The Discworld series has nice world building, however the individual books focus on different characters for telling a story and getting to know that world.
this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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If anyone is interested in Discworld for world building, then I'd recommend skipping the first few books. They were written before Terry Pratchett had a good grasp on the world and the characters. They can be worth coming back to later, but I definitely recommend not starting with them. "Wyrd Sisters" and "Guards! Guards!" are pretty good entry points.
I would even go further back, and recommend Equal Rites.
I'm partial to Ankh-Morpork and the City Watch for some reason ;)
If you like world building then check out Brandon Sanderson and his cosmere related books. They all play out within the same cosmere and all build upon that same world with different stories. I started with Mistborn and think that is still my favourite but it is a hard decision as there is a lot of good books / series.
You could also try Stephen Kings - The Dark Tower and then go down the rabbit hole of a plethora of other books that all happen within the same world and have various different connections to The Dark Tower books and midworld.
N.K Jemison - The Broken Earth trilogy was pretty decent in terms of building the world it was set in and I think is pretty highly regarded for that element.
If you want a bit of space operas then I think Simon R Greens - Deathstalker books are really great and build a whole quirky universe for itself.
Maybe check a few of those out :)
Cosmere feels like it focuses on politics. If I'm right I'd rather not read it. I'm not even interested in real life politics.
I heard a buch of praise for Stephen King and someone else also said the dark tower. I think I'll give it a shot.
Couldn't find a wrong word for The Fifth Season, it got on my list.
I don't think Deathstalker is for me.
Still, thanks! I'm probably set for a long while.
No worries, I hope you find something you enjoy.
I would say that I personally can't stand politics in the real world or in stories so I am with you on that and I don't believe any of the cosmere stuff focuses on politics at all. Dune is something politic heavy and whilst I made it through it eventually it took me four or five tries and I probably wouldn't return.
I highly recommend trying out at least the first mistborn book to see if you like it if you get to a point where you are in need of something else to read after you've worked your way through some other suggestions.
Happy reading :)
It's possible I missjudged it. Not like I read the whole thing to say that. I can tell that you enjoyed it, so it can't be bad. I'll look into it, but no promises :p
Haha no that is fair and yes I enjoyed it a lot, I just don't think it is very political so wanted to make that point in the hope you don't miss out on a great world ;p
it's on my radar. I just go so many so good options now, didn't even got around looking into all of them yet. I tought I'd get like 1-2 comments or not even. Thank you.
Three Body Problem is great for if you want more world-oriented experiences than character-oriented ones. The character in focus changes often and sometimes harshly, but I feel it's in service of the plot and feels great.
The dark tower series.
I think you may like Expeditionary Force series, there is quite a bit of what you are looking for.
I guess Asimov Foundation series would also be a good candidate for world building.
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
First in a series called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
A young boy named Daniel is taken by his bookstore-owning father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
By tradition, first time visitors are allowed to select one book for which they will become a lifetime guardian.
Daniel chooses "Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax and quickly becomes enthralled by it. As he tries to find out more about the book and the author, he finds that someone is systematically collecting all of Carax's works and burning them.
I'll leave the thrillers for my dad. Still, I feel the love in this reply, so I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be reading this.
Not really a thriller, more of a mystery + a love story. It's a fantastic read. Especially considering it was translated from Spanish.
The "Death Gate Cycle" by Weiss and Hickman has all that. Great worldbuilding, bad guys that become friends, etc.
I'm sold. I love myself some high fantasy, and you don't have to tell me twice about the last part. I won't miss a chance to experience that again. Thanks!
Watership Down
Dungeon Crawler Carl and The Bobiverse are both amazing series that are worth a glance at.
These are probably not what I'm looking for. But now I know where that one wierd first person rogue like came from. Thanks!
Empire of man series. Main character starts as a twat almost nobody really likes, then he gets better.
It’s military science fiction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Man
At bottom of wiki article is link to read first book for free
Read the Wheel of Time, talk to you in 3 years
I think I heard the name once, but I don't know anything about it. Why? what
Not the same guy, but I started reading it a few weeks ago and just finished the fourth book last night. It does a pretty good job at both world building and character development in my opinion (though it really shines across books). In my opinion, the first book does a good job of introducing new elements of the setting at a good pace, and uses it's characters who know little of the world to impart how special/rare some of the things are.
Still donno why be said see you in 3 years. Is it that long?
It's a 14 book series. It's generally acclaimed for its world building and depth, but understood to be a bit of a slog in the middle. The original author, Robert Jordan, died while writing the 12th book, and Brandon Sanderson was chosen by Jordan's widow to finish the story using notes left by Jordan for his successor. I never finished it myself but I understand these final works were very well received, and Sanderson is a great author himself.
Oh, yeah, they have a reputation for being long. There are 14 books total I believe, and each is pretty long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
That said, I was able to read the first the books with an average speed of a book a week (though I spent a lot of the weekends to do so), so I wouldn't say they're crazy huge books.
You can try the "Malazan book of the fallen" series. It's very fast paced which I like but probably isn't everyone's cup of tea.
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The Silmarilion
Literally world building
I recommend Locked Tomb series. It has both of youre asking for. Also, such badass protagnist and overall great writing.
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