I’m in the mood for a fiction book with really unique and immersive worldbuilding. Something where the setting feels like its own character, rich, detailed, and unlike anything I’ve read before. Genres I enjoy include fantasy, sci-fi, and magical realism, but I’m open to anything as long as the world pulls me in. Bonus points for complex characters and a story that sticks with you long after you’ve turned the last page.
by KitchenOpen7383
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The discworld series by Terry Pratchett. His world building is next level.
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Mushoku tensei light novels, they have all 3
How about the Broken Earth books by N K Jemisin?
M. Smartt Bell, All Souls’ Rising
The _Gormenghast_ Trilogy has some of the best and most memorable worldbuilding I’ve ever read. It takes place in the castle Gormenghast, a remote, isolated castle that’s been separate from the works for so long that it’s developed its own unique culture and set of strange traditions. The people who live there are all inextricably linked to the decaying rooms and crumbling buildings of the castle.
Dark matter by Blake Crouch
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Dragon Prince – Melanie Rawn
It’s the first book in a trilogy (followed by another trilogy). It’s heavy on the love story (but I wouldn’t categorize it as a “romantasy”). It has a lot of politics and the world building is good, it had a very interesting system of magic
Piranesi By Suzanna Clark
Derry in IT by Stephen king is just as much a character as the kids.
The house in house of leaves.
The Wheel of Time series – pretty immersive world building. And it has an ending, unlike Game of Thrones, which I would recommend if the final books ever get written/published.
*Black Sun* by Rebecca Roanhorse. Pre-Columbian indigenous fantasy.
The edge series from ilona andrews or the kate Daniels series
The Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. Caution: really long sentences
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground
The City of Lost Fortunes and Gather the Fortunes by Bryan Camp.
Priory of the Orange Tree
highly recommend cloud cuckoo land. it’s a real slow burn but stuck with me for a lonnnnng time.
The Greatwinter trilogy by Sean McMullen, starts with *Souls in the Great Machine*.
Robert Jackson Bennett’s Divine Cities trilogy, starts with *City of Stairs*. (His other trilogies are good, too, but Divine Cities is my personal favorite.)
If YA/middle grade is okay, the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, starts with *Sabriel*.
The Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee, starts with *Ninefox Gambit*.
If historical fiction is okay, the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. It’s set during the Napoleonic Wars and is intensely detailed. Starts with *Master & Commander* but some people have a better go of it by starting with the third book, *HMS Surprise*, and going back for the first two.
The Wandering Inn Pirate Aba
Michelle Sagara West Chronicles of Elantra,
Honestly, anything by Brandon Sanderson.
Mistborn is a really good trilogy, but it’s not so much of a fantastical world. But the magic system and characters are top notch.
The Storm light Archive is phenomenal world building, great characters and a great story. Highly recommend, but each book is over 1000 pages.
He also has a few “Solo Books” that are all part of the same universe, but is a stand-alone story. – Warbreaker, Elantris, Dawnshard, and Edgedancer
Hope this helps! Happy reading