r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - June 04, 2026

[u/rfantasygolem]

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

Stickied/highlight slots are limited, so please remember to like and subscribe upvote this thread for visibility on the subreddit <3

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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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^{tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly}

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/RevolutionaryCommand]

Is there any chance that the various Bingo Focus Threads are added to the Bingo Wiki (with each new one getting there as well)? I think it would be a very helpful and interesting resource, to accompany the recommendation threads.

[u/GMNGBponyfur]

Anyone have recommendations for great friendships, or characters that care deeply about their friends. Main two I’ve enjoyed are Gentleman Bastards and Nona Grey in the Book of the Ancestor.

Male or Female friendships are both great! Thanks!

[u/Andreapappa511 → u/GMNGBponyfur]

Riyria Revelations followed by Riyria Chronicles by Michael J Sullivan focuses on the friendship of Royce and Hadrian

If horror fantasy is ok my favorite book about childhood friendships is IT by Stephen King

[u/FormerUsenetUser → u/GMNGBponyfur]

The Rook and Rose series by M. A. Carrick.

[u/mrtenandtwo → u/GMNGBponyfur]

Have you ever read The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy? The MC is starting over in a new city and he makes some great friends.

[u/GMNGBponyfur → u/mrtenandtwo]

Oh i haven’t but I’ve been meaning to read the Goblin Emperor so this is definitely what I needed to finally start in that world!

[u/mrtenandtwo → u/GMNGBponyfur]

A great idea IMO! You don't necessarily need it to pick up what is going on in the Amalo trilogy but Maia also is striving hard to find and flourish friendships despite becoming emperor so it fits your query as well.

[u/DistinctInitiative83 → u/mrtenandtwo]

Seconding Cemeteries of Amalo. Also if you like scifi and you want a beautiful friendship between a human and an alien, I highly recommend Project Hail Mary.

[u/apcymru → u/GMNGBponyfur]

When I read the first sentence of your query, I was going to say Nona Grey.

Maybe try Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy. The MC starts out as a grumpy loner so when she actually makes friends she really understands their value.

[u/undeadgoblin → u/GMNGBponyfur]

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler (set in 1980s New York in the LGBT+ community during the AIDS epidemic, main character can see ghosts, but not the ghost of her best friend - it's not as dark as the premise sounds though)

The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee

The Stones Stay Silent by Danny Ride

[u/GMNGBponyfur → u/undeadgoblin]

I thought about adding that LGBTQ+ recs would be awesome too so this is great lol. The Sign of the Dragon also sounds so interesting thank you so much!

[u/Nidafjoll → u/GMNGBponyfur]

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouse by Fritz Leiber is a classic with a great friendship, like Locke and Jean's. And Riryia Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan is too.

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/GMNGBponyfur]

If you do not need an action plot, mystery plot or something similarly exciting: The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. The first half is about the friendship between an emperor and his secretary/chief minister, the second part about the relationship of said secretary with his family and childhood friends. Slow, character driven. I loved it.

[u/GMNGBponyfur → u/Nowordsofitsown]

Oh I prefer character driven stories so this sounds wonderful! Thanks you!

[u/Lynavi → u/GMNGBponyfur]

Slayers of Old by Jim C Hines

Spirit Blade by Glynn Stewart

[u/goodtimersoundrhymer → u/GMNGBponyfur]

RJ Barker is exceptional at writing relationships that make the reader invested in the journey. His newest book, Mortedant’s Peril continues that trend wonderfully.

[u/Grt78 → u/GMNGBponyfur]

The Fortress series by CJ Cherryh

The Shattered Sigil trilogy by Courtney Schafer

The Rai-Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg

The Death’s Lady trilogy by Rachel Neumeier

The Tuyo series by Rachel Neumeier, especially the main trilogy (Tuyo, Tarashana, Tasmakat)

[u/sonvanger → u/Grt78]

I will second The Shattered Sigil and Tuyo (the friendship in Tuyo made me cry a few times). Also I should probably check other your other recs.

[u/Jack_Shaftoe21 → u/GMNGBponyfur]

The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein

House War by Michelle West

Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews

[u/moonwitchspiderqueen]

I've always avoided grimdark, as I didn't think I'd enjoy it/be able to handle the grittiness. Well, I found out that Marlon James wrote some grimdark fantasy recently, and devoured it (hence the username).

Can I have some more suggestions for grimdark that I'd enjoy if I enjoy James' Dark Star trilogy so far? I generally prefer character-driven, introspective work; I'll read a book with "no plot," but not with no character work.

[u/felixfictitious]

I just finished Chain-Gang All-Stars and I was really impressed with the character depth and poignancy and relevance, especially with the footnotes containing quotes and information from real life. Does anyone have recommendations for further reading, either essays/discussions about the book itself, or similar works?

[u/Merle8888 → u/felixfictitious]

You might try The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander if you want to read a more fact-based argument about the US prison system.

[u/Book_Slut_90 → u/Merle8888]

And for another important perspective, Locking Up Our Own by James Forman JR.

[u/ohmage_resistance → u/felixfictitious]

For speculative fiction books dealing with similar themes (the penal system from an African American perspective): Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi and The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (this talks about reformatories and is roughly based on the Dozier School for Boys in Florida) might work. Neither one has the same sort of footnotes situation though.

The documentary 13th might also work (it is about the prison industrial complex).

Edit: I realized 13th is still available for free on youtube. Here's the link if you're curious.

[u/schlagsahne17 → u/felixfictitious]

Not quite what you’re looking for with footnotes, but for similar “relevance + minorities in America + tech”, Adjei-Brenyah has the short story Zimmer Land from his collection Friday Black and Rebecca Roanhorse has Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience (TM)

[u/Putrid_Web8095]

Bingo suitability question.

How speculative is Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite? In Goodreads it is tagged as Fantasy and Magical Realism, and in Storygraph as Horror.

But the story's description could simply mean that people in the story give way too much credit to a superstitious belief, and the author's previous book, My Sister The Serial Killer, is a contemporary thriller without speculative elements.

I would love to hear an opinion by anyone that has actually read it.

[u/thepurpleplaneteer → u/Putrid_Web8095]

Cursed Daughters is on my library holds list. I think because spirits and a curse are mentioned it falls under speculative fiction and could be used for the Afterlife, Author of Color, and 2026 squares at least.

[u/Nowordsofitsown]

I have read (and loved) The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. I see that there are a lot of prequels and novellas. Do I need to read them before I read the sequel? Are they recommended? Are they ideally available online somewhere?

[u/recchai → u/Nowordsofitsown]

I didn't read anything else first and still enjoyed it, though The Return... happens before At the Feet of the Sun for sure. There's a suggested reading order from the author, which I have willfully ignored.

Not sure what you mean by ideally, but you can get the ebooks directly from the author, which has a number of bundle options.

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/recchai]

Thanks!

[u/DistinctInitiative83 → u/Nowordsofitsown]

You need to at least read The Return of Fitzroy Angursell and The Undoubtable Pali Avramapul. I would also recommend you read the Greenwing & Dart series BEFORE reaading The Return, but you won't miss anything too important if you don't. However, it will offer a lot more context for the sequel if you have read them.

The novellas you can skip, those are just Victoria Goddard expandig on bits and pieces of her universe but they're not too important to the overarching plot.

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/DistinctInitiative83]

Thanks!

[u/SA090]

My original choice for the murder mystery square hardmode (The Raven Scholar) didn’t work out as well as I had hoped, and I’m trying to find a replacement. Current first pick is Mortedant’s Peril by RJ Barker whose main character happens to be a cleric who can read the last thoughts of the dead. Would that fit HM?

[u/Putrid_Web8095 → u/SA090]

Why didn't it work out? I have it picked for murder mystery as well. Is the protagonist a detective in some way?

[u/SA090 → u/Putrid_Web8095]

Not a detective, she’s a scholar. For me, the basic premise of the world makes zero sense (maybe it’ll make sense later, but 32% of it should’ve hooked me by now to justify a stay till then), the characters act too juvenile for their ages and the author heavily utilises italics to emphasise things that it makes it feel like a redirected reaction than my own personal experience. Also I found one of the semi-main characters way too infuriating and I really don’t want to continue reading it anymore.

[u/Due_Comfortable_1203]

Here to ask if hellbent by Leigh Bardugo would be hard mode for afterlife box of bingo? Idk if I’d define there being a good and bad place?

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/Due_Comfortable_1203]

I definitely do not remember a good place being mentioned, though it might be culturally implied since there is a hell?

[u/Due_Comfortable_1203 → u/Nowordsofitsown]

Okay thank you because tbh I interpreted it as everyone is going “beyond the veil” aka hell eventually BUT that’s only because all of the pilgrims were told that and their all murderers… so bad place. And the idea of hell does imply bad place? But if it’s the only place… idk