Looking for a fascinating detailed world that you might not want to live in, but loved reading about.
The Raven's Mark series by Ed McDonald would be an example (oh, and if you haven't read it please do so, it's incredible. I read the preview on Amazon, and by the time I got to the end I was hooked).
by I_make_things
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Highly recommend [Pale Grey Dot](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200356308-pale-grey-dot), by Don Miasek – Cyberpunk + space opera + spycraft + dystopia. Great worldbuilding.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson
Foundryside, by Robert Bennett Jackson
Grim, gritty, compelling, and great worldbuilding!
Try *Rosewater* by Tade Thompson.
For gritty military fantasy, the Malazan Book of the Fallen novels by Steven Erikson and the Black Company novels by Glen Cook
Altered Carbon, Richard k . Morgan. Cyber mage, Saad z. Hossain
China Mieville. I have my favorites for various reasons, but you kind of can’t miss with him.
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. World building on point. Grim, facinating low magic, low romance, high intrigue.
The Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant
*The Steel Remains* (Book One of the Land Fit for Heroes trilogy), by Richard K. Morgan
Horus Rising was really cool – hits all of your asks. It’s the first book in the Horus Heresy series which is in the Warhammer universe. If you dont know any of the lore that’s okay, stuff gets explained pretty well and looking at illustrations online can help you picture the setting better. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated very well. I never ended up reading more in the series because I feel like I got what I wanted from the first book.
It’s grim-dark, so not a lot of upbeat moments other than some characters being a little less serious or making some dry jokes.