Good YA series recs?

[Gasp of Many Reeds]

Earthsea really is fantastic. It's not Young Adult in the narrow sense usually applied but Le Guin did write it for her children and it is very readable for all ages. Surprised to see no Eddings fans - his stuff has aged a bit but it's still very enjoyable self-consciously droll fantasy (though his formulaic approach does get dull after a time and I have heard nothing but bad things about his last fantasy series The Dreamers).

[Darth Richard II]

15 hours ago, Puntificator said:

Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto. But it won't be available until February 2.

http://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Wild-Michelle-Modesto/dp/0062366157/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454047243&sr=8-2&keywords=modesto

Arnt you the one who both avoids YA and doesn't know what it is?

[HexMachina]

2 hours ago, Gasp of Many Reeds said:

Earthsea really is fantastic. It's not Young Adult in the narrow sense usually applied but Le Guin did write it for her children and it is very readable for all ages. Surprised to see no Eddings fans - his stuff has aged a bit but it's still very enjoyable self-consciously droll fantasy (though his formulaic approach does get dull after a time and I have heard nothing but bad things about his last fantasy series The Dreamers).

I recc'd Eddings in my first post actually. It's perfectly serviceable generic coming of age fantasy IMO. Like I said before, it has its issues (one of which I completely forgot about until someone on this board brought it up) but all in all its fine

[Darth Richard II]

Hey I liked Eddings first three series. Anything after that I would avoid like the plague, but they're silly fun, and at points very humorously self aware.

[Richard Writhen]

I pretty much loved the first four books in The Belgariad. Waiting on book five from the library.

 

 

As to whether it's YA ... I guess so. You could also lump Prydain (which I also totally love) in there.

[Xray the Enforcer]

I'd also recommend the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. High fantasy, with an Assistant Pig-Keeper protagonist and an oracular pig. What I really loved about those books is that the protagonist starts out a complete early-teen dolt, but eventually matures into a humble young man, and the process that he takes to get there is very well-written. I just did a re-read and I think they still hold up pretty well. 

Another fantasy book, but of a very different stripe, is Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams. Which actually reminds me: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien is another good one.

[HexMachina]

17 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Hey I liked Eddings first three series. Anything after that I would avoid like the plague, but they're silly fun, and at points very humorously self aware.

I was talking about the Belgariad and Malloreon so we're on the same page there. As for humourously self-aware,I think at one point in the Malloreon one character actually says "I feel like this has all happened before"  (or words to that effect)

[polishgenius]

3 hours ago, Gasp of Many Reeds said:

(though his formulaic approach does get dull after a time and I have heard nothing but bad things about his last fantasy series The Dreamers).

 

 

The second book of The Dreamers was the first book ever that I failed to finish. It's shockingly bad. 

The Redemption of Althalus is pretty ropey too, mind, but at least it's ropey in a ludicrous, silly fun sort of way as long as you don't think about it too much, or at all. And it actually has some nice ideas. 

The Dreamers is just... ugh. 

 

[Leofric]

My Sister recommended the Lockwood and Company books by Jonathon Stroud.    I've only read the first one so far, but liked it.

You could go old school and read Robert Heinlein's young adult books - Podkayne of Mars, Farmer in the Sky, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky, etc.

or Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin

[Puntificator]

I had recommended in another thread The Bone Street Rumba Novels, an urban fantasy series by Daniel José Older. I also mentioned that the author recently released a YA novel (his first) that is set in the same "world"; it's called Shadowshaper and it is excellent.   

Here's the Amazon blurb:

"Paint a mural. Start a battle. Change the world. Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on. With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a thrilling magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one—and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret. Now she must unravel her family's past, take down the killer in the present, and save the future of shadowshaping for generations to come. Full of a joyful, defiant spirit and writing as luscious as a Brooklyn summer night, Shadowshaper introduces a heroine and magic unlike anything else in fantasy fiction, and marks the YA debut of a bold new voice."

[SkynJay]

13 hours ago, Puntificator said:

Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard (published by Tor Teen):

"Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires. Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her, but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness. Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch."

It got a starred review from Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7653-7928-3

I was completely unimpressed with it.  The friendship between Safi and Iseult was a highlight but the book relied to much on a magic system then did nothing impressive with said system. 

[Jo498]

Not series but as I broke that rule already with Neverending Story (and someone mentioned "The curious incident..." which is neither fantasy nor a series...), a few books I probably mentioned already in other threads:

Preussler: Krabat (unless the translation ruins it, in German it is written in a very attractive style both austere and poetic)

Dragt: The letter for the King (De brief voor de Koning) This is fairly conventional (and basically medieval with hardly any or no magic) but I liked it quite a bit when I was 12 or so. There is loose sequel (Geheimen van het Wilde Woud  (The secret of the Wild Forest, in German it is simply "Der Wilde Wald")) but apparently this one has not been translated into English (and it is also somewhat disappointing).

And as Buckwheat mentioned Walter Moers, all of his Zamonia books are in principle YA appropriate (some cruelty/gore but more in fairy tale or comic books style than splatter, some of them might be too sprawling and too language-obsessed for some teenagers, though). They do not strictly form a series (except the Dreaming books subseries) but share a world and some characters. The most conventional of those I have read, is "Rumo and his miraculous adventures"

About 10-15 seems also a good age for the more "adult" fairy tales (like Arabian Nights, most editions will bowdlerize the erotic content) and popular editions of Classical, Norse etc. mythologies, sagas etc.

[Queen Alienor]

I quite liked Kristin Cashores Graceling, Fire and Bitterblue, they are nice to read and with some interesting worldbuilding.

I also second the rec for the Garth Nix' Old Kingdom series (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel, and a collection of short stories, I think). Especially Lirael I remember very fondly.

Something completely different is Ben Aaronovitch's The Rivers of London series, which is basically a crime produceral in modern London with lots of magic, very funny and with some interesting characters, though I'm not quite sure whether it would be called YA literature.

[Jo498]

"Rivers of London is too gory and too obsessed with obscure Jazz and Architecture to be YA (and IMO too flawed to be generally recommended ;))

[Richard Writhen]

I tried to read A Darker Shade of Magic but quickly became bored with it, but it would probably be great for a young reader. I guess her other stuff is YA so it makes sense ...

[Darth Richard II]

3 hours ago, Jo498 said:

"Rivers of London is too gory and too obsessed with obscure Jazz and Architecture to be YA (and IMO too flawed to be generally recommended ;))

Heretic.

[Jo498]

Gaiman has taken some flak in another thread for "Neverwhere" but this has most of the ideas of "Rivers of London" (the others are stolen from Harry Potter and "American Gods") and is considerably more atmospheric and better written, despite some flaws. So I'd rather recommend that one, although it is not explicitly YA either.

And if the Jazz stuff in one of Aaronson's and architecture in most of them is turning a highly cultured guy in his 40s off, how bored would a 15 yo be by that? Not sure if the disgusting horror bits and prostitution of Doctor-Moreau-style-hybrids would be attractive enough to set off long ramblings about grandpa's jazz music and magic architecture in faulty German.

[Darth Richard II]

Yes well, ignoring questions of taste, :P, Rivers of London doesn't fit any description of YA that's been mentioned here, and is clearly aimed at adults.

[The Unborn]

I don't know if it fits YA but I quite liked the Wardstone Chronicles from Joseph Delaney. I read the whole series (13 books) 2 years ago and even though I was 27 at the time I liked it. It's not the most well written, complicated series out there, but it's honest, simple and there is a certain... "naivety" (can't really describe why I feel that way) to it that I enjoy, probably due to the characters age. I like most of the characters and the relationship between Tom and Alice is pretty great. The first book of the Starblade Chronicle (A New Darkness) is just as good as the rest, and The Dark Army just came out and I can't wait to read it !

[HexMachina]

7 hours ago, The Unborn said:

I don't know if it fits YA but I quite liked the Wardstone Chronicles from Joseph Delaney. I read the whole series (13 books) 2 years ago and even though I was 27 at the time I liked it. It's not the most well written, complicated series out there, but it's honest, simple and there is a certain... "naivety" (can't really describe why I feel that way) to it that I enjoy, probably due to the characters age. I like most of the characters and the relationship between Tom and Alice is pretty great. The first book of the Starblade Chronicle (A New Darkness) is just as good as the rest, and The Dark Army just came out and I can't wait to read it !

I started reading these as I was growing up, so I was reading them as they were released. I dropped them at some stage because I didn't think they were holding up anymore, and worked far better when I was reading them as part of the target audience. I think I read up to Spook's Nightmare? Still, I agree the books had their own charm and are decent enough as YA, and I was kind of sad not to see how it all ended. My favourite was...book 3 I think? The one with Meg. I might, some day, eventually get around to finishing them for the sake of completeness. 

Apparently the film was just as atrocious as the trailers made it look though