In addition to agreeing with vopoplar's recs of anything by le guin, i've also got:
Gideon the Night by Tamsyn Muir - Science fiction fantasy novel mystery about a gay sword girl and her goth necromancer hate-girlfriend.
The Name of the Wind by Patric Rothfuss - Lovely fantasy story about a guy who loves music and also is learning magic at a school far more interesting than a certain Terf Wizard School author's.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - Science fiction epic about an empire and how that empire affects the rest of the galaxy. Very good politics.
Ancilliary Justice by Anne Leckie - A fragment of a destroyed ship AI seeks justice for the rest of their ship being destroyed. Also the empire that owned the ship doesn't distinguish gender at all which is cool.
hollyhoppet wrote (edited )
In addition to agreeing with vopoplar's recs of anything by le guin, i've also got:
Gideon the Night by Tamsyn Muir - Science fiction fantasy novel mystery about a gay sword girl and her goth necromancer hate-girlfriend.
The Name of the Wind by Patric Rothfuss - Lovely fantasy story about a guy who loves music and also is learning magic at a school far more interesting than a certain Terf Wizard School author's.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - Science fiction epic about an empire and how that empire affects the rest of the galaxy. Very good politics.
Ancilliary Justice by Anne Leckie - A fragment of a destroyed ship AI seeks justice for the rest of their ship being destroyed. Also the empire that owned the ship doesn't distinguish gender at all which is cool.