A book series I would highly recommend is “A Song of Ice and Fire.” What makes these books so human is the characters, and how there are no “good” or “evil” people – just varying shades of complex morality.
The books truly show a very diverse and magical world portrayed in song, adventure and tall tales while others rely on magic, orcs and elves.
These books deal with a very real human element with the elves, giants and dragons being on the verge of extinction.
The world of “Ice and Fire” is a huge fantasy world filled with many different cultures, factions, religions and kingdoms, all vying for power in the Game of Thrones (see what they did there). The stories and plots within plots as these factions fight for power is the driving force behind everything.
All the action takes place around the Seven Kingdoms, a medieval-era low magic kingdom and the power plays and wars for the iron crown. The main books take place around the war of the five kings and all the other conflicts amongst the noble house of the world.
These books are better than the show “Game of Thrones” in my view for how they show the world and characters in a way Hollywood never could. I’m still waiting on the sixth book.
I would highly recommend fans of the show to give the books a shot. Just be aware of every dark thing the show does. These books are for an adult reader.
“A Song of Ice and Fire” are the books that HBO butchered to make “Game of Thrones.” The books and the show follow the same general storyline and characters, but split off in big ways.