I really enjoy the idea of world building of high fantasy: A completely foreign place, not tied to anything like earth. I also like that the norms of current social structure can be completely turned on its head.

But what I struggle with is: a lot of popular high fantasy turns into an epic, super high stakes tale of how the world almost ended. I think that is something I’ve either seen too much of, or something that just takes away from other potential interesting stories that could come out of a different world.

So instead, I am looking for books where the protagonist explores/adventures through the foreign world discovering people and places within it. But there the challenges or conflicts the characters go through are personal and more relatable.

Does anyone share similar frustrations? Does anyone have any suggestions for books that I might enjoy?

Edit: Thanks everyone for your suggestions! Anyone that still comes across this tread, please feel free to add more, and hopefully it’s useful for others as well.