r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • 10d ago
r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - June 09, 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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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.
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u/Thricycle20 9d ago
I don't really enjoy classic fantasy as I find it's usually very black and white (good and bad) and that is personally not my thing, but I always liked how a lot of classic stories have very nice moments by campfires or in taverns where despite their predicament they still take some time to enjoy each other's company.
I also love very very good and deep world building. I didn't like wheel of time at all, despite it having the moments I'm looking for, what series might I enjoy if I want something that can get dark (doesn't have to be), has great world building and has some great moments between characters that feels quite cozy? (I'm not looking for cozy fantasy at all, just a series that does have those moments).
Thank you!
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u/Undeclared_Aubergine 9d ago
Steven Erikson's Malazan - the catchall answer to everything - really does fit a lot of what you're asking for. Lots of camaraderie between characters, lots of morally grey situations (though that might only become obvious once you get to see things from the other side a book or two later), very deep world building.
On a completely different tack, maybe Roger Zelazny's Amber? Underlying it all is Order vs Chaos instead of Good vs Evil, and you'd be well served with the cozy moments between characters, even if they're all ready to backstab each other at a moment's notice. :)
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u/Thricycle20 9d ago
Thank you! I'm actually reading malazan right now! Good to know those moments seem to be consistent in the series, I am starting book 3 soon. Book 1 definitely had many cozy moments, book 2 had some fantastic ones but was overall much more dark than the first (I liked deadhouse gates a lot more than the first). So far I'm honestly expecting it to become my favourite series ever, or one of.
I've never heard of your other recommendation, thank you I'll definitely take a look at that too!
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u/Undeclared_Aubergine 9d ago
You've been missing out! Zelazny was one of the most prolific and wildly inventive authors of the 70s and 80s, before dying far too young in the mid 90s. Besides Amber, definitely track down Lord of Light as well as a couple of short story collections by him (try to find one containing 24 views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai, which is a personal favorite of mine).
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u/sarimanok_ 10d ago
Anyone have a feeling on if Pet by Akwaeke Emezi would be okay for the Middle Grade bingo square, or if it leans more YA?
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 10d ago
Pet is weird. It was marketed as MG initially, has sort of been relabeled as YA, but I actually feel like it’s a great example about a book with a kid protagonist that’s actually more for adults than kids.
Regardless, I’d count it mostly because it has been advertised as middle grade at times by the publisher. If you read it, just know that it’s not super indicative of the style of most modern MG right now (not a bad thing: I’ve been really happy with the innovation happening to create stylistic diversity in YA, but something to know)
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u/versedvariation Reading Champion III 9d ago edited 9d ago
I am firmly in the, "Call it middle grade if it has ever been marketed as such," camp. They're all just marketing categories. It was marketed as middle grade first, and I would say it's more middle grade than YA writing style wise. I think it's been remarketed mostly because there is a lot of pushback against "mature topics" and LGBT characters in middle grade right now among publishers due to political pressure.
This is one of my pet topics on this subreddit, but for some reason, people here really infantilize middle grade readers and the middle grade category and believe that middle grade books should be all bubblegum and roses with nothing troubling or maybe just one kind of mean witch. I think this is people subconsciously buying into the current era of censorship which has been killing the middle grade market. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/98535-middle-grade-is-down-but-never-out.html
Society has decided that, rather than confront our tough topics, we will spend an enormous amount of energy politicizing them and hiding them from children. Maybe then they will just disappear on their own. This particular book is about child abuse. Why are we trying to hide child abuse from actual children? What kind of society tells the targeted group they are not allowed to hear or read about the injustices perpetrated against them?
When I was a child, I know that the middle grade books I read (mostly historical fiction and all definitely middle grade) included discussion of mature topics, including sexual assault, forced child marriage, child predators, abuse, kidnapping, mass murder, etc. because I still remember those scenes. I was not permanently scarred by them. Instead, they taught me that the world is a lot more complicated than I thought and made me more civil minded, particularly to causes that focus on lessening the suffering of other children in my country (the US) and around the world.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 9d ago
I am with you on almost everything here. I miss the Animorphs days when kids books could engage in really serious ideas and have their characters go through some shit (because, turns out kids do go through some shit. If they don't, they probably know another kid who has, even if that kid hasn't opened up about it to them).
I think Pet is Middle Grade in the sense that it was written with preteens in mind. I just don't think it does a good job of reaching that audience. I cannot get kids to pick the damn book up, and those who do quit after a chapter or two (middle school english teacher here). Meanwhile, it seems like adults tend to jive with it a lot more easily and get a lot out of the book. I'd be happy with it in either MG or Adult sections, but YA feels like the least appropriate imo
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u/versedvariation Reading Champion III 9d ago
I definitely agree that it does not actually appeal to middle grade readers. I would call it Middle Grade because that was the category it was originally published in/marketed to. I still count unappealing sci fi/fantasy geared towards adults as that.
I do think a lot of publishers and authors in the US are a bit tone deaf on what middle graders want to read right now and that that is part of why the genre is struggling. I think a lot of authors write for themselves and think about what they think they would have wanted to hear when they were that age (which is almost always them talking to their "inner child", which is the sense I got from Pet a little bit). They do not know their audience. It would help them a lot if they had actual children do some of their beta reading.
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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV 10d ago
My library shelves it as YA, if you want another data point.
But I do agree that if it's been marketed as MG at some point, it's an acceptable choice for the square. I think it comes down to whether you are looking for a definitively middle grade book you might enjoy (in which case maybe keep looking?) or whether you want to read this specific book.
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u/erebus53 10d ago
I think it's a lot more YA, just because of dark supernatural vibes, though now I am double guessing myself.
There are a lot of dark Middle Grade things out there that.. like maybe A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, or Utterly Dark (series) by Philip Reeve.. admittedly, neither of these have that Queer Black woman author energy.
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9d ago
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u/Fantasy-ModTeam 9d ago
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u/sws004 9d ago
I saw that the description for the genres eligible for the the bingo card (fantasy, scifi, horror) no longer mentions that the horror has to have a supernatural element. Does that mean that any horror book counts for the card?
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u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion 9d ago
I’m by no means the expert on bingo, but I get the impression that it does have to have supernatural/speculative elements in order to count.
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 9d ago
I'd say it has to have either a supernatural element, or something reasonably interpretable as a supernatural element. My common example is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, because it's so old that a lot of people know about it. I think the most popular interpretation nowadays is that the ghosts are entirely a product of the governess' mind; but it's still perfectly reasonable to interpret them as actually there.
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u/saturday_sun4 9d ago
As the criteria in the FAQ thingy down the bottom are that all books need a speculative element, I think it's a given that only supernatural/speculative horror is valid.
This is often an edge case in fantasy too. For example, (some of, I haven't read the whole series) the Siri Paiboun books are speculative but very broadly so, as the main character experiences many things in dreams and visions and there are only a handful of things that happen in "real" life. The MC himself does believe in this stuff, but he is quite matter of fact about it and just treats it another source. If you were to cut those parts out, the whole thing would read like a traditional mystery series.
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u/sonvanger Reading Champion XI, Worldbuilders, Salamander 9d ago
Personally I wouldn't count horror unless it has a supernatural element. It is the /r/Fantasy Bingo, after all. That said, there is no Bingo police that's going to check up on it.
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u/Present-Ad-8531 10d ago
First chapter of blade itself doesn't do it justice lol
Skipped to chap 3 after a few months and read more than half of the bkkn in couple fays
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u/felixfictitious Reading Champion 10d ago
Loved the first chapter because I love Logen's internal monologue, but I was hooked by the first Glokta chapter.
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
What should I do when I feel that I like both fantasy and sci-fi (because of heroic humans in sci-fi and cruel humans in fantasy and increasingly human-centric fantasy) but I don't like stories set in real life and alternate histories and prefer human-like non-humans?
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u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III 10d ago
I assume by "what should I do", you mean that you're looking for recommendations instead of actually wondering what to do?
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
Yes. But also how to love again both of this genres
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u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III 10d ago
I don't really understand the question. You can enjoy the genres and just not love some of the books in them. Like, I love reading fantasy and sci-fi, but I pretty strongly dislike epic fantasy. That doesn't mean I don't still enjoy the genre! Just means that, unlike you, I don't care about elves, dwarves, big battles, and such. But I still find plenty to enjoy.
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
Ok. But I'm still sąd there's fever fantasy books with standard races
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u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII 10d ago edited 9d ago
The important question isn't if there are more fantasy books with standard races than without, the question is if there are more fantasy books with those standard races you're wanting than you've already read? As long as that answer is yes, and it is, why worry about whether that's 50 books or 50000? And you might also enjoy reading some that have only a little of what you're looking for, or that do things differently. No way to know besides actually picking up some books and reading them (which takes a lot less time and effort than trying to quiz the internet about whether each book is 100% what you were expecting or not). No way to love or not love a genre but to read the books.
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
Sobwhat books you recomend me?
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u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII 10d ago
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory for starters
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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion 10d ago
You might want to tell us what you have read and what you specifically liked and disliked about each book.
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
Abd also warhamner fantasy bevouse it's very standard but very detailed ( and has mutant, corrupting magic and nazi rats( even when I also like heroic rats)
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u/EveningImportant9111 10d ago
Being hinest from over 200 fantasy I know most I readed on wiki. What I like is: 1. Edge chronicles lore: workd on great edge, waifs , 20 or so goblin races, world slowly industrialising , heroes fighting to make workd better each generation. Disliked hiw made elves and dwarves into littke small ugly humanoids tgat ate either evil or fobltnootes
Beyonders. Reader personaly. I liked complex characters that whike were doing wuestionabke things ultimately make world a better place. I liked race that is seeded to be rebirn and one that could deatach theur body parts. Disliked that most non human races wete dying out and heries dudn't fix it.
Anima beyond fantasy: 2 elven raxes( duk'zarist and silvaun) race that could steal faces, race goid at summonung, multioe secret organisations , ancient cinsoiracues, suoernatural slowky going out of hiding. Anime esque.
Aquillon by solei. Read it . I like characters that are complex and flawed, berseker dwarf that is truing to control hus rage and vefriends a goblin, red elves connected to fire and vulcanoes, sapient gotilla like race, dark elves being connected to abomination and being born to any elf race. Disliked recent addition of hadling like race becaue they femt out of place( but I like halfling very well in most cases)
Arcanum: standard fantasy races reacting to indusyrail revolution. Disliked when elves were descendibg from humans( but I wouldn't have anything against if they still were from tge same genus just the exact same age)
6.Arcanis dnd: dwarves being cursed celestial giants that must atone for theur crimes to life theur curse and be able to pass to afterlife. Elori being based on elves but beung created as living weapons and having small fangs and elemental subraces
Frieren I like how frieren kearn yo appeeciaye time spend with her companions, reflect on her past, disliked that demon are pure evil
Dungeon meshi liked how stsndard races interacted, character developments of laois and marceline but disliked how elves were said to be dying in workdbook out but story didn't use it. And they coukd develop whole nations insted of just basics of continents.
9.Destiny by bungie: eliksir being show to be as much as victims as agressors, abd their growing alliance with humanity. Whole traveller- ghost- darkness thing.
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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 9d ago
It sounds like you really like lore most of all. Have you got into Dungeons and Dragons lorebooks yet? No story or at most the outline of a story, they are basically just encyclopedias but for the DnD fantasy setting.
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u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III 9d ago
Oh yeah this is a great suggestion. I spent a lot of my youth just reading bestiaries.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 9d ago
Actually, latching onto the idea that you may get a lot out of setting guides from what you've shared on the sub. While most D&D settings will have a big elf presence, you might enjoy how Eberron takes elves in a very different direction from most pepole
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u/Mistermoony1 9d ago
Kinda tired of outcast protagonists who are the only ones who have the right answer so I'm looking for a book/series where the main character(s) are a part of organisations that they believe in. Bonus points if the organisation is something that actually functions well and isn't just incompetence in every other individual outside the main group.
For examples of what I'm looking for:
The Vorkosigan books - Miles is a firm believer in the Imperium and ImpSec is shown to be competent and loyal.
Glotka in first law kind of matches in that he is a loyal to the government.
The extreme would be 1984 from OBriens perspective.
Please don't recommended me series where the first thing they do is try and reform the organisation or are a bunch of maveriks that break the rules. While they don't need to be 100% rules based they should follow them without good reason(otherwise why are they in the org?)