Personally I’m really obsessed with the lore in Fire Emblem: Three Houses
The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Though, I guess what really hooked me was the idea that the future could be predicted, and guided toward an outcome that would benefit people. That, uh, doesn’t seem to fit with reality. But it sounds real nice ☹️
serious answer: Discworld. every storyline starts out completely separate but through the years they wove together into a world rushing headlong into a new age.
shitpost answer: ace attorney. eat your hamburgers, Apollo.
Call me boring but Randland (The Wheel of Time).
I read those books over and over again just to spend more time there. I still remember more details about the cultures, cities, and fashion in those books better than I could ever remember the plot. The magic and higher moral themes were very simplistic in comparison to other books but RJ really excelled at fleshing out a continent with diverse and unique peoples that made sense in that world.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars series.
Just a breathtaking setting that begins with the first hundred settlers and traces the intrigue, terraforming, conflicts, and dreams of the colonists. It’s a sweeping epic written on a human scale.
Dune is incredibly unique. Scifi without computers and genetic magic. All politics. The books are outstanding.
Caves of Qud was my first contact with post post-apocalypse. Can’t even begin to convey how strange and magical everything feels in that universe.
The latter books are just weird with all the sexual imprinting and other weirdness which sounds more like written by a horny teenager than an adult.
Caves of Qud is amazing.
The Expanse or First Law
I’ve never heard of First Law, but it being mentioned alongside the Expanse is reason enough for me to check it out
10/10 recommend. I’m 6/9 through the expanse and on 7/10 with Joe Abercrombie. (these are number of books, not ratings)
Joe’s books are great. After the first trilogy, it’s 3 stand-alone and a compilation of short stories. So if you don’t love his stuff (if you liked the expanse you will) you can be done after the First Law Trilogy
My lemmy username is directly related to the First Law Trilogy
He’s possibly my favorite character of any series. I’ve gone through all of the books 3 times.
Is probably say coal shivers. I kind feel like he’s ambercrombies favorite as well since he’s actually in all of them
I’d say the same. And he’s got so many good quotes, most (killin’ aside) relatable.
Logan Ninefingers (First Law) Amos Burton (Expanse) Wayne & Steris (Mistborn, Era 2)
I don’t think there’s another character I like more than these folks. Logan probably sits at the top though.
On Cinema at the Cinema.
Where my Gregg heads at?
I’ve enjoyed the world building of the Warhammer 40k setting.i started out with the models in high school and moved into the books to not have to deal with sweaty, agro nerds wanting to rules lawyer the game into no fun. So many interesting stories set in the grimdark universe, and a ton of great characters to follow.
Peter F Hamilton is another good one, though his world building is rather dense. Hell tell you all about how the roads on some alien world are enzyme bonded concrete or how the magic paths traverse entire worlds and systems. Definitely not for everyone, but the audiobooks are great (John Lee has such a soothing voice) and I’ve heard them so many times they make a great media to fall asleep to when I’m traveling.
Dragon Age, I really love the lore. Hopefully the new one won’t disappoint.
Also Wheel of Time has a really nice worldbuilding.
Most recently, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, had great world building and character development.
It was a short story, but I really like Faun by Joe Hill. The way the two worlds interact was really fun, and I’d love to hear more about it.
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MALAZAN
I’m only on the 5th book but the world building is Tolkien level of detailed. Writer Stephen Erickson is an anthropologist who brought he and his achaelogist friend Ian esselmont dnd world to written reality. Esselmont has books in the series too but not that far along yet.
It makes it difficult to pick up other books afterwards. Major caveat I didn’t know what the fuck was happening until the second book. Then it clicked.
Wonderful writer and world building.
Question for you. I’ve tried getting into Gardens of the Moon a couple times, but I find it’s just endless dialogue. Are all of the books just constant dialogue? I found I was missing Tolkien-style descriptions and scene setting.
The dialog is pretty consistent and certainly gets overwhelming at times. I understand why Erikson started the story where he did but you’re dropped into the story about 100,000 years after it started. I’m 16 books in and just starting to understand the events that kicked everything off.
All that said, best books I’ve ever read without question. %100 with the read. If you want another entry point I might suggest giving Midnight Tides a try. It is the 5th book and takes place on the other side of the world with completely new characters so you don’t need any context from the first 4 books. Midnight Tides also contains my 2 favorite characters in all of fiction, the banter between Tehol and Bugg is immaculate. That dialog is probably a better intro than Krul and Krupe.
You know, I’ve always liked the Avatar:TLA’s worldbuilding
Hell yeah. Just watched the series for the first time ever this year and absolutely loved it.
The Expanse.
I love the idea of sovereign nations Earth and Mars, and the political conflicts of not just diferent people, but different people living in different atmospheres, unlike different nations on earth, the difference between a Earther’s and Martian’s live is so different: Gravity, Breathable Atmosphere, the Ocean.
Also there are people that live outside of the planets in space stations that have never experienced a planet’s gravity and their bodies and unable to survive on planets. The story expands to other star systems.
Its originally a book series but it has been adapted into TV, although they canceled the TV series before it was finished :(
But still worth a watch tho, the politics is more fun than irl politics.
I only realized after I finished the series and reflected on it, that one of the reasons I enjoyed The Expanse so much because I was enjoying the complex and intricate politics between sensible actors with different motivations. It helped me cope with the real world’s politics being full of sadistic fools.
I haven’t seen the TV show so I don’t know where it leaves off, but if you haven’t read the books, the last 2 books into the ending was a hell of a crazy ride. And it wraps up with a conclusion that I didn’t foresee as possible. I highly recommend the books.
