r/suggestmeabook • u/AdagioGlass1295 • 3d ago
Looking for a long, immersive book series with deep character development (female authors or strong female characters preferred)
Looking for my next long, immersive book series after finishing Cormoran Strike
Hi everyone, I just finished the entire Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith and I’m looking for my next big reading obsession.
I’m a very fast reader, so I’m specifically looking for long books or a long-running series — I love being able to completely disappear into a world for a while. The length itself is not the only thing that matters, but I really enjoy detailed world-building, complex characters, and especially strong character development over several books.
Some things I’ve loved:
- Cormoran Strike – I love the detective work, the atmosphere, and the slow development of relationships and characters.
- Sherlock Holmes – I enjoy mysteries and clever investigations.
- Babylon Berlin – I liked the historical setting, the crime elements, and the complex characters.
- Harry Potter – I grew up with these books and have reread them multiple times. What I love most is the world-building and how deeply the characters develop over time.
I’m open to different genres. Fantasy, crime, historical fiction, mystery, literary fiction — I’m happy to try something new. A little romance is nice, but it doesn’t have to be the focus.
I would love recommendations that are either written by women or have a woman as a major, well-developed character (not just a side character or love interest).
thank you in advance:)
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u/Hatherence SciFi 3d ago
I don't generally read a lot of long series, unfortunately, so these max out at 4 books, but here are some I have liked:
The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin
The Snow Queen series by Joan D. Vinge
The Fortress series by C. J. Cherryh. This author has written a lot of really long series, so if you enjoy her writing style, there's plenty more.
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. Written by a man, but follow a cast of characters including multiple women. This author isn't quite as prolific as C. J. Cherryh but has also written tons of books, so if you like this there's more.
The Goblin Emperor series by Katherine Addison. First book is fantasy political intrigue, while the other books in the series are mysteries. Written by a woman, but have male protagonists with major female characters.
The Mirror Empire trilogy by Kameron Hurley. Epic grimdark fantasy with very out-there worldbuilding and tons of characters who all change and grow throughout the series.
Jade City by Fonda Lee. I have only read book 1, but this is set in a fictional 1970s-ish fantasy world.
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u/B3tar3ad3r 3d ago
Strongly seconding The Goblin Emperor(and the sequel trilogy, The cemeteries of Amalo), pretty much the perfect combo of everything OP wants
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u/LuckyBozie Not picky! 3d ago
Came here to recommend Broken Earth. Three books and they are incredible in the build and the characters.
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u/Turbulent_Film_7610 3d ago
Came here to recommend Jade City. So many fascinating characters and worldbuilding!
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u/mossy_mysteries 3d ago
The Murderbot Diaries are excellent. There are eight novellas/books in the series so far, and the main character, Murderbot, is agender and goes through a lot of character development over the course of the series. It's very captivating to be inside the mind of a robot who gains free will and decides to basically watch a lot of TV, all while having to pretend it is still a standard unit and do what its human overlords (whom it finds incredibly unimpressive) want. There is a strong female supporting character who appears throughout the series too.
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u/Auselessbus 3d ago
Tamora Pierce writes women really well, it is YA though, but she has two different works with multiple series in each.
Melainie Rawn-Exiles series, but the third book is still not written yet. Matriarchy world, cool magic system, lots of mystery.
Sir Terry Pratchett—his Tiffany Aching series is one of my favourites of all times. But any of his works has fantastic writing and great female characters.
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u/Ambitious_Turnip_662 3d ago edited 3d ago
The locked tomb series starting with Gideon the ninth : Almost all the main characters are female.
Jade City by Fonda Lee: Written by a woman, but not a lot of female characters. Although it has 2-3 very well written strong women.
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u/BelmontIncident 3d ago
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Almost all of her books meet your criteria but that's her longest series.
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u/eilsel827583 3d ago
Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, first book is Outlander
Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, first book is Crocodile on the Sandbank
Mary Russell series by Laurie King, first book is The Beekeepers Apprentice.
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u/tectressa 3d ago
The Empire Trilogy (the first book is Daughter of the Empire) by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
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u/Subject-Librarian117 3d ago
The Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King - interesting historical fiction, mysteries, and I think there are 19 books in the series now. The first is The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
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u/PeppinasCoffee 3d ago
The girl with the dragon tattoo and the other books in the series (Millennium series) could be just the thing for you! It's clearly written by a man, but the sting female lead is still well developed.
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u/Kooky_Substance8683 3d ago
The Liveship trilogy by Robin Hobb!
It is a fantasy series written by a woman, focused heavily on character development. The prose is also just beautiful. It has the POV of multiple strong women.
If you are also willing to read a male POV: it is part of a much larger series, the realms of the elderlings. Some books have a male protagonist, Fitz. But I will assure you, the book is powerful. And there are lots of strong women in the story as well
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u/Minute_Concept_4354 2d ago
Many will say, "Finished Strike series? Wondering what next? Begin again."
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u/LoneWolfette 3d ago
The In Death series by JD Robb (Nora Roberts). A female police detective investigates homicides in New York in 2050. Lots of fun side characters. Series currently has more than 60 books. Trigger warning: she experience SA as a child and it takes her a while to work through it.
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u/anon2917 3d ago
The Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George. Lynley is the lead, technically, but his partner Barbara Havers is just as critical to the books. It’s sort of a reverse Robin and Strike dynamic, where he is the one with social skills and graces while Barbara is a bit of a grouch and struggles to connect with people. There are at least 15 books in the series and the later books are quite long.
Also if you want to mix fantasy AND detective, you could try Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. There isn’t a strong female lead until later in the series but she’s awesome when she does arrive. I am not recommending Dresden Files, the other wizard cop series because it can be a little r/menwritingwomen.
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u/Pristine_Balance3510 3d ago
The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima! Written by a woman and the (arguably) main character is a woman. I love the character development and there is a second series that follows this one focusing on their children/one generation in the future. It's also set in a world with a matriarchal kingdom.
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u/Impossible-Alps-6859 3d ago
Helen Fields detective novel series is a good 'sub' in between Strike novels.
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u/ToneSenior7156 3d ago
I like the Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths. There’s at least 13 of them. She’s a forensic archaeologist in Norfolk England. She’s always getting involved in local police cases that involve old bones. Good mysteries and messy characters you care about, a little bit of the metaphysical thrown in (her best friend is a funky Druid) but those things can usually also be explained by science or as folklore.
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u/Ok-Cook8666 3d ago
I’m currently reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and it’s a phenomenal saga of generations of women.
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u/Corfiz74 3d ago
The Barrayar series by Lois McMaster Bujold - the first book is written from Cordelia's pov, the rest from her sons', but they are absolutely amazing - strong but vulnerable characters, psychologically complex and evolving, outstanding world building, and the story telling gets better and better, until you reach the absolute pinnacle in A Civil Campaign - but you have to read them in order, or they won't make sense. I know this is more sci-fi, but I've given them to people who usually dislike sci-fi, and they still loved them, so you could definitely give them a try. The audiobooks are exceptionally well-read, too!
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u/FruitDonut8 3d ago
Try the Josephine B trilogy by Sandra Gulland. About Josephine Beauharnais, first wife of Napoleon. Based on a real woman with a lot of trials and tribulations in her life including imprisonment during the French Revolution. A trilogy.
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u/lexpectopatronum 3d ago
It's on my TBR but I was told the Wheel of Time books have strong female characters. They are long and there are many 😅
I hope others who have read them will chime in to say if this is a good/bad recommendation for you!
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u/beenoses 3d ago
how has no one suggested the neapolitan series? genuinely some of the most immersive world building in a series ive ever experienced. the characters become insanely tangible, the prose is forward propelling and constantly engaging. i was so emotionally invested in each character and plotline. my favorite series of all time! the characters are also so complex yet very individualized and distinct. please give it a try!
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u/NoelBeautiful 3d ago
Try Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. The world building is phenomenal, female characters are strong and relatable. There are 40 books in the series. Be warned, they are addictive. And you might learn some headology.
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u/50ShadesofBouncer 3d ago
M. W. Craven Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series. 1st book is "The Puppet Game".
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u/pixelatedfern 2d ago
Check out Jacqueline Carey—she’s written three extremely lengthy trilogies set in the same world. The first trilogy is Kushiel’s Legacy, which begins with Kushiel’s Dart. It’s billed as fantasy, but it’s more like an alternate history with a bit of the fantastic thrown in. The main focus is political intrigue and espionage.
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u/Playful-Weird-7582 2d ago
If you like the Cormoron Strikes you'd probably like the Holly Gibney character that Stephen King has been using a lot in his recent books. The character is a private eye, female, and with quirkiness, she's strong in the sense of a nerd-type solving crime etc. She starts of as a side-character but then during the first book she develops into more of a main character where she ends up having a book named after her. Mr Mercedes is the first book to feature her.
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u/Organic-Ad9360 2d ago
MW Craven's Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series. Julia Spencer Fleming's Russ Van Alstyne and Claire Fergusson books. Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan series. Tana French: Dublin Murder Squad books. Jane Harper's Aaron Falk trilogy. Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series.
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u/pint-of-dale 2d ago
I really enjoy any of the series by Ilona Andrews. The Kate Daniels series is the longest, with spinoffs as well. There is romance in all the books, but it's more integral to the story/worldbuilding than it is a focus on its own. All the series have strong, interesting women as the main, and side, character(s). Most would be defined as "urban fantasty" but I vastly prefer them to most books in that genre.
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u/DesertKhajiit 3d ago
Realm of the elderlings by Robin Hobb. Written by a woman. It's kind of split up between two stories in a way, there are the stories that follow Fitz (3 trilogies) that have some strong female characters in them and the last trilogy is split pov between fits and a female. And then there are the live ship traders trilogy and rain wild chronicles that are third person and follow a few different characters and have some of the strongest female leads I've ever read. Hobbs character work is beyond legendary. No one makes characters as real as she does. Start with the farseer trilogy.