What would you recommend?

[amanda]

I'm looking for books written by non-mainstream authors in fantasy and/or sci fi and or/horror. I seem to be stuck in a rut as far as authors go, so I'm looking for something different in order to start branching out a little. :)

Comments

[naraht]

Non-mainstream is in the eye of the beholder, but let me try offering some fantasy recs that don't fall into the Tolkienian epic fantasy mould...

"Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susannah Clarke
"The Light Ages" by Iain MacLeod
"The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" by Gordon Dahlquist
"City of Saints and Madmen" by Jeff VanderMeer
"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville
"Gormenghast" (a trilogy) by Mervyn Peake
"Verdigris Deep" by Frances Hardinge (a YA book, but who's counting?)

Is that the sort of thing you're looking for, or is that still too mainstream?

[amanda]

Yeah, I left it intentionally vague just to see what others would come up with. By non-mainstream, basically I didn't want people recommending the big authors that a bookshop would try to push on me and I was curious to see what people would come up with. I've heard of Jeff VanderMeer, but not read his stuff, so I might give that a try. I read one book by Iain MacLeod (I don't recall which one). I found it ok, but not hugely my type. I should give him another try, though, instead of letting one book put me off. After all, some of my favourite authors have books/short stories that I find 'ok', so.

Thank you for recommending these. :D

[gool_duck]

I'd appreciate it if you clarified what you mean by 'non-mainstream'.

I have a book of short stories by Nalo Hopkinson, Skin Folk and they're on the fantasy and horror side, and they are good stories.
She's Jamaican-born and lives in Canada, and is black and queer and a woman (so not the straight-white-man of mainstream). On the other hand, she's won the John W. Campbell award for best new writer (in 1999) and Skin Folk won the World Fantasy Award, and winning awards sorta indicates being embraced by the mainstream, maybe? I don't know.

[amanda]

As someone else pointed out non-mainstream is in the eye of the beholder. It also may be affected by where you live. I have my favourite authors, and they're generally a big deal and very popular over here (I live in the UK). So I pretty much wanted people to think of authors that perhaps weren't as popular as they should be, or maybe up and coming authors on their way to being best sellers.

Personally, I've never heard of Nalo Hopkinson, but I'm certainly interested in checking her out based on your comment! Thank you. :D

[foxfinial]

I recommend the following:

Catherynne M Valente, The Orphan's Tales and Yume no Hon and Palimpsest
M John Harrison, Viriconium and The Course of the Heart
KJ Bishop, The Etched City
Andreas Eschbach, The Carpet Makers
Kij Johnson, The Fox Woman
Angelica Gorodischer, Kalpa Imperial
Tim Pratt, The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl
Benjamin Parzybok, Couch
Nicole Kornher-Stace, Desideria

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by non-mainstream, but that list includes less conventional authors published in large and small presses. Hopefully you'll find some books you like!

[amanda]

Wonderful, thank you! I shall certainly look into these. :D

[foxfirefey]

Paolo Bacigalupi
Ted Chiang
Kit Whitfield -- Benighted
Fat White Vampire Blues

[amanda]

I really like the sound of all of these. Thank you for the recs and the links directly to them! I can't order from amazon.com, but I'll check to see if they're on amazon.co.uk or if they're available in the bookshop that I have gift vouchers for. :D

[foxfirefey]

In that case I should mention that the UK version (where it was originally released!) of Benighted is Bareback.

Also, if you have a bookshop you have gift vouchers for, they'd probably be more than happy to order the books for you.

[amanda]

Awesome, thank you!

I now have a nice little list of books to look for in the store, as a starter. I'll get what I can from those vouchers, then figure everything else out after. I'll also ask them about their stance on ordering books for me - I'm sure they would if I really wanted something, so that's a good idea. :)

[bibliofilen]

By Maria Gripe:
In the Time of the Bells - Fairytalesque but not pure fantasy, pretty somber and set mostly in a medieval court.
Agnes Cecilia - Modern, slightly spooky fantasy.

Johan Ajvide Lindqvist wrote the book that later became the film: Let the Right One In, it was very good in Swedish and has been translated into English (the American translation is called Let Me In). This is horror.

If by non-mainstream you mean something else than just off the track authors, Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold is great fun and has a gay male protagonist from an all male planet who sees women as evil. Or perhaps Robin McKinley's fantasy novel Deerskin which deals with incest. I'm not certain exactly what you're looking for.

[amanda]

After seeing your recs, I do remember someone mentioning Deerskin to me once before, and I promised myself I'd check it out. I'll look into all of these though, as they all sound interesting. Thank you! :D

Books that were unlike any others I've read

[kathmandu]

I don't keep as much track of authors as of books, but here are some books that stand out in my memory for their unique elements. All of them are ones I've only ever found one or two copies of.

Simply Human, by L. Warren Douglass, 2000. Halfway Human, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, 1998. Both SF. Both of these deal with altered forms of humanity, and ethical issues relating to that. Simply Human is a set of nested framing tales, and has a more light-hearted, almost rollicking, approach. Halfway Human is more chilling in parts, and added the word 'grayspace' to my vocabulary.

The Butterfly Kid, by Chester Anderson, circa 1967, reprinted various times. Magicalish SF. This is definitely one of a kind; a novel set in Greenwich Village, New York, about 'how me and my friends saved the world this one time', more or less. The only book that made it clear to me why people talk about The Sixties the way they do. Good-humored, happy ending, but boy is it a unique take! This one is especially hard to find, but worth it.

Druid's Blood, by Esther Friesner, 1988 or 89. Fantasy. Friesner has written a bunch of books, some forming series, but this one is a standalone: an alternate history, in which the Druids used their magic to repel the Roman invasion, and every invasion since then. Fast-forward to an analogue of Queen Victoria, ruling by right of her druidic magic and heritage, and add real live analogues of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and you'll have the premise. Then the story begins, and it has neat and subtle plotting.

Re: Books that were unlike any others I've read

[amanda]

These all sound intriguing. I shall definitely add these to my list of books to try out. Thank you. :D

[winterwood]

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. It's up there in my top five all-time favorites. If you don't mind gore and boys kissing boys, then you should definitely give it a try. I should also mention that it has vampires, but more original than a lot of vampire books out there. :)