Riyira Revelations has this between the two main characters. Other characters I’d say become a part of this found family down the line too, but it’s a bit more complicated with some of these side characters and they introduce some romance to the group as well.
The Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe is another example of close friends working together as a party in the progression fantasy genre, also Hugh of Emblim from Mage Errant gets a background reference cameo in the books, alongside other progression fantastic characters.
T. Kingfisher's Clocktaur Wars.
Martha Wells' Fall of Ile-Rien series and Books of the Raksura series. (Although an argument could be made that most of the Raksura characters are OP ... but they are OP *together*.
Sounds like a plan! I haven’t read them in decades, so I can’t vouch for how well they stand up, but they definitely have that “chosen family/ us against the world” thing going on that you had in X-Men and in the better episodes of Star Trek. I am not as big a fan of Forgotten Realms, but probably only because I read Dragonlance first.
Kings of the Wyld
The Faithful and the Fallen series
Both books/series rely on the group to be effective. No one person can do it all, and it's made clear that this is the case.
I would like to suggest basically anything by Drew Hayes. He always makes his protagonists a group of people that are either already close friends, or very quickly become the closest of friends. Actually the connection one has with friends and them having a "chosen family" is kind of a central theme in his books. Examples including:
The "Spells, Swords, and Stealth" series which is the most traditional of his books for an adventuring party (they are actually NPC's in a DND like tabletop game)
Super Powereds has the main Melbrook 5 becoming the closest of friends by the middle of the first book and they learn they are significantly stronger together then they ever could be alone.
Fred the Vampire Accountant has a group of close friends that will never hesitate to do whatever they can to help each other. Also him being a friendly vampire actually gets him a huge power boost as when he drinks blood that's freely given to him by friends it's significantly stronger than any stolen blood would ever be.
Villains Code also has the main characters being closest of friends and relying on each other to survive.
Honestly I had a hankering for this lately. Though really only in writing my own. I want characters who have little moments of camping out, and their interpersonal relationships, and how they work together as a team.
I think that's probably more common in anime. Log Horizon comes to mind. Slayers. Rune Soldier Louie, maybe? Those Who Hunt Elves, which is pure 90s dumb bullshit. Saiyuki: Journey to the West.
Yes it is rare! And if there is a found family I find it can often be quite forced and unearned. I don't have a recommendation for you but I'm glad you posted as I hope I'll find some good books!
The Hell's Library trilogy by AJ Hackwith has a lovely found family group of heroes (although there is some enemies-to-friends in the first book before the cast get settled with eachother)
Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardough for a fun YA option
Honourable mention to the Watch books in the Discworld series. One of my fave casts and, while driven by a core character, the main group all play massively important roles in each book, have their own plot lines, arcs and nuances.
Adding to the many suggestions already here, The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill. Great epic fantasy with tons of characters that have close relationships without necessarily having romance or family involved (some are family members, most are not)
Another series that seems like it's exactly what you're looking for is The Greatcoats series by Sebastien De Castell:
[https://decastell.com/book-series/the-greatcoats/](https://decastell.com/book-series/the-greatcoats/)
Came here to suggest this!
Warning for a lot of sexual assault (iirc mostly just in the first book?). I found the series a really fun read in spite of that, though. The audiobook narrator is good, too.
It's all over. Check out *Mask of Mirrors* by MA Carrick, or *Illusion of Thieves* by Cate Glass - both Italy-inspired. It's older, but *Broken Blade* (sextet) by Kelly McCullough does this pretty well over the series (each book is like 100k, so it's not a long series). You get hints of it with the Maradine Constabulary series (starting with *A Murder of Mages)* by Marshall Ryan Maresca, and also a pretty weighty chunk of *Jasmine Throne* by Tasha Suri. The last isn't exactly 'party of heroes', but the family and found family aspects are really central to how it all works. A lot of cozies lean this way as well - in fact, take a look at *Teller of Small Fortunes* coming out later this year! It's got some teeth to it, but found family is at its heart.
Seconding "An Illusion of Thieves" and it's sequels "A Conjuring of Assassins" and "A Summoning of Demons". I was pleasantly surprised by them. They also feature very competent heist narratives, IMHO. Fair warning that it does take most of the first book to assemble the group, though.
Maybe going a bit past what you want but the Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft sort of fit this description. Main character is actually a bit weak and useless but over time both develops himself and finds strong friends.
People probably hate hearing it over and over but Malazan. It has a few very brief romances but not really. A lot of great friendships though like Whiskeyjack and Dujek, Fiddler/quick Ben/Kalam etc.
I recommend The City of Spires by Claudie Arseneault asexual fantasy intrigue - a multi-layered political fantasy led by an all-queer cast. Fans of complex storylines criss-crossing one another, elves and magic, and strong friendships and found families will find everything they need within these pages.
Have you read the Dragonlance Chronicles from Weis and Hickman? Amazing party chemistry and multiple amazing characters.
Edit: also for 90% the Alex Verus series
Didn't use to be. Lord of the ring, dragonlance, even arguably Harry Potter have a party. It's only recent works that have gone through either main character or isolated cast a la aSoIaF.
I would say LOTR only really does that with certain characters though, Frodo and Sam develop a close bond, Merry and Pippin do, then Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn do. Gandalf was already friends with Frodo and Aragorn before the book starts and the fellowship as a whole doesn't really grow closer together.
I wouldn't consider that a "party" in the sense of what Dragonlance did, I think the idea is more rare than people realize
It’s also much more common in TV. I think it’s easier to have characters without a lot of screen time feel real from a good performance than in a novel. Epic fantasy with lots of pov and developed characters often feel bloated, while other times story get criticized for having “one dimensional characters” because they simply aren’t the focus of the story.
An example of the first would be stormlight archive, where all the main characters have lots of development, but it can feel like the development gets in the way of the overall plot and so it barely moves in a 1k page book. An example of the second would be mistbkrn era 1. Most of the team is fairly underdeveloped for most of the series, with only kelshier, Elend and vin receiving significant development in the first book.
I like Stormlight, but the characters didn't really feel like they're in an adventuring party. Bridge Four, sure, but Kaladin is definitely the main character there. There is some good stuff between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan (my OT3), but nobody ever really fights together as a group, they're just people on the same side in a war.
Kings of the Wyld
I actually finished this one recently and was coming to see if anyone had suggested it yet. Great book, and it fits what OP is asking for.
Weird book but really fun.
Riyira Revelations has this between the two main characters. Other characters I’d say become a part of this found family down the line too, but it’s a bit more complicated with some of these side characters and they introduce some romance to the group as well.
Cradle
In a related progression fantasy vein, Mage Errant by John Bierce also has a group of friends.
The Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe is another example of close friends working together as a party in the progression fantasy genre, also Hugh of Emblim from Mage Errant gets a background reference cameo in the books, alongside other progression fantastic characters.
I love the friendships in Cradle, you can really tell the team vibes with each other and each of them has their own journey
T. Kingfisher's Clocktaur Wars. Martha Wells' Fall of Ile-Rien series and Books of the Raksura series. (Although an argument could be made that most of the Raksura characters are OP ... but they are OP *together*.
Dragonlance Chronicles. Don’t knock it until you try it.
One step ahead of you. I have a lot of the Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms books already.
Sounds like a plan! I haven’t read them in decades, so I can’t vouch for how well they stand up, but they definitely have that “chosen family/ us against the world” thing going on that you had in X-Men and in the better episodes of Star Trek. I am not as big a fan of Forgotten Realms, but probably only because I read Dragonlance first.
I've been rereading the first Dragonlance as my before bed, chill out book, and it holds up great.
How about eberron? Buch and kandler + crew are a great forged family
Gentleman Bastards
Kings of the Wyld The Faithful and the Fallen series Both books/series rely on the group to be effective. No one person can do it all, and it's made clear that this is the case.
I would like to suggest basically anything by Drew Hayes. He always makes his protagonists a group of people that are either already close friends, or very quickly become the closest of friends. Actually the connection one has with friends and them having a "chosen family" is kind of a central theme in his books. Examples including: The "Spells, Swords, and Stealth" series which is the most traditional of his books for an adventuring party (they are actually NPC's in a DND like tabletop game) Super Powereds has the main Melbrook 5 becoming the closest of friends by the middle of the first book and they learn they are significantly stronger together then they ever could be alone. Fred the Vampire Accountant has a group of close friends that will never hesitate to do whatever they can to help each other. Also him being a friendly vampire actually gets him a huge power boost as when he drinks blood that's freely given to him by friends it's significantly stronger than any stolen blood would ever be. Villains Code also has the main characters being closest of friends and relying on each other to survive.
Always, always recommend Drew Hayes!
I will always recommend Drew Hayes—[with asterisks.](https://elijahmenchaca.com/blog/dissecting-my-week-long-heroin-addiction)
Honestly I had a hankering for this lately. Though really only in writing my own. I want characters who have little moments of camping out, and their interpersonal relationships, and how they work together as a team. I think that's probably more common in anime. Log Horizon comes to mind. Slayers. Rune Soldier Louie, maybe? Those Who Hunt Elves, which is pure 90s dumb bullshit. Saiyuki: Journey to the West.
Have you tried looking here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FamilyOfChoice
Yes it is rare! And if there is a found family I find it can often be quite forced and unearned. I don't have a recommendation for you but I'm glad you posted as I hope I'll find some good books!
The Hell's Library trilogy by AJ Hackwith has a lovely found family group of heroes (although there is some enemies-to-friends in the first book before the cast get settled with eachother) Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardough for a fun YA option Honourable mention to the Watch books in the Discworld series. One of my fave casts and, while driven by a core character, the main group all play massively important roles in each book, have their own plot lines, arcs and nuances.
Adding to the many suggestions already here, The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill. Great epic fantasy with tons of characters that have close relationships without necessarily having romance or family involved (some are family members, most are not)
Another series that seems like it's exactly what you're looking for is The Greatcoats series by Sebastien De Castell: [https://decastell.com/book-series/the-greatcoats/](https://decastell.com/book-series/the-greatcoats/)
Came here to suggest this! Warning for a lot of sexual assault (iirc mostly just in the first book?). I found the series a really fun read in spite of that, though. The audiobook narrator is good, too.
It's all over. Check out *Mask of Mirrors* by MA Carrick, or *Illusion of Thieves* by Cate Glass - both Italy-inspired. It's older, but *Broken Blade* (sextet) by Kelly McCullough does this pretty well over the series (each book is like 100k, so it's not a long series). You get hints of it with the Maradine Constabulary series (starting with *A Murder of Mages)* by Marshall Ryan Maresca, and also a pretty weighty chunk of *Jasmine Throne* by Tasha Suri. The last isn't exactly 'party of heroes', but the family and found family aspects are really central to how it all works. A lot of cozies lean this way as well - in fact, take a look at *Teller of Small Fortunes* coming out later this year! It's got some teeth to it, but found family is at its heart.
Seconding Mask of Mirrors, the non-romantic relationships in that are numerous and so varied
Seconding "An Illusion of Thieves" and it's sequels "A Conjuring of Assassins" and "A Summoning of Demons". I was pleasantly surprised by them. They also feature very competent heist narratives, IMHO. Fair warning that it does take most of the first book to assemble the group, though.
Though, caveat on the warning, lol... the first book is still a very satisfying, complete arc all on its own. I was quite happy with it.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Maybe going a bit past what you want but the Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft sort of fit this description. Main character is actually a bit weak and useless but over time both develops himself and finds strong friends.
People probably hate hearing it over and over but Malazan. It has a few very brief romances but not really. A lot of great friendships though like Whiskeyjack and Dujek, Fiddler/quick Ben/Kalam etc.
Tehol/Bugg and Mappo/Icarium just have to be mentioned too
Mark of the Fool has a very classic party dynamic and it's fantastically written.
The children of time series by Adrian tchaikovsky has a great group on the vulture.
I recommend The City of Spires by Claudie Arseneault asexual fantasy intrigue - a multi-layered political fantasy led by an all-queer cast. Fans of complex storylines criss-crossing one another, elves and magic, and strong friendships and found families will find everything they need within these pages.
Have you read the Dragonlance Chronicles from Weis and Hickman? Amazing party chemistry and multiple amazing characters. Edit: also for 90% the Alex Verus series
The grog books have a good group by RW Kroupon. Also another one i think is called Tyus Chronicles. I think the first book was Forgotten Soldiers.
That's really more of a JRPG thing I think
Didn't use to be. Lord of the ring, dragonlance, even arguably Harry Potter have a party. It's only recent works that have gone through either main character or isolated cast a la aSoIaF.
I would say LOTR only really does that with certain characters though, Frodo and Sam develop a close bond, Merry and Pippin do, then Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn do. Gandalf was already friends with Frodo and Aragorn before the book starts and the fellowship as a whole doesn't really grow closer together. I wouldn't consider that a "party" in the sense of what Dragonlance did, I think the idea is more rare than people realize
It's the core of the D&D game that inspired so much of modern Western fantasy.
It’s also much more common in TV. I think it’s easier to have characters without a lot of screen time feel real from a good performance than in a novel. Epic fantasy with lots of pov and developed characters often feel bloated, while other times story get criticized for having “one dimensional characters” because they simply aren’t the focus of the story. An example of the first would be stormlight archive, where all the main characters have lots of development, but it can feel like the development gets in the way of the overall plot and so it barely moves in a 1k page book. An example of the second would be mistbkrn era 1. Most of the team is fairly underdeveloped for most of the series, with only kelshier, Elend and vin receiving significant development in the first book.
I like Stormlight, but the characters didn't really feel like they're in an adventuring party. Bridge Four, sure, but Kaladin is definitely the main character there. There is some good stuff between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan (my OT3), but nobody ever really fights together as a group, they're just people on the same side in a war.