Larry Niven’s “Known Space” has quite a few machines, but they’re generally not the point of the story. There’s a lot more about how human and non-human species relate and interact, and how the machines affect their behaviour and choices.

The whole approach of Puppeteers (technically brilliant cowards) and Kzinti (foolishly rash but honourable risk-takers), taken against human approaches is well-written.

Of course, once you comprehend its size, the Ringworld itself overwhelms a lot of the rest of the stories 😲.

Niven’s attitude to women and sex haven’t aged well…

But the stories are pretty good. He knows how to set multiple threads on their way and bind them up together at the end, or at least leave a decent cliff-hanger for a sequel.

Pretty much all of the Sci-Fi written by Ursula K. LeGuin features people more than machines. There are technologies in the stories that play a role, but the are described as vaguely as possible to support the plot. As a result, often her sci-fi stories feel more like fantasy.

Octavia Butler wrote the Xenogenesis series which features an alien “species” whose system of technology is entirely biological.

I mean… steampunk pretends to emulate modern tech all with steam power. Not only is it so absurd that it’s funny and enjoyable, but aesthetically when bathed in art deco, it’s positively gorgeous.

But in terms of story…. Shrug, there are probably tons of sci-fi writers that have touched this kind of storytelling. I think Alan Dean Foster maybe had something like this, and/or Piers Anthony, maybe a few others I read many years ago. No recollection as to what actual books, sorry.

It’s called Dune

Dune.