Question for those who have read the Carousel books

[rolanni]

Before I ask the question, I shall Issue a Warning.  To wit:

BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE QUESTION, THE ANSWERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.  IF YOU OBJECT TO SPOILERS, DON'T READ THE ANSWERS!

This is the only Warning that will be issued.  Thank you for your attention.

Off in Another Part of the Internet, someone has observed that the Carousel books are to Urban Fantasy as Cozy Mysteries are to Hardboiled Detective.  They further wonder if there is a subgenre of Cozy Fantasy, which I believe there is not, though I'm willing be proved wrong.

Most importantly, however, is the request for More Like This from other authors -- which is to say, now that he has finished the Carousel books he would like to read more books like them -- and asks for titles.

Now, I'm derned if I know of anything just exactly like the Carousel books -- I was trying for a Certain Deliberate Effect, and I think I pretty much hit it (in case there was any doubt, I'm rather proud of the Carousel books).  I could offer a list of anti-Carousel books, by which I mean those books that the Carousel books were written to. . .refute.  But, with the exception of maybe deLint, sorta-sometimes, I'm coming up blank on the "if-you-liked-this-then-you'll-like-that."

So! for those who have read at least two of the Carousel books (those being, in order of publication and event: Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, and Carousel Seas) -- can you help a fellow reader out with authors/titles/subgenres?

Thanks!

Comments

[ohlibn.livejournal.com]

First I need to say that yes, Archers Beach is an incredible place and the Carousel series is work to be proud of! As a librarian, I use it as a gateway to younger readers and adults just starting to explore the speculative genre, and it's proven to resonate with adults who already read SFF as well.

Speaking only for myself, when I wrote The Author asking for more in the Carousel series after Tides was released, it was because the story invoked a type of world I had thought lost with the passing of Andre Norton. Some of her Witch World series, specifically the first, where Simon Tregarth crosses the portal, and The Key of the Keplian. Ross Murdock in the Time Travellers, and Steel (or Gray) Magic, when two modern-day children travel back in time to the days of King Arthur. I'm having trouble describing the appeal, maybe because I grew up with those stories and they were familiar, but also magical somehow, in their worldbuilding and the characters' ability to move between worlds.

Also some of Mary Stewart like Touch Not The Cat, and Thornyhold, along with the Merlin Chronicles. A hint of Something Other, deliciously thrilling without being too scary.

To the list of Urban (but not Cozy) Fantasy that evoke a similar mindset, I would add Seanan McGuire's October Daye. Toby lives in San Francisco and is half-Elven and half human, with conflicting loyalties and responsibilities in both realms. Nothing is exactly like your Carousel series, but I think that one comes closest in being introspective without being noirish.