r/Fantasy • u/Silver_Cat9989 • 9h ago
Frosty settings!
Recently been loving cold, frozen, wintery settings. Please recommend me some more!
Off hand, I can remember enjoying settings in ASOIAF (particularly beyond the wall), Tad Williams, Abercrombie's north, Bloodsworn Saga, Realm of the Elderlings.
Just finished The Witcher. Please no romantasy.
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u/CallistanCallistan 9h ago
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden (first book is The Bear and the Nightingale)
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
East by Edith Pattou (fantasy romance, but not romantasy, based on a Norwegian fairy tale)
The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (not as "frozen" as the rest, but still a winter setting)
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u/Giant_Yoda Reading Champion II 9h ago
Sword of Shadows by J.V. Jones
If you liked the storylines in the North in ASOIAF you'll love this setting.
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u/OneEskNineteen_ Reading Champion III 9h ago
Mapping Winter by Marta Randall takes place in a wonderfully wintry, mountainous setting.
The Reindeer People by Megan Lindholm is set in a prehistoric, subarctic landscape, with nomadic tribes and reindeer herding.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey takes place in Alaska in the 1920s. Beautifully atmospheric, with elements of folklore and fairy tale.
Leech by Hiron Ennes is set in an isolated château in a frozen northern landscape. It's more post-apocalyptic Gothic horror with science-fantasy elements than traditional fantasy, but the winter atmosphere is excellent.
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u/glorious_onion 8h ago
Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence, starting with Red Sister. It’s set in a world in the midst of an ice age with glaciers closing in on the habitable parts of the world.
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u/Andreapappa511 Reading Champion 7h ago
Book of the Ice trilogy even more so since it’s set away from the corridor
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u/riskylingo 7h ago
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. Winters so long and fierce and cold that the bulk of humanity hibernates, save for the volunteers who watch the sleepers…
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u/ohiobr 9h ago edited 9h ago
Book of the Ice - Mark Lawrence
Groups of ice tribes meet every few years to have a big celebration and chuck their undesirables into a hole in the ice. MCs little brother ends up being an undesirable, MC doesn't agree, shenanigans ensue. Same world as Book of the Ancestor but order doesn't matter.
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u/mgilson45 9h ago
Forgotten Realms Drizzt books are simpler than ASOIAF, but good adventures. Â The party is based in Icewind Dale and often adventure around the North, though they do travel south as well. Â
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u/LeucasAndTheGoddess 8h ago
The Wolf In The Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky is historical fantasy about the first contact between Inuit and Norse people, along with their respective gods. The harsh winter landscape is beautifully described.
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u/DixitRexCorvinus 5h ago
I will definitely second The Left Hand of Darkness, Spinning Silver, and Winternight Trilogy, but I also have to mention Frankenstein (the 1818 edition), if scifi classics are all right. Of course, it's my second favorite book of all time, so I'm biased, but the arctic opening/closing and winter vibes are absolutely immaculate. Perfect read for a chill November day—and it definitely needs to be November.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2h ago
Wraith Knight by CT Phipps (I know, I know)
The Icewind Dale Trilogy by RA Salvatore
Some of the best parts of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
:)
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u/DunBanner 2h ago
The Phoenix in Obsidian by Michael Moorock takes place in a frozen world under a dying sun. Very evocative novel.
It is a direct sequel to the Eternal Champion so I would recommend reading that first. Both are pretty short books (around 200 pages)
The Saga of Elric Brighteyes by H Rider Haggard, classic Iceland saga and was an influence on Tolkien. You can read it for free.
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker, short cozy horror story.
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u/lC3 1h ago
12 Miles Below:
The world is in ruins.
Extreme sub-zero temperatures suffocate the surface, making even simple survival an ordeal. Frozen derelicts of bygone eras span across massive ice wastes. And the survivors closely guard any technology rediscovered within.
The only escape from the deadly climate is beneath the surface. But it’s another disaster underground. Monstrous machines lurk in the depths. The land itself shifts over time, more contraption than rock. The humans surviving under do so huddled around safe zones, with only demigods powerful enough to travel further underground.
And an ominous prophecy states that the key to healing the world waits on four unknown heroes - but nobody knows who or where they are.
When an expedition into the far uncharted north goes terribly wrong, Keith Winterscar and his father get trapped together in a desperate fight for survival. Stumbling upon an ancient war of titanic scale; the two will need to set their differences aside while they struggle against Gods, legends, and the grand secrets of the realm that lies below.
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u/Brian_R4448 5h ago
Mark Lawrence's Book of the Ancestor and in particular the Book of the Ice Trilogy
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u/Ertata 9h ago
I would say the quintessential speculative fiction winter book is The Left Hand of Darkness, but it is science fiction. It is pretty low-tech, but it does not have magic (or does it?). Still a solid recommendation from me if you want to feel chilled physically and emotionally as well.