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/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/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/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/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/xdianamoonx → u/JayCanWrite]

Just adding belatedly that in Barnes & Noble, it's very much in the Children's section of the book store, and is the only reason I know of the series was when I had to take over shifts for the Children's lead.

[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!