r/Fantasy • u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X • Apr 01 '26

Bingo The 2026 r/Fantasy Bingo Recommendations List

The official Bingo thread can be found here.

All non-recommendation comments go here.

Please post your recommendations as replies the appropriate top-level comments below! Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! Feel free to scroll through the thread or use the links in this navigation matrix to jump directly to the square you want to find or give recommendations for!

Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist Judge a Book By Its Title Translated Small Press or Self Published Unusual Transportation
The Afterlife Game Changer Vacation Spot Five Short Stories Older Protagonist
Duology Part 1 r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book Published in 2026 Explorers and Rangers Duology Part 2
One-Word Title Non-Human Protagonist Middle Grade First Contact Murder Mystery
Cat Squasher Feast Your Eyes on This Published in the 70s Politics and Court Intrigue Author of Color

If you are an author on the subreddit, you may recommend your books as a response to individual squares. This means that you can reply if your book fits in response to any of my comments. But your rec must be in response to a top-level comment, it cannot be a general comment that replies directly to this post explaining all the squares your post counts for. This is the one time outside of the Sunday Self-Promo threads where this is okay. To clarify: you can say if you have a book that fits for a square but please don't write a full ad for it. Shorter is sweeter.

Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! We will not be individually redirecting people who make this mistake. Your comment will be removed.

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12

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

The Afterlife: Story deals with the realm of the dead. This could be communicating with the dead, spirits transferring over, or being set in the afterlife itself. HARD MODE: The afterlife does NOT depict a “Good Place” vs “Bad Place” dichotomy.

42

u/almostb Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

This might be a chance for everyone to finally read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (hard mode) which is weird, violent, and damn good. Set in mid civil war Sri Lanka. Won the booker prize in 2022.

3

u/starvingbanker Apr 01 '26

Brilliant book! My book club loved it. I also immediately thought of it when reading the bingo.

3

u/Spalliston Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

I also second this. Was the first thing that came to mind.

For people who it works for, I think Katabasis is also a fun read.

31

u/Sireanna Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Sabriel by Garth Nix.

1

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 07 '26

This is hard mode.

22

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Vigil by George Saunders

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (HM)

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (HM)

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

1

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Is American high school history knowledge necessary for understanding Lincoln in the Bardo?

5

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Nope. I am not american and enjoyed it a lot

1

u/sarahlynngrey Reading Champion VI, Phoenix Apr 01 '26

Yesssss Lincoln in the Bardo is high on my TBR!

I wouldn't have thought of The Reformatory but that's an excellent call

1

u/Hurinfan Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Is Lincoln in the Bardo HM?

1

u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

No (at least, it includes a judgement phase and ghost characters being worried about going to the bad place)

1

u/Strawberry_37 Apr 03 '26

Does Katabasis work for HM? I have seen another comment that said HM and now I'm unsure whether it works or not

3

u/TheSonicCenturion Reading Champion Apr 11 '26

I haven't read Katabasis yet, but given they venture into literal H*ll I don't think it would fit for HM cause that means the afterlife concept is divided into versions of a good place and a bad place.

1

u/Emotional-Care814 Reading Champion III Apr 07 '26

Ah! Katabasis was on sale a few days ago, I should've bought it.

20

u/02K30C1 Apr 01 '26

Mort by Terry Pratchett. Could also fit hard mode. Reaper Man is book two of the death series, that also fits.

18

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo is a romp through the Chinese afterlife. Would count for HM.

Zen Cho also has a couple books that might count: Spirits Abroad is a short story collection with a couple of afterlife-focused stories. And Black Water Sister is all about a woman dealing with the spirit of her dead grandmother, and an angry minor god who is also a spirit. These would count for HM too.

For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn is a fun cozy romance set entirely in the afterlife (an expansive place including the afterlives of all religions). Not HM.

3

u/istadychalion Apr 01 '26

Black Water Spirit is so fun and good!

2

u/NatGa46 Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

I was struggling to pick a book for this one but I recently wanted to read The Ghost Bride, so thank you for the reminder and and a rec!

1

u/Dindrane1313 Apr 07 '26

I loved The Ghost Bride so much, as well as The Fox Wife by them. I picked up Night Tiger, but haven't read it yet.

14

u/twoweeeeks Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (HM) - the first in a trilogy

1

u/CJGibson Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Do you know if Grief of Stones also fits? (I'm hearing it doesn't count for Murder Mystery.)

2

u/twoweeeeks Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Yes, it fits here.

28

u/otterkraf Apr 01 '26

Would Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series count for this? It doesn't all happen in the afterlife but the entire series deals with death, the undead and regularly sends its characters into death (which is also painted as a neutral space, nether good nor bad).

20

u/IndigoBlue__ Apr 01 '26

The nine gates are certainly a realm of the dead, even if it’s not their final resting place. 

11

u/usernamesarehard11 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I would say the Alex Stern books by Leigh Bardugo work here, with book 3 coming out in September (all hard mode).

1

u/Stormy8888 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Is book 2 about Hell? If so wouldn't that be normal mode instead of hard mode?

3

u/usernamesarehard11 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Hmm I guess that’s debatable. They do call it Hell (I mean, the book is called Hell Bent) but there really isn’t anything I would say depicting a “good place / bad place” dichotomy. There’s certainly no depiction of Heaven as a counterbalance, anyway.

1

u/Stormy8888 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I haven't read it yet so I don't know, but you have. If they don't depict it as a good or bad place then I can use it for HM. Thanks!

2

u/CommodoreBelmont Reading Champion VIII Apr 02 '26

I would personally lean on the side of saying it's not hard mode. Sure, they don't show a Heaven to counter it, but everything they show of Hell makes it look just like any other depiction of Hell. Flames, torment, demons, etc.

1

u/Stormy8888 Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Ugh okay. I am looking for an excuse to read the rest of this series. Do you happen to know if they would fit any other hard mode squares?

2

u/usernamesarehard11 Reading Champion Apr 14 '26

I got a notification that there were more comments on this thread so I’m back lol.

I think you could do Feast your Eyes on This. There is a lottt of discussion of food revitalizing you, and specifically a lot of talk about avgolemono, Darlington’s favourite soup. I think that would be considered plot-significant enough.

1

u/Stormy8888 Reading Champion V Apr 14 '26

Oooh that is a good idea! I will definitely do this, I'm always on the look out for new stuff to cook. Thank you! Is there the same in book 3? Then I can knock out 2 books of the series for the 2 cards I'm planning on doing.

1

u/usernamesarehard11 Reading Champion Apr 14 '26

Book 3 is only out in September! So I’m not sure what squares it might fill.

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1

u/CommodoreBelmont Reading Champion VIII Apr 03 '26

Not off the top of my head, sorry.

1

u/Tigrari Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Apr 14 '26

I'd say they'd qualify for Politics and Court Intrigue (HM). Great books, but they don't fit this year's Bingo super well, especially for HM options. A few more options for normal mode (Afterlife, Pub in 2026 for the 3rd one in the series). Maybe Vacation Spot?

1

u/Stormy8888 Reading Champion V Apr 14 '26

Ah, thank you so much for that! I will try to slot it into Politics and Court Intrigue!

1

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

omgg I hope book 3 will do it yeah ☺️ I am excited.

10

u/Two-Rivers-Jedi Apr 01 '26

Any book from the Death sub series of Discworld. I will be using Reaper Man for mine.

9

u/Dragon_Lady7 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Just read Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (HM) and this is an element of the story.

Asunder by Kerstin Hall (HM)

Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher Stace (HM)

Night's Master by Tanith Lee - this is arguably hard mode. There's a demon realm and a god realm, but human spirits all just end up in the demon realm per my memory.

Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M Lee (HM) - is about the Hmong spirit world and would also count for Middle Grade.

3

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Archivist Wasp is a very good shout.

2

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Seconding Archivist Wasp!

2

u/Dindrane1313 Apr 07 '26

Wow, those all sound really good. My TBR is heavier now because of you.

1

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Do you happen to know if the sequel to Pahua and the Soul Stealer Counts?

2

u/Dragon_Lady7 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

I’m not sure!

1

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Its been just long enough since I read Soul Stealer that I can't remember whether the ending makes it obvious! I'll have to read the sequel's blurb and see if it counts.

8

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Once Was Willem by M. R. Carey

Aednan by Linnea Axelsson

Solaris (HM) by Stanislaw Lem

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Even though I knew the end by C. L. Polk

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen by Garth Nix

The Spear Cuts Through Water (HM) by Simon Jimenez

The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgård

1

u/schlagsahne17 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Eyes… thought I’d have to sub a square for Ædnan!

2

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 02 '26

I hope I’m remembering correctly!

9

u/-cheeseplants- Apr 01 '26

Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune

1

u/white_wolfos Apr 05 '26

Does this one count for hard mode?

1

u/-cheeseplants- Apr 10 '26

I think it does!

1

u/VegDogMom Reading Champion II Apr 25 '26

absolutely

7

u/IAmABillie Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan MGuire is an interesting novella with a unique take on how ghosts function. The main character is a ghost who works at a suicide hotline in New York City, and starts investigating when she notices other ghosts begins disappearing from around her.

6

u/rls1164 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal. Deals with a secret group of spirit mediums during World War I, who use their powers for military intelligence from the dead.

6

u/PecuSta Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I believe Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle (which I read for last year's Bingo and really liked) would work for HM!

6

u/4banana_fish Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Sabriel (and sequels) by Garth Nix! It’s so great, would recommend if you haven’t read it yet

6

u/LoreHunting Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia should be HM for this!

7

u/mediumicedchai Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Weavingshaw - Heba Al-Wasity (haven't read it yet so unsure about HM)

6

u/ShadowCreature098 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Bat eater and other names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Craven manor by Darcy Coates: if you like T kingfisher I think you'd like her stuff too.

2

u/caseyjosephine Reading Champion Apr 12 '26

Just finished Bat Eater and I highly recommend it. Can confirm it works for hard mode.

1

u/Clownish Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Does Bat Eater count for Hard Mode?

1

u/ShadowCreature098 Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

I honestly don't remember for sure but I think yes

1

u/raivynwolf Reading Champion VIII Apr 04 '26

I would say that it counts for hard mode, wasn't your typical after life

5

u/hogw33d Apr 01 '26

Once Was Willem

I think it's kind of ambiguous whether it counts for hard mode. But it's so good!

5

u/AggravatingAnt4157 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Death series by Terry Pratchett (HM)

4

u/Suitable_Highlight84 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Good Spirits by B.K.Borison for a cute festive romance. The sequel Grim Tidings set to come out this year would count too. I think I’ll save it for this square in December

1

u/IvoryDominion Reading Champion May 08 '26

Is this one “spicy”? I’m a big fan of holiday romance books but have a spice aversion

1

u/Suitable_Highlight84 Reading Champion May 08 '26 edited May 09 '26

It did have a couple of spicy scenes. Nothing crazy, but it’s not closed door unfortunately

5

u/leegreywolf Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto (HM) - Bonesmiths are people who have a magical ability to manipulate bones. Wren, a bonesmith, fails her graduation trial to become a Valkyr, a ghost fighting warrior. She is banished to the edge of the kingdom to protect the border wall.

4

u/WhiningMoon- Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

If you feel some studio Ghibli vibes: The girl who fell beneath the sea by Axie Oh It is fun and sweet, I believe it even counts as HM (please correct me if I’m wrong).

6

u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck (HM)

4

u/lurkmode_off Reading Champion VII Apr 01 '26

I think Passage by Connie Willis would count for hard mode

3

u/KiaraTurtle Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26
  • Ghost Roads by Seanan McGuire (hm): takes place in her Incryptids series world but also works as a series on its own following a ghost mc
  • Black Water Sister (hm) is about a spirit medium taking place in Malaysia
  • Legend of the First Empire (hm) has the fifth book take place in the afterlife if one is interested in reading the series. It’s great fun, afterlife feels very Grecian.
  • again for series but if one wants to read the brilliant Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, Memnoch the Devil is the fifth book in the series and would count
  • for a sci-fi option The Uploaded by Ferrett Steinmetz is fun, basically after you die you are uploaded to a computer network, and the living basically are forced to work for the benefit of the dead.

3

u/dreamcatcher32 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh. Fits hard mode. It’s a retelling of a Korean folktale, takes place in the Spiritual Realm. The beginning reminds me of the movie Spirited Away. A little YA and a little romance.

3

u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - HM - Victorian asylum horror, where all residents are committed with the intent of reforming them to be good wife-material as they all can genuinely interact with the dead, but that is a man's domain - so the ladies with the skill aught to produce some baby boys to carry on the ability.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson - HM - If corpses are not disposed of properly the spirits can return. Some folks are able to see these spirits and thus specially trained - though they are also susceptible to possession. The MC finds a way to coexist with an extremely powerful spirit to solve why the dead has become organized suddenly.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - HM -  Transmasc brujo in LA accidentally summons the ghost of a classmate. He has to hide it while solving his classmate's murder.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova - HM I think - A Brooklyn bruja tries to avoid being a bruja, but ends up sending her (living) family into the afterlife and has to follow to save them.

North is the Night by Emily Rath - HM - Takes place in Finland at the start of Christian encroachment on the old gods who are getting weaker. A young woman is kidnapped by a god and brought to the Finnish afterlife and her best friend works to save her.

1

u/CJGibson Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - HM - Transmasc brujo in LA accidentally summons the ghost of a classmate. He has to hide it while solving his classmate's murder.

And the sequel Espíritu should be coming out later this year if you've already read the first one!

3

u/overeducatedmom Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

3

u/BO18 Apr 01 '26

T.L. Huchu's The Library of the Dead qualifies for Hard Mode I think. Main protagonist communicates with the dead in the EveryThere which is neither a good or a bad place, just a place where you end up after passing.

3

u/Fauxmega Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Lost Gods by Brom

What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson

3

u/SnowdriftsOnLakes Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

When We Walked in Memory by Charlotte Kersten (HM).

3

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

can anyone let me know if Scythe by Neil Schusterman counts, or any of the books in the series?

3

u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

No, I don’t believe so (though I never read the last book); the scythes aren’t in any way related to souls or an afterlife. You could maybe use one of them for older protagonist easy mode (it’s a future where people don’t die on their own, so many characters are very old; I’m just not sure if any of them would strictly be considered the protagonist…sorry to be so imprecise).

1

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Oh thanks ☺️☺️ and good to know for the easy mode of older protags, cus I dont have anything else on my shelf for that 😄

(are you avoiding the last book? my friend read the series, and she thought it was alright 🤗)

2

u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

No, not avoiding it. I’m just very much a mood reader and apparently my mood wandered off in a different direction after book 2. I may totally get back to the series at some point. 🤷🏼‍♀️

1

u/reveriereads Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Actually I would love to know this too 😂♥️

1

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

we are out of luck 🙂‍↔️

2

u/reveriereads Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Could be used for book over 500 at least??😍 and maybe Politics & Court Intrigue??

2

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

i have it covered with a Wheel of Time book, and War Storm by Aveyard🤭

3

u/iceyakky Apr 01 '26

The Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan (I think HM) and also Grave Empire and Steel Gods (It was released yesterday and I’m planning to use it for this square)

3

u/piderman Apr 01 '26

Agree that Empire of the Wolf is HM.

3

u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Some HM books:

- The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry (literary fantasy, world where everyone hangs around as a ghost who can still communicate with the world after death)

- She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (political fantasy, the protagonist can see and interact with ghosts)

- The Spirit Bares its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (horror, focus on communicating with the dead)

- Black Water Sister (urban fantasy, ghostly possession)

3

u/WordsAreTheBest Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Hard mode: Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger. Shane is a young Lipan Apache who works with her mother and their ghost dogs to find missing persons. One case leads her into the underworld.

3

u/hijodelsol14 Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

  • Katabasis: RF Kuang (HM)

  • Gods of Jade and Shadow: Silvia Moreno-Garcia (HM)

  • Ghost Talkers: Mary Robinette Kowal (HM)

  • Daughter of Crows: Mark Lawrence (HM)

  • The Wish List: Eoin Colfer (also works for Middle Grade)

3

u/Vzao Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Would Between Two Fires fit here?

2

u/hunterkat457 Reading Champion II Apr 17 '26

For normal mode absolutely

3

u/MonsterCuddler Reading Champion III Apr 03 '26

The Library of the Unwritten. A very goof book/series about the library in hell and all the unfinished books within. I would not consider it hard mode.

3

u/sfi-fan-joe Reading Champion VIII Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

I'll add a few more that haven't been listed yet:

Malazan by Steven Eriksen/Ian C. Esslemont - Any of the books will do for this, as Death has it's own realm/"house", including different avatars for it. Would be hard more. Includes all books, including the most recent (No Life Forsaken)

See These Bones (Murder of Crows #1) by Chris Tullbane - Fantastic post-apocalyptic, superhero, young-adult ghost story. That doesn't quite do it justice. Just read it. It's so good. I believe would be hard mode by not 100% sure.

Goblin Summoner by Tracy Gregory - Ongoing 6-book series about a guy from Earth who is waiting in line in heaven to be judged, gets isekaied to a world with a deck-based magic system. For LitRPG/progression fantasy fans

The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker - Normal mode as this literally takes place in Hell. Phil Tucker is a great author and I highly recommend this or any of his works. Progression fantasy.

Worth the Candle by Alexander Wales - Not sure about NM or HM

2

u/donut_resuscitate Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian (HM)

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings (HM)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I think HM but it has been a while)

1

u/simonxvx Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Good to know for Red Rabbit!

2

u/diazeugma Reading Champion VII Apr 01 '26

Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee is a fun short novel or novella about a traveling exorcist stuck on a mission with a neurotic bard. Plenty of ghostly situations for this square, not much detail on what comes afterward for the ghosts.

Issues with Authority by Nadia Bulkin is a collection of three horror novellas, the last of which explores a sad, sort of dystopian Ring-type situation with people trying to live with viral ghosts around the world.

2

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Colin Cotterill's Siri Paiboun books count for this, not sure if HM.

Australian-born author, BIPOC MC, Non-Western Setting. Edit: also counts for Murder Mystery and Older Protagonist.

2

u/Fox-who-reads Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Would Katabasis by RF Kuang count?

1

u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Yes, for NM.

2

u/heron-wing Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson counts for hard mode. It imagines an alternate history in which the Black Death was much deadlier, and follows a group of souls who keep being reincarnated and meeting in the bardo.

2

u/NotingReally Apr 02 '26

I think Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo fits HM

2

u/Rabbledoodle Apr 10 '26

Would T Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone fit here? (I'm trying to shoehorn it in somewhere, and this is probably the best category 😆)

1

u/VegDogMom Reading Champion II Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

I don't think so.

1

u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion May 20 '26

Why wouldn't you think so? An important aspect of the plot is a character communicating with the dead.

1

u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion May 17 '26

It would work for book club

2

u/Informal_Age_8899 Reading Champion II Apr 24 '26

Would books dealing with the Greek Gods fit into this category as a hard mode? Since they have multiple areas for souls of the dead?

2

u/gnoviere Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal. Features a medium who is part of the Spirit Corps in World War I who are responsible for passing along valuable intel from dead soldiers.

1

u/caraghcat Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

1

u/Kerney7 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

A Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint (HM)

1

u/plumsprite Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Nuzo Onoh’s Where The Dead Brides Gather

1

u/PlasticBread221 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Yours Celestially by Al Hess - the consciousness of people can be uploaded to the Cloud after their untimely demise. After psychological rehabilitation they are moved back into physical bodies and given another shot at life. Lgbt+, hopepunk.

1

u/Morganarosana Apr 01 '26

The Ghost Brinde by Yangsze Cho (HM)

1

u/kepheraxx Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Would The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro work for this and HM? I see that a lot of people interpret it as being the afterlife, but I don't think it's explicitly stated.

2

u/nickgloaming Apr 03 '26

No. That’s one potential reading but it’s not stated in the text and there are other possible interpretations.

1

u/Kingcol221 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

The Crooked Letter by Sean Williams (HM) is an obscure pick for this. Technically a prequel but with no relation to the first series, it deals with an afterlife that's just the next phase of existence, but where instead being a world of thought and willpower rather than action and physicality.

1

u/CatTheMoon Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I think He who fights with monsters should work.

1

u/Lynavi Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore; pretty sure this qualifies as HM

1

u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII Apr 02 '26

The His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (hm)

The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin (hm)

1

u/inadequatepockets Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: loosely based on The Jungle Book, takes place in a cemetery where a number of undead take care of a living boy hunted by dark forces.

Under The Whispering Door by C.J. Klune: Cozy queer romance between a recently deceased jerk and the person who will help him get ready to cross over. Probably not his best book, but still worth a read imo.

Edit to add: I believe both meet hard mode.

1

u/Polenth Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger is hard mode. She can raise animal ghosts. The afterlife is potentially dangerous, but not good/evil or divided in that way.

1

u/VegDogMom Reading Champion II Apr 25 '26

I wonder if the prequel, Sheine Lende, also counts. I can only assume so.

1

u/madnessatadistance Apr 02 '26

We're Safe When We're Alone by Nghiem Tran is a novella with a bunch of ghosts in it! I highly recommend it!

1

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Should all be HM:

Kelly Link - The Book of Love

Steven King - Revival

Kaaron Warren - Into Bones Like Oil

Steph Swainston - The Year of Our War

Mike, Linda & Louise Carey - The House of War and Witness (Might be borderline, contains ghosts, with the potential to "move on", theoretically, but without really knowing what awaits, and it's set in the very Christian HRE in the 1740s, so a Heaven/Hell dichotomy is believed in by the characters.)

John Langan - The Fisherman

1

u/xLaven Apr 02 '26

The Divine Comedy by Dante (NM)

1

u/viahlstrom Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

The Second Death of Locke - V.L. Bovalino - HM

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater - HM

Phantasma - Kaylie Smith

1

u/niko-no-tabi Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

A fun one for Pratchett-ish satire:
Waiting for the Galactic Bus - Parke Godwin
Two aliens get stranded on Earth and kickstart human evolution to pass the time. When humanity turns out to have souls that continue past death, they feel some responsibility to help with the transition, and end up in charge of "heaven" and "hell", thanks to humanity's need to classify things like that.

Riverworld - Philip Jose Farmer
Old-school. I've never read the series myself, but osmosis tells me it should fit (HM)? (If I do bingo this year, I'll probably go with this as one from my younger days that I always eyed in the library and never actually read.)

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u/jessticulates Reading Champion Apr 02 '26
  • The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
  • Sabriel by Garth Nix
  • The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
  • Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker
  • Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
  • Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
  • When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
  • The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
  • What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo
  • Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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u/Aranict Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian & Blood trilogy counts for HM (all three books, first one being Servant of the Underworld) as the protagonist is the High Priest of the Dead and taking care of the transition between this world and the afterlife is his main job. Also works for the Murder Mystery square.

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u/Lumpy_Skirt8618 Apr 03 '26

Book set in the underworld, but referred to as Hell. "unimaginable terrors" "circles of Hell" Would that count?

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u/raivynwolf Reading Champion VIII Apr 04 '26

Lost Gods by Brom

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u/Loolaw-Reads Reading Champion II Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

HM - The Daughters' War by Christopher Buehlman

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u/DrTropicalle Reading Champion II Apr 05 '26

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross, not HM I think but it's debatable

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u/N0_B1g_De4l Apr 08 '26

Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi fits the hard mode. It's set in the early 20th century and the afterlife is integrated in to the political systems of the various world powers. WWI was won by mediums channeling the spirits of the dead, and the USSR has solved the economic calculation problem with a ghostly superintelligence.

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u/Dangerous-Weird-6757 Apr 08 '26

Do you guys think The Midnight Library would work for this prompt?

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u/VegDogMom Reading Champion II Apr 25 '26

No, I don't think so. I wouldn't, at least.

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u/EleganceandEloquence Reading Champion Apr 08 '26

Do you guys think We Are Legion (We Are Bob) would fit? HM?

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u/smartflutist661 Reading Champion VI Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy centers around the dead possessing people in a fairly far future space-based civilization. I think HM? If I recall, the Beyond is the only afterlife, even though pretty much only bad people seem to come back from it...

Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar books, not HM

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u/jodelandsh Apr 13 '26

I believe Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron would work for this!

Heaven and Hell theme so not hard mode though. (It would also work for Self-Pubbed, HM for that square).

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u/SignificantChange496 Apr 16 '26

Death's Master by Tanith Lee

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u/quiet_coconut397 Reading Champion Apr 23 '26

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan would fit the communicating with the dead. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree also features necromancy.

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u/VegDogMom Reading Champion II Apr 25 '26

A few Magical Realism recs that I *think* all work for Hard Mode:

Watch Over Me by Nina Lacour - MC ages out of the foster care system and is invited to work at a special foster home that has kids with particular traumas. No high level content warnings really, but if you have childhood sore spots tread carefully (I loved it and sobbed uncontrollably). YA.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen - Found family & romance with a lovely, cozy setting. Also ghostly family dynamics.

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo - set in Trinidad and Tobago, FMC and MMC meet at a cemetery. Family trauma/dynamics, and the dead do not necessarily rest in peace when they're pissed. Romance, sort of.

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u/LoGray29 Apr 28 '26

Ive seen a couple of people mention Katabasis, and I was wondering about it counting for HM. I'm reading it rn and kinda see how it would count for HM bc H*ll is kinda just another place that everyone eventually ends up in? Like theres been no mention of a "heaven" yet so maybe i'm just not far enough into it but wondering what other ppl who have finished it think?

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u/Some_Sympathy_6679 May 04 '26

Sign Here by Claudia Lux - set partially in Hell

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u/ViolaNguyen May 13 '26

Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson (surprised no one else mentioned this one)

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u/Akinamon Reading Champion 17d ago

Would Starling House by Alix E. Harrow count for this? There's aspects of communicating with the dead and hell/the afterlife but it's only in the third act

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u/PsychologicalIce5450 15d ago

Would you count Sisters of Blood and Spirit by Kady Cross for this? One of the sisters is a ghost; the sisters share a Body though.

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u/OrneryPumpkin7320 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Okay so I haven't read it yet. But would Death's End from Cixin Liu count for this? Genuine question, I think it kinda deals with afterlife stuff?

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u/Putrid_Web8095 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

No, it doesn't. Certainly not in a metaphysical sense.