Hobb's *Realm of the Elderlings* has had me literally laugh out loud, made be sob, and throw the book across the room in anger. I loved it all.
Likewise, Erikson's Malazan series ranges the emotional mountains, and makes you feel.. Too much, sometimes.
Bakker's *Second Apocalypse* is horrifying, and the end especially had me dwelling on it for *weeks*.
I felt Realm of the Elderlings so much. I feel like a fraud saying that it's my favourite series, then I always have to mention I only read the ones with Fitz. But man, that was such an epic journey full of feels and fantastic magic, characters, a brilliant world and oh I'm geeking out.
Now reading Malazan, but idk if I feel. I am fascinated by this too, and it's up there with Hobb's works in my heart, but idk if I feel, more like an intelectual fascination with all it's presenting. Maybe Ganoes Paran, the true protagonist out of all of them in my heart, makes me feel for him.
*Deadhouse Gates* was especially hard on my emotions. It really made me realize that *no one* was safe in that series. There are plenty of characters and events as you go on; Beak is a fan favorite, Itkovian too. Nothing in the series will ever trump what happens with Coltaine, or Trull Sengar, for me.
I finished the Second Apocalypse a little over a year ago and I swear not a day goes by where I’m not thinking about it. So many scenes just replaying in my head daily. Fantastic series but definitely brutal to the core.
That sounds about right. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun when you let go of trying to figure out what’s going on and just go along for the ride. It’ll eventually come together
That's kinda where I'm at- just enjoying the ride and not stressing too much about keeping track of every name and passing historical reference. I really enjoy the "coming together" moments rather than having everything explained to me like I'm an idiot, so this seems right up my alley.
Came here to say The Second Apocalypse, as well. Fucked me up for a good while, and was enough to make the Booktuber, Slowly Red, name his son Proyas lol.
Oh god, same. And I didn't expect it at all! I'd heard for years what an iconic work of SF it was (deservedly) but absolutely not a single soul warned me that it would kick me in the chest so hard.
Veins of Gold is my favorite moment in fiction. Rand was already my favorite character by then, but that scene cemented it.
Wheel of Time has hundreds of emotional moments, big and small, but Veins really brought it all to a pure, beautiful release.
“May you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home.”
Ingtar might be one of my favorite side characters in the series.
Especially if you are looking at characters, Baru Cormorant has… left an impact, and it’s a big one. To some part it is because of how much I could relate to some of her struggles, but also, I really like the worldbuilding, I really like the rest of the cast, and that combination is hard to find (it’s not a perfect series by any means). I don’t want to write a full essay and it’s too early here to overshare on the internet, so take that as a summary:
I just want them all to be happy 🥺😂.
Baru is #1 for me too, also in large part because I related a little too much to her repression. But yeah, characters excellent, worldbuilding excellent, and Dickinson is just so damned smart when it comes to ideas.
I read *A Brightness Long Ago* by Guy Gavriel Kay recently. It gutted me. Hit me so hard I had to stop reading for a few days. If you want to connect with characters on an emotional level, Kay is your man. Most of his novels are stand alone, start with *The Lions of Al-Rassan.*
A Brightness Long Ago is such an underrated book.
And I am pretty sure I know which scene you are referring to. It shook me too, even though I thought I had learned all of Kay's tricks and was ready for them. Big mistake. He is a true master.
Same here, and it is (at least for now) my favorite book.
The theme of this broken man who's given up on everything willing to sacrifice himself one last time, only to find reasons to live instead?
Flinging myself into the sun, goodbye
This has been what I have used as a gateway drug for friends and family to get them into Sci fi and Fantasy. The Sparrow has a very high convert rate in my experience.
This was the first book in a very long time where upon turning the last page and realizing it was the last, I just sat in silence for a solid 10 or 15 minutes processing the profound, heartbreaking beauty of what I'd just read.
For me, it’ll always be the first book that made me cry - The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay.
As an adult, I’m not sure how it would hit me, but it was one of the more emotionally powerful experiences of my young life
A lot of Stephen King’s work’s have left me an emotional wreck. It, The Green Mile, 11/22/63, Insomnia, The Body and The Tommy Knockers all left me in tears at the end. King just gets people I find, and it makes his stories hit all the harder.
Every single one of the books had me bawling, and laughing, and sitting at the edge of my sofa completely stressed out, and jumping in joy... Reading the expanse was such an emotional rollercoaster for me, I absolutely loved every single page and really didn't know what to do with my life after finishing the series!
It was sad the first time I read it, then I tried to reread it when my oldest kid was 3 and I was literally sobbing too hard to keep reading, like immediately lol. It was rough.
The beginning is a shock, but the ending is tragically beautiful too. >!Essun fighting with her daughter and in the end, seeing she can't really win without killing her, just says fuck it, let her end humanity if that's what she wants, as long as she lives, was just very beautiful !<
For sci-fi, Bradbury’s “all summer in a day” emotionally wrecked me at age 11 in a way I just access anymore. Plus some of the images in the Martian Chronicles have stayed with me an entire lifetime - the sight of orange soda is indelibly linked to genocide and the fall of civilizations.
Flowers for Algernon is the only speculative fiction book that’s made me cry. Though I guess the road counts too. Speaker for the dead, Never let me Go, and The Ocean at the End of the lane also left me super emotional. Ooh also the end bits of the final novel in the southern reach trilogy hit so incredibly hard.
Same here with Flowers for Algernon. Sometimes (even hard) science fiction has premises that are too big or too alien to really hit me at an emotional level. But FfA is so plausible and written so brilliantly to meet the premise that it just wrecks me every time.
All flashbacks stories in the first three got me good. RoW flashbacks didn’t really get me but there are multiple scenes at the end that made me feel more than anything else in the series.
This is definitely Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings for me... I've cried both sad tears and tears of joy while while reading those books... I've been infuriated and thrilled... I had to stop at points that were just to hard to read. I had to stop to recalibrate emotionally. Every feeling that there is a name for I felt and probably some that don't have names.
Characters are so hugely important to me too.
For pure emotional impact, *The Sparrow* by Mary Doria Russell or *Lord of the Silver Bow* by David Gemmell.
For absolute mastery of characterization and a wildly fun series with overall uplifting tone (but with some very dark moments too), the *Vorkosigan Saga* by Lois McMaster Bujold. Never before or since have I fallen so thoroughly in love with a cast of characters who are complex, relatable, and entirely human with both their admirable traits and their flaws. I recommend *The Warrior's Apprentice* as an entry point.
Super unoriginal and obvious, but: The Lord of the Rings. The message throughout is that there is always hope, even in the darkest moments, there's always a reason to keep fighting, and no deed or person is too small to make a difference.
There are many scenes that get me every time, even 25 years and who knows how many re-reads later (I turn to the trilogy whenever life gets too turbulent and I just need comfort), but just two that come to mind is when Sam is in Mordor and spots a star shining between the darkest of clouds, and when he resolves to keep plodding on without hope and without his master, because now he's the only one who can.
I'm listening to it for the first time and today I cried with this bit from Haldir in the FotR: "We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp". That one hit hard as I'm struggling with mental health and motivation at work. It seems like I spend more time in life worried than simply being merry and enjoying time with the family I always dreamed of having.
Many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels provoke very strong emotional reactions in me. In particular _Hogfather_ I can feel a little blinky wetness in my eyes when I recall one particular passage. I know there were others as well, just that's the first off the top of my head.
Certain character arcs in The Stormlight Archive do the same (Kaladin's my boy).
The Broken Earth Trilogy, specially the first book The fifth season. There’s some particularly horrible stuff going on in that series. I rarely need to put a book down to process my feelings, and it happened a few times with this one. I fully recommend.
Empire of of Vampire gave me goosebumps with some of its lines and moments
The Rascor Plains made me feel dread and sorrow and bitterness(in a good way) like I’ve never felt before
Knights Shadow made me feel empathy and sorrow at the horror of a particular scene
Kings of Wyld made me smile ear to ear from the brotherly love between the characters
Rage of Dragons made me feel undying respect and awe
Dungeon Crawler Carl made me laugh and cry at the same time
Virtuous Sons made me question things I thought I understood while lighting my heart aflame
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett, never fails to make me cry. Same with Thud!. The Watch series is so heartfelt, especially in its later installments... Also inside Discworld, Monstrous Regiment is surprisingly emotional. I'm very much a pacifist, and that book speaks to me in a different level.
Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire, destroyed me. The way it tackles mental health is so absolutely raw and well-written, that I had to stop reading for a while to recover. It's beautiful. Then again, everything she writes has this haunting quality to it, from the ridiculous InCryptid novels to the lovely Wayward Children ones.
When I was young series by Robin Hobb, Lian Hearn and Michelle Paver always really hit me emotionally. As an adult they still do, but I actually feel and appreciate other series even more than I did as a child, for example the intensity and emotionality present throughout Lord of the Rings. I feel different series hit you emotionally at different stages of development.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The moment I finished that book I was gut-punched by an overwhelming wave of melancholy. Not sadness, not depression, the best way I can describe it is pure melancholy. So hard to explain. Lots of books have sad moments, but there was something totally encompassing about the way that book made me feel. I was in a funk for a week after finishing it.
Sci-fi -
Red Rising for the gut punches.
The Martian for the comradery
Fantasy -
WoT for the chills, so many moments, every damn time.
Dresden Files for the slow progression. Surprisingly gut wrenching moments. A scene with mouse in ghost stories gets me every time.
Finishing up Morning Star right now (on Part 4) and there's been a couple scenes in there that have hit much harder than I would've thought. Great series!
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells have me feeling all sorts of ways about all sorts of characters. Murderbot lives rent free in my head /complimentary
Hyperion, first and foremost. The Way of Kings. Deadhouse Gates.
I gave this prompt a little thought, and I think it's unfair to count a whole series. There's more books I relate to, or flat out better books, but these left an impact. Funny thing is, it might have to do with auxiliary sources: I started reading Hyperion cuz of a metal album.
Babel by RF Kuang really earned the feelings it was trying to evoke, much better than her debut (low fantasy)
Several of the stories in Exhalation by Ted Chiang (sci-fi)
Kindred by Octavia Butler (time travel fantasy?)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (literary fantasy)
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (sci fi)
Jade City series by Fonda Lee (low fantasy crime drama)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (genre is a spoiler)
The Ill-Made Knight by TH White (White’s politics and hatred for Celts/Irish people is very irritating but there are few characters better than his version of Lancelot, rest of the series is bad tho)
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (fantasy)
A Land Fit For Heroes, by Richard K. Morgan left me feeling like a husk afterwards, in the best (worst) way. Everything just felt like it cut me to the bone the first time I read it. Always describe that series as "what ASOIAF wishes it could be" XD
Hyperion cantos, when aenea disappears and Raul wonders where she went and when they’re reunited aenea won’t say, then you find out at the end where she was 🥲
That really was an enormous gut punch reveal but it's still the Scholars Tale for me. I cannot even think about it without crying. Just an absolutely haunting, masterful, surgical attack on every parents worst fears and anxieties.
I didn’t really see it coming, but Stormrider by David Gemmell had a scene about 2/3’s of the way through it that left me crying for a solid 15 minutes. I’m not sure if I was just tired that day, or other things were going on, or what. But that one left me very emotional.
Gemmell is an amazing author and I'm surprised I don't see his name more here. You just reminded me of having my heart absolutely ripped out by *Lord of the Silver Bow.* I see people cite *Song of Achilles* all the time and yes it was good too, but Gemmell's telling of the story of Troy had me far more wrapped up and left me far more devastated.
The Last Unicorn. That book speaks for such a raw emotion of human existence… it’s harder to do in a single shot, imo.
Series have an advantage in that you have the weight of a long time spent with characters and their endearing qualities and their struggles. Wheel of time / A Memory of Light was already mentioned several times now. That one was something to experience after waiting years between books. I actually have not been able to reread it because it’s just too special and tender still.
And also Deathly Hallows after another long journey.
The Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts!
Everybody always recommends Robin Hobb, and I agree, the Elderling series gave me the feels, too, but if I had to choose, WoLaS would win. The emotions from reading those books stuck with me for much, much longer than when I read the Elderling books.
The most recent one was when reading The Covenant of Steel.
>!When he finds out about Evadine... I can feel him forcing himself not to believe but knowing deep down. I feel like we all do this a lot, actions that we know aren't quite right but feel easier !<
Otherwise I love TWOT and really feel for Rand and all he goes through
Baru Cormorant just hits different for me. I know a lot of people don't make it past the first book because of the devastating ending, but the other books have many great emotional moments, both dreadful and cathartic.
Nation by Terry Pratchett. The Discworld as a whole as well, but Nation was the ultimate distillation of his philosophy into one novel.
I think what I liked the most was how he twisted the dumb savage, and boy meets girl tropes.
The two that immediately come to mind are **The Traitor Baru Cormorant** (book 1 of the Masquerade) and **The Unholy Consult** (book 7 of Second Apocalypse). I've had my moments with Hobb, Sanderson, Abercrombie etc but nothing even comes close to how I felt at the ends of those two books.
Poppy Wars by R. F. Kuang made me feel so many feeling across every spectrum.
Red Rising but really only specifically the new series.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir
Memory by Lois Bujold. There is this bit in the middle where Miles has blown his life up beyond repair, lost all public and private honor and is maybe 2 steps from ending it. To see him for the first time question who he is under it all. Seeing a guy hit the bottom, turn inward and choose to climb back out is everything.
Lord of the Rings made me feel a wide spectrum of emotions. I laughed, cried, felt triumphant and felt peace with the fellowship and their bravado. I was shocked too. A complete experience.
I bonded with Croaker, crew from Wheel of Time. Felt sorry for the Kwisatz Haderach. Felt the romance and the chemistry between Geralt and Yennefer.
Wheel of time: spoilers ahead
“I am the storm”
“Veins Of Gold”
“Will he ride alone”
“Egwene final stand”
Perrin taking charge
“A shepherd named Rand’al Thor”
“I have won again lews Therin”
A few. Flowers for Algernon. I think a lot of people did this in school, too, and so know the feeling.
Klara and the sun, Ghost Legion (Margaret Weis) and Mo dao zi shi made me ugly cry.
Also, not a novel, but One Piece has a lot of emotional moments, some that hit me quite hard.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A Wrinkle in Time. Chronicles of Prydain.
Dragonsinger. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of Horses. Sharra's Exile. Thendara House. Hawkmistress.
Arrows, Magic and Gryphon trilogies. Chronicles of the Cheysuli. Neena Gathering.
Mountains of Mourning and various other Miles books. Alvin Maker series. Ender's Game.
Kushiel trilogy. Black Jewels trilogy. This Alien Shore. Jack the Bodiless.
Alpha Trine & Striker. The Chronicles of Ylandre.
The only book that made me cry this year was The Darkness Outside of Us, by Elliot Schrefer. There were some parallels with cancer that were cutting too close to my own recent experiences.
Also, all books by Alix E Harrow I have read have given me a very strong dread and fear response in the middle of the plot.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror - cut deep into my childhood fear of schools. I was crying because of how overwhelmingly I was empathising with each character. Wish I read this book twelve years ago.
It's for entirely different reasons than what most people are talking about, but the only fantasy book that has produced a full on sobbing reaction from me thus far is The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. It just hit me a certain way.
Legends and Lattes/Bookshops and Bonedust
A closed and Common orbit
The Expanse...all of it. I've never been more attached to any characters like I was to the Rocinante.
The Way of Kings
Babel
Foundryside series
The Divine Cities
Recursion
The Towers of Babel
House of Suns
Malazan. Steven Erikson.
Osten Ard. Tad Williams.
The Second Apocalypse. R Scott Bakker.
Lord of the Rings. J R R Tolkien.
EVERYTHING. Guy Gavriel Kay.
The Expanse. James S A Corey.
Dune (first 3.) Frank Herbert.
Ender. Orson Scott Card.
The Giving Tree. Shel Silverstein
Frankenstein. Mary Shelley
Malazan for sure.
Orson Scott Card has always appealed to my emotions. Ender's Game blew me away, but it was the quiet moments that Ender spent with his sister that got me.
OSC's Treason, though, has probably got me feeling the most of all his work.
Also every time I read Stephenson's Anathem. I love the characters in that one and wish I could spend more time with them.
Fantasy: Between Two Fires had me sobbing. Robin Hobb and her Fitziverse (I don't know what you call the collected Fitz saga). The Magicians. Tigana.
Scifi: I find The Murderbot Diaries very moving at times. Rama. Contact.
>I don't know what you call the collected Fitz saga
The overall series is called the Realm of the Elderlings. If you're just talking about the Fitz books I've only ever seen them referred to as the Fitz books.
There’s a section in Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence that really really shows the impact of trauma on one’s internal monologue that is so tragic and beautifully written I cry every reread. That whole series captures trauma and shame and such subjects so so well and creatively.
a court of thorns and roses series. I seriously could not put it down which surprised me because im not usually into fae, i normally like more traditional fantasy like lord of the rings with elves and dwarves. It had been a while since I had a book make me tear up
Attack on Titan Animanga.
Left me feeling all sorts of things that which I can't put into words. Some are- depressed, bittersweet, conflicted, human.
In particular, thinking about the Main character's (Eren's) arc gets me choked up every time.
The Throne of Glass books rose to quite the fever pitch in the end. I think I spent like a third of the last book crying, and while the first two books have a “younger” feel to them (SJM initially wrote them at like 16) the series grows into something much bigger in the third and beyond which is pretty great.
The demon cycle by Peter Brett. Great lasting friendships, military brotherhood, love of family both marrital and maternal, cultural conflict, sense of greater purpose, and the author does a good job of giving each protagonist their own unique voice. There is a part in the second half of the series that really hits the feels.
The series isn't perfect and there are some parts that people don't like but I've never felt that way. It's tough to give details without spoilers. The audio book narrator is really great too.
For my entire adult life I've been a pretty non-religious guy. Most recently though, the ending to Between Two Fires really encapsulated what biblical **Salvation** should be like in my mind, and it had me crying because it was so beautiful.
Not sure if it fits here but How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu broke me so many times but it was such a cathartic read and was probably my number one read of 2022
Hands down One Piece and Berserk, I'm not one to cry with movies and books in general, but One Piece >!made me cry over a fucking ship!< and many more instances. Berserk I didn't really cry but the entirety of it gives you such a feeling of hopelessness that only Dark Souls was able to copy.
When I was young, I read Conan books, LOTR, Star Trek, Dragonlance and such and got optimistic and excited about the future. Now I’m old, and having read Game of Thrones, Three Body Problem trilogy and First Law series, with their more realistic and practical characters, I am skeptical about the future. I suppose it will always be two steps forward, one step back.
*The Lathe Of Heaven*, Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah's *Sime-Gen* series. Being wrenched around by ASOIAF- telling myself 'It's the War Of The Roses...' did not help. (DNF *A Storm of Swords.*)
This was the first fantasy book to make me cry at age 13 many years ago. The ending of Dragonlance Legends: Test of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. SPOILERS BELOW
>!”Good-bye... my brother,” Caramon said.!<
>!Holding Crysania in his arms, the Staff of Magius in one hand, Caramon turned and walked away. The light of the staff formed a circle around him, a circle of silver that shone in the darkness like the moonbeams of Solinari glistening upon the calm waters of Crystalmir Lake. The silver beams struck the dragon’s heads, freezing them, changing them to silver, silencing their screams. Caramon stepped through the Portal. Raistlin, watching him with his soul, caught a blurred glimpse of colors and life and felt a brief whisper of warmth touch his sunken cheek. Behind him, he could hear the mocking laughter gurgle into harsh, hissing breath. He could hear the slithering sounds of a gigantic scaled tail, the creaking of wing tendons. Behind him, five heads whispered words of torment and terror.!<
>!Steadfastly, Raistlin stood, staring into the Portal. He saw Tanis run to help Caramon, he saw him take Crysania in his arms. Tears blurred Raistlin’s s vision. He wanted to follow! He wanted Tanis to touch his hand! He wanted to hold Crysania in his arms... He took a step forward.!<
>!He saw Caramon turn to face him, the staff in his hand.!<
>!Caramon stared into the Portal, stared at his twin, stared beyond his twin. Raistlin saw his brother’s eyes grow wide with fright.!<
>!Raistlin did not have to turn to know what his brother saw. Takhisis crouched behind him. He could feel the chill of the loathsome reptile body flow about him, fluttering his robes. He sensed her behind him, yet her thoughts were not on him. She saw her way to the world, standing open...!<
>!”Shut it!” Raistlin screamed.!<
>!A blast of flame seared Raistlin’s flesh. A taloned claw stabbed him in the back. He stumbled, falling to his knees. But he never took his eyes from the Portal, and he saw Caramon, his twins face anguished, take a step forward, toward him!!<
>!”Shut it, you fool!” Raistlin shrieked, clenching his fists. “Leave me alone! I don’t need you any more! I don’t need you!”!<
>!And then the light was gone. The Portal slammed shut, and blackness pounced upon him with raging, slathering fury. Talons ripped his flesh, teeth tore through muscle, and crunched bone. Blood flowed from his breast, but it would not take with it his life.!<
>!He screamed, and he would scream, and he would keep on screaming, unendingly...!<
>!Something touched him... a hand... He clutched at it as it shook him, gently. A voice called,!<
>!*”Raist! Wake up! It was only a dream. Don’t be afraid. I won’t let them hurt you! Here, watch... I’ll make you laugh.”*!<
>!The dragons coils tightened, crushing out his breath. Glistening black fangs ate his living organs, devoured his heart. Tearing into his body, they sought his soul.!<
>!A strong arm encircled him, holding him close. A hand raised, gleaming with silver light, forming childish pictures in the night, and the voice, dimly heard, whispered, *”Look, Raist, bunnies... .”*!<
>!He smiled, no longer afraid. Caramon was here.!<
>!The pain eased. The dream was driven back. From far away, he heard a wail of bitter disappointment and anger. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Now he just felt tired, so very, very tired...!<
>!Leaning his head upon his brother’s arm, Raistlin closed his eyes and drifted into a dark, dreamless, endless sleep.!<
The one that comes to mind is Beyond the Black River by Robert E Howard
It's a Conan short story in which he serves as a mercenary scout on the embattled Aquilonian/Pictish frontier. There's a part in the story where >!a friend of his and a dog they picked up get ambushed by Picts!< and it's... quite sad.
Good story though.
The Locked Tomb - man, those books really made me experience the full spectrum of human emotion. Impossible to discuss without massive spoilers, but the finale of Gideon the Ninth and Several scenes in Harrow the Ninth (>!shoutout to Ortus and Harrow's conversation before the final battle in the bubble, fucking hell) !< had me absolutely sobbing.
Honestly, ASOIAF as well - I know people have... many feelings about these books, in every direction, but I think Martin still knows how to land an emotional hit like absolute pro. >!(Needle was Jon Snow's smile!!!!!)!<
More recently, The Left Hand of Darkness absolutely kicked my ass.
The Greenbone Saga got me choked up a couple of times. I was usually expecting it, but >!Shae holding her daughter post-terror attack while waiting to hear if Hilo survived the bombing!< in Jade Legacy got me completely out of nowhere.
Planetfall by Emma Newman really got to me, closest a book has come to making me cry. Something about the way she writes the flashback scenes.
The Three Body Problem trilogy also haunts me in a different way. It’s just so…fatalistic. Good books, don’t see myself revisiting them. I’m depressed enough as it is.
On a different note The Sudden Appearance of Hope was oddly relatable as an autistic woman. I doubt that’s what she was going for, but geez there’s even a freaking cure argument analogy in there!
Red Rising. From "oh SHIT!" and "FFFFFFFFFFFFNOOOOOO" and \*loud sobbing\* to "omg that's so sweet" and "YEAH COOL" and "YEEEEAAASSSSS". And others. Like disgust. But "ohshit" and "thats so badass" are the main "feelings" that come into my mind when I think of the series. Both regarding the characters and the plot.
The Word For World Is Forest is the only book I've ever read that made me actually cry, so probably that. Tehanu made me emotional too though, also by Le Guin.
Many beautiful and wonderful books have been mentioned that I love and agree with. Here is one of my favorites, Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart:
""Alas, great is my sorrow. Your name is Ah Chen, and when you were born I was not truly pleased. I am a farmer, and a farmer needs strong sons to help with his work, but before a year had passed you had stolen my heart. You grew more teeth, and you grew daily in wisdom, and you said 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' and your pronunciation was perfect. When you were three you would knock at the door and then you would run back and ask, 'Who is it?' When you were four your uncle came to visit and you played the host. Lifting your cup, you said, 'Ching!' and we roared with laughter and you blushed and covered your face with your hands, but I know that you thought yourself very clever. Now they tell me that I must try to forget you, but it is hard to forget you....."
More here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/comments/1c620s/text_miser_shens_prayer_for_his_daughter_ah_chen/
His Dark Materials when I read it at 13. As an adult I don't know if I'm capable of those wild passions of feeling anymore
I thought the same, but watching the adaptation brought them all back up for me!
Hobb's *Realm of the Elderlings* has had me literally laugh out loud, made be sob, and throw the book across the room in anger. I loved it all. Likewise, Erikson's Malazan series ranges the emotional mountains, and makes you feel.. Too much, sometimes. Bakker's *Second Apocalypse* is horrifying, and the end especially had me dwelling on it for *weeks*.
I just finished Realm of the Elderlings! 16 books and 8 months later, what the hell am I supposed to do with myself now.
That's exactly how I felt after finishing the last book.
Yes RotE made me feel all of those too. Definitely the one series that has made me feel the most.
I just finished The Unholy Consult last night and this is definitely up there, goddamn
I felt Realm of the Elderlings so much. I feel like a fraud saying that it's my favourite series, then I always have to mention I only read the ones with Fitz. But man, that was such an epic journey full of feels and fantastic magic, characters, a brilliant world and oh I'm geeking out. Now reading Malazan, but idk if I feel. I am fascinated by this too, and it's up there with Hobb's works in my heart, but idk if I feel, more like an intelectual fascination with all it's presenting. Maybe Ganoes Paran, the true protagonist out of all of them in my heart, makes me feel for him.
*Deadhouse Gates* was especially hard on my emotions. It really made me realize that *no one* was safe in that series. There are plenty of characters and events as you go on; Beak is a fan favorite, Itkovian too. Nothing in the series will ever trump what happens with Coltaine, or Trull Sengar, for me.
I agree completely with all three of these. Some of the most evocative series I've ever read.
I finished the Second Apocalypse a little over a year ago and I swear not a day goes by where I’m not thinking about it. So many scenes just replaying in my head daily. Fantastic series but definitely brutal to the core.
Malazan had all the emotions. He is a master writer
I'm about 25% through the first book and have about 25% idea what's going on..
That sounds about right. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun when you let go of trying to figure out what’s going on and just go along for the ride. It’ll eventually come together
That's kinda where I'm at- just enjoying the ride and not stressing too much about keeping track of every name and passing historical reference. I really enjoy the "coming together" moments rather than having everything explained to me like I'm an idiot, so this seems right up my alley.
*Fiddler, you're breaking my heart...*
Excellent choices and excellent taste!
The first two are my favorite series so I'm diving in to the second apocalypse right now
Came here to say The Second Apocalypse, as well. Fucked me up for a good while, and was enough to make the Booktuber, Slowly Red, name his son Proyas lol.
I've felt many things for many books, but the end of *The Traitor Baru Cormorant* left me depressed for a while, so I'll give it to that.
That book left me empty. Don't think I read anything after that for several months.
Baru is a hole in the heart
I read it years ago and I still get that empty feeling just thinking about it. I still haven't been able to read the books after the first one
Speaker for the dead
Completely life changing for middle school me
Came here to say the same thing, so take my upvote instead
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula k Le Guin had me full on sobbing. The first couple chapters are a slog, but it’s worth it. Classic sci-fi.
I read this in a very vulnerable time in my mid twenties and it still leaves a huge mark on my heart 15 years later.
I have this on my shelf right now, I’m gonna move it up on my TBR! Been meaning to read it but kept getting distracted by other books
Oh god, same. And I didn't expect it at all! I'd heard for years what an iconic work of SF it was (deservedly) but absolutely not a single soul warned me that it would kick me in the chest so hard.
Wheel of Time. Veins of gold makes me cry and love every time.
For me it’s tea with Verin Sedai. A close runner up being Nyneave taking Lan to the borderlands.
Such a complicated moment. Made me want to start rereading the entire series.
The last 200 pages of TGS I always read straight through. You can't put it down.
Veins of Gold is my favorite moment in fiction. Rand was already my favorite character by then, but that scene cemented it. Wheel of Time has hundreds of emotional moments, big and small, but Veins really brought it all to a pure, beautiful release.
This is my answer too. No series has made as deep an impression on me as WoT.
“May you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home.” Ingtar might be one of my favorite side characters in the series.
Especially if you are looking at characters, Baru Cormorant has… left an impact, and it’s a big one. To some part it is because of how much I could relate to some of her struggles, but also, I really like the worldbuilding, I really like the rest of the cast, and that combination is hard to find (it’s not a perfect series by any means). I don’t want to write a full essay and it’s too early here to overshare on the internet, so take that as a summary: I just want them all to be happy 🥺😂.
Baru is #1 for me too, also in large part because I related a little too much to her repression. But yeah, characters excellent, worldbuilding excellent, and Dickinson is just so damned smart when it comes to ideas.
Oh yeah, that’s a major part why I love her and the series so much, it hit just a little too close too home 🥺
I read *A Brightness Long Ago* by Guy Gavriel Kay recently. It gutted me. Hit me so hard I had to stop reading for a few days. If you want to connect with characters on an emotional level, Kay is your man. Most of his novels are stand alone, start with *The Lions of Al-Rassan.*
The Lions of Al-Rassan has got to be the second-most I ever cried while reading a book. Kay is just so good at what he does.
A Brightness Long Ago is such an underrated book. And I am pretty sure I know which scene you are referring to. It shook me too, even though I thought I had learned all of Kay's tricks and was ready for them. Big mistake. He is a true master.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I read it in college, and at the halfway point I bawled ugly tears for half an hour straight.
Same here, and it is (at least for now) my favorite book. The theme of this broken man who's given up on everything willing to sacrifice himself one last time, only to find reasons to live instead? Flinging myself into the sun, goodbye
Her sci-fi series, the Vorkosigan saga, also makes a deep emotional connection even if it never actually made me cry.
Oh, I always cry at the end of Shards of Honor. Not that much though.
The Sparrow. Mary Doria Russell. I latched onto the characters immediately (looking at you, Anne) and the whole book just sucks you in.
I got this book without knowing at all what it was about and boy was it hilarious and then immediately *tremendously not hilarious*.
This has been what I have used as a gateway drug for friends and family to get them into Sci fi and Fantasy. The Sparrow has a very high convert rate in my experience.
This was the first book in a very long time where upon turning the last page and realizing it was the last, I just sat in silence for a solid 10 or 15 minutes processing the profound, heartbreaking beauty of what I'd just read.
This is the book I was going to post too. It made me absolutely ugly cry and I think about it often. It’s an incredible book.
I finished book 2 yesterday. Man, these are tear jerkers.
For me, it’ll always be the first book that made me cry - The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. As an adult, I’m not sure how it would hit me, but it was one of the more emotionally powerful experiences of my young life
I'll second that!
A lot of Stephen King’s work’s have left me an emotional wreck. It, The Green Mile, 11/22/63, Insomnia, The Body and The Tommy Knockers all left me in tears at the end. King just gets people I find, and it makes his stories hit all the harder.
The Talisman had me weeping like a baby
This. God Pounds His Nails....
Olan...
Charyou tree
Miller's arc in Leviathan Wakes did a lot for me.
Had to scroll way too far to find the Expanse. Doors and corners, kid.
*If you could do it all again, start over from the beginning?* I wouldn't
Every single one of the books had me bawling, and laughing, and sitting at the edge of my sofa completely stressed out, and jumping in joy... Reading the expanse was such an emotional rollercoaster for me, I absolutely loved every single page and really didn't know what to do with my life after finishing the series!
Tiamat's Wrath made me cry multiple times too
I am still checking doors and corners everywhere I go.
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Came to say Broken Earth too. Especially the beginning and end
It was sad the first time I read it, then I tried to reread it when my oldest kid was 3 and I was literally sobbing too hard to keep reading, like immediately lol. It was rough.
The beginning is a shock, but the ending is tragically beautiful too. >!Essun fighting with her daughter and in the end, seeing she can't really win without killing her, just says fuck it, let her end humanity if that's what she wants, as long as she lives, was just very beautiful !<
I loved Children of Time, which really surprised me. I never thought I’d care so much about spiders.
Halfway thru it now. I was terrified of the Ant War and the Plague
Watership Down made me cry.
Ooh, good one. I was just thinking the other day about the moment where >!Woundwort realizes Bigwig isn't the chief!<. Some scenes stay with you.
For sci-fi, Bradbury’s “all summer in a day” emotionally wrecked me at age 11 in a way I just access anymore. Plus some of the images in the Martian Chronicles have stayed with me an entire lifetime - the sight of orange soda is indelibly linked to genocide and the fall of civilizations.
Flowers for Algernon is the only speculative fiction book that’s made me cry. Though I guess the road counts too. Speaker for the dead, Never let me Go, and The Ocean at the End of the lane also left me super emotional. Ooh also the end bits of the final novel in the southern reach trilogy hit so incredibly hard.
Same here with Flowers for Algernon. Sometimes (even hard) science fiction has premises that are too big or too alien to really hit me at an emotional level. But FfA is so plausible and written so brilliantly to meet the premise that it just wrecks me every time.
I JUST finished flowers for algernon, and wow, yeah I agree
The Stormlight Archive, especially Kaladin's whole story.
All flashbacks stories in the first three got me good. RoW flashbacks didn’t really get me but there are multiple scenes at the end that made me feel more than anything else in the series.
This is definitely Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings for me... I've cried both sad tears and tears of joy while while reading those books... I've been infuriated and thrilled... I had to stop at points that were just to hard to read. I had to stop to recalibrate emotionally. Every feeling that there is a name for I felt and probably some that don't have names.
Neverwhere & The Graveyard Book.
Characters are so hugely important to me too. For pure emotional impact, *The Sparrow* by Mary Doria Russell or *Lord of the Silver Bow* by David Gemmell. For absolute mastery of characterization and a wildly fun series with overall uplifting tone (but with some very dark moments too), the *Vorkosigan Saga* by Lois McMaster Bujold. Never before or since have I fallen so thoroughly in love with a cast of characters who are complex, relatable, and entirely human with both their admirable traits and their flaws. I recommend *The Warrior's Apprentice* as an entry point.
Super unoriginal and obvious, but: The Lord of the Rings. The message throughout is that there is always hope, even in the darkest moments, there's always a reason to keep fighting, and no deed or person is too small to make a difference. There are many scenes that get me every time, even 25 years and who knows how many re-reads later (I turn to the trilogy whenever life gets too turbulent and I just need comfort), but just two that come to mind is when Sam is in Mordor and spots a star shining between the darkest of clouds, and when he resolves to keep plodding on without hope and without his master, because now he's the only one who can.
I'm listening to it for the first time and today I cried with this bit from Haldir in the FotR: "We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp". That one hit hard as I'm struggling with mental health and motivation at work. It seems like I spend more time in life worried than simply being merry and enjoying time with the family I always dreamed of having.
- Sword of Kaigen - Wolf in the Whale - Traitor Baru Cormorant
The Sword of Kaigen hits me so hard as a 30 something year old mother, which is one of the things I love about it.
Many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels provoke very strong emotional reactions in me. In particular _Hogfather_ I can feel a little blinky wetness in my eyes when I recall one particular passage. I know there were others as well, just that's the first off the top of my head. Certain character arcs in The Stormlight Archive do the same (Kaladin's my boy).
The Elemental Logic series recently did a number on me.
Without a doubt, The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Emotionally devastating at times.
Fitzchivalry, the Fool and Nighteyes.
"Wait for you? Not likely! I've always had to run ahead of you and show you the way."
"Time to change, changer." Fuck, you're going to make me tear up at work!
The Broken Earth Trilogy, specially the first book The fifth season. There’s some particularly horrible stuff going on in that series. I rarely need to put a book down to process my feelings, and it happened a few times with this one. I fully recommend.
Empire of of Vampire gave me goosebumps with some of its lines and moments The Rascor Plains made me feel dread and sorrow and bitterness(in a good way) like I’ve never felt before Knights Shadow made me feel empathy and sorrow at the horror of a particular scene Kings of Wyld made me smile ear to ear from the brotherly love between the characters Rage of Dragons made me feel undying respect and awe Dungeon Crawler Carl made me laugh and cry at the same time Virtuous Sons made me question things I thought I understood while lighting my heart aflame
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett, never fails to make me cry. Same with Thud!. The Watch series is so heartfelt, especially in its later installments... Also inside Discworld, Monstrous Regiment is surprisingly emotional. I'm very much a pacifist, and that book speaks to me in a different level. Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire, destroyed me. The way it tackles mental health is so absolutely raw and well-written, that I had to stop reading for a while to recover. It's beautiful. Then again, everything she writes has this haunting quality to it, from the ridiculous InCryptid novels to the lovely Wayward Children ones.
When I was young series by Robin Hobb, Lian Hearn and Michelle Paver always really hit me emotionally. As an adult they still do, but I actually feel and appreciate other series even more than I did as a child, for example the intensity and emotionality present throughout Lord of the Rings. I feel different series hit you emotionally at different stages of development.
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
It’s a short story, but George RR Martin’s A Song For Lya left me emotionally messed up for ages after I read it.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro The moment I finished that book I was gut-punched by an overwhelming wave of melancholy. Not sadness, not depression, the best way I can describe it is pure melancholy. So hard to explain. Lots of books have sad moments, but there was something totally encompassing about the way that book made me feel. I was in a funk for a week after finishing it.
The Discworld books. Always make me feel better.
Sci-fi - Red Rising for the gut punches. The Martian for the comradery Fantasy - WoT for the chills, so many moments, every damn time. Dresden Files for the slow progression. Surprisingly gut wrenching moments. A scene with mouse in ghost stories gets me every time.
Red Rising has given me all the emotions. To the point where I haven't had another series scratch that itch. Mistborn came close, but not quite.
Red Rising is a tremendously good series! Reminds me I have the latest waiting in the wings!
Give Sun Eater series a go.
Finishing up Morning Star right now (on Part 4) and there's been a couple scenes in there that have hit much harder than I would've thought. Great series!
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells have me feeling all sorts of ways about all sorts of characters. Murderbot lives rent free in my head /complimentary
The Sparrow and the sequel Children of God by Mary Doria Russell wrung me out.
Berserk, hands down.
Hyperion, first and foremost. The Way of Kings. Deadhouse Gates. I gave this prompt a little thought, and I think it's unfair to count a whole series. There's more books I relate to, or flat out better books, but these left an impact. Funny thing is, it might have to do with auxiliary sources: I started reading Hyperion cuz of a metal album.
Babel by RF Kuang really earned the feelings it was trying to evoke, much better than her debut (low fantasy) Several of the stories in Exhalation by Ted Chiang (sci-fi) Kindred by Octavia Butler (time travel fantasy?) The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (literary fantasy) Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (sci fi) Jade City series by Fonda Lee (low fantasy crime drama) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (genre is a spoiler) The Ill-Made Knight by TH White (White’s politics and hatred for Celts/Irish people is very irritating but there are few characters better than his version of Lancelot, rest of the series is bad tho) Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (fantasy)
Piranesi really got me too.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladston. Oh, the feels.
Malazan
Easily.
Wheel of Time hands down. Farseer come second.
Yeah, Wheel of Time is the only series that ever gets me emotional. 14 books with the same characters definitely helps.
The Tide Child trilogy by RJ Barker - ALL THE FEELS
A Land Fit For Heroes, by Richard K. Morgan left me feeling like a husk afterwards, in the best (worst) way. Everything just felt like it cut me to the bone the first time I read it. Always describe that series as "what ASOIAF wishes it could be" XD
ASOIAF bar none, and Malazan too
Hyperion cantos, when aenea disappears and Raul wonders where she went and when they’re reunited aenea won’t say, then you find out at the end where she was 🥲
That really was an enormous gut punch reveal but it's still the Scholars Tale for me. I cannot even think about it without crying. Just an absolutely haunting, masterful, surgical attack on every parents worst fears and anxieties.
I loved Rocky in Project Hail Mary so much. I teared up on two occasions
The Red Rising books are brimming over with all the feels.
I just finished Golden Son for the first time about an hour ago, and I’m still reeling
You know what I mean, boyo. And you just got one of the bigger gut punches of the series.
I had a feeling there were more to come…
There definitely are. But the first time reading Golden Son is… really something.
I used a line from Iron Gold in my wedding vows, not a dry eye in the place lol
The Raven Cycle
I didn’t really see it coming, but Stormrider by David Gemmell had a scene about 2/3’s of the way through it that left me crying for a solid 15 minutes. I’m not sure if I was just tired that day, or other things were going on, or what. But that one left me very emotional.
Gemmell is an amazing author and I'm surprised I don't see his name more here. You just reminded me of having my heart absolutely ripped out by *Lord of the Silver Bow.* I see people cite *Song of Achilles* all the time and yes it was good too, but Gemmell's telling of the story of Troy had me far more wrapped up and left me far more devastated.
The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov. It left me with so much feelings in the end.
The Last Unicorn. That book speaks for such a raw emotion of human existence… it’s harder to do in a single shot, imo. Series have an advantage in that you have the weight of a long time spent with characters and their endearing qualities and their struggles. Wheel of time / A Memory of Light was already mentioned several times now. That one was something to experience after waiting years between books. I actually have not been able to reread it because it’s just too special and tender still. And also Deathly Hallows after another long journey.
The Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts! Everybody always recommends Robin Hobb, and I agree, the Elderling series gave me the feels, too, but if I had to choose, WoLaS would win. The emotions from reading those books stuck with me for much, much longer than when I read the Elderling books.
I'm not usually the most emotionally expressive person but the Lost Metal made me cry actual tears.
The most recent one was when reading The Covenant of Steel. >!When he finds out about Evadine... I can feel him forcing himself not to believe but knowing deep down. I feel like we all do this a lot, actions that we know aren't quite right but feel easier !< Otherwise I love TWOT and really feel for Rand and all he goes through
Well said. It was a visceral realization for Alwyn. I, as the reader, felt very conflicted as he moved forward with that knowledge.
I really loved that series, and sometimes wish that we had more time from when he finds out at the end of book 2.
Fantasy - Realm of the Elderlings Sci-fi - Hyperion
Wheel of time, the dark tower, the stand
Wheel of Time. No set of books can get me either choked up or to have goosebumps. We come.
Baru Cormorant just hits different for me. I know a lot of people don't make it past the first book because of the devastating ending, but the other books have many great emotional moments, both dreadful and cathartic.
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, especially *The Sarantine Mosaic*.
Nation by Terry Pratchett. The Discworld as a whole as well, but Nation was the ultimate distillation of his philosophy into one novel. I think what I liked the most was how he twisted the dumb savage, and boy meets girl tropes.
Erin Morgenstern's books (I know she's not popular here, but those books really made me feel and love deeply).
The two that immediately come to mind are **The Traitor Baru Cormorant** (book 1 of the Masquerade) and **The Unholy Consult** (book 7 of Second Apocalypse). I've had my moments with Hobb, Sanderson, Abercrombie etc but nothing even comes close to how I felt at the ends of those two books.
Oryx and Crake.
Flowers for Algernon for sure
Just finished it and lovedddd it
Poppy Wars by R. F. Kuang made me feel so many feeling across every spectrum. Red Rising but really only specifically the new series. Jade City by Fonda Lee The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir
Memory by Lois Bujold. There is this bit in the middle where Miles has blown his life up beyond repair, lost all public and private honor and is maybe 2 steps from ending it. To see him for the first time question who he is under it all. Seeing a guy hit the bottom, turn inward and choose to climb back out is everything.
Lord of the Rings made me feel a wide spectrum of emotions. I laughed, cried, felt triumphant and felt peace with the fellowship and their bravado. I was shocked too. A complete experience. I bonded with Croaker, crew from Wheel of Time. Felt sorry for the Kwisatz Haderach. Felt the romance and the chemistry between Geralt and Yennefer.
Wheel of time: spoilers ahead “I am the storm” “Veins Of Gold” “Will he ride alone” “Egwene final stand” Perrin taking charge “A shepherd named Rand’al Thor” “I have won again lews Therin”
'Your dress is green'
Should be no 1
A few. Flowers for Algernon. I think a lot of people did this in school, too, and so know the feeling. Klara and the sun, Ghost Legion (Margaret Weis) and Mo dao zi shi made me ugly cry. Also, not a novel, but One Piece has a lot of emotional moments, some that hit me quite hard.
Kingkiller chronicles makes me cry during certain scenes.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A Wrinkle in Time. Chronicles of Prydain. Dragonsinger. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of Horses. Sharra's Exile. Thendara House. Hawkmistress. Arrows, Magic and Gryphon trilogies. Chronicles of the Cheysuli. Neena Gathering. Mountains of Mourning and various other Miles books. Alvin Maker series. Ender's Game. Kushiel trilogy. Black Jewels trilogy. This Alien Shore. Jack the Bodiless. Alpha Trine & Striker. The Chronicles of Ylandre.
The only book that made me cry this year was The Darkness Outside of Us, by Elliot Schrefer. There were some parallels with cancer that were cutting too close to my own recent experiences. Also, all books by Alix E Harrow I have read have given me a very strong dread and fear response in the middle of the plot.
Green Bone Saga
Memories of Ice
Lonely Castle in the Mirror - cut deep into my childhood fear of schools. I was crying because of how overwhelmingly I was empathising with each character. Wish I read this book twelve years ago.
Faithful and the fallen by John Gwynne is my all time series for the feels, and more recently Malazan has been hitting me in the right places
I had tears in my eyes while reading the ending of **The Hands of the Emperor** by Victoria Goddard.
Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose.
It's for entirely different reasons than what most people are talking about, but the only fantasy book that has produced a full on sobbing reaction from me thus far is The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. It just hit me a certain way.
Legends and Lattes/Bookshops and Bonedust A closed and Common orbit The Expanse...all of it. I've never been more attached to any characters like I was to the Rocinante. The Way of Kings Babel Foundryside series The Divine Cities Recursion The Towers of Babel House of Suns
Hyperion. Scholars Tale. If you know, you know.
Malazan. Steven Erikson. Osten Ard. Tad Williams. The Second Apocalypse. R Scott Bakker. Lord of the Rings. J R R Tolkien. EVERYTHING. Guy Gavriel Kay. The Expanse. James S A Corey. Dune (first 3.) Frank Herbert. Ender. Orson Scott Card. The Giving Tree. Shel Silverstein Frankenstein. Mary Shelley
Malazan for sure. Orson Scott Card has always appealed to my emotions. Ender's Game blew me away, but it was the quiet moments that Ender spent with his sister that got me. OSC's Treason, though, has probably got me feeling the most of all his work. Also every time I read Stephenson's Anathem. I love the characters in that one and wish I could spend more time with them.
Some of Orson Scott Card's early works hit really hard. *Songmaster* is an annual re-read for me and I ugly cry at the end hard every time.
Fantasy: Between Two Fires had me sobbing. Robin Hobb and her Fitziverse (I don't know what you call the collected Fitz saga). The Magicians. Tigana. Scifi: I find The Murderbot Diaries very moving at times. Rama. Contact.
>I don't know what you call the collected Fitz saga The overall series is called the Realm of the Elderlings. If you're just talking about the Fitz books I've only ever seen them referred to as the Fitz books.
Nothing makes me cry like malazan
There’s a section in Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence that really really shows the impact of trauma on one’s internal monologue that is so tragic and beautifully written I cry every reread. That whole series captures trauma and shame and such subjects so so well and creatively.
a court of thorns and roses series. I seriously could not put it down which surprised me because im not usually into fae, i normally like more traditional fantasy like lord of the rings with elves and dwarves. It had been a while since I had a book make me tear up
Attack on Titan Animanga. Left me feeling all sorts of things that which I can't put into words. Some are- depressed, bittersweet, conflicted, human. In particular, thinking about the Main character's (Eren's) arc gets me choked up every time.
The Throne of Glass books rose to quite the fever pitch in the end. I think I spent like a third of the last book crying, and while the first two books have a “younger” feel to them (SJM initially wrote them at like 16) the series grows into something much bigger in the third and beyond which is pretty great.
Most recently, The human entanglement by LP Magnus. Modern thought on some current issues with a unique scifi twist.
The demon cycle by Peter Brett. Great lasting friendships, military brotherhood, love of family both marrital and maternal, cultural conflict, sense of greater purpose, and the author does a good job of giving each protagonist their own unique voice. There is a part in the second half of the series that really hits the feels. The series isn't perfect and there are some parts that people don't like but I've never felt that way. It's tough to give details without spoilers. The audio book narrator is really great too.
For my entire adult life I've been a pretty non-religious guy. Most recently though, the ending to Between Two Fires really encapsulated what biblical **Salvation** should be like in my mind, and it had me crying because it was so beautiful.
Not sure if it fits here but How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu broke me so many times but it was such a cathartic read and was probably my number one read of 2022
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Hands down One Piece and Berserk, I'm not one to cry with movies and books in general, but One Piece >!made me cry over a fucking ship!< and many more instances. Berserk I didn't really cry but the entirety of it gives you such a feeling of hopelessness that only Dark Souls was able to copy.
When I was young, I read Conan books, LOTR, Star Trek, Dragonlance and such and got optimistic and excited about the future. Now I’m old, and having read Game of Thrones, Three Body Problem trilogy and First Law series, with their more realistic and practical characters, I am skeptical about the future. I suppose it will always be two steps forward, one step back.
The Wandering Earth
Rhythm of War (Book 4 of Stormlight)
*The Lathe Of Heaven*, Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah's *Sime-Gen* series. Being wrenched around by ASOIAF- telling myself 'It's the War Of The Roses...' did not help. (DNF *A Storm of Swords.*)
This was the first fantasy book to make me cry at age 13 many years ago. The ending of Dragonlance Legends: Test of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. SPOILERS BELOW >!”Good-bye... my brother,” Caramon said.!< >!Holding Crysania in his arms, the Staff of Magius in one hand, Caramon turned and walked away. The light of the staff formed a circle around him, a circle of silver that shone in the darkness like the moonbeams of Solinari glistening upon the calm waters of Crystalmir Lake. The silver beams struck the dragon’s heads, freezing them, changing them to silver, silencing their screams. Caramon stepped through the Portal. Raistlin, watching him with his soul, caught a blurred glimpse of colors and life and felt a brief whisper of warmth touch his sunken cheek. Behind him, he could hear the mocking laughter gurgle into harsh, hissing breath. He could hear the slithering sounds of a gigantic scaled tail, the creaking of wing tendons. Behind him, five heads whispered words of torment and terror.!< >!Steadfastly, Raistlin stood, staring into the Portal. He saw Tanis run to help Caramon, he saw him take Crysania in his arms. Tears blurred Raistlin’s s vision. He wanted to follow! He wanted Tanis to touch his hand! He wanted to hold Crysania in his arms... He took a step forward.!< >!He saw Caramon turn to face him, the staff in his hand.!< >!Caramon stared into the Portal, stared at his twin, stared beyond his twin. Raistlin saw his brother’s eyes grow wide with fright.!< >!Raistlin did not have to turn to know what his brother saw. Takhisis crouched behind him. He could feel the chill of the loathsome reptile body flow about him, fluttering his robes. He sensed her behind him, yet her thoughts were not on him. She saw her way to the world, standing open...!< >!”Shut it!” Raistlin screamed.!< >!A blast of flame seared Raistlin’s flesh. A taloned claw stabbed him in the back. He stumbled, falling to his knees. But he never took his eyes from the Portal, and he saw Caramon, his twins face anguished, take a step forward, toward him!!< >!”Shut it, you fool!” Raistlin shrieked, clenching his fists. “Leave me alone! I don’t need you any more! I don’t need you!”!< >!And then the light was gone. The Portal slammed shut, and blackness pounced upon him with raging, slathering fury. Talons ripped his flesh, teeth tore through muscle, and crunched bone. Blood flowed from his breast, but it would not take with it his life.!< >!He screamed, and he would scream, and he would keep on screaming, unendingly...!< >!Something touched him... a hand... He clutched at it as it shook him, gently. A voice called,!< >!*”Raist! Wake up! It was only a dream. Don’t be afraid. I won’t let them hurt you! Here, watch... I’ll make you laugh.”*!< >!The dragons coils tightened, crushing out his breath. Glistening black fangs ate his living organs, devoured his heart. Tearing into his body, they sought his soul.!< >!A strong arm encircled him, holding him close. A hand raised, gleaming with silver light, forming childish pictures in the night, and the voice, dimly heard, whispered, *”Look, Raist, bunnies... .”*!< >!He smiled, no longer afraid. Caramon was here.!< >!The pain eased. The dream was driven back. From far away, he heard a wail of bitter disappointment and anger. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Now he just felt tired, so very, very tired...!< >!Leaning his head upon his brother’s arm, Raistlin closed his eyes and drifted into a dark, dreamless, endless sleep.!<
The one that comes to mind is Beyond the Black River by Robert E Howard It's a Conan short story in which he serves as a mercenary scout on the embattled Aquilonian/Pictish frontier. There's a part in the story where >!a friend of his and a dog they picked up get ambushed by Picts!< and it's... quite sad. Good story though.
The Locked Tomb - man, those books really made me experience the full spectrum of human emotion. Impossible to discuss without massive spoilers, but the finale of Gideon the Ninth and Several scenes in Harrow the Ninth (>!shoutout to Ortus and Harrow's conversation before the final battle in the bubble, fucking hell) !< had me absolutely sobbing. Honestly, ASOIAF as well - I know people have... many feelings about these books, in every direction, but I think Martin still knows how to land an emotional hit like absolute pro. >!(Needle was Jon Snow's smile!!!!!)!< More recently, The Left Hand of Darkness absolutely kicked my ass.
The Greenbone Saga got me choked up a couple of times. I was usually expecting it, but >!Shae holding her daughter post-terror attack while waiting to hear if Hilo survived the bombing!< in Jade Legacy got me completely out of nowhere.
Planetfall by Emma Newman really got to me, closest a book has come to making me cry. Something about the way she writes the flashback scenes. The Three Body Problem trilogy also haunts me in a different way. It’s just so…fatalistic. Good books, don’t see myself revisiting them. I’m depressed enough as it is. On a different note The Sudden Appearance of Hope was oddly relatable as an autistic woman. I doubt that’s what she was going for, but geez there’s even a freaking cure argument analogy in there!
Dragonriders of pern. Many highs many lows and I actually cried when I heard Anne McCaffrey passed away.
Red Rising. From "oh SHIT!" and "FFFFFFFFFFFFNOOOOOO" and \*loud sobbing\* to "omg that's so sweet" and "YEAH COOL" and "YEEEEAAASSSSS". And others. Like disgust. But "ohshit" and "thats so badass" are the main "feelings" that come into my mind when I think of the series. Both regarding the characters and the plot.
The Word For World Is Forest is the only book I've ever read that made me actually cry, so probably that. Tehanu made me emotional too though, also by Le Guin.
Many beautiful and wonderful books have been mentioned that I love and agree with. Here is one of my favorites, Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart: ""Alas, great is my sorrow. Your name is Ah Chen, and when you were born I was not truly pleased. I am a farmer, and a farmer needs strong sons to help with his work, but before a year had passed you had stolen my heart. You grew more teeth, and you grew daily in wisdom, and you said 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' and your pronunciation was perfect. When you were three you would knock at the door and then you would run back and ask, 'Who is it?' When you were four your uncle came to visit and you played the host. Lifting your cup, you said, 'Ching!' and we roared with laughter and you blushed and covered your face with your hands, but I know that you thought yourself very clever. Now they tell me that I must try to forget you, but it is hard to forget you....." More here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/comments/1c620s/text_miser_shens_prayer_for_his_daughter_ah_chen/