Genre question - Slice of life, but fantasy or sci-fi?

Submitted by Valdrothos t3_yb7zzo in books

I know these books exist, but it's kind of hard to find them. I'm not looking for specific books. If you have favorites, that's great. I don't want this post getting locked out and told to ask in the recommendations thread. I just want to know how to go about finding books set in fantastical settings where the characters are just living their lives and the conflicts aren't larger than life world threatening affairs. I need a break from the epic hero destined to save the world.

Is there a better genre name I should be searching for, or even just a central place to find this kind of book? Goodreads has some lists, but it's mostly kids books or graphic novels with manga thrown in for good measure. And some of the books in their list are still "epic hero" stories, just with some twist. I'm also trying to avoid the paranormal romance genre, which seems to skirt this.

Does what I'm looking for exist as a well-defined genre or am I going to have to rely on word of mouth and a lot of research to find suitable books?

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Edit: Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I've looked into the "cozy fantasy" genre and Becky Chambers Wayfarers. There are a few books I may read.

I just wanted to add that I am specifically avoiding real-world things. Alternative history is a hard pass for this. I like some of it, but it's not what I'm looking for.

I'm going to be reading some Nietzsche and Russian literature in the upcoming months and I would like to have some fantastical settings that don't completely take me out of the mood for those as light reading whenever I need a break. I will most likely have to break down and ask for specific recommendations. What I've looked into so far isn't very well defined and there aren't a lot of examples.

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BalancedCatLady t1_itf765p wrote

Could cozy fantasy be somewhat close to what you are looking for?

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Valdrothos OP t1_itf7van wrote

>cozy fantasy

Possibly. Legends and Lattes did come up at the top of the other list and I may end up reading it. And that list on Goodreads also lists the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which I absolutely loved when I was younger. I will give it a look when I have time.

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FranticPonE t1_itfluvq wrote

Almost anything by Becky Chambers.

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Valdrothos OP t1_itghb9t wrote

Yeah, Wayfarers came up a lot. I will be checking it out.

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Ariadnepyanfar t1_itfgkvj wrote

If you go to an online store, and buy four or five books in the genre you're looking for, then that store is bound to suggest books to you in the same genre.

As a random Example, Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers, or The Galaxy and the Ground Beneath might be one start of a favourable algorithm of book suggestions. You'd need more than just one author to really get your algorithm going.

Librarians are also usually *great* sources of relevant recommendations. Visit your local library.

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BrendaFW t1_itfebj6 wrote

Once I find an author that fits a specific genre or a books that fits precisely what I’m looking for, I just google “similar books to _____”.

I also love slice of life but in SciFi or fantasy context, the first author that I found in this genre was Becky Chambers, so from search I found out about Legends and Lattes, Light from uncommon starts etc

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Valdrothos OP t1_itityut wrote

I may have to start doing this and piece together my own list. I hate having to read so much about a book before I start, though.

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knogbjorn t1_itfkzry wrote

You could check out some older stuff, like Conan or Fafrhd & the Gray Mouser. The stories are generally about a couple of pals who have good or bad adventures regardless of the state of the world.

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Valdrothos OP t1_itito0x wrote

I can assure you I have read a LOT of the older easy reads like Conan. I spent years picking over discounted yellowed paperbacks. And anything that hits public domain goes straight on my ereader.

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knogbjorn t1_itkb62s wrote

Cool beans! Which books have you come across so far that fit in with what you want from a slice of life fantasy/sci-fi story?

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Wot106 t1_itflk6k wrote

Low Fantasy. I do not know what it is called in sci-fi. Though cyberpunk gets close (since they seem to be mostly low-stakes detective things)

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Valdrothos OP t1_itghxr2 wrote

I would love to find some more pessimistic stories that remind us that people are only special specifically because we're not all special. I don't even need to have a happy ending.

I will be looking into the "cozy fantasy" suggested, but I suspect it's all going to be very, very feel-good.

What got me on this track in the first place was thinking "What if there was a book from X crazy fantasy/sci fi setting, only the main character of the book was just some random person from that universe who doesn't accomplish great feats?

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Wot106 t1_itgpinw wrote

With your edit, try China Mieville. Perdido Street Station for fantasy, Embassytown for sci-fi.

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Medesha t1_itlj9mu wrote

I don't have experience with the genre myself, but in other book discussions I've heard the genre called kishotenketsu. You might try using that as a search term.

Here's an article I found with some recommendations: https://bookriot.com/kishotenketsu/

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solarmelange t1_itf5rte wrote

Is Magical Realism what you are looking for?

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Valdrothos OP t1_itf6ghz wrote

I don't like the real-world setting constraint. I like some of those books (I read Noor recently and it was really good as a sci-fi version of magical realism) but I'd like to have more fantastical settings just without the ever-present hero of legend.

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solarmelange t1_itf6qwe wrote

Then I don't think there is any well defined genre for what you want and you will be better served with a suggestion thread.

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mzlapq2 t1_itfo2s6 wrote

you can find a lot of these on amazon (kindle ebooks is my preference) if you look around the kindle store especially if you don't mind translated Japanese light novels which have many slice of life stories even when they also have just a hint of adventure. You can also peruse the website Royalroad where people upload stories they are writing chapter by chapter there are a lot of fun series of all genre there.

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Valdrothos OP t1_itgiijj wrote

The Japanese stuff is exactly why I'm looking more deeply into it. I know that style of story is bigger there than here...but at the same time I'm not looking to read about young adults with crushes and my only exposure thus far is anime and manga. I honestly don't know how I'd feel reading translated books, and I'd rather not get into short stories and the like. Part of the fantastical setting I'm looking for requires giving enough space to set it up.

I specifically do not want slice of life in mundane settings that could just be the real world.

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mzlapq2 t1_ithkvx0 wrote

Finding something you like on amazon and then looking through recommendations on that page can definitely be helpful. I would definitely try some light novels many of them have a lot more depth than one would think. It also depends a lot on what you like from sub genre/ story elements. Do you like Super overpowered main character? (Rise of the Cheat Potion Maker and kuma kuma kuma bear) Do you like intricate cooking details? (Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill) Crafting? (Dahlia in Bloom) Also depends what gender you like the MC to be and how much if any romance your looking for. I would definitely suggest Ascendance of a Bookworm though it does get more action here and there after a few books.

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Tixilixx t1_itfonuw wrote

I think Haruki Murakami books fit this description

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Neutronenster t1_itfr2mz wrote

If you like webtoons, the online manhwa Noblesse is exactly what you’re looking for (slice of life + fantasy). You can read it legally in the Naver webtoon app.

I don’t know any magic trick to find fantasy or science fiction books that break the epic hero stereotype. I just brows through the books and pick one that seems interesting. Just by reading the back of the book I can usually discern if it follows those stereotypes or not, though sometimes the end result is still surprising. For example, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series is basically a large stab at those stereotypes (both following and not following them).

Some recommendations:

  • Ursula LeGuin’s books and short stories regularly have a very strong ‘slice of life feeling’ to me. It’s one of my favorite authors. If you’d like to read about normal life in a fantasy or science fiction setting, her short stories are the way to go.
  • Robin Hobb: Her books do have a central hero (who doesn’t want to be a hero) and the issues are larger than life kinds of problems, but they don’t follow the LOTR epic quest stereotype at all and they’re amazing to read.

In my experience, female authors are a bit more likely to write outside those stereotypes, but that’s certainly not a general rule.

A lot of fantasy and science fiction authors tend to write about larger than life and/or world-threatening affairs, so if you don’t want that your options are going to be very limited within these genres. If you’re also happy with a book that has both large issues and a ‘slice of life’ feel, you’re going to have a lot more options. For example, there are a lot of books with a “school life” feel together with a larger revolving plot (the Harry Potter books, Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician trilogy, …). I would also recommend checking out Garth Nix’s books (especially the books of the old kingdom), because he also shows what it’s like to live in the fantasy worlds he creates (especially in the book Lirael, though that’s already the second book in a series).

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Valdrothos OP t1_itgjp2m wrote

Ursula LeGuin has come up in my searching, but I haven't delved deeper yet. On the surface I got the feeling it wasn't quite what I was looking for, but I will check some other works.

Robin Hobb did the Assassin books, right? I am a fan, but not what I'm looking for at the moment. My immediate reading list has some Nietzsche and Russian literature, and I'd like to break some of it up with some fantasy/sci fi that follows the same vein. I'm specifically looking for a fantastical setting, but characters that are just normal people solving normal problems.

So much of what I'm finding is just a reskin of traditional stories. The characters are more down-to-earth but the problems they're facing are still large and dramatic.

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Glitz-1958 t1_itfw2gx wrote

Not sure if some of Terry Pratchett's books might fit into this. He has several different series like the watch, the witches or the innovation ones like The Truth.

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Valdrothos OP t1_itglmto wrote

I do like his books, and they do sort of fit the mold...but I've read so many already and what I haven't is already on my list.

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Tanagrabelle t1_itfxodt wrote

EDIT:: OH! I misunderstood the question.

Um. I don't know if there is a specific genre. I can recommend:

  • The House That Wouldn't Go Away author Paul Gallico
  • The Black Stallion (and Flame) books author Walter Farley and by the way, things do get weird at very odd points.
  • Watership Down by Richard Adams (waves hands hysterically Plague Dogs! aaaaaaaaaah wait, do these count? I mean, those stories aren't world-threatening...)

stares off into space for a while

  • Katie Long and Siren author Tony Roberts (Imaginary Rock 'n Roll star's story)
  • Kinsey Millhone Detective series author Sue Grafton
  • Catch-22 author Joseph Heller

Probably many more, but of course now I am drawing a blank.

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skybluepink77 t1_itg4266 wrote

As a very rough guide, the more 'literary' the book is [rather than a book that's been designed to sit very happily on the fantasy shelf], the more unusual the book is and more willing it is to avoid the epic cliches/quest etc tropes.

So you could try 'literary fantasy/scifi'?

I know you don't want specific titles, but as I'm the same as you in that I don't want to read the same old cliches over and over, I'd go for an author like Susanna Clarke [eg Piranesi] which goes off on its own path. It's certainly slice of life but a very, very odd life!

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Valdrothos OP t1_itgkeev wrote

>Susanna Clarke

One of the things I'm specifically looking to avoid is historical fiction. I'll update the post, I though I had that in there.

I will probably have to resort to using the recommendations thread. I am currently checking literary fantasy, but as the prime example right out of the gate is LotR I don't know.

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skybluepink77 t1_itglnh2 wrote

Of Clarke's two novels to date, one - Jonathan Strange - is sort of placed in the Napoleonic era [ but it is not an 'historical' novel] and Piranesi is contemporary [again, sort of.]

LOTR isn't really slice of life, but it's well-written. And of course, is the classic 'quest' story. So - it's whatever you want to go for!

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roffman t1_itg82i4 wrote

Check out L. E. Modesitt Jr. He's basically Sanderson but for slice of life instead of action.

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Valdrothos OP t1_itgnh3u wrote

>L. E. Modesitt Jr

Somehow I've not read anything by him yet, despite being very familiar with the name. I thought I'd for sure read SOMETHING by him but I can't even find a short story that I might have read. I'll have to look.

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roffman t1_itgoelx wrote

He's really good I'd you like the genre. I can recommend the Imager series as a good starting place. His Songstress and Magic of Recluse series are also excellent, but they are his early works and start a bit rough.

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pheisenberg t1_itgrwd5 wrote

You could try searching “character-driven sci fi” or fantasy. Some will still be space operas, but it should pick up what you’re looking for too. Could also look into “hopepunk” for a break from angst, but I don’t actually know anything about it.

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annapax t1_ithvrsv wrote

The Murderbot diaries by Martha Wells is an absolutely wonderful, slice of life sci fi where the main character bitches about work and somehow makes it delightful.

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Warm-Enthusiasm-9534 t1_iti21u5 wrote

The Goblin Emperor has a political backdrop with some stakes, but most of it is low-stakes character interaction.

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