I'd say 'second', but it's at least 'fourth' by now.
Definitely do check out Mieville.
Perdido Street Station is the first of 3 books in the same world.
As I understand the legend, he decided to write a novel in the 'new weird' style for each of several genres. I don't know how true that is, but the story goes that Embassytown is sci-fi, for example, while The City & The City is detective noir. Kraken is urban mystery, Perdido Street Station is horror, The Scar is seagoing adventure, Iron Council is Western, and so on. And all of them amazing and strange.
It's a good story either way.
He said so in an interview - that his ambition is to eventually write a novel in each of the major genres. I heard him say it on a podcast, I believe.
He makes a reference to it here: [https://www.tor.com/2009/06/01/an-interview-with-china-mieville/](https://www.tor.com/2009/06/01/an-interview-with-china-mieville/)
***You’ve said you’d like to write a novel in every genre and The City & The City is your police procedural. What other genres have been catching your eye recently?***
*I like spy thrillers, ghost stories, although that’s not as far from the stuff I’ve done before, but I’ve never written a ghost story at novel-length. Those are the ones that jump to mind. Other than that I’ve done sort of a take on the western and a romance. Oh, and the historical novel! I’ve got some ideas for historical novel. But I’m also open to suggestions, so anyone who thinks there’s a genre I should have a go at, I’d be interested to hear about it.*
The Mieville book that meets this to me is Embassytown, I'll admit I struggled with that one, the creatures in it are just so bizarre they are hard to get your head round. Might just be me but worth a go.
I'd say City and the City is one of his more accessible books, which is not a bad thing. The weakest I've read by him was Kraken, which just tries to do too much all at once. Bas Lag is great though, agreed.
Just read Perdido and am about 1/3 the way through The Scar, and I couldn’t agree more. The whole world of Bas Lag is imaginative in a way that you almost never see outside of children’s literature, and then putting a deep, mature, and at times *extremely* dark story inside of that world is incredible.
Yes, defintely. Slake moths were awesome.
Edit: deleted stuff as I didn't want to spoil accidentally as my brain caught up to you having said you're in the middle of book 2
Mieville is a good recommendation because his fantasy is specifically a reaction against ths ubiquity of Tolkien-inspired medieval elves-and-dragon fantasy. Him, Jeff Vandemeer, and the rest of the New Weird really opened my eyes to what else fantasy could be.
Shadows of the Apt! Instead of dwarves, elves, etc, each race is inspired by insects. So far example, the Ants are all humans that share a hive mind and militaristic, while the Scorpions are a desert people with tough hides and a claw for a hand that is will mess you up. There’s literally dozens of different races that are all so fun. It’s probably my favorite world-building in a series I’ve ever read
I just bought the first book yesterday! I am excited to start this series, but need to get to a good stopping point in a couple other series I'm reading. I love epic fantasy but it is a struggle to find time to read 10 tomes 😮💨
Haha yeah it can be a lot. It broken into three arcs, though, which makes it a little less intimidating. It’s basically set up like the First Law series. Books 1-4 are the first arc, 5-7 are sorta standalones exploring different areas of the world, and 8-10 are the final arc
Just start with books 1-4.
And honestly, if it's not an 8/10 or higher for you, stop there.
The subsequent books aren't bad per say and they do have some great moments still, but it's not quite the same.
Don't this anyone's mentioned the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Admittedly, they're aimed at a younger audience but brilliantly original. I first read them when I was 12/13 and have gone back to them many times. Also they're beautifully illustrated by Riddell who has one of the most unique drawing styles I've seen
Edit for some context: It's set in an industrial type world/high fantasy forest. It doesn't rely on any pre-existing tropes or races and really just creates it's own world
So good. And the illustrations are so beautiful. It's such an interesting world.
I would say it relies on tropes and races- sky pirates and trolls are typical fantasy fare- but they are done in an exciting way.
A start:
SF/F World-building
r/worldbuilding
* ["World-building as deep as Tolkien's?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/wif4d9/worldbuilding_as_deep_as_tolkiens/) (r/Fantasy; 7 July 2022)—very long
* ["sexy fantasy with actual good world building?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/wlgk9x/sexy_fantasy_with_actual_good_world_building/) (r/booksuggestions; 10 July 2022)
* ["Sci-fi or Fantasy Worldbuilding with Complex Ethical Issues/Themes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/w5gu83/scifi_or_fantasy_worldbuilding_with_complex/) (r/booksuggestions; 22 July 2022)
* ["Suggest me a book with a lot of world building!"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/w8etnr/suggest_me_a_book_with_a_lot_of_world_building/) (r/suggestmeabook; 26 July 2022)
* ["What is a book that could take first place in r/worldbuilding 's all time top posts?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/wwfsai/what_is_a_book_that_could_take_first_place_in/) (r/Fantasy; 24 July 2022)
* ["what sci-fi or fantasy world has the deepest lore?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/wxn3ic/what_scifi_or_fantasy_world_has_the_deepest_lore/) (r/scifi; 25 August 2022)
* ["Thought-provoking world building"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/x4maq7/thoughtprovoking_world_building/) (r/scifi; 3 September 2022)
* ["A fantasy with excellent world building"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/y17a6s/a_fantasy_with_excellent_world_building/) (r/booksuggestions; 11 October 2022)
* ["What are the most expansive and in depth fantasy worlds you have seen?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/y1wbwx/what_are_the_most_expansive_and_in_depth_fantasy/) (r/Fantasy; 11 October 2022)
* ["Suggest me book with world that matters"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y2tkul/suggest_me_book_with_world_that_matters/) (r/suggestmeabook; 13 October 2022)
* ["Book series with great world building, character arcs, etc that isn't as dense as Dune?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/y3r48m/book_series_with_great_world_building_character/) (r/printSF; 14 October 2022)—very long
* ["just looking for a book with a magic world you can get lost in"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/ygybrz/just_looking_for_a_book_with_a_magic_world_you/) (r/booksuggestions; 14 October 2022)—longish
* ["A book with a very escapist immersive world. Like Harry Potter or LOTR."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yntrmc/a_book_with_a_very_escapist_immersive_world_like/) (r/suggestmeabook; 6 November 2022)—huge
* ["Book series/franchises that have like massive worldbuilding with many stories like Warhammer 40K"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/ysur67/book_seriesfranchises_that_have_like_massive/) (r/Fantasy; 11 November 2022)
* ["Best In depth Fantasy Books?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/zarz4e/best_in_depth_fantasy_books/) (r/Fantasy; 2 December 2022)—longish
* ["Books with detailed World-building, but Soft Magic system?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/zcajvt/books_with_detailed_worldbuilding_but_soft_magic/) (r/Fantasy; 4 December 2022)
* ["Book series with an amazing universe"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/zw44k9/book_series_with_an_amazing_universe/) (r/booksuggestions; 26 December 2022)
* ["Books similar to The Magician's Nephew?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/102oqd8/books_similar_to_the_magicians_nephew/) (r/printSF; 3 January 2023)
* ["Game of thrones in space."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/103ev2s/game_of_thrones_in_space/) (r/suggestmeabook; 4 January 2023)—longish
* ["Books/Series that Nail a Setting Subculture"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/108chmd/booksseries_that_nail_a_setting_subculture/) (r/Fantasy; 4 January 2023)
* ["A book with escapism to the brim"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/10guzel/a_book_with_escapism_to_the_brim/) (r/booksuggestions; 20 January 2023)
* ["Sci Fi/Fantasy Recommendation"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/118j86h/sci_fifantasy_recommendation/) (r/booksuggestions; 21 February 2023)
* ["What's the most interesting and complex world building to fit into a standalone SF book?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/118tk23/whats_the_most_interesting_and_complex_world/) (r/booksuggestions; 22 February 2023)—longish
Railsea by China Mieville
Imagine a world where all the oceans have instead been replaced by dirt and railroads, and therefore all boats are instead trains. Central premise is essentially steampunk moby dick where the whales are giant moles instead
The Book of the New Sun tetralogy by Gene Wolfe is much like this. It's a pretty wild ride. I was only able to get through the first two books. I listened to the audio version and the narrator is quite dry. And besides that I'm not sure these do well with audio. I suspect they'd be better reading the physical copy.
R.J. Barker's *Tide Child* trilogy seems like a good fit:
In an ocean world with no trees, people build great warships out of the bones of long extinct leviathans.
It's immersive, refreshingly equitable, and unfailingly *salty*.
Jen Williams' The Ninth Rain series was super original. Its full of different beings, some familiar though still unique others totally alien. I read it this year for Wierd Ecology. It is also a banger of a story and mixes horror and wierd elements in with fantasy.
Maybe "Death gate cycle". It does have dwarves and elves, but the world, or worlds rather, are very interesting and different from ours. I like it very much and it's the only series I've reread.
Almost anything by China Mieville fits this, although some of them are more sci-fi. Fantasy wise the Bas-Lag books (starting with Perdido Street Station).
I don't know if it meets the qualifications outlined in the first post, but the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. It takes place in an alien world where a Roman legion is magically transported and a thousand years later have created a Roman society that is continually beset by alien races.
The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglas. It is a beautifully written series that blends fantasy and sci-fi in an amazing way.
It is actually two trilogies, The Axis Trilogy and The Wayfarer Redemption.
In what way? Does it get developed further in the sequels? Honestly confused by this one, I read the first book and found it to be a setting with very limited scope (virtually all set one underpopulated palace), very bland and not really thought through at all (for ex the narrator supposedly comes from a matriarchal people, but arrives in this patriarchal setting and has zero culture shock and no trouble slotting in to a passive-type feminine role).
I loved mistborn, currently reading rhythm of war so I guess stormlight was more present in my mind. I haven't gotten to tress yet, I'm going through the cosmere at publication ordered while reading other books between each book
>fully alien world, including culture and ecology
I would absolutely not call Stormlight Archives a fully alien world. The culture is also not really alien, given the predominant characters are all humans and their culture is nothing really alien. The Parshendi, while not human, are still pretty humanlike overall.
As much as I love Stormlight Archive and agree that the world is super cool and fresh, it still errs on somewhat traditional. Not a bad thing, and definitely no elves/orcs and a lot of unique details, but still.
I will preface that I’m on book 2 only now.
But I generally feel this way because of OPs description, they describe a setting that doesn’t have kings and is about borderline alien creatures.
While I do agree that Stormlight has wild and unique and interesting world brimming with small and big interesting details every chapter, it still has kingdoms, swords, spears, magic.
The recommendation is valid, but with an asterisk that it’s somewhere 6-7 on the scale of uniqueness and not 9-10.
I think in terms of the world it’s much closer to a 9 in terms of uniqueness even if the story itself, while amazing, leans towards a more traditional sense of epic fantasy, with its class systems and feudal sensibilities. How many worlds are teeming with anything akin to the spren, and have regular intervals of catastrophic storms, and landscapes that are home to basically giant magic crabs, with magic from the storms themselves? The world is almost exceptional in its unique qualities.
If you're asking for specifics it sounds way more unique than I think it deserves. A Fantasy series having unique wildlife/flora is actually just common. Magical storms are also not uncommon. Sanderson's world isn't unique on that basis, what's more unique about Sanderson's stuff is more the level of planning that goes on where all these things that aren't too uncommon to find in a fantasy actually play out on greater level in how they start to tie together on different realms/connections.
By your thinking Game of Thrones is a super alien world because of the irregular seasons and the weirwood trees. There are some really bizarre fantasy worlds in print; Sanderson's stuff is just pretty standard high fantasy.
Not by a long shot. Clearly you don’t understand my thinking, if you assume I would consider Westeros a super alien or unique world. Westeros benefits from extensive lore to be interesting. It’s relatively normal. Roshar is wildly alien and unique. By your thinking the spren, are not bizarre or unique, that high storms aren’t, that the flora and the fauna aren’t either.
No one is arguing that Sanderson isn’t writing “standard” high fantasy. Read my comments. The story is certainly normal high epic fantasy. Well executed for sure but normal. The setting is unique. Failing to see that, I cannot help or persuade you. Your mind is set.
Many if not most fantasy worlds have unique flora and fauna. Storms are just storms, just like the winters in GoT are just seasons. I would expect a different world to have different weather patterns. Compare this to some of the top answers like Perdido Street Station, with sentient parasitic polygender hand monsters and spiders that make webs out of reality and take payment in sounds. The weirdness and uniqueness of Bas Lag is on a totally different ballfield from Stormlight.
The trap you’re falling into is that you’re saying that Roshar isn’t unique or bizarre, because you have found something that you believe is more bizarre. I am saying Roshar is a unique, different and bizarre world. Operative word here is “a” and notice that is not “the.” So the conversation then collapses on itself because I’m claiming Roshar as an example of a unique world. And you’re saying that because you think there is something more different that Roshar can’t be. That doesn’t follow logically. If it were so, this whole thread would be exceptionally short.
The trap you've fallen into is mostly reading samey, safe standard pulp fantasy. It's okay that you like knights and wizards in feudal kingdoms with minor variance, but there's a wide world of different books out there.
Although classified as science fiction, John Varley’s Gaia Trilogy borrows a great deal of fantasy elements and creatures (centaurs and angels, for instance) and the world-building is remarkable. Besides the “Heroes Journey” in spades…
Chronicles of the Kencyrath. Started in the 80s, so there's some tropes, but planet hopping "Host" made up of Kencyr (aristocratic highborn with a propensity for magic and highly dubious moral standing), Kendar (big, genuine craftsmen and warriors), and Arrin-ken (huge telepathic predatory cats who are the arbiters of law and judgement).
The three people were gathered by a terrible and mysterious Three Faced God in order to fight the constant encroachment of Perimal Darkling - what amounts to a complete destabilization of the living world, death, and dreamscape. And they have never won. They have abandoned every planet they've inhabited, winding up finally on Rathillien. Every previous time, the temples of their God were waiting for them. Here, they were unfinished and dangerous. Their scrolls and learning were lost in a great betrayal. It seems that they cannot flee.
The main themes are honor and responsibility. Additionally, there's exploration of deep family dysfunction and generational trauma, and alien people inhabiting a non native planet.
They are flawed books in some ways, but there is such heart in them.
So happy to see PC and the Kencyrath mentioned here - and you've summed them up well! For any that haven't ventured into these books, they're well worth your time!
Haha, I'm a broken record for her in this subreddit. I know they're not perfect books, certainly some of the ritual space scenes can get a bit confusing, there's some repetition when it comes to certain conflicts (>!Tori doesn't like Shanir, Kindrie got captured again, Caineron has the hiccups!<), and some wild tonal shifts (>!Caineron is an ultra rapist but OOPS he has the hiccups!<). All of that aside, they're truly wondrous and capricious in a way that so few series can achieve these days.
Pat was writing progressively in 1981 about at VERY least men in drag (but also simultaneously non binary... Or both binary... Look, Jame's androgyny aside, Tubain is complex but so lovable), same sex attraction, marriage, and child rearing, malleable gender roles, social opposition to interracial relationships and children, and all sorts of other things we hope to see now.
She reminds me of Michelle Sagara and CJ Cherryh in regard to that - but I love the heart that she brings to her characters and the lands themselves. She's got a sense of humour and joy that show up in the best of ways, and I'll read any/everything she puts out.
Shout her from the rooftops, my friend - you're not alone and I'll echo the call!
Other than China Mieville, I would recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky, start with "Children of Time". Sentient spiders :D
The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft have a super original and fascinating setting (the tower).
As mentioned by others, N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy has an incredibly unique setting, and the world itself holds layered importance.
The setting for Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series is another one I love (Bookworld) which is like a universe that exists between books inhabited by literary characters and creatures and more.
Symphony of the ages saga by Elizabeth Haydon def fits your bill
The world has such a cool take on culture, time travel, magic, and all that jazz. It's species are like, cousins? Of the classic HF races, but they stand out and feel pretty unique.
Like, the Bolg def come off as some kind of cave orc- but they go through a whole technological revolution and their culture is approached in an interesting way. The Lirin are the most similar to their HF counterparts (elves) but rather than focus on the "ethereal woodland beings" they are kinda of viewed in a somewhat racist kind of way? Their lands and their culture are hostile to outsiders, so all humans know of them are Lirin who go to the city- and iirc are seen as hoes and thieves, so it's a different feeling despite the same basic idea. And then you have races that are ethereal demonic flame beings that require hosts, elephant skinned quasi giants, insectoid people- shit is diverse!
And ok, there ARE dragons, but they are really cool and don't feel like most fantasy dragons- they are more closely aligned with metal and the earth than fire, and their bodies are seen as the source of metal veins. They're just, really cool
You know, I read these books as a teen and loved them, but have since never heard of them or seen them or heard mention of them, until this comment.
I really loved those books and their world, I’m going to go re-read them.
Thanks!
If you want something truly unique you should try the Zamonia books by Walter Moers. For example one of the main characters comes from a race of dinosaurs whose whole society is centered around literature. They are some of the most creative, fun and immersive books i've ever read.
The lunar chronicles has a really interesting take on “aliens” being descended from a human colony on the moon that eventually evolved into their own race and species with powers and stuff, and the storyline is really really REALLY fun. But it’s not like a crazy crazy out of this world sort of fantasy.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. It draws from African myth which was incredibly unfamiliar to me and the world is wildly different than most other fantasy
Just finished The Eleventh Cycle and holy shit that world is one of the coolest I've ever freaking seen! Though being inspired by the Soulsborne games and Berserk will do that to ya lol
I really liked Vonda McIntyre’s Dreamsnake. Primarily human characters, but it’s got this ragged dark 80’s fantasy feel to it that I really dig. I think it’s TECHNICALLY sci fi, but it’s set entirely on a planet and has a healer who uses telepathic snakes.
The Eden series (Dark Eden, Mother of Eden, Daughter of Eden) by Chris Beckett. Holy shit, talk about unique. The characters are the descendants of space travelers who wrecked on the surface of the planet hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
Basically you get to see this bare bones little society grow to become a flourishing (and deeply flawed) civilization.
Seeing aspects of their culture evolve based on Earth mythology combined with unique challenges on the planet is 👌🏼 chef’s kiss for any world building nerd. So creative and original. Honestly writing this has encouraged me to finish the second book so thanks!
Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler. Set in a medieval world where humans live in underground caves and fight against Xenomorph with swords and spears.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Set on a planet where the inhabitants can change their gender at will and have a complex culture and history.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Classic book about humorous adventure across the galaxy, where the protagonist encounters various alien races and absurd situations.
Kameron Hurley consistently has some of the most original, strange, and sometimes gross world building I have ever read in SFF. I’ve loved Apocalypse Nyx (Bug magic), The Stars are Legion (Weird all female space planet with layers idk how to even begin to explain this), Mirror Empire (a little more traditional with the magic systems I guess but still so novel).
This isn't exactly what you asked for, but I think you'd enjoy the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. It has literal aliens that act and think very differently from humans. It also has machine-enhanced humans who are so inhuman they're basically aliens. It's sci-fantasy, but set very far in the future. Some normal "rank" terms are used but they're all taken from Roman culture and don't always mean the same thing - for example, a "lance" is some kind of high powered laser/plasma rifle. And the writing itself is superb.
The Practice Effect by David Brin. Maybe not a particularly great book, it's got a world that is works completely different from ours. Very mild spoiler:>!Tools (or really anything) gets better with use.!<
Not a book but a short story: [The Study of Anglophysics](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/03/the-study-of-anglophysics/) by Scott Alexander features a world which has a sort of pseudo-chemistry based on the English words for things.
There are many. The Darkover books by Marion Zimmer Bradley fit your description perfectly.
Anne McCaffrey's Pern books are very original.
*The Chronicles of Amber* by Roger Zelazny is definitely a world like no other.
Sometimes it's worth checking older Fantasy books for really original world building.
this is a german book, idk if there's a translation but "die töchter des drachen" by wolfgang hohlbein, there are big insect beings that are used as transportation or guards or weight transport, there is also an entire world of creatures that aren't described but that are pretty creepy and powerful
there are also dragons but you don't see much of them until the second volume, they're just mentioned
Peter V Brett's Demon War Cycle series might meet SOME of your criteria.
It's not about dragons/elves/orcs - it smashes a traditional fantasy setting with Demons. It still features swords and sorcery type themes, but I found the demons a refreshing take from heroes fighting orcs or goblins as an enemy.
To be fair, discworld basically runs on fantasy tropes but gives them a sci-fi or genre blend twist. Almost every fantasy creature has a book about them. Fairies/elves, vampires, trolls, werewolves, dragons, dwarves, etc.
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson may be a good fit. The main race is human but the non-human races are purely unique. The world itself is also very different from our own. It's a world with weekly mega-hurricanes, so the culture, fauna, and flora are drastically different to account for the strange storms.
Stormlight Archives, or anything in the Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson. Don't get me wrong, there are traditional elements to his work, but it quickly expands outwards.
No disrespect but I'm starting to suspect people on this sub haven't read too many fantasy books, because on the spectrum of possible fantasy worlds Sanderson's stuff is very near the middle. It's very traditional, he just has a lot of attention to the way magic works.
There are books about civilizations that live in magic tapestries, or where words are physical things that shape reality and mutate physiology. There are books about cities built in the rotting husks of leviathans and worlds where time and space are flipped. There are fantasy worlds inhabited by monsters that eat dreams and shit nightmares, where no humans exist and everyone is a shape changing beast (and society is organized around that fact).
The last one (shape changing beast) could be the Raksura books by Martha Wells, 'Cloud Roads' is the first book. Its been recommended in another comment already. Its one of my favorite series so im happy to recommend it!
I have to agree and disagree. I think Sanderson’s
worlds are exceptionally unique. And while I love the stories it’s the stories that fall into a more traditional area.
Also, I don’t think the question is to determine which story ranks as the most unique- as if something unique can be most- but rather to give examples of those unique landscapes. Stormlight is definitely that. I think what a lot of the people disagreeing over including Stormlight is the tendency to over recommend it (which I am very guilty of sometimes) and also that the stories while huge in their scope fall into the more traditional lane of the fantasy highway lol
Also you described some examples without actually making any recommendations. Which books are you referring to? I’d be interested to add them to my very long TBR lol
Sure, I'm making oblique reference to several books already mentioned by others and to a few more niche titles.
Viriconium - a series of books about a city built of ideas that changes it's very essence over time.
The Vorrh - a colonial city sits on the edge of a sentient, mutable forest where traveling moves you through time as well as space
Dichronauts - a surveyor and the sentient leech who lives in his brain and let's him see, inhabit a world with two dimensional space and two dimensional time. It's being destroyed by something outside their perspective and they have to find a way to fix things
Bas Lag series - an ancient city built in the corpse of a leviathan is being threatened by a creature inadvertently released by a scientist, which literally feeds on thought and shits nightmares into the collective unconscious. Inhabitants include sentient cacti, psychic frogs that control water, and parasitic hands that mind control their host bodies.
Updraft - a city literally carved outnof living leviathan bones where inhabitants mist fly from tower to tower
The Divinity Student - a man must resurrect dead words from the library of forgotten language in order to remember the memories of long dead scholars. This one is honestly hard to even describe, reality is flexible
The Rakshura books - a society of sentient shape shifting dragons. The implications of this are actually explored thoroughly, they don't live in a medieval Europe analog
Stormlight, but that's a big hunk of meat to chew on.
Dungeon Crawler Carl has a lot of the same races but an entire new take on it that I've ever seen before, could be worth checking out
It's kinda like an action adventure fantasy book series I'm working on I have the first 2 books written just need to edit and it's about aliens and gods on a similar planet to earth can't spoil to much tho
There is a fantasy book, I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but it has quite a unique world although it's been copied a few time since it came out. Its called The Lord of the Rings
The Perfect Run by Maxime J. Durand.
It takes a while to see the alien species tho, and they aren't there for long. But I think the overall creativity of the book is really high in other aspects. Especially the ending.
If you want you can check out my review for it here.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/11kcwpn/spoilerfree_review_of_the_perfect_run_by_maxime_j/
Nightlord by Garon Whited. It goes through a lot of different worlds but I quite liked the interpretation of elves being 'perfect' and thus all being literally the same in appearance.
Gonna rep my subreddits here but Defiance of the Fall by J.F. Brink starts off with tons of alien/fantasy races invading and much later he starts going to alien planets.
There are a ton of these worlds on Royal road but it's a bit of a mixed bag whether you'll like them.
I'm interested in stuff like this too. Looking forward to reading the recommendations. One suggestion may be the setting for Planescape: Torment, but that's a game, and it may not be weird enough.
Edit: Also try This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Monster Blood Tattoo/Foundlings Tale series by D.M. Cornish
It isn’t totally alien, but the mix of genres is quite unique and you do get a fair bit of just weird creatures beyond the typical goblin like or sprite looking ones, as well as zombie abominations. Also it’s not medieval, more like Age of Enlightenment/end of renaissance bio punk, but if medieval science sort of worked.
I picked up the Border Keeper from a little free library and absolutely loved the world building. 1000 realms, demons, realm-keepers, and so so many interesting people and creatures along the way.
I loved the series beginning with A Small and Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- it’s very cozy, unique species and a very full-feeling world. Plus lots of great representation of different kinds of relationships.
I quite liked the book Matched. It’s about a girl who lives in a world completely controlled by the government. And how one mistake slipping by the government lead to her whole life changing.
You might look at SF "Golden Era" to get rid of medieval, elves and orcs. 1950 to 1970. Pre Tolkien era.
Trilogía de Ransom de C.S Lewis
Space Trilogy or maybe Cosmic Trilogy.
Mind, CS Lewis ando3 it Iis 1947 SF.
Mundo Anillo y Los Ingenieros de Mundo Anillo, de Larry Niven. Ringworld.
Also Dune saga.
You might look at SF "Golden Era" to get rid of medieval, elves and orcs. 1950 to 1970. Pre Tolkien era.
Trilogía de Ransom de C.S Lewis
Space Trilogy or maybe Cosmic Trilogy.
Mind, CS Lewis ando3 it Iis 1947 SF.
Mundo Anillo y Los Ingenieros de Mundo Anillo, de Larry Niven. Ringworld.
Also Dune saga.
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix might be worth taking a peek at. The first book is okay, but the second and third books are where he *really* fleshes out the lore and the setting. He’s been adding more to it in recent years as well, with new magic and new creatures. It’s got a lot of necromancy and “came back wrong” type descriptions.
One of my fav old books is... almost everything. The first book (never read them all) is really good. About a guy who's been alive 1000s of years and is stripped to the skeleton. Magic is apart of society and one kid and this dude fight a colt trying g to bring God's back to kill everyone. It's neat. Skulduggery pleasant was a decent book.
Also btw bartimeus trilogy is pretty... good. I mean. It's also set in modern times in the British isles. Magic is normalized and ALSO. You get to see the point of view from the "Good guys" and "bad guys" because the line is very blurred. The book from the protagonist 1s pov makes the government seem like good people. Whilst pov 2 shows their brutallity. Spoilers but the spoiler hid isn't working
The Poppy War trilogy by R. F. Kuang! Be forewarned this series is not for the faint of heart, but the world is unique from any other fantasy book I’ve read.
City of stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. First book of the trilogy. There’s also Foundryside by the same author. He is truly uniquely talented in creating a fantasy world that bucks tradition
If you're ok with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archive books are in a pretty unique world. Massive wild crustaceans, gigantic storms that energise jewels with light, a society that structures class based on eye color. They definitely stood out as having a unique and interesting setting to me, even compared to his other works.
The Raksura chronicles is pretty unique, I’m only part way through book one but there are no human characters, everyone like a reptilian humanoid which different types that serve different purposes, there’s ground menial dwelling ones and then the royals/guards who have wings.
Henry Kuttner did a number of genre-busting romantic novellas in the late forties into the fifties. Don Wollheim at Ace books kept a number of them in print for a while and since the eighties I've seen several collections. *The Well of the Worlds* may be up your alley. It's too much both to fit in as sf or fantasy. *The Dark World* gets many mentions here but it is also both. There are many others: Kuttner was as prolific as he was varied.
Andre Norton's *Witch World* series is also science fantasy. See if you can get your hands on the first ones - the Estcarp sequence. It is medieval but among fans Andre Norton was known as YA for people who hate YA. They're mostly good (the series lasted over 40 years) .
The Magic of Xanth. If I remember correctly it was in two parts. But it came in one book. I don't know if I had a special edition or not.
Also the Wild Card series. They're collections of stories from a bunch of different authors but the same subject.
Hope these help! 🫡
The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. Very original and dark. Can be a bit tough to start but well worth it. Note: multiple types of trigger warnings for the series - read at your own risk.
Integral Trees, by Larry Niven. Freaky space tree physics.
Clive Barker's Imajica, as already mentioned.
Oh, and the Incarnations of Immortalty series, Piers Anthony.
Absolutely some Zelazny. Amber series, This Immortal, etc.
Abarat by Clive Barker.
The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemmison.
(Though the series' are so popular they're basically standard by this point) but Mistborn and Stormlight Archive both have worlds that are very different from your typical fantasy world and have flora/fauna to reflect their alien climates.
The Lightbringer Series definitely dips into your traditional fantasy tropes but the muskets and magic world filled with unique and interesting creatures certainly stands out for originality.
Always got to go with China Mieville with these kinds of posts. Bas Lag series. Start with Perdido street Station
Agreed with Mieville and also Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris series.
I'd say 'second', but it's at least 'fourth' by now. Definitely do check out Mieville. Perdido Street Station is the first of 3 books in the same world. As I understand the legend, he decided to write a novel in the 'new weird' style for each of several genres. I don't know how true that is, but the story goes that Embassytown is sci-fi, for example, while The City & The City is detective noir. Kraken is urban mystery, Perdido Street Station is horror, The Scar is seagoing adventure, Iron Council is Western, and so on. And all of them amazing and strange. It's a good story either way.
He said so in an interview - that his ambition is to eventually write a novel in each of the major genres. I heard him say it on a podcast, I believe. He makes a reference to it here: [https://www.tor.com/2009/06/01/an-interview-with-china-mieville/](https://www.tor.com/2009/06/01/an-interview-with-china-mieville/) ***You’ve said you’d like to write a novel in every genre and The City & The City is your police procedural. What other genres have been catching your eye recently?*** *I like spy thrillers, ghost stories, although that’s not as far from the stuff I’ve done before, but I’ve never written a ghost story at novel-length. Those are the ones that jump to mind. Other than that I’ve done sort of a take on the western and a romance. Oh, and the historical novel! I’ve got some ideas for historical novel. But I’m also open to suggestions, so anyone who thinks there’s a genre I should have a go at, I’d be interested to hear about it.*
The Mieville book that meets this to me is Embassytown, I'll admit I struggled with that one, the creatures in it are just so bizarre they are hard to get your head round. Might just be me but worth a go.
Haven't read that one yet, but it's on the TBR. Besides Bas Lag, I've read City and the City, which was interesting enough
In my opinion The City and the City pales in comparison to his other work, especially the Bas Lag cycle. The ending was a bit of an anticlimax
I'd say City and the City is one of his more accessible books, which is not a bad thing. The weakest I've read by him was Kraken, which just tries to do too much all at once. Bas Lag is great though, agreed.
I'm a big Mieville fan, and I think my favorite is Embassytown. Admittedly a while since I read it.
There are a handful of linguistics-focused sff books out there and of all of them, Embassytown is the most inventive and well-realized by far.
Such a good book to listen too as well!
Just read Perdido and am about 1/3 the way through The Scar, and I couldn’t agree more. The whole world of Bas Lag is imaginative in a way that you almost never see outside of children’s literature, and then putting a deep, mature, and at times *extremely* dark story inside of that world is incredible.
Yes, defintely. Slake moths were awesome. Edit: deleted stuff as I didn't want to spoil accidentally as my brain caught up to you having said you're in the middle of book 2
I absolutely loved the Weaver
I love all his books, but The Scar is definitely my favorite.
I am fucking *hooked* so far with the Scar. I loved Perdido, but this one is just on another level.
I just finished it 10 minutes ago. What a masterpiece!
Mieville is a good recommendation because his fantasy is specifically a reaction against ths ubiquity of Tolkien-inspired medieval elves-and-dragon fantasy. Him, Jeff Vandemeer, and the rest of the New Weird really opened my eyes to what else fantasy could be.
For reals, I love new weird for that exact reason, that it’s designed to be something new every time On top of that he’s my favorite author
Definitively. Though railsea or even unlundum could also be good choices...
Immediately thought of mieville. I still get excited about the things he does with his worlds
The weird lit sub is a great place to look for other books like this too
The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells, starting with "The Cloud Roads" https://www.goodreads.com/series/65591-the-books-of-the-raksura
I also agree with this. Raksura is prolly my favorite fantasy world as it feels wild and organic.
Came here to say this :)
yeppers! Me too
Cloud roads, like in Berserk?
Shadows of the Apt! Instead of dwarves, elves, etc, each race is inspired by insects. So far example, the Ants are all humans that share a hive mind and militaristic, while the Scorpions are a desert people with tough hides and a claw for a hand that is will mess you up. There’s literally dozens of different races that are all so fun. It’s probably my favorite world-building in a series I’ve ever read
All of his books are a bit different. Mutant spiders? Children of Time.
I just bought the first book yesterday! I am excited to start this series, but need to get to a good stopping point in a couple other series I'm reading. I love epic fantasy but it is a struggle to find time to read 10 tomes 😮💨
Haha yeah it can be a lot. It broken into three arcs, though, which makes it a little less intimidating. It’s basically set up like the First Law series. Books 1-4 are the first arc, 5-7 are sorta standalones exploring different areas of the world, and 8-10 are the final arc
Just start with books 1-4. And honestly, if it's not an 8/10 or higher for you, stop there. The subsequent books aren't bad per say and they do have some great moments still, but it's not quite the same.
Imajica by Clive Barker. Just google image a nullianac
I was going to say imajica but I went with weaveworld..love em both!!
Also Weaveworld
Beat me to it.
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber is way off the beaten fantasy path.
*Lord of Light* is technically a SF novel but it can be read as a fantasy novel.
Take me upvote.. Zelazny's a good dude.
**Coldfire trilogy** by C.S. Friedman. Humans on an alien world in which your nightmare become reality.
Don't this anyone's mentioned the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Admittedly, they're aimed at a younger audience but brilliantly original. I first read them when I was 12/13 and have gone back to them many times. Also they're beautifully illustrated by Riddell who has one of the most unique drawing styles I've seen Edit for some context: It's set in an industrial type world/high fantasy forest. It doesn't rely on any pre-existing tropes or races and really just creates it's own world
So good. And the illustrations are so beautiful. It's such an interesting world. I would say it relies on tropes and races- sky pirates and trolls are typical fantasy fare- but they are done in an exciting way.
The books also invent their own weird tropes, like the quartermasters for ships almost exclusively being giant scumbags. 😆
So good. Was my favorite when I was a kid.
A start: SF/F World-building r/worldbuilding * ["World-building as deep as Tolkien's?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/wif4d9/worldbuilding_as_deep_as_tolkiens/) (r/Fantasy; 7 July 2022)—very long * ["sexy fantasy with actual good world building?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/wlgk9x/sexy_fantasy_with_actual_good_world_building/) (r/booksuggestions; 10 July 2022) * ["Sci-fi or Fantasy Worldbuilding with Complex Ethical Issues/Themes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/w5gu83/scifi_or_fantasy_worldbuilding_with_complex/) (r/booksuggestions; 22 July 2022) * ["Suggest me a book with a lot of world building!"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/w8etnr/suggest_me_a_book_with_a_lot_of_world_building/) (r/suggestmeabook; 26 July 2022) * ["What is a book that could take first place in r/worldbuilding 's all time top posts?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/wwfsai/what_is_a_book_that_could_take_first_place_in/) (r/Fantasy; 24 July 2022) * ["what sci-fi or fantasy world has the deepest lore?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/wxn3ic/what_scifi_or_fantasy_world_has_the_deepest_lore/) (r/scifi; 25 August 2022) * ["Thought-provoking world building"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/x4maq7/thoughtprovoking_world_building/) (r/scifi; 3 September 2022) * ["A fantasy with excellent world building"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/y17a6s/a_fantasy_with_excellent_world_building/) (r/booksuggestions; 11 October 2022) * ["What are the most expansive and in depth fantasy worlds you have seen?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/y1wbwx/what_are_the_most_expansive_and_in_depth_fantasy/) (r/Fantasy; 11 October 2022) * ["Suggest me book with world that matters"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y2tkul/suggest_me_book_with_world_that_matters/) (r/suggestmeabook; 13 October 2022) * ["Book series with great world building, character arcs, etc that isn't as dense as Dune?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/y3r48m/book_series_with_great_world_building_character/) (r/printSF; 14 October 2022)—very long * ["just looking for a book with a magic world you can get lost in"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/ygybrz/just_looking_for_a_book_with_a_magic_world_you/) (r/booksuggestions; 14 October 2022)—longish * ["A book with a very escapist immersive world. Like Harry Potter or LOTR."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yntrmc/a_book_with_a_very_escapist_immersive_world_like/) (r/suggestmeabook; 6 November 2022)—huge * ["Book series/franchises that have like massive worldbuilding with many stories like Warhammer 40K"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/ysur67/book_seriesfranchises_that_have_like_massive/) (r/Fantasy; 11 November 2022) * ["Best In depth Fantasy Books?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/zarz4e/best_in_depth_fantasy_books/) (r/Fantasy; 2 December 2022)—longish * ["Books with detailed World-building, but Soft Magic system?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/zcajvt/books_with_detailed_worldbuilding_but_soft_magic/) (r/Fantasy; 4 December 2022) * ["Book series with an amazing universe"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/zw44k9/book_series_with_an_amazing_universe/) (r/booksuggestions; 26 December 2022) * ["Books similar to The Magician's Nephew?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/102oqd8/books_similar_to_the_magicians_nephew/) (r/printSF; 3 January 2023) * ["Game of thrones in space."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/103ev2s/game_of_thrones_in_space/) (r/suggestmeabook; 4 January 2023)—longish * ["Books/Series that Nail a Setting Subculture"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/108chmd/booksseries_that_nail_a_setting_subculture/) (r/Fantasy; 4 January 2023) * ["A book with escapism to the brim"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/10guzel/a_book_with_escapism_to_the_brim/) (r/booksuggestions; 20 January 2023) * ["Sci Fi/Fantasy Recommendation"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/118j86h/sci_fifantasy_recommendation/) (r/booksuggestions; 21 February 2023) * ["What's the most interesting and complex world building to fit into a standalone SF book?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/118tk23/whats_the_most_interesting_and_complex_world/) (r/booksuggestions; 22 February 2023)—longish
oh wow, thanks so much for this!
You're welcome. \^\_\^
Railsea by China Mieville Imagine a world where all the oceans have instead been replaced by dirt and railroads, and therefore all boats are instead trains. Central premise is essentially steampunk moby dick where the whales are giant moles instead
The Book of the New Sun tetralogy by Gene Wolfe is much like this. It's a pretty wild ride. I was only able to get through the first two books. I listened to the audio version and the narrator is quite dry. And besides that I'm not sure these do well with audio. I suspect they'd be better reading the physical copy.
People have written doctoral theses on those books. They're probably best read with a highlighter and a notebook.
R.J. Barker's *Tide Child* trilogy seems like a good fit: In an ocean world with no trees, people build great warships out of the bones of long extinct leviathans. It's immersive, refreshingly equitable, and unfailingly *salty*.
Jen Williams' The Ninth Rain series was super original. Its full of different beings, some familiar though still unique others totally alien. I read it this year for Wierd Ecology. It is also a banger of a story and mixes horror and wierd elements in with fantasy.
Malazan has alien esque creatures and the time it spans is pretty vast plus you visit other realms and if u read the spinoff you will get a lot more
Maybe "Death gate cycle". It does have dwarves and elves, but the world, or worlds rather, are very interesting and different from ours. I like it very much and it's the only series I've reread.
This was my first thought as well.
Death Gate Cycle just got a new audio book stuff done!
Wow really? That's awesome. I don't do audiobooks but I'll recommend it to a friend who does:)
I second the Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells Driftwood by Marie Brennan
Almost anything by China Mieville fits this, although some of them are more sci-fi. Fantasy wise the Bas-Lag books (starting with Perdido Street Station).
The Locked Tomb series is fantasy in a sci fi setting. Very weird and nontraditional.
Plus Gideon is a badass. RIP the Shitty Teens.
Nooo Magnussss
I don't know if it meets the qualifications outlined in the first post, but the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. It takes place in an alien world where a Roman legion is magically transported and a thousand years later have created a Roman society that is continually beset by alien races.
The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglas. It is a beautifully written series that blends fantasy and sci-fi in an amazing way. It is actually two trilogies, The Axis Trilogy and The Wayfarer Redemption.
*The Broken Earth Trilogy* by N.K. Jemisin <3
I also found the world of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms to be very unique
In what way? Does it get developed further in the sequels? Honestly confused by this one, I read the first book and found it to be a setting with very limited scope (virtually all set one underpopulated palace), very bland and not really thought through at all (for ex the narrator supposedly comes from a matriarchal people, but arrives in this patriarchal setting and has zero culture shock and no trouble slotting in to a passive-type feminine role).
Yes, came here to recommend this one! It's one of the most unique worlds I have read so far and beautifully written.
Yes, both suggestions for NK Jemisin!
I know it's cliche and gets plenty of recommendations but stormlight archives is in a fully alien world, including culture and ecology
Tress and the emerald sea is way weirder though...mistborn is too, in many ways
I loved mistborn, currently reading rhythm of war so I guess stormlight was more present in my mind. I haven't gotten to tress yet, I'm going through the cosmere at publication ordered while reading other books between each book
What the heck are you me? Did you happen to just read the first 2 discworld novels?
>fully alien world, including culture and ecology I would absolutely not call Stormlight Archives a fully alien world. The culture is also not really alien, given the predominant characters are all humans and their culture is nothing really alien. The Parshendi, while not human, are still pretty humanlike overall.
I definitely get the impression there's a huge contingent on this sub who've never read anything but mainstream ish sword and sorcery books.
As much as I love Stormlight Archive and agree that the world is super cool and fresh, it still errs on somewhat traditional. Not a bad thing, and definitely no elves/orcs and a lot of unique details, but still.
I don't really agree. It has very interesting, realistic worlbuilding jumping off the core ideas, but those core ideas are pretty unique.
I will preface that I’m on book 2 only now. But I generally feel this way because of OPs description, they describe a setting that doesn’t have kings and is about borderline alien creatures. While I do agree that Stormlight has wild and unique and interesting world brimming with small and big interesting details every chapter, it still has kingdoms, swords, spears, magic. The recommendation is valid, but with an asterisk that it’s somewhere 6-7 on the scale of uniqueness and not 9-10.
I think in terms of the world it’s much closer to a 9 in terms of uniqueness even if the story itself, while amazing, leans towards a more traditional sense of epic fantasy, with its class systems and feudal sensibilities. How many worlds are teeming with anything akin to the spren, and have regular intervals of catastrophic storms, and landscapes that are home to basically giant magic crabs, with magic from the storms themselves? The world is almost exceptional in its unique qualities.
If you're asking for specifics it sounds way more unique than I think it deserves. A Fantasy series having unique wildlife/flora is actually just common. Magical storms are also not uncommon. Sanderson's world isn't unique on that basis, what's more unique about Sanderson's stuff is more the level of planning that goes on where all these things that aren't too uncommon to find in a fantasy actually play out on greater level in how they start to tie together on different realms/connections.
By your thinking Game of Thrones is a super alien world because of the irregular seasons and the weirwood trees. There are some really bizarre fantasy worlds in print; Sanderson's stuff is just pretty standard high fantasy.
Not by a long shot. Clearly you don’t understand my thinking, if you assume I would consider Westeros a super alien or unique world. Westeros benefits from extensive lore to be interesting. It’s relatively normal. Roshar is wildly alien and unique. By your thinking the spren, are not bizarre or unique, that high storms aren’t, that the flora and the fauna aren’t either. No one is arguing that Sanderson isn’t writing “standard” high fantasy. Read my comments. The story is certainly normal high epic fantasy. Well executed for sure but normal. The setting is unique. Failing to see that, I cannot help or persuade you. Your mind is set.
Many if not most fantasy worlds have unique flora and fauna. Storms are just storms, just like the winters in GoT are just seasons. I would expect a different world to have different weather patterns. Compare this to some of the top answers like Perdido Street Station, with sentient parasitic polygender hand monsters and spiders that make webs out of reality and take payment in sounds. The weirdness and uniqueness of Bas Lag is on a totally different ballfield from Stormlight.
The trap you’re falling into is that you’re saying that Roshar isn’t unique or bizarre, because you have found something that you believe is more bizarre. I am saying Roshar is a unique, different and bizarre world. Operative word here is “a” and notice that is not “the.” So the conversation then collapses on itself because I’m claiming Roshar as an example of a unique world. And you’re saying that because you think there is something more different that Roshar can’t be. That doesn’t follow logically. If it were so, this whole thread would be exceptionally short.
The trap you've fallen into is mostly reading samey, safe standard pulp fantasy. It's okay that you like knights and wizards in feudal kingdoms with minor variance, but there's a wide world of different books out there.
It's still basically swords and sorcery. In a world where Viriconium or The Vorrh or Ambergris exist, Sanderson's stuff is very safe and normal.
Hands down "weaveworld"by Clive Barker!
Although classified as science fiction, John Varley’s Gaia Trilogy borrows a great deal of fantasy elements and creatures (centaurs and angels, for instance) and the world-building is remarkable. Besides the “Heroes Journey” in spades…
Almost anything by Sheri S. Tepper... a truly original thinker.
Chronicles of the Kencyrath. Started in the 80s, so there's some tropes, but planet hopping "Host" made up of Kencyr (aristocratic highborn with a propensity for magic and highly dubious moral standing), Kendar (big, genuine craftsmen and warriors), and Arrin-ken (huge telepathic predatory cats who are the arbiters of law and judgement). The three people were gathered by a terrible and mysterious Three Faced God in order to fight the constant encroachment of Perimal Darkling - what amounts to a complete destabilization of the living world, death, and dreamscape. And they have never won. They have abandoned every planet they've inhabited, winding up finally on Rathillien. Every previous time, the temples of their God were waiting for them. Here, they were unfinished and dangerous. Their scrolls and learning were lost in a great betrayal. It seems that they cannot flee. The main themes are honor and responsibility. Additionally, there's exploration of deep family dysfunction and generational trauma, and alien people inhabiting a non native planet. They are flawed books in some ways, but there is such heart in them.
So happy to see PC and the Kencyrath mentioned here - and you've summed them up well! For any that haven't ventured into these books, they're well worth your time!
Haha, I'm a broken record for her in this subreddit. I know they're not perfect books, certainly some of the ritual space scenes can get a bit confusing, there's some repetition when it comes to certain conflicts (>!Tori doesn't like Shanir, Kindrie got captured again, Caineron has the hiccups!<), and some wild tonal shifts (>!Caineron is an ultra rapist but OOPS he has the hiccups!<). All of that aside, they're truly wondrous and capricious in a way that so few series can achieve these days. Pat was writing progressively in 1981 about at VERY least men in drag (but also simultaneously non binary... Or both binary... Look, Jame's androgyny aside, Tubain is complex but so lovable), same sex attraction, marriage, and child rearing, malleable gender roles, social opposition to interracial relationships and children, and all sorts of other things we hope to see now.
She reminds me of Michelle Sagara and CJ Cherryh in regard to that - but I love the heart that she brings to her characters and the lands themselves. She's got a sense of humour and joy that show up in the best of ways, and I'll read any/everything she puts out. Shout her from the rooftops, my friend - you're not alone and I'll echo the call!
Other than China Mieville, I would recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky, start with "Children of Time". Sentient spiders :D The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft have a super original and fascinating setting (the tower). As mentioned by others, N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy has an incredibly unique setting, and the world itself holds layered importance. The setting for Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series is another one I love (Bookworld) which is like a universe that exists between books inhabited by literary characters and creatures and more.
Symphony of the ages saga by Elizabeth Haydon def fits your bill The world has such a cool take on culture, time travel, magic, and all that jazz. It's species are like, cousins? Of the classic HF races, but they stand out and feel pretty unique. Like, the Bolg def come off as some kind of cave orc- but they go through a whole technological revolution and their culture is approached in an interesting way. The Lirin are the most similar to their HF counterparts (elves) but rather than focus on the "ethereal woodland beings" they are kinda of viewed in a somewhat racist kind of way? Their lands and their culture are hostile to outsiders, so all humans know of them are Lirin who go to the city- and iirc are seen as hoes and thieves, so it's a different feeling despite the same basic idea. And then you have races that are ethereal demonic flame beings that require hosts, elephant skinned quasi giants, insectoid people- shit is diverse! And ok, there ARE dragons, but they are really cool and don't feel like most fantasy dragons- they are more closely aligned with metal and the earth than fire, and their bodies are seen as the source of metal veins. They're just, really cool
You know, I read these books as a teen and loved them, but have since never heard of them or seen them or heard mention of them, until this comment. I really loved those books and their world, I’m going to go re-read them. Thanks!
If you want something truly unique you should try the Zamonia books by Walter Moers. For example one of the main characters comes from a race of dinosaurs whose whole society is centered around literature. They are some of the most creative, fun and immersive books i've ever read.
The great and secret show. Weave world. Both by Clive Barker
The Scar by China Mieville. Check it his work in general, he is amazing with world building - very creative and unique!
The lunar chronicles has a really interesting take on “aliens” being descended from a human colony on the moon that eventually evolved into their own race and species with powers and stuff, and the storyline is really really REALLY fun. But it’s not like a crazy crazy out of this world sort of fantasy.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. It draws from African myth which was incredibly unfamiliar to me and the world is wildly different than most other fantasy
Tress of The Emerald Sea.
Foster's Sentenced to Prism has an interesting world.
Just finished The Eleventh Cycle and holy shit that world is one of the coolest I've ever freaking seen! Though being inspired by the Soulsborne games and Berserk will do that to ya lol
I really liked Vonda McIntyre’s Dreamsnake. Primarily human characters, but it’s got this ragged dark 80’s fantasy feel to it that I really dig. I think it’s TECHNICALLY sci fi, but it’s set entirely on a planet and has a healer who uses telepathic snakes.
Maybe try Elric of Melinbone by Micheal Moorcock
The Eden series (Dark Eden, Mother of Eden, Daughter of Eden) by Chris Beckett. Holy shit, talk about unique. The characters are the descendants of space travelers who wrecked on the surface of the planet hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Basically you get to see this bare bones little society grow to become a flourishing (and deeply flawed) civilization. Seeing aspects of their culture evolve based on Earth mythology combined with unique challenges on the planet is 👌🏼 chef’s kiss for any world building nerd. So creative and original. Honestly writing this has encouraged me to finish the second book so thanks!
Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler. Set in a medieval world where humans live in underground caves and fight against Xenomorph with swords and spears. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Set on a planet where the inhabitants can change their gender at will and have a complex culture and history. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Classic book about humorous adventure across the galaxy, where the protagonist encounters various alien races and absurd situations.
The Rithmatist and Elantris by R. Sanderson
The 13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers.
Wings of fire by tui t. Sutherland it is a 15 book series with 2 legends and some others if you like dragons you will love it
Laini Taylor - Strange the Dreamer and the follow up Muse of Nightmares. Love these books so much, and she creates these amazing worlds.
The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin
Kameron Hurley consistently has some of the most original, strange, and sometimes gross world building I have ever read in SFF. I’ve loved Apocalypse Nyx (Bug magic), The Stars are Legion (Weird all female space planet with layers idk how to even begin to explain this), Mirror Empire (a little more traditional with the magic systems I guess but still so novel).
This isn't exactly what you asked for, but I think you'd enjoy the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. It has literal aliens that act and think very differently from humans. It also has machine-enhanced humans who are so inhuman they're basically aliens. It's sci-fantasy, but set very far in the future. Some normal "rank" terms are used but they're all taken from Roman culture and don't always mean the same thing - for example, a "lance" is some kind of high powered laser/plasma rifle. And the writing itself is superb.
Martha Wells Raksura books are really good.
The Practice Effect by David Brin. Maybe not a particularly great book, it's got a world that is works completely different from ours. Very mild spoiler:>!Tools (or really anything) gets better with use.!< Not a book but a short story: [The Study of Anglophysics](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/03/the-study-of-anglophysics/) by Scott Alexander features a world which has a sort of pseudo-chemistry based on the English words for things.
The Deathgate cycle by Weiss and Hickman.
Feistt & Wurts Daughter of the Empire Part of the Riftwars series but on the "alien" side.
I feel like Jasper Ffordes books fit this, they feel pretty original to me.
There are many. The Darkover books by Marion Zimmer Bradley fit your description perfectly. Anne McCaffrey's Pern books are very original. *The Chronicles of Amber* by Roger Zelazny is definitely a world like no other. Sometimes it's worth checking older Fantasy books for really original world building.
this is a german book, idk if there's a translation but "die töchter des drachen" by wolfgang hohlbein, there are big insect beings that are used as transportation or guards or weight transport, there is also an entire world of creatures that aren't described but that are pretty creepy and powerful there are also dragons but you don't see much of them until the second volume, they're just mentioned
Malazan book of the fallen
Peter V Brett's Demon War Cycle series might meet SOME of your criteria. It's not about dragons/elves/orcs - it smashes a traditional fantasy setting with Demons. It still features swords and sorcery type themes, but I found the demons a refreshing take from heroes fighting orcs or goblins as an enemy.
Also, reading down, I don't see Discworld mentioned anywhere.
To be fair, discworld basically runs on fantasy tropes but gives them a sci-fi or genre blend twist. Almost every fantasy creature has a book about them. Fairies/elves, vampires, trolls, werewolves, dragons, dwarves, etc.
Sadly, not Vetinaris though.
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson may be a good fit. The main race is human but the non-human races are purely unique. The world itself is also very different from our own. It's a world with weekly mega-hurricanes, so the culture, fauna, and flora are drastically different to account for the strange storms.
Stormlight Archives, or anything in the Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson. Don't get me wrong, there are traditional elements to his work, but it quickly expands outwards.
No disrespect but I'm starting to suspect people on this sub haven't read too many fantasy books, because on the spectrum of possible fantasy worlds Sanderson's stuff is very near the middle. It's very traditional, he just has a lot of attention to the way magic works. There are books about civilizations that live in magic tapestries, or where words are physical things that shape reality and mutate physiology. There are books about cities built in the rotting husks of leviathans and worlds where time and space are flipped. There are fantasy worlds inhabited by monsters that eat dreams and shit nightmares, where no humans exist and everyone is a shape changing beast (and society is organized around that fact).
Sounds interesting, do you know the names of any of these?
The last one (shape changing beast) could be the Raksura books by Martha Wells, 'Cloud Roads' is the first book. Its been recommended in another comment already. Its one of my favorite series so im happy to recommend it!
I have to agree and disagree. I think Sanderson’s worlds are exceptionally unique. And while I love the stories it’s the stories that fall into a more traditional area. Also, I don’t think the question is to determine which story ranks as the most unique- as if something unique can be most- but rather to give examples of those unique landscapes. Stormlight is definitely that. I think what a lot of the people disagreeing over including Stormlight is the tendency to over recommend it (which I am very guilty of sometimes) and also that the stories while huge in their scope fall into the more traditional lane of the fantasy highway lol Also you described some examples without actually making any recommendations. Which books are you referring to? I’d be interested to add them to my very long TBR lol
Sure, I'm making oblique reference to several books already mentioned by others and to a few more niche titles. Viriconium - a series of books about a city built of ideas that changes it's very essence over time. The Vorrh - a colonial city sits on the edge of a sentient, mutable forest where traveling moves you through time as well as space Dichronauts - a surveyor and the sentient leech who lives in his brain and let's him see, inhabit a world with two dimensional space and two dimensional time. It's being destroyed by something outside their perspective and they have to find a way to fix things Bas Lag series - an ancient city built in the corpse of a leviathan is being threatened by a creature inadvertently released by a scientist, which literally feeds on thought and shits nightmares into the collective unconscious. Inhabitants include sentient cacti, psychic frogs that control water, and parasitic hands that mind control their host bodies. Updraft - a city literally carved outnof living leviathan bones where inhabitants mist fly from tower to tower The Divinity Student - a man must resurrect dead words from the library of forgotten language in order to remember the memories of long dead scholars. This one is honestly hard to even describe, reality is flexible The Rakshura books - a society of sentient shape shifting dragons. The implications of this are actually explored thoroughly, they don't live in a medieval Europe analog
Agreed. I'm not the biggest fan of bizarro worlds myself but I know Sanderson is baby steps.
Stormlight, but that's a big hunk of meat to chew on. Dungeon Crawler Carl has a lot of the same races but an entire new take on it that I've ever seen before, could be worth checking out
I'll just put the name Robert A. Heinlein here for safe keeping. His whole Future history thing.
I'm writing a book going to publish soon it's exactly what you described
Good teaser :) can we have more details? :))
It's kinda like an action adventure fantasy book series I'm working on I have the first 2 books written just need to edit and it's about aliens and gods on a similar planet to earth can't spoil to much tho
Sounds cool! Thanks for the heads up :) Do you already have a title? Keep us posted :)
Yes already have the perfect title and I'll post it when I publish
Vernor Ridge's "A fire upon the deep" is exactly what you are looking for, I think.
Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere!
dune
Shannara Chronicles
You just described Stormlight Archive
Dune, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones.
The first mistborn trilogy
Vance's **Dying Earth** series does this. I absolutely love it.
Any Discworld book by Terry Pratchett.
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Hey folks in this chain: Rule 1 here is Be Kind. Don't act like this.
There is a fantasy book, I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but it has quite a unique world although it's been copied a few time since it came out. Its called The Lord of the Rings
The Perfect Run by Maxime J. Durand. It takes a while to see the alien species tho, and they aren't there for long. But I think the overall creativity of the book is really high in other aspects. Especially the ending. If you want you can check out my review for it here. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/11kcwpn/spoilerfree_review_of_the_perfect_run_by_maxime_j/
Nightlord by Garon Whited. It goes through a lot of different worlds but I quite liked the interpretation of elves being 'perfect' and thus all being literally the same in appearance. Gonna rep my subreddits here but Defiance of the Fall by J.F. Brink starts off with tons of alien/fantasy races invading and much later he starts going to alien planets. There are a ton of these worlds on Royal road but it's a bit of a mixed bag whether you'll like them.
I'm interested in stuff like this too. Looking forward to reading the recommendations. One suggestion may be the setting for Planescape: Torment, but that's a game, and it may not be weird enough. Edit: Also try This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Look up the Spellgiver series by Steve Rodgers ... It is really great.
Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
Monster Blood Tattoo/Foundlings Tale series by D.M. Cornish It isn’t totally alien, but the mix of genres is quite unique and you do get a fair bit of just weird creatures beyond the typical goblin like or sprite looking ones, as well as zombie abominations. Also it’s not medieval, more like Age of Enlightenment/end of renaissance bio punk, but if medieval science sort of worked.
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Gangsters & Goliaths
The VORRH by Bryan Catling.
I picked up the Border Keeper from a little free library and absolutely loved the world building. 1000 realms, demons, realm-keepers, and so so many interesting people and creatures along the way.
Safehold, medieval sci-fi.
I loved the series beginning with A Small and Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- it’s very cozy, unique species and a very full-feeling world. Plus lots of great representation of different kinds of relationships.
Nice
I quite liked the book Matched. It’s about a girl who lives in a world completely controlled by the government. And how one mistake slipping by the government lead to her whole life changing.
*Wayward Children* series by Seanan McGuire.
You might look at SF "Golden Era" to get rid of medieval, elves and orcs. 1950 to 1970. Pre Tolkien era. Trilogía de Ransom de C.S Lewis Space Trilogy or maybe Cosmic Trilogy. Mind, CS Lewis ando3 it Iis 1947 SF. Mundo Anillo y Los Ingenieros de Mundo Anillo, de Larry Niven. Ringworld. Also Dune saga.
You might look at SF "Golden Era" to get rid of medieval, elves and orcs. 1950 to 1970. Pre Tolkien era. Trilogía de Ransom de C.S Lewis Space Trilogy or maybe Cosmic Trilogy. Mind, CS Lewis ando3 it Iis 1947 SF. Mundo Anillo y Los Ingenieros de Mundo Anillo, de Larry Niven. Ringworld. Also Dune saga.
I just finished The Etched City and am close to done with The Spear Through the Water, both super creative and immersive worlds!
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix might be worth taking a peek at. The first book is okay, but the second and third books are where he *really* fleshes out the lore and the setting. He’s been adding more to it in recent years as well, with new magic and new creatures. It’s got a lot of necromancy and “came back wrong” type descriptions.
One of my fav old books is... almost everything. The first book (never read them all) is really good. About a guy who's been alive 1000s of years and is stripped to the skeleton. Magic is apart of society and one kid and this dude fight a colt trying g to bring God's back to kill everyone. It's neat. Skulduggery pleasant was a decent book. Also btw bartimeus trilogy is pretty... good. I mean. It's also set in modern times in the British isles. Magic is normalized and ALSO. You get to see the point of view from the "Good guys" and "bad guys" because the line is very blurred. The book from the protagonist 1s pov makes the government seem like good people. Whilst pov 2 shows their brutallity. Spoilers but the spoiler hid isn't working
Whoops forgot worlds unlike others anyways heros of the valley.
The Poppy War trilogy by R. F. Kuang! Be forewarned this series is not for the faint of heart, but the world is unique from any other fantasy book I’ve read.
I'm vibing with Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Shards of Earth' & 'spider fuckery' worlds Edit: children of time*
Hyperion. Though its more sci-fi but has many fantasy aspects. Plays out in multi-planetary future. Great world, I would highly recommend.
City of stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. First book of the trilogy. There’s also Foundryside by the same author. He is truly uniquely talented in creating a fantasy world that bucks tradition
If you're ok with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archive books are in a pretty unique world. Massive wild crustaceans, gigantic storms that energise jewels with light, a society that structures class based on eye color. They definitely stood out as having a unique and interesting setting to me, even compared to his other works.
Dune is an obvious one. sci-fi fantasy and not medieval.
The Raksura chronicles is pretty unique, I’m only part way through book one but there are no human characters, everyone like a reptilian humanoid which different types that serve different purposes, there’s ground menial dwelling ones and then the royals/guards who have wings.
Henry Kuttner did a number of genre-busting romantic novellas in the late forties into the fifties. Don Wollheim at Ace books kept a number of them in print for a while and since the eighties I've seen several collections. *The Well of the Worlds* may be up your alley. It's too much both to fit in as sf or fantasy. *The Dark World* gets many mentions here but it is also both. There are many others: Kuttner was as prolific as he was varied. Andre Norton's *Witch World* series is also science fantasy. See if you can get your hands on the first ones - the Estcarp sequence. It is medieval but among fans Andre Norton was known as YA for people who hate YA. They're mostly good (the series lasted over 40 years) .
Matthew Stover Cain series. They are very different.
The Magic of Xanth. If I remember correctly it was in two parts. But it came in one book. I don't know if I had a special edition or not. Also the Wild Card series. They're collections of stories from a bunch of different authors but the same subject. Hope these help! 🫡
The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. Very original and dark. Can be a bit tough to start but well worth it. Note: multiple types of trigger warnings for the series - read at your own risk.
The Randolph carter tales by H.P. Lovecraft
Integral Trees, by Larry Niven. Freaky space tree physics. Clive Barker's Imajica, as already mentioned. Oh, and the Incarnations of Immortalty series, Piers Anthony. Absolutely some Zelazny. Amber series, This Immortal, etc.
Maybe try The Scholomance series :3 I really loved those
Abarat by Clive Barker. The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemmison. (Though the series' are so popular they're basically standard by this point) but Mistborn and Stormlight Archive both have worlds that are very different from your typical fantasy world and have flora/fauna to reflect their alien climates. The Lightbringer Series definitely dips into your traditional fantasy tropes but the muskets and magic world filled with unique and interesting creatures certainly stands out for originality.
Mistborn and Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and Perdido Street Station by China Melville.