Fantasy Books for Men
I sometimes get asked to recommend fantasy books for certain age groups, i.e., (which fantasy books are appropriate for teenagers?). Because I read so many fantasy books it’s not difficult to answer those questions – it just takes time to compile the listings.
Yesterday I got 2 inquiries about fantasy books for men. This gave me pause: would guys like to read about Sookie Stackhouse and her adventures? Would they be interested in reading about Bella and Edward’s relationship in the Twilight books? My gut says no. So I decided to provide a listing of fantasy books that have strong male leading characters which I think will appeal to the Y-chromosome readers out there:
Something from the Nightside (Nightside, Book 1) by Simon R. Green.
John Taylor has a talent for finding things. When he’s asked to find a missing girl (by the missing girl’s mother) he both reluctantly and optimistically looks forward to descending into the Nightside, the dark and dangerous world beneath the city of London where evil and strange creatures reside. John actually feels somewhat at home there. In the Nightside you know what you’re dealing with – there aren’t too many surprises. However many of the creatures are deadly and live by their own moral code so staying alert (and on their good side) is mandatory for survival.
John is a wise-cracking, tough as nails guy who doesn’t mince words and can see through bullshit from 10 yards away. Simon R. Green’s world building techniques are impressive; the Nightside world is brought to life from the very beginning of this book. If you like books full of adventure and all things magical, these are for you.
Staked (Void City, Book 1) by J.F. Lewis.
Eric is a vampire with memory issues – he sometimes can’t remember the simplest things. He’s also got a business partner with a dark hidden agenda, a girlfriend that wants him to bite her, a homicidal daughter, and a murder on his hands. Actually, he’s got a dead werewolf head in his hands but he can’t remember when or why he killed it.
Eric is a no-holds barred, blood and guts, take no prisoners vampire who lives each day to the fullest and makes no excuses for his supernatural tendencies. If this book was to be taken to the big screen I’d see someone like Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, or Jason Patric in the role. You know, the strong, silent and incredibly gorgeous type that happens to have “issues.”
Mr. Lewis does a fantastic job with character building and keeping the storyline appropriately paced. This is one of those books that you’ll find hard to put down. The second book in the series, ReVamped (Void City, Book 2) is now available in bookstores.
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher.
Harry Dresden is a wizard by nature and a detective by trade. He investigates the more, let’s say, “special” cases that the police can’t solve. In this book he’s called in to give his opinion of a gruesome double-murder that points to the use of black magic. Although the pay for this case is significant it comes at a high price: the dark mage responsible for the murders has Harry in his cross hairs.
In my opinion Jim Butcher writes some of the best dialogue you’ll ever find in the fantasy book genre. His words jump off the page. And the character building for Harry is top notch. What I really like about Harry’s character is that he’s smart and a realist. You won’t find him going after a bad guy in a dark alley, with no weapons, and his foot in a cast. No, Harry understands his limitations. Sure, he has a soft spot for children and women-in-need, but he’s no pushover. He’s got street smarts and knows how to survive. I have every one of the Harry Dresden books and love them all. The latest in the fantasy book series,
Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11) will be released in April.
If you know of a good fantasy book that would appeal to men please feel free to add it to the comments section below so I can research it and add it to the list.
[...] Vampire Books for Men Categories : New Fantasy Books [...]
I have to disagree. Here’s one 30-something guy who reads action chick-lit. For myself, I read urban fantasy (starting with Anita Blake, of course) because I enjoy strong chicks who kick ass. It’s sexy and entertaining. It’s not so much the fantasy elements, though I am a sucker for vampires of all kinds. I like tough chicks, and these books tend to deliver — except Twilight, but I blame bad writing and characterization, not the subject matter, and I have yet to read the other three. . .
Hey Derrick, thanks for offering an alternative viewpoint!
You have any updates to this page. Looking for next series to get on audiobook.
I have finished all Jim Butchers, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, audiobooks. I have just finished the Ilona Andrews audiobook 1&2 working on 3rd and have 4th as the next listen. Twilight was a little too much romance for my taste. Any direction (audiobook wise haha) you or your readers can send me would help.
Try these:
-The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs (there are 2 great male werewolf characters in this series)
-The Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn (a great series with werewolves and vampires.)
The Women of the Otherworld Series by Kelly Armstrong stars a female witch in a world where large corporations are run by powerful cabals (managed by human looking demons). This series is top notch and has lots of well written action.
Hope this helps!
I actually agree with Derrick.. I have read the Twilight series (which i didnt mind but wasnt sucked into). But the Sookie Stackhouse novels and other series such as the Rachel Morgan, Anita Blake, Mercy Thompson, Luna Wilder by Caitlin Kittredge, The Alpha & Omega novels and currently the Fever series… There is just something about reading about such a strong, independant and sexy women taking the lead over these werewolf, vampire and etc. men. Funny thing is my g/f still cant believe how sucked into these novels I have become
Well ‘guys’ you certainly wont need to look very hard to find books (especially fantasy) about strond female characters, everytime I go into any book store most fiction books are about women even if a man is the author. I’m not putting down books about women, far from it, it’s just that it is becoming increasingly harder to find books with a male main character. I also have found that it is almost impossible to find an overall smart male main character, it sometimes seems like they intentionally dumb the male character down on purpose to where he has the IQ of a father on a comedy sitcom. I get that probably more women read than men, especially fantasy books, but I think more male authors should write with a male lead instead of a female lead mainly because literature doesn’t need any more female leads or dumb male ones. Literature already has both female and dumb male leads in spades and extremely few smart capable male ones. It will be an awful awful day when authors bow down before popular opinion. Thus ends my lengthy diatribe. Thank you if you have read this far and please consider what I have said.
Tony- I do understand your frustration, now you know how women used to feel when looking for books with strong female characters! But to answer your comment, have you read anything by Raymond Feist? He does heroic fantasy and the main characters are always guys, smart guys. If you have never read his books, a good place to start would be Magician. He must have over twenty novels out by this point, I met him years ago when he was starting out and he is a fine writer. You may find more books to your liking in that style of fantasy, which tends to be populated more by the strong smart hero than in many of the fantasy novels we look at here. You have made me realize I need to start including more of these for the guys in our readership. Thanks so much for bringing this up!