Well written Fantasy and Sci-fi recommendations

[BrightLemonSnail]

I feel a bit adrift after reading The Sparrow and the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia E Butler and looking for some recommendations for fantasy and sci fi books that are well / beautifully written. I've loved Iain M Banks Culture novels, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Wasn't a fan of Rothfuss or Ursula Le Guin. Hyperion and Sanderson I've read those. Im not sure where to look next!

John Wyndham or Arthur C Clarke? The Expanse series? The Laundry files?

Not my recommendation but DB is a big Ann Leckie fan and from what he’s raved about would fit your requirements.

I second Anne Leckie and would add in Becky Chambers and Martha Wells. I really like Lois McMaster Bujold, but the later books of the Vorkosian saga get flabby.
Robin Hobb is great too for fantasy.

Another vote for Ann Leckie. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time/Children of Ruin are also good reads.

Take a look at Margaret Atwood's Flood Triology, I think it is also called the Madadam Triology.
If you like epics, try The Malazan Book of the Fallen, it is a commitment though.
Space, the Expanse, or Peter F Hamilton.

Can I jump on this thread to ask what I might like if I liked the A Court of Thorna and Roses series? I don’t usually read fantasy (though I loved Phillip Pullman) and prefer literary fiction, but ACOTAR was just the escape I needed at a tough time. I liked that everything was beautiful, there was plenty of sex, and violence infrequent enough to be skippable.

The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon.

If you enjoy folklore based fantasy, then Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy is wonderful.

For a more traditional take on fantasy, another vote for Robin Hobb.

Definitely Ann Leckie - start with the Ancillary Sword/Mercy/Justice trilogy.

I enjoyed ACOTAR too. You'd probably like Brigid Kemmerer. Also check out blurb and reviews for Rebecca Ross, Mary Pearson, Laini Taylor, Emily Duncan and Lyndall Clipstone. I really enjoyed For the Wolf and For the Throne by Hannah Whitten although they're a bit darker than Sarah Maas.

For something a bit meatier try Deborah Harkness All Souls series.

Another vote for Robin Hobb! She's wonderful 😊 Martha Wells' Murderbot books are excellent too, I enjoyed them enormously.

If you're okay with reading violence, Joe Abercrombie is a superb writer (The Blade Itself is the first of a long series). He has some more aimed-at-teens books if you'd rather the violence was toned down (trilogy begins with Half A King).

I like Naomi Novik too, her Scholomance trilogy is great.

I loved Children of Time.

Robin Hobb for sure for swords and dragons type fantasy.

I’m currently reading The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, which is different, but gripping.

Definitely pick up some Robin Hobb books. The Liveship Traders trilogy is the best.

Try C. S. Lewis' science fiction trilogy. The first (and my favourite) is called Out of the Silent Planet. (I'm not a religious believer btw, so I'm not recommending Lewis for that reason.) He was a superb writer. At his best, he writes some of the finest prose I have ever read, up there with Joyce and Conrad and Woolf. They're also just great, fun stories.

Her Crescent City novel series is her more adult offering. A fun read, plenty of sex and more engaging plot. More violence though if that's an issue.

Divabad Trilogy by S.A Chakraborty

Claire North is very good - Notes From A Burning Age, The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August etc. She also has a trilogy of Ancient Greek novels, but mostly it’s science fiction.
I think she also writes fantasy under the name Kate Griffin

I also agree with the Adrian Tchaikovsky, Robin Hobb and Becky Chambers recommendations.

All Patricia McKillip's books especially "Alphabet of Thorns".

Most of Robin McKinley except Deerskin which could be a bit triggering.

Susanna Clarke for the alternate history doorstop "Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell" and the completely different but excellent "Piranesi".

Benedict Jacka for urban fantasy...

Zen Cho for Malaysian flavoured fantasy, Davinia Evans Notorious Sorcerer trilogy for fantasy and also Arkady Martine for sci fi "A Memory Called Empire" and "A Desolation Called Peace".

If you want pure sci-fi rather than fantasy, you can't beat Isaac Azimov.

I found Crescent City more juvenile, despite it being touted as adult. I actually preferred Throne of Glass.

I love science fiction and love the books of Andy Weir, especially The Martian and Project Hail Mary.

If you like climate science fiction, then I recommend The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Cixin Liu has written some amazing sci fi, Three Body Problem, The Supernova Era and some amazing short story collections.

One of my all time favourite books is Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.

And you really can't beat the books of John Wyndham. The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids and Chocky. Just amazing!

@CoubousAndTourmalet @turkeyboots I started it, but after however many chapters of fae police administrative hierarchies, grotty flatshares etc I thought it was too much like real life with added violence 😂 bring back the permanently-warm midwinter castles!

Anything by Kim Stanley Robinson, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter.

The Helliconia Trilogy by Brian Aldiss

Almost anything by Naomi Novik. "Uprooted" and "Spinning Silver" are very fairy-tale. My favourite of hers is more like alternate history: the Temeraire books, which is basically Age of Sail, but with dragons.