World Building Books
World building books invest heavily in constructing detailed, internally consistent fictional settings with their own geography, cultures, histories, and rules. These stories reward readers who want to inhabit a fully realized universe and appreciate the craft of inventing a world from scratch.
85 books
Fantasy
A Deadly Education
Fantasy
A Deadly Education
Fantasy
A Fire Upon the Deep
Philosophy
Anathem
Non-Fiction
Babel
Fantasy
Best Served Cold
Fantasy
Beware of Chicken
Blood Song
Non-Fiction
Dark Intelligence
Fantasy
Defiance of the Fall
Non-Fiction
Diaspora
Non-Fiction
Dragon's Egg
Science Fiction
Dragonflight
Science Fiction
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Non-Fiction
Empire of Silence
Non-Fiction
Eon
Non-Fiction
Gardens of the Moon
Fantasy
House of Earth and Blood
Fantasy
House of Flame and Shadow
Comedy
Howl's Moving Castle
Fantasy
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Fantasy
Legends & Lattes
Fantasy
Lightlark
Non-Fiction
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Fantasy
Mistborn
Science Fiction
Neuromancer
Fantasy
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Fantasy
Neverwhere
Fantasy
Piranesi
Fantasy
Powerless
Fantasy
Prince of Thorns
Fantasy
Promise of Blood
Radiance
Science Fiction
Ready Player One
Non-Fiction
Reamde
Non-Fiction
Red Mars
Non-Fiction
Ringworld
Non-Fiction
Sarum
Non-Fiction
Scythe
Young Adult
Seraphina
Fantasy
Shadow and Bone
Historical Fiction
Shogun
Fantasy
Six of Crows
Literary Fiction
Spin
Fantasy
Sufficiently Advanced Magic
Historical Fiction
Tai-Pan
Fantasy
Tailchaser's Song
Fantasy
The Amulet of Samarkand
Fantasy
The Bear and the Nightingale
Fantasy
The Black Company
Fantasy
The Black Prism
Science Fiction
The Book of the New Sun
Non-Fiction
The Caves of Steel
Fantasy
The City of Brass
Science Fiction
The Dispossessed
Fantasy
The Fifth Season
The Gilded Wolves
Fantasy
The Goblin Emperor
Fantasy
The Grace of Kings
Fantasy
The Hobbit
Fantasy
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Fantasy
The Land: Founding
Science Fiction
The Left Hand of Darkness
Fantasy
The Lies of Locke Lamora
The Light Fantastic
Non-Fiction
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Fantasy
The Lord of the Rings
Non-Fiction
The Man in the High Castle
The Mayor of Noobtown
Fantasy
The Mayor of Noobtown
Non-Fiction
The Mote in God's Eye
Fantasy
The Name of the Wind
Fantasy
The Neverending Story
The Once and Future King
Non-Fiction
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Historical Fiction
The Pillars of the Earth
Fantasy
The Poppy War
Fantasy
The Primal Hunter
Fantasy
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Fantasy
The Shadow of What Was Lost
Fantasy
The Sword of Shannara
Fantasy
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Fantasy
The Way of Kings
Fantasy
The Wheel of Time
Fantasy
Un Lun Dun
Romance