But this year the souls will not be silenced and they must warn the Emperor. Twin sisters and their bonded beasts must tame damned souls with the help of an imperial guard and a roughish thief. I have included YA fantasy books from high fantasy to low fantasy with differing magic systems. Instead, you get to create a simpler fantasy world and get your next new YA recommendation. Now, worldbuilding is a difficult, arduous process that the following quiz will not fully address. A Fantasy World For a YA Fantasy Recommendation Authors are building worlds in YA fantasy based on wider arrays of myth and it is wonderful. More authors are playing with global mythology and getting published in no small part due to campaigns like We Need Diverse Books that work to improve diversity in publishing so readers can see themselves represented on shelves. Recent fantasy worlds in YA have been inspired by Japanese Yōkai, Persian mythological gods, and West African Yoruba mythology. The birth of humanity, the creation of the world, and the experience of the afterlife often appear in oral traditions around the world. Globally, myth, folklore, and legend have always explored human life in magical and entertaining ways. I like The Lais of Marie De France as much as the next girl, but not every fantasy world needs to have fairies, witches, wizards, and fun shape-shifting hawk-knights (like in Yonec). As a result, readers have long been plagued by white, European-medievalist takes on fantasy worlds. From high fantasy to low fantasy, worldbuilding elements play a vital role in storytelling as they shape the characters and create physical barriers for them to overcome.Īdmittedly, fantasy has had a problem with fostering queer, racially diverse, or gender-diverse authors and stories. Everything from plants and animals to magic systems, legal boundaries, religions, and family dynamics create culture. With worldbuilding, authors can construct new rules of reality. So, why not create a world and get your next YA fantasy recommendation? Building Fantasy Worldsīuilding a fantasy world is objectively difficult in YA and Adult novels. The feel of the world wraps you up like a soft blanket on a fall day. Magic, mystics, and mayhem, oh my! In YA fantasy worlds, the impossible is made possible as teens traverse snowy peaks, explore murky waters, and trek through endless deserts.

Fantastical world