My Fantasy and Sci-Fi Starter Pack
My love for fantasy started in elementary school with the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, which continues to hold a warm and nostalgic place in my heart. After a long hiatus away from the genre, my friend convinced me to read "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater. This book rekindled my appreciation for fantasy, which has since taken up the majority of the books that I read. As for science fiction, I'm a little surprised to look back at the books I've enjoyed and see how many classify as sci-fi. While I won't be quoting "Dune" or speaking in Klingon anytime soon, I can appreciate a good handful of classic and current science fiction novels. Here is a list of fantasy and science fiction books that made me fall in love with the genres.
For those that enjoy Greek mythology, epic quests, and sassy narrators!
For those that enjoy magical and deadly water horses and a slow burn romance!
For those who enjoy magical library books and sorcery.
For those that enjoy a nice blend of humor, comfort, and world-building.
For those that enjoy cozy fantasy, new beginnings, and a super sweet love interest.
For those who enjoy unexplainable global phenomena and want to know why a 10-foot tall statue of a Transformer dressed like a samurai plays a huge part in this book.
For those who enjoy a formidable female pirate and a feisty romance with a rival first mate.
For those that enjoy action and biology.
For those who wanted Kylo Ren and Rey from "Star Wars" to be together.
For those looking for an aesthetic fall fantasy romance.
For those that love when the heroine falls for the man she's arranged to marry, despite her best effort.
For those who want to see if the book is better than the movie (it is).
For those who enjoy a soft princess being trained in combat by her betrothed's best friend.
For those that enjoy yearning and superb banter.
For those who enjoy beautiful prose and a unique magic system.
For those that like genetically mutated found families, evil corporations, and when books make the reader question everything they thought they knew.
For those that enjoy the grumpy and sunshine dynamic with a nice bit of sorcery and imminent peril.
For those that like fairytale retellings, rebellions, and found family.
For those that enjoy a time travel, slow burn romance.
For those that don't typically enjoy love triangles, this one does it perfectly.
For those that like when teenage drama mixes with genetically altered abilities.
For those that enjoy dark romance and Faustian bargains.
For those that like vikings, curses, and forbidden romance.
For those that would enjoy a Polish folklore version of "Beauty and the Beast".
For those that enjoy when the main character is satisfyingly overpowered.
For those who think magical scholarly review and citing your sources is sexy.
For those interested in a sapphic "Hunger Games" with a bittersweet ending.
For those that enjoy winged vampires, deadly trials, and the nickname "princess".
For those who will come for the science but stay for the humanity.
For those who romanticize their seasonal depression.
For those who like artificial intelligences with personalities.
For those who enjoy Asian mythology and fated romance.
For those who enjoy beautiful prose and godly court politics.
For those who enjoy when the main character has secret, game-changing battle plans that not even the reader is aware of.
For those who love forced proximity and a struggle between duty and love.
For those who would enjoy an un-problematic body swap romance and complex characters.
For those who enjoy timeline jumps, high stakes missions, and banter with an alien.