Looking For Fantasy Books Beyond Western Europe?
Fantasy is super popular but many fantasy books are based on western European settings - knights, castles, and stuff like that! Don’t worry though; some awesome authors have come up with incredible fantasy books not based on western europe. These are a breath of fresh air with stories based on fantasy books with diverse settings and fantasy books inspired by other cultures.
Which Fantasy Novels Are Inspired by Eastern Culture?
If you love stories about ancient china or want something completely different than that medieval European feel, you have to check out fantasy books with eastern settings.
What are some popular choices?
- The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang? It’s a huge hit based on the Second Sino-Japanese War. Get ready to travel into that war-torn world!
- For more of Chinese mythology, the book called Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - it has everything, like the moon goddess Chang’e! Super cool stuff, man. It is also worth checking out!
- Want a little Samurai action and magic? That’s the whole deal with The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang.
- Tasha Suri's Jasmine Throne series? That's a cool book set in an empire inspired by India.
- Need some serious magic? Jade City and its sequel, Jade War, by Fonda Lee - are awesome if you love martial arts and a bit of a super-secret world inspired by Hong Kong!
- And These Violent Delights - by Chloe Gong is just incredible if you're looking for fantasy books set in shanghai!
- For fans of Arabian mythology, check out We Hunt The Flame and its sequel We Free the Stars - by Hafsah Faizal! That story has ifrits, super strong, fiery demons, from Islamic lore!
The awesome thing about these books is that they offer amazing story worlds with strong female characters, tons of LGBTQ+ representation and mind-blowing magic systems. These fantasy books are totally worth a read for any book lovers!
The fantasy genre has endless possibilities and there are tons of amazing stories that aren’t bound to European traditions. These novels are worth checking out for their complex storylines, awesome world-building and some great diversity.