The Discworld series has nice world building, however the individual books focus on different characters for telling a story and getting to know that world.
If anyone is interested in Discworld for world building, then I'd recommend skipping the first few books. They were written before Terry Pratchett had a good grasp on the world and the characters. They can be worth coming back to later, but I definitely recommend not starting with them. "Wyrd Sisters" and "Guards! Guards!" are pretty good entry points.
I would even go further back, and recommend Equal Rites.
I'm partial to Ankh-Morpork and the City Watch for some reason ;)
If you like world building then check out Brandon Sanderson and his cosmere related books. They all play out within the same cosmere and all build upon that same world with different stories. I started with Mistborn and think that is still my favourite but it is a hard decision as there is a lot of good books / series.
You could also try Stephen Kings - The Dark Tower and then go down the rabbit hole of a plethora of other books that all happen within the same world and have various different connections to The Dark Tower books and midworld.
N.K Jemison - The Broken Earth trilogy was pretty decent in terms of building the world it was set in and I think is pretty highly regarded for that element.
If you want a bit of space operas then I think Simon R Greens - Deathstalker books are really great and build a whole quirky universe for itself.
Maybe check a few of those out :)
Cosmere feels like it focuses on politics. If I'm right I'd rather not read it. I'm not even interested in real life politics.
I heard a buch of praise for Stephen King and someone else also said the dark tower. I think I'll give it a shot.
Couldn't find a wrong word for The Fifth Season, it got on my list.
I don't think Deathstalker is for me.
Still, thanks! I'm probably set for a long while.
I thought dark tower was okay, but it was a bit too surreal for me towards the end.
Might I recommend the Mortal Engines quartet? They’re kinda YA, especially the first one, but the setting is as far as I know completely unique, and beyond amazing. I really don’t want to spoil the first few moments of realization, so I’m just going to put the first two passages below.
Also, many of the BBEGs are cool af and (spoiler for the later books) as least one matches your request exactly, while others match it pretty well.
Honestly I love the characters, they work so well. Especially Tom, he’s the most normal everyday lead I’ve ever read in a fantasy/sci-fi book, and yet all his actions are totally believable.
My only complaint is that book 2 is kind of frustrating in places.
First two passages:
It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.
In happier times, London would never have bothered with such feeble prey. The great Traction City had once spent its days hunting far bigger towns than this, ranging north as far as the edges of the Ice Waste and south to the shores of the Mediterranean. But lately prey of any kind had started to grow scarce, and some of the larger cities had begun to look hungrily at London. For ten years now it had been hiding from them, skulking in a damp mountainous, western district which the Guild of Historians said had once been the island of Britain. For ten years it had eaten nothing but tiny farming towns and static settlements in those wet hills. Now, at last, the Lord Mayor had decided that the time was right to take his city back over the land-bridge into the Great Hunting Ground.
I thirst for befriending "bad" guys, so you sold me. Rest of the text was wasted /j. I won't even read reviews, I trust you stranger.
Please get back to me with your impressions, especially on the “befriending bad guys” side. I’d love to know (even if you end up disliking it)!
I do agree that it does get weaker towards the end, I think after King got hit by the car in real life the writing for this series went down hill. I enjoy the first 4 books the most, then it is a steady decline however it never reaches bad for me still and I have still read through it multiple times.
I also enjoy the majority of his books though and a lot of the ones that tie into this universe are amazing books in their own right but the fact they build into a bigger world than that which exists within the books themselves appeals to me a lot.
I will also look into your suggestion :p
No worries, I hope you find something you enjoy.
I would say that I personally can't stand politics in the real world or in stories so I am with you on that and I don't believe any of the cosmere stuff focuses on politics at all. Dune is something politic heavy and whilst I made it through it eventually it took me four or five tries and I probably wouldn't return.
I highly recommend trying out at least the first mistborn book to see if you like it if you get to a point where you are in need of something else to read after you've worked your way through some other suggestions.
Happy reading :)
It's possible I missjudged it. Not like I read the whole thing to say that. I can tell that you enjoyed it, so it can't be bad. I'll look into it, but no promises :p
Haha no that is fair and yes I enjoyed it a lot, I just don't think it is very political so wanted to make that point in the hope you don't miss out on a great world ;p
it's on my radar. I just go so many so good options now, didn't even got around looking into all of them yet. I tought I'd get like 1-2 comments or not even. Thank you.
Three Body Problem is great for if you want more world-oriented experiences than character-oriented ones. The character in focus changes often and sometimes harshly, but I feel it's in service of the plot and feels great.
I think you may like Expeditionary Force series, there is quite a bit of what you are looking for.
I guess Asimov Foundation series would also be a good candidate for world building.
The dark tower series.
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
First in a series called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
A young boy named Daniel is taken by his bookstore-owning father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
By tradition, first time visitors are allowed to select one book for which they will become a lifetime guardian.
Daniel chooses "Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax and quickly becomes enthralled by it. As he tries to find out more about the book and the author, he finds that someone is systematically collecting all of Carax's works and burning them.
I'll leave the thrillers for my dad. Still, I feel the love in this reply, so I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be reading this.
Not really a thriller, more of a mystery + a love story. It's a fantastic read. Especially considering it was translated from Spanish.
The "Death Gate Cycle" by Weiss and Hickman has all that. Great worldbuilding, bad guys that become friends, etc.
I'm sold. I love myself some high fantasy, and you don't have to tell me twice about the last part. I won't miss a chance to experience that again. Thanks!
Watership Down
Empire of man series. Main character starts as a twat almost nobody really likes, then he gets better.
It’s military science fiction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Man
At bottom of wiki article is link to read first book for free
Dungeon Crawler Carl and The Bobiverse are both amazing series that are worth a glance at.
These are probably not what I'm looking for. But now I know where that one wierd first person rogue like came from. Thanks!
Read the Wheel of Time, talk to you in 3 years
I think I heard the name once, but I don't know anything about it. Why? what
Not the same guy, but I started reading it a few weeks ago and just finished the fourth book last night. It does a pretty good job at both world building and character development in my opinion (though it really shines across books). In my opinion, the first book does a good job of introducing new elements of the setting at a good pace, and uses it's characters who know little of the world to impart how special/rare some of the things are.
Still donno why be said see you in 3 years. Is it that long?
It's a 14 book series. It's generally acclaimed for its world building and depth, but understood to be a bit of a slog in the middle. The original author, Robert Jordan, died while writing the 12th book, and Brandon Sanderson was chosen by Jordan's widow to finish the story using notes left by Jordan for his successor. I never finished it myself but I understand these final works were very well received, and Sanderson is a great author himself.
Oh, yeah, they have a reputation for being long. There are 14 books total I believe, and each is pretty long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
That said, I was able to read the first the books with an average speed of a book a week (though I spent a lot of the weekends to do so), so I wouldn't say they're crazy huge books.
You can try the "Malazan book of the fallen" series. It's very fast paced which I like but probably isn't everyone's cup of tea.
The Silmarilion
Literally world building
I recommend Locked Tomb series. It has both of youre asking for. Also, such badass protagnist and overall great writing.
I looked it up the the first this I saw was "Doctor Sex". Peak fiction. Anyways, do I read the "half" books (The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex, As Yet Unsent, The Unwanted Guest)?
I'm sorry maybe you found the wrong series. I'm talking about series with the books-Gideon The Ninth, Harrow The Ninth and Nona The Ninth. Its written by Tamsyn Muir
Holy shit. I just looked up what you're talking about. I didnt even read those. Those are some random side stories. Start with Gideon The Ninth. Excuse me while I read Doctor Sex now :D
PPS, Dr Sex sounds much more scandalous than it is. Its actually Dr Sextus and I dont think he's ever called Dr Sex in the mainstream books iirc. But Muir is the Mother of Memes so I won't say it's beneath her to call him that.
I haven't read him, but Brandon Sanderson has been mentioned to me more than once for his world-building. I've heard good things about Tress of the Emerald Sea, though I don't know how world-buildy it is compared to his other books.
Someone else is also pitching me on Brandon Sanderson. He must have made something good.
I was also going to pitch his books, and I haven't even read all of them. They are very solid fantasy books, and he just keeps writing bangers at an unusual pace. My favorite part of books is magic systems, and all the flavors they come in, idk if that is something you've found you like yet.
Book reader community.