This is a great list of fantasy books that aren’t centered around war. There’s a ton of great book recommendations here:
The Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo. Super elaborate robbery meets jailbreak. Very Leverage-esque vibes with realistic teen protagonists. (This is a follow up to another trilogy set in the same universe which does involve a war, however you do not have to read that one to enjoy/understand this one)
Dead Witch Walking (The Hallows series) by Kim Harrison. Supernatural cops. A witch, a living vampire, and a pixie, are private investigators/Bountry Hunters for hire after quiting the ‘non-human’ police force in Cincinnati. Descriptions try to make it all super sexy gritty sounding but seriously it’s a supernatural cop drama.
The Fairy Godmother (500 kingdoms) by Mecedes Lackey. Fairy tales are the way of life and the magic of the world wants people to follow that script. This former ‘could have been Ciinderella” is out to tweak the hell out of those scripts.
The Gunslinger and The Drawing of Three (The Dark Tower) by Stephen King. You have to read the first 2 books before you give in or give up the Dark tower. Gunslinger is basicly a long prologue with plot relevent material while Drawing of Three is where the real meat of the story gets picked up.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Two utterly clueless supernatual beings try to stop the apocolypse with the laziest plan ever.
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi. A culture where people can be hired to extract and consume your sins which then become a tattoo on their bodies and they get the guilt that comes with the sin. Of course they’re also outcast treated badly because of their jobs. Plot to overthrow the throne done in a completely orginal world.
No Flying in the House by Betty Brock. A mysterious young orphan girl is brought to the home of a wealthy woman, accompanied by a tiny talking dog as her guardian. Within the house are many small animals, but unlike the dog, these are all statues or clockwork toys. Except for a strange golden cat that appears one day, telling the young secrets about her past.
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. A book within a book; Bastion is just a regular boy reading a very compelling book, all about a fantastic world ruled by a magical empress who is dying. If she can’t be saved, the world dies with her. A hero begins a quest to save her, and as Bastion continues reading, he starts to realize his life and the characters in the book are connected.
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. Unicorns are typically solitary, so one particular unicorn didn’t worry about not seeing any others in a long time. She began to worry though, when she heard humans remark that she must be the last one in the world. Concerned for her kind, the unicorn leaves her forest to find out what happened, joined by human companions that have their flaws but are still determined to be part of the unicorn’s adventure.
Well Witched (Verdigris Deep) by Francis Hardinge. 3 children stole some coins from an old wishing well… and now it seems that they are cursed. The well is home to an old water deity, and the coins represent real wishes that people have made. The water deity wants the children to help her grant the wishes… but doing this has unexpected consequences.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. The women of the Owens family have always been considered witches, and two sisters have grown up feeling like outcasts because of it. As adults, they grow apart… and the eventually reunite when one of them needs help. they can’t escape their family, the good and the bad.
Do you know any more fantasy books that aren’t centered around war? Let us know in the comments below!
“The Last Unicorn.” One of the all-time classics, and there’s very little violence. It’s about exactly what it says in the title, the quest to find where all the unicorns went.
Well Witched reminds me of one that I read a while ago — I think it was called “Wish Stealer”. High-school girl who wishes on every lucky object she finds becomes a “wish stealer” whose good wishes will not be granted and whose bad wishes will. The solution to this problem is to help grant a series of special wishes made on coins thrown in a wishing well (I forget what makes those wishes particularly special, but it is explained).
Also I have to give honorable mentions to two series that mention war but aren’t really centered on it:
The Squire’s Tales series, by Gerald Morris — Arthurian legend, told from the perspective of characters of the author’s own invention (which, he explains, is kind of what the original authors also did). Focuses more on the quests and magical-things aspects than wars; only the first two and last one of a series of ten really have war.
The Dragon Keeper series, by Donita K. Paul — All stories are titled “dragon” something; first book is called Dragonspell. Mainly stories of a servant girl who discovers her destiny as wizard and Dragon Keeper. The “war” element is an ongoing battle between good and evil, fought in individual lives as much as on battlefields; the only one where open war is made through most of the book is book four, which also happens to be my least favorite.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Conmen and thieves operate in a magical world where the stakes are high, the humor is dark and luck is rare.
Gerfalcon by Leslie Barringer a young baron must fight to claim his inheritance against plots, bandits and witches.
House by the Cerulean Sea – orphanage inspector opens his eyes.
Discworld is mentioned, but I specifically want to call out the Tiffany Aching series. If you can listen to it, it’s even better!
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
The Others series by Anne Bishop. Theres some fighting and one war in the Others series, but its literally one chapter. And overseas, so the main characters arent involved in it.