During one of my more-regular-than-they-should-be browsings of the Waterstone’s website, I found this guide:
www.waterstones.com/wat/images/special/promo/sci_fi_guide_09.pdf
Although science fiction isn’t really my thing, I am very weak when it comes to fantasy, much to my other half’s amusement, and this ‘guide’ is brilliant!
It’s designed for people who are new to the genre, people who have never tried it before or even people who have got stuck in a fantasy rut and gives a brief description of each sub-genre (I know, who knew there were so many?!) before recommending books to start off with. The best bit for me is the ‘If you like this, you’ll love..’ which kindly recommends new authors to try in genres you’ve discovered that you like.
My favourites are, as I now know, ‘urban fantasy’ and ‘heroic, epic and high fantasy fiction’ – cool, eh?
The down side being, I really didn’t need anybody to give me any more books to lust after…