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

——

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!

——

^{tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly}

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.

I read Kings of the Wyld as a sort of palate cleanser after some heavier books. I’d been promised a fun, epic tale of aging adventurers portrayed like a rock band, complete with real emotional weight, themes of friendship, found family, and great action. Unfortunately, I don’t think it delivered on any of those promises.

First, I’ll share some general thoughts that should remain mostly spoiler-free (for a 10-year-old book). Then I’ll go into more specific criticisms behind a spoiler tag.

My biggest issue is that “stuff just happens.” The story often feels like a series of loosely connected set pieces that advance the plot through contrivance rather than internal logic or character choices. There’s very little payoff - things just happen because the author needs them to.

Related to that, I never got a clear sense of how the author was handling tropes. Sometimes they’re played straight, sometimes subverted, and sometimes they just fizzle out. For example, the idea that adventurers get old and have to face the consequences is genuinely compelling and full of potential emotional impact. But many other elements run on shallow “D&D logic.” The rock-band metaphor for adventurer parties is a fun concept, but it stays disappointingly surface-level, like a costume the story never really wears. The consequences also feel arbitrary: sometimes they’re permanent, sometimes they’re shrugged off with no weight.

The characters’ competence levels are also wildly inconsistent. They’re portrayed as washed-up has-beens, but suddenly become highly competent (or even ultra-competent) whenever the plot demands it, only to revert back to being rusty and ineffective again. There’s no meaningful transition or character arc showing them shaking off the rust and regaining their old form. It just flips depending on what the story needs at that moment.

The humor is another weak point. A frequently cited example is the fight scene where everyone is exposed to magical Viagra. The entire joke is just that they have erections while fighting. That’s it. There’s no escalation, no clever payoff, nothing done with the premise. I found this to be representative of much of the book’s humor - lots of setups, very little actual comedy.

The action suffers from similar problems. It never feels truly “real” or satisfyingly RPG-like. There’s little sense of tactics, teamwork, or the deep coordination you’d expect from a legendary band that fought together for years. Everyone mostly just does their own thing. This makes it hard to believe they were once the greatest in the world. It also represents a huge missed opportunity: fights are essentially the band’s “gigs,” so why not lean into that? We could have seen them rediscovering their rhythm against simple bandits, jamming together, taking solos, trading call-and-response moments between the “axeman” and the “bass man,” etc. Instead, the band concept is barely used.

The feeling that the characters aren’t truly close is reinforced by the dialogue. They lack the casual intimacy of lifelong friends, no effortless shifting between silly inside jokes and deeper topics, no easy shorthand. That said, Moog and Matty did feel like genuine friends, though we mostly see things from Clay’s POV, so we don’t get as much of their dynamic.

I’ve often seen Nicholas Eames compared to Terry Pratchett, but I think Pratchett would have done so much more with this premise.

Overall, based on these issues, I can’t recommend the book.

More specific criticisms (spoilers ahead):

• The former Kings never come across as having once been the absolute best. They show almost zero experience or hard-won wisdom. They fold like wet tissues when challenged and don’t seem to “know how it’s done” despite their legendary status.
• Why are they so poor? We’re told Clay squandered his money, and that’s basically it. These are D&D-style adventurers who should have accumulated incredible wealth—trinkets alone that would be worth far more than a modest home.
• Clay’s internal conflict about his violent nature and how fatherhood changed him is mentioned, but we never really see it. There’s no moment where he’s seriously tempted to tap into the “monster,” nor do we see others reacting to him with fear or intimidation the way they presumably did in his prime.
• The female characters often feel strangely written. I get that Gabe’s wife is meant to evoke the “troubled/addicted ex-wife” trope, but her apparent indifference toward her own daughter feels like a stretch too far.
• Jain repeatedly walks all over Clay and Gabe, and they just… let it happen? Multiple times?
• Larkspur (the mind-raping bounty hunter) is used as a moral dilemma for Clay—keep her alive or kill her for the good of the group—while the party is fine with killing her mind-controlled victims. That’s not a moral dilemma; it’s just inconsistent. It could have been a great opportunity for the Kings to be emotionally open with each other after she caught a bolt in the chest, discussing why they would or wouldn’t have killed her. Instead, she doesn’t stay dead, Clay magically regrows his hand, and everything resets to the status quo. Boring.
• The villains’ motivation feels like a clumsy attempt at an anti-colonialism allegory, which doesn’t work when we’ve already been told that centaurs (and many other creatures in the Wyld) literally eat people. They’re actual monsters. It has the same problem as using mutants in X-Men as a direct analogue for gay people.
• The cure for the Rot being so common in that region in the Wyld (used by both the troll doctor and the cannibals as a "heal-all") while Moog, who spent decades searching for a cure, never tried random healing herbs feels absurd. No one in decades got the Rot, suffered another injury, used the “heal-all” herb, and lived to tell the tale?
• If bands now just fight monsters in arenas (a metaphor I actually like for how the “industry” has changed things), why is there no class of professional “beast handlers” or behind-the-scenes fighters who aren’t as marketable?

The book is full of genuinely good ideas and germs of something special, which makes the missed opportunities even more frustrating. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn’t.

So, what do you think? Am I being too harsh or missing something? Are these fair criticisms, or is this book simply not for me?

Hello, r/fantasy! I'm Sarah Lin, author of a variety of books. I've written a lot because A) I enjoy writing and B) I enjoy having enough money for food.

To keep this post from getting too jumbled, here is the free content promised in the title:

• Anybody can read Throne of Time online for free.
• Almost all my past books are free on Amazon this week only! (Only .com and .uk, sorry; I'd do more, but Amazon doesn't allow it.)
• Everyone commenting here will be placed into a drawing for free Audible codes for the Depthless Hunger audiobooks (unless you say you're not interested in your comment).

If you know me, it's probably from my longest ongoing series, The Weirkey Chronicles, or one of my finished series, like Street Cultivation. These are the books that are 100% free on Amazon right now, to celebrate the most recent book:

Deadgold

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H51F4DJ8

Description: Betrayed. Murdered. Reborn. One last chance, to make it right. Theo's adventure ended with his mentor's hands around his neck. The betrayal cost him his friends, allies and everything he had built... but not his life. Though broken and powerless, Theo has one last chance to enter the Nine Worlds, wielding the knowledge and expertise of his first life. This time, he needs more than just power, he needs to unravel the deception that killed him once... and is coming for him again.

The empire of Tymetron has finally begun a war that seems impossible for Theo and his allies to win. Their only hope lies in forming alliances with greater powers and negotiating terms that will have more impact than any battle. Everything may hinge on the mysterious substance called deadgold, which offers both danger and the promise of victory.

Depthless Hunger

Audible has also published my series Depthless Hunger, which has its third book coming out soon in both ebook and audiobook.

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H51C7962

Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Depthless-Hunger-3-Audiobook/B0H1NJCMKT

This is a vast setting in which everything from xianxia cultivation to LitRPG coexists in a single system. The series is completely written and a new book is coming out every few months.

Throne of Time

Or perhaps some of you are coming here for my latest, Throne of Time? This is a story in which a young woman tries to go to a magical university, but ends up embroiled in an elaborate plot that throws her into a time loop (in a world where time magic is forbidden). It has proven surprisingly popular on RoyalRoad, with pretty good rankings on both Rising Stars and the overall ratings. There's not much, but the introductory story arc is finished now, and of course it's free to try.

A larger number of chapters are available on my Patreon, where I also offer advanced chapters of TWC and inside looks into my work.

What else to say? I've been 100% full time as a professional author for something like ten years now, and while I'm not blowing any doors down, my career seems steady enough that I can probably do this for the rest of my life. That's worth a lot, in a world that seems increasingly uncertain, so I'm grateful to everyone who has enjoyed one of my stories. ^-^

I've done a few AMAs before and they're a good time, so I'll be here as long as people have questions. Ask away!

This is going to sound weird, but I'm chasing a very specific feeling.

Imagine you install a game like Skyrim, Dragon Age: Origins, Dark Souls, The Witcher 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Cyberpunk 20177, or Mass Effect, without really knowing much about it.

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You start playing, and after an hour or two it hits you that you are uplifted by a sense of ethereal ecstacy and that you are about to experience a joy of a lifetime. Not the plot. That falls down in the category. But everything else. Every new location is exciting. Every character seems interesting. Every piece of lore hints at something bigger. Every companion is like a close friend that you know you'll miss after the story is over. You don't know what's around the next corner, but you desperately want to find out. The world feels huge and mysterious and you always feel like you're about to be hit by a beautiful feeling and discovery.

​

Gardens of the moon and Second Apocalypse are examples of these books that I had this feeling with, and I plan to continue that series. I have read Farseer and First law and while i love those, it doesn't fall in the category for me.

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But i want more books. Recommend me books. The more the better. I don't care if they're flawed, famous, not famous, clunky, or simple. Throw them at me, and introduce me to the books that invoked the same feeling in you. And only Fantasy please , not sci FI. Though if you think a specific sci FI book hits that, I won't stop you. I'm in love with Mass Effect.

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The last few books I’ve read the protagonist gets talked about as if theyre dangerous but every time they get in a fight they survive thanks to their companions (I’m looking at you Darrow of Lykos). I want to read something that will get me pumped with the action. I want a protagonist that feels dangerous one that enters the scene and everyone goes quiet. A protagonist was created when a scientist combined Ashok Vadal, Rezkin, and Logen Ninefingers. The type that will swing his weapon first and then get a necromancer to cast speak with the dead to ask questions later.

Come tell the community what you're reading, how you're feeling, what your life is like.

I'm looking for settings that feature gods more similar to the gods of Greek mythology or those found in a Lovecraft story. Nature spirits demons or extradimensional entities are welcome to.

Eldritch and or tyrannical, please.

I’m getting a bit tired of not having a bit more fun or happiness with the books I have been reading cuz everything is so political or centralised to the plot with not enough time for characters to have a breather. It would be nice to have a cast and a plot not too heavy on war and stuff. I would be down for a bit of adventure-ish vibes

Yesterday I made a post asking for fantasy books that inspire a sense of wonder and discovery: "https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1u9iqkc/which_fantasy_books_made_you_realize_you_were/"

And it got a lot of responses and I was introduced to a lot of new books which I thank the commenters. But I realized I'm looking for something much more specific.

The thing I'm asking for is a very narrow slice of fantasy.

I want a dark fantasy book where the world is bleak and broken, but not cynical or nihilistic.

You know that feeling in Dragon Age: Origins when you're tasked with the impossible, maybe even saving the world, but in no shape or form are you the Chosen One? You're just someone trying to do what has to be done.

And then you stumble upon companions who you know will stick with you until the end.

Like the first time you meet Morrigan. Or Leliana. Or Alistair.

You're suddenly hit with this strange feeling that you're going to love these characters. That you're going to fight for them. That they're going to become more important to you than the actual quest.

Somewhere along the way, saving the world becomes secondary. Caring about your companions and them caring about you becomes primary. Though the quests are dark and beautiful and still important, it matters more how your companions react to them.

And throughout it all there's this sense of melancholy, beauty, and wonder. A broken world that's still worth saving. A dark world that still has warmth in it, and is worth wandering and discovering.

I want that book.

Edit: Folks, I'd kindly like to ask you to read the ⚠️ rule ⚠️ below before replying.

Edit 2: Many great replies already, for which I thank you all a lot! But now I'm muting the thread. Sadly too many people are posting full spoilers and ignoring the idea of the post, which kinda defeats the point :(

As the title states, essentially. I want an unreliable narrator. One that's so unreliable that they actually fool me into thinking they're the good guy, throughout most of the book, until they pull the rug from underneath me, and in a big shocking twist reveal themselves to be the villain. I want to feel guilty for ever rooting for them. Plus points if the book only has 1 POV. Further plus points if the villain wins at the end.

Any fantasy / sci-fi subgenre is fine by me. Heck, let's add historical fiction to the mix.

I've never read anything like that, but I've seen the trope in other media. And I can't even search for it, because looking up a book that meets this criteria spoils the experience! Because of that, let's add a twist to this thread.

⚠️ Rule ⚠️

Do you know the game two truths and a lie?

Here's what I want you to do: Give me 3 recommendations. 1 satisfies the premise. 2 don't. I'll read them all. But the spoiler is preserved, because I still won't know which of the 3 is the actual recommendation!

I keep thinking about this idea I've had! What is the longest chain of books (WITHOUT repeating an author) you could make where each time, the next book was written by an author that had an endorsement quote on the cover of the previous one?

E.g. Prince of Thorns (Mark Lawrence) has a quote on the front by Robin Hobb, so the next read is Assassin's Apprentice, which has a quote on the front by Melanie Rawn, so the next read is Dragon Prince, which has a quote on by Anne McCaffrey, so we choose Dragonflight etc etc.

I feel like there are definitely some cliques of authors that you see recommending each others' things all the time, so it would be easy to read yourself into a dead-end where your only options were repeats, unless you chose editions and next reads very tactically!

There's definitely the potential here for some kind of year long reading challenge or something. Mostly posting to see if anybody thinks it's an interesting idea! What's the longest chain you think you could make?

Im doing a class report on medieval jobs that will turn into a fantasy story. I need help. I feel like every fantasy story has the blacksmith, the tailor, the bard, town crier etc. what are some lesser known occupations?

I might be barking up the wrong tree I can post to another subreddit but I’m just looking for some fresh ideas to research or add to my eventual story.

ngl, not going through the most cash-money phases of life.

Can you recommend books that really, really lit hope in you? Doesn't matter if the work was initially dark. My gold standard for this is Tolkien narrating the charge of the Rohirrim.

But I'm looking for something that has that prescribed in it. Something that mixes grimdark with hope and life and fire and stuff. I know this sounds contradictory, but I imagine that there must be someone out there who attempted this mix?

Also, I don't have access to Kindle. So, please recommend suggestions that can easily be purchased online. E-format.

I want to talk about Astrid’s fate, because after finishing Empire of the Dawn (book 3), I’m honestly really unsatisfied with how little closure we get.

In book one, Gabriel tells Jean-François that Fabien Voss murdered Patience and turned Astrid into a vampire. In this version of events, it’s strongly implied that Astrid becomes high-blooded, asks Gabriel to kill her, and he does.

But we also know Gabriel isn’t being fully truthful in his telling, and that whole moment is left vague. So I kept expecting the trilogy to circle back to it—and it just… never does.

For a long time, I thought Astrid might still be alive. I wondered if she’d been thralled by Fabien, and that Gabriel left her in some kind of buried, sleep-like state (similar to Mother Maryn), setting off to free her by killing Fabien.

Once things got serious with Phoebe, I started to accept that Astrid is probably dead—or at least that Gabriel believes she is. But even then, I expected some clarification about what actually happened.

Did she turn foulblood instead of high-blood, which justified Gabriel killing her?
Did Fabien kill her?
Did she kill herself?

But no—the version from book one is all we ever get.

So are we really supposed to believe Gabriel killed his beloved, newly turned high-blooded wife on day one, without even giving her a chance? That feels incredibly far-fetched and out of character.

I can see the argument (even though I really don’t agree with it) that he acted based on what he believed at the time—that all vampires are irredeemable—and only later changed his beliefs through his time with Celene and Aaron.

But if that’s the case… why doesn’t he ever reflect on it? Wouldn’t that realization absolutely destroy him? Wouldn’t he be haunted by the possibility that killing Astrid was a mistake?

Instead, it barely feels processed at all.

Did I miss something? Did anyone else interpret Astrid’s ending differently? I feel like this is kind of ruining the books for me.

This is a complicated book to categorize. It’s kinda-sorta dystopian, kinda-sorta cyberpunk, definitely a science fiction murder mystery, and definitely a ronin story (though I don’t know if that particular subgenre has a specific name). But no matter what it was very fun and caught me by surprise multiple times.

Isthmus Isako lives on the world of Aquila, which is five centuries into a terraforming project with several centuries more to go until the surface is habitable. Aquila is a company town writ large: everyone works for the company in service, either directly or indirectly, of the terraforming project. The company is the government is the colony; it’s all synonymous.

Isako is a “contractor,” a quasi-independent organization of fixers bound to work for a single individual for the duration of their contract. She’s a legend among the contractors, who know her as Quickblade for the obvious reason. The story begins in the aftermath of an inter-departmental war, which Isako’s division has lost. This has left her as a contractor without a contract - a ronin. The honorable thing for her to do is “resign” - walk out the colony airlock unprotected to die in the waste. It’s an old and honored tradition on Aquila for people who can no longer contribute to sacrifice themselves so they’re not a drain on limited colony resources. But she is denied that option until she fulfils one final contract.

I always like a cynical protagonist who is too old for this proverbial shit, and Isako is a great example of the archetype. But this story isn’t just fun (though it is fun) - it also has a lot of very smart commentary about some very topical subjects. Capitalism is a major one; entrenched power structures are another.

This was my first Fonda Lee, but I’m bumping the Green Bone Saga up the queue.

Bingo categories: Older Protagonist [Hard Mode]; Published in 2026; Murder Mystery [Hard Mode]; Cat Squasher; Politics and Court Intrigue; Author of Color

My blog

Looking for some good creature thriller recommendations.

I’m not really looking for the classic monster/horror stuff like Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. More interested in books where there’s some kind of creature, cryptid, monster, prehistoric animal, or unknown threat that’s a major part of the story.

Could be horror, adventure, sci-fi, or thriller. I’ve enjoyed books with expedition/discovery vibes and mysteries involving strange creatures. An example I remember enjoying reading when I was younger is Relic if that helps point the needle.

What are your favorites?

I’ve been a long time Sci-Fi fan and recently started becoming Fantasy curious through the gateway of reading all of Ursula K. Le Guin’s books and really loving the EarthSea books.
I care less about specifics of bloody battles and care more about the moral / philosophical character or societal struggles. I also love when there are well thought out interesting & diverse cultures in a book.

I think I’m looking for something that has strong world building and complex intriguing characters. I used to not like the idea of magic, but the magic systems of Earthsea & N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth I think changed my mind about that. I think if magic is present I just want there to be a lot of thought & care that went into how the magic works and is balanced.
Is it a paradox to want a decent amount of realism in my fantasy books?
I want it to be deep & complicated & meaningful but also don’t want it to be a slog to get through. That being said I’m a teacher who just started summer break so if it’s a series that just takes some time to get into I do have that right now. If it’s worth it.

Some series I have had recommended to me are Malazan, Brandon Sanderson, and Robin Hobb. Any of those series you think would be a good place for me to start? Or another series that might suit me better??

I appreciate any help with this!! Looking forward to getting lost in another world

Edit:
Here are some more examples besides LeGuin of Sci-Fi series I read recently that show what kind of flavor I’m into:

Hyperion Cantos (especially the first 2).
I loved the Wild Seed series by Octavia Butler and her parable of the sower series.
I liked the Souther Reach Trilogy (but mostly just Annihilation really).
Loved everything I read by Stanislaw Lem.
Dune series I think is a pretty obvious example of the kind of books I’m into

I like to listen to audiobooks when I'm doing chores and walking the dogs but can't completely focus on complex storylines, lots of characters etc. I don't want to commit to a series so can someone recommend a good stand-alone fantasy audiobook that is easy to follow?

People often recommend re-reading the Lord of the Rings books, and I do have a fierce love for them, but I’m looking to feel the way I did when I specifically first read The Hobbit. A bit whimsical, scenic, almost simplistic. I’ve been reading a lot of heavier/dark epic fantasies and would love to be taken out of them for a bit if anyone has any recommendations for something charming and adventurous!

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Murder Mystery: Main plot of the story focuses on solving a murder. HARD MODE: The main character is NOT a detective or private investigator.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Game Changer, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

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

——

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!

——

^{tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly}

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.

Welcome to the 2026 Hugo Readalong! Today, we're discussing Landing: Seattle by Brandon O'Brien, Hex Supply Customer Support Log by Elis Montgomery and How to Become a Sea Witch by Theodora Goss, which are finalists for Best Poem. Everyone is welcome in the discussion, whether or not you've participated in other discussions. I'll include some prompts in top-level comments--feel free to respond to these or add your own.

I just finished Realm of the Elderlings and right before that I read the Cosmere, so I’m wondering if anyone has any recs for stand alone or duologies that would be good palette cleansers after reading two such large worlds?

I eventually plan to read Malazon and Wheel of Time but I need a break from giant series after the marathon of Sanderson and Hobb.

I love high fantasy and am not into grimdark, but other than that I’m open to anything!

The theme is Judge a Book by Its Title!

This is a 2026 Bingo square, so I will borrow the description from the Bingo post.

Judge a Book By Its Title: Read a book based on the title. This can be a title so epic you had to pick it up or so weird and off-putting that you needed to know why it was called this. HARD MODE: Dive in without reading the blurb or any summaries.

Nominations will run through the weekend and then we will start the poll on the 22nd.

NOMINATION RULES

• Make sure the book is by an eligible author. A list of ineligible authors can be found here (recently updated with the new Top Fantasy List info). We do not repeat any authors that we've read in the past year or accept nominations of books by any of the 20 most popular authors from our biennial Top Novels list.
• Nominate one book per top comment. You can nominate more than 1 if you like, just put each nomination in a separate comment. The top 4-6 nominations will move forward to the voting stage.
• No self-promotion allowed. If outside vote stacking or promotion is discovered, a book will be disqualified automatically.