Personally I’m really obsessed with the lore in Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Kipo and the World of Wonderbeasts is entirely underrated in so many ways. Worldbuilding is one. Music is another.
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.
Dragon Age, I really love the lore. Hopefully the new one won’t disappoint.
Also Wheel of Time has a really nice worldbuilding.
His Dark Materials is worldbuilt very well, I also like ATLA for its worldbuilding, even if it’s a bit simplistic at times.
HDM for sure.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is really solid, if limited. Not sure how similar it is to the non-advance version.
One that just popped into my mind… The Culture Series. I really struggled to get into Consider Phlebas and must have restarted it three times before I got it. After I did, it was very difficult to not think about it all the time. I stopped when life got a bit busy so I do need to pick Excession up again, or restart since it’ll all be pretty fresh again by now.
Disco Elysium.
At first, I thought it was nothing more than a parody of Europe. But then I started talking to the corporation rep on the boat about the world you’re in and holy shit. It’s nuts how they give you all this insane exposition about how the world works, how physics are different, how there are literal swaths of VOID called The Pale that separate the isuldas and is described almost the same as how crossing space in Warhammer works. Like you need special tech and special protective suits to not lose your mind or be erased, and even then you want to limit your time in the pale. There are fantastical creatures that exist (you may even see one depending on how you play), incredible technologies, and even differences in real tech that become fantastical in the way they are different (like how they have something like the internet, but is dependant on using an actual phone to talk to an actual operator).
I am so dismayed at the fact there are like 3 or 4 Disco Elysium spiritual successors in development right now, but NONE OF THEM are actually going to be set in Elysium, because the world of Elysium would be amazing to continue to explore. 😮💨
But hey, we’ll get multiple new ones instead of just one!
Right now I’m way down a Brandon Sanderson rabbit hole, so I guess the Cosmere? I’d say Stormlight Archive, but Mistborn is really cool because they’re set at the inflection points in the planet’s history. The first arc is excellent, and it changes the world. The second arc is set in the future, with mythologies based on the first arc and scientific progress based on secrets uncovered in the first. The changes in the use of magic are really cool. There’s a third arc planned to be set in the future from there.
But the Cosmere as a whole shares some core concepts and characters can move across it, and that comes into other standalone works like (3 of 4) secret projects and a bunch of other stuff.
Agreed - Brandon may not be the best at certain facets of writing, but he’s nothing short of virtuosic when it comes to worldbuilding. The cosmere is a masterwork in this regard.
I love his work and bought physical copies of all of Stormlight, Mistborn, and just a couple days ago the pretty “premium” hardcovers for the secret projects, just to have on my shelves.
My one thing is that his introductions are almost always slower than I’d like. Though ironically he did better in the Wax and Wayne Mistborn arc and I like the Vin arc more.
I agree. He draws out books a lot, and as much as I love his writing, it can get tiring waiting for the plot to go somewhere in mistborn
I said it elsewhere but it felt like he meant for the final empire to be standalone, then was scrambling a bit in the well of ascension to keep the plot going.
But then some of the part I thought felt slow paid off in the conclusion, so IDK. I like the pacing in most of the rest of the stuff. It’s just the introductions. Like Tress of the Emerald Sea, for example, it took so long for her to actually start her adventure.
I love Brandon because he’s an absolute machine at writing. I’ve given up on too many amazing series because I just don’t believe the authors will ever finish the work. Brandon is a breath of fresh air in that regard.
That being said, he has a really specific range to his writing. Personally, I can’t binge too much on his work or I get a little bored or restive or something. Kind of like eating cereal for every meal – it’s great at breakfast, but at some point, you just need some variety.
I feel like Brandon Sanderson’s individual worlds lack something in worldbuilding which I can best describe as “unknown history”. it feels like he tells too much about the world he reveals which makes the world feel smaller. like if there are ruins that are part of the story you’re probably going to learn how those ruins came to be. this may be related to all the worlds being post apocalyptic and could be intentional
LotR - it’s really fucking hard to top especially when Tolkien was pioneering the field.
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.
The Expanse or First Law
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.
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.
Is probably say coal shivers. I kind feel like he’s ambercrombies favorite as well since he’s actually in all of them
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.
Dark Souls
I’ve never played any of the games, but the wikis have so much reading material I can stay engaged for hours.
It’s a universe populated by unfathomably evil undead beings. They farm humans for their flesh and their souls, and there is no chance humanity will ever free themselves.
It’s an incredibly dark setting, but it’s hauntingly beautiful. What kind of society would these creatures develop? Architecture, art, religion. Their civilization is an anathema to us but that’s why it’s so alien and captivating
The Elder Scrolls is probably the one I’ve had the most fun theory-crafting about, but I will admit that you have to pick and choose what to care about.
Also the old Wipeout racing games had a remarkable amount of background plot going on that was really pretty fun. The self-awareness to poke fun at Fusion’s poorly-received changes as being the in-universe result of megacorp meddling for mass market appeal gave me a good laugh, but you can piece together a surprising amount of the world from random references in team flavour text
What’s lovely about Elder Scrolls lore is it very much feels like you have to investigate or draw your own conclusions about things. Things can rarely be taken at face value since people and things in the world will contradict each other. At a surface level it sounds like there is no cohesion but even the bias itself can be revealing.
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.
Caves of Qud is amazing.
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.
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