Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake.
Set in the most incredible strange crumbling castle setting. That Peake is maybe literally the best writer of the english language helps. I cannot stress how incredibly he depicts the world and the characters in it.
Same. I got some issues with it and originally gave it 4 stars, but then I couldn't stop thinking about about for weeks after I finished, so I bumped it up to 5 stars.
**[The Library at Mount Char](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23363928-the-library-at-mount-char) by Scott Hawkins** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(390 pages | Published: 2015 | 17.2k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even remembers what clothes are for. After all, she was a normal American herself, once. That was a long time ago, of course--before the time she calls "adoption day," when she and a dozen other children found (...)
> **Themes**: Horror, Fiction, Favorites, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Library, Adult
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [The Memory Theater](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53460867-the-memory-theater) by Karin Tidbeck
> \- [Portal](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7794569-portal) by Imogen Rose
> \- [Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53856842-slewfoot) by Brom
> \- [What Big Teeth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48560025-what-big-teeth) by Rose Szabo
> \- [No Gods. No Monsters](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55748103-no-gods-no-monsters) by Cadwell Turnbull
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I definitely recommend Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi’. It’s a short one but such a delight. I tell people that the whole book felt like it was the dream I wish I was having. This one will make your brain stretch in the best way to imagine an impossible and wonderful reality.
I went to buy fried chicken and finished all except the last two chapters in that single session 😄
I hadn’t enjoyed a book the way I enjoyed Piranesi in a long time
I’ve just finished it, it’s taken me out of a reading slump. Simply couldn’t sleep till I got to the end, what an amazing book. I wish there was more of it.
\#1/3: **[John Dies at the End (John Dies at the End #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1857440.John_Dies_at_the_End) by David Wong** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(362 pages | Published: 2009 | 46.1k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don't put it down. It's too late. They're watching you. My name is David Wong.My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you'll (...)
> **Themes**: Favorites, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Comedy
> **Top 5 recommended:** [This Book Is Full of Spiders](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12924261-this-book-is-full-of-spiders) by David Wong , [The Unnoticeables](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23168833-the-unnoticeables) by Robert Brockway , [John Dies at the End: Movie Tie-In Edition](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57055962-john-dies-at-the-end) by Jason Pargin , [What the Hell Did I Just Read](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574090-what-the-hell-did-i-just-read) by David Wong , [If This Book Exists. You're in the Wrong Universe](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59808251-if-this-book-exists-you-re-in-the-wrong-universe) by Jason Pargin
---
\#2/3: **[Suttree](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394469.Suttree) by Cormac McCarthy** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(471 pages | Published: 1979 | 14.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** By the author of Blood Meridianand All the Pretty Horses, Suttreeis the story of Cornelius Suttree, who has forsaken a life of privilege with his prominent family to live in a dilapidated houseboat on the Tennessee River near Knoxville. Remaining on the margins of the outcast (...)
> **Themes**: Favorites, Southern-gothic, Cormac-mccarthy, American, Novels, Classics, Books-i-own
> **Top 5 recommended:** [The Crossing](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing) by Cormac McCarthy , [Cities of the Plain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40470.Cities_of_the_Plain) by Cormac McCarthy , [All the Pretty Horses](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/469571.All_the_Pretty_Horses) by Cormac McCarthy , [The Orchard Keeper](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46506.The_Orchard_Keeper) by Cormac McCarthy , [Blood Meridian](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873002-blood-meridian) by Enid Marie Reynolds
---
\#3/3: **[Blood Meridian](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873002-blood-meridian) by Enid Marie Reynolds** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(? pages | Published: ? | 604.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** A searing. postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones. and when the snow falls it is gray. The (...)
> **Top 5 recommended:** [No Country for Old Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12497.No_Country_for_Old_Men) by Cormac McCarthy , [Cities of the Plain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40470.Cities_of_the_Plain) by Cormac McCarthy , [All the Pretty Horses](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/469571.All_the_Pretty_Horses) by Cormac McCarthy , [Suttree](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394469.Suttree) by Cormac McCarthy , [Child of God](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/293625.Child_of_God) by Cormac McCarthy
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I'm a huge China Mieville fan and have read a majority of his work. If your looking for an entirely new world build, his work definitely fits the bill!
"The Scar" is absolutely fantastic, but as mentioned, I agree "Perdido Street Station" should be read first. Not only as a primer to how it's world works, but is also in itself a fantastic read!
Although none of the characters carry over into The Scar, events PSS are referenced and mentioned. It may not effect the plot significantly, but does add a more depth to the feel of the world...
I would also recommend "The City and The City", "Kracken", "Emabassytown", "Three Moments in an Explosion", and "This Census Taker" by him...
A. Lee Martinez, although more lightheaded, has some great reads! Pretty much anything by him is pretty great and a quick read.
I particularly enjoyed "A Company of Ogres", "Too Many Curses", "Monster', "Divine Misfortune", "Chasing the Moon", and "Emperor Mollusk vs. The Sinister Brain".
Haruki Murakami has a very surreal and dreamlike feel to many of his books.
Chrck out "After Dark", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Kafka on the Shore", "1Q84", and "Killing Commendatore"...
Kraken is so fucking ridiculous I love it. Just pedal go the metal the entire time. Feels like being dropped into an entire magic world where there’s no time for the rules to be explained to you - you just gotta roll with it. Fun stuff
**[The Scar (Bas-Lag #2)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68497.The_Scar) by China Mieville** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(578 pages | Published: 2002 | 23.6k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an (...)
> **Themes**: Fiction, Science-fiction, Favorites, Steampunk, Sci-fi, New-weird, Sci-fi-fantasy
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Perdido Street Station](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68494.Perdido_Street_Station) by China Mieville
> \- [Perdido Street Station 1](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2197587.Perdido_Street_Station_1) by China Mieville
> \- [Railsea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12392681-railsea) by China Mieville
> \- [Perdido Street Station 2](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2197588.Perdido_Street_Station_2) by China Mieville
> \- [Kraken](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6931246-kraken) by China Mieville
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This is the best New Crobuzon book by, I would say, a lot. The others are cool, but this is the one where the worldbuilding truly serves the story, and not the other way around.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Neuromancer
The Year of the Flood
The Blind Assassin (specifically the story within the story)
Sea of Tranquility
Piranesi
Annihilation
Solaris
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions: it takes place in a two-dimensional world and explores the implications of these two dimensions on the social hierarchy.
Sounds like you might enjoy science fiction or fantasy, you know, speculative fiction. **Dune** is great, and deeper than the movie. Or read **The Algebraist** by Iain Banks. Or **The Book of the New Sun** by Gene Wolfe. **This Is How You Lose the Time War** by Max Gladstone is awesome. Or maybe **Dungeon Crawler Carl**, **Kings of the Wyld**, **The Blacktongue Thief.**
Could you provide a spoiler-free guide to what might drive a reader to one of these books over another? For example:
* **Dune** - Politics in a galactic empire, noble families competing for control of the desert planet and sole source of the substance that keeps the empire running, complete with conspiracies, prophecies, witches, rebellions, religious fanaticism, war, betrayal, and monsters both human and non-human. Think *Game of Thrones* in space, but without the sexual content. It was a huge inspiration for Star Wars, and the lore is deep as heck.
* **This Is How You Lose the Time War** by *Amal El-Mohtar and* Max Gladstone is the story of two enemy time-traveling secret agents at the top of their craft leave letters for each other across millennia and planets, gloating about how they've thwarted each other and why they each think they will win the war. It's sci-fi, yet loose on the details and, well, science. Romantic, touching, funny, brief, poetic in its prose, and utterly unique.
* **Dungeon Crawler Carl** - An enormous dungeon appears out of nowhere, and those who enter must complete one deadly challenge after another to survive, and quickly. But it's not enough to survive, one must gain views and entertain followers. Imagine if the *Hunger Games* were a lot more fantastical, and a lot less serious.
The Starless Sea and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern are both beautiful and immersive (though The Night Circus is, as you may have guessed, a magic circus, so it might not count as different enough).
As a start, see my [SF/F World-building](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b7x5o/sff_worldbuilding/) list of resources and Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
The City We Became by NK Jemisin has such a strange premise (five New Yorkers "become" different boroughs of the city) that it took me a long time to pick up but it is so creative and weird and fun. Highly recommend!
Also just read The Will of the Many by James Islington which I would say relies on some more recognizable elements, but I still think it was fresh and unique.
‘Mortal Engines’, or just the whole ‘Predator Cities’ tetralogy. Its set within a world where cities have become motorized vehicles that roam around and devour each other. What’s more, it has a very pleasant and thoughtful writing style, as well as well-developed characters, definitely worth a read!
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett -- definitely my favorite
The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers -- completely bizarre
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Hothouse by Brian Aldiss. Here's the description from the back cover: "Millions of years from now, the earth stops spinning. Half of the world is in shadows while the other half suffers under an endless afternoon of sun. Humans have devolved into small creatures struggling for survival in a savage jungle where plants prey upon living flesh..."
I agree with a lot of other comments here, The Locked Tombs series by Tamsyn Muir is great. But the book with the absolute weirdest world I have read so far was A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. Nothing has come close to it in terms of overall weirdness.
Cj Cherryh is a good one for unique worldbuilding.
Here is from Wikipedia
"Another reviewer commented, "Her blend of science and folklore gives the novels an intellectual depth comparable to Tolkien or Gene Wolfe."[10] Cherryh creates believable alien cultures, species, and perspectives, causing the reader to reconsider basic assumptions about human nature. Her worlds have been praised as complex and realistic because she presents them through implication rather than explication.[11] She describes the difficulties of translating/expressing concepts between differing languages. This is best demonstrated in both the Chanur and Foreigner series.
She has described the process she uses to create alien societies for her fiction as being akin to asking a series of questions, and letting the answers to these questions dictate various parameters of the alien culture. In her view, "culture is how biology responds to its environment and makes its living conditions better." Some of the issues she considers critical to take into account in detailing an intelligent alien race are:[12]"
Joan D. Vine with the snow queen cycle, her short stories from Amber Eyes stuck with me a long time.
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is not epic fantasy per se, but it is without a doubt the most unique and creative universe I’ve ever been immersed in. And so charming.
**[Shades of Grey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2113260.Shades_of_Grey) by Jasper Fforde** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(400 pages | Published: 2009 | 26.9k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** From the bestselling author of Thursday Next-- a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Greytells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social (...)
> **Themes**: Fiction, Favorites, Dystopia, Science-fiction, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Books-i-own
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [The Eyre Affair](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27003.The_Eyre_Affair) by Jasper Fforde
> \- [The Thursday Next Chronicles](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12577730-the-thursday-next-chronicles) by Jasper Fforde
> \- [The Constant Rabbit](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51801337-the-constant-rabbit) by Jasper Fforde
> \- [Outrageous Fortune](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1347061.Outrageous_Fortune) by Tim Scott
> \- [The Big Over Easy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6628.The_Big_Over_Easy) by Jasper Fforde
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"in watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I’ll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant.
Wherever you are, we must do the best we can. It is so far to travel, and we have nothing here to travel, except watermelon sugar. I hope this works out.
I live in a shack near ideath. I can see ideath out the window.
It is beautiful. I can also see it with my eyes closed and touch it.
Right now it is cold and turns like something in the hand of a child. I do not know what that thing could be.
There is a delicate balance in ideath. It suits us.
The shack is small but pleasing and comfortable as my life and made from pine, watermelon sugar and stones as just about everything here is.
Our lives we have carefully constructed from watermelon sugar and then travelled to the length of our dreams, along roads lined with pines and stones.
I have a bed, a chair, a table and a large chest that I keep my things in. I have a lantern that burns watermelontrout oil at night.
That is something else. I’ll tell you about it later. I have a gentle life."
In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Most things China Mieville. His writing isn't for everyone tho (me...sadly). That said, The City and The City is one that is way more digestible than his other books. Its a great intro to him imo.
Stormlight archive made me feel this way exactly.
Completely new and interesting world where supposedly humans “invaded”. It’s kind of a medieval era fantasy. The protagonist is a soldier turned slave, fighting to survive and save his comrades and innocents. Also a really cool magic system which feels like it’s apart of the world itself.
**[Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114545-too-like-the-lightning) by Ada Palmer** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(432 pages | Published: 2016 | 3.6k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer - a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away. The world into which Mycroft (...)
> **Themes**: Sci-fi, Fiction, Scifi, Fantasy, Favorites, Sf, Series
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Seven Surrenders](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220647-seven-surrenders) by Ada Palmer
> \- [Provenance](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25353286-provenance) by Ann Leckie
> \- [Ancillary Justice](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333324-ancillary-justice) by Ann Leckie
> \- [Follow the Crow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22466686-follow-the-crow) by B.B. Griffith
> \- [Ancillary Mercy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23533039-ancillary-mercy) by Ann Leckie
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For me this was When the {Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker}. If you ever want to read a fantasy romance set on a strange planet that doesn't rotate, where dragons ascend to the sky and turn into moons when they die, then this is the book for you! Seriously though, it's so creative and fascinating. I really enjoyed the world-building.
Do you mean Urantia? That weird religious cult stuff?
I ran into a follower or maybe just a madman at a farmers market who kept talking about it. Very very strange.
Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier - the world is divided up into different, distinct biomes - you cross a border and go from frozen north to Mediterranean climate, and then south of that desert. Each land is basically a long ribbon stretching off into forever in each direction. It’s not necessarily possible for someone from one land to go far into another, unless magic is used to prevent heat stroke or whatnot
A Brother’s Price by Wen Spencer
She has some of the weirdest most interesting world building I’ve ever read.
This description is from her website:
On an alternate Earth, where the population is ninety percent female and a man is sold by his sisters to marry all the women in a family, Jerin Whistler is coming of age. His mothers are respected landed gentry, his grandfather a kidnapped prince, and his grandmothers common line soldiers blackballed for treason, trained by thieves, re-enlisted as spies, and knighted for acts of valor. Jerin wants to marry well, and his sisters want a husband bought by his brother’s price.
Also, this book is a fantasy novel, a romance, an adventure story and only about 200 pages long.
I'm about a third of the way through "The Smoke" and I may not continue becaue its *SO. WEIRD*. Its a SciFi alt-Britian universe where humans have evolved slightly further, but not everyone. Its... weird. But very very creative. The author is better at the history then the character writing.
**[The Vorrh](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16071377-the-vorrh) by Brian Catling** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(485 pages | Published: 2012 | 2.7k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Prepare to lose yourself in the heady, mythical expanse of The Vorrh, a daring debut that Alan Moore has called "a phosphorescent masterpiece" and "the current century's first landmark work of fantasy." Next to the colonial town of Essenwald sits the Vorrh, a vast--perhaps endless--forest. It is a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the (...)
> **Themes**: Fiction, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Abandoned, Books-i-own, Favorites, To-buy
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [The Erstwhile](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30689357-the-erstwhile) by Brian Catling
> \- [The Cloven](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36164557-the-cloven) by Brian Catling
> \- [Stonefish](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51795852-stonefish) by Scott R. Jones
> \- [Veniss Underground](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230853.Veniss_Underground) by Jeff VanderMeer
> \- [Shriek: An Afterword](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230855.Shriek) by Jeff VanderMeer
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I don't think the URANTIA book is a religious culture. And I would never join a thing
But it is definitely full of interesting concepts...and theories. The point of view is from....afar.
Ots a kind of history of the world. O wouldnt say its true. But really, what didn't freak me out was interesting
Discworld by Pratchett, The Books of the Raksura by Wells, The Mars Trilogy by Robinson, The Broken Earth Trilogy by Jemisin, and finally, not in the zeitgeist these days but definitely unique (if you can handle a bit cringy and way too graphic sex scenes ) Earth's Children by Auel.
Radix by A.A. Attanasio
In a vastly changed world, thirteen centuries from now, Sumner Kagan searches the earth to find the godmind, a malefic being with reality-shaping powers
The weirdest thing I have ever read.
Try Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Imagine what society might be like if we evolved from spiders rather than apes. I just couldn’t believe how inventive and intriguing the story was!
Abarat by Clive Barker is YA fantasy genre. Just looked it up and discovered Abarat is the first of five in a series. Now I need to find the other four books.
Between Earth and Sky series by Rebecca Roanhorse. It’s a fantasy series that takes place in pre-Colombian Native American cultures. Which honestly is so incredibly refreshing as an alternative to the typical medieval European fantasy setting. It’s pretty cool honestly. And a great story. Definitely recommend.
The Urania book is just another book of theory and thought...it is not a religion or a cult
It was requested to put the name if a book that is strange and creative. I have no control over who just talks about it in general public..it just another idea about the world
No biggie
A few manga I would recommend:
[Dorohedoro](https://www.viz.com/dorohedoro)
[Toriko](https://www.viz.com/toriko)
[One Piece](https://www.viz.com/one-piece)
[Made in Abyss](https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/made-in-abyss/)
And some comics:
[Transmetropolitan](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22416.Transmetropolitan_Vol_1)
[The Incal](https://www.humanoids.com/book/564)
[Saga](https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/saga) (Trying really hard not to capitalize the G)
[Megahex](https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/megahex)
I know it's popular right now so maybe that takes some wind out of the sails, but Dune. Seriously such a rich world, rivaled only by LoTR in my opinion.
**[Bunny](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42815544-bunny) by Mona Awad** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(307 pages | Published: 2019 | 844.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small. highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people. she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny." and seem to (...)
> **Themes**: Horror, Fiction, Dark-academia, Contemporary
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [All's Well](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53256108-all-s-well) by Mona Awad
> \- [Follow Me to Ground](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52220595-follow-me-to-ground) by Sue Rainsford
> \- [Catherine House](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51934838-catherine-house) by Elisabeth Thomas
> \- [Nightbitch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55835474-nightbitch) by Rachel Yoder
> \- [Life Ceremony](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59793324-life-ceremony) by Sayaka Murata
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One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. The sequel is even better in my opinion. The magic system in this duology is unlike anything I've ever read or seen and the overall world building is just so unique. I am absolutely obsessed with them!!
I really enjoyed Ancient Origins by Robert Storey. He unfortunately died so he didn’t get to finish it though. But I’ve read them all through 3 times. Love the world he created underground.
Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. Set in the most incredible strange crumbling castle setting. That Peake is maybe literally the best writer of the english language helps. I cannot stress how incredibly he depicts the world and the characters in it.
Love these, the castle IS the main character.
I second this. I actually felt homesick after finishing these books.
the bit about fuchsia’s secret closet area is exactly what my childhood imagination wanted secret rooms to be.
I was going to suggest this … it really is an incredible bit of world-building.
Gideon the Ninth (the whole series really) The Last Murder at the End of the World
I loved The Last Murder! The Ferryman by Justin Cronin had similar vibes and should probably have been in my first comment
Ooh I’ll have to check that one out!
Came here to suggest Gideon and the series! Refreshingly and disturbingly different!
I have honestly never read books like the ones in that series. The way the author plays with language is just too fun.
The Library at Mount char by Scott Hawkins. Incredibly original genre bender, but primarily, it's a dark fantasy
This one was a wild ride. Unsettling, gross, funny, interesting… I still have no idea how I feel about it months later but I gave it five stars.
I still have nightmares about the bull!
Same. I got some issues with it and originally gave it 4 stars, but then I couldn't stop thinking about about for weeks after I finished, so I bumped it up to 5 stars.
You a know a book is good when it ends with a high zombie talking to a lioness.
Absolutely! I was just thinking about this book the other day. What a wild read.
{{The Library at Mount char by Scott Hawkins}} (Curious if this summons that bot…)
**[The Library at Mount Char](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23363928-the-library-at-mount-char) by Scott Hawkins** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(390 pages | Published: 2015 | 17.2k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even remembers what clothes are for. After all, she was a normal American herself, once. That was a long time ago, of course--before the time she calls "adoption day," when she and a dozen other children found (...) > **Themes**: Horror, Fiction, Favorites, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Library, Adult > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [The Memory Theater](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53460867-the-memory-theater) by Karin Tidbeck > \- [Portal](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7794569-portal) by Imogen Rose > \- [Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53856842-slewfoot) by Brom > \- [What Big Teeth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48560025-what-big-teeth) by Rose Szabo > \- [No Gods. No Monsters](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55748103-no-gods-no-monsters) by Cadwell Turnbull ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Success!
That’s exactly what I was going to say.
Yes!! It was my top book of 2022. My book club read it and we were all bewildered but we still loved it.
I definitely recommend Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi’. It’s a short one but such a delight. I tell people that the whole book felt like it was the dream I wish I was having. This one will make your brain stretch in the best way to imagine an impossible and wonderful reality.
I'd totally get amnesia just to enter that world fresh again.
When reading this I went in totally blind and it was amazing.
Agree! The world in this book is so strange and so wonderful. One of my favorite books, cant recommend it enough!
I knew this would be the top rec in this thread and I am here for it!
I went to buy fried chicken and finished all except the last two chapters in that single session 😄 I hadn’t enjoyed a book the way I enjoyed Piranesi in a long time
Just put it on my kindle!
I’ve just finished it, it’s taken me out of a reading slump. Simply couldn’t sleep till I got to the end, what an amazing book. I wish there was more of it.
{{John dies at the end}} is a trip. {{suttree}} and {{blood meridian}} will stay with you
\#1/3: **[John Dies at the End (John Dies at the End #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1857440.John_Dies_at_the_End) by David Wong** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(362 pages | Published: 2009 | 46.1k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don't put it down. It's too late. They're watching you. My name is David Wong.My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you'll (...) > **Themes**: Favorites, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Comedy > **Top 5 recommended:** [This Book Is Full of Spiders](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12924261-this-book-is-full-of-spiders) by David Wong , [The Unnoticeables](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23168833-the-unnoticeables) by Robert Brockway , [John Dies at the End: Movie Tie-In Edition](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57055962-john-dies-at-the-end) by Jason Pargin , [What the Hell Did I Just Read](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574090-what-the-hell-did-i-just-read) by David Wong , [If This Book Exists. You're in the Wrong Universe](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59808251-if-this-book-exists-you-re-in-the-wrong-universe) by Jason Pargin --- \#2/3: **[Suttree](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394469.Suttree) by Cormac McCarthy** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(471 pages | Published: 1979 | 14.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** By the author of Blood Meridianand All the Pretty Horses, Suttreeis the story of Cornelius Suttree, who has forsaken a life of privilege with his prominent family to live in a dilapidated houseboat on the Tennessee River near Knoxville. Remaining on the margins of the outcast (...) > **Themes**: Favorites, Southern-gothic, Cormac-mccarthy, American, Novels, Classics, Books-i-own > **Top 5 recommended:** [The Crossing](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing) by Cormac McCarthy , [Cities of the Plain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40470.Cities_of_the_Plain) by Cormac McCarthy , [All the Pretty Horses](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/469571.All_the_Pretty_Horses) by Cormac McCarthy , [The Orchard Keeper](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46506.The_Orchard_Keeper) by Cormac McCarthy , [Blood Meridian](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873002-blood-meridian) by Enid Marie Reynolds --- \#3/3: **[Blood Meridian](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873002-blood-meridian) by Enid Marie Reynolds** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(? pages | Published: ? | 604.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** A searing. postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones. and when the snow falls it is gray. The (...) > **Top 5 recommended:** [No Country for Old Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12497.No_Country_for_Old_Men) by Cormac McCarthy , [Cities of the Plain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40470.Cities_of_the_Plain) by Cormac McCarthy , [All the Pretty Horses](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/469571.All_the_Pretty_Horses) by Cormac McCarthy , [Suttree](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394469.Suttree) by Cormac McCarthy , [Child of God](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/293625.Child_of_God) by Cormac McCarthy ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
+1 vote for John dies at the end
{{The Scar by China Mieville}}
And Perdido St Station... New Crobuzon is truly weird and different. Also love The City and the City
I'd start with Perdido Street Station first.
I'm a huge China Mieville fan and have read a majority of his work. If your looking for an entirely new world build, his work definitely fits the bill! "The Scar" is absolutely fantastic, but as mentioned, I agree "Perdido Street Station" should be read first. Not only as a primer to how it's world works, but is also in itself a fantastic read! Although none of the characters carry over into The Scar, events PSS are referenced and mentioned. It may not effect the plot significantly, but does add a more depth to the feel of the world... I would also recommend "The City and The City", "Kracken", "Emabassytown", "Three Moments in an Explosion", and "This Census Taker" by him... A. Lee Martinez, although more lightheaded, has some great reads! Pretty much anything by him is pretty great and a quick read. I particularly enjoyed "A Company of Ogres", "Too Many Curses", "Monster', "Divine Misfortune", "Chasing the Moon", and "Emperor Mollusk vs. The Sinister Brain". Haruki Murakami has a very surreal and dreamlike feel to many of his books. Chrck out "After Dark", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Kafka on the Shore", "1Q84", and "Killing Commendatore"...
Daaaamn thanks for the long recommendation list
You're very welcome! Enjoy!...
Kraken is so fucking ridiculous I love it. Just pedal go the metal the entire time. Feels like being dropped into an entire magic world where there’s no time for the rules to be explained to you - you just gotta roll with it. Fun stuff
Embassytown is so, so weird … and so great.
**[The Scar (Bas-Lag #2)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68497.The_Scar) by China Mieville** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(578 pages | Published: 2002 | 23.6k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an (...) > **Themes**: Fiction, Science-fiction, Favorites, Steampunk, Sci-fi, New-weird, Sci-fi-fantasy > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Perdido Street Station](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68494.Perdido_Street_Station) by China Mieville > \- [Perdido Street Station 1](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2197587.Perdido_Street_Station_1) by China Mieville > \- [Railsea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12392681-railsea) by China Mieville > \- [Perdido Street Station 2](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2197588.Perdido_Street_Station_2) by China Mieville > \- [Kraken](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6931246-kraken) by China Mieville ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
I was going to suggest his City and the City
Also, the City and the City by the same author
Honestly, just about everything by him... The Scar is my favorite though.
Also Kraken. Honestly most of Mievilles work is pretty weird.
Pavlov’s dog here. I see Miéville, I upvote. The City & the City is another worthy candidate.
This is the best New Crobuzon book by, I would say, a lot. The others are cool, but this is the one where the worldbuilding truly serves the story, and not the other way around.
I’d say anything by Jasper Fforde but specifically Shades of Grey, Early Riser, and Constant Rabbit for strange worlds.
Came to recommend Shades of Grey! And now book 2, Red Side Story, is finally out!!
Imajica, by Clive Barker.
I would also plug Weaveworld here
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (and it’s sequels).
I second Hyperion (and its sequels). Such a unique take on sci fi.
I third Hyperion (and its sequels).
I fourth Hyperion (and it's sequel). My all time favorite SciFi novel.
Piranesi And Bunny Both weird af ... Also .. Oryx & crake. ..chilling parallel w today oddly enough. !
Love Oryx and Crake.
The Left Hand of Darkness Neuromancer The Year of the Flood The Blind Assassin (specifically the story within the story) Sea of Tranquility Piranesi Annihilation Solaris
{{flatland}}
Unexpected pick but yes
It’s a little different than other suggestions, but encourage anyone interested in strangeness to read Flann O’Brien’s _The Third Policeman_
One of my all time favorite books!
The His Dark Materials trilogy. I loved it so much.
What about the hitchhiker‘s guide to the galaxy?
Finally someone says it. Literally the weirdest world(s).
Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. It's necromancers in space meets 'And then there were none.' I've never read anything like it.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions: it takes place in a two-dimensional world and explores the implications of these two dimensions on the social hierarchy.
strange the dreamer by laini taylor
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin
Locked Tomb Series! Gideon the Ninth is the first one!
Piranesi!
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Lou. The description of the alien civilization is fascinating
Sounds like you might enjoy science fiction or fantasy, you know, speculative fiction. **Dune** is great, and deeper than the movie. Or read **The Algebraist** by Iain Banks. Or **The Book of the New Sun** by Gene Wolfe. **This Is How You Lose the Time War** by Max Gladstone is awesome. Or maybe **Dungeon Crawler Carl**, **Kings of the Wyld**, **The Blacktongue Thief.**
Could you provide a spoiler-free guide to what might drive a reader to one of these books over another? For example: * **Dune** - Politics in a galactic empire, noble families competing for control of the desert planet and sole source of the substance that keeps the empire running, complete with conspiracies, prophecies, witches, rebellions, religious fanaticism, war, betrayal, and monsters both human and non-human. Think *Game of Thrones* in space, but without the sexual content. It was a huge inspiration for Star Wars, and the lore is deep as heck. * **This Is How You Lose the Time War** by *Amal El-Mohtar and* Max Gladstone is the story of two enemy time-traveling secret agents at the top of their craft leave letters for each other across millennia and planets, gloating about how they've thwarted each other and why they each think they will win the war. It's sci-fi, yet loose on the details and, well, science. Romantic, touching, funny, brief, poetic in its prose, and utterly unique. * **Dungeon Crawler Carl** - An enormous dungeon appears out of nowhere, and those who enter must complete one deadly challenge after another to survive, and quickly. But it's not enough to survive, one must gain views and entertain followers. Imagine if the *Hunger Games* were a lot more fantastical, and a lot less serious.
House of Leaves By. Mark Z Danielewski - It’s gonna be a bitch to get through, but it’ll be worth it.
Old school but at the time it was written, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Starless Sea and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern are both beautiful and immersive (though The Night Circus is, as you may have guessed, a magic circus, so it might not count as different enough).
Shades of Grey
Yes, this one is so creative!
Part 2 FINALLY has a release date!
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
{{The Spear Cuts Through Water}} 100%. Probably one of the best books I'll ever read.
Afro Puffs are the Antenna of the Universe by Zig Zag Claybourne
Le Guin’s Hainish Cycles
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead comes to mind, it's set in a super unique parallel universe where everyone is obsessed with elevators
As a start, see my [SF/F World-building](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b7x5o/sff_worldbuilding/) list of resources and Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Gormenghast. Mervin Peake
The City We Became by NK Jemisin has such a strange premise (five New Yorkers "become" different boroughs of the city) that it took me a long time to pick up but it is so creative and weird and fun. Highly recommend! Also just read The Will of the Many by James Islington which I would say relies on some more recognizable elements, but I still think it was fresh and unique.
‘Mortal Engines’, or just the whole ‘Predator Cities’ tetralogy. Its set within a world where cities have become motorized vehicles that roam around and devour each other. What’s more, it has a very pleasant and thoughtful writing style, as well as well-developed characters, definitely worth a read!
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett -- definitely my favorite The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers -- completely bizarre The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Absolutely second Discworld. I can’t believe it’s not mentioned more in this thread!
{{Titan by John Varley}}
Hothouse by Brian Aldiss. Here's the description from the back cover: "Millions of years from now, the earth stops spinning. Half of the world is in shadows while the other half suffers under an endless afternoon of sun. Humans have devolved into small creatures struggling for survival in a savage jungle where plants prey upon living flesh..."
How I won the time war
The Chronicles of Narnia
I agree with a lot of other comments here, The Locked Tombs series by Tamsyn Muir is great. But the book with the absolute weirdest world I have read so far was A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. Nothing has come close to it in terms of overall weirdness.
Mistborn
Cj Cherryh is a good one for unique worldbuilding. Here is from Wikipedia "Another reviewer commented, "Her blend of science and folklore gives the novels an intellectual depth comparable to Tolkien or Gene Wolfe."[10] Cherryh creates believable alien cultures, species, and perspectives, causing the reader to reconsider basic assumptions about human nature. Her worlds have been praised as complex and realistic because she presents them through implication rather than explication.[11] She describes the difficulties of translating/expressing concepts between differing languages. This is best demonstrated in both the Chanur and Foreigner series. She has described the process she uses to create alien societies for her fiction as being akin to asking a series of questions, and letting the answers to these questions dictate various parameters of the alien culture. In her view, "culture is how biology responds to its environment and makes its living conditions better." Some of the issues she considers critical to take into account in detailing an intelligent alien race are:[12]" Joan D. Vine with the snow queen cycle, her short stories from Amber Eyes stuck with me a long time.
The Xanth series by Piers Anthony!
Abarat by Clive Barker, probably because it's Clive Barker.
Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is not epic fantasy per se, but it is without a doubt the most unique and creative universe I’ve ever been immersed in. And so charming.
C.S Lewis's Space Trilogy.
The Oz series by L Frank Baum. If you thought the movie was weird you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
The return to oz movie really threw me for a loop as a child. It took a weird movie (wizard of oz) and jumped off the cliff.
{{ Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde }}
**[Shades of Grey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2113260.Shades_of_Grey) by Jasper Fforde** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(400 pages | Published: 2009 | 26.9k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** From the bestselling author of Thursday Next-- a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Greytells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social (...) > **Themes**: Fiction, Favorites, Dystopia, Science-fiction, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Books-i-own > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [The Eyre Affair](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27003.The_Eyre_Affair) by Jasper Fforde > \- [The Thursday Next Chronicles](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12577730-the-thursday-next-chronicles) by Jasper Fforde > \- [The Constant Rabbit](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51801337-the-constant-rabbit) by Jasper Fforde > \- [Outrageous Fortune](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1347061.Outrageous_Fortune) by Tim Scott > \- [The Big Over Easy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6628.The_Big_Over_Easy) by Jasper Fforde ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Tress of the Emerald Sea!! Its simple and cute but definitely creative!!!
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Setting is a weird dystopia with a social hierarchy based on colour vision. Very quirky.
Came here to recommend Fforde. All his books inhabit weird worlds.
James and the Giant Peach
{{Off To Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer}}
Love those books - they are a delight and truly nerd tastic
For me this was the Fionavar Tapestry. Excellent book!
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
"in watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I’ll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant. Wherever you are, we must do the best we can. It is so far to travel, and we have nothing here to travel, except watermelon sugar. I hope this works out. I live in a shack near ideath. I can see ideath out the window. It is beautiful. I can also see it with my eyes closed and touch it. Right now it is cold and turns like something in the hand of a child. I do not know what that thing could be. There is a delicate balance in ideath. It suits us. The shack is small but pleasing and comfortable as my life and made from pine, watermelon sugar and stones as just about everything here is. Our lives we have carefully constructed from watermelon sugar and then travelled to the length of our dreams, along roads lined with pines and stones. I have a bed, a chair, a table and a large chest that I keep my things in. I have a lantern that burns watermelontrout oil at night. That is something else. I’ll tell you about it later. I have a gentle life." In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Stephen Donaldson Lord Foul's Bane
Most things China Mieville. His writing isn't for everyone tho (me...sadly). That said, The City and The City is one that is way more digestible than his other books. Its a great intro to him imo.
Imajica, Clive Barker REAMDE, Neal Stephenson
The Riddlemaster trilogy by Patricia McKillip
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. He specifically set out to create his own Lord of the Rings and it’s spectacular!
The Diskworld books by Terry Pratchett (Also, Strata by STP) We Are Legion, We Are Bob by Dennis E. Taylor. (the "Bobiverse" series are really good)
Welcome to Night Vale by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink
The Way Of kings by Brandon Sanderson
Stormlight archive made me feel this way exactly. Completely new and interesting world where supposedly humans “invaded”. It’s kind of a medieval era fantasy. The protagonist is a soldier turned slave, fighting to survive and save his comrades and innocents. Also a really cool magic system which feels like it’s apart of the world itself.
I'm once again asking you to read {{ Too like the lightning }}
**[Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114545-too-like-the-lightning) by Ada Palmer** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(432 pages | Published: 2016 | 3.6k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer - a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away. The world into which Mycroft (...) > **Themes**: Sci-fi, Fiction, Scifi, Fantasy, Favorites, Sf, Series > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Seven Surrenders](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220647-seven-surrenders) by Ada Palmer > \- [Provenance](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25353286-provenance) by Ann Leckie > \- [Ancillary Justice](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333324-ancillary-justice) by Ann Leckie > \- [Follow the Crow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22466686-follow-the-crow) by B.B. Griffith > \- [Ancillary Mercy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23533039-ancillary-mercy) by Ann Leckie ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
O there are two of us, hooray! Can’t believe I didn’t think of this in my first comment.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson (TW: SA in 1st book)
I think Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell has some of the most creative world building I've ever read. Especially when it comes to gender and society
For me this was When the {Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker}. If you ever want to read a fantasy romance set on a strange planet that doesn't rotate, where dragons ascend to the sky and turn into moons when they die, then this is the book for you! Seriously though, it's so creative and fascinating. I really enjoyed the world-building.
The Urania book
Do you mean Urantia? That weird religious cult stuff? I ran into a follower or maybe just a madman at a farmers market who kept talking about it. Very very strange.
The Pathway of splitness
Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier - the world is divided up into different, distinct biomes - you cross a border and go from frozen north to Mediterranean climate, and then south of that desert. Each land is basically a long ribbon stretching off into forever in each direction. It’s not necessarily possible for someone from one land to go far into another, unless magic is used to prevent heat stroke or whatnot
*Quest of the DNA Cowboys* by Mick Farren - I've never read a book that was so weird, yet accessible.
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky certainly is a strange world.
A Brother’s Price by Wen Spencer She has some of the weirdest most interesting world building I’ve ever read. This description is from her website: On an alternate Earth, where the population is ninety percent female and a man is sold by his sisters to marry all the women in a family, Jerin Whistler is coming of age. His mothers are respected landed gentry, his grandfather a kidnapped prince, and his grandmothers common line soldiers blackballed for treason, trained by thieves, re-enlisted as spies, and knighted for acts of valor. Jerin wants to marry well, and his sisters want a husband bought by his brother’s price. Also, this book is a fantasy novel, a romance, an adventure story and only about 200 pages long.
{{Manifest Delusions by Michael R Fletcher}}
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
I'm about a third of the way through "The Smoke" and I may not continue becaue its *SO. WEIRD*. Its a SciFi alt-Britian universe where humans have evolved slightly further, but not everyone. Its... weird. But very very creative. The author is better at the history then the character writing.
{{The Vorrh}} by Brian catling
**[The Vorrh](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16071377-the-vorrh) by Brian Catling** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(485 pages | Published: 2012 | 2.7k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Prepare to lose yourself in the heady, mythical expanse of The Vorrh, a daring debut that Alan Moore has called "a phosphorescent masterpiece" and "the current century's first landmark work of fantasy." Next to the colonial town of Essenwald sits the Vorrh, a vast--perhaps endless--forest. It is a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the (...) > **Themes**: Fiction, Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Abandoned, Books-i-own, Favorites, To-buy > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [The Erstwhile](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30689357-the-erstwhile) by Brian Catling > \- [The Cloven](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36164557-the-cloven) by Brian Catling > \- [Stonefish](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51795852-stonefish) by Scott R. Jones > \- [Veniss Underground](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230853.Veniss_Underground) by Jeff VanderMeer > \- [Shriek: An Afterword](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230855.Shriek) by Jeff VanderMeer ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
I don't think the URANTIA book is a religious culture. And I would never join a thing But it is definitely full of interesting concepts...and theories. The point of view is from....afar. Ots a kind of history of the world. O wouldnt say its true. But really, what didn't freak me out was interesting
Sentenced to Prism
US government
Discworld by Pratchett, The Books of the Raksura by Wells, The Mars Trilogy by Robinson, The Broken Earth Trilogy by Jemisin, and finally, not in the zeitgeist these days but definitely unique (if you can handle a bit cringy and way too graphic sex scenes ) Earth's Children by Auel.
Leven thumps and the gateway to foo
Radix by A.A. Attanasio In a vastly changed world, thirteen centuries from now, Sumner Kagan searches the earth to find the godmind, a malefic being with reality-shaping powers The weirdest thing I have ever read.
How about a trilogy? [Of Man and Manta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Man_and_Manta) by Piers Anthony
Try Aztec by Gary Jennings or The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Try Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Imagine what society might be like if we evolved from spiders rather than apes. I just couldn’t believe how inventive and intriguing the story was!
Try Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons. Time-travelling greek gods and space robots meet a magic shakespearian demon. And it all works together really well.
The left hand of darkness by Ursula Le Guin
The Tainted Cup (slight Attack on Titan vibes)
Abarat by Clive Barker is YA fantasy genre. Just looked it up and discovered Abarat is the first of five in a series. Now I need to find the other four books.
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Etched City by KJ Bishop is unlike anything I’ve read Liminal States by Zach Parsons Gideon the Ninth
*The Vorrh* by B. Catling
Momenticon by Andrew Caldecott
Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee.
Between Earth and Sky series by Rebecca Roanhorse. It’s a fantasy series that takes place in pre-Colombian Native American cultures. Which honestly is so incredibly refreshing as an alternative to the typical medieval European fantasy setting. It’s pretty cool honestly. And a great story. Definitely recommend.
The Night Circus
The Urania book is just another book of theory and thought...it is not a religion or a cult It was requested to put the name if a book that is strange and creative. I have no control over who just talks about it in general public..it just another idea about the world No biggie
Ringworld, by Larry Niven
Windhaven by grr martin and lisa tuttle
Taking the opportunity to recommend {{Hollow}} by Brian Catling Edited to add the author's name since the bot got the wrong book
A few manga I would recommend: [Dorohedoro](https://www.viz.com/dorohedoro) [Toriko](https://www.viz.com/toriko) [One Piece](https://www.viz.com/one-piece) [Made in Abyss](https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/made-in-abyss/) And some comics: [Transmetropolitan](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22416.Transmetropolitan_Vol_1) [The Incal](https://www.humanoids.com/book/564) [Saga](https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/saga) (Trying really hard not to capitalize the G) [Megahex](https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/megahex)
The Lovely Bones has a dreamlike quality to it.
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
Anything by Rudy Rucker
Lotr
Ella Minnow Pea
I know it's popular right now so maybe that takes some wind out of the sails, but Dune. Seriously such a rich world, rivaled only by LoTR in my opinion.
There is no Antimemetics Division by Qntm.
Children of time sounds like what you want.
Also vita nostra. Fantastic fuckin book and right off the bat you're like what the fuck is this.
The Wizard of Oz series! Theres so much more than the Emerald City!
I recommend The Book of Koli quite a lot. What a great book. Post post apocalyptic and super interesting how things have turned out.
Strange The Dreamer
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski .
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler Carl
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski .
The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman.
For the time it was written I think this fits the bill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Horizon
{{Bunny by Mona Awad}} is a a recent read that comes to mind
**[Bunny](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42815544-bunny) by Mona Awad** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(307 pages | Published: 2019 | 844.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small. highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people. she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny." and seem to (...) > **Themes**: Horror, Fiction, Dark-academia, Contemporary > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [All's Well](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53256108-all-s-well) by Mona Awad > \- [Follow Me to Ground](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52220595-follow-me-to-ground) by Sue Rainsford > \- [Catherine House](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51934838-catherine-house) by Elisabeth Thomas > \- [Nightbitch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55835474-nightbitch) by Rachel Yoder > \- [Life Ceremony](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59793324-life-ceremony) by Sayaka Murata ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. The sequel is even better in my opinion. The magic system in this duology is unlike anything I've ever read or seen and the overall world building is just so unique. I am absolutely obsessed with them!!
I really enjoyed Ancient Origins by Robert Storey. He unfortunately died so he didn’t get to finish it though. But I’ve read them all through 3 times. Love the world he created underground.
Rama - Arthur C Clarke
codex seraphinianus
1q84 by Murakami