Clean Reads discussion

Does anyone know of any (at least) moderately clean fantasy, historical fantasy or fiction and the like? not YA, just regular adult. Romance is okay, but not as the main plot. Thanks!

I really liked Christopher Paolini's Inheritance books. I read them a few years ago but remember them as quite clean.

Connie Willis writes clean adult historical fantasy. At least the ones I have read. I loved her books.

For fantasy I recommend the Mistborn series.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clark

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova (It's a vampire novel, but the gore level is pretty restrained--not any worse than the original Bram Stoker Dracula. There are a couple of scenes with partial nudity and/or fade to black, but they make up 2-5 pages out of a 600+ page book; I think closer to 2 than 5, perhaps even less than 2, but hard for me to estimate well because I read it on my ereader).

books by Stephen R. Lawhead

Till We Have Faces, The Screwtape Letters, and The Space Trilogy (book 1: Perelandra), by C.S. Lewis

A Voyage to Arcturus, by David Lindsay

Phantastes, by George MacDonald

His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik

Some of Shakespeare, when you think about it--for instance, Macbeth, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Also some of his short stories.

The High House, by James Stoddard

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis (this series is about time travel)

The Time Traders, by Andre Norton (time travel/sci-fi)

Anything Brandon Sanderson writes. His book Warbreaker is free on his website if you want to try him out.

Terry Brooks Original Shannara Trilogy, Heritage of Shannara series, and Genesis of Shannara are all well written and quite a bit of fun. The High Druid and Voyage of Jerle Shannara series are also clean but weren't my favorite. Just be warned: his tales aren't very happy and supporting characters will die.

L.B. Graham has some great fantasy allegories.

Anything by Jeff Wheeler has been wonderful and completely clean.

I absolutely loved his The Wretched of Muirwood series.

The Fireblood series was also great.

I felt like the The Queen's Poisoner (Kingfountain) series started slow but built up to favorite status as it went.

Great books for sure!

I just want to second the Shannara series of books. Another great read.

Megan Whalen Turners "The Thief" is a great series. Might be considered YA but it is a favorite for all ages.

Sandy wrote: "Megan Whalen Turners "The Thief" is a great series. Might be considered YA but it is a favorite for all ages."

Oooh yes - I loved the whole series of The Thief!

Seconding C.S. Lewis' Till we Have Faces. Based on the Greek myth of Pschye and Eros, it was my favorite read of last year. Powerfully done and different from his other works. Read it twice and led a book group on it.

Good all-ages time-travel to Arthurian England with wits vs. weapons:

I just finished a delightful series of books, the Mistmantle Chronicles by M.I. McAllister. They are children's books in the tradition of Narnia. Excellent to read aloud to children, but you will enjoy them too!

I just finished listening to the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy, by Robin Hobb, and enjoyed them. They're long and build slowly, but kept my interest with character development and a well-constructed plot. I would rate them PG--at times the violence can be pretty intense, and there are instances of rape and pillage that occur, but are not described.

The Song of Sadie Sparrow This novel's protagonists are three women whose lives intersect in a warm and engaging nursing home called The Hickories. These women represent different generations. They have experienced different sorrows and entertain different hopes. They even adhere to different worldviews, from devoutly Christian to unapologetically atheist. Yet over the course of a single year, they forge unlikely bonds that impact each other’s lives in the here and now—and perhaps for all eternity. "A beautifully written story of friendship set against the backdrop of life’s twilight years, The Song of Sadie Sparrow explores contrasting views of purpose and pardon, life and afterlife—and faith’s role in shaping those views, now and forevermore."

I am enjoying the series by Karen Musser Nortman about a time travel camper/trailer.

Feel free to browse my Fantasy shelves~https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Stephen R. Lawhead writes great clean fantasies. My absolute favorite is the Song of Albion trilogy. The Skin Map (first of a series) is great. I enjoyed Taliesin but he kind of lost me in the sequels. But they are definitely going to be clean.

Becoming Malka Time travel via a mystical tarot card to 1900 Ukraine.

I loved this series:
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik.

Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. (As best as I can recollect) was clean.

Anything by Jeff Wheeler!

Brandon Sanderson's books are excellent. I'm reading The Stormlight Archive series right now and really enjoying them!

Check out Lloyd Alexander, Patricia McKillip, definitely C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces and Megan Whalen Turner as others said. Diana Wynne Jones' Dalemark quartet, Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence. For historical fiction I like Edward Rutherford, though they are not entirely clean and some sections can be dry. I also like Sharon Kay Pennman, though again not 100% clean. I love Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish historical fiction. Someone said The Historian and I second that - such a good one.

Jones and Cooper may be considered YA - that line is pretty blurry for me. When something is really good I consider it plain old fiction! Also Higgs has romance for sure. Sorry - just re-read the initial request.

Brandon Sanderson does NOT write squeaky clean. They are lots cleaner than much fantasy (the reason I have mostly veered away from fantasy) but you will be disappointed if you think they are super clean.

The six book Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan.

Has anyone read "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden?

Chris wrote: "Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. (As best as I can recollect) was clean."

This is definitely not clean. I've tried on FOUR separate occasions to read the first book because of all of the hype, but ended up putting it down each time because of the graphic sexual content (not the same scene, but different times as I would try to continue in hopes there would not be any more).

Catherine wrote: "The six book Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan."

While these are incredibly good books, and are generally very clean, the prequel series (Riyria Chronicles) has moments of graphic scenes, particularly rape.

I'm looking for new high fantasy authors / series that are intelligent and adventurous. I like authors like Brandon Sanderson, Michael J. Sullivan, Robert Jordan, James Islington, and I would love a series like Ryan Cahill's "The Bound and Broken" with less language. Any suggestions?

Abigail wrote: "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clark

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova (It's a vampire novel, but the gor..."

However, some of these are quite dark, such as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell so if you are looking for clean books that aren't dark (not saying Christian--I personally am not comfortable with Christian fantasy!). Even A Christmas Carol is dark til the end, but it's clean!

Heather wrote: "I loved this series:
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik."

I wouldn't call these clean in the stricter sense, so it depends on your comfort level :)

There is a lot of violence in them, in part because it's also an alternate history and is set during the Naopleonic war, etc. I have been reading them and have not liked them all equally the same. It's not the most graphic violence, but not really left to the imagination, either.

I highly recommend these Fantasy books!
The Storm and Spire Series: Magnify
The Kingdom of Dragons series: The Kingdom of Dragons
Sword and Serpent trilogy: Sword and Serpent