GRRM worldcon speech, discourse -
ffs.
I’m in the middle (=start) of my language-learning full reread. I just got the maps. I just customised the maps. can I like _one_ mainstream fandom without the author rushing to ruin it 😞💢
fantasy ask, 
@elilla Check out Kameron Hurley. She writes series in both fantasy and scifi, with tons of worldbuilding.
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@elilla Oh, and N. K. Jemisin's Inheritance books (before Broken Earth).
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@elilla Tamora Pierce!!!
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@elilla Ooh, I didn't realize there was going to be a sequel! It read like a stand-alone.
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@naga would be a shame to set up all those background hints about goblin society (and a conlang!!!! did I mention conlang) and then just let it go to waste now wouldnt it 😌
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@elilla Looks like the second book is more of a second story in the same setting--best of both worlds! (no pun)
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If you're looking for quality worldbuilding high fantasy that's big, detailed, realistic and has phenomenally compelling characters and is written by a Japanese-Canadian woman:
Check out Michelle Sagara West's House War series. It's brilliantly complex, the worldbuilding spans multiple cultural archetypes, and everything hangs together incredibly well.
I lost like 3 weeks devouring the whole series and barely spoke to my husband or showered the whole time.
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@eleanorkonik @elilla Ooh, thanks for the tip--looks right up my alley!
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@eleanorkonik @elilla It looks like a lot of her series share a world and some overlapping events, in Essalieyan. Would you recommend starting with the Hunt books, if I can find them?
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@naga @elilla Oh man. I don't know that I'm qualified to say where to start because I sort of fell into the series sideways -- I was already a fan so when I found out she had this whole other book series I went out and just bought one of the books thinking it was a short series and then discovered in the middle that there's a whole other series tucked away inside haha.
https://electrapritchett.com/2019/07/15/the-michelle-west-novels-suggested-reading-order/ is probably what I would go by, though?
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@eleanorkonik @elilla Super, thanks. It sounds this is also a good way to avoid possibly being turned off by a less evolved style in the first two.
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I hope you like them! I also enjoy her Chronicles of Elantra series but by my standards Elantra isn't quite as good, because I feel like more *happens* in the House War series each book. So when I found the Essalieyan series I absolutely fell in love because the Essalieyan books are everything I love about series with complex worldbuilding and realistic politics and fantastically creative magic systems.
Plus, parts reminded me of Dune... without the sketchy bits.
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@eleanorkonik I think 18 books will get me started!
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@naga Oh man are there really that many? The reading process was kind of a blur but I remember devouring them one after another in rapid succession.
I wonder if I somehow missed any?
Clearly I need to go back and re-read the series in its intended order!
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@elilla I like Lois McMaster Bujold very much. Her vorkosigan series is one of my favorites.
I also like the Skolan empire series by Catherine Asaro.
I can list more if those look interesting.
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@elilla Firekeeper's Saga, Jane Lindskold
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Sarah Monette’s «The Goblin Emperor» is pretty much what I’m asking for exactly—complete with a #conlang!!—except there’s only 1 book so far. still hyped about the sequel & hope more come out of it.