I'm currently reading a series by Adrian Tchaikovsky called Shadow of the Apt, which is sort of steampunk-y fantasy. It's basically about a world at war. There's an evil empire and everybody else is struggling to get over their differences to stand against it. A large cast of characters and lots of character development. There are a few sex scenes here and there, but they are not graphic and there isn't very much focus on sex at all in general. Bit gory in places, though.


I also just finished the Terra Incognita series by Kevin J Anderson, which I really enjoyed. It has exploration at sea and a religious war that goes on for decades. Also a large cast of characters, only vague hints towards sex (as in, fading to black before they actually get started) and quite gory in places.