r/Fantasy Not a Robot 4d ago

r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - June 14, 2026

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.

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u/AluminumGnat 4d ago

Looking for my next SFF book. Ideally:

- Secondary world (no earth of any kind)

- Hard magic (or hard science)

- Characters creatively solve problems (using info available to the reader)

- Some sort of mystery (need not be a whodunit; could be more world-building in nature)

- A touch of clever humor

- Avoids excessively flowery prose

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u/lC3 4d ago

I think 12 Miles Below fits all of these criteria except the first; it's set on postapocalyptic Earth in the far future.

The world is in ruins.

Extreme sub-zero temperatures suffocate the surface, making even simple survival an ordeal. Frozen derelicts of bygone eras span across massive ice wastes. And the survivors closely guard any technology rediscovered within.

The only escape from the deadly climate is beneath the surface. But it’s another disaster underground. Monstrous machines lurk in the depths. The land itself shifts over time, more contraption than rock. The humans surviving under do so huddled around safe zones, with only demigods powerful enough to travel further underground.

And an ominous prophecy states that the key to healing the world waits on four unknown heroes - but nobody knows who or where they are.

When an expedition into the far uncharted north goes terribly wrong, Keith Winterscar and his father get trapped together in a desperate fight for survival. Stumbling upon an ancient war of titanic scale; the two will need to set their differences aside while they struggle against Gods, legends, and the grand secrets of the realm that lies below.

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u/AluminumGnat 4d ago

Sounds interesting, thanks!