The Farseer Trilogy
A young bastard with royal blood is trained as an assassin for his grandfather, the king. There’s magic. But not like wands, more like talking with animals and spiritual/mind things. Robin Hobb is a fantastic writer and this series is so good if you like fantasy.
The Liveship Traders Trilogy
Read the Farseer Trilogy first. Then read the Liveship Traders. Think: a family of traders has a Liveship in their family (a ship made of a special kind of wood, once three generations of members of the family die on the deck of the ship, the mast and the entire ship comes to life). Ship culture, magical things happening at sea, family drama. It’s so good.
The Kingkiller Chronicle
The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. Sadly, the third book may never be coming. But nonetheless, the first two are worth reading. The Name of the Wind is the kind of book I will reread many times over. Think: a young orphaned boy sets out to attend a legendary school of magic to learn alchemy. There are traveling troupes, kingdoms, love, friendship. It’s not childish in any way, although the magical school might make it seem so.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
The Indian ocean’s most notorious female pirate! Pirates, sorcerers, forbidden artifacts, a journey, a magical island, ancient mysteries. She’s also a mother. This book is fun and entertaining.
