# Clean fantasy?



## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

I am looking for clean fantasy reads, preferably indie but I'd check out trad as well. No sex, no cussing. Please share your recommendations!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Any of the 3 dozen or so "Discworld" books by Terry Pratchett. (There is a very little bit of relatively mild profanity in some of them, but never an "f-bomb".) If you are not big into heroic fantasy (swords and sorcery stuff), I might suggest starting with _Wyrd Sisters_ or _Guards! Guards!_, as they are the respective beginnings of the two best story arcs (IMO) and are when his writing really began to be masterful. The very first books, starting with _The Color of Magic_, are in large part parodies of the genre, and tend not to be as accessible to those who don't read a lot of epic fantasy and thus don't get the jokes.


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## LunaraSeries (Jun 19, 2011)

Not indie but the Myth series by Robert Aspirin is excellent.  About a young magician, his dragon, and his demon mentor.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

While only the first Trilogy and the last three books are kindlized so far, Katherine Kurtz' Deryni Series are wonderful examples of High Fantasy. You can start with the first Trilogy, The Chronicles of the Deryni - Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate and High Deryni. Of the other three, two you can read right away after this series (_Childe Morgan_ and _In the King's Service_) and one won't really make sense without the trilogies that come before it ... and then you can wait anxiously with the rest of the fantasy geeks for the second trilogy, The Legends of Saint Camber, to come out.

These are set in a world that closely resembles 12th century England but with a race of magic users, the Deryni, who are shunned by humans and banned by the Church. They're really wonderful novels. Katherine Kurtz isn't indie by any means, but I really love her writing.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Seeing the title of this thread I had a mental image that you wanted a fantasy about


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## gatehouseauthor (Apr 22, 2011)

Well, though they are YA books, I do enjoy the Artemis Fowl series.  Yes, they are geared toward younger readers, but I find them to be a very entertaining read.

There's also a lot of Piers Anthony's early Xanth novels.  His later ones became a little more risque, but the early ones (A Spell for Chameleon is the first) are fairly tame in regard to innuendo and swearing.

Raymond Feist's Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master are relatively free of swearing, and there's no sex per se... there is a bit of romance, and it's clear that physical relationships happen, but they're not described in detail.

And (I always hesitate to do this... and I probably should hesitate even now...) since you said you would prefer indies, there's always The Door to Canellin.  There's absolutely no sex, and while there are a couple of instances of h-e-double-hockeysticks, and a damn or two, that's pretty much the extent of the swearing.  And yes, the reason I hesitate is because it's mine... so that's my full disclosure on that recommendation! 

I'm actually wracking my brain here... I have dozens of fantasy novels that I like to suggest to readers.  But while it's not hard to find them without much swearing, it's very difficult to find them without sex or sexual innuendo of some kind.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> Seeing the title of this thread I had a mental image that you wanted a fantasy about


LOL! That would be a fun book to read, wouldn't it? 

Thanks everyone, and keep the recommendations coming. _Discworld_ is great, I agree. I've wanted to check out _Artemis Fowl_ for a while, I do like YA.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Steven Brust's "Khaavren Romances" (in the original literary sense of "romance", not the current genre) are good books that I think meet the criteria. Definitely no strong profanity, I don't remember for sure if there was any on the milder side, but I don't think so; and no sex, just a bit of romance and maybe occasional suggestions that something else went on. They are written as a sort of loving parody of Dumas' "Musketeer" books, but set in a fantasy world with magical powers.


The Phoenix Guards
​ Five Hundred Years After
​


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## kcrady (Dec 17, 2009)

Don't forget about the wonderful Tales of Alterra trilogy by our own Kindleboards author Archer (C. J. Marks)!


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## Budo von Stahl (Aug 31, 2010)

Martin Scott's Thraxas books, Brian Jaques' Redwall series, Dennis MacKiernan's Iron Tower, David Eddings' books would all fit that bill for the trad entries, and I would suggest pulling samples for Indie choices.  Sampling Indies from the comfort of home is even more enjoyable than an afternoon romp through the mall to get to the last bookstore standing.


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## SJCress (Jun 5, 2011)

_The Books of Pellinor_ by award-winning Australian poet Allison Croggon. A wonderful story and gorgeous prose (and it's technically YA, so it's clean).

Though I'm going to have to pull some samples of these indie choices now, myself


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

NogDog said:


> Steven Brust's "Khaavren Romances" (in the original literary sense of "romance", not the current genre) are good books that I think meet the criteria. Definitely no strong profanity, I don't remember for sure if there was any on the milder side, but I don't think so; and no sex, just a bit of romance and maybe occasional suggestions that something else went on. They are written as a sort of loving parody of Dumas' "Musketeer" books, but set in a fantasy world with magical powers.


This sounds like something I would absolutely love. Thanks!

The Elfhunter books - YES! I've read them and enjoyed them greatly. They are a perfect example of what I'm looking for. And the first one is only $0.99!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Laura Lond said:


> I am looking for clean fantasy reads, preferably indie but I'd check out trad as well. No sex, no cussing. Please share your recommendations!


Do you care if they are violent?


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Krista D. Ball said:


> Do you care if they are violent?


Well... I guess it depends on how it is depicted. Very graphic? With every detail carefully relayed? That might be hard for me. Using the already mentioned Tales of Alterra trilogy as an example - there is a character in it who enjoys torturing creatures of a certain race. That's his whole life purpose - to catch, torture, and kill as many of them as he can. So there are many cases of that in the books, but they are never shown in a graphic way. I could deal with that.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Hmm, I'm not sure then. The only one I can think of is Percy Jackson at the moment...


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm going to suggest a series of kids books, but they are a clean and fun read.

Rangers Apprentice by J Flanagan. 

I think the first book is The Ruins of Gorlan. 

If you like traditional fantasy give these are go. I suspect you'll enjoy them. I basically never read kids or YA books, but this series has hooked me. I'm currently up to book 5.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Thanks Colin! I like a well-written kiddie book, so I'll definitely check these out.


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

Great! I think you'll love them!


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

Hmm, seems to be the DEFAULT that fantasy novels have little to no cussing and sex. It would almost be easier to rule out authors. For example, no George Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks or Terry Brooks. But IIRC Tadd Williams' series "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" and the Shadow ones are very clean, as is of course Eddings, McKiernan, at least the Dragonlance era Weis and Hickman, and Greg Keyes, to my memory. I don't recall much actual sex or modern cursing in Glen Cook's "Black Company" or Steve Erikson's Malazan works, but they are very adult in tone, which is probably the thing that is actually putting you off rather than the specific content. Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series does eventually include some sex, but I don't think it was explicit at all and involved characters in multi-book relationships so it is about as "family approved" as you can get. Patrick Rothfuss's "Name of the wind" is fairly clean, though I don't recall if they curse (which probably means they do).

It would be nice if the kindle reaches a point where words could be swapped out by the reader, that would at least  eliminate the foul language. Allowing highlighters to "black out" portions of text would do for the sex. I wouldn't participate, but it would be nice to help folks like you and would open up entire realms of otherwise fantastic fiction. This seems like it would be very easy to do given the tech already in the kindle.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

jason10mm said:


> Hmm, seems to be the DEFAULT that fantasy novels have little to no cussing and sex. It would almost be easier to rule out authors. For example, no George Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks or Terry Brooks. But IIRC Tadd Williams' series "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" and the Shadow ones are very clean, as is of course Eddings, McKiernan, at least the Dragonlance era Weis and Hickman, and Greg Keyes, to my memory. I don't recall much actual sex or modern cursing in Glen Cook's "Black Company" or Steve Erikson's Malazan works, but they are very adult in tone, which is probably the thing that is actually putting you off rather than the specific content. Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series does eventually include some sex, but I don't think it was explicit at all and involved characters in multi-book relationships so it is about as "family approved" as you can get. Patrick Rothfuss's "Name of the wind" is fairly clean, though I don't recall if they curse (which probably means they do).
> 
> It would be nice if the kindle reaches a point where words could be swapped out by the reader, that would at least eliminate the foul language. Allowing highlighters to "black out" portions of text would do for the sex. I wouldn't participate, but it would be nice to help folks like you and would open up entire realms of otherwise fantastic fiction. This seems like it would be very easy to do given the tech already in the kindle.


Well, Tolkien, of course, is about as clean as it gets.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

jason10mm said:


> Hmm, seems to be the DEFAULT that fantasy novels have little to no cussing and sex.


That's what I thought. Until I saw a cover for a fantasy book with two guys kissing, followed by a description that talked about them having sex.

Tolkien - yes, of course.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Laura Lond said:


> That's what I thought. Until I saw a cover for a fantasy book with two guys kissing, followed by a description that talked about them having sex.
> 
> Tolkien - yes, of course.


Oh ... well there is that ... all the Paranormal Romance and such seem to be appearing in the regular Fantasy searches at Amazon .... I know those are from multiple genres, but I also get surprised when I see one out of the 'Romance' or 'Gay Romance' departments ... even when I do read some of those books.


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## 9Lanterns (Jun 11, 2011)

I have been reading this series about a young wizard named Harry.  I'm up to book 6, and so far, there has been no sex or cussing.  I think this author could really use the support, so check her out when you get a chance!


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## Bailey Bristol (Mar 22, 2011)

Are you looking for contemporary or historical?
If you like historical, or ancient settings, you might check out any Juliet Marillier has written. Especially her Sevenwaters series.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Laura Lond said:


> I am looking for clean fantasy reads, preferably indie but I'd check out trad as well. No sex, no cussing. Please share your recommendations!


_The Wheel of Time_ series by Robert Jordan and Brenden Sanderson (sp?) has no cussing. There's no sex until about halfway through the series and then it's closed door (no descriptions or anything).

Also, Karen Miller's _Innocent Mage_ books (if I remember correctly) are sex and swearing free.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Laura Lond said:


> That's what I thought. Until I saw a cover for a fantasy book with two guys kissing, followed by a description that talked about them having sex.
> 
> Tolkien - yes, of course.


I should have thought of it sooner. This one is indie:

Edward C. Patterson's The Jade Owl is a sort of modern _Lord of the Rings_ with a modern setting, much of it taking place in China which makes it very unusual. It has no on-screen sex, and I don't remember any cussing (there may have been an occasional 'damn' when someone got hurt), however, a couple of the characters are openly gay, so if that's a problem it might not work for you. Having gay characters doesn't necessarily mean something is a romance.


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## Jeff Rivera (Jun 22, 2011)

Tolkien is very clean and I second that recommendation. Aside from Harry Potter you should definitely check out YA fantasy books - there are tons of great ones out there, many of which were already mentioned in this thread.


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## SSantore (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm reading _The Golden Acorn_ by Catherine Cooper right now. The main character is very young, so this may be more of a older children book, but so far, it's well done, and clean.


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## TheSFReader (Jan 20, 2011)

Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar, while quite YAdulty, is quite pleasing.


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