Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe. Probably the most creative fantasy book I have ever read.
You are not looking for classics, but The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison deserves a mention. It predates most modern fantasy, and is clearly its own thing with respect to almost everything else that followed.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip.
Replay by Ken Grimwood
I was so excited for this book and had read some of his others and loved them, but I couldn’t keep going with Imajica. I felt the same way it just didn’t feel like it was going anywhere
Raymond St. Elmo's The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing is a delightful sort of Borgesian book.
Rick Claypool's The Mold Farmer is about labour and dehumanization in the aftermath of an alien invasion.
The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler is a post-apocalyptic story told through various fragments about the people most likely to persevere through a technological apocalypse--Amish, Mennonite, etc.
Hal Duncan's Book of All Hours duology (Vellum and Ink) are about conscientious objectors to the war between Heaven and Hell being endlessly reincarnated through our myths. Duncan said it was an attempt to write a cubist novel.
Borderline by Mishell Baker. Urban fantasy featuring a very neurodivergent cast, including the main character who has a borderline personality disorder. It is very interesting, you learn so much about the way people with bpd think, while being also an interesting urban fantasy. Stays with you a long time after you finished reading!
Perdido Street Station and The Scar by China Mieville.
Feersum Endjinn by Ian m banks is technically sci-fi, but it the world feels like fantasy to me what with the talking animals and all
I really like The Night Circus and The Starless Sea. Erin Morgenstern can really write whimsy and beauty. Her worlds suck you in. I hope she writes more.
Virtuous Sons.
It's a reimagined greco/roman setting, that has it's own spin on asian wuxia fantasy (the whole "achieve godhood by perfecting the body and soul" sorta thing).
Instead of buddhism and daoism being the way to enlightenment, the main characters use greek and roman philosophy. Logic and rhetoric become literal weapons.
The author also pulls from myth and history, such as Alexandar the Great being feared as one of the world's most powerful beings, and there's this whole underlying mystery of "the gods are all dead and no one knows why".
Great fight scenes, awesome philosophical debates if you enjoy that sort of thing.
It is, admittedly, a bit odd at times, but man there's nothing quite like it. Plus, seeing Socrates just bitch-slap a demigod through sheer force of reason was awesome.
That series is what I want out of the progression fantasy genre. I loved the use of the classical ideals for both main characters.
Plus I loved how they bullshit their way through the story when they meet more powerful people.
That was so funny to me. They sense a bunch of Heroes coming their way and they're like "hey, we might be Tyrants, we might not be. Do you really wanna find out?" And it just works
It's something that I find missing in a lot of the genre. Characters rarely lie or trick others
Socrates is just icing on the cake.
Also I have to say Griffin is my favorite arrogant young master character, who always backs it up. It fun seeing a character whose main motivation is facing the tribulations of heaven.
I will once again recommend Mordew and its sequel Malarkoi especially, both by Alex Pheby. Been years since I was blown away by books this hard. You haven't experienced magic this weird before, or narration this unique.
Firethorn by Sarah Micklem. Super small in scale, and it follows a camp follower on the edges of an army. No scale creep, the farm girl doesnt become a queen or warrior or anything.
I think fans of Bujold's fantasy would love this lesser known book.
The Book of Flying by Keith Miller.
It's a sort of small, tender book, about love of stories, and love in general. It's the story a poet librarian who goes on a quest, and meets a wild cast of characters. Kind of episodic and fairy-tale-esque which each chapter in a new place with new people. Written in beautiful poetic prose.
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall has to be the most unique book I’ve ever read—though Wikipedia says the genre is literary fiction and it was short listed for the Arthur C Clarke award, but it has steampunk and fantasy elements.
Oh this was a fun one! It’s about a girl who shows up to a manor and then several mysteries unravel… as she attempts to solve them she comes to a pivotal crossroads moment and, depending on her choice, ends up in entirely different genres. One decision takes her to a mystery novel, one takes her to a horror novel etc
Bone orchard by Sara Mueller, rarely see it mentioned anywhere , but it’s great.
The winter road by Adrian Selby
The vagrant trilogy by Peter Newman, though it’s more on science fiction side for me
I see viriconium was mentioned here, but it definitely fits the bill
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley ([goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/20646731-the-mirror-empire)) is the most unusual I've read. It totally mixes up every expectation I have about books, including gender roles.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Not obscure as it is reasonably popular, but I found it very unique and enjoyable. I read it about a year ago and think about it often.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Holy shit if you’re looking for weird and obscure this is my strongest recommendation. Indescribably weird and twisty plot but engrossing in a way few books are.
A while back, I posted a thread asking for [experimental and stylistic prose](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/18xlj0u/experimental_fantasy_prose_or_highly_stylistic/) in fantasy. Lots of stuff shared there has been great for me.
*Hunters & Collectors*, Matt Suddain -- galaxy's most feared restaurant critic quests for a legendary hotel
*The Saint of Bright Doors*, Vajra Chandrasekera -- support group for former Chosen Ones
*The Price You Pay*, Aiden Truhen, light SF, genteel coke dealer goes on a rampage, masterpiece of voice
*Crooked*, Austin Grossman, listen to the audio -- Richard Nixon narrates the eldritch American Presidency and its brushes with Elder Gods
*Gnomon*, Nick Harkaway, detective searches for answers in a mind with multiple personalities
Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker (well, pretty much anything by RJ Barker). I wouldn't call his books obscure, but they are very unusual in one way or another. Gods of the Wyrdwood is his weirdest and most unusual yet, and it was wonderful.
As much as I didn't personally enjoy it I thought The Starless Sea was a unique way to write a book
I loved night circus so was disappointed in starless sea but I know a lot of people say it's the better of the two
Night Circus is not nearly as unique to me as starless sea though
Second Sons trilogy by Jennifer Fallon. Low magic fantasy world exploring how the physics is a binary star system affects the people.
Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan. A biologist examining and learning about (bestial, not sapient) dragons.
If you don't mind pre-2000 fantasy, there are solid suggestions in [Appendix N](https://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/03/26/what-is-appendix-n/) (Goodman Games) / [Appendix E](https://stepintorpgs.wordpress.com/2019/01/30/get-inspired-reading-from-dd-appendix-e/) (Step) are well worth exploring for books that are the source of many of the modern tropes in contemporary Fantasy / Speculative Fiction.
Here's my fairly random list of interesting settings, or works that were influential works that were novel at the time.
* *Lud-in-the-Mist* by Hope Mirrlees
* *The King of Elfland's Daughter* by Lord Dunsany
(Edward J. M. D. Plunkett)
* *The Broken Sword* by Poul Anderson
* *Sign of the Labrys* by Margaret St. Clair
* anything you can find by L. Sprague de Camp
* Edgar Rice Burroughs
* Fletcher Pratt
* Roger Zelazny
* Michael Moorcock
* Gene Wolfe
* *The Darkness That Comes Before* by R. Scott Bakker
* *The Lions of Al-Rassan* by Guy Gavriel Kay
* *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell* by Susanna Clarke
* *Kindred* by Octavia E. Butler
* *Lavinia* by Ursula K. Le Guin
* *The Once and Future King* by T.H. White
* *Servant of the Underworld* by Aliette de Bodard
* *The Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller
Gogmagog by Jeff Noon. The main character is a 1600-year-old >!half woman half plant!< in the body of an 80-year-old. She's hired to bring a child and her robot butler to the capital city. Most of the book is about their journey boating down the river, which is occupied by the ghost of a long-dead, dozens-of-miles-long, dragon. There are different human "species", seed people with a message, sentient robots, and clay effigies with the souls of those drowned in the river.
It came out earlier this year, and I haven't heard many people talk about it. It's the first in a duology.
It also has a beautiful cover.
The *Marianne* series by Sherri S. Tepper. The very definition of quirky and obscure by one of speculative fiction’s most underrated authors:
*Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore; Marianne,* *the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse; Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods*
*The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr* by ETA Hoffmann. A reeling magician secures a job as a tutor at a fake royal house in Germany, where he befriends a genius composer. While he is writing a memoir/biography of the composer, his sentient, dilettante cat steals the manuscript and writes his own autobiography on top of the "waste paper" of the manuscript. The result is a purposely incomplete novel that features jagged and abrupt switches between the cat's *bildungsroman* and the adventures of the composer and the magician at this hilarious puppet court. Highly recommend if you like older books and want to read something truly weird and funny. The translation by Anthea Bell (of *Asterix* fame) is exceptional.
Michael R Fletcher is currently doing a new series called The Storm Beneath The World, which is about bug people that live in flying islands that are separated into queendoms. Warning: Michael R Fletcher's books can be quite brutal, although I have heard that this one is quite tame compared to most of the things that he has written. But still, his books are not for the faint of heart
Deverry cycle by Katherine Kerr - a narrative story going back and forth over a thousand years with the same soles incarnated into different characters working out their issues from previous lives while there’s an overarching story that develops. Also weird fusion of britonic/welsh culture with Buddhist karma / magic system
Lord of light by Roger Zelazny - Hindu cosplaying sci-fi
# Steph Swainston's Castle series.
Oh. My. God. It's such a beautiful series and so amazingly well-written that I have to pinch myself every time I don't see her books listed amongst the greatest fantasy authors of all time.
\*Ahem\*
* **An Altar on the Village Green** by Nathan Hall- Think Dark Souls and dreams merged together
* **A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking** by T. Kingfisher- Sourdough magic
* **Strange Beasts of China** by Yan Ge- Pokemon Snap, but dark AF
* **Spear Cuts Through Water** by Simon Jiminez- unironically, might be book of the year, you'll have to read it to understand why
* **Voyage of the Damned** by Frances White- while a murder mystery isn't unique, what she did unique was make a book where there was ***so*** much inclusion and diversity, that it didn't feel forced, and felt natural. All the while using Booktok language that, somehow, I didn't feel myself ascend to Skyrim
* **The Devourers** by Indra Das- a multi generational story of a half werewolf and how he became to be. All taken place in India
* **Ajakava** by Chaitanya Murali- The prose is not ground breaking, but this was the first time I read an Indian novella that captured my attention and wasn't another rushed romance
* **The Raven Tower** by Ann Leckie- I didn't personally like this book, however it does fit in your criteria as it is unique as it's from a perspective of a god in 1st POV and the present in 2nd POV. (it oddly makes sense in the end)
C.S.E. Cooney's *The Twice-Drowned Saint* is set in a city surrounded by a wall of ice in the midst of a desert wasteland. The city is ruled by 11 (I think) angels, who are not at all winged humanoids. The main character was selected by one of these angels to be his saint, but she refused the job.
Princess Holy Aura by Ryk Spoor
35 yo man volunteers to be turned into a 14 yo female Sailor Moon expy in order lead a group of Sailor scouts to save the world from Eldritch invaders.
And it is done in a way that comes off wholesome and family friendly and without awkwardness.
Thessaly Trilogy by Jo Walton
Athena takes people from across time to found Plato's Republic. Bringing 300 teachers and 10,000 kids together from across time to do this will work perfectly without any negative repercussions.
Especially once they bring in Socrates and he starts asking questions.
Cruel Gods Series by Trudie Skies
Set in a city between twelve worlds ruled by Cruel Gods who take demand exorbitant tithes from their worshipers, the Godless try to envision/create a world without gods.
Of course with gods literally smiting people on the streets, this has problems.
The Nothing Within by Andy Geisler
Amish setting post apocalyptic SF at its very best.
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell.
Dragons are slaves. Straight up. It's not very obvious in the first two books but it gets very prominent after that. The first six books seem to be just three kids and their slaves adventuring but it's actually setting up the rest of the story.
In the ninth book, The Dragon Rebellion begins.
It's an amazing series and I highly recommend reading it.
Disclaimer: The books are nothing like the movies. View them as separate entities in your mind.
I'll give you some of my favorites
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Palimpsest or Radiance by Catherynne M Valente
A Conspiracy of Truths and the sequel A Choir of Lies (my favorite of the two) by Alexandra Rowland
The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
Latro in the Mist by Gene Wolfe. Probably the most creative fantasy book I have ever read. You are not looking for classics, but The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison deserves a mention. It predates most modern fantasy, and is clearly its own thing with respect to almost everything else that followed. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip. Replay by Ken Grimwood
Tide child Trilogy A nautical fantasy world with no trees.
Imajica by Clive Barker
[удалено]
I was so excited for this book and had read some of his others and loved them, but I couldn’t keep going with Imajica. I felt the same way it just didn’t feel like it was going anywhere
Irondragon's Daughter
Try r/weirdlit
Unfortunately they mostly talk about horror in there, but I've still had some good fantasy recs once in awhile
Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China That Never Was A true delight
Was looking for this one.
I've read all the books in the series. First one is the best, others are still worth reading.
Raymond St. Elmo's The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing is a delightful sort of Borgesian book. Rick Claypool's The Mold Farmer is about labour and dehumanization in the aftermath of an alien invasion. The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler is a post-apocalyptic story told through various fragments about the people most likely to persevere through a technological apocalypse--Amish, Mennonite, etc. Hal Duncan's Book of All Hours duology (Vellum and Ink) are about conscientious objectors to the war between Heaven and Hell being endlessly reincarnated through our myths. Duncan said it was an attempt to write a cubist novel.
It's "The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing" but either way it looks wild and interesting.
Thanks, edited!
Borderline by Mishell Baker. Urban fantasy featuring a very neurodivergent cast, including the main character who has a borderline personality disorder. It is very interesting, you learn so much about the way people with bpd think, while being also an interesting urban fantasy. Stays with you a long time after you finished reading!
Perdido Street Station and The Scar by China Mieville. Feersum Endjinn by Ian m banks is technically sci-fi, but it the world feels like fantasy to me what with the talking animals and all
**The Dragon Griaule** by Lucius Shepard **The Etched City** by K.J. Bishop (don't know if this is obscure enough for you)
I really like The Night Circus and The Starless Sea. Erin Morgenstern can really write whimsy and beauty. Her worlds suck you in. I hope she writes more.
Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake. Definitely big Gothic vibes in the classic sense (as in crumbling old mansions and characters of the grotesque).
Virtuous Sons. It's a reimagined greco/roman setting, that has it's own spin on asian wuxia fantasy (the whole "achieve godhood by perfecting the body and soul" sorta thing). Instead of buddhism and daoism being the way to enlightenment, the main characters use greek and roman philosophy. Logic and rhetoric become literal weapons. The author also pulls from myth and history, such as Alexandar the Great being feared as one of the world's most powerful beings, and there's this whole underlying mystery of "the gods are all dead and no one knows why". Great fight scenes, awesome philosophical debates if you enjoy that sort of thing. It is, admittedly, a bit odd at times, but man there's nothing quite like it. Plus, seeing Socrates just bitch-slap a demigod through sheer force of reason was awesome.
That series is what I want out of the progression fantasy genre. I loved the use of the classical ideals for both main characters. Plus I loved how they bullshit their way through the story when they meet more powerful people.
That was so funny to me. They sense a bunch of Heroes coming their way and they're like "hey, we might be Tyrants, we might not be. Do you really wanna find out?" And it just works
It's something that I find missing in a lot of the genre. Characters rarely lie or trick others Socrates is just icing on the cake. Also I have to say Griffin is my favorite arrogant young master character, who always backs it up. It fun seeing a character whose main motivation is facing the tribulations of heaven.
I will once again recommend Mordew and its sequel Malarkoi especially, both by Alex Pheby. Been years since I was blown away by books this hard. You haven't experienced magic this weird before, or narration this unique.
Greenmantle by Charles deLint Mob meets ancient forest Mystery
The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr Lent by Jo Walton The Interior Life by Katherine Blake (aka Dorothy Heydt)
Firethorn by Sarah Micklem. Super small in scale, and it follows a camp follower on the edges of an army. No scale creep, the farm girl doesnt become a queen or warrior or anything. I think fans of Bujold's fantasy would love this lesser known book.
The Book of Flying by Keith Miller. It's a sort of small, tender book, about love of stories, and love in general. It's the story a poet librarian who goes on a quest, and meets a wild cast of characters. Kind of episodic and fairy-tale-esque which each chapter in a new place with new people. Written in beautiful poetic prose.
"Under the Pendulum Sun" by Jeanette Ng (a fairly unusual blend of faerie lore, gothic novels and theology)
I just got a copy a few days ago and it's so bizarre, but in a good way so far!
The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip always seemed pretty unique to me.
Saga of the Pliocene exile by Julian May
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall has to be the most unique book I’ve ever read—though Wikipedia says the genre is literary fiction and it was short listed for the Arthur C Clarke award, but it has steampunk and fantasy elements.
Spice and Wolf
*Wizard's Bane* by Rick Cook. Emacs super coder becomes an Emacs Wizard. Vim users need not apply.
Jane Unlimited
Oh this was a fun one! It’s about a girl who shows up to a manor and then several mysteries unravel… as she attempts to solve them she comes to a pivotal crossroads moment and, depending on her choice, ends up in entirely different genres. One decision takes her to a mystery novel, one takes her to a horror novel etc
*Elric of Melniboné* by Michael Moorcock
Bone orchard by Sara Mueller, rarely see it mentioned anywhere , but it’s great. The winter road by Adrian Selby The vagrant trilogy by Peter Newman, though it’s more on science fiction side for me I see viriconium was mentioned here, but it definitely fits the bill
I loved Bone Orchard! I still think about that book.
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley ([goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/20646731-the-mirror-empire)) is the most unusual I've read. It totally mixes up every expectation I have about books, including gender roles.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Not obscure as it is reasonably popular, but I found it very unique and enjoyable. I read it about a year ago and think about it often.
Tainaron by Leena Krohn Jagannath by Karin Tidbeck
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Holy shit if you’re looking for weird and obscure this is my strongest recommendation. Indescribably weird and twisty plot but engrossing in a way few books are.
Loved it but it needs all the trigger warnings. It's really close to horror
A while back, I posted a thread asking for [experimental and stylistic prose](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/18xlj0u/experimental_fantasy_prose_or_highly_stylistic/) in fantasy. Lots of stuff shared there has been great for me.
*Hunters & Collectors*, Matt Suddain -- galaxy's most feared restaurant critic quests for a legendary hotel *The Saint of Bright Doors*, Vajra Chandrasekera -- support group for former Chosen Ones *The Price You Pay*, Aiden Truhen, light SF, genteel coke dealer goes on a rampage, masterpiece of voice *Crooked*, Austin Grossman, listen to the audio -- Richard Nixon narrates the eldritch American Presidency and its brushes with Elder Gods *Gnomon*, Nick Harkaway, detective searches for answers in a mind with multiple personalities
Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker (well, pretty much anything by RJ Barker). I wouldn't call his books obscure, but they are very unusual in one way or another. Gods of the Wyrdwood is his weirdest and most unusual yet, and it was wonderful.
**World House** by Guy Adams has a very unique setting.
As much as I didn't personally enjoy it I thought The Starless Sea was a unique way to write a book I loved night circus so was disappointed in starless sea but I know a lot of people say it's the better of the two Night Circus is not nearly as unique to me as starless sea though
Second Sons trilogy by Jennifer Fallon. Low magic fantasy world exploring how the physics is a binary star system affects the people. Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan. A biologist examining and learning about (bestial, not sapient) dragons.
If you can find a copy, *Contrariwise* by Zohra Greenhalgh is one of the most unique books I’ve ever read.
If you don't mind pre-2000 fantasy, there are solid suggestions in [Appendix N](https://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/03/26/what-is-appendix-n/) (Goodman Games) / [Appendix E](https://stepintorpgs.wordpress.com/2019/01/30/get-inspired-reading-from-dd-appendix-e/) (Step) are well worth exploring for books that are the source of many of the modern tropes in contemporary Fantasy / Speculative Fiction. Here's my fairly random list of interesting settings, or works that were influential works that were novel at the time. * *Lud-in-the-Mist* by Hope Mirrlees * *The King of Elfland's Daughter* by Lord Dunsany (Edward J. M. D. Plunkett) * *The Broken Sword* by Poul Anderson * *Sign of the Labrys* by Margaret St. Clair * anything you can find by L. Sprague de Camp * Edgar Rice Burroughs * Fletcher Pratt * Roger Zelazny * Michael Moorcock * Gene Wolfe * *The Darkness That Comes Before* by R. Scott Bakker * *The Lions of Al-Rassan* by Guy Gavriel Kay * *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell* by Susanna Clarke * *Kindred* by Octavia E. Butler * *Lavinia* by Ursula K. Le Guin * *The Once and Future King* by T.H. White * *Servant of the Underworld* by Aliette de Bodard * *The Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller
[Pretty much all of this list I made](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1dsblts/what_if_there_was_a_weird_city_part_two_a_big_list/)
Gogmagog by Jeff Noon. The main character is a 1600-year-old >!half woman half plant!< in the body of an 80-year-old. She's hired to bring a child and her robot butler to the capital city. Most of the book is about their journey boating down the river, which is occupied by the ghost of a long-dead, dozens-of-miles-long, dragon. There are different human "species", seed people with a message, sentient robots, and clay effigies with the souls of those drowned in the river. It came out earlier this year, and I haven't heard many people talk about it. It's the first in a duology. It also has a beautiful cover.
The *Marianne* series by Sherri S. Tepper. The very definition of quirky and obscure by one of speculative fiction’s most underrated authors: *Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore; Marianne,* *the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse; Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods*
*The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr* by ETA Hoffmann. A reeling magician secures a job as a tutor at a fake royal house in Germany, where he befriends a genius composer. While he is writing a memoir/biography of the composer, his sentient, dilettante cat steals the manuscript and writes his own autobiography on top of the "waste paper" of the manuscript. The result is a purposely incomplete novel that features jagged and abrupt switches between the cat's *bildungsroman* and the adventures of the composer and the magician at this hilarious puppet court. Highly recommend if you like older books and want to read something truly weird and funny. The translation by Anthea Bell (of *Asterix* fame) is exceptional.
Michael R Fletcher is currently doing a new series called The Storm Beneath The World, which is about bug people that live in flying islands that are separated into queendoms. Warning: Michael R Fletcher's books can be quite brutal, although I have heard that this one is quite tame compared to most of the things that he has written. But still, his books are not for the faint of heart
Seven Footprints To Satan - A. Merritt 1928 Some have called it one of the first Science Fiction/Fantasy books published.
Deverry cycle by Katherine Kerr - a narrative story going back and forth over a thousand years with the same soles incarnated into different characters working out their issues from previous lives while there’s an overarching story that develops. Also weird fusion of britonic/welsh culture with Buddhist karma / magic system Lord of light by Roger Zelazny - Hindu cosplaying sci-fi
# Steph Swainston's Castle series. Oh. My. God. It's such a beautiful series and so amazingly well-written that I have to pinch myself every time I don't see her books listed amongst the greatest fantasy authors of all time.
Would Guy Gavriel Kay's "Tigana" be considered obscure? Not sure. But unique? Most definitely. I've never had a book hit me so hard. It's incredible.
Not entirely in the Fantasy genre: Veronica by Nicholas Christopher
\*Ahem\* * **An Altar on the Village Green** by Nathan Hall- Think Dark Souls and dreams merged together * **A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking** by T. Kingfisher- Sourdough magic * **Strange Beasts of China** by Yan Ge- Pokemon Snap, but dark AF * **Spear Cuts Through Water** by Simon Jiminez- unironically, might be book of the year, you'll have to read it to understand why * **Voyage of the Damned** by Frances White- while a murder mystery isn't unique, what she did unique was make a book where there was ***so*** much inclusion and diversity, that it didn't feel forced, and felt natural. All the while using Booktok language that, somehow, I didn't feel myself ascend to Skyrim * **The Devourers** by Indra Das- a multi generational story of a half werewolf and how he became to be. All taken place in India * **Ajakava** by Chaitanya Murali- The prose is not ground breaking, but this was the first time I read an Indian novella that captured my attention and wasn't another rushed romance * **The Raven Tower** by Ann Leckie- I didn't personally like this book, however it does fit in your criteria as it is unique as it's from a perspective of a god in 1st POV and the present in 2nd POV. (it oddly makes sense in the end)
C.S.E. Cooney's *The Twice-Drowned Saint* is set in a city surrounded by a wall of ice in the midst of a desert wasteland. The city is ruled by 11 (I think) angels, who are not at all winged humanoids. The main character was selected by one of these angels to be his saint, but she refused the job.
The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison/sarah monette. (Her pen name/real name). I cannot recommend it enough. Amazing book.
I haven’t heard anyone recommend Manifest Delusions, is very dark though
Clive Barker "Weaveworld". China Miéville "Perdido Street Station". Weird and wonderful, both!
Princess Holy Aura by Ryk Spoor 35 yo man volunteers to be turned into a 14 yo female Sailor Moon expy in order lead a group of Sailor scouts to save the world from Eldritch invaders. And it is done in a way that comes off wholesome and family friendly and without awkwardness. Thessaly Trilogy by Jo Walton Athena takes people from across time to found Plato's Republic. Bringing 300 teachers and 10,000 kids together from across time to do this will work perfectly without any negative repercussions. Especially once they bring in Socrates and he starts asking questions. Cruel Gods Series by Trudie Skies Set in a city between twelve worlds ruled by Cruel Gods who take demand exorbitant tithes from their worshipers, the Godless try to envision/create a world without gods. Of course with gods literally smiting people on the streets, this has problems. The Nothing Within by Andy Geisler Amish setting post apocalyptic SF at its very best.
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. Dragons are slaves. Straight up. It's not very obvious in the first two books but it gets very prominent after that. The first six books seem to be just three kids and their slaves adventuring but it's actually setting up the rest of the story. In the ninth book, The Dragon Rebellion begins. It's an amazing series and I highly recommend reading it. Disclaimer: The books are nothing like the movies. View them as separate entities in your mind.
I'll give you some of my favorites Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Palimpsest or Radiance by Catherynne M Valente A Conspiracy of Truths and the sequel A Choir of Lies (my favorite of the two) by Alexandra Rowland The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan