I'm at the end of my rope. I need fantasy books that aren't set in England or generic fantasy worlds that are BLATANTLY supposed to be England.
PLEASE speak up with any recs you got for fantasy books with Asian, African, South American, or pre-colonial Australian/ North America. If you have books set in under- represented parts of Europe (Slavic or Mediterranean cultures) I'd be interested in those too.
I've got Fifth Season, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, the Jasmine Throne, Iron Widow, Where It Rains In Color, Midnight Robber, The Goblin Emperor, Strange and Stubborn Endurance, A Taste of Gold and Iron, and Trail of Lightning.
I'm serious, please do NOT comment with any books set in England. I don't care if it's brilliant. I don't care if it's allegedly 'different', I promise you it will not be nearly as 'different' as you think it is. I don’t care if it's 'gay', heterosexuality is not what I'm sick of! And i swear on all that is holy, anyone who recommends something set in the Victorian period or anything "Austen-inspired" will be hearing from my lawyer.
So I have been reading a lot of books based on how much whump I think may be contained within them. I actually made a post on Reddit a while back looking for a books with "pathetic wet cat protagonists" and that's how I found some of the books on this list. I figured I would type up a recommendation list of books I think have some grade A whump in them. And if anyone has any recommendations they would like to throw back at me they are VERY welcome to do so.
Criteria for GOOD WHUMP BOOK:
Throughout the past few years I've made a few book request posts asking for whump book requests without calling it whump. But some have seen through me and been full on white dachshund "I know what you are." But anyway, through trial and error I've gotten it down to what I am looking for when I am looking for whump in books:
A man (I am not interested in seeing women suffer) in some sort of distress, whether it be mental or physical. This distress cannot be completely due to their own faults. There must be forces outside of their control acting against them. This physical/mental pain must be important to the plot and cannot be something the hurt character can just "shake off" with grace and nobility. Said character must have a level of likability and have some amount of skill (pathetic, but not too pathetic, you feel me?).
Let me just say I know that the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb is a popular rec for whump books. I'm on the sixth book in the Realm of the Elderlings, Ship of Destiny, and I know they probably get whumpier but so far with my personal definition I don't find that they fit very well. Fitz in Farseer is sad yes, bad things happy to him yes, but many of the times they are in direct response to his own actions. And he's quite reserved and dare I say -- badass --- about how he responds to the things that happen to him. Big portions of Royal Assassin is him mowing down raiders with an ax. This is why I have a hard time with asking for recs in popular fantasy groups. "Oh you just want a book with a sad man? Read Farseer and Way of Kings!"
Well anyway -- onto the recs, hopefully you won't have to experience the shit I've endured. These books are mostly fantasy/scifi because that's just what I prefer to read. If you'd like to give me some recs that fall outside those genres I wouldn't mind.
These are in no particular order, mostly from most recent to less recent. I'll jot down a few things about how whumpy they were and what character gets whumped.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My most recent obsession, I'm so excited for the movie. This book is a whump fest in what Andy Weir puts the protagonist, Ryland Grace, through. He cries. so. much. And he's physically hurt -- basically whatever you can imagine the horrors of what would happen to your body in space, Ryland goes through it. But this is still solidly a feel good book because of the close relationship Ryland forms with the other MC (who becomes very protective of him).
Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers
So I just finished this book and overall, I found it fine. But the titular Sir Cameron goes through it. He's constantly running for his life, begging for his life, on the edge of tears. Mmmm, the good stuff. He's helpless at the whims of a prophecy and has to beg an evil sorcerer to help him stay alive. Great set up for whump and there's plenty to be had here.
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meat Bun
I'm actually on volume seven because Erha is massive and I'm not loyal to my danmei series, so it's taking me a while to read. But anyway really I could put any number of danmei series here. They love putting beautiful men through pain. It's just Chu Wanning (dude in white) is kinda a whump fan's dream. He has severe low self esteem, and the story partially focuses on a timeline where he experienced the HORRORS (TW: sexual assault). Everyone wants him. But really if you are interested in danmei and like whump, just pick up any series and you'll be pleased.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
When it comes to whump in this book I would say it's mostly on Maia, the Goblin Emperor himself. He's experienced a lot of abuse and isolation and this really drives his character. He's one of my fave characters of all times. But there is also Maia's advisor Csevet, who has been targeted in the past and has some lasting PTSD.
Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley
Pulley is really good at whump actually, I binged this with two of her other books, Mars House and Hymn for Dionysus and both had a fair share of men strife in them. But this one took the cake. The main character Valery, has been in a gulag and bares all the pain from that experience, and now has to grapple with Soviet cover ups and a protective KGB agent. Radiation poisoning remains a constant threat.
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
God I loved Eliot, the protagonist of this, and so many people on Good Reads hated him. Get behind me Eliot. He's just so sad and neglected. And he's so defensive in response. Add in a boat load a low self esteem. He figures out to let people love him eventually.
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
This is the third book of the Queens Thief series and is heavily focused on Eugenides in his new role as the King of Attolia. The POV of the story is of Costis, one of the guards, who HATES him. Gen is hurt in various ways (and he got hurt in the previous books) while also being a smartass. We, the readers, come to care for him more through Costis' POV as so does Costis.
Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The story of this one didn't make a huge impression on me, but the main character of Cazaril certainly did. He's a former slave and he's been greatly affected by this experience, scarred both figuratively and literally. He's also so self sacrificing. A very endearing man. I know a lot of people hate his romance with Betriz since he's in his late 30s and she's 19 but I loved how much agency and drive she had. You can really tell she's written by a woman. Let the girl have an old man husband, it's okay, just this once.
Witchmark by CL Polk
It's been about four years since I read this one so I need to be brief but one story element that made a lasting impression on me was the magical society within the book. It was an alternative Edwardian England where some magical individuals were marked to be active magicians and others were meant to be drained as these magicians sources of magic. What a delicious set up of angst. The MC was destined to be used as a source of magic by his sister but broke away from his family. I need more books with this sort of thing going on.
Well that's it for now! Like I said, please drop me some names of books in my replies or my messages, I'm always looking for my whumpy books. Let me know how you found my list!
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