Fantasy novels set in the future.

[sankunai]

Hey all. I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction. I'm searching for fantasy novels which would be set in the future (Guns, even spaceships are OK for me!). But I don't want sci-fi. I'm literally looking for futuristic-fantasy, if such a thing even exists.

Thanks, and I do hope this is the right sub-forum for this! Sorry if it isn't.

 

[Steerpike]

Anything in the Warhammer 40K universe would qualify. Dan Abnett is the best writer of those stories. There is magic, chaos and corruption, psychic powers, elf-like species, orks, etc.

 

[cupiscent]

Hmm, how does dystopia fit? Most of the recommendations I can think of are futuristic by way of apocalypse or dystopia! But I suppose maybe you're looking more for the Star Wars type of story?

Some thoughts straight up:
- Max Gladstone's books. The first is Three Parts Dead and they're set after humanity's war with the gods (and about dealing with the consequences) in a world of an equal technology/civilisation level to our own. They're also fantastic; I cannot recommend them highly enough.
- Chris Wooding's Ketty Jay series. The first is The Black Lung Captain and I'd call them more airship steampunk low fantasy, sort of like Firefly/Serenity without the space travel.
- The Interrogation of Ashayla Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina. It's Australian post-apocalyptic urbanish fantasy - a sort of environmental disaster x-men sort of thing.

None of those quite hits what you're after though - sorry!

 

[TWErvin2]

My First Civilization's Legacy Series is a post apocalyptic fantasy series. Has a mixture of technology and magic.

There is the Amber Series by Roger Zelazny. It's not necessary set in the future, but it does have 'shadows' which mix different worlds, including a modern day setting and more.

The Book of Swords series by Fred Saberhagen would qualify as well, although maybe not as strongly. The precursor to the series, Empire of the East would fit a little more closely to what you might be looking for.

 

[Incanus]

Jack Vance's Dying Earth books and Clark Aston Smith's Zothique stories have all the trappings of fantasy but take place in the far future, when the sun is nearly burnt out. Older stuff, and probably hard to find, but quite excellent.

 

[Mythopoet]

There are quite a few fantasy novels that are set in the future, but aren't "futuristic". By "futurustic" I'm assuming you mean having the tropes we associate with the future and not the tropes we associate with the past.

 

[Steerpike]

I took it to mean that it was futuristic, in the sense of having things like spaceships and lasers, etc., but also retained many of the usual fantasy tropes (races, magic, and so on). That's why I picked Warhammer as a possible starting point.

 

[Mythopoet]

That's true. It's hard to imagine, for instance, spaceships and horses used alongside each other, but it does happen. By that criteria, The Book of the New Sun fits. It's usually called Science Fiction but the author refers to it as Science Fantasy.

And since The Dying Earth was mentioned, the ultimate book in that genre, The Night Land, should be mentioned as well.

 

[Svrtnsse]

That's true. It's hard to imagine, for instance, spaceships and horses used alongside each other, but it does happen.

Specifically, this happens in the Heris Serranon trilogy by Elizabeth Moon, where space ship captain Serrano will have to learn to ride a horse in order to take part in "traditional" fox hunting (the horses are real, but I'm not so sure about the foxes).

Apart from that, I wouldn't say it's any kind of fantasy though. It's just SF with a dash of horseback riding.

 

[Incanus]

I took it to mean that it was futuristic, in the sense of having things like spaceships and lasers, etc., but also retained many of the usual fantasy tropes (races, magic, and so on). That's why I picked Warhammer as a possible starting point.

And I took it to mean "fantasy that takes place in the future", but re-reading the OP I'm not sure anymore. He seems to say "no sci-fi" on the one hand, and accepts guns and spaceships on the other. Spaceships are 100% sci-fi. I guess I don't understand what is being sought here.

 

[Svrtnsse]

...and now that I've read the OP's original post I have a suggestion: The Coldfire Trilogy by Celia Friedman. It takes place far into the future but is for the most part a fantasy story.
The details are here: Coldfire Trilogy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in case you want to look closer at it first, but I'm uncertain about how much you'd want to read of it as there may be potential spoilers about the setting there.

 

[Steerpike]

The Coldfire Trilogy is excellent.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I hesitate to recommend her to a modern reader, but Anne McCaffrey did a LOT of stuff like this.

 

[Steerpike]

I hesitate to recommend her to a modern reader, but Anne McCaffrey did a LOT of stuff like this.

True. So did M.Z. Bradley (Darkover books), if you don't mind reading her given her personal life.

 

[sankunai]

Thanks everyone! And sorry for the confusion. When I said no sci-fi, I meant novels which had virtually no fantasy elements to it, and mostly I was searching for something with elves and orcs in space, haha. I got some great suggestions here, and will check them all out .

I can be hard to understand sometimes =x.

 

[BronzeOracle]

Its not a novel but I found Ulysses 31 the 80s cartoon a cool fusion of SF and homer's Odyssey. It had it all - floating temples in space, angry gods, circe, the sphinx but also lasers, robots and space ships.

 

[MartinHall]

I would definitely recommend Zelazny's Lord of Light, which uses a mythic sort-of-Vedic storytelling style to portray sci-fi story elements as fantasy. I loved that book.

 

[TWErvin2]

Lord of Light is an excellent read.

The Book of Swords (First, Second and Third, and then the Lost Swords books) by Fred Saberhagen do take place in the future, although the elements that reflect on the past and tie to it are not prevalent. They follow his series Empire of the East.

If you enjoy Lord of Light, Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness might be up your alley too.

I guess I could mention my First Civilization's Legacy Series. Scattered technology and weapons surviving in a post-apocalyptic future where magic exists.

 

[CupofJoe]

The Jon Shannow Trilogy may fit your bill... I remember enjoying them many years ago.
Goodreads

 

[BronzeOracle]

Dan Simmons's Ilium is a SF version of The Illiad and Shakespeare. It has won awards.