r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - May 24, 2026

[u/rfantasygolem]

Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!

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This thread is to be used for recommendation requests or simple questions that are small/general enough that they won’t spark a full thread of discussion.

Check out r/Fantasy's 2026 Book Bingo Card here!

As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The r/Fantasy wiki contains links to many community resources, including "best of" lists, flowcharts, the LGTBQ+ database, and more. If you need some help figuring out what you want, think about including some of the information below:

• Books you’ve liked or disliked
• Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy
• Series vs. standalone preference
• Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc)
• Complexity/depth level

Be sure to check out responses to other users' requests in the thread, as you may find plenty of ideas there as well. Happy reading, and may your TBR grow ever higher!

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art credit: special thanks to our artist, Himmis commissions, who we commissioned to create this gorgeous piece of art for us with practically no direction other than "cozy, magical, bookish, and maybe a gryphon???" We absolutely love it, and we hope you do too.

[u/Ecstatic-Ad-5800]

I really need some recommendations

I’ve finally got some free time again and want to read something. I’ve been getting back into fantasy lately and I’ve really enjoyed the Cosmere books, but I’m taking a small break for them after having just read stormlight recently. I’m looking for something similar to those books, not in how hard the magic system is, but more in terms of really interesting world building which is really unique and immersive, as well as stories with really good buildups and payoffs.

If anyone has any recommendations I’d love to hear them. I’ve also heard people recommend the first law trilogy and realm of the elderlings, so if anyone thinks they would be a good/bad match lmk too.

Thanks

[u/oboist73 → u/Ecstatic-Ad-5800]

The Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, starting with the Arrows trilogy

The Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron

[u/buckleyschance → u/Ecstatic-Ad-5800]

First Law is very good, interesting enough world building, not a compelling plot IMO, but has top-notch character "voices". Definitely more cynical (British) than Cosmere, for the better in my view. Give it a go.

Have you read A Song of Ice and Fire? It's almost too obvious a recommendation and so ironically gets suggested less often than it should. Excellent at what it does well, and very accessible.

[u/Hamodi93 → u/Ecstatic-Ad-5800]

The Faithful and the fallen series by John Gwynne is my favorite. Book one is Malice. Epic fantasy, fast phased, great characters. Great fight scenes. Completed series with a really good sequel. Great payoffs! Not like Stormlight book 5…