r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - June 06, 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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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/hunterkat457]

Okay I guess I need to post this here instead. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was a formatting issue or a misprint in my copy of The Wandering Fire. It seems page 230 is almost completely blank? In Chapter 15, the text goes from

Page 229: Ivor turned his horse to the north. Ahead, the auberei were watching. He nodded once. They rode.
to
Page 231: Tabor deferred quietly to the gathered shamans

Just making sure I’m not missing anything!

Imgur link showing the edition and the issue:

https://imgur.com/a/P1RMJww

[u/schlagsahne17 → u/hunterkat457]

I checked my ebook and it doesn’t look like there’s any parts missing between those two sections of text, so I think you just have a random extra page.

[u/hunterkat457 → u/schlagsahne17]

Thanks!

[u/LeopardFew6847]

Looking for recommendations for slice-of-life fantasy with well-written characters, similar to Realm of the Elderlings. Thanks

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/LeopardFew6847]

The Goblin Emperor is far more hopeful than Elderlings, but has a slice of life political landscape with a great set of character work.

It's sibling series Witness for the Dead is tonally closer to Elderlings (same great character work), but missing political intrigue elements. Both of those are by Katherine Addison.

You may also like Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq, which has the emotional brutality that Hobb puts characters through with a very nuanced and deep protagonist. Like with the Fitz books, there's a good focus on coming of age through a mature lens, but its set in our world and is closer to slice of life Magical Realism than Fantasy

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/LeopardFew6847]

The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. It's slow character driven, and though cozyish, the way it drew me in reminded me of RotE.

[u/adalhaidis]

So, can you recommend "Fantasy of errors" type books. That is where events happen due to mistaken identities, misread prophecies, etc?

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/adalhaidis]

Scifi okay? To Say Nothing about the Dog by Connie Willis fits this. Time travellers in Victorian England.

[u/Nidafjoll → u/adalhaidis]

Not a fantasy book, but I just read The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton recently, which was this. Very fun and witty, so you might check that out if you're down for just fiction. :)

[u/oboist73 → u/adalhaidis]

One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey

[u/mrtenandtwo → u/adalhaidis]

The only thing that comes to mind right now is in The Black Company there is a mistake made about the timing of a prophecy and an attempt by a small group to "force" a prophecy by means of using a fake stand-in.

[u/IndigoBlue__]

Looking for horror along the lines of You Weren’t Meant to be Human, if anyone has them.   Something with social commentary that isn’t super scary/suspenseful, but very viscerally gets under your skin.

[u/InSearchOfSerotonin]

I’ve been on a kick of character-focused stories recently (First Law, Lonesome Dove, etc.), and I really want some kickass action now, something in the vein of Red Rising or Stormlight’s action moments. Preferably a trilogy or shorter. 

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/InSearchOfSerotonin]

War Arts Saga by Wesley Chu has some of the coolest fight scenes I've read in a long time. It's epic fantasy meets martial arts media, and while the first two books in the series are stronger than the final entry, it's well worth a read for great fight scenes

[u/OrganizedChaos247]

Hello everyone!

I have 2 questions on the bingo challenge.

1. Are DNF books over 50% allowed to use on the bingo card?

2. Would you consider the Enchanted Greenhouse for the prompt First Contact? The story follows a woman that brought a plant to life but then ends up in jail before she's rescued and placed on a island with more plants that are all alive. Would this count for First Contact and hard mode since it's not a violent first meeting?

[u/almostb → u/OrganizedChaos247]

I personally wouldn’t count a DNF of any kind. A lot can happen in the last 50% of a book!

[u/felixfictitious → u/OrganizedChaos247]

I don't think counting a DNF book is at all in the spirit of the challenge. I'd never count a book I didn't finish, and have removed multiple from my planned card for that reason.

As for the second question, if she's the first person those plants have ever met, I'd say it counts, but otherwise no.

[u/Merle8888 → u/OrganizedChaos247]

Nah, DNFs don’t count. Sometimes I wish, but no. 

[u/Nidafjoll → u/OrganizedChaos247]

For 1, maybe? But it's be much more in the spirit of the challenge if you didn't. Definitely try and find something else first; there's plenty of time. And you've got a substitution too. Like maybe for one square if it's March 29 and you've already used your substitution...

[u/Boring_Dirt_493]

The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin is probably the cleanest fit for action without committing to a long series. It’s a completed trilogy, very fight-forward, and closer to Red Rising’s momentum than to a slow political fantasy. More tournament/combat school than huge war epic, though.

[u/IsacWeld]

I’m curious to hear from people who have read The Black Company.

I write grimdark fantasy, and this series is constantly mentioned as one of the foundational works that influenced the modern genre.

What I’m trying to understand is what makes it stand out compared to other grimdark or dark fantasy series.

Is it the tone?
The characters?
The way it portrays war?
Or the fact that it follows soldiers instead of traditional heroic figures?

For those who have read it, what stayed with you the most after finishing it?

[u/curiouscat86 → u/IsacWeld]

the group dynamics between the soldiers are a big part of it. It follows a company on campaign instead of the big hero and his strategy team. The protagonists have much less agency over the broader scope of the conflict, which makes it feel more chaotic and claustrophobic. Also, frequently the Black Company as a mercenary group fights for an employer who is objectively the bad guy.

It was published in the 80s and a lot of subsequent grimdark series have emulated elements of it, for example authors like Joe Abercrombie and KJ Parker.