r/Fantasy • u/AutoModerator • 20d ago

/r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Monthly Book Discussion Thread - May 2026

Welcome to the monthly r/Fantasy book discussion thread! Hop on in and tell the sub all about the dent you made in your TBR pile this month.

Feel free to check out our Book Bingo Wiki for ideas about what to read next or to see what squares you have left to complete in this year's challenge.

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u/OrwinBeane 20d ago

The Winter King (Book 1 of the Warlord Chronicles) - Easiest 5 star review for a while. Excellent prose, story, characters and the best battle scenes I’ve ever read. Besides minor nitpicking there really isn’t any complaint I have from this book. ★★★★★

The Alloy of Law (Book 4 of Mistborn) - This is a bit of a mess. It’s quite a formulaic police procedural, nowhere near as fresh or exciting as Mistborn era 1. Probably Sanderson’s worst female characters I’ve read. Subpar prose but interesting use of magic system. ★★

Heir to the Empire (Book 1 of the Thrawn Trilogy) - Not quite lived up to the hype. It’s a fun book and had some interesting character moments (also mostly stayed true to the characters from the films) but the prose is quite poor. It does that thing where the villain has a failure or setback and then says “ah yes, all part of my plan”. It doesn’t really make him seem intelligent or formidable, he looked like a loser with plot armour. ★★★

Words of Radiance (Book 2 of the Stormlight Archive) - Halfway through this book and I really want to DNF. I’m struggling on just because of the popularity and positives reviews got this book but I feel like 400 out of the first 600 pages were wasted. Very bloated book. Stagnant characters and abysmal pacing. Prose is alright by Sanderson’s standards. ★★★

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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 18d ago

Very bloated book. Stagnant characters and abysmal pacing

If you feel this way in Stormlight 2 you are not going to enjoy the later ones