It's only 2 books long and each book is under 300 pages. The way the book is written is very easy to follow.
I was very unwell for some time and listened to the audiobook while huddling in bed and could still follow the plot. It was great.
Basically most books by her is easy to read and follow. I don't really know whether to recommend her books at times because she's not that great, but she's not terrible either. Her biggest strength is just how easy to follow everything is while still being somewhat humourous and entertaining.
I do genuinely like the world she has built though.
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. It's a series of 10 books. First 5 are from the POV of a single character, next 5 are from the POV of a different character. Each book is about 175-200 pages. Very easy to get through. Forgive the sometimes cheesy book covers - series was written in the 70s.
The rough, overarching plot of the entire series is that Amber is the only real city that exists, and every other city is just a shadow or distortion of Amber. The main character is from an immortal family (though not invulnerable - the family members can be mutilated and killed) who have been sabotaging one another for millenia to curry favor with their father (the king), in order to become THE successor to the throne of Amber.
Although it's fantasy, it gets really psychedelic and occasionally sci-fi since every city that you can imagine exists will exist in this multiverse, and the main characters do a lot of sliding to other versions of Amber in order to escape from or chase down each other, or rally armies to invade (and Earth is just a shadow of Amber, or an imitation of the one, true city).
The Wayward Children is a series of novellas by Seanan McGuire about what happens after you come back from Narnia/Wonderland. The characters happen to be high school aged, but it isn't YA by my understanding. The first in the series is called Every Heart a Doorway and might be worth checking out.
I'd suggest anything by Robert Rankin. Most of his novels are self-contained, although with recurring characters, settings, plot elements and running jokes that get funnier or more interesting the more you encounter them, but the order isn't particularly important (outside of a few connected series').
Many of the book titles are pretty cringe puns, but the wiring itself is much wittier and some of the most inventive fantasy / magical realism.
I picked up one of his books off a library shelf purely because the title font on the spine made me think of Terry Pratchett. Loved it and ended up buying a heap of his work over the years.
You might enjoy the Earthsea series by Ursula K LeGuin. Some of them have won children's book awards, they're easy to read but can get quite dark. I wouldn't describe them as YA.
A 300 page hard cap is difficult for non-YA (unless the font size is small!) I strongly suggest looking for novellas rather than novels. For example, The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson is 192 pages on paperback. You could see what gets nominated for the various prestigious awards on the novella category.
Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone) is great. Magic is basically lawyering so there are "firms" of 'magicians' headed by immortal skeletons. Cool noir-steampunk vibe, a god is dead so it hired someone to resurrect it / find who killed it, how it died.
Mercy Thompson series is pretty good. Main character is a Native American coyote shapeshifter, werewolves/vampires/fae crime/drama in present day Kennewick, WA, which was admittedly only a draw personally because I've lived around there so it was kinda trippy. There is a segue to basically an aged up YA plot around book 8, but the author apparently took the feedback to heart and it backs away from silly relationship tension again after that.
Alex Verus is IMO a British/better Dresden Files. It also has the benefit of being done instead of ongoing.
River's of London is a bit longer than you're asking for, but London cop discovers magic is real and the British 'magic secret service department' has one wizard left and joins up.
You sure no Discworld? :)
The Riyria Revelations are fun enough. Thief and a Mercenary adventuring around a fantasy world.
The Vlad Taltos novels are fun if you don't take them seriously. They're basically a guy describing how awesome his homebrew D&D character is in his homebrew world.
The Iron Druid Chronicles are another "kinda Dresden Files", but a Druid in Arizona.
Most of the others I can think of / find in my reading list are ~500 pages, The Rook, Sixty-One Nails, Six of Crows (though that does tend more YA, much less than the rest of the Shadow & Bone books, it's a heist).
'Orcenomics' by J. Zachary Pike (first book of this short series) is a funny, fun, and easy read. It's satirical fantasy, but more on the light-hearted side too.
'Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests (Vol. 1)' by Neven Iliev (first book in a currently 10 book series)
Very fun, funny, but at times pretty dark humor, read. The MC is a psychotic treasure chest-shaped mimic that gains sentience in a dungeon one day due a bunch of crazy coincidences. Self-described as a fun-loving murder hobo, lol. Everything is over the top, and gets quite a bit dirty at times, but is self-aware of doing so, which makes it not too icky (for me at least).
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir is an absolute riotous good time. The series opens with Gideon the Ninth, described on the cover as "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted mansion in space". It means towards Science-Fantasy rather than pure fantasy, but is one of the best new series I've picked up in a long time. Currently there books are out, with the final installment to be released in January 2024.
If that doesn't sound like your thing I'd suggest Lies of Locke Lamora, it's a more straightforward fantasy adventure novel that's delightfully well written and one of the strongest opening sections I've read in a fantasy novel.
You might consider picking up some anthologies. I’d suggest the Legends anthologies edited by Robert Silverberg. These books contain several short stories by authors you are probably familiar with like George RR Martin, Ursula K LeGuin, Anne McCaffery, Terry Goodkind, Stephen King, and Terry Pratchett.
I know what you mean. I also felt the need for something light between Malazan's heavy tomes.
For a quick but still satisfying and often humorous read I'd recommend K.J. Parker's Saloninus series. It's three standalone novellas at around 100-120 pages each. The protagonist is dubbed the greatest philosopher of all time, but he is more a con man than anything else.
For something a bit longer, but still a light read at 350 pages, you can find Parker's Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City.
Otherwise, you can always look to the classic Sword and Sorcery genre. They're straight forward, no-nonsense and entertaining. Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is a good place to start.
I also agree on the suggestions for Sanderson's novellas, Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries and The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.
The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander might fit what you're looking for. Somewhere between Narnia and Middle Earth, it's the series that inspired Disney's infamous The Black Cauldron. The whole series is only about 5 or 6 books long and they're significantly better than the Disney film, which is the first two books roughly stitched together. There aren't a huge number of characters and the books have a fun fantastic, though generally not too heavy-handed feel. The story continues significantly beyond what's presented in the film as Taran ultimately goes through the Hero's Journey. It's a favorite of mine, I recommend at least the first installment, The Book of Three to give it a try.
I think it was back in middle school that I stumbled upon & read the 1960s Tripods series by John Christopher. I read the main three books, but never the prequel.
The story is about humans rebelling from alien enslavement. It’s an easy read that I remember enjoying quite a bit. Each book is about 200 pages.
Clockwork boys by T Kingfisher
https://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Boys-Clocktaur-War-Book-ebook/dp/B0783P29QP
It's only 2 books long and each book is under 300 pages. The way the book is written is very easy to follow.
I was very unwell for some time and listened to the audiobook while huddling in bed and could still follow the plot. It was great.
Basically most books by her is easy to read and follow. I don't really know whether to recommend her books at times because she's not that great, but she's not terrible either. Her biggest strength is just how easy to follow everything is while still being somewhat humourous and entertaining.
I do genuinely like the world she has built though.
The Cradle series by Will Wight sounds perfect for you!
The books are pretty short and definitely a quick read. Only issue is that there are 12 of them, so the series as a whole isn't necessarily short.
Genre is Progression Fantasy, so it's pretty much constant action. All free with Kindle unlimited, cheap otherwise
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. It's a series of 10 books. First 5 are from the POV of a single character, next 5 are from the POV of a different character. Each book is about 175-200 pages. Very easy to get through. Forgive the sometimes cheesy book covers - series was written in the 70s.
The rough, overarching plot of the entire series is that Amber is the only real city that exists, and every other city is just a shadow or distortion of Amber. The main character is from an immortal family (though not invulnerable - the family members can be mutilated and killed) who have been sabotaging one another for millenia to curry favor with their father (the king), in order to become THE successor to the throne of Amber.
Although it's fantasy, it gets really psychedelic and occasionally sci-fi since every city that you can imagine exists will exist in this multiverse, and the main characters do a lot of sliding to other versions of Amber in order to escape from or chase down each other, or rally armies to invade (and Earth is just a shadow of Amber, or an imitation of the one, true city).
Link to the first book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92121.Nine_Princes_in_Amber
The Wayward Children is a series of novellas by Seanan McGuire about what happens after you come back from Narnia/Wonderland. The characters happen to be high school aged, but it isn't YA by my understanding. The first in the series is called Every Heart a Doorway and might be worth checking out.
If you like Seanan McGuire there’s a Humble Bundle sale right now.
I'd suggest anything by Robert Rankin. Most of his novels are self-contained, although with recurring characters, settings, plot elements and running jokes that get funnier or more interesting the more you encounter them, but the order isn't particularly important (outside of a few connected series').
Many of the book titles are pretty cringe puns, but the wiring itself is much wittier and some of the most inventive fantasy / magical realism.
I picked up one of his books off a library shelf purely because the title font on the spine made me think of Terry Pratchett. Loved it and ended up buying a heap of his work over the years.
The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. It checks all your boxes!
Not exactly fantasy but Calahan's Cross Time Saloon,
The Philosophical Strangler by Eric Flint
Not a series, but an individual book - Piranesi is probably my favorite short fantasy of all time?
You might enjoy the Earthsea series by Ursula K LeGuin. Some of them have won children's book awards, they're easy to read but can get quite dark. I wouldn't describe them as YA.
A 300 page hard cap is difficult for non-YA (unless the font size is small!) I strongly suggest looking for novellas rather than novels. For example, The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson is 192 pages on paperback. You could see what gets nominated for the various prestigious awards on the novella category.
Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone) is great. Magic is basically lawyering so there are "firms" of 'magicians' headed by immortal skeletons. Cool noir-steampunk vibe, a god is dead so it hired someone to resurrect it / find who killed it, how it died.
Mercy Thompson series is pretty good. Main character is a Native American coyote shapeshifter, werewolves/vampires/fae crime/drama in present day Kennewick, WA, which was admittedly only a draw personally because I've lived around there so it was kinda trippy. There is a segue to basically an aged up YA plot around book 8, but the author apparently took the feedback to heart and it backs away from silly relationship tension again after that.
Alex Verus is IMO a British/better Dresden Files. It also has the benefit of being done instead of ongoing.
River's of London is a bit longer than you're asking for, but London cop discovers magic is real and the British 'magic secret service department' has one wizard left and joins up.
You sure no Discworld? :)
The Riyria Revelations are fun enough. Thief and a Mercenary adventuring around a fantasy world.
The Vlad Taltos novels are fun if you don't take them seriously. They're basically a guy describing how awesome his homebrew D&D character is in his homebrew world.
The Iron Druid Chronicles are another "kinda Dresden Files", but a Druid in Arizona.
Most of the others I can think of / find in my reading list are ~500 pages, The Rook, Sixty-One Nails, Six of Crows (though that does tend more YA, much less than the rest of the Shadow & Bone books, it's a heist).
'Orcenomics' by J. Zachary Pike (first book of this short series) is a funny, fun, and easy read. It's satirical fantasy, but more on the light-hearted side too.
'Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests (Vol. 1)' by Neven Iliev (first book in a currently 10 book series)
Very fun, funny, but at times pretty dark humor, read. The MC is a psychotic treasure chest-shaped mimic that gains sentience in a dungeon one day due a bunch of crazy coincidences. Self-described as a fun-loving murder hobo, lol. Everything is over the top, and gets quite a bit dirty at times, but is self-aware of doing so, which makes it not too icky (for me at least).
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir is an absolute riotous good time. The series opens with Gideon the Ninth, described on the cover as "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted mansion in space". It means towards Science-Fantasy rather than pure fantasy, but is one of the best new series I've picked up in a long time. Currently there books are out, with the final installment to be released in January 2024.
If that doesn't sound like your thing I'd suggest Lies of Locke Lamora, it's a more straightforward fantasy adventure novel that's delightfully well written and one of the strongest opening sections I've read in a fantasy novel.
You might consider picking up some anthologies. I’d suggest the Legends anthologies edited by Robert Silverberg. These books contain several short stories by authors you are probably familiar with like George RR Martin, Ursula K LeGuin, Anne McCaffery, Terry Goodkind, Stephen King, and Terry Pratchett.
I know what you mean. I also felt the need for something light between Malazan's heavy tomes.
For a quick but still satisfying and often humorous read I'd recommend K.J. Parker's Saloninus series. It's three standalone novellas at around 100-120 pages each. The protagonist is dubbed the greatest philosopher of all time, but he is more a con man than anything else.
For something a bit longer, but still a light read at 350 pages, you can find Parker's Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City.
Otherwise, you can always look to the classic Sword and Sorcery genre. They're straight forward, no-nonsense and entertaining. Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is a good place to start.
I also agree on the suggestions for Sanderson's novellas, Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries and The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.
Happy reading!
Jhereg by Steven Brust and the rest of the Vlad novels are quick fun reads.
If you want to read source material for DND and GURPS, you might check out Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series.
The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander might fit what you're looking for. Somewhere between Narnia and Middle Earth, it's the series that inspired Disney's infamous The Black Cauldron. The whole series is only about 5 or 6 books long and they're significantly better than the Disney film, which is the first two books roughly stitched together. There aren't a huge number of characters and the books have a fun fantastic, though generally not too heavy-handed feel. The story continues significantly beyond what's presented in the film as Taran ultimately goes through the Hero's Journey. It's a favorite of mine, I recommend at least the first installment, The Book of Three to give it a try.
I think it was back in middle school that I stumbled upon & read the 1960s Tripods series by John Christopher. I read the main three books, but never the prequel.
The story is about humans rebelling from alien enslavement. It’s an easy read that I remember enjoying quite a bit. Each book is about 200 pages.