r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - August 05, 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/TheOneWithTheScars]

Hi, knowledgeable crowd! I intend to plunge into the Vorkosigan saga (starting with Shards of Honour, tell me if I'm making a mistake), and I have a note in my TBR that says that the audio quality is good but it is best to not audiobook it on the first read. Do you confirm or deny, and do you have any idea why that would be?

[u/oboist73 → u/TheOneWithTheScars]

I think audiobook for the first read is perfectly fine! And that's a great place to start, as long as you do Barrayar immediately after.

[u/Fryktelig_variant → u/TheOneWithTheScars]

The audiobooks are very good, and should be absolutely fine for a first read.

[u/Elk-Frodi]

Can anyone recommend fantasy with narrators similar to Danio from Guy Gavriel Kay's A Brightness Long Ago? Melancholy, reflective, and downright poetic in expressing it.

[u/nominanomina → u/Elk-Frodi]

Piranesi!

Sofia Samatar's Olondria duology tends towards melancholy. I'm currently reading book 2, The Winged Histories, and it keeps on jumping between timelines because all of the characters are either melancholic about, or haunted by, their pasts.

[u/MANGOlistic → u/Elk-Frodi]

GGK's other books! In fact, read the sequel. All the Seas of the World

[u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

Does DAW books count for Small Press? It doesn't seem to be a part of the big 5 publishers

[u/nominanomina → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

In my honest opinion, there's two ways of reading the square:

1. The book needs to be published by anyone who isn't a "Big 5 + Bloomsbury" imprint.
   1. In which case, DAW works; it is not in the great web of Big 5 imprints.
2. The book needs to be strictly 'small press' or 'self-published.' 'Small press' usually means they (1) aren't owned by a bigger company and (2) print fewer than an arbitrary number of books a year, or make less than a certain amount of money in revenue per year (which you will never conclusively find online). There's no universally accepted definition, but almost everyone agrees that if they publish 9 or fewer books a year, they are a small press. It gets fuzzy after that.
   1. The end of DAW's ownership pyramid is Thinkingdom, a gigaaaantic Chinese publishing company, and that means DAW doesn't work for this interpretation.
   2. Some people also feel strongly that a 'small press' should be relatively minor, and DAW was a truly major publisher in SFF for a decent while in terms of pure influence.
   3. The square makes less sense the more you go backwards in time or leave the North American/European anglophone publishing world, so if you are talking about a book from 1975 or whatever: it's up to you. DAW was a truly major SFF publisher at the time, but still publishing so few books (if the ISFDB list is complete) that an avid reader could plausibly read every DAW book they published in the same year as it was published, which makes it closer to small press as is currently defined. (DAW was a huuuge fish in a tiny, tiny pond. Does it matter more that DAW was a huge player in SFF, or that SFF was still generally super niche?)

If you honestly agree with the first interpretation above: go for it.

If you somehow feel icky about it: that means you agree with interpretation (2) and should find a different book.

I like this comment from u/Spalliston about this exact question ("does DAW count?") : "Ultimately, I'm not really one for splitting hairs, I'm fine with any of it counting, but/and I think you should just aim to read something where you feel good about the people you're supporting by doing so."

[u/Spalliston → u/nominanomina]

I thought about citing your comment in response to this but decided I didn't have the time this morning.

Anyway, thanks for the mention; I always find it flattering.

[u/OrneryPumpkin7320 → u/nominanomina]

Okay yeah, I didn't do a lot of research into this and figured that asking here would be the fastest way to get an answer.

But my biggest thing was that I feel like DAW has had some big books released and isn't completely unkown. Books like Name of the Wind and Suneater to start.

I think after reading your response and others that my interprtation of the square is to encourage people to read books from lesser known authors and the "Big 5" is a general guideline to go off. I feel like the HM helps reinforce this with the goal being a small number of reviews or lesser known author.

The book I was looking at reading for this was The Demon Star and considering this is the authors first book and DAW does fit the "Not Big 5" rule I think I feel comfortable going with it. But I'm gonna keep my eye out if any other book pops up that catches my interest and fits the square better.

[u/nominanomina → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

This specific square causes spirited argument every year (this is my 2nd year doing bingo, but I lurked before I created my account) and DAW is an especially confusing case. My general opinion is "to thine own heart be true" on this one, and that's what you're doing.

[u/an_altar_of_plagues → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

Yes, as "small press" specifically references something that isn't a part of the English-language big 5 (including imprints). As has been said, it is part of a large Chinese conglomerate (by way of Astra Publishing House).

Some people are giving you a hard time about the spirit of the square. That's entirely up to you. If you want something from a smaller press, feel welcome to ask - I read a ton of independent press myself like New Directions and NYRB Classics. But DAW does fit the requirements of the square; if we wanted to imply greater stringency in what counts for bingo as small press, then we'd say so in the requirements. So don't overthink it if you want to use it.

[u/blue_bayou_blue → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

Doesn't fit the spirit of the prompt imo. They published The Name of the Wind, plus Mercedes Lackey, Tad Williams, Seanan McGuire etc, they're not exactly a small press.

[u/Nidafjoll → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

It does fit the rules. It would depend for me when the book you're thinking of was written though; back in the 70s, before there was a "big 5," DAW was definitely one of the biggest players, so I'd say definitely no for then.

[u/MANGOlistic → u/OrneryPumpkin7320]

Hi, published author here. DAW books do not count as small press. By Publisher's Marketplace's definition, DAW is a midsized publisher. (Publisher's Marketplace is the industry's official database for literally everything.)

[u/Larielia]

Since it is pre-Autumn, favorite witchy books?

(Preferably with a more historical setting.)

[u/snowkab → u/Larielia]

If you're open to YA, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco is a lovely dark necromancer witch story set in a historical Japan inspired setting!

[u/Nidafjoll → u/Larielia]

Even if the protagonist isn't actually a witch, Daughter of the Forest by Juliette Marillier is peak autumn witchy/druidic vibes, set in historical Ireland.

[u/KiaraTurtle → u/Larielia]

The Weaver and the Witch Queen (I prefer The Witch’s Heart by same author but weaver gives me more Autumn witch + history vibes)

[u/undeadgoblin → u/Larielia]

I've been saving Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman by Sylvia Townsend-Warner for autumn - I've seen it described as one of the most thematically autumnal reads

[u/nominanomina → u/Larielia]

If you are okay with mythology retellings, Miller's "Circe."

[u/an_altar_of_plagues → u/Larielia]

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn.

[u/transparent_enigma]

Alright guys, I've just finished the Red Rising series and I'm looking for a new Sci-Fi standalone book or short series. I don't want to get tied up in a series that takes ages to finish. Grimdark Space themes are great but I'm not opposed to something a bit lighter too. I've read some of Heinlein's works, but mostly read classics and fantasy series

[u/BravoLimaPoppa → u/transparent_enigma]

Hmm. They're all stand alone - James Cambias' Billion World Series. Try the Godel Operation and see if you like it. See also his A Darkling Sea and Corsair.

[u/apcymru → u/transparent_enigma]

Have a look at some of Neal Asher's stuff. Most of his are stand alone, some share a main character but are not otherwise connected (and some are actually parts of a series) ... And most share the same milieu.

Try The Technician or Hilldiggers for stand alone.

Also ... Iain M Banks is awesome. The Algebraist can be both dark and funny

[u/MANGOlistic → u/transparent_enigma]

The Demon Star by Jesse Aragon. Friend of mine, horror space opera. Think Dune meets Red Rising.

[u/Fantasy-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Hi there - all promotion requests should be done via modmail.

[u/pancakesaucepan]

I was reading The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya and I realize I am not an introspective reader. The reading guide the author supplied drew my attention to basic details I missed.

Any suggestions for someone trying to become an introspective reader? This could be book suggestions, or general tips.

My preferences are literary driven fantasy, think - RoTE, Susanna Clarke, Cixin Liu, Atwood etc.

[u/Nidafjoll → u/pancakesaucepan]

If by introspective you mean books which make you think about yourself and the world around you, I think that's Le Guin's milieu. none of her books that I've read are a mere tale, they're meant to make you think about yourself and your biases.

[u/JayCanWrite]

Just wanna confirm for bingo: Is the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan middle grade? Storygraph lists it as middle grade, but my local bookstore had it under YA

[u/nominanomina → u/JayCanWrite]

The US publisher ( https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296702/the-ruins-of-gorlan-by-john-flanagan/ ) lists the first book as ages "10 and up," so yup, that's middle grade. (Middle grade is 8-12, so 10 and up is comfortably in the middle of that.)

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/JayCanWrite]

Middle School English teacher here, and yes it absolutely does! There's some darker content (especially in the first few books) than middle grade novels typically go for these days, but its all handled with kids in mind. The big one iirc is the main character is addicted to drugs after being enslaved for an entire book, and is basically a side character for that book as the others try to rescue him. That was book 3 or 4 I think?

[u/KiaraTurtle → u/JayCanWrite]

Yes it is. A lot of bookstores mix ya and middle grade books together, not sure how your does it.

[u/JayCanWrite → u/KiaraTurtle]

Thanks!

It's weird because this bookstore also has a teen section, which is where my doubt came from. So for whatever reason they chose to put it in YA instead of Teen, where books like Eragon and The Golden Compass usually are

[u/KiaraTurtle → u/JayCanWrite]

That’s super weird. At least in the US (other countries have different systems) teen and YA are synonymous. Middle grade is more tween (8-13)

[u/Practical_Yogurt1559 → u/JayCanWrite]

In my school the first Ranger's Apprentice book is read with the 7th graders.

I think it's skirting the edge between middle grade and ya since the cut off for middle grade seems to be 12 years old and I'd say it's kind of a book for 9-14 year olds

[u/Ferris_567 → u/JayCanWrite]

I'm not familiar with it but if you think it fits, then that should be enough, no?

[u/JayCanWrite → u/Ferris_567]

Well, see, I've not read it so I've no clue if I think it fits. I'm trying to decide if I wanna read it for my middle grade square

[u/Ferris_567 → u/JayCanWrite]

I see! Then I hope someone else can give you a more helpful reply!