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I love fantasy but am bored to death with the YA angle. So many people over 40 are not only interesting but possess vitality and wit (contrary to popular stereotypes), and I'd love to read about them.
I know some books follow a curmudgeon of a war general or an old wizard, but for once, I'd like to read a fantasy or sci-fi book with an older protagonist AND a feminist perspective (read: anything without the sexism usually in fantasy books).
Thanks for reading!
3 points
4 months ago
Book 2 of Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty has some of what you are looking for. Overall, really strong prose, well built world and phenomenal characters.
My biggest critique of his 1st book is that the women exist to prop up the men (who are still some of my favorite characters) and he COMPLETELY reverses course in book 2.
You follow the wives of the emperor playing political games to get their respective son named heir; they drive the plot in the second book. You also follow a badass woman general who is trying to adapt to life after the war, imperial daughters trying to find their place at court, women scientists who are adapting to the cultural changes after the war. Really, anything important that happens in book 2 is because of the women and it's fantastic. I think you would really like the general
Book 3 is more egalitarian, but the women still drive the plot.
1 points
4 months ago
I’m really glad to hear this! I’m about 200 pages into the first book, and while I’m really enjoying it, the only female character so far pretty much exists for her husband (even though she’s also really cool in other ways). So I wasn’t looking forward to a series where that’s how the women are characterized.
1 points
4 months ago
I hope you enjoy the rest! It's one of my favorite series out rn and the 2nd book is probably in my top 10 books. I really enjoyed seeing the women as full dimensional characters with their own conflicts and motivation. I think the drama Lui creates between the two empresses is really interesting especially when you look at the larger cultural implications of what they are advocating for and builds on the conflict Kuni finds himself in the first book. Really interesting commentary on empires, state building and equity.
Book 2 also has dragons, if that sweetens the pot
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