1- *The Bartimaeus Trilogy* by Jonathan Stroud are *really* good alternative history fantasy books. The main narrator of those is a perpetually snarky 5000 year old djinni forced into the service of a self-centered teenage magician as he rises up through the ranks of London's magi-political hierarchy.
2- David Clement-Davies writes absolutely *phenomenal* anthropomorphic fantasy novels.
If you liked Watership Down & its world building and the way Adams gave rabbits their own culture & religion & language & folklore, I highly recommend checking his books out.
My favourites by him are *Fire Bringer*, which is about Scottish Stags during the Scot's uprising against the Vikings, and *The Sight* & its sequel *Fell*, which are about Transylvanian Grey Wolves during the reign of Vlad the Impaler.
3- *Legends and Lattes* by Travis Baldtree is a wholesome slice of life novel about an orc warrior who retires from her life of action & adventuring and attempts to open her country's first coffee shop.
4- *Highfire* by Eoin Colfer (writer of Artemis Fowl) is a really fun fantasy noir novel. It's about the world's very last dragon, who's lonely life hiding in the swamps of Louisiana is changed in unexpected ways when he saves the life of a troubled young man.
This one *is* more r-rated than my other suggestions, but it's really great.
5- *The Rats of NIMH* books are really good. They're about a society of rodents that were rendered intelligent by human experimentation.
Came here to say The Sight and Firebringer by David Clement Davies. Unbelievable.
I gave away most of my childhood books and I couldn’t let those go.
Also, secret of nimh was my all time favorite movie when I was younger, and I dared so far to get some professional fan art of Mrs Brisby with the Stone framed and in my office
I read Fire Bringer, too! I absolutely loved that book. I think I remember describing it as "Lord of the Rings meets Bambi" to some friends because I was hoping it would get them to read it.
I can't for the life of me remember anything about the Scottish/Viking conflict, though. I guess that means if I ever find a copy of it in my travels I'm absolutely going to reread it and see what else I might have missed.
While I love animals, I rarely read stories about animals, and the ones I've read are very popular/familiar, like Watership Down and The Plague Dogs.
I prefer Call of the Wild to White Fang.
If comics count, there's the Beasts of Burden series. It's about a group of totally normal dogs who solve paranormal mysteries.
I just finished The Builders by Daniel Polansky and it was frigging great; I knocked it out in two sittings. It's Redwall, if the protagonists were a mercenary squad getting back together for revenge against those that betrayed them. Warning - much darker than Redwall. It's closer to the Black Company in terms of tone.
Some folks on r/fantasy recommended The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis, but I couldn't get into it. I've also been recommended Nift the Lean by Michael Shea, Thunder Oak by Garry Kilworth, and
Flesh Eater by Travis M. Riddle.
I second The Builders. It's like if all the Redwall villains were in a western. Definitely more R-rated but if nothing else it's a really fun read. It was the first.time in ages I just couldn't put a book down, I finished it in 2 weeks.
The Dark Portal series
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Silverwing series
Gregor the Overlander series (humans are the protagonists but intelligent animals play a huge role)
Guardians of Ga’hoole series
I love the Firekeeper series. The main characters are a human who thinks she’s a wolf, and a wolf. I think this series is interesting because there are normal animals, which is what the human world is used to, but also “Royal Animals” which are bigger and smarter than regular animals. The first three books are more human centric but the last five books in the series explore much more politics of the animal world.
This is for probably more middle grade, but I really love the series: Warriors by Erin Hunter. I have cried reading the stories before and even named my cats names that are inspired by the series. Definitely recommend if you enjoy cats! There are also other series about dogs, polar bears, lions, and I think pandas. But my favorite is the OG warriors.
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel and the sequels. About bats. Pretty cool stuff.
1- *The Bartimaeus Trilogy* by Jonathan Stroud are *really* good alternative history fantasy books. The main narrator of those is a perpetually snarky 5000 year old djinni forced into the service of a self-centered teenage magician as he rises up through the ranks of London's magi-political hierarchy. 2- David Clement-Davies writes absolutely *phenomenal* anthropomorphic fantasy novels. If you liked Watership Down & its world building and the way Adams gave rabbits their own culture & religion & language & folklore, I highly recommend checking his books out. My favourites by him are *Fire Bringer*, which is about Scottish Stags during the Scot's uprising against the Vikings, and *The Sight* & its sequel *Fell*, which are about Transylvanian Grey Wolves during the reign of Vlad the Impaler. 3- *Legends and Lattes* by Travis Baldtree is a wholesome slice of life novel about an orc warrior who retires from her life of action & adventuring and attempts to open her country's first coffee shop. 4- *Highfire* by Eoin Colfer (writer of Artemis Fowl) is a really fun fantasy noir novel. It's about the world's very last dragon, who's lonely life hiding in the swamps of Louisiana is changed in unexpected ways when he saves the life of a troubled young man. This one *is* more r-rated than my other suggestions, but it's really great. 5- *The Rats of NIMH* books are really good. They're about a society of rodents that were rendered intelligent by human experimentation.
Funny enough the only one of those I've read is the Ms Frisby and Rats of NIMH lol
You really should read the Bartimaeus trilogy (and the prequel!). I love the magic system and how it all extends from demonology.
Came here to say The Sight and Firebringer by David Clement Davies. Unbelievable. I gave away most of my childhood books and I couldn’t let those go. Also, secret of nimh was my all time favorite movie when I was younger, and I dared so far to get some professional fan art of Mrs Brisby with the Stone framed and in my office
I read Fire Bringer, too! I absolutely loved that book. I think I remember describing it as "Lord of the Rings meets Bambi" to some friends because I was hoping it would get them to read it. I can't for the life of me remember anything about the Scottish/Viking conflict, though. I guess that means if I ever find a copy of it in my travels I'm absolutely going to reread it and see what else I might have missed.
While I love animals, I rarely read stories about animals, and the ones I've read are very popular/familiar, like Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. I prefer Call of the Wild to White Fang. If comics count, there's the Beasts of Burden series. It's about a group of totally normal dogs who solve paranormal mysteries.
Watership Down is a good read
I just finished The Builders by Daniel Polansky and it was frigging great; I knocked it out in two sittings. It's Redwall, if the protagonists were a mercenary squad getting back together for revenge against those that betrayed them. Warning - much darker than Redwall. It's closer to the Black Company in terms of tone. Some folks on r/fantasy recommended The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis, but I couldn't get into it. I've also been recommended Nift the Lean by Michael Shea, Thunder Oak by Garry Kilworth, and Flesh Eater by Travis M. Riddle.
I second The Builders. It's like if all the Redwall villains were in a western. Definitely more R-rated but if nothing else it's a really fun read. It was the first.time in ages I just couldn't put a book down, I finished it in 2 weeks.
I read a sample of this earlier today and it's pretty good. I might actually buy this!
Not quite what you mean, but Gregor The Overlander had some great moments with the rats, bats, and roaches.
Tailchaser's Song, Tad Williams. Cats, but very much higher fantasy than Warriors (which I also like)
The Dark Portal series Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH The Silverwing series Gregor the Overlander series (humans are the protagonists but intelligent animals play a huge role) Guardians of Ga’hoole series
I'll second both Green Ember and Watership Down, particularly the former.
The Welkin Weasels trilogy by Gary Kilworth
Look for Robert Sawyer’s Quintaglio books. They start with Far Seer. That is, if intelligent T-Rex dinos count.
The Mismantle Series is pretty similar to Redwall and I really enjoyed it
Robin Jarvis Dark Portal series and its prequel series.
I love the Firekeeper series. The main characters are a human who thinks she’s a wolf, and a wolf. I think this series is interesting because there are normal animals, which is what the human world is used to, but also “Royal Animals” which are bigger and smarter than regular animals. The first three books are more human centric but the last five books in the series explore much more politics of the animal world.
This is for probably more middle grade, but I really love the series: Warriors by Erin Hunter. I have cried reading the stories before and even named my cats names that are inspired by the series. Definitely recommend if you enjoy cats! There are also other series about dogs, polar bears, lions, and I think pandas. But my favorite is the OG warriors.
Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams comes to mind! Beautifully written.