I just reread Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion novels and fell in love with them again. But now I want more.
What books would you recommend that fill the same sort of niche by someone other than Bujold?
Have you read Robin McKinley? Both her YA and grownup stuff are good. Not the same kind of world as the Chalion books, but the same way of grabbing you in and making the characters seem real.
StG
I’ve read some. I guess I wouldn’t have thought of McKinley as similar, but I definitely like her too.
Yeah, that’s why I said it isn’t the same world-building. But although her style isn’t the same, the way it grabs you is. The same in a different way.
StG
It would be helpful if you told us what aspects of the Chalion books you liked in particular. But as somebody who A) is not a big fan of fantasy in general; and B) is a big fan of Bujold and her Chalion books, my recommendation would be Brandon Sanderson. I find he writes fantasy with a science fiction style to it.
Yes, if you can identify what you liked about the novels that would allow for much better recommendations.
Patricia Brigg’s Sianim series, perhaps? Kate Elliot’s Spiritwalker trilogy or maybe Doris Egan’s Ivory books…
Doris Egan’s Ivory books.
Dave Duncan King’s Blades, and other series are also highly recommended. Particularly if you liked Chalian, you might like the Seventh Sword series, or the Magic Casement series.
Steven Brust’s Taltos series is also a bit in the same line.
Peter Beagle’s Tamsin.
Mercedes Lackey, pretty much any of the Valdemar books, particularly the [Arrows books](Arrows books) about Talia.
How about trying her Wide Green World series [4 books] You can join her chat list at the Baen website, or her email group and ask rabid fans directly what they would recommend. She also dies a SF series, the Vorkosigan series that is people based, not tech based. [OK they do have space flight, uterine replicators if you don’t/can’t carry a baby, some spiffy modern weapons and interstellar travel, but it is still way more people based than most shoot em up SF books.] The fun with joining her email group is she is very active on it. Oh, and she has a single young adult book set in an alternate medieval Italy where magic works - The Spirit Ring. I enjoy it and I am 52 
I don’t really want to be more specific because I’d rather just hear what other people think are books in the same category, whatever the category is.
Thanks for the recs!
A problem with lurking to see is what you would get anywhere - Lois herself agrees that her stuff appeals across a wide and funky selection of people - indeed, a romance list recommends her stuff to their followers, as well as a strong contingent of readers of Jane Austin and Wodehouse. Her story Winterfair Gifts was originally published in a collection of romance stories originally. I read SF, fantasy, mysteries, history [not novels], horror, biographies - probably pretty much anything except cowboy, sports and historical romance/gothic. If you go to Baen’s ebook site you can get sample chapters of a fair amount of books.
How about alternative universe? The Belisarius series is set in a universe where people from the future come back to 500AD Constantinople and India and attempt to change history. It can be very interesting if you know anything about history of Byzantine Rome, though most people just read it as a fantasy adventure series [5 books] I think the first one is free on the free library. Nope the second one is though.
I also get a fair amount of reading from Feedbooks, If you can manage old school purple prose, there are some great turn of the century novels. As they are free, no big deal if you start to read it and it turns out you hate it.