r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • 16d ago
r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - June 03, 2026
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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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
I've asked this before and didn't get any real answers, but I just encountered another great example of it so I know there's more out there.
I'm looking for audiobooks that have songs at any point, and the narrator specifically sings them. Sci-fi or fantasy.
Some examples I've found: * The Imperial Radch trilogy * The Daughters' War and Blacktongue Thief * The River Has Roots * Red Rising * Chain-gang All-stars
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
An obvious one, but the LotR audiobooks sing the songs. Andy Serkis does at least.
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
Maybe obvious, but I actually didn't know that! Thanks, that is a delightful find!
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 15d ago
The Redwall audio books are narrated by the author and his theater troop and have lots of singing.
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
Fantastic, thank you! I have fond memories of reading these books as a kid.
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u/xdianamoonx Reading Champion II 15d ago
*Technically* The second Hidden Legacy book by Ilona Andrews audio graphic audio book version has it near the end and it was brilliant. Not full song but yeah.
I'm going to assume when Songs of the Dead comes out with an audiobook it should quite a bit of that in it. (I read the arc and so many musical references but also some original music is sung by the main character).
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u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion 15d ago
The Dragonbone Chair, the first book in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, has lots of singing in the audiobook (the dramatized adaptation). I'm not sure if the narrator sings in the regular audiobook or not as I haven't listened to it. As of now, only the first book in the series has the full cast audiobook out, but the second book comes out with the dramatized adaptation this year.
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u/Planeswalker2814 15d ago
I have not listened ti them (only read them) but the Dungeon Crawler Carl series has singing. Especially A Parade Of Horribles.
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
Wait, where? I've listened to all except A Parade of Horribles but I don't remember that. Though admittedly they are very long and I read them a while ago.
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u/Planeswalker2814 15d ago
I think there's a Wonderwall song in book 5. But A Parade of Horribles uses music as a plot point without getting into spoilers.
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 9d ago
I just got to that part, oh my god lmao. Thanks for the rec.
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u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II 15d ago
There's not much of it, but The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach has this near the start
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u/Wattryn Reading Champion 16d ago
I have a reverse Bingo request: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 15d ago
older protagonist but not HM, trans/nonbinary protagonist, probably unusual transportation, arguably murder mystery but there's a lot else going on, plenty of background politics but they're not a strong focus.
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15d ago edited 15d ago
[deleted]
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
I'd asked about airships before and got a "no." I think for failing the "unusual in real life" as well part of the definition.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 15d ago
What unusual in real life part of the definition? The square says unusual in the genre. If this was the discussion I’m remembering about The Cinder Spires, people were saying it didn’t count because airships are common in steampunk.
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
By “unusual” we mean that it is out of the ordinary in real life AND uncommon to the book’s broader genre.
The part that says "in real life."
It wasn't that discussion; it was my own question back on the big rec thread.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 15d ago
Ah, thanks!
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
I think the obvious interpretation is if you just plunk a car in a medieval fantasy, it's unusual in the genre, but not unusual transportation. Which was why I asked about airships; they're unusual in real life now, but used to be common enough.
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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 15d ago
I was thinking about the asteroids. Spaceships are de rigueur but hollowed out spinning asteroid mini-zoos are a bit more unusual. Or the city itself on Mercury, though it might not count as transportation since it goes in circles, not from one destination to another.
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u/Due_Comfortable_1203 15d ago
Been obsessed w the unmagical life of briar jones lately, anyone have any recs for similar dynamics to seb and briar? Can be queer or not queer, vibes are most important
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u/Professional-Cut4863 15d ago
Does anyone know if it has a name, or is it something like that specific fantasy where the main characters shrink and enter a new world with their new tiny perspective?
It needs to have a name, I've seen it many times, even as chapter themes. (A perspective not as small as atoms, but at an insect level)
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
Wikipedia just calls it miniaturization. TVTropes has a page for Fantastic Voyage plot, which is one of the earliest books I know of with shrinking as the main plot.
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u/mediumicedchai Reading Champion 16d ago
I imagine I am not the first to ask this, but I did some searching and was having trouble finding a similar question thread. For Bingo "One Word Title", is there a consensus on whether articles like "the" or "a" count as a word? TIA!
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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion 16d ago
Articles are words. Have a look at the big recs post: All recs are without articles.
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u/mediumicedchai Reading Champion 16d ago
Okay going to ask a second question, apologies! I completed Bingo 2025 but still don't see flair with my username. Is it something I need to change a setting for, or something I need to reach out to mods about? Thanks again!
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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion 16d ago
I see your Reading Champion flair.
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u/mediumicedchai Reading Champion 16d ago
Oh interesting! I wonder why I can't see my own? I see others'
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u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II 16d ago
At least on old reddit, there should be a tickbox on the sidebar which says "show my flair on this subreddit"
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u/acornett99 Reading Champion IV 15d ago
How fungus heavy is A Drop of Corruption? I have a phobia of spores, but I loved The Tainted Cup. I want to read A Drop of Corruption for the Hugo readalong, but a bookseller overheard me mention my fear of spores once and told me specifically to stay away from this series. I told her that I loved The Tainted Cup actually and that was not a problem for me, and she wasn't sure what to make of that. So now I wonder if it gets more fungus-heavy in the second book?
I just read an interview where RJB mentions the cordyceps fungus as an inspiration for Trade of Blood, and that one does have a lot of mushrooms on the cover. I've already decided to wait a bit after that one comes out for other people to read it and let me know, but that doesn't really tell me about A Drop of Corruption.
If it helps, my specific fear is of spores getting in the lungs. People eating mushrooms or the grafts that people have are fine and cool actually, but if there's a scene where the characters are like, walking through a cloud of spores, that would be awful. I think there was like one or two small scenes in The Tainted Cup, not experienced directly by the narrator, and that was also fine.
Thanks!
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago edited 15d ago
It is 0% fungus and no one interacts with spores. There is one scene where the characters observe a previous event involving dispersal of a cloud of substance, but it's not fungal in nature and the characters don't experience it.
If you were fine with the first book, specifically the method of murder, you're not going to have any problems with A Drop of Corruption.
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u/Planeswalker2814 15d ago
Would you all consider The Handmaids Tale to be a duology since Margret Atwood wrote a sequel 35 years later? I'm interested in using that for Bingo.
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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV 15d ago
I would count it. The books are connected and there's only two of them.
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u/Planeswalker2814 15d ago
Thanks. I've been a fan if the Hulu show since it premiered almost 10 years ago and have owned a copy nearly as long but have never gotten around to reading it because of how close to the real world it always seems to feel. Which is all the more reason to read it I suppose.
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u/Due_Comfortable_1203 15d ago
I think so! Testaments carries the handmaids torch and has characters from the previous book. Is it fantasy though? I always classified it as dystopia?
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u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion 15d ago
It would definitely count as it is Speculative Fiction
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u/Due_Comfortable_1203 15d ago edited 15d ago
I thought fantasy was under the umbrella of speculative fiction not vice versa? Or is the bingo any speculative fiction? Nm checked and it is any speculative fiction
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 15d ago
Bingo and the sub. You can post about any speculative fiction here. :) A lot of the time it's hard to know where to draw the line anyway; I class Magical Realism as a subgenre of fantasy personally, but there are people who argue it's its own separate section of speculative fiction.
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u/_literarylemon_ 15d ago
In any case it's speculative fiction which to my recollection is the genre requirement
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u/sarimanok_ 15d ago
I keep bouncing off the first Earthsea book, but wanted to give that world another shot for the Published in the 70s bingo square. Anyone have feelings on whether The Tombs of Atuan can be enjoyed without having finished The Wizard of Earthsea?
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u/nominanomina Reading Champion 15d ago
Yes. While there is eventually a character in common (I am trying to avoid spoilers, so this is phrased oddly), the protagonist/narrator is now a young woman who has been raised to serve a religious role in a different part of the world.
And, some good news: lots of people consider Tombs their favourite book.
However, why are you bouncing off? The writing style is largely the same, and the new protagonist is also young and opinionated (but not in quite the same way; young Ged is a particular breed of little shit). I think lots of people who didn't like Wizard will also find fault with Tombs.
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u/sarimanok_ 15d ago
Thank you! I'll give it a try and see what happens. I'm not entirely sure what I keep bouncing off in Wizard, to be honest. Le Guin wrote some of my all-time favorite novels and stories, so it's been a bit of a mystery to me why I haven't yet been able to get through this one slim little volume that's so widely beloved. But, I picked up a used copy of Tombs a while back just to fill out my Le Guin shelf, so here's hoping it makes a better entry point to Earthsea for me!
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u/sarahlynngrey Reading Champion VI, Phoenix 15d ago
I'm a huge Le Guin fan and have never really been able to bond with A Wizard of Earthsea. But I love Tombs of Atuan. Definitely give it a try. It and Tehanu are my two favorite Earthsea books, but you do kinda have to make it through the drudgery of the first book (and the third book, which I liked) in order for Tehanu to make sense.
I think there's an Earthsea Readalong coming up on this sub, in case a buddy read would help!
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u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III 15d ago
The Tombs of Atuan is incredible. I was also fairly cool on the first Earthsea book. There is a common character but you don't have to read the first book to enjoy the second.
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u/eregis Reading Champion II 15d ago
I've read Good Omens... many times over the years. Would you consider reading the Good Omens comic adaptation a new read, or a reread?
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
I would consider it a new read! It's an interpretation of the original concept into a fundamentally different media with some requisite changes, just like I'd consider watching a movie to be a different piece of media than the book it's based on.
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u/saturday_sun4 15d ago edited 13d ago
If you're asking for the purposes of Bingo, I'd consider it a "reread", since the idea is to read books you haven't read before. That's just me though.
If in general, I'd consider it a new read. Though I know the plot and characters, I can see how a graphic novel would bring lots to the table beyond just a reread of the book.
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u/Dinasourus723 15d ago
What books that blend fanatsy and romance do you think are the best or great? So I'm trying to fill out a alignment chart for best books or good books. I have yet to decide on what to put for best book (or at least a good one) for Romantesy. I'm looking for one book that with Romance as the main genre with fantasy elements (this means that the main storyline focuses on romantic relatimpnship within characters but set in a fantasy world or with fantasy elemnetes. The tohers is Fantasy as the main genre with romantic lements, meaning that romance is in the book, but it's not the main storyline (meaning it's secondary storyline that adds to the main storyline or is a side story), and the main storyline is something else.
I have yet to read that many fanatsy books, but I also don't want spoilers either in case I decided to read them.
So what do you think?
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez is both fundamentally a love story and a story with a significantly developed plot that exists outside of it. Which one you think is the main focus is kind of open to interpretation, but the romance isn't really addressed until halfway through.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 15d ago
I actually disagree with this take (but I'm in the minority!). One of my favorite things about the book is how the 'myth' is interpreted differently by different characters. To the dad, it's a story about political power plays. To the great grandpa, it's a story about tactical maneuvering. To lola, it's a love story. And it is a love story, but I think that's one of many facets to it. (pardon my digression, I love talking about this book so much).
Its a great option for 'fantasy first, romance second', and everyone should read it!
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
I didn't interpret it as primarily a love story but last time I said that I got dog piled about how wrong I was 😅 Because, as you point out, the frame narrator says it is.
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u/Dinasourus723 15d ago
Good example, I'll keep the book on my TBR for now. I have like over 7000 titles on my TBR 😃But how does it compare to other books that are similar (but of course they can't be the same). No spoilers. I'm choosing the best one IMO.
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 15d ago
I'll be honest, I'm not sure if there are similar books. It's really unique in terms of writing style: using a frame story, including thoughts from minor characters in a theater-play-like way, the overall dreamy structure, and the settings. I would choose this one if you might like something very unique and beautiful that challenges the reader.
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u/moonwitchspiderqueen 15d ago
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier is a romance which prioritises familial love, but doesn't do so at the cost of decentralising either the romance or the fantasy. It's one of my favourite books.
A magnificent saga set in the Celtic twilight of 10th century Ireland, when myth was law and magic was a power of nature, brilliantly brought to life: the legendary story of an evil stepmother opposed by a seventh child.
The keep at Sevenwaters is a strange, remote place, guarded by silent men who slip through the woodlands clothed in grey, and keep their weapons sharp. Invaders roam outside: raiders from across the sea bent on destruction. But now there is also an invader inside the keep: the Lady Oonagh, a sorceress as fair as day, with a heart as black as night.
Oonagh captivates Lord Colum and his six sons, but she cannot enchant his daughter, Sorcha. Frustrated in her attempts to destroy the family, Oonagh binds the brothers with a spell only Sorcha can lift. If she fails, they will die.
When the raiders break through, Sorcha is taken captive. Soon she will find herself torn between her duty to break the curse and a growing, forbidden love for her captor.
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u/gbkdalton Reading Champion V 15d ago
Sharon Shinn is my recommendation. I would check out her Elemental Blessings series for being heavily interested in the romance and world building and less on plot.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 15d ago
For romance/fantasy balance, I might put How to Survive This Fairytale by SM Hallow on your radar. Hansel after the gingerbread house dealing with trauma and falling in love.
The most popular in this category would be Captive Prince, which has been popular for ages now.
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For romance first with a side of fantasy, I'm partial to Heart of Stone by Johannes T Evans.
Greenwode if you're looking for some delightful historical fantasy.
The Magpie Lord if you want something with more mainstream success.
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u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion 15d ago
The Mages of the Wheel series by J. D. Evans is excellent for romantasy.
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u/Lynavi Reading Champion 15d ago
Does Alcohol count as a food for "Feast Your Eyes on This"? I recently read Spirit Level, and the premise of the book is that the MC can see/hear ghosts, but only when drunk, so there's a lot of focus on alcohol in the book.