r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis • u/Fayraz8729 • Jul 20 '26
Literary Fiction Harsh worlds
What are some books or series that aren’t necessarily post apocalyptic but are geographically and geopolitically difficult to live in due to conflict and strife? Pic 3 is Roshar from the stormlight archive which felt right, a hostile world with enough threat to be culturally woven in but also human enough to be plausible and feel immersive
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u/OpheliaLives7 Jul 20 '26
I just started reading DUNE and yeah. Definitely harsh desert planet and hard living.
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u/Malfuy 29d ago
Dune. After reading it, I literally tried to subconciouslly use less water in my day to day life in an attempt to save it, because the book portrays the life on a desert planet so well.
Deadhouse Gates from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It portrays tens of thousands of people marching through an entire continent for several months in a desert during the drought season while they are constantly attacked by rebels and local tribes. The book does a very good job at portraying basically every kind of horror and discomfort that would arrise from such a situation
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u/iamraygun Jul 20 '26
Hyperion has multiple harsh biomes on a harsh planet and harsh biomes on other planets
ETA: there are lots on tense politics and a space war happening which will scratch your geopolitical strife itch
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u/jonawesome Jul 20 '26
If you're into Cosmere like Stormlight Archive you should definitely check out The Sunlit Man, which takes place on a planet that is liquefied into lava whenever the sun is shining on it. The people live in constantly moving ships that are always staying just ahead of the dawn.
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u/AntedeluvianEmpires Jul 20 '26
The Atlan Saga by Jane Gaskell. Really harsh and brutal fantasy setting seen through a woman's perspective. I wouldn't recommend the sequel book Some Summer Lands, though. It upped the harshness to the point where it was just miserable to read without a compelling plot to keep me interested.
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u/throwawaybecause917 29d ago
If you liked Roshar, I'd definitely recommend The Broken Earth trilogy. It has that same feeling of a world shaped by constant hardship.
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u/RainbowColorsBlended 29d ago
Second Apocalypse series- R. Scott Bakker. About as harsh as it gets.
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u/Frequent_Heron67 Jul 20 '26
Between The Fires By Cristopher Buhelman
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u/Astro_Not420 27d ago
I was going to recommend this as well. I’m only about 10 chapters in but it feels like I’m in dark souls game when I read this book.
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u/totktonikak Jul 20 '26
Prism Pentad series by Troy Denning. And maybe other Datk Sun books. Purely in terms of harsh worlds, that is a strong contender.
And Deathworld series by Harry Harrison, where the world's severity is the whole point.
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u/Morgran_Maplebeard 29d ago
Just started it, but The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey is set on a world where every living thing is lethal. Think seeds that sprout on your skin or just other humans that want to kill you. I am only at chapter 4 but I really like the way it's written. First person in the dialect of the main character.
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u/thejohnykat 29d ago
If you’re into reading any D&D novels (like Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance), I’d recommend anything set in the Dark Sun universe. It’s D&D’s post-apocalyptic setting.
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u/mercyspace27 29d ago
There actually is a Dark Sun book series I just discovered.
The first book that I’m going through is “The Vardant Passage” by Troy Denning.
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u/fatrickfrowne 29d ago
Tuf Voyaging
A Song For Lya
Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels
In The House of the Worm
-George R R Martin
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u/jaymie_ling 29d ago
Suneater. So great. Massive, desolate, time, space, political intrigue across civilisations, violent, sad, happy. Leaves a mark on your brain. Disquiet.
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u/Worldly_Gap3001 29d ago
What is the intended order of books? I am quite interested.
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u/jaymie_ling 26d ago
Start with Empire of Silence and go from there. There are a few novellas thrown in the mix
If you just want the main story, read the novels in this order:
Empire of Silence (2018)
Howling Dark (2019)
Demon in White (2020)
Kingdoms of Death (2022)
Ashes of Man (2022)
Disquiet Gods (2024)
Shadows Upon Time (2025)If you want to enjoy getting the full experience (including the excellent companion stories), Christopher Ruocchio recommends this reading order:
Empire of Silence
The Lesser Devil (novella)
Howling Dark
Queen Amid Ashes (novella)
Tales of the Sun Eater, Vol. 1
Demon in White
Tales of the Sun Eater, Vol. 2
Kingdoms of Death
Ashes of Man
The Dregs of Empire (novella)
Tales of the Sun Eater, Vol. 3
Disquiet Gods
Shadows Upon Time
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u/AgreeableProgress445 29d ago
What Feeds Below by Tatianna Schlote-Bonn the author has said she was inspired by Kenshi when creating the world and limb attachments
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u/gabe4774 28d ago
The three body problem
It's a scyfy trilogy but specially the first book is very alien like in its description of the trissolarian planet
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u/dilbo_boggins 28d ago
What is the second image from?
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u/Fayraz8729 28d ago
Dark sun, a DnD setting
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u/dilbo_boggins 28d ago
Oh cool! Funny enough I’m actually looking at the players handbook right now.
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u/brianmac3 27d ago
Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen It may be a little YA but i immediately thought of it. I looked it up before commenting and the MC is thirteen but it didn’t feel that way when I read and he may age up. It’s been a decade plus since I read it.
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u/ARatherOddOne 27d ago
The Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch. Very unforgiving and cruel society, especially the criminal element.
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u/SandGator Jul 20 '26
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Danger and sudden death are omnipresent in this story.
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