I've done a recommendation for Adult Fantasy and Science-Fiction Books for Beginners to Read in 2023.
Okay, so today I'm going to be recommending good starting points for both fantasy and sci-fi.
I do think in almost every genre there's not a huge transition from a young adult to an adult just reading adult books.
but truthfully with both fantasy and sci-fi, there is a bigger gap between the two age categories so I'm here to make another article on it.
15 Adult Fantasy and Science-Fiction Books for Beginners to Read in 2023
I will say that I'm going to intentionally not say any of the books that I said in my last article. how to get into fantasy or good fantasy books for beginners, be sure to read that because there are several books that I wanted to put on this list.
And then when I looked back at that old list they were already there so I'm not repeating but there are really good recommendations on that list for both young adult and adult books though in this article.
I'm focusing on adult books because that's the comment that keeps coming but there are several adult books on there that are perfect starting places go read that article but now let's talk about some more now you have two articles full of amazing recommendations for great starting points for adult fantasy and sci-fi okay the first book we're starting with the fantasy category then we're gonna get to sci-fi.
So those are the books that I have to recommend to you today I specifically focused on adults but it'll work whether you read ya or adults these are really great places for starting.
Here we recommend 15 Adult Fantasy and Science-Fiction Books for Beginners to Read in 2023.
1. Sufficiently Advanced Magic
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
The first book on the fantasy list is going to be a recent read for me and that is sufficiently advanced magic this is technically categorized as an adult but I feel like it's kind of in-between the main characters are fairly young it is in a lot of ways a coming of age not your typical coming of age but it's in that kind of bracket of self-discovery this is kind of you can tell that the author of this book really loves video games.
but basically, our main character's brother entered this tower five years ago this tower is this place of ever-changing rooms and each room has different obstacles and different monsters to face and if you get to the top of the tower then you get a specific blessing type thing from the goddess and his brother entered five years ago and never came out so now Corinne our main character is going in and he's on a mission to reach the goddess to learn how to save his brother if his brother is still alive.
this author's writing style is super accessible really really easy to just fly through the book this is probably one of the fastest fantasy books the fastest I've read a fantasy book usually I read fantasy books fairly slowly because I'm wrapping my head around a new world a new magic system a lot there's a lot to wrap your head around and this is probably the fastest I've read a fantasy book in a really long time because even though the magic is fairly complex and there's a lot going on.
in this book the way it's written both in prose as well as in how the plot is formatted and set up it's all just very straightforward well written but very straightforward and just easy to dive into and run alongside your characters also it's just really fun.
2. Elantris
3. Warbreaker
Elantris & Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
The next book on the list is going to be two books Elantris and Warbreaker so these are Sanderson's two standalone and actually Warbreaker is only a standalone temporarily he's eventually going to build on it to make it into a series but as of right now it's standalone it will be for a long time according to Sanderson don't hold your breath.
Elantris is kind of about a virus slash plague thing that is plaguing a city and Warbreaker plays on a lot of typical tropes but does them in really unique ways a princess being married off there's also a war going on between gods.
it's been so long since I've read both of these books so my descriptions are pretty bad Warbreaker has this amazing magic system based on colors and I just remember there were so many characters that I loved so much in Warbreaker.
I loved Warbreaker so much both of these standalone is probably some of Sanderson's works that get the most mixed reviews but Sanderson has such an accessible writing style he has such complex plots and really interesting characters but he writes it all in this way that's so easy to wrap your head around everything that's happening and he is guilty of having very slow starts for most of his books so you have to give him some time but if you're willing to do that his books are just easy to gobble up especially Warbreaker because it plays on so many especially young adult tropes that are very familiar but he does them in such a unique way.
I really recommend Warbreaker if you're trying to transition from young adult to adult as long as you're willing to give it some time if you don't want to give it time if you want something that's going to be easy from the start then what did I just do sufficiently advanced magic would I would say pick that up first but if you're willing to take a little bit of time I love all right here so much.
4. The Black Prism
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
next, I'm going to recommend the black prism the reason I recommend this is because we follow several main characters but one of those main characters is a teenage boy so it's an adult book but one of the perspectives is a kid so it's a really easy transition because you're basically getting a little bit of both kips is insecure and he's definitely has a coming-of-age arc he's angsty he is in a school setting for certain parts of the books.
I've only read the first two books in the series so far the series as a whole has some pretty mixed uh reviews a lot of people don't like certain things that the book does which is basically sexism the book is the series as a whole there's a lot of discussion on if it's misogynistic if it's sexist if it's not I'm not I don't want to go into that here but a lot of people say that it is and they don't like it for that purpose a lot of people say that it's not and they don't think it's a valid criticism just go in knowing that that is a big discussion and it is a heated discussion around this series.
but other than that this series has really really high ratings generally and honestly it's one of the coolest magic systems I've ever read I have very mixed opinions on it there are a lot of there's a lot of character work a lot of character choices that uh especially book two graded against me and I still haven't continued the series because of several things that we've already mentioned but I probably will continue eventually it's just not very high on my list right now but the writing style is very accessible one of the main characters is a kid and it has such a cool magic system and really interesting plot.
it is the type of story that there are going to be a lot of questions and a lot of open threads and you're not going to get answers anytime soon it's going to take books for you to get there so if that's cool by you go for it it's I loved the first book I had very mixed feelings on the second book but it's a well-loved series.
5. The Rage of Dragons
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Next is the rage of dragons and I would put this I intentionally left this for last because as far as getting into fantasy it's probably the hardest one on this list but honestly, it's still it still belongs here keep in mind me saying this is a good starting place for fantasy is not me saying that it's any less of quality to anything else.
I obviously enjoy pretty much all these that I'm talking about and I love the rage of dragons so this takes place in a world where one in every thousand women is able to call down dragons and one in every hundred men is able to basically transform into this fighting killing machine they live in a kingdom in an area where they are constantly at war they're constantly being attacked.
so these battle things are pretty necessary we follow tao who is a lesser and due to a set of circumstances he is in a different position in his life and basically he's that he's out for revenge that's what's going on with him amazing friendships in the story we get some wonderful dynamics between the sword brothers there's a lot of training battle scenes and tau is an incredibly driven focused person on doing whatever it takes to get to his end goal which is revenge again Evan winter's writing style very very accessible that's a big theme in this entire video.
and in anything that I recommend for a good beginning place, I think the accessible writing style is half of what will make it a good starting place and I think Evan winters has a very accessible writing style I think that the plot itself is familiar enough revenge plot battle sequences it's familiar enough that it's not going to be difficult for people the fact that there are such great relationships in it is gonna make it easy to latch on to.
I think that this book is incredibly unique but it also does a lot of stuff that's familiar enough that it'll be easy to fall into a rhythm with it or at least it was for me that's what I think.
now let's go to sci-fi so the first thing that I'm going to recommend for sci-fi is going to be again a very recent read and that is...
6. All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries
All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
This is the first novella and a bundle of novellas that lead up to a novel called the Murderbot series I think that's what it's called this first little novella follows a robot who is a Murderbot it really doesn't care about its job it just wants to sit around and watch soap operas all day Murderbot is sarcastic dry witty ambivalent.
but also really layered and emotional and this robot is incredible incredibly relatable as well as so funny and so easy to love also it's super short so you're fine also this series of novellas the first one is really just focusing on who Murderbot is and getting attached to it and then the following novellas.
I'm told are going to be more focused on world-building side characters and stuff like that still with Murderbot as the main focus but then we start focusing on other things so you get a chance to fall in love with the main lead before you're assaulted with a bunch of scientific terminologies.
7. Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Next, I'll recommend is Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park is the book that the movie. the first movie was based on it is very similar, or rather the movie is very similar to the book so you're not going to be in for a whole new story.
but in my opinion, the book really was better because first of all, it's a very slow start but a very very interesting start super intriguing beginning very very immersive writing style where I really felt like I was there and Michael Creighton does a good or Creighton.
I still don't know how to say his name does a great job of giving you all the information you need to start a lot of the scientific stuff without it really being an info dump or overly complex it's done in a very engaging way.
because he takes his time so much when things start escalating I was on the edge of my seat because I felt like I was there too and I was actually worried because I might die too I think this is such an immersive book and a great starting point for sci-fi.
8. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel by Hank Green
next is an absolutely remarkable thing by hank green I'm pretty sure this is a Duology and the second book just came out this is a first contact story following a girl who just happens to be in the right place at the right time where a giant statue-like thing that looks like a robot has been placed near her and she takes a video in front of it and it goes viral and it turns out that this thing is extraterrestrial and there are these things all over the world and now she is an important part of the discovery of what's going on I think.
I think this book was just really personal which makes it really personable which makes it really easy to read uh hank did an amazing job of making his lead character feel really real and very human she has very distinct flaws um and those flaws are so human those flaws are so honest and I think in large part it's.
because hank did base a lot of the story on his own personal experiences her instant fame was reflective of his instant fame her flaws are reflective of a lot of his flaws when he was first going through his instant fame and that really shows because she feels very very real and I think along with this being a first contact story which is you know something that we've all experienced before first contact is a very standard storyline.
so the fact that it's something familiar but the hank does a great job of doing something really unique with this familiar thing that coupled with how incredibly real the main character felt makes this such an easy book to just fall into and forget that you're reading but while you're still reading it you forget that you forget that you're reading because you feel like you're there we go.
9. Axiom's End: A Novel
Axiom's End: A Novel by Lindsay Ellis
The next i5 book I'm going to recommend on the list is axiom's end this is also a first contact story also by someone who's quite notable here on Google and Lindsey Ellis herself specifically says that this book is very similar to an absolutely remarkable thing
which I didn't know when I reviewed it on my blog I definitely enjoyed this much more than axiom's end but I think that axiom's end was also a very interesting story and a great starting point she also has a very straightforward accessible writing style though admittedly much less immersive in my opinion than hank's.
these are both debut novels they're both first contact stories for axiom's end she's just we're following a character Cora who's really just trying to live her life she's just trying to stay out of the spotlight she wants people to leave her alone enter ampersand who is an alien who has decided you're my communication device I'm gonna communicate through you now the first half of the story is a pretty standard um first contact government conspiracy sort of book and then the second half really does veer off and do its own thing.
I think that Lindsay's work on the alien hierarchy and social systems and the discussion of how far a society truly will go was all really really interesting and very philosophical I enjoyed it a lot I just wish this book had done a little bit better at deviating and being its own thing but the second half definitely did a better job with that than the first half did Cora is a character I saw a lot of complaints that she is because she is a character that's more passive and less active as far as like she's jerked around by the plot she doesn't really want to do anything that's happening so she just kind of goes with it and she doesn't forge her own path and that bothered a lot of people but it felt intentional to me so it didn't bother me.
overall this book is getting pretty mixed reviews so far so I guess go with it however you want I thought it was good I gave it three stars I thought it was a solid book.
10. The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel
The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal
The vast starry sky and the infinite universe are a paradise for every astronaut. What it feels like to walk in space, I think only people who have experienced it can truly appreciate it.
"The Calculating Stars" is the work of American science fiction writer Mary Robinette Kowal. It tells the story of the pilot and mathematician Elma breaking people's prejudice against women and successfully becoming an astronaut into space.
The story happened in 1952, when a meteorite hit the coast of North America, causing a series of large-scale continuous destruction such as huge waves and earthquakes. Mathematician Elma, with the help of the meteorologist’s brother, calculated that catastrophic weather changes are coming. At that time, whether the earth can maintain a habitable state will be unknown, so humanity has accelerated the pace of space exploration.
Elma works in the International Aerospace Federation with the husband of a rocket expert. She is not only a Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from Stanford University but also a pilot with superb flying skills. She aspires to become an astronaut. Realize the dream of entering space. In order to approach this dream bit by bit, in order to allow women to enter the space program, Elma organized flight shows, participated in TV shows, and joined the club to participate in activities. The efforts of her and her companions were not in vain, successfully passed the astronaut test, and finally had the opportunity to sail to her own orbit.
However, everyone is not perfect, and Elma also has its own weaknesses. She is afraid of being the focus of the crowd and feels nervous when she has to speak in front of a large group of people. Her anxiety caused her pain, and it almost became a resistance to preventing her from moving into space. But this woman who would silently recite Pi in her heart once nervous and anxious, never showed weakness in front of her work. In a task, she relied on her fast and accurate calculation ability to save the project and therefore won her colleagues. Our trust eventually became the first female astronaut.
I don’t think we should treat this novel simply as a feminist work, as the reporter asked in the book, "Why do you all want to defeat a man and go to the moon?" The female astronauts answered, "I don’t want to defeat Men land on the moon. The reason I want to go to the moon is the same as that of men. Women are also useful in space.
There is no competitive relationship between men and women, and there is no such thing as defeating men." They proved themselves by their actions and broke. This has caused long-standing doubts and prejudices about women's ability to adapt to the harsh space environment and psychological environment.
11. The Ember Blade
The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding
A land under occupation. A legendary sword. A young man’s journey to find his destiny.
Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He’s never questioned it; that’s just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . . .
But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not.
The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it’s locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land. All they have to do now is steal it. . .
Designed to return to classic fantasy adventures and values, from a modern perspective, this is a fast-moving coming-of-age trilogy featuring a strong cast of diverse characters, brilliant set-pieces, and a powerful character and plot-driven story.
12. 11/22/63: A Novel
If you want to watch the protagonist go back to the past and use modern knowledge to build his own empire, win countless beauties (beautiful men), and change the course of history, then this book is not for you. This book is a time travel science fiction novel. It has a very detailed description of American society in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the Kennedy assassination. Of course, love that transcends time is also indispensable in the novel, but to be honest, this sideline is not impressive, it can only be said to be ordinary.
Here are a few impressive points in the novel:
- The time travel mechanism is uniquely set: every time you go back to the past, it is a reset, and every time you return to the same time and place, it is only 2 minutes before departure after returning. . This setting also played a big role in promoting the development of the plot.
- With detailed settings, the need to maintain a self-consistent plot is a major test for the author. Lazy authors either don't make settings and pass by or ignore the self-consistent plot. But Stephen King did not disappoint me. At the end of the novel, he gave a certain explanation of the mechanism of time travel. This explanation is not perfect, but at least it can give the reader an explanation and plug some possible loopholes. (For example, the simplest one is if every time you go back to the past, it’s resetting, why don’t the things you get from the past to the present disappear. The shopkeeper just took beef, but after a little thought, you will know that if you want to make a fortune, you can take other things. (Things, this mechanism becomes a cornucopia)
- Since it is time travel, there must be back and forth, and returning to the past and then back to the present will trigger the most interesting question of time travel stories: whether the behavior in the past can change the present. After the protagonist’s second time travel, he used the phone to contact the person of the year with emotional impact. This is also the most attractive part of time travel novels, but it is a pity that there are not many such places in this book. In addition, returning to the present also allows the protagonist to face a serious question: whether travelers have the right to change history when they return to the past, and what responsibilities should those who change history bear.
- The ending of the novel is perfect, all the problems that should be solved are solved, and all the questions that should be answered are answered. After describing the assassination in the novel several times, I thought the author would end somewhere, and let the readers imagine the rest, but Jin did not choose to do this but kept writing until the very end.
13. Project Hail Mary: A Novel
Due to the influence of Astrophages, the earth will die half of its people in 30 years. Although the protagonist sets out to find a way to save the earth, the journey back and forth will take decades. It is impossible to prevent this unprecedented catastrophe. He can only save the survivors and allow the human race to continue. But this ending is undoubtedly inconsistent with the positiveness of the book and the author's usual style, so the author used a very clever approach. The specific method is not spoiled, just read the book.
As for the rescue process, just like in "The Martian", the protagonist also encounters various problems. However, the problem-solving method in this book is inevitably a bit inadequate, because many problems are actually solved by the author by throwing out a new setting. Sometimes even the problem itself is forcibly generated by adding new settings.
For example, in the setting of τ Star Worm will be killed by nitrogen, and the whole line has a very far-fetched feeling. It's like it was forcibly added for the length of the novel. This setting itself, as well as improving nitrogen resistance through evolution, producing unexpected characteristics during the evolution process, etc., all have a feeling of starting point and opening gold fingers: the protagonist is already watching the world, and writing can’t be done. What should I do if I go down? Get out of high-level monsters. What if the protagonist can't beat the new monster beast? Make an adventure and upgrade him to cross the robbery. Anyway, alien life has already been involved, and the author has the final say on what is set.
The existence of the alien-like Loki is the same. This character is simply a black box, and you can throw it to him anyway if you encounter any difficulties. So the second half of the book is basically: the protagonist encounters a problem, and Rocky Klang Klang solves it without knowing what he has built.
Of course, this is not to say that the author scribbled in vain basic scientific laws. It's just that compared with "The Martian", it is somewhat lacking in scientific rigor. The more fanciful the imagination, the more you need to set limits. The limits of this book are slightly lower.
14. Theft of Swords
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.
Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires?
And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere.
Royce and Hadrian spent a very lonely time with me. The classic story is not flawed, and the characters are very likable and flesh-and-blood. But I know that this kind of story is difficult to be widely popular nowadays. If it is not the stereotype of the characters, the story is old-fashioned, but I just like it when I look at decompression! Dark, full of sexual descriptions, and bloody, won’t you be stereotyped if you keep walking between good and evil... Someday you will be bored with that type.
Theft of Swords was originally published as: The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.
BOOKS IN THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS
Theft of Swords (The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha)
Rise of Empire (Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm)
Heir of Novron (Wintertide & Percepliquis)
15. Kindred
The plot probably means that the heroine moved to a new home in LA after getting married. Suddenly one day when she was sorting the bookshelves, she found that she had traveled through time. Back in the 19th century (the 1800s), she met a child who was drowning and rescued him.
However, in America in the 19th century, blacks had not yet been completely liberated (the hostess was black), whites had absolute rights, and blacks could only be slaves. . Well, that's the general situation, and then the various absurd things encountered by the hostess when she shuttles between modern times and the past. . (Because the characters in it will involve spoilers as soon as they are explained, I will not go into details.)
Well, how can I say it, when I first read it, I felt very embarrassed because my first impression should be a relatively" "Normal" story. After reading the prologue, I didn't know what she was talking about. I didn't understand the main idea of the story until I finished the first chapter. . Sometimes the beginning of the flashback is still confusing. . .
In addition, the vocabulary in this book is also easy to understand. At least it doesn’t matter if you jump over a word you don’t understand. Anyway, you will know what happened after you see it. The plot layout is also good, and it is said that a movie was made, but I think the ending is a bit hasty, it may be an intriguing ending, and I don’t understand it. . .
In short, for a beginner like me, this book is still worth reading, at least it won't make you boring to fall asleep. . .
