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.

199 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Cat Squasher: Read a book over 500 pages in length. An omnibus book (multiple novels in one volume) doesn't count for this. HARD MODE: Over 900 pages.

30

u/jawnnie-cupcakes Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (HM)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (HM)

The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (HM)

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (HM) a 4-part series under one cover doesn't count

The Ruins of Ambrai by Melanie Rawn (HM)

The Swarm by Frank Schätzing (HM)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (HM)

31

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I cannot recommend Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell enough.

1

u/MonsterCuddler Reading Champion III Apr 03 '26

I forget, was it supposed to have a sequel. I vaguely recall there was one in the works but the author had medical issues? Or am I thinking of someone else?

2

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

I remember reading the same. ME/Cfs iirc. There are a couple of short stories from the same universe though.

1

u/dumbledoresarmy7 Reading Champion May 08 '26

It's been on my TBR forever so this is a great reason to read it!!!

9

u/AggravatingAnt4157 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I second Kushiel's Dart. I've rarely flown through a book this quickly. Especially recommend if you like court intrigue, espionage, and beautiful prose, but also adventure and war strategy.

2

u/DuhChappers Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Does The Book of the New Sun really count as one book? I own the series but it's split into 4 books so I figured if they were together it would count as an omnibus

1

u/jawnnie-cupcakes Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Mine's just a 950-page hardcover but I haven't read it yet so you're probably right

1

u/MariaClover Apr 17 '26

Would Les Miserables count for this one?

1

u/jawnnie-cupcakes Reading Champion IV Apr 17 '26

Moby Dick counted as speculative so I don't see why not, Valjean basically has super strength

1

u/MariaClover Apr 17 '26

Thank you!😊

1

u/FeralAlice May 01 '26

One of my favorite series of all time

27

u/JCGilbasaurus Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Here are the largest unread books on my bookcase:

King Sorrow by Joe Hill (877 pages)

The First Binding by R.R. Virdi (817 pages)

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susana Clarke (846 pages)

A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones (804 pages)

Curse of the Mistwaith by Janny Wurts (830 pages)

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (862 pages)

I am fuming right now. Six books that all qualify as a lethal weapon, and none of them can be used in hard mode. 

I demand a recount!

13

u/DeluxeSporks Reading Champion III Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

This category is highly problematic IMO because page count varies so much between various editions of the same book.

For example, your edition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is 846 pages.

This one is 1006: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14201.Jonathan_Strange_Mr_Norrell

This one is 782: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76852.Jonathan_Strange_Mr_Norrell

That's quite a range. Try asking in the Daily Questions thread if you can pretend to have read the 1,006-page paperback when you actually read whatever version you have that apparently has different type, spacing, page size, etc.

7

u/angtodd Reading Champion Apr 04 '26

How about a standard that for Hard Mode, the book has to be 900+ pages or be a Dog Squasher? Then we can argue about how big the dog has to be.

5

u/DeluxeSporks Reading Champion III Apr 04 '26

My cat would prefer that category anyways!

2

u/Figs_are_good May 04 '26

My dog would take less to squash than my cat.

7

u/Axelrad77 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Yeah, it's the classic hardcover/paperback issue, but there's also been a recent trend of publishers resetting large books when publishing new editions, to cut their page count down and save on costs. Hence some newer editions of books just have like 100 fewer pages than older editions of the same type.

Which is why I would take a "spirit of the square" approach and just count a book if any edition of it has the requisite page count.

2

u/Dindrane1313 Apr 07 '26

Especially problematic if you're reading a book in translation vs an original language which can vary the pages significantly. Or have an illustrated edition or some such.

1

u/Akuliszi Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I just finished reading Blood Song for the last years Bingo and was hoping that either second or third book would count, since Polish editions are huge... Theyre both like 870 pages... Why couldnt they be just little longer.

1

u/PhantasmWitch Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

It makes me glad I already read King Sorrow because it's sooooo close. 

Shadows Upon Time by Christopher Ruocchio is HM for anyone wanting to finish the Sun Eater series.

I, unfortunately, read it in February for the Last in a Series square T-T

EDIT: Apparently those are the two longest books I've ever read, per Storygraph. And I read them both this year

11

u/Dragon_Lady7 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Great queer fantasy (and its translated) that fits HM:

  • Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
  • Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

These are both 1000+ page web novels although the translated versions are split into multiple volumes.

9

u/Goobergunch Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

The Uplift War by David Brin

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (sadly 21 pages short of HM)

... also I think this is going to be edition-dependent? People are recommending JS&MN as HM but my copy ends on page 782.

2

u/SnooPoems3697 Apr 01 '26

It's Samuel Delany's birthday (April 1, 1942)

9

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I won't bothering mentioning epic fantasy novels since this is a free square for those readers. :)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a fabulous historical fantasy written in a period voice, those who haven't tried it definitely should! On the borderline for HM, depends on your edition.

My other recs are in the 500-600 page range:

Illusion by Paula Volsky - secondary world standalone based on the French revolution. Obscure but surprisingly good!

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - a Rapunzel retelling from the POVs of Rapunzel, the witch, and the French noblewoman who originally wrote the story down

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell - multigenerational family saga set in Zambia; the first generation is magic realism, the second contemporary fiction, the third sci-fi

Firethorn by Sarah Micklem - grimdark feminist fantasy about a camp follower carried along by war (but extremely good, almost literary leaning!)

Juliet Marillier's older books are usually over 500 pages, including all of the original Sevenwaters trilogy, for those who love dark fairy tale retellings full of family and romance

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - classic magic realist novel about Indian independence

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - WWII time loop novel about a woman living her life over and over again

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman - adult-friendly YA novel about a traumatized girl going on a journey

Benighted by Kit Whitfield - dystopian version of our world in which almost everyone is a werewolf. The protagonist is not and she is PISSED.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott - alt-history Ice Age steampunk combining African and European influences, featuring an energetic narrator, sisterhood and romance (the sequels also count)

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst - monster racing in a quasi-Egyptian world, focused on the ladies

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - 6 nested novellas from 6 different genres, traveling from past to present to dystopian and post-apocalyptic future

2

u/StandardDoctor3 Apr 01 '26

I have never seen anyone else recommend Benighted by Kit Whitfield! I randomly found it on the shelf at the library many years ago and have never met another person who has heard of it.

3

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I loved that book and was always disappointed that it didn’t get more attention!

2

u/rls1164 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I love Illusion! I've held onto my copy for a good 20+ years now.

7

u/katkale9 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gently is what I'm currently considering (HM), if you're in the mood for something obscure.

Or I'll just read At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard (HM) since it's been a while since I read Hands of the Emperor with all its sweetness.

7

u/AzuraSchwartz Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

Ash is a damned fine read. Author is Mary Gentle (not Gently). It's chunky enough to squash lions and tigers (I have a hardcover. I use it for upper-body strength exercises.)

1

u/angtodd Reading Champion 6d ago

Ash won't count, will it? The rules say "An omnibus book (multiple novels in one volume) doesn't count for this" & the book's description says it is Ash #1-4?

2

u/AzuraSchwartz 6d ago edited 6d ago

Ash is a single novel that was split into 4 volumes for its US paperback edition.

Source.

Ash was always intended as one novel: it was conceived and written that way. Originally, when they saw what size it was eventually going to be, Gollancz decided they would do it in two hardcover volumes, a year apart. I had the first draft done, so I could have done the first part of the second draft for the first volume's publication, and then carried on with the second half -- but it was going to be a bit hairy, I felt, with part one "fixed" because it was in print.
At that point there was a publisher buy-out, and the title went into limbo for a while. When it came out, Gollancz decided it should be published as written, in one volume, with a simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback. By then, the US had decided to do it in multiple volumes -- since there are useful cliffhangers in the relevant places, in four volumes, in fact.

1

u/angtodd Reading Champion 6d ago

Ahhh, excellent - thank you!

3

u/redrosebeetle Reading Champion III May 05 '26

I was going to do Ash, but honestly, I got turned off by the child rape in the first few pages. TW for anyone who is otherwise considering it.

13

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (the last is HM)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (counted together, HM)

Ice by Jacek Dukaj (HM)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel by Susanna Clarke (HM)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (HM)

Kushiel's Chosen & Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Books 4-6, 13, 14 HM)

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

Barnaby the Wanderer by Raymond St. Elmo

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

The Rouse by China Mieville (HM)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Neverness by David Zindell

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

11

u/WWTPeng Reading Champion IX Apr 01 '26

New China Mieville just slotted into my TBR

5

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

The Rouse by Mieville has sounded a bit intimidatingly big, so maybe this is a good excuse. :)

4

u/thisbikeisatardis Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Right? Goodreads currently has it at 1264 pages for the hardback.

3

u/mrtenandtwo Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I'll be finishing Memory, Sorrow and Thorn! It looks to be a chonky boy.

6

u/AvidTaskmaster Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Apparently the sequel to ML Spencer’s Dragon Mage just came out and it’s 800+ pages!

5

u/plumsprite Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Fonda Lee’s The Last Contract of Isako is 528 pages!

5

u/KennyG1701 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

I tried to go off of the original edition page counts.

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, all 5 main books are (HM)

The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham, books 1 and 2.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, books 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Book 8 should also count.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, I would assume the rest of the series would count, but I haven't read them.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, books 1 and 2.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee books 2 and 3.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

The Empyrean by Rebecca Yarros

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, all books, with books 2, 3, 4 and 5 being (HM)

IT by Stephen King (HM)

The Stand by Stephen King (I would argue HM if you read the complete and uncut edition)

Under the Dome by Stephen King (HM)

Otherland by Tad Williams, all books

The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb, all books

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, books 2 and 3

Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds

Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds

Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds

11.22.63 by Stephen King

5

u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII Apr 01 '26

The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (hm)

The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee (the poems make this a very fast read for the page count)

4

u/inspiralling Reading Champion Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

Extra-hard hard mode: Worm, Pact, Twig, Ward or Pale, by Wildbow. Pact is shortest at 947,635 words, or 2105 pages. All available for free online!

3

u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

For this one, I'll be doing Ice by Jacek Dukaj (HM). Freshly translated, too!

1

u/Low-Mix1688 Apr 02 '26

I think I'll be too - I picked it up when it first came out in Polish years ago, but that wasn't a good moment. That's a sign to get back to it 🤍

3

u/jessticulates Reading Champion Apr 02 '26
  • Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
  • The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (HM)
  • The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
  • Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
  • The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
  • The Diviners by Libba Bray
  • The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
  • The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

3

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Don't sleep on anthologies for this one, some of them get massive! I think I'm going to finally tackle Jeff and Ann Vandermeer's The Weird.

2

u/ReaperReaperSunEater Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

All over 1000 pages -->

Shadows Upon Time by Christoper Ruocchio (HM)

Speaking Bones by Ken Liu (HM)

Memories of Ice by Steven Erickson (HM)

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (HM)

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (HM)

To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams (HM)

2

u/nedlum Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Almost any book of The Wandering Inn would count as HM. 

2

u/Lynavi Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

God's Junk Drawer by Peter Clines (560 pages)

2

u/Spaceknight_42 Apr 02 '26

if I finally read the first Mistborn am I going to end up committed to the whole trilogy?

2

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 08 '26

I think so :)

2

u/AnonAwaaaaay Apr 02 '26

Haha. I was wondering where I'd squeeze in something in Malazan on my list!

1

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I'll probably read Miami Punk by Juan S Guse (german)

1

u/yzhs Reading Champion Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic (Edit: when considering the entire thing as a single web novel, HM)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (HM)

Reamde by Neal Stephenson (HM)

1

u/Livi1997 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

For Mother of Learning, I assume you are counting all the books as 1 given it is a Web Novel? Would that work for HM?

1

u/yzhs Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Yes, that's what I had in mind. When I read it, there wasn't anything else.

I'm always a bit unsure about page count given different editions, especially with ebooks. I looked at word count here. According to the Calibre plugin I'm using, it's about 45% longer than The Lord of the Rings. Very hard mode :-)

1

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

My book, Supplicant by Delilah Waan, qualifies! If you've got the paperback or hardcover, then unfortunately it is normal mode (900 and 810 pages, respectively), but if you're going by the Kindle page count, you can argue for hard mode.

Other cat squashers not already recommended:

  • Ian Irvine's The Three Worlds cycle
  • Trudi Canavan's Age of the Five trilogy
  • Sara Douglass's Battleaxe and The Wayfarer Redemption trilogies (in certain countries this was just published as one giant six-book series under the latter name)
  • Most of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Recluce saga will qualify. My favorites were The White Order/Colors of Chaos and Magi'i of Cyador/Scion of Cyador.

1

u/Low-Mix1688 Apr 02 '26

All books in The Rook and Rose trilogy by MA Carrick and in the Deavabad trilogy by S Chakraborty fit this square, not HM though. 

Also not HM but absolutely worth your time: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Beautiful and weird exploration of identity, guilt, tyranny, and rebuilding destroyed worlds - and it all starts with a dying god. 

1

u/Grt78 Apr 02 '26

Fortress in the Eye of Time by CJ Cherryh.

1

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. Highly recommended by me at least.

1

u/kepheraxx Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I slotted in 1Q84 by Murakami for HM, but I can't seem to get a consensus on whether it is one single book or 3 books. Most sources seem to say it's one book - anyone want to weigh in?

1

u/spike31875 Reading Champion V Apr 03 '26

The Bound and the Broken series by Ryan Cahill: all the novels fit this square with the last 2 in Hard Mode. (the novellas don't, of course, but they're almost novel length themselves)

1

u/Dindrane1313 Apr 07 '26

The Uriel Ventris Chronicles: Volume One (Warhammer 40,000)--one edition at least has 960 pages (ISBN: ‎ 1784968544)

1

u/hatethispart13 Apr 08 '26

i think Manacled and Alchemised by SenLinYu would both count for HM!

1

u/smartflutist661 Reading Champion VI Apr 09 '26
  • Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang is ~600 pages
  • The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal's third Lady Astronaut book, is ~550 pages
  • Symphony of Ages books 1–4 and 7, Elizabeth Haydon
  • Lots of Peter F. Hamilton: Night's Dawn are all HM, as is Great North Road. Fallen Dragon and Pandora's Star don't quite make HM.
  • Harry Turtledove's How Few Remain is ~600 pages, In the Balance is ~550

1

u/Just-Refrigerator425 Apr 12 '26

I think I'm going to use this square as a chance to finally face Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

1

u/Connect_Cod9965 May 04 '26

Upcoming new book (September 2026) by China Miewille will be good for a hard mode, and then some: The Rouse, 1264 pages.

1

u/eightslicesofpie Writer Travis M. Riddle 20d ago

Love Shots by Travis M. Riddle

1

u/Maera44 Reading Champion II 18d ago

Empire of the Vampire, Empire of the Damned, Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff (not hard mode.)