https://www.themarysue.com/the-10-best-fantasy-books-with-no-magic/

A fantasy book with no magic? That’s like a bagel without cream cheese! Cereal without milk! An owl without a graduation cap! Criminal! Heretical! An affront to nature! Or is it? Maybe fantasy books don’t actually need to be propped up by whacky magic systems, allowing author to focus on character building rather than enchanted swords and ponderable orbs. Maybe these authors are actually on to something here? I’ll give these 10 best fantasy books with no magic a try, but I’m still gonna put cream cheese on my bagel. Some things are meant to be a certain way for a reason, any college educated owl could tell you that.

His Majesty’s Dragon

If dragons existed during the 19th century, would the Napoleonic Wars would have gone differently for their namesake Corsican general? Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon is a thought experiment that attempts to answer that very question! After Napoleon has victory all but assured through the clever use of his dragon riders, the tides of battle shift when British sailor William Laurence finds a dragon egg on a captured French frigate. He forms a bond with the beast, naming his new mount Temeraire, and finds himself reassigned to the British Aerial Corps to do battle for the Crown. Dragons aren’t magical beings in this series, just animals with strategic merit. Like horses that can fly and breathe fire! Sorry, actual horses, y’all are gonna have to do better if you want to earn military glory.