# Exciting, but less dark fantasy series



## Seth son of Tom (Dec 12, 2014)

So I recently finished the wheel of Time series and then afterwards finished the misfborn trilogy. Great, great books. But, they seem a little bit heavy and at times dark. I love how action-packed they are. But i'm currently looking for a new series to start. And I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for an action-packed and exciting fantasy series that has strong conflicts without being too dark. Any ideas? Thanks!


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## cupiscent (Dec 12, 2014)

Hmm, maybe the works of David Eddings? Very classic fantasy, but often considered more light or frothy. They're what I re-read when I want something fun and not too taxing.


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## 2WayParadox (Dec 12, 2014)

Have your read Feist's Empire books (daughter, servant, mistress)? Jonathen Stroud's books, starting with the Eye of Samarkand is a light trilogy, one of it's main characters is a Djinn that likes to complain about being summoned and has the features you'd expect a Djinn to have. I think it's at the level of Harry Potter, accessible to children and in general a good read. If you want something different, then pick up 'the last unicorn', it's short and probably different from what you've read so far. Tigana from Guy Gavriel Kay is another wonderful standalone novel. Really good, not too dark and gritty. If you want something completely different from your standard fantasy, I'd recommend the Unbeliever, from Donald Stephenson. The main character is a leper who's transported into a different world and he struggles throughout the book with whether or not he believes that the entire world is real. It's great, the MC is so different, the world he ends up in is kind of strange as well. The magic casement is also nice, it revolves a lot around the magic system where there are words of power and knowing four of them makes you a full fledged sorcerer. The main hero and heroine are both well worked out characters. I liked it and it's not gritty, it has some teleporting so there's lots of exploring different scenery. And of course, now I think about some fun teleporting: his dark materials is great and has lots of werid twists and strangeness, in a wonderful way though.


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## Tom (Dec 12, 2014)

_The Floating Islands_, by Rachel Neumeier

The Queen's Thief series, by Megan Whalen Turner

Anything Discworld.

That's really all I've got, because I tend to go in for the dark stuff. I'm not sure about the Queen's Thief series--it does have some violence and dark stuff in it--but the first book is witty, action-packed, and wildly entertaining. It's also got a lighter tone than the others, and if you don't want to deal with the rest of the series, it can stand alone.


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## BronzeOracle (Dec 12, 2014)

I second David Eddings - the Belgariad has lots of high adventure and magic, memorable characters and funny/witty dialogue.  I loved this at highschool.

I liked Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold by Terry Brooks.  It was fairly lighthearted, not quite as epic as some series - I don't remember big battles but there was questing, villains and magic.  

I found the original Riftwar series by Raymond E Feist to be middle of the road, it has some death of characters but doesn't have a sense of despair / corrupting evil like some series do.  I can't speak about his later work beyond Darkness at Sethanon, I've heard he does kill off characters later and keeps upping the ante.  Probably because he keeps to the same world so needs to keep bringing new conflicts and characters in and that means out with the old I guess.


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## cupiscent (Dec 12, 2014)

Whoa, whoa, recommending Thomas Covenant as _not_ dark? There's some really dark and troubling stuff in there! Especially early on.

I _love_ the Queen's Thief series, and while it's not really dark, there's some interesting ambiguity and compromise elements, especially in terms of character relationships. I tend to call it "serrated". If you like straight-edge happy-ever-after, those books are more full of snags and snarls (which I adore).


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## 2WayParadox (Dec 13, 2014)

Yeah, you're right, but it's such a unique thing, I think it's a must read


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## Tom (Dec 13, 2014)

cupiscent said:


> I _love_ the Queen's Thief series, and while it's not really dark, there's some interesting ambiguity and compromise elements, especially in terms of character relationships. I tend to call it "serrated". If you like straight-edge happy-ever-after, those books are more full of snags and snarls (which I adore).



I love you forever. You've read my favorite series. Most people I mention it to give me a blank stare.


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## cupiscent (Dec 13, 2014)

Tom Nimenai said:


> I love you forever. You've read my favorite series. Most people I mention it to give me a blank stare.



Then most people are MISSING OUT. Though, fair warning, I have only read the first three. I have been carefully rationing them, because they are just _so good_, I want to savour them and fully appreciate each before I carefully consume the next.


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## Tom (Dec 13, 2014)

I'm sure you'll like the fourth.

I read the first book when I was fifteen, then forgot about it, rediscovered it just last year, and learned it was a series. Well, the beginning of the second book (won't spoil for anyone who hasn't read it) really upset me, and I swore off the series for good. HA! Like that was going to last. I found the third at a used bookstore, got hooked again, and devoured it and the fourth in a mad rush. Now I'm waiting for the fifth to come out.

Oh, hey Seth: another book I recommend is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Definitely a classic.


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## BronzeOracle (Dec 14, 2014)

cupiscent said:


> Whoa, whoa, recommending Thomas Covenant as _not_ dark? There's some really dark and troubling stuff in there! Especially early on.
> .



Especially early on??  I read the first two series and they were consistently very dark.  It seemed that only the ravers ever got to have fun, and that's not a good thing.  Still the first series was brilliant - I loved the Illearth War, one of the best books I've read.


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## BronzeOracle (Dec 14, 2014)

Tom Nimenai said:


> Oh, hey Seth: another book I recommend is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Definitely a classic.



Is it as good as the movie?  Miyazaki is magic


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## Tom (Dec 14, 2014)

BronzeOracle said:


> Is it as good as the movie?  Miyazaki is magic



Yes! Very different from the movie, but just as good. It's so much fun to read the first time--the book is like a puzzle, and you've got to arrange all the pieces in your head as you go along.


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## Seth son of Tom (Dec 15, 2014)

Thanks people! These are a lot of ideas to get me thinking!


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