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Fantasy novel cover art is often wonderful and awful and laughable in a way that is independent of the actual content of the book its trying to sell. These are 12 of the clearest cases where you definitely shouldn’t let it put you off.
The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks
What you expect: An emo ninja with a ponytail cuts himself with an expensive knife and then broods about how misunderstood he is. Mists swirl.
What you get: A deftly paced story full of well-developed characters who do unexpected things with a nifty little magic system based around manipulating different spectrums of light.
The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
What you expect: A photorealistic costume shop owner with an actual pirate earring from what you thought pirates were like when you were in preschool tries to learn how to use Photoshop's “Curves” function, fails.
What you get: Totally riveting heist story set in a marvelously decadent fantasy city. Thieves, revenge, a smattering of swordplay, and a crime caper on an epic scale.
The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett
What you expect: A monk with bad eczema goes for a walk in the desert to be sad.
What you get: Demons! Magic! A world in peril! The awesome nightmare demons come out as soon as the sun goes down to terrorize a shattered society and only one man has the will to learn the secret that will stop them. So. Much. Fun.
The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordon
Also, pretty much any of the books in this series, but The Great Hunt is particularly special.
What you expect: The nerds at your Junior High band camp throw a costume party.
What you get: The nerds at your Junior High band camp throw a costume party but it ends up being really fun. OK, not really. This is the second most popular selling fantasy series of all time for a reason: It's vast and epic and packed with adventure and mythology that will keep you engaged for thousands of pages. A million nerd points if you can read all 14 of these though.
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