I really enjoy the idea of world building of high fantasy: A completely foreign place, not tied to anything like earth. I also like that the norms of current social structure can be completely turned on its head.
But what I struggle with is: a lot of popular high fantasy turns into an epic, super high stakes tale of how the world almost ended. I think that is something I’ve either seen too much of, or something that just takes away from other potential interesting stories that could come out of a different world.
So instead, I am looking for books where the protagonist explores/adventures through the foreign world discovering people and places within it. But there the challenges or conflicts the characters go through are personal and more relatable.
Does anyone share similar frustrations? Does anyone have any suggestions for books that I might enjoy?
Edit: Thanks everyone for your suggestions! Anyone that still comes across this tread, please feel free to add more, and hopefully it’s useful for others as well.
“The emperor’s soul” is a pretty good one. no worldwide stakes. cool magic system. not exploration themed. short, but excellent.
“Elantris” has some worldwide (or at least, society-wide) stakes, but no world-ending stuff. also, cool magic system. characters discovering what’s happening with that.
“The Riyria Revelations” is a bit of good-natured skulldeggery as gotten up to by a couple of friends wandering about and thieving as honestly as can be.
Also, “The Lies of Locke Lamora”, which is a bit more gritty and not always so good-natured, but has some nice thievery.
oh geez, i almost forgot:
“The Farseer Trilogy”, and associated other books in that world. I once heard this described as “none of these are my favorite book, but this is my favorite series.” this is extremely cozy, imo. there are societal-level stakes, but it’s not end-of-the-world stuff.
This is a great list, thanks so much! Farseer Trilogy looks particularly interesting
Some great choices here I’m kicking myself for forgetting.