Fantasy Book Club discussion

First off, I'm new to Goodreads so I'm still building it and adding books etc. I'm new to this club so yay.

Anyway, how often do you guys read books in an Asian historical setting and has fantasy elements both native cultural and contemporary? Has anyone ever read books set in ancient/ medieval China, Japan, Korea, India, Indochina or some fantasy land that closely resembles any of those? I can only think of a tv series that has done that - Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Why does it seem like there aren't very many of those kinds of books in the mainstream?
So far, I've only found one new book that I've really enjoyed and I'm still waiting for the sequel. It's like an Asian LOTR or GoT.

Not sure what new book you found but three come right to mind
Under Heaven
River of Stars
and
The Grace of Kings

Peter wrote: "First off, I'm new to Goodreads so I'm still building it and adding books etc. I'm new to this club so yay.

Anyway, how often do you guys read books in an Asian historical setting and has fantasy ..."

These look fantastic! Thanks, I'll be sure to check them out. They're now on my to-read list.

I'd also highly, highly, highly recommend Elizabeth Bear's Eternal Sky trilogy, beginning with Range of Ghosts, although the setting is more influenced by Central Asia.

And if you read historical fiction (without any fantasy elements), then maybe some of Harold Lamb's adventure stories, like those collected in Wolf of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume One.

Peter wrote: "First off, I'm new to Goodreads so I'm still building it and adding books etc. I'm new to this club so yay.

Anyway, how often do you guys read books in an Asian historical setting and has fantasy ..."

I know of a couple series you could look into. First would be The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart. The first book in the series is called Bridge of Birds.

The second series is Moribito by Nahoko Uehashi. I think there are ten or so books in the original Japanese series, but as far as I know only two of them have been translated into English; Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness. The books are fairly self contained, though, so they can be enjoyed on their own.

I just recalled one more fantasy series set in an oriental world, the Tomoe Gozen books by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Tomoe Gozen was an actually historical figure in Japan, but these books are fantasized versions of her life. The first book in the series is The Disfavored Hero.

I'm really wanting to read Bridge of Birds and I seem to always have something else come up first. I'll probably make it a July read. You might try Dragon Sword and Wind Child, The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow, which is a series and Prince of Ayodhya. Also check out this list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

The classic fantasy example is the Empire trilogy, by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. First book: Daughter of the Empire.

They're set in a fantasy world loosely inspired by mediaeval Japan and Korea (which happens to be at war, via interdimensional portal, with a conventional european epic fantasy world). They're epic fantasies, but with a slightly different emphasis: they follow the progression of a teenage girl who becomes ruler of a minor noble house when the rest of her family is killed, and who has to use politics, trade agreements and spies to survive a vendetta against a more powerful house.

They're not great literature, but they're actually pretty good, and the setting really is effective, and does mostly feel genuinely alien.


More recently, Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, starting with A Shadow in Summer, was all the rage ten years ago but seems to have dropped into obscurity. It's apparently set in a vaguely south east asian culture. I haven't read it yet, though.

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As for why you don't see more: well, most authors of English-language fantasy are English speakers shaped by English and Western culture; likewise, most readers of English-language fantasy come from Western cultures. So there's not much supply and not much demand.

It's also a high-risk strategy for any non-Asian author to attempt: if you don't attempt an 'asian' culture, you're just an anonymous part of a general failure of the genre, but if you attempt an asian culture and get it "wrong", and come across as exoticising or patronising, then you're going to seriously piss people off and possibly jeopardise your career. And there's no way really to not get it 'wrong' in the eyes of at least some readers. I suspect Feist and Wurts wouldn't even think of writing Empire today.

I can't exactly comment on them myself, but there's the Tales of Otori series by Lian Hearn. Starts with Across the Nightingale Floor.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Let me also point out that many of the 182 books on this list are series. With this is mind there are literally hundreds of books to choose from. Enough, depending on the speed of your reading, to last years.

The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell

Ctgt wrote: "Not sure what new book you found but three come right to mind
Under Heaven
River of Stars
and
The Grace of Kings"

I recommend River of Stars too. An excellent book, got me hooked from the 1st page. I devoured it. I haven't read the 1st book in the series (this is the 2nd one) but I don't feel like I've missed something crucial to understand the sequel. It's a book for itself, so to say or it might be that Guy Gavriel Kay is just too good a writer :D

Lara, you are right: Guy Kay is a great writer and his books stand alone. Go read the first book (it's great) with the confidence nothing will be ruined by having read the first already!

I just read one, which I really enjoyed: The Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn. Apparently the entire series will be published this year so yay!

I also really enjoyed Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer. I'm a big fan of his writing