Thank you for including The Edan Trilogy in this video, Brian. It's safe to say that it's not very well known outside of our corner of BookTube, so I'm deeply grateful for your advocacy! A hidden gem for me is a series you already know about and are committed to reading next year: The Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts. I'm glad to see it beginning to get the recognition it so richly deserves.
Great picks! I have read the first 3-4 in the King's Dark Tiding and had a good time with them, I kinda forgot about the series... Rezkin might be a bit of a Gary Stu but I guess it works in the context of his background.
Another under the radar series is: David B. Coe's Winds of the Forelands. It is a five book completed series with great characters, lots of intrigue, surprising plot twists and great action.
My go-to hidden gem is the Tales of Durand trilogy by David Keck: In the Eye of Heaven, In a Time of Treason and King in Cobwebs. Weaves together an errant knight story with cosmic horror, and a some really good writing to boot!
I put Way of Edan on my list and I love Correia’s Forgotten Warrior series. My favorite quick-read popcorn cozy Sci-Fi is E M Foner’s Union Station series. Over 20 short books in the ongoing main series, several related series- I’m on my fourth re-reading from the beginning! It doesn’t get anywhere near (or even any?) love from online reviewers~
Awesome video, Brian! Lots of stuff in here I've been meaning to check out such as Kevin Hearne and some new ones I hadn't heard of like Kel Kade Belltube on 🔥 as always
Also- a series that has gotten some mainstream attention but I think are underrated/not talked about as much are the Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft. Starting with Senlin Ascends. Dystopian Steampunk vibe with a lot of mystery. Very unique books!
I'm up to book 9 of Verus and I gotta say I love it. It's compared a lot to Dresden for obvious reasons, and although I don't think the highs reach quite as high, I will say the lows also don't get as low. It's more serious, too, and extremely consistant all throughout the series. Definitly recommend it to anyone who enjoy urban fantasies or quick, fun reads.
Two big ones on my list are, of course, Edan, and the saga of the forgotten warrior. I know it’s not talked about much anymore but Brian Lee Durfee’s five warrior angels has been so good so far deep into book one. The first two are with audible plus I believe
Thank you for all the fantastic recommendations . Underrated and overlook writers really needs recommendations like this to get a push in their writing career which they dearly need
Very cool video! I've been wanting to read The Edan Trilogy and this makes me want to even more. But I absolutely want to read The King's Dark Tidings now.
First series I want to mention, the reason I found BookTube, is the Runelords series by David Farland. In case you don’t know, David Farland was an author and a professor and taught many authors who experienced success, most notably Brandon Sanderson. Runelords is an 8 book epic fantasy series with a hard magic system. I remember being blown away when I read it around 2007 but haven’t read any more. I would like to restart it. Another sleeper series is The Dwarves by Marcus Heitz. 5 book series with one spinoff novel. You can tell the first book is heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings. It takes you on a quest across a large map with a looming great evil. I’ve finished the first three books and it’s just a fun ride.
Thanks for the interesting recs. I have one of my own: The Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks. Six books that would be referred to today as portal fantasy beginning with Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold. Jonathan Koan has done a few videos on them. They are most definitely not the Tolkien derivative that the Shannara books get derided as.
You covered Outlaw so after that book it would be Deathstalker. Andrew Wizard is going to read it in the fall so…🤞 It is everything I wanted a Space Opera to be, a love letter to Star Wars, Dune and Star Trek with First Law humor. It could be called Kings of the Wyld in space. It was written in 1995! Probably the best year in fiction along with Lions & Warlord! That year also had Don Mattingly play in his only playoff game. Even though the Gwynne Bros. have shouted it out from the rooftops, I feel like I am the only one who has heard them, Boudica Dreaming the Eagle, Manda Scott is equal to Hobb, Wurts & GGK! After that, there is the Gael Song. The series takes off with book 2, book 1 is pure set up. I think every fantasy fan should be reading it. It has it all, including a villain that reminds me of Cersei Lannister. I read the Prydain Chronicles at 52 & it was so much fun. It does not feel like a junior series. It is more like Earthsea than Narnia.
Edan! ❤️Had a blast meeting the Good Professor during his visit to Scandinavia! Hope to get to the “Saga of the Forgotten Warrior” in the not to far future, as I plan to be a bit more freewheeling this Fall and Winter after a packed Sommer with finished the “Memory, Sorrow & Thorn” Trilogy, the “Prince of Nothing” Trilogy and the “Expanse” series this Summer! As for my own recommendations: Vaughn Roycroft’s “A Sundered Nation” (Selfpub Epic Fantasy: Think the Rohirrim from “LOTR” meets the themes of “Dune”!) Trilogy (the final book is planned this year) is WAY too little talked about! Same with Sean Poage’s “Arthurian Age” Trilogy (Selfpub Historical Fiction), perhaps the best researched historical take on a possible historical King Arthur and such sympathy to his characters! I also would like to shoutout my personal friend Alex A. Saloen’s «A Tide of Sacred Ice» (4 books out so far, 5th is in the works) series (Epic (Dark) Fantasy: The First Novel was a meant as a gift to a friend’s kid, inspired by «The Hobbit», «Narnia» & Norwegian Fairytales, and have since been more and more influenced by “Game of Thrones”, “The Three Musketeers”, “300” and “Malazan”!) Going a bit (read: way) further back, I would recommend Clark Ashton Smith’s “Zothique” Short Stories: Smith was one of the “big three” of Weird Tales, together with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft. He has easily the best prose of them (brutal and decadent!), he was a renowned poet even in his youth, and unlike his contemporaries, he lived long enough to become a mentor figure for the S&S writers of the 50s picking up from the trio! The stories (some S&S, some Horror) are set on a Bronze-Age Technologically and Magical Dying Earth millions of years in the Future. Can especially recommend “The Empire of Necromancers” and “The Dark Eidolon”! All available for free online on Gutenberg and on the official “Eldritch Dark” website! My final recommendation is Gustave Flaubert’s “Salaambo”, Historical Fiction set during a Mercenary Rebellion in Ancient Carthage: Think of it as the Grandpapy of S&S or a 200 page Malazan novel, with perhaps the OG Barbarian & Rogue Duo in the Mercenaries Matho the Libyan (physically strong but melancholily head over heels in love with the Carthaginian Princess-Priestess Salaambo) and Spendius (a master manipulator who would sell you his own mother!). Also available on Gutenberg!
Mac, I knew you'd be adding to TBR Mountain the minute I asked for recommendations! I'm adding them all in! You've got good taste as far as I can tell so far!
Good video Brian. Saga of The Forgotten Warrior was the first series I thought of when I saw the video title. Also FYI the eARC of book 5 Graveyard of Demons is available to purchase on Baen's website if you're so inclined
I love Alex Verus and Sandman Slim. The series I'm currently reading but never hear people talk about are Green Rider by Kristen Britain and Nightrunner by Lynn Flewelling.
I'm slowly trying to get through Sandman Slim from the library, it's a compelling story. Thanks for the great set of books to add to the long-term TBR.
Martin Miller, also writing as Martin Scott, The Lonely Werewolf Girl (the first two) are excellent examples of shifting the norm of werewolf stories (and very funny) and Thaxas is interesting spin on high fantasy.
A small sampling of lesser known stuff that I really like: Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper books. They're not much like anything else and they're brilliant if you don't need high energy. Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series. Excellent space opera. Same author's Paladin's Legacy series: Classic fantasy written very well. (People talk about her Deed of Paksenarion series a fair amount, but I like this one more.) Mercedes Lackey's Collegium Chronicles series: Set in Lackey's Valdemar world, which I like quite a bit, this one is a fine complete story that really doesn't need any of the other sub-series to read well. Drew Hayes's Super Powereds series: Progression superhero fiction with excellent plot and characterization. Compelling reads about sympathetic characters. Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series: Noir detective fantasy with fun characters and solid plots. Not as grimdark as the Black Company books. Absolutely anything by Lois McMaster Bujold: the Vorkosigan series is well known, but her Five Gods world series (there are two) are quite good and her Sharing Knife series is also excellent. On the series you mentioned: Iron Druid: I really liked the first few books, but then Hearne got political. Hint to authors: Politics never gains you readers, but it can definitely lose you readers. Alex Verus: I've read the first book and thought it was just OK. It felt like cut-rate Dresden to me, so it's likely to be quite a while before I visit it again. Saga of the Forgotten War: I like it (and many of Correia's other books) quite a bit. But Correia has some of the same problems as Hearne with politics, it's just a different batch of readers that he lost. When you get political in a non-political setting, you probably won't lose the people who agree with you (unless your politics get too obtrusive, see Neil Smith for an example). But political commentary only attracts readers of politics, not readers of fiction. It's never a winning move.
I swear I'm going to tell viewers to find Doug in the comments and read his recs :) You have such a broad range! I'm with you on the Hearne (and Correia) political stuff getting into the books. I commented on that on Goodreads on one of my Hearne reviews. I think you'll like Alex Verus as you get more into, whenever that is. Doug continues to add to TBR Mountain!
The hidden gems is where it's at!! The Alex Verus series has always piqued my interest as an alternative for Dresden, it sounds way more up my alley. And heck yes for showing our dear Dr. Fantasy some love!! I could send you an endless list of underhyped fantasy recs, but here are a few that I think will appeal particularly to your tastes: - Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron - Riven Earth by Zammar Ahmer - Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland - Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu - No Land for Heroes by Cal Black - Card Mage by Benedict Patrick - The Risen Kingdoms by Curtis Craddock - anything by Drew Hayes! Thanks for the recs, and enjoy! 🤩
Here's two classic hidden gems I never hear anything about, despite the notoriety of the authors: 1) Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, which has one of the most psychologically real female characters in fantasy I have ever encountered, certainly the one with the most gravitas (I wish Helen Mirren would do an audio version, especially since it's written in the first person; she's just the right age, too); 2) The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray; published in 1854, the voice, tone, and humor are up-to-date in the 21st century, and you can see Terry Pratchett as working in its tradition, as well as the old Bullwinkle cartoon guys behind "Fractured FairyTales." Either is not that long, with The Rose and the Ring being especially on the brief side. HIghest recommendations for both.
Great list, and I have several of these on my extremely nebulous TBR. Two hidden gems come immediately to mind: the Forever Desert trilogy by Moses Ose Utomi (all novellas of ~100 pages, last book is out next summer) and the Elemental Logic tetralogy by Laurie J Marks, which is complete.
I enjoyed "The Timeline Wars" by John Barnes. It's a trilogy series that I read many years ago that I remember fondly. I'm not sure of anything current that I would consider a hidden gem. One might be in the grand scheme, but most of the booktubers I watch and get reqs from talk about them.
Great video, Brian. You might have sold me on Iron Druid, admittedly as an Irish person myself I was somewhat put of because I'm unsure how much it leans into the "Irishness", I was concerned about stereotyping and the like. I've always been curious about Saga of the Forgotten Warrior but as another commenter said, I've not been impressed with how Correia conducts himself online. Never say never but its not a priority.
Verus is WILD. I finished them recently and holy crap, that's definitely a hidden gem. My whole channel is fantasy that Booktube isn't interested in, I have the channel stats to prove it 😂
I’ve not read any of those! Off to add to my lengthy book list….My recommendation is The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin. My favorite series ever! One day I’m gonna find someone who loves this series as much as I do and we’re gonna be friends lol. 🤪 I think it was Fox that tried to make a series out of them a few years ago and it was just crap. But the books…chef’s kiss.
@@BrianBell7 I am So Glad ! I love turning people on to this series. Garrett is like a Phillip Marlowe hardboiled detective set in a Fantasy world with all the assorted characters; elves , mages, etc. His mentor is a dead man that communicates with him and stays in his house and his best friend is a Dark Elf Assassin :) I really think you will like it !
The Iron Druid, Sandman Slim, and Alex Verus are fine series. But they all suffer from loss of focus and intensity as the series went along. Larry Correia is my current favorite author. Every one of his series are exactly what I am looking for in adventure/fantasy/magic. I am waiting for his promised return to the Hard Magic universe.
I had Larry Correia on my TBR, then I saw how aggressively he interacts with people on Twitter and I have no further interest in reading him. While everybody is free to speak or do as they want, personally I think social media has gone crazy downhill and is detrimental to a positive society, so I don't wish to support anyone contributing to a further polarized society. I can understand separating art from the artist, but I don't believe in financially supporting such artists. I do have Philip Chase's Edan trilogy on my Kindle waiting, I think I'll pick that one up soon.
I tend to agree with you regarding Larry. He goes literally out of his way to be divisive and difficult. I've been able to separate him from the books in my head, so that's why his series is on this list. But he's been going after our Governor pretty heavily over the last week regarding the burning of Minneapolis and the truth is, the Mayor of Minneapolis has to call the Governor for help. He can't just send in the Guard. It doesn't work like that here, but try telling that to Larry....
Okay, first time viewer - You spend two minutes talking up Edan... and never say what it is, other than a trilogy. --wait, you finally mention Epic two minutes later. What's it about? Hidden gem: Firebringers trilogy by Ryan Campbell
Cool, I will check out Firebringers. And you are right! I for sure could've done a better job offering the premise of The Edan Trilogy. It's written stylistically with heavy Tolkien influence but with more modern sensibilities from the cast. It's a softer magic system, but we follow our main character, Dayraven, who's gone through an event that no one else has survived from right away in book 1, and we follow his quest through the land to learn more about who he is becoming, what power has taken hold within him, and a religious war raging across the continent. It has tons of familiar epic fantasy elements but a lot of new ideas.
Thank you for including The Edan Trilogy in this video, Brian. It's safe to say that it's not very well known outside of our corner of BookTube, so I'm deeply grateful for your advocacy! A hidden gem for me is a series you already know about and are committed to reading next year: The Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts. I'm glad to see it beginning to get the recognition it so richly deserves.
My pleasure! I know people will love your trilogy. I'm very excited to get going on The Wars of Light and Shadow!
Philip, I'm going to start Janny next year too, I'm really looking forward to it!
@@unlimitedreads I hope you’ll get a lot from her writing!
The Alex Verus series is one of my favorites as well. Glad to see them included
Such a cool story. I'd like to see more in that world.
Great picks! I have read the first 3-4 in the King's Dark Tiding and had a good time with them, I kinda forgot about the series... Rezkin might be a bit of a Gary Stu but I guess it works in the context of his background.
Oh, he's for sure a gary stu, but like you said, for the story it works.
That's a cool intro, Brian Bell. Inconceivable! No, I said Ink and Sigel.
Loooove Kel Kade. My favorite set up for epic misunderstanding ever!!!
totally
Another under the radar series is: David B. Coe's Winds of the Forelands. It is a five book completed series with great characters, lots of intrigue, surprising plot twists and great action.
It's incredible how many great gems there are out there. I'll check out Coe now!
My go-to hidden gem is the Tales of Durand trilogy by David Keck: In the Eye of Heaven, In a Time of Treason and King in Cobwebs. Weaves together an errant knight story with cosmic horror, and a some really good writing to boot!
Interesting! My TBR continues to grow! Thank you!
I put Way of Edan on my list and I love Correia’s Forgotten Warrior series. My favorite quick-read popcorn cozy Sci-Fi is E M Foner’s Union Station series. Over 20 short books in the ongoing main series, several related series- I’m on my fourth re-reading from the beginning! It doesn’t get anywhere near (or even any?) love from online reviewers~
I’ve never heard of it. I will check it out though!
Awesome video, Brian! Lots of stuff in here I've been meaning to check out such as Kevin Hearne and some new ones I hadn't heard of like Kel Kade
Belltube on 🔥 as always
Super glad you liked it!! Both of those are really fun.
I love Iron Druid - glad to see Kevin Hearne getting some love. His Tale of Pell series is also great - fun parody on the classic fantasy tropes.
And such a great animal companion in Oberon!
Here from your video with John talking about heroes! Your video got my 7 month old to stop screaming so you’ve got yourself a sub🤣
Also- a series that has gotten some mainstream attention but I think are underrated/not talked about as much are the Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft. Starting with Senlin Ascends. Dystopian Steampunk vibe with a lot of mystery. Very unique books!
Welcome to the community! Senlin Ascends is certainly on my TBR! Glad to have you here!
Excellent job finding some truly hidden gems! I hadn’t heard of many of these. That Kel Kade series sounds interesting with the rules. 💎
Thanks, Johanna! I think you just might like it! Might be worth giving book 1 a try!
I actually picked some Kel Kade books on sale recently. Im excited to get to dive into those!
which ones did you grab?
Great list. I’ve just finished The Way of Edan and liked it so much that I moved straight on to The Prophet of Edan, which I’m also loving so far.
They just keep getting better!
As someone who used to frequent the Rula Bula, I Love those Kevin Hearne series!! Definitely not talked about enough in our Booktube corner!
Nice! I think I'll do more of these kinds of videos.
I'm up to book 9 of Verus and I gotta say I love it. It's compared a lot to Dresden for obvious reasons, and although I don't think the highs reach quite as high, I will say the lows also don't get as low. It's more serious, too, and extremely consistant all throughout the series. Definitly recommend it to anyone who enjoy urban fantasies or quick, fun reads.
Yep! You get it! I love it for the same reasons.
That iron druid sounds awesome. I'll have to check it out for sure
They read really quick and he has one of the best animal companions ever, in Oberon the wolfhound.
Two big ones on my list are, of course, Edan, and the saga of the forgotten warrior. I know it’s not talked about much anymore but Brian Lee Durfee’s five warrior angels has been so good so far deep into book one. The first two are with audible plus I believe
For sure. Our hero Durfee will be talked about plenty in some upcoming videos :)
A great video to start my day with
Thank you for all the fantastic recommendations . Underrated and overlook writers really needs recommendations like this to get a push in their writing career which they dearly need
It’s my pleasure and joy to share books that I love! Thank you!
Very cool video! I've been wanting to read The Edan Trilogy and this makes me want to even more. But I absolutely want to read The King's Dark Tidings now.
Both terrific series for sure! And thanks for the compliment!!
just found this channel and all these series are brand new to me. thanks for the recs!!
Welcome! Super happy to have you here!!
First series I want to mention, the reason I found BookTube, is the Runelords series by David Farland. In case you don’t know, David Farland was an author and a professor and taught many authors who experienced success, most notably Brandon Sanderson. Runelords is an 8 book epic fantasy series with a hard magic system. I remember being blown away when I read it around 2007 but haven’t read any more. I would like to restart it.
Another sleeper series is The Dwarves by Marcus Heitz. 5 book series with one spinoff novel. You can tell the first book is heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings. It takes you on a quest across a large map with a looming great evil. I’ve finished the first three books and it’s just a fun ride.
Cool. I'll add Runelords to my TBR. I know Andrew from Andrew's Wizardly Reads is a big fan of that series! Appreciate the recommendation!
I was pleased to see the Alex Verus series getting some love. Its a great exploration of a morally grey character.
I was sad to see the series end!
Thanks for the interesting recs. I have one of my own: The Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks. Six books that would be referred to today as portal fantasy beginning with Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold. Jonathan Koan has done a few videos on them. They are most definitely not the Tolkien derivative that the Shannara books get derided as.
Very cool! Thank you! I'll check them out.
You covered Outlaw so after that book it would be Deathstalker.
Andrew Wizard is going to read it in the fall so…🤞 It is everything I wanted a Space Opera to be, a love letter to Star Wars, Dune and Star Trek with First Law humor. It could be called Kings of the Wyld in space. It was written in 1995! Probably the best year in fiction along with Lions & Warlord! That year also had Don Mattingly play in his only playoff game.
Even though the Gwynne Bros. have shouted it out from the rooftops, I feel like I am the only one who has heard them, Boudica Dreaming the Eagle, Manda Scott is equal to Hobb, Wurts & GGK!
After that, there is the Gael Song. The series takes off with book 2, book 1 is pure set up. I think every fantasy fan should be reading it. It has it all, including a villain that reminds me of Cersei Lannister.
I read the Prydain Chronicles at 52 & it was so much fun. It does not feel like a junior series. It is more like Earthsea than Narnia.
Awesome, Heidi! I'll add Deathstalker to TBR Mountain and look up those other suggestions as well :)
I've read the Manda Scott series and it is very good.
Edan! ❤️Had a blast meeting the Good Professor during his visit to Scandinavia!
Hope to get to the “Saga of the Forgotten Warrior” in the not to far future, as I plan to be a bit more freewheeling this Fall and Winter after a packed Sommer with finished the “Memory, Sorrow & Thorn” Trilogy, the “Prince of Nothing” Trilogy and the “Expanse” series this Summer!
As for my own recommendations: Vaughn Roycroft’s “A Sundered Nation” (Selfpub Epic Fantasy: Think the Rohirrim from “LOTR” meets the themes of “Dune”!) Trilogy (the final book is planned this year) is WAY too little talked about! Same with Sean Poage’s “Arthurian Age” Trilogy (Selfpub Historical Fiction), perhaps the best researched historical take on a possible historical King Arthur and such sympathy to his characters!
I also would like to shoutout my personal friend Alex A. Saloen’s «A Tide of Sacred Ice» (4 books out so far, 5th is in the works) series (Epic (Dark) Fantasy: The First Novel was a meant as a gift to a friend’s kid, inspired by «The Hobbit», «Narnia» & Norwegian Fairytales, and have since been more and more influenced by “Game of Thrones”, “The Three Musketeers”, “300” and “Malazan”!)
Going a bit (read: way) further back, I would recommend Clark Ashton Smith’s “Zothique” Short Stories: Smith was one of the “big three” of Weird Tales, together with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft. He has easily the best prose of them (brutal and decadent!), he was a renowned poet even in his youth, and unlike his contemporaries, he lived long enough to become a mentor figure for the S&S writers of the 50s picking up from the trio! The stories (some S&S, some Horror) are set on a Bronze-Age Technologically and Magical Dying Earth millions of years in the Future. Can especially recommend “The Empire of Necromancers” and “The Dark Eidolon”! All available for free online on Gutenberg and on the official “Eldritch Dark” website!
My final recommendation is Gustave Flaubert’s “Salaambo”, Historical Fiction set during a Mercenary Rebellion in Ancient Carthage: Think of it as the Grandpapy of S&S or a 200 page Malazan novel, with perhaps the OG Barbarian & Rogue Duo in the Mercenaries Matho the Libyan (physically strong but melancholily head over heels in love with the Carthaginian Princess-Priestess Salaambo) and Spendius (a master manipulator who would sell you his own mother!). Also available on Gutenberg!
Mac, I knew you'd be adding to TBR Mountain the minute I asked for recommendations! I'm adding them all in! You've got good taste as far as I can tell so far!
Good video Brian. Saga of The Forgotten Warrior was the first series I thought of when I saw the video title. Also FYI the eARC of book 5 Graveyard of Demons is available to purchase on Baen's website if you're so inclined
Thanks, Brent! Don't tempt me to get book 5! I'm so buried under TBR Mountain! I'm excited for it for sure.
I love Alex Verus and Sandman Slim. The series I'm currently reading but never hear people talk about are Green Rider by Kristen Britain and Nightrunner by Lynn Flewelling.
Cool, I will check those both out!
Nicely put together. Food for thought. Best wishes.
Thanks so much!
I loved Sandman Slim! I still have my old copy I read years ago. 😊
Right?! The monster who kills monsters! If you haven't read them all, there are 12 books in the series and it's complete :)
Amazing List!!
Thanks Brother!
Great video Brian! Glad to see the Edan trilogy on here. Sandman Slim is on my list to read. Hopefully soon.
I hope you do, Chas! I think you'd dig it. Thank you for the kind compliment too!
I'm slowly trying to get through Sandman Slim from the library, it's a compelling story. Thanks for the great set of books to add to the long-term TBR.
Hope you enjoy it! Love when more friends get on the Stark hype train!
Loved Hounded so much I'm collecting the whole series
What a fantastic animal companion too!
Martin Miller, also writing as Martin Scott, The Lonely Werewolf Girl (the first two) are excellent examples of shifting the norm of werewolf stories (and very funny) and Thaxas is interesting spin on high fantasy.
I'll check them out. Have you read "Phased" by Tori Tecken? Excellent supernatural werewolf novel.
A small sampling of lesser known stuff that I really like:
Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper books. They're not much like anything else and they're brilliant if you don't need high energy.
Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series. Excellent space opera.
Same author's Paladin's Legacy series: Classic fantasy written very well. (People talk about her Deed of Paksenarion series a fair amount, but I like this one more.)
Mercedes Lackey's Collegium Chronicles series: Set in Lackey's Valdemar world, which I like quite a bit, this one is a fine complete story that really doesn't need any of the other sub-series to read well.
Drew Hayes's Super Powereds series: Progression superhero fiction with excellent plot and characterization. Compelling reads about sympathetic characters.
Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series: Noir detective fantasy with fun characters and solid plots. Not as grimdark as the Black Company books.
Absolutely anything by Lois McMaster Bujold: the Vorkosigan series is well known, but her Five Gods world series (there are two) are quite good and her Sharing Knife series is also excellent.
On the series you mentioned:
Iron Druid: I really liked the first few books, but then Hearne got political. Hint to authors: Politics never gains you readers, but it can definitely lose you readers.
Alex Verus: I've read the first book and thought it was just OK. It felt like cut-rate Dresden to me, so it's likely to be quite a while before I visit it again.
Saga of the Forgotten War: I like it (and many of Correia's other books) quite a bit. But Correia has some of the same problems as Hearne with politics, it's just a different batch of readers that he lost.
When you get political in a non-political setting, you probably won't lose the people who agree with you (unless your politics get too obtrusive, see Neil Smith for an example). But political commentary only attracts readers of politics, not readers of fiction. It's never a winning move.
I swear I'm going to tell viewers to find Doug in the comments and read his recs :) You have such a broad range! I'm with you on the Hearne (and Correia) political stuff getting into the books. I commented on that on Goodreads on one of my Hearne reviews. I think you'll like Alex Verus as you get more into, whenever that is. Doug continues to add to TBR Mountain!
Anything by Drew Hayes is well-worth reading. Great recommendation!
The Edan trilogy is one of my favorite books!
Same here!
The hidden gems is where it's at!! The Alex Verus series has always piqued my interest as an alternative for Dresden, it sounds way more up my alley. And heck yes for showing our dear Dr. Fantasy some love!!
I could send you an endless list of underhyped fantasy recs, but here are a few that I think will appeal particularly to your tastes:
- Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron
- Riven Earth by Zammar Ahmer
- Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland
- Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu
- No Land for Heroes by Cal Black
- Card Mage by Benedict Patrick
- The Risen Kingdoms by Curtis Craddock
- anything by Drew Hayes!
Thanks for the recs, and enjoy! 🤩
I knew you would have some great ones! I’m going to check out some Drew Hayes soon for sure.
@@BrianBell7 Nice! Though of all the ones, I'd love you to give Spark of the Divine and Hell For Hire top priority... just saying hahaha
Alex Verus is the real deal, so good. I just finished book 12 last month.
I loved it! He’ll be featured when I do a new urban fantasy must read video
Saga of the forgotten warrior is high up on my list to get to.
I think you'll really like it.
Verus is a great series
Here's two classic hidden gems I never hear anything about, despite the notoriety of the authors: 1) Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, which has one of the most psychologically real female characters in fantasy I have ever encountered, certainly the one with the most gravitas (I wish Helen Mirren would do an audio version, especially since it's written in the first person; she's just the right age, too); 2) The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray; published in 1854, the voice, tone, and humor are up-to-date in the 21st century, and you can see Terry Pratchett as working in its tradition, as well as the old Bullwinkle cartoon guys behind "Fractured FairyTales." Either is not that long, with The Rose and the Ring being especially on the brief side. HIghest recommendations for both.
You had me at fractured fairy tales! I'll look them up! Thanks!!
Great list, and I have several of these on my extremely nebulous TBR.
Two hidden gems come immediately to mind: the Forever Desert trilogy by Moses Ose Utomi (all novellas of ~100 pages, last book is out next summer) and the Elemental Logic tetralogy by Laurie J Marks, which is complete.
Thanks, Groofay! I need to get some more novellas in my life as you know the normal chonkers I find myself wading through!
@@BrianBell7 Oh yeah, Forever Desert books fit nicely in a day between Malazans and whatnot for sure!
I enjoyed "The Timeline Wars" by John Barnes. It's a trilogy series that I read many years ago that I remember fondly.
I'm not sure of anything current that I would consider a hidden gem. One might be in the grand scheme, but most of the booktubers I watch and get reqs from talk about them.
I'll take a look at that one!
Ohhh I just bought Sandman Slim
You may be the only booktuber i have seen mention Kevin Hearne and Richard Kadrey books!
I hope you also like them!!
Great video, Brian.
You might have sold me on Iron Druid, admittedly as an Irish person myself I was somewhat put of because I'm unsure how much it leans into the "Irishness", I was concerned about stereotyping and the like.
I've always been curious about Saga of the Forgotten Warrior but as another commenter said, I've not been impressed with how Correia conducts himself online. Never say never but its not a priority.
I think you'll be shocked how deep Hearne goes into the Irish Pantheon. I've never seen another author dig as deep. I think you'll love.
Verus is WILD. I finished them recently and holy crap, that's definitely a hidden gem.
My whole channel is fantasy that Booktube isn't interested in, I have the channel stats to prove it 😂
lol you crack me up. I love it!
lol 😅I’ve been on the fence on picking up this Kel Kade series. You may have just pushed me into buying it
I think you'll like it on audio.
The 5-book series 'The Winds of the Forelands' by David B. Coe and 'The Godless World' trilogy by Brian Ruckley.
Very cool. Adding to TBR Mountain!
I’ve not read any of those! Off to add to my lengthy book list….My recommendation is The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin. My favorite series ever! One day I’m gonna find someone who loves this series as much as I do and we’re gonna be friends lol. 🤪 I think it was Fox that tried to make a series out of them a few years ago and it was just crap. But the books…chef’s kiss.
I've good a little mixed on the Passage but the people who love it, LOVE it! I'll check more into it :)
My only issue with iron Druid is the final book is so divisive. I had the same issue with Hearnes Seven Kennings trilogy
agreed. but overall still a fun series.
Simon R Green, start with the Nightside series them The Forest Kingdom & Hawk and Fisher...then go onto his other series.
Cool! Thank you for the recs!
Brian, read Long Price Quartet!!! It had a wave a few years ago but its absolutely underhyped!
Totally plan to. TBR Mountain calls!
glen cook's garrett pi series is great . By author of Black Company series.
I've had Glen Cook recommended to me for so many years, but haven't heard about the pi series! I'll check it out! Thank you!
@@BrianBell7 I am So Glad ! I love turning people on to this series. Garrett is like a Phillip Marlowe hardboiled detective set in a Fantasy world with all the assorted characters; elves , mages, etc. His mentor is a dead man that communicates with him and stays in his house and his best friend is a Dark Elf Assassin :) I really think you will like it !
The Iron Druid, Sandman Slim, and Alex Verus are fine series. But they all suffer from loss of focus and intensity as the series went along. Larry Correia is my current favorite author. Every one of his series are exactly what I am looking for in adventure/fantasy/magic. I am waiting for his promised return to the Hard Magic universe.
Starting that Hard Magic series this fall.
I had Larry Correia on my TBR, then I saw how aggressively he interacts with people on Twitter and I have no further interest in reading him. While everybody is free to speak or do as they want, personally I think social media has gone crazy downhill and is detrimental to a positive society, so I don't wish to support anyone contributing to a further polarized society.
I can understand separating art from the artist, but I don't believe in financially supporting such artists.
I do have Philip Chase's Edan trilogy on my Kindle waiting, I think I'll pick that one up soon.
I tend to agree with you regarding Larry. He goes literally out of his way to be divisive and difficult. I've been able to separate him from the books in my head, so that's why his series is on this list. But he's been going after our Governor pretty heavily over the last week regarding the burning of Minneapolis and the truth is, the Mayor of Minneapolis has to call the Governor for help. He can't just send in the Guard. It doesn't work like that here, but try telling that to Larry....
Yep. You and I are kindred. Wait till you see my Belltube nightclub challenge 😉
I can't wait!!
The Darkblade series by Andy Peloquin is hardly talked about. I'm through 2 books, and they're both good.
NIce! Will check it out!! Thank you!
The second reminder today that I still haven’t read Edan. 😅
-T
Do itttt!!
@@BrianBell7 I don’t have time. 😅😅
Hounded needs a new cover😅
agree!
Okay, first time viewer - You spend two minutes talking up Edan... and never say what it is, other than a trilogy. --wait, you finally mention Epic two minutes later. What's it about?
Hidden gem: Firebringers trilogy by Ryan Campbell
Cool, I will check out Firebringers. And you are right! I for sure could've done a better job offering the premise of The Edan Trilogy. It's written stylistically with heavy Tolkien influence but with more modern sensibilities from the cast. It's a softer magic system, but we follow our main character, Dayraven, who's gone through an event that no one else has survived from right away in book 1, and we follow his quest through the land to learn more about who he is becoming, what power has taken hold within him, and a religious war raging across the continent. It has tons of familiar epic fantasy elements but a lot of new ideas.