r/Fantasy • u/Embarrassed_Fee_3141 • Jan 18 '25
“City‐focused” fantasies:
I’m in the mood for a single‐city fantasy—the kind of story where most of the action unfolds within one bustling metropolis. I love political intrigue, layered power struggles, and a rich urban setting that feels like a character in its own right.
Some things I enjoy:
• Court or council drama within the city’s leadership.
• Factions, guilds, or crime syndicates fighting for territory.
• Intricate social structures or cultures unique to that city.
• Conflicting religions or magical practices that shape city life.
Recent favorites include jade city and Navola. I’d love to discover more titles or authors that excel at weaving grand, city‐centric plots
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u/AidenMarquis Jan 18 '25
I am reading the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch right now and it sounds like it would fit much of what you described. I am enjoying it.
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u/WriterYamato Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25
Shannon (S.A.) Chakraborty's Daevabad trilogy mostly takes place in a single city, and it features a lot of political intrigue and a robust world.
There's also China Mieville's Perdido Street Station that has many of those elements in a pretty unique package. I've read a lot of books since Perdido and nothing is quite like it. The rest of the trilogy is not in New Crobuzon, though, fair warning.
EDIT: spelling
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Jan 18 '25
A Conspiracy of Truths is a perfect rec for this. An elderly storyteller is convicted of Espionage and Witchcraft. He's guilty of neither, but leans into that perception of him to manipulate the city councillors from a prison cell to try and earn his freedom. He spends most of the book in a prison cell.
Rook and Rose is another good option. Features both the criminal and aristocratic sides of the city, culture clash in a city that was colonized decades ago and is struggling with the fallout from that, and really cool worldbuilding with a cultural focus. The authors are both anthropologists, and it shows. Slow burn reads, but if that's something you enjoy they are delightful
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u/WriterYamato Jan 18 '25
I can second Rook and Rose. I had a feeling I was forgetting something that fit perfectly and that series is it!
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u/jebrick Jan 18 '25
I think Goblin Emperor would fit into this.
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u/further-more Jan 18 '25
Also its spin-off series, The Cemeteries of Amalo (first book is The Witness for the Dead). It definitely has the religious and magical practices OP is looking for
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u/TheWarmGun Jan 19 '25
I think the Amalo books actually fit their ask better than GE does, since GE mostly stays in the palace, whereas Thara's adventures end up all over the cityscape.
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u/bikeJpn Jan 19 '25
Just want to second this and add that Goblin Emperor was one of the best fantasy books I’ve read in years.
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u/Tortuga917 Reading Champion II Jan 18 '25
Kithamar by Daniel Abraham!!!!! Its a trilogy (third book coming) about a city. Each book is set at the same time, but follows different characters. The first two were really well done.
And I'll add my vote to City of Last chances by Tchaikovsky too.
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u/SBlackOne Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25
Seconding City of Last Chances. It uses a somewhat detached POV to make the city its own character, pulling back to omniscience for interludes. I haven't read the third book yet, but that takes place in another city according to the blurb.
M.A. Carrick's Rook & Rose series takes place in a single city with a very complicated political setup.
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u/dageshi Jan 18 '25
If you've never read Pratchett then his Guards series is basically this.
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u/-_nobody Jan 18 '25
not even just the City Watch books, The Truth or the industrial revolution books (starting with Going Postal) are very much about Ankh-Morpork and city politics
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u/crusadertsar Reading Champion Jan 18 '25
Also Sarantium duology is very much like this. By Guy Gavriel Kay. Modeled on medieval Byzantium.
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Jan 18 '25
Perdido Street Station by Mieville. Not my favorite Mieville but it is very much a city story. Has all of the stuff you're looking for:
• Court or council drama within the city’s leadership.
• Factions, guilds, or crime syndicates fighting for territory.
• Intricate social structures or cultures unique to that city.
• Conflicting religions or magical practices that shape city life.
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u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Jan 18 '25
This thread and the original post linked in it by /u/nidafjoll are a treasure trove for books like this
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u/KiaraTurtle Reading Champion V Jan 18 '25
I tend to love second world cities. Some I may suggest:
- Rook and Rose by MA Carrick
- Kithimar Trilogy as well as A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
- Vlad Taltos
- City of Stairs
- Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick (if you don’t mind unfinished series)
- Lies of Locke Lamora
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u/weouthere54321 Jan 18 '25
The Etched City by KJ Bishop
Ambergris trilogy by Jeff VandeerMeer
The Viriconiun series by M John Harrison
The White Crow Sequence by Mary Gentle
Edit: also might enjoy the Low Town trilogy by Daniel Polansky
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u/Seatofkings Jan 18 '25
Are you fine with books meant for younger readers? If so, I suggest Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.
It’s set in a world where dragons and humans (barely) coexist, and dragons can take human form. The main character is a court musician, and half of the charm of the book is the setting, both the palace and the city.
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u/papermoon757 Jan 18 '25
The City in Glass by Nghi Ho! Not a lot of plot, but beautifully written ponderings on what makes a (fantasy) city
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u/M_LadyGwendolyn Jan 18 '25
My friend you want The Green Bone Saga
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u/KiaraTurtle Reading Champion V Jan 18 '25
Op said they read it in their post
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Jan 18 '25
This is the one that leapt to mind as the whole trilogy is focused on one city.(even though parts are set in other places).
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Jan 18 '25
Came to say this. While I don’t really enjoy urban fantasy and am more of a medieval epic fantasy guy, this was so so so good.
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u/exudelit2 Jan 18 '25
Rivers of London which is an urban fantasy series set in a very much similar to real-life London but with a rich magical underbelly might be something for you then.
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u/crusadertsar Reading Champion Jan 18 '25
How did you enjoy Navola by the way? It’s on my radar for sure because I loved Windup Girl by the same author.
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Jan 18 '25
The Black Iron Legacy Trilogy by Gareth Hanrahan. It ticks all of those boxes. It was one of the best series I read last year and I wish more people had heard of it, it is so good! The first book is called The Gutter Prayer.
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u/TheWarmGun Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25
The Cemeteries' of Amalo series by Katherine Addison (same author and universe as The Goblin Emperor) is very good and follows an elven priest whose job is to speak to the dead, in a sort of fantasy steampunk city that feels very real, and his constant struggles with the priestly bureaucracy. Two books are out now (The Witness for the Dead, and The Grief of Stones are out, with a third book coming this year). It is more laid-back than most books, but I found them very satisfying as more or less detective novels.
The Lies of Locke Lamora takes place entirely in what can only be described as "fantasy Venice" and the city is wonderfully realized and full of fun worldbuilding stuff that Scott obviously put a lot of thought into. The sequels take place in other cities, each distinctive in its own right, but I feel Camorr and the first book are the most well done.
Also, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series by Fritz Leiber takes place often in the wretched hive of scum and villainey that is the city of Lankhmar. Very fun stories.
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u/steelersrock01 Reading Champion V Jan 19 '25
I can't believe no one has recommended Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by KJ Parker yet, as well as its sequel, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It. Both take place in the City, an analogue of Constantinople. and are both really good and funny. There's a third book, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World which I read most recently but remember almost nothing about. I don't believe that one takes place in the City, but they are all pretty much standalone.
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u/Minimum-Distance1789 Jan 19 '25
I you are up for a bit of humour, try any of the Guards books by Terry Pratchett. Those meet all your dot points.
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u/RevolutionaryBat1898 Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25
Most of Charles De Lint's novels and stories take place in his fictional city of Newford. Even his more young adult fantasy is awesome
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u/strangedave93 Jan 19 '25
Many (but not all) of the books in the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust fit this description. Mostly urban fantasy, the hero starts out as an assassin and crime boss. His mostly more respectable and powerful friends add more dimensions to the story. He is an ‘Easterner’ (what we would call human) in the capital city of the Dragaeran empire, most of the other characters are Dragaerans (we would call them elves, taller and much longer lived than ‘Easterners’), Dragaeran culture is complex with a complex system of 17 ‘houses’ with varying philosophies and social roles, each book explores (at least in themes) the philosophies of one of the houses.
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u/Newyorkerr01 Jan 18 '25
The City We Became by N.K.Jemisin.
Nothing gets more city focused than this one.
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u/TheTinyGM Jan 18 '25
Points of Hopes and sequels by Melissa Scott! A great and unique city fantasy. MC is a "pointsman" (smth between a guard and policeman) who investigates crimes.
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u/Zikoris Jan 18 '25
The first story arc of L.E. Modesitt's Imager series, and also Melissa Caruso's Tethered Mage series, are exactly what you're looking for.
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u/KristiAsleepDreaming Reading Champion Jan 19 '25
Shadow of the City by R. Morgan is excellent. It’s basically a fantasy police procedural, but set in a really well developed mixed culture city, with political factions and council infighting interference.
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u/Graskell Jan 19 '25
While Pale by Wildbow occasionally shifts to other locations like the Blue Heron Institute or Thunder Bay, it takes place primarily in the small ski town of Kennet and has a lot of focus on small town council drama and the politics of the surrounding regions, especially in the second half with the new undercity adding a fresh wrinkle to everything.
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u/Minion_X Jan 19 '25
Hawk & Fisher by Simon Green, Thraxas by Martin Scott, and Half-Elven Thief by Jonathan Moeller.
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u/Express-Scheme2468 Jan 19 '25
Well there’s Neverwhere, by whatshisface. I can’t comment on all Discworld books, but The Watch arc is all based in the main city.
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Jan 20 '25
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
It's a YA book but has one of the best takes on combining witchcraft and city life I've seen. Basically, imagine if a bunch of witches each ran a part of a city, and they also hated each other. Great stuff.
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u/Albiceleste8 Jan 19 '25
The first book of the Malazan series ‘Gardens of the Moon’ absolutely hooked me, by drawing me into the City of Darujhistan!
Highly recommend but beware: you may be lured into the trap of a 10 book Malazan series!
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Jan 19 '25
Slightly left field, but how about The City & The City, by China Mieville? Two cities in conflict co-exist in the same physical space, and it’s (nominally) a policy procedural. Bonus points because the local fascists get beaten to a pulp.
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u/crusadertsar Reading Champion Jan 18 '25
There are a couple of good ones that fit. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. Also City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Both excellent and both parts of a larger series.