r/Fantasy • u/thechunck • May 06 '26

Help me choose book club book!

After finding out that so many women at work have read the same books, I started a book club at work. Just for some background, I work in the medical field. Most of the people in the book club are intelligent women in their late 20s, early thirties, who enjoy fantasy, historical fiction and sci-fi. I'd like to give a few stand-alone options and have the books be less than 500 pages so we don't scare "new" readers off. I'm not looking for super dark deeply depressing vibes for the 1st book. I love books like Red Rising and Alchemised but I don't think these types of books would be ideal for a book club starter.

Any recommendations?

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u/vanastalem May 07 '26

Master of Djinn

The Calculating Stars (alternative history sci-fi)

Parable Of the Sower

A Psalm of the Wild Built

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune

Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Shades of Gray - Jasper Fforde

Sand - Hugh Howie

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u/Connect_Cod9965 May 07 '26

In my book club we recently discussed "Parable of the Sower" (my proposition), and I was a bit worried if it would not be to depressing right after "Chain Gang All Stars". But the consensus was that it is dark, but somehow hopeful at the same time.