Lesbian necromancers in space. No romance. If you’re into audiobooks at all these are very, very good.
dalidellama on
*The Hands of the Emperor* by Victoria Goddard is about a group of aging bureaucrats planning their retirement from running the world
*The Goblin Emperor* by Katherine Addison is about a scorned roayl child suddenly inheriting, no romance. *The Cemeteries of Amalo* series in the same world are mysteries, no romance except a tiny bit at the end of the last book
The *Murderbot Diaries* by Martha Wells are narrated by an asexual cyborg, definitely no romance
The protagonist of Ann Leckie’s *Imperial Raadch* is likewise a rogue AI with no desire for any romance
CydewynLosarunen on
J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have minimal romance (for the most part – there are subplots in *The Return of the King* & some sections of *The Silmarillion*) & are widely considered one of the codifiers of fantasy tropes. Some find the language used a little complicated or difficult. *The Hobbit* & *The Lord of the Rings* are widely available. I would start with *The Hobbit* if you want to try him.
Also, I would suggest clarifying how much romance is too much in the post. Is a minor subplot too much? Or are you mostly trying to avoid romantasy and books with major romance subplots?
cleantreesandrivers on
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Xelsius on
This is my spiel for Dungeon Crawler Carl. For context, I’m a new dad and love this series, got me through a lot of tough stuff and now with a newborn I don’t have the time to type the same rec over and over so here’s my spiel 🙂
For me what broke my 10 year reading slump was dungeon crawler Carl.
You will not find a better narrator for the audiobook series either.
It’s recommended all over here for a good reason.
It’s a sci-fi book series, it’ll be 10 in total, 8 books are out now. It’s hard to describe in a way that doesn’t sound unhinged but I’ll try.
For the tone of the books, book 1 feels kind of silly, and by book 7 it’s insane action and heavy narrative.
Book 1 also leans heavily on video game jargon but that really falls away quickly, and I know a TON of non-gamers that are as obsessed with it as I am.
My favorite things about the book series is the character development, it’s absolutely incredible. I’ve laughed and also genuinely cried because of how compelling the characters are. The author does a great job of discarding tropes too which I love, and writes honest and complex characters.
It’s often compared to hitchhikers guide meets hunger games meets maze runner but it’s definitely of its own thing.
I’d highly recommend the audiobooks, a single voice actor does an incredible range of voices, easily exceeding 30-40 voices across the series.
In short, it’s about an alien corporation that seizes earth to mine its mineral resources, and gives the survivors a chance to regain control of earth by completing a challenge course called the world dungeon. The course is 18 floors and is televised to the galaxy which drives profits for the corporation. The protagonist Carl enters the dungeon with his cat who >! Gains human level intelligence !< and fights alongside him.
It’s a cool mix of sci-fi – aliens taking over earth, and fantasy – the characters use magic, etc.
Ive listened to the series easily 10 times. The fan base is amazing and the author is kind and engaging. It’s very cool.
I also love this persons take on the author and series:
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The black cloud – Fred hoyle
The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir
Lesbian necromancers in space. No romance. If you’re into audiobooks at all these are very, very good.
*The Hands of the Emperor* by Victoria Goddard is about a group of aging bureaucrats planning their retirement from running the world
*The Goblin Emperor* by Katherine Addison is about a scorned roayl child suddenly inheriting, no romance. *The Cemeteries of Amalo* series in the same world are mysteries, no romance except a tiny bit at the end of the last book
The *Murderbot Diaries* by Martha Wells are narrated by an asexual cyborg, definitely no romance
The protagonist of Ann Leckie’s *Imperial Raadch* is likewise a rogue AI with no desire for any romance
J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have minimal romance (for the most part – there are subplots in *The Return of the King* & some sections of *The Silmarillion*) & are widely considered one of the codifiers of fantasy tropes. Some find the language used a little complicated or difficult. *The Hobbit* & *The Lord of the Rings* are widely available. I would start with *The Hobbit* if you want to try him.
Also, I would suggest clarifying how much romance is too much in the post. Is a minor subplot too much? Or are you mostly trying to avoid romantasy and books with major romance subplots?
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
This is my spiel for Dungeon Crawler Carl. For context, I’m a new dad and love this series, got me through a lot of tough stuff and now with a newborn I don’t have the time to type the same rec over and over so here’s my spiel 🙂
For me what broke my 10 year reading slump was dungeon crawler Carl.
You will not find a better narrator for the audiobook series either.
It’s recommended all over here for a good reason.
It’s a sci-fi book series, it’ll be 10 in total, 8 books are out now. It’s hard to describe in a way that doesn’t sound unhinged but I’ll try.
For the tone of the books, book 1 feels kind of silly, and by book 7 it’s insane action and heavy narrative.
Book 1 also leans heavily on video game jargon but that really falls away quickly, and I know a TON of non-gamers that are as obsessed with it as I am.
My favorite things about the book series is the character development, it’s absolutely incredible. I’ve laughed and also genuinely cried because of how compelling the characters are. The author does a great job of discarding tropes too which I love, and writes honest and complex characters.
It’s often compared to hitchhikers guide meets hunger games meets maze runner but it’s definitely of its own thing.
I’d highly recommend the audiobooks, a single voice actor does an incredible range of voices, easily exceeding 30-40 voices across the series.
In short, it’s about an alien corporation that seizes earth to mine its mineral resources, and gives the survivors a chance to regain control of earth by completing a challenge course called the world dungeon. The course is 18 floors and is televised to the galaxy which drives profits for the corporation. The protagonist Carl enters the dungeon with his cat who >! Gains human level intelligence !< and fights alongside him.
It’s a cool mix of sci-fi – aliens taking over earth, and fantasy – the characters use magic, etc.
Ive listened to the series easily 10 times. The fan base is amazing and the author is kind and engaging. It’s very cool.
I also love this persons take on the author and series:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/NjyFFPXFHC](https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/NjyFFPXFHC)
The dream hotel by Lalami. But it’s a mundane kind of dystopia
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World was something I saw randomly recommended on here and it was an exceptional read.
It’s post apocalyptic not dystopian, but so well done.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
The Murderbot Diaries! The main character says no thanks to romance, sex, and gender lol
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie