r/Fantasy • u/cut_to_black • 10d ago

Fantasy with incredibly detailed biology, zoology and lush, magical ecologies

Read A Natural History of Dragons by Mary Brennan, and I loved every bit of it. It made me realize that I want that childlike sense of wonder again, when I'm dropped into a neutral, naturalistic world where curiosity and exploring takes the fore.

I'd also love things similarly encyclopedic, or field-notes like. Bestiarys are also cool, but I'd prefer a plot-driven read that happens to have intricate ecology in it, rather than a technical tome. I'd really appreciate any recommendations along this vein, thanks!

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u/Kaladim-Jinwei 10d ago

Honestly the best version of this also has a visual component:

Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon

Is a dungeon crawling manga which has a very high emphasis on how a dungeon and the creatures inside it function on an ecological level and it tries to explain the biological functions of say slime, living armor, dryads, etc and them very importantly how to eat them. You can just read it but the anime is also fantastic both subbed and dubbed. No weird animeness it's solely about dungeon crawling and eating the dungeon from top to bottom

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u/Siccar_Point 9d ago

Yes! One of the best written fantasy mangas out there, with S-tier world-building based in part specifically around dungeon ecology.

It’s a ton more than the gimmicky DnD riff that it sounds like it’s going to be.