In addition to agreeing with vopoplar's recs of anything by le guin, i've also got:
Gideon the Night by Tamsyn Muir - Science fiction fantasy novel mystery about a gay sword girl and her goth necromancer hate-girlfriend.
The Name of the Wind by Patric Rothfuss - Lovely fantasy story about a guy who loves music and also is learning magic at a school far more interesting than a certain Terf Wizard School author's.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - Science fiction epic about an empire and how that empire affects the rest of the galaxy. Very good politics.
Ancilliary Justice by Anne Leckie - A fragment of a destroyed ship AI seeks justice for the rest of their ship being destroyed. Also the empire that owned the ship doesn't distinguish gender at all which is cool.
much as i am loathe to mention reddit, i often have a lot of luck starting with the pinned/sidebar posts or wiki on /r/piracy and drilling down from there
hollyhoppet wrote (edited )
Reply to Book Recommendations? by Jenheadjen
In addition to agreeing with vopoplar's recs of anything by le guin, i've also got:
Gideon the Night by Tamsyn Muir - Science fiction fantasy novel mystery about a gay sword girl and her goth necromancer hate-girlfriend.
The Name of the Wind by Patric Rothfuss - Lovely fantasy story about a guy who loves music and also is learning magic at a school far more interesting than a certain Terf Wizard School author's.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - Science fiction epic about an empire and how that empire affects the rest of the galaxy. Very good politics.
Ancilliary Justice by Anne Leckie - A fragment of a destroyed ship AI seeks justice for the rest of their ship being destroyed. Also the empire that owned the ship doesn't distinguish gender at all which is cool.