So i wanted to pick up a new fantasy book but im looking for something with a non human hero. (no dark elves either) are there any books were gnomes or dwarves or halflings star in the main role?
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The Orc queen series (by Morgan Howell) has a human female as the protagonist but Orcs play a major role (noble savages). Its not great but not bad either.
The Dhampir series (Barb and J.C Hendree) has a Dhampir heroine and a half-elf assassin sidekick.
Bone (Jeff Smith) (not a novel but a great read) has non-human main characters (sort of like gnomes maybe :p ) and in my opinion should be in every fantasy lovers library.
Dark Lord of Derkholm (Dianne Wynn Jones) and its followup, the Year of the Griffin (which I like better), has Griffin main characters.
David Weber's Bahzell Bahnakson series (Oath of Swords, War God's Own, Wind Rider's Oath) features a race called the Hradani and is a pretty good take on the Paladin genre.
Can't really think though of too many others.
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"The Pig, The Prince and the Unicorn" (Karen A. Brush) stars a magic pig on an epic quest and has a different take on the whole saving the world from evil scenario.
Dennis L McKiernan's "Iron Tower Trilogy" features protagonists very much like halflings (very much modeled on Tolkien's hobbits).
"Rats, Bats and Vats" (Eric Flint, Daivd Freer) though Sci-fi not fantasy features intelligent Rats and Bats fighting alongside a human clone (vat) grunt.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
thanx heath. guess i shoulda seen that one coming
Bone (Jeff Smith) (not a novel but a great read) has non-human main characters (sort of like gnomes maybe :p ) and in my opinion should be in every fantasy lovers library.
just looked that up on amazon and if you hadnt recomended it i would have closed the window based on cover art alone. after reading the description however i must say im interested
Anne Bishop's Tir Alain series has a good mix of human and nonhuman heroes and heroines. The Gatherer of Souls will always be a favorite character of mine. A little thick on the "female empowerment" though. Nothing wrong with that, but after a point it might wear on you.
Elizabeth Hayden's Symphony of Ages has another mix of human and nonhuman, with two of the main characters half-breeds and neither with a drop of human blood in them. The Sergeant-Major is what I'll now always think of when I envision a high-level fighter, and what a half-ogre might be like. Ahmed is what I want to play an assassin like, for that matter.
David Coe did a series whose name escapes me: Seeds of Betrayal is one of them. Winds of the Forelands or something like that. Lots of nonhuman characters of the alternate human race in there.
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just looked that up on amazon and if you hadnt recomended it i would have closed the window based on cover art alone. after reading the description however i must say im interested
Bone is critically aclaimed - and very well deserving IMO of all of the praise it gets. It will make you laugh and cry both.
If you can, obtain the big One Volume black and white edition (Cartoon Books). Scholastic has color editions of the first few parts but I do not believe they have colored the whole series yet.
The Shannara books by Terry Brooks You have alot of Elves and Half-Elves not many little folk tho.
Fizz
The Shannara books by Terry Brooks You have alot of Elves and Half-Elves not many little folk tho.
Fizz
yeah, i acctually listened to those on cd on my comute to and from dc about a year ago. the reason i started this thread to be honest
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I highly recommend the Bahzell series, begining with "Oath of Swords" by David Weber.
main character is Hradani, which is similar to, but not half orc. Very tragic, very funny. One of the best worlds I have ever seen.
And, books 1 and 2 (of 3 at present) are available free and www.baen.com, though in online form
The Spellsinger Series by Alan Dean Foster has a bunch of anthropomorphic good guys (and baddies too). A older turtle wizard (with drawers in his shell tummy), and a randy weasel sidekick are two examples.
If you're ok with 'kids stuff', Lloyd Alexander "Cat who Wished to be a Man" is really cool, Brian Jacques "Redwall" series is even more animal based with mice, cats, sparrows, rats, and other animals taking on roles, pseudonym Erin Hunter "Warriors" series deals with feuding cats, the "Oz" books have ALL kinds of non-humans
Thats all I can think of right now.
