Fantasy/sci-fi people of Mastodon! Looking for inspirational fiction, preferably novel(s); fantasy preferred, sci-fi welcome; political drama with a dash of epicness; not based on Western medievalism nor Tolkienesque; preferably focused on humans rather than elves, dwarves etc (though this isn't required).

Any recommendations that might hit any or all of these?

#books #scifi #fantasy #fiction

@auguryignored The Wheel of Time hits some of those, but is less political than you might be expecting and might be too Tolkienesque? Also it is infinity words long.

Moorcock's the Warlord of the Air and its sequels are steampunk scifi but very not medieval and not Tolkienesque. They are political with the dash of epic, but the political drama is more like "here's a different version of real world politics and ideology" than more personal court politics.

@auguryignored Spin by Robert Charles Wilson or The Chronoliths by the same author.

@auguryignored - I write #contemporaryfantasy blended with elements from other genres. No elves, dwarves, etc. Mostly human characters, with a few non-humans too. If you're interested, I'll give more details.

@auguryignored try NK Jemisin's The City We Became.

@auguryignored if you haven’t read CJ Cherryh, I strongly recommend.

Early on, she wrote fairly bleak fantasy, but she’s more known for her massive oeuvre of excellent science fiction. Other than her four-book Chanur series, humans are the focus of most of her work despite her reputation as a writer of the most credibly alien aliens.

Why her works are overlooked for film and television adaptation is unfathomable.

Her earlier works are fairly dark, and she maintains her mastery of suspense. As she moved forward in her own life, she has become more positive but there was always a thread of inspiration rather than pure dystopian gloom.

#ScienceFiction

@auguryignored Classic: Dune by Frank Herbert or the Books from Ursula K. Le Guin

@auguryignored have you read Charles Stross?

@auguryignored Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir checks all those boxes. Sci-fi and fantasy as a bonus.

@auguryignored the Shadows Of Otherside series (start with Elemental) will definitely fulfill all your political intrigue needs. urban fantasy

@AlsoPaisleyCat Love Cherryh! Although I haven't read her early work, mainly the Chanur series and The Fortress. She's a criminally overlooked and incredibly fascinating writer. But I take it that I should dig into the Ivrel and Paladin stories?

@auguryignored

This, by one of my favorite authors, bonus for many queer characters and a really unique magic system. Also definitely inspirational! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57591026-water-horse

Also if I can rec myself, Sounding Dark is epic old school sci fi, lots of fun, and certainly uplifting!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59371858-sounding-dark

@auguryignored I have a political satire set in a future Sri Lanka and it's sci-fi but not sure if it'll appeal to you since some of the stuff is in-jokes that only Sri Lankans will (probably) get 🙂

https://books.farook.org/sir-lanka-files/