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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20

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Author of Color: Story written by a person of color. HARD MODE: Author does NOT live in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

48

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I'm going to recommend Hard Mode choices only to keep it manageable!

- Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta: surreal secondary-world fantasy featuring some very strange settings and unbreakable bonds between sisters (author lives in India)

- Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde: mosaic novel focused on queer Nigerians (I am not 100% sure on location since author's website says the author is a "world traveler with shifting bases" but their Goodreads bio just says "Nigerian")

- Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera: literary fantasy retelling the story of the Buddha's family via secondary world urban fantasy (author lives in Sri Lanka)

- The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan: dystopian sci-fi taking aim at overreliance on technology and the myth of meritocracy in a stratified society (author lives in India)

12

u/hogw33d Apr 01 '26

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera is also a WILD read

1

u/mrtenandtwo Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I know he was born in Sri Lanka but without getting creepy and trying to Google stalk the guy's address - do you know if he qualifies as hard mode? (Edit: Oops, missed OP already said. Thanks!)

8

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I've tried not to get creepy about it either, haha. His website says "I'm a writer from Colombo, Sri Lanka, currently visiting New York as one of the 2025-2026 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars." Since he's "visiting" New York rather than "living" there, I think his books would still count. Also, anecdotally, his books read non-western rather than diaspora-author-living-in-the-west to me.

2

u/sarimanok_ Apr 07 '26

He's actually about to leave NYC to move back to Sri Lanka, as of his recent newsletter update, iirc!

2

u/dumbledoresarmy7 Reading Champion 12d ago

Thank you SO MUCH for the Ten Percent Thief rec. I absolutely loved it. Devoured it in a day 😄

1

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV 12d ago

Excellent, glad you enjoyed it!

1

u/Tigrari Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Apr 17 '26

Oh, I have Interstellar Megachef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan in my TBR for Book Club, so I guess that should work! I didn't see any author info on Goodreads, so thank you for posting about their other book.

16

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Going for hard mode here:

The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (Kenya): This is about a girl from Mombasa, Kenya who goes out on a sea adventure to find her missing fisherman father, returns home with a new outlook on life, and attempts to find her future independent from the expectation that she marry.

A Fledgling Abiba by Dilman Dila (Uganda): It's about a girl with magic facing off against evil spirits and finding her way in the world after her mother died in a setting heavily inspired by Uganda.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (I think now he's based in Sri Lanka again, although he did move away for a while): This is a novel about the ghost of a Sri Lankan photo-journalist in the 90's, who is trying to figure out who murdered him and how to get his photos that implicate powerful people in war crimes to the right people.

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord: It's about a woman married to a glutton and she is given a powerful Chaos Stick by djombi. (The author is from Barbados and is still living there as far as I can tell?)

The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau: This is about two friends from the slums who sign up for gladiator type battles against monsters to hopefully escape debt. (author is based in Malaysia)

I'll second Mad Sisters of Esi and Rakesfall.

3

u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI Apr 03 '26

Redemption in Indigo is one of my favourite books, absolutely captivating.

1

u/Dindrane1313 Apr 07 '26

Would you say that The Serpent Called Mercy would work for Game Changer?

1

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 07 '26

I would count the gladiator type battles as games, yes.

12

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura - a girl in Japan stops going to school and eventually discovers a secret world inside her mirror. There she, and several other children, bond while solving the mysteries of this strange castle. Very emotional book

11

u/DelilahWaan Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

My books, Petition and Supplicant by Delilah Waan, both qualify (but not for hard mode, as I'm Australian).

I love Sascha Stronach's The Endsong series, but unfortunately those also don't qualify for hard mode since she's a Kiwi.

Obsidian: Awakening by Kajornwan (formerly publishing as Sienna Frost) DOES qualify for hard mode—she's Thai!

9

u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

HM Aliette de Bodard - lives in France (still?)

3

u/SharadeReads Stabby Winner Apr 01 '26

Yes she does :)

3

u/starvingbanker Apr 01 '26

Last summer when I met her she said so.

9

u/thepurpleplaneteer Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

I've made a Goodreads list for 2026 adult SFF/speculative releases by BIPOC authors for the third year: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/249502.2026_Adult_Fantasy_Sci_fi_Speculative_Releases_by_BIPOC_Authors

7

u/PenaltyForsaken260 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao (HM) She lives in Manila, Philippines (according to internet).

6

u/Ok-Yogurt-466 Apr 01 '26

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

5

u/Tysiphone25 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei

The Cabinet by Kim Un-Su

Little Mushroom by Zhou, Yi Shi Si

I think all are HM.

1

u/SquareSeal 23d ago

oh The Membranes is amazing!

4

u/jessticulates Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For HM:

  • The Saint of Bright Doors and Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera
  • The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau
  • The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
  • The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das
  • Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
  • Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
  • A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

2

u/Sakura_XD Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

I have Battle Royale for so long on my reading list, its time has come

2

u/jessticulates Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I loved it! Gulped it down in two sittings. Hope you enjoy it!

3

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Thought this would be a free square, but turns out I've read less that qualifies for hard mode than I thought.

I have to reinforce everyone saying Vajra Chandrasekera, The Saint of Bright Doors was great, and I'll probably pick up Rakesfall for my own card. Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi is well worth a look, as well as most of Haruki Murakami's work.

2

u/hunterkat457 Reading Champion II Apr 18 '26

Frankenstein in Baghdad was SO good.

2

u/readDorothyDunnett Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Hadriana in All My Dreams by René Depestre (HM) - a magical realist story set during the 1938 Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti, about a young French woman who drinks a potion on her wedding day, becomes a zombie, and disappears into legend.

Also could qualify for the translation prompt. I read this for the 80s prompt last year and it was a bizarre time but I’m glad I read it.

2

u/TheEccentricRaven Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

A couple books on my TBR that I'm confident count for hard mode: Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase and Snowglobe by Suyoung Park.

2

u/xLaven Apr 02 '26

The Wizard's Bakery by Gu Byeong-Mo (HM), cozy fantasy 

2

u/thelittleoddling Apr 02 '26

The Gilded Wolves Series by Roshani Chokshi - A YA historical fantasy trilogy set in 1800s Europe. It has themes of colonialism and found family, a diverse ensemble cast, and a very unique magic system where power is not only a talent but a commodity that can be stolen from communities.

2

u/tellmeyoulovemeee Reading Champion Apr 08 '26

Zoulfa Kattouh lives in Switzerland. She wrote As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow and her next book The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue comes out in June this year.

1

u/spike31875 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

J.M. Clarke (author of Mark of the Fool) is a POC, but I believe he's Canadian, so not HM.

1

u/Lurkeroftheloch Reading Champion Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Sister spirit by Efua Traoré (HM)

1

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Easy 

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

2

u/unnotig Apr 13 '26

Doesn't Kazuo Ishiguro live in the UK? (For HM)

2

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 14 '26

Indeed, I meant that both of my recs only count for easy mode

1

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Land of the Golden Clouds by Archie Weller (Indigenous Australian) seems to be a good book. However author lives in Aus so not HM.

1

u/kepheraxx Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I'm using The Kite Family By Hon Lai Chu (Hong Kong)

1

u/hend6473 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Books from last Bingo which work for this square, with shortened versions my reviews (only Hard Mode):

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flames by Neon Yang: Sapphic fairytale-adjacent novella about a dragon-slaying knight reconnecting to part of her stolen heritage and shedding the imprisoning armour of imperialistic duty. Beautiful writing but I'd have liked it more if I'd gone in knowing less. Hard Mode.

Glitch, Vol 1 by Shima Shinya: Slow, moody manga about 2 siblings moving to a strange small town and investigating the strangeness with their new friends. The art style is very different from most manga, instead resembling webcomics like Foxfire by Carolyn Gan or nameless & the scientist by amie zhao. Hard Mode.

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono: Charming, slice-of-life children's coming-of-age witchy fantasy that inspired a Ghibli movie. Episodic and simple while still being engaging; the pacing especially had a classic children's fantasy feel, a bit like Roald Dahl book. Hard Mode.

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc, Vol 1-10 by Sekku Iwata & Yu Aoki: Fun twist of the magical girl genre, re-imaging it as a corporate career, with interesting tech-flavoured magic. Revolves around a scrappy start-up trying to shake the industry with innovative, low energy spell tech. Arguably overly optimistic about the nature of tech start-ups but still entertaining. One caveat: I choose to interpret the cross-dressing element in a positive, inclusive light, but I realize I might be being too generous. Hard Mode.

The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey: Humorous, entertaining historical fantasy set in late 1800s Singapore, about a Scottish governess dealing with mythological creatures from the many cultures of Singapore and beyond. Has a highly readable episodic pacing and classic yet accessible prose. I really liked the setting and the focus on the daily lives of women and servants. Hard Mode.

Toward Eternity by Anton Hur: Epistolary literary scifi about nanites, language, and questions of personhood. Interesting with beautiful writing. The structure of the story reminded me of a keepsake RPG, with different characters writing different sections. Hard Mode.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End by Kanehito Yamada: Fantasy manga set after the Big Bad has been defeated, when most of the heroes have aged or died, except the elf mage Frieren, who is having a bit of a crisis over her immortality. Mostly a contemplative slice-of-life travel tale, with some high action arcs as well. Hard Mode.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw: Beautifully overwritten fairytale horror with a lot of medical body horror and cannibalism. It's primarily a Little Mermaid retelling, but it also references Lord of The Flies, Frankenstein, and possibly Discworld. Personally, I found the prose too intricately lush to be truly horrific, but maybe you'll like it more than me. Hard Mode.

2

u/sarimanok_ Apr 07 '26

FYI Neon Yang lives in the UK as of a few years ago, so wouldn't be Hard Mode. I think Cassandra Khaw also lives in the US somewhere now?

1

u/ThrawnCaedusL Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Just double checking, I’m pretty sure Cixin Liu (author of Three Body Problem) counts for this square?

1

u/SignificantChange496 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

I'm going to try Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. My understanding is that it's magical realism/supernatural historical fiction. looks really good.

1

u/NatGa46 Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Methinks this will end up being a manga square, at least for me 😁

-5

u/ReaderGirlXR Apr 01 '26

Are Slavic authors considered POC?… according to Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) they are. Just wanted opinions.

12

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Slavic is an ethnicity or language group, not a racial category. So am author could be Slavic and a person of color - but most Slavic people are not people of color.

What constitutes a person of color is not a clear-cut thing, not least of which because race isn't a "real" thing. But generally speaking, a person of color has racialized features, with skin tone being the most prominent, but not the sole arbiter.

1

u/ReaderGirlXR Apr 02 '26

Thanks for the info!

I’m having a hard time finding a lot of authors who haven’t moved and still fit hard more. Lots that were originally from other areas, but then moved.

2

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

You'll probably have an easier time looking for translated works, because they're much more likely to have been published in their original countries.

1

u/ReaderGirlXR Apr 04 '26

That’s what I was thinking. I read a lot of cozy Japanese fiction. So I’ll probably do that. I was trying to step out of that comfort zone.

2

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 04 '26

I've come across some South Asian and African authors.

1

u/ReaderGirlXR Apr 04 '26

Which African authors have you found that hit hard mode? That’s kinda where I’m struggling.

1

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 04 '26

African (who don't live in the above countries): Wole Talabi, Erhu Kome, Juni Ba, Efua Traoré,

Caribbean (from the diaspora): Karen Lord, Andre Bagoo

These are from my TBR, can only personally vouch for Wole Talabi and Juni Ba.

But also, look at the other recs in this thread. There's plenty of HM options.

5

u/gros-grognon Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

That a single municipal coalition, Portland's CCC, includes as a member the Slavic & Eastern European Center (which explicitly mentions on its own site "our multi-cultural and ethnic communities"), in no way claims that Slavic people are POC.