave author created a fantasy character who had a mild form of autism, or at least Asperger's Syndrome, it would be quite possible and even refreshing to read.
Unfortunately, fantasy characters in many books obviously have communication problems, but there's no book that says they're autistic or anything like that.

Avery wrote: "Think of them as the Swiss Army knife of the fantasy world—multi-talented, versatile, and, unfortunately, about as exciting as watching paint dry..."
The phrase 'the Swiss Army Knife of fantasy world' is a really good one to describe these characters.

White Stag
Chimeras of Estmer
Twin Crowns
Royal Bastards
The Ill-Made Mute

Royal Bastards
Chimeras of Estmer
White Stag
The Dragonbone Chair
The Witchwood Crown
The Waterborn
Magic Under Glass

Mythago Wood
House of Salt and Sorrows

It's probably The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams. The author killed off my favourite character in his Osten Ard books quite brutally and very unexpectedly. But it's still a great book and I've been waiting for it to be published since 2022.
Chimeras of Estmer by Heather Marsh comes in second. This author seems to have read my mind and combined everything I love about the fantasy genre into one great book.
Third place goes to Goblins&Greatcoats by Travis Baldree, because it's a really cosy book