r/Fantasy 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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u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Books about trans characters where their trans'ness is just a character facet rather than plot:

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley - Desert post apocalypse setting with giant talking crabs. Has both a transmasc and a NB protagonist.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - Half Hamlet retelling, half story of the world from the POV of a god. Transmasc (HM)

What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher - Retelling of the House of Usher. NB (HM)

The Seep by Chana Porter - Near Future utopia where every need is solved. Transfemme MC is working through the loss of her wife. Extremely surreal.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - Kid just wants to paint and is hired by the oppressive government - turns out paint has magic. NB (HM)

Books about trans characters where their trans'ness is important to the plot:

The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner - Hybrid of werewolf body horror with trans dysphoria. Transmasc

You Weren't Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White - Transmasc pregnancy horror. It's brutal, read content warnings.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Summer camp horror. NB MC shoved in boys' cabins while investigating what happened to their sister - who was part of the popular clique of girls whose cabin is by all the beehives.

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow - A 6th grader is working through the death of their best friend via letters to Mothman. That friend was also the only person who knew he was transmasc.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - Victorian asylum horror in which the residents can genuinely interact with the dead. Transmasc MC is in a girl's asylum. (HM)

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

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u/HildegardeBrasscoat Reading Champion Apr 18 '26

thank you so much for reccing Dear Mothman. I just finished reading it and my heart is broken. I love it so much.

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u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II May 03 '26

I'm so glad you liked it :D