I’ve recently gotten into reading. I realised how much I love fiction, and a couple of tropes. So I’m here asking maybe some of you know any books that have them.

I love it when the story focuses more on world building rather than character. The theory crafting I can do in my head, or just before I sleep, is priceless.

Here I’ll contradict myself by saying a character development related point, but the more important one. I’d like to read more works that show some mysterious big-bad first as a rivalry, later as a friend. They soften up with the MC and we they become friends or allies or whatever. We get to see a BBEG of sorts’s friendly and weak side. I get that it’s a bit childish, but I lost my mind of how cool of a character they made the first time I read it. Now, it was in a manga, so I’d love to read an example that made this best or first.

Thank you in advance, even if you just name some genres or authors.

  • L3dpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    I thought dark tower was okay, but it was a bit too surreal for me towards the end.

    Might I recommend the Mortal Engines quartet? They’re kinda YA, especially the first one, but the setting is as far as I know completely unique, and beyond amazing. I really don’t want to spoil the first few moments of realization, so I’m just going to put the first two passages below.

    Also, many of the BBEGs are cool af and (spoiler for the later books) as least one matches your request exactly, while others match it pretty well.

    Honestly I love the characters, they work so well. Especially Tom, he’s the most normal everyday lead I’ve ever read in a fantasy/sci-fi book, and yet all his actions are totally believable.

    My only complaint is that book 2 is kind of frustrating in places.

    First two passages:

    It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.

    In happier times, London would never have bothered with such feeble prey. The great Traction City had once spent its days hunting far bigger towns than this, ranging north as far as the edges of the Ice Waste and south to the shores of the Mediterranean. But lately prey of any kind had started to grow scarce, and some of the larger cities had begun to look hungrily at London. For ten years now it had been hiding from them, skulking in a damp mountainous, western district which the Guild of Historians said had once been the island of Britain. For ten years it had eaten nothing but tiny farming towns and static settlements in those wet hills. Now, at last, the Lord Mayor had decided that the time was right to take his city back over the land-bridge into the Great Hunting Ground.

    • UnRelatedBurner@sh.itjust.worksOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      I thirst for befriending “bad” guys, so you sold me. Rest of the text was wasted /j. I won’t even read reviews, I trust you stranger.

      • L3dpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        Please get back to me with your impressions, especially on the “befriending bad guys” side. I’d love to know (even if you end up disliking it)!

        • UnRelatedBurner@sh.itjust.worksOP
          1·
          2 months ago

          Well, just finished reading the first book. I took my sweet time lol. If I have to give a one sentance review I’d say that “I’d like to like it”. The ending was very good, and I’m looking forward for their andventures. However all of part one and the first half of part two were spiteful.

          The main characters survived everything with plot armor, they all should have died. >!When they got thrown off a multi story moving city, soft ground is a bullshit excuse, there weren’t even injured. Later Kate asked the antagonist about his secret evil plans, and were just sent away, Tom got “killed”. You could argue they just got lucky or “you wouldn’t be reading about them if nothing extraordinary happened”. But you can’t even argue that a terminator just shut down, it’s batteries emptied, JUST when it was about to kill Hester. And Tom was praised, he got bitch slapped, and almost died!!< I also feel like the charscter development was a little bumpy, but it’s talking about scenarios that I never faced before or ever thought about, so instead of criticising it maybe I should learn from it? Still, at the end characters started dropping like flies, it was supposed to be emotinal, but because of the above mentioned reasons it didn’t feel impactful. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. The writer wrapped things up so well, that I’m looking forward of the next piece.

          Long wall of text over. I was expecting some high fantasy sort, with the bbeg criteria, but I didn’t know that a post-post-apocalyptic world goes this hard. While none of my negatives have any weight if you factor in the fact that this is probably a kid’s book.

          Shaw reminds me of Silksong…

          • L3dpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            Hey, thank you so much for the wall of text!

            Yes, most of what you mentioned is what I was vaguely including with the term “YA.” I’ve read a lot of it so I’m very inured to the silly tropes and unlikely and dramatic deus ex machinas. It’s great to hear your negatives because I’m seeing my own blind spots!

            I think your criticism is valid. I don’t think it’d be correct to call any impression-based criticism invalid. Doesn’t mean one can’t also learn from it. Additionally, the negatives might make sense in context of it being YA, but that doesn’t make them weightless imo.

            I liked the second book the least by far, but maybe it’ll be different for you. I’m sorry the BBEG wasn’t up to snuff, I was absolutely convinced. Maybe books 3/4 will do it but it’s mostly in the same vein. I’m glad you still enjoyed it!

            I’m not familiar with Hollow Knight, but if you say there’s similarity maybe I should be…

            • UnRelatedBurner@sh.itjust.worksOP
              1·
              2 months ago

              Lol, my last line was a joke. A shot in the dark hoping you might get it. In the game Hollow Knight, there is a character called Hornet. She’s getting a whole game, called Silksong. Anyways, the game only has sounds as voiceacting and Hornet says “Shaw” a lot. (You can try searching “Hornet Shaw” on Youtube if you’re curious, but I warn you of the brainrot, the community is insane)

              I already started with book#2. Was just planning on reading it a bit when I noticed your reply. It’s written way to well for me to just drop it. I’ll (try to) drop by when I’m done.