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Traditional and ‘old school’ fantasy series as ‘Palate Cleanser’ books
So for the past few years I’ve been reading more fantasy. I read it when I was younger and just grew out of it like I did with Dungeons & Dragons. Years later ‘Game of Thrones’ comes out and it reignites my interest in the genre as I’m sure it did for a lot of people here. I started rereading Michael Moorcock. I discovered Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane and I’ve just started with Glen Cook’s ‘Dread Empire’ series. I’ve also got my eyes on Gene Wolfe, Roger Zelazny, Tanith Lee and a rereading of Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series. Maybe I’ll try something newer like the Malazan books, China Miéville or Joe Abercrombie, I’m still trying to decide. In other words I’m primarily interested now in the more mature and more non-traditional darker fantasy.
Now after all that here’s what I’m actually looking for. Yes, I like the more serious, gloomy and thought-provoking stuff, but I’m not opposed to books and series that are more ‘beer and pretzels’ or entertainment for entertainment’s sake. I thought it might be fun to also get into a more traditional or classic epic series that could act as a ‘palate cleanser’ after I’ve spent so much time suffering in grimdark land. Books where the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. Epic quests to stop Dark Lords. Magic swords. Dragon Riders. Maybe a more action-oriented or pulp-like feel. Noble kings, crazed barbarians and evil wizards summoning demons. Here’s the series I’ve been looking at that are the most well known:
Terry Brooks' Shannara series
Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar series
David Gemmell’s Legend series
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series
Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.’s various series
R. A. Salvatore’s Demon Wars series or his D&D books
Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series
I know all these vary in quality but I’m open to anything else from the 80s and 90s as long as it’s entertaining and I won’t have to take notes to understand it. I’m open-minded enough to check out other series that might not get much respect like all the post-Howard Conan books or all the D&D novels or other ‘tie-in’ fiction. But I’m also not into the ‘it’s so bad it’s good’ kind of entertaining either. I would also be interested in any other obscure or forgotten series from the 50s, 60s or 70s that were written in more innocent times. I realize all my examples are older so if there’s something being written today that has that retro or ‘old school’ feel I would definitely be interested in that too.
Does anyone here think that any of the examples I’ve listed are what I’m looking for and (most importantly) are they worth taking the time to read? Anyone here who also likes the idea of ‘palate cleanser’ books? Thanks in advance for dealing with this long post.
https://redd.it/1v3rs01
@r_fantasy
stars. I almost used this for a the vacation spot square because the setting was so cool! A retired adventurer reunites the gang for one last heist- to rescue her kidnapped son. Dragon mafias, portals galore, desert dimensions littered with vast ancient skeletons, but a bit too much infodumping in dialogue. KE is one of my favorite authors and you can tell her brain was absolutely sizzling with a million ideas when she wrote this one.
Duology Part 1 Ivelisse Housman (autism) Unseelie
5 stars. Very poignant. As an undiagnosed autistic kid I often wondered if I were some kind of changeling. Excellent autism representation, especially of the way constant sensory overload builds up into an inevitable meltdown. One scene in particular had me yelling SUCK IT ANTIVAXXERS: “If you can only love a child that exists within the boundaries of your expectations—if you would harm them to make them what you want—then you have no business being a parent at all.”
Book Club or Readalong Book Finn Longman (neurodivergent, hypermobility)The Wolf and His King
A bazillion stars. I wept profusely so many times while reading this. The poem chapters from the wolf's POV were so reminiscent of the way I used to feel after having really severe autistic meltdowns in my teens and early 20s when I'd been misdiagnosed with bipolar and fibromyalgia. So much guilt, shame, dread, sorrow. The utter hopelessness and inevitability of being carried away again by that horrifying storm of emotional and painful sensory overload. Truly stunning writing, and even more impressive after I learned that the author is in their early 20s.
Published in 2026 Justine Lombardi (dyslexic/neurodivergent) No Man's Daughter
4 stars. Elaborate Norse mythology inspired setting, excellent queer characters.
Explorers and Rangers Emily Lloyd Jones (joint disease, chronic pain) The Bone Houses
5 stars. The incomparable Moira Quirk reads the audiobook and does a fairly credible Welsh accent for much of the narration. YA novel in a Mabinogion setting with a plucky gravedigging heroine, a foundling mapmaker with a physical disability and chronic pain, and a charming undead goat. Some really excellent reflections on how people tend to put you on a pedestal when they learn you are living with severe chronic pain: “Pain doesn't make a person weak or strong... Pain just—is. It's not a purifier, it's part of living.”
Duology Part 2 Heidi Heilig (bipolar) The Ship Beyond Time
4 stars. A girl and her father and their crew of misfits travel through time on a sailing ship using magical maps. One crew member is a lesbian sailor who lives with her dead wife's spirit as if she were still alive and I just adored every scene she was in. Also bingos for Unusual Transportation.
One-Word Title Nisi Shawl (glaucoma, fibromyalgia) Kinning
3 stars. I really enjoyed the first book in this series but struggled with this one. The setting was very cool but I found the kinning hive mind to be a bit creepy and nonconsensual.
Non-Human Protagonist Martha Wells (neurodivergent, cancer) The Siren Depths
5 stars. This series has such a fantastic and elaborate setting (giant trees the size of mountains! flying islands! numerous sentient species!) and the main character reckoning with his fear of abandonment and childhood trauma was so endearing.
Middle Grade Lindsay Eagar (ADHD) The Patron Thief of Bread
5 stars. Another Moira Quirk banger. Middle grade fiction set in a medievalish France. An orphan takes an apprenticeship with a baker as part of a long con by her street urchin gang. This skirts the edge of historical fiction and fantasy but the gargoyle’s POV chapters (for which Moira uses the same voice she does for Crux in Gideon) felt fantastical enough. Also bingos for a Feast for the Eyes if you want to bake some bread!
First Contact Hank Green (ADHD) An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
5 stars. My first Hank Green content. Mysterious robot “sculptures” appear all over the planet and humanity has to work together collectively to
Fantasy with Middle Eastern setting like in Arabian Nights
I loved the stories from One Thousand and One Nights and the Aladdin movie. Now I want to read more books with a similar setting. Djinns, flying carpets, desert nights.
Here are some books I really enjoyed:
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Sands of Arawiya by Hafsah Faizal
The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty
The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah
This Woven Kingdom by Tahareh Mafi
The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
The most important thing is the setting. It can have political intrigues like City of Brass or be more adventurous like Rebel of the Sands. It can be YA or high fantasy. Lighthearted or very dark. With or without romance. High or low magic. New series or old, obscure novels. Basically everything that captures the feeling of 1001 Nights.
What books can you recommend?
https://redd.it/1v3p63w
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Silverblood Promise was an absolute blast
Picked this up off a recent booktuber recommendation, and decided to give it a shot between the To Green Angel Tower books, and it turned out to be a perfect choice.
The book follows Lukan Gardova, the son of a formerly great and wealthy house, brought to ruin in part because of Lukan accidentally killing a prince during a duel. Lukan is a bit of an idiot, quick to mouth off at the worst times, but is still a genuinely solid character. When his father is murdered, Lukan is sent to the merchant city of Saphrona to hunt down the mysterious Zandrosa - though he has no clue who or what that is. In his search, Lukan gets pulled into a great conspiracy, and has to manage to save himself as well as some friends made along the way.
The city of Saphrona is fantastic and well realized, full of both barbaric customs of the past and idealistic progression towards a better future. Through his journey, Lukan will see prisoners put up against horrific monsters, break into prisons that nobody escapes from, and contend with monsters thought to be fantasy.
He quickly meets the young pickpocket Flea, and their budding friendship is easily my favorite part of the book. The two made me laugh constantly, and as the story goes on and the stakes get higher, their genuine concern for one another lent the book a lot of emotional weight.
I will say for a book I see touted as a swashbuckling adventure, with a hero touted for his skill with the sword, there wasn't a whole lot of actual sword fighting, or honestly fighting in general, but the adventure was there in spades, and I was more than satisfied and fully intend to read book two when I get a chance.
For now, I'm taking a quick diversion into another Cradle book before I return to finish Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
https://redd.it/1v3gutm
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Is it just me, or is The Licanius Trilogy extremely confusing?
I’ve just started reading the third book, The Light of All That Falls, after finishing the first two books - The Shadow of What Was Lost and An Echo of Things to Come.
While reading the recap at the beginning of the third book, I realised that I had completely missed or forgotten so many important details from the first two books. Now I’m reading the recap and thinking, “Wait, when did this happen?”
I usually enjoy complex fantasy, but I found The Licanius Trilogy really confusing at times. The plot, timelines, characters and all the twists can be difficult to keep track of.
I’ve also read the first two books of Islington’s The Hierarchy series, and I honestly think they are better written. Maybe because The Licanius Trilogy was his first series, he was still figuring out how to handle and organise so many details. It feels like his writing and storytelling improved a lot in The Hierarchy.
So, is it just me being dumb, or did anyone else find the first two books confusing as well?
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r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - July 22, 2026
https://preview.redd.it/l2cosnpoixbg1.png?width=3508&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb9f4a2807499edc796351cc28ec39b3aea4d7c2
**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](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/)'s [2026 Book Bingo Card here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s9n3e6/official_rfantasy_2026_book_bingo_challenge/)!
As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The [r/Fantasy wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/wiki/recommendations) 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)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ITpGPzWOOd7MHhCY2d6Zv_6MWsntfT3s/view?usp=sharing)
art credit: special thanks to our artist, [Himmis commissions](https://himmis.carrd.co/), 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.
https://redd.it/1v3e2xu
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What's the best "slow reveal" you've read in adult fantasy? Not the biggest twist, but the moment you realised the story was much larger than you first thought. What made it work?
I'm not looking for the biggest plot twist or surprise ending.
I'm thinking about those moments where you suddenly realise the world, history, or conflict is much bigger than you first believed, but in hindsight all the clues were there if you knew where to look and what you were looking at.
Which book did this best for you?
More importantly, what made it satisfying rather than feeling like it came out of nowhere?
https://redd.it/1v2f6s7
@r_fantasy
The Penric and Desdemona books are the best sorcerer books I've read!!!
Welllll, i got into the World of the Five Gods when I read The Curse of Chalion, which was greaatt!! The immediate next sequel was Paladin of Souls, good too!!
These two books helped expand the world and how the gods and people in it interact with each other. Now, i was in a bind, what do i do??? Do i go look around for new books in the sub? Clear my backlogs? Or continue with reading the books set in this setting, but with none of the characters i knew :( ??
So I thought, let's just try these Pen and Des series that everyone who've read them says are good. But the initial hesitation was, there's only one proper book!! The rest are novellas! There's like 15 novellas and 1 novel! I don't want to read filler side stories which wont matter!!
Ha! I was sooooo wrong. The novellas are the best part of these!! Now, i don't read much novellas, so i thought they're usually a different kinda thing the author tries from time to time in a world they've built. But no, Lois Mcmaster Bujold does the same she's done for every book, just boils it down to a fast paced short novella. There is some debate as to whether these are novellas or just short novels ;).
The premise of these is that Pen and Des are a pair, both symbiotic to each other. Penric acquired the demon Desdemona, and these are their adventures, from how he initially acquired it to the next 25ish years of their life.
I don't want to guve away much, cause it's interesting theology and sorcerer explanation which are sooo well done in this world!!!
The gods of this world feeellll wayyy better than any other books I've read. They're the best part of this world, though they can't do anything directly (No hands but Ours, is a motto of a religious group in this which makes sense!)
And the magic in here is also explained and brought up so well! There's no such thing as strong demon! There's only the more knowledgeble sorcerer and demon. At a point, it's more the expert clinical control of the magic than more power. Which I've always not liked usually in books which has mages in it, like one guy ahs a massive mana pool and one doesnt, just because of chance and parentage. There's a cost to all magic too!! Both destructive and creative, which will be explained in the books in more depth.
I would suggest anyone who liked even a part of this review, the world, the gods, the magic, to try and read the first novella, you'll be instantly hooked! I was! These books are sooo good and interesting, also because they dont just fit into ome genre. Some are more adventure focused, some are kinda slice of life. But they all have interesting outcomes, also with Penric trying to deal with them in his own way, he's a scholar and a divine(idk whether Christians have divines, but kinda like the head of a chapter) so he's always looking for the good in people, even when they're in some dishonorable trade like banditry, he always tries to give them a chance to make it better.
Just, just read these books!!!! There are 16 of them right now, though i do hope for more. But dont worry, i breezed through them in 5 days or so, so they're not thaatt biiigg, and i had nothing else to do ;)
PS: i would welcome any suggestion for books like these! I'm kinda tired of sad depressing and annoying protagonists, also silver spoon protagonists. And I'm sorry if this review turned into a rambling session for me, but i just had to get it out, cauz i didn't see anyone even mention these books anywhere!
https://redd.it/1v2aiyi
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Sci-fi book recommendation: as good as Red Rising
I need something that, like the title says, it’s as good as Red Rising Saga from Pierce Brown. I want the plot twists that I don’t see coming, the world building, the characters that you connect with.
I’m currently finishing my first Brandon Sanderson book, Mistborn, The Final Empire. It’s defensively good, I’m loving the pace and I’m also connecting with the characters. But from all the reviews I was expecting more. I’m missing a bit more of intrigue and somehow darkness to it, it feels a bit YA. And yes, Red Rising was also a bit YA, but mostly the first book, after the second that was gone. This could also be the case with Mistborn, so I would also like some input if you have read it. Just no spoilers please
https://redd.it/1v1xlnc
@r_fantasy
the songs and stories that were supposed to be a warning cry, have instead been twisted and bent – started being portrayed as something that is a propaganda. The diary a little girl wrote, afraid and hidden away, has once again been turned a blind eye to. And it is not in part the fault of the systems put into place to stop such a rise. Through its many misdeeds and amorous intent, through hedonism and childhood destroyed that has come to describe this middle part of the 2020s, the system put into place to fight such autocratic rise, is unbalanced and perched precariously upon an axle whose base is becoming more and more fragile.
>“Because you are a reasonably smart boy. I suspect you shall come to realize what many Iudexii eventually learn—that though the Legion defends our Empire, it falls to us to keep an Empire worth defending.”
Though, even through all that, even through the many slogans and chants and horrifying revelations, there is a justice at work, this book says. There are people, big and small, young and old, pale and tanned, broken, battered, and bloody, who toil unseen and mercilessly to ensure that once the dust settles, once everything is over, there is a World worth inheriting. And this book is an ode to those people. To the ones brave enough to say, to the ones who work in the courts and behind their podium – this tale is for you. For the unseen work you do and for which you are never thanked. It is for you that the system is still chugging along. That there is a world still worth salvaging.
And to the many different people, the ones who don’t quite fit, the ones who face challenges nearly everyday that others simply cannot ken – this book is a swan song to the battles we all face. And a silent message of hope, even in the darkest of time.
>I imagined him then: Kepheus, so tall and broad, yet always leaning crookedly against a wall or door, his shabby smile on his face, his eyes so understanding. It was he who’d spoken to me of service most of all, there in Talagray, yet only now, after I had been so long apart from him, had I come to truly comprehend it.
Also, if Kol somehow does not end up with Kepheus by the end of this series (whenever that may be), I will fly to wherever this author is, and personally give him a piece of my mind.
Can’t wait for the next one!
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Book Review: I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #38)
Tiffany Aching is almost sixteen and is now a respected witch across the Chalk. She is taken aback when the death of a local dignitary seems to spark off a burst of hatred and fear towards witches. Her investigation reveals the return of an ancient force of evil, which unleashes bigotry and invective even from mild-mannered people, even from Tiffany's oldest friends and allies. Fortunately the Nac Mac Feegle are unaffected, and with their help Tiffany sets about restoring her reputation.
I Shall Wear Midnight is the thirty-eighth Discworld novel and the fourth to focus on the character of Tiffany Aching, ostensibly the protagonist of a series of books "for younger readers." It's also one of the darker Discworld novels, tapping into the idea that there is a coil of communal hatred in people that can be periodically unleashed for no real reason, and a canny operator can direct that bile towards their own ends.
The book is something of a Greatest Hits of the Ramtops, bringing in Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, though with tremendous restraint Pratchett does not allow them to overwhelm proceedings. We also get a flying visit to Ankh-Morpork (complete with cameos from several Ankh-Morpork regulars), a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance by Magrat, and even the return of one of the major protagonists of one of the very first Discworld books who has been puzzlingly MIA for the thirty-five books since. It's the largest-scaled Tiffany book and the one that seems to make the most effort to make her books feel connected to the larger Discworld setting, which it is successful at.
But for all that, the story is focused a lot on Tiffany's personal story. She has found acceptance and respect, but that is suddenly endangered by people deciding they hate her for almost no reason whatsoever. Anyone who has been the victim of bigotry, for whatever reason, especially from people they've known for a long time, can identify with this idea. Pratchett explores the metaphor by making the source of this inexplicable hatred an actual entity, the Cunning Man, but also reinforces it by having it that the Cunning Man can only be defeated, not destroyed totally.
The book alternates between obvious in-your-face humour - the Mac Feegles would be getting tiresome if Pratchett wasn't so good at giving them development, as individuals and a species - and more subtle gags and vigorous poking of the human condition. Like Unseen Academicals before it, this book was written shortly after Pratchett learned of his early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. Whilst Unseen Academicals ended up feeling unfocused and distracted, I Shall Wear Midnight feels focused and angry, like Pratchett had decided if he was on his way out, he was going to go out kicking and screaming at the injustices of the world. And as we know from Small Gods, Night Watch and Monstrous Regiment (among others), nothing is more glorious than an angry, articulate Pratchett.
I Shall Wear Midnight (****) is not perfect, it's mildly overlong and the final confrontation with the Cunning Man is vague at best, but this is otherwise a roaring return form for Pratchett after arguably the weakest book in the series. It's also the strongest outing for Tiffany Aching to date.
https://redd.it/1v1ntxz
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2026 Hugo Readalong: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Best Novel)
Welcome to the last individual story discussion for the 2026 Hugo Readalong! It has been a long road (and we certainly went down, down it) but we have at last arrived at the final individual book discussion. But, do check the schedule below as there will be wrap-up posts and category discussions! Today, we're discussing A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, which is a finalist for Best Novel. Everyone is welcome in the discussion, whether or not you plan to participate in other discussions, but we will be discussing the whole book today, so **beware untagged spoilers**. I'll include some prompts in top-level comments in bold--feel free to respond to these or add your own.
Bingo squares: Judge a Book By It's Title? (I certainly think it's a cool one), Book club or Readalong (This post! Join us for HM!), Feast Your Eyes on This (If you're a sicko like Ana), Politics and Court Intrigue & Murder Mystery.
For more information on the Readalong, check out our [full schedule post](https://old.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1sx0s1a/2026_hugo_readalong_announcement_and_schedule/), or see our upcoming schedule here:
|Date|Category|Book|Author|Discussion Leader|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Thursday, July 23|Series General Discussion|Multiple|Multiple|u/Udy_Kumra|
|Monday, July 27|Short Fiction|Wrap-up|Multiple|u/tarvolon|
|Tuesday, July 28|Novella|Wrap-up|Multiple|u/Nineteen_Adze|
|Wednesday, July 29|Novel|Wrap-up|Multiple|u/tarvolon|
|Thursday, July 30|Pro/Fan/Misc|Wrap-up|Multiple|u/Nineteen_Adze|
https://redd.it/1v1isxa
@r_fantasy
What long fantasy series would you say absolutely justify their length?
Are there any that don't seem to go through a middle book slog like Wheel of Time or don't decline in quality like Stormlight Archive (from what I've heard)
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What's a Protagonist Archetype You Don't See Enough?
I was thinking about how much of high fantasy the last 20 years seems to have the Amoral Orphan Turned Assassin as the default protagonist, and that it was probably a reaction to the Farm Boy With Special Destiny default protagonist of classic fantasy (or so I'm told, the only ones I've actually found have been Eragon and The Dragonbone Chair).
That said, what's a Protagonist for epic fantasy you'd like to see more if? The Hedge Witch? The Druid? The Ships Captain?
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I read all 10 books of Malazan. It didn't work for me.
Oh my... I never thought I'd get to this point, but I actually did it, I'm officially done with the Book of the Fallen. I started in June 2025, and thirteen months and 3.3 million words later, I can finally relax and not feel like I have to prepare for a symposium after work hours.
This post is here mostly for me, because it really feels like an achievement, given how much time I put into it. I didn't skim a single chapter, I took notes through the early books, and I checked the Malazan Reread of the Fallen after every chapter that left me confused. I stopped taking notes around book 4, but kept reading the chapter summaries until the end, because I really wanted to understand what everyone else was seeing in this series. When I say "everyone" I mean the people on the positive side of the spectrum, because this series is probably the most polarizing thing I've come across in the ten or so years I've been reading fantasy.
Before I get into the problems I had with it, I want to explain why I picked it up in the first place, beyond the fact that it comes up in almost every "what should I read next" post on r/Fantasy (I've made one of those myself). So I finished my all-time favorite series, Realm of the Elderlings, and asked for something similar. Enter Malazan. I didn't start it right away, because I had other things going on, and I was daunted by the sheer number of words in the series, plus everyone talking about how difficult and complex it is. After a couple of years of lurking on r/Malazan, I started thinking of it the way sci-fi fans think of Star Trek, a thing you're just supposed to have watched. How could I call myself an avid fantasy reader if I hadn't read Malazan? So I finally started my journey curious, not skeptical.
Thirteen months and ten books later, I sadly have to admit I never became a so called "Malafan." Apparently it takes most people some time to get into it. A small number fall for it starting with book one, plenty more fall for it by book two, but most get hooked somewhere around book three. That moment never came for me. There's a character arc starting around book four that finally pulled me in, and after that I mostly just went along for the ride, even though the writing itself never really became something I found immersive.
Some of the things that bothered me early on were still bothering me by book ten.
I never connected with the characters. All of them felt distant, and worse, they sounded like the same person wearing different names, like every character was secretly a philosopher waiting for their turn to monologue. This is the author's biggest flaw imho, because once you spot it, you can't stop noticing it, and it breaks the immersion every time it happens, which is often, probably thanks to the author's background as an anthropologist and archaeologist.
Relationships happened off page. Two characters would meet in one chapter, share a single conversation in the next, and somehow be deeply in love by the one after that. There was one instance where we actually got to watch a relationship develop in real time, but even then we never got to see how it ended.
Plans and motivations often played out off page and were treated as secrets long after it felt reasonable for the reader to already know them. Conversely, in book two you spend the entire book with a character whose motivation is crystal clear, and then at the end they just change their mind and drop the goal entirely, which makes the whole arc feel pointless and leaves you wondering what any of it was even for.
Fights that built up for chapters would often end in a page or two, with no clear sense of what anyone was actually capable of. A lot of them were chaotic, all over the place, and confusing. I get that real fights probably are like that, but that doesn't mean we need to experience every single one that way on the page. It felt like the author was carrying his usual obtuse writing style into the action scenes, and it cost the book a lot of epic moments that could
solve the puzzle. Read it in one sitting.
Murder Mystery Olivie Blake (bipolar) Masters of Death
4 stars. Who doesn’t love stories featuring a bitchy ghost and the adopted child of Death? The pacing felt a bit off, and I would have liked to see more of the game. Also bingos for Game Changer, the Afterlife.
Cat Squasher RJ Barker (Crohn’s) Gods of the Wyrdwood
4 stars. An incredibly complex and weird setting, very creative flora and fauna. Some of the sentence structure made it slightly hard to follow at times. 640 pages, so it's only normal mode.
Cat Squasher #2 it hurt my autistic brain not to do the whole card on hard mode, so I had to reread Susanna Clarke’s (ME/CFS) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for the first time in 15ish years since that was the only book I could find that fit the bill. 5 stars. Just as fun to read now as it was 20 years ago.
Feast Your Eyes on This Stephanie Burgess (ME/CFS) The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
5 stars. Full review here.
Published in the 70s Andre Norton (severe chronic vertigo) The Crystal Gryphon
4 stars. The writing style had a very high fantasy/Arthurian feeling and I enjoyed watching the two POVs converge towards the end. The ending felt a bit abrupt, though.
Politics and Court Intrigue Marieke Nijkamp (autism) Splinter and Ash #2: City of Secrets
5 stars. Excellent audiobook narration by Vico Ortiz from Our Flag Means Death. Such a relatable (if excruciating at times) depiction of EDS, and a very wholesome and earnest exploration of non-binary identity. Princess Ash and her squire Splinter must foil a plot to disrupt the summer celebration by spies who are trying to start a coup. Along the way they learn about the struggles of the working class and the failures of the nobility.
Author of Colour Dilman Dila (physical disability) The Blossoming of Big Tree
5 stars. The author is Ugandan. I purchased this novella directly from Dila’s patreon. Also bingos for older protagonist, politics. There was so much to love about this little book: the collectivist pan-African society, the science fantasy take on climate fiction, the grumpy autistic Ugandan grandmother, the inventive technology. Definitely worth tracking down.
If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to hear your opinions, and I’m always looking for new disabled and ND authors to read!
I’m still working on a memorial card for a bookworm friend who died a few years ago and am also about a third of the way done with the april fool’s card. Got any recs for fashion magazine, bodyguard MC, big cat MC, and character with rock hard abs?
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bingo card review: disability pride edition
Hey, everyone, happy disability pride month! I just finished my second hard mode card and was able to find disabled/neurodiverse/chronically ill authors for every square. I am autistic (diagnosed at 42) and have EDS (diagnosed at 39) so it was a really moving experience to read so many Own Voices books! My process involved a lot of scouring the internet reading interviews and blog posts along with recommendation threads here on reddit. I also found a few authors through Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction as well as Ada Hoffmann’s Autistic Book Party index. It was a really fun challenge and I discovered some fantastic authors.
Here’s what I read, with some brief notes on each title/author.
Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist Margaret Killjoy (ADHD) The Sapling Cage
4 stars. Reminded me of a medieval Her Majesty’s Coven.
Judge a Book By Its Title Dora M. Raymaker (autism) Hoshi and the Red City Circuit
5 stars. This was a fun little cyberpunk noir detective story layered within social critique of an upsettingly ableist society that enslaves ND people to serve as tech operators. The depiction of autism was dead on in every way and felt really timely and relevant.
Translated Karin Tidbeck (unspecified) Amatka
4 stars. Swedish postmodern New Weird with a queer neurodivergent protagonist. Lovely spare prose. Imagine if Saussure wrote a SF novel.
Self Published or Indie Publisher Cedar McCloud (autism) The Tale That Twines
a sky full of stars! A young person recovers from trauma while working at a magical library in a utopian genderless society. Thanks to all the readers here who recommended Cedar’s books! They are truly spectacular. Incredibly complex worldbuilding without infodumping, relatable depiction of autism/ADHD, and such a wealth of details that show lived experience. This was the second book of theirs in this series that I’ve read and I’ve already bought the third book to read in a few weeks.
Unusual Transportation Fran Wilde (physical disability) The Ship of Stolen Words
5 stars. Adorable middle grade fiction. A goblin child and human child become friends after the goblin is caught coming through a portal to steal carelessly used words, which their society uses to power their flying ships. The portals are created by pookas that look like pigs.
The Afterlife Chuck Tingle (autism) Fabulous Bodies
5 stars. An influencer by day/body thief by night is hired to steal the corpse of their recently-deceased queer musical idol. Hijinks ensue. Very, very bloody hijinks. The thing I love about Chuck’s horror novels is that no matter how gory they get, you know he’s still going to prove love is real by the end. A great little reflection on fame and what we owe our children.
Game Changer Aidan Thomas (ADHD)The Sunbearer Trials
5 stars. What an incredibly vivid and lush world! I wanted to visit every single one of the badass cities, especially the one with all the cute animals. The trials and ending were a little predictable, but it deserves five stars just for the super fun setting and the superb nd/trans representation.
Vacation Spot Sarah Rees Brennan (cancer and its sequelae) In Other Lands
5 stars. Marvelous audiobook narration from the most velvety voiced performer since Tim Curry read Sabriel. I loved prickly neglected Elliot and found him incredibly relatable; I was a smartass redheaded disaster bisexual teenager once, oh so long ago. The romance had me yelling JUST KISS YOU SILLY BABIES into the air while out on walks but never got too horribly fraught or limerent and the ending was very satisfying.
Five Short Stories Lynne Thomas, ed. Uncanny magazine, Issue 24: Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction
5 stars. An excellent anthology that includes short stories, poems, essays, and interviews. I discovered some really great authors through this collection.
Older Protagonist Kate Elliott (ADHD) The Keeper's Six
4
Ancient Greece inspired fantasy?
Hi all, I, like everyone and their mothers, have just watched Nolan's Odyssey adaptation and now I'm in the mood for Ancient Greece-inspired fantasy. Either actually set in Ancient Greece or in a setting inspired by Ancient Greece. Not looking for myth retellings, which I know will narrow it down quite a bit.
Examples of the kind of books I'm looking for are the Queen's Thief novels and AJ Demas' novels.
https://redd.it/1v3q7bf
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Where are all the paladin books?
Is anyone else interested in books about paladins? I can't seem to find any.
* Saint of steel series by kingfisher - this is close, but they're paladins of a dead god.
* Deed of paksenarrion - this is about someone becoming a paladin, not being one
* Paladin of souls - this is much more about a priest or spiritualist than what i consider a paladin
* Michael from the Dresden files would qualify, but obviously he's not the main character.
* Priest by matt colville has an awesome order of paladins, but again not the focus
It seems to me like there's obviously space for some books about a paladin (or even an order of them) that fight for their god to vanquish evil or at least an opposing god. Where are they?
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People often talk about favorite opening lines in books, but what’s your favorite closing line or sentence in a fantasy novel?
Mine is from piranesi
"Beauty of the house is immeasurable; it's kindness infinite"
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Is there a book that comes very close to being the literary equivalent of Dark Souls?
I’ve been wondering what fantasy books feel the most “Soulslike.” Not necessarily books that directly inspired the games (though those are welcome too), but books that capture a very similar atmosphere, vibe, aesthetic and feeling. I’m caught up with Berserk for manga which I know influenced Dark Souls a lot, but is there any for novels too? So far I have also consistently heard of Book of the New Sun which is in my list of books to read
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I am finishing reading THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR and am seeking books by indigenous authors
Hello! It's basically what it says on the tin. I am reading THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR and its clear influences are making me eager to find more fantasy set in Polynesia-inspired worlds. There seem to be several common recommendations written by British authors, but I would be curious to see how those settings/themes/cultural inspirations are portrayed and explored through the lens of someone with a personal connection to the culture. I didn't find much in a general search, but thought you all might know of more authors in the indie/self-pub space than search engines are showing me! I would also be interested in nonfiction books/articles exploring fantasy.
Books I've read lately and enjoyed:
THE GOBLIN EMPEROR by Katherine Addison
A MOUTHFUL OF DUST by Nghi Vo
THE PALACE OF EROS by Caro De Robertis
YOU DREAMED OF EMPIRES by Alvaro Enrigue
Books on my immediate TBR:
THE WOLF AND HIS KING by Finn Longman
PILGRIM by Mitchell Lüthi
THE TRUTH OF THE ALEKE by Moses Ose Utomi
THE IRON GARDEN SUTRA by A.D. Sui
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Got my Adult Summer Reading log done with a week to spare! Thanks for the recommendations!
And all I got was a damned pencil bag because I was later to turn in! That’s all that was left for choice prizes besides being entered into the raffles for gift cards. All the while, my audio booking wife got a dope ass t-shirt for turning hers in last month.
Here’s the books finished from late May to mid July, my rating, and brief impressions.
Eric - Terry Pratchett (4/5)
\- Not my favorite Pratchett or start to one of his books, but once it got into the historical/mythological hijinks and satire, I had a blast. Super funny quotes and may be some of Rincewind’s best commentary I’ve covered yet in the Discworld series.
Hatchet - Gary Paulson (5/5)
\- Audiobook with my kids for a Colorado trip. Had us hooked, and I’m very interested in the rest of the Hatchet series.
Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin (4/5)
\- Took me forever to get into, because I felt the early pacing was off and the information on the world/people so sparse I was somewhat lost. One of those that ties together nicely at the end and probably would be better on a reread. Enjoyed the last half and the overlying themes by the end. This one had me solemnly reflecting for a few days after.
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch (5/5)⭐️
\- Um, holy crap this was fun and endearing. THANK YOU FOR PUSHING THIS BOOK! By far my enjoyable of the bunch. Chains may be entering my personal pantheon of favorite literary characters, but I loved the Gentlemen Bastards all around. Exciting from beginning to end, and plenty of surprises, gut punches, and satisfying scenes. And way funnier than expected.
The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman (4/5)
\- One that picks up steam well. Not quite what I was expecting, but I enjoyed the lore and the world, and I’m a sucker for an interesting team up. I’ll look forward to getting more into this series. And holy shit, that Pull match…..
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (5/5)
\- My fastest read of the summer. Couldn’t stop reading it during the end of summer camping trip. I found the ending a bit…jarring or wobbly (it fits well with the rest of the book, but hard to pinpoint my feelings on some of the final plots), but that bromance and the problem solving was just so damn fun.
Will finish before the end of summer: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
To Be Continued: Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson
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Robin Hobb is SO good (Mad Ship-- Spoiler-free thoughts)
Holy shit so I just finished Mad Ship at literally 3am because I couldn't stop reading. Between this and the Farseer Trilogy I can safely say that Robin Hobb NAILS second-books. Wow. The last third of Mad Ship was a tear towards a crescendo that left me reeling.
What I love most about Hobb so far is that I never really know exactly where tf things are going to go. I may have some idea or inkling, and then a character does something unexpected that takes it in a totally different direction, or a character blocks the path of least resistance in some way and alters the course of the story. I may have some vague guesses as to what major things are going to be at play, but I can safely say I have NO idea how Ship of Destiny is going to end. And I love that!
I have been pretty burnt out on fantasy lately because it feels like I'm reading the same formula over and over again, and I get sick of predictable stories. Robin Hobb has totally cured that. She is able to take the story in unexpected directions, expand or introduce concepts in sophisticated ways. She stops the story from going down predictable paths and lets the characters dictate where everything will go-- and her characters are so complex that I never know exactly what they are going to do when facing something, while still feeling consistent and vivid.
I love this series so much, I am having a grand-old time.
https://redd.it/1v1xwi0
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A Drop of Corruption | Robert Jackson Bennett (9.5/10)
This book was read as a prelude to the third book in the series due August 4th. All thoughts and opinions portrayed in this review are my own.
Oh, and, if I never hear penis described as ‘wick’ again, it will be too soon.
With that out of the way, let’s get into it.
>"But a prideful creature can talk themself into believing that every deed they do is legitimate. Thus, they both giddily and greedily spin their own doom.”
It is perhaps with a very clear and heavy mind, arbitrary thoughts swirling about in my head as I turn the last pages that I sit down to write this review. This is a book that is, perhaps more so than any of the other works by the author, a book about humans – cosigned with all their fallacies and intricacies, their falsettos and their macabre little augmentation. To be human is to be besieged by greed, by a hunger that is never satiated. It is a two-faced phenomenon: on one side it is what creates art and all the wonders that we mayhaps have taken all too readily; on the other, it brings about so much destruction and ascension of false prophets to godlihood.
And then a man vanishes from a locked room, four storeys above the ground.
>“Well, first there is the pleasant puzzle, yes?” I said. “The how, and the who. Then all the dirty drudgery, wherein I follow folk about or dig through their refuse. And then, inevitably, either a rope or the slam of an iron door, and tears.”
That is how our story begins: with a disappearance and a murder. Our hero, Dinios Kol, arrives in the kingdom of Yarrow to investigate how this missing person wound up in pieces by the boonies. And from there, as these tales are wont to do, the story unravels. Like a silken thread from an ephemeral spintress the layers upon layers of the many crimes perpetrated and brought about are slowly revealed to Kol, and to an extension, to us, the readers; a stoic purveyor of change and audacity through the most queer of methodology: the words spun by an all powerful bring on pieces of parchment – a taunt. And the game, as one might say, is afoot.
The commentary this story portrays, different from what the first book had to say (check my review of that here), is one of justice. One of righteous indignation. Of the wrongdoings of humankind being meted out a punishment equally deserved. And the one facet of life, that right now, is the most elusive of all. For autocracy is on the rise, even as the rebuffment of it is wide and far; boy kings with too much power are sitting upon a landmine of empty promises, and it is up to the various factions of the Empire while dols out punishment and carry out the blades of justice to see that the head of the king does not grow out of reach. This story, in the year of our lord 2026, is a cautionary tale, and a way out, wrapped in a delectable package as we race alongside our heroes in their journey to puzzle out how exactly this creature manages to stay ten steps ahead of them the whole time.
The heart of the story is simple and all the more potent because of it. If given immense power and an opportunity to do the greater good, one will always become blind to the sacrifices and the payment in blood that has to be made, in order to achieve said greater good. And it is none more so greatly mapped out by the Commander-Prificto who did much in the name of greatness – in the process creating the very weapon that would later spell out their doom.
>Goddamn autocrats. They really are hardly better than shit-stained children.
But most of all, this story especially (as is also pointed out by the author’s note in the end) is not about vilifying, but rather an accurate portrayal. In the past decade, the word ‘King’ has undergone a rather tumultuous change. It used to be hated and apartheid, so much so that it led to many revolutions, and establishment of western democracy, the New World. Yet the lessons that were taught seem to have been forgotten, and rather twisted. Somewhere along the way
r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - July 20, 2026
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**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](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/)'s [2026 Book Bingo Card here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s9n3e6/official_rfantasy_2026_book_bingo_challenge/)!
As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The [r/Fantasy wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/wiki/recommendations) 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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[^(tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ITpGPzWOOd7MHhCY2d6Zv_6MWsntfT3s/view?usp=sharing)
art credit: special thanks to our artist, [Himmis commissions](https://himmis.carrd.co/), 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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Shout out to John Gwynne for renewing my faith in the fantasy genre.
So I got back into reading a couple of years ago. I read GOT while the show was still running and always enjoyed the YA stuff.
I got back in with Sanderson, who I know isn’t the most popular here but I loved almost everything I read.
After Stormlight I needed a break from him and decided to branch out. I went to Red Rising- loved it. Then DCC and I really loved it. So much so I took a brief dip into the bobiverse and finished the first 3- liked it but not enough to continue just yet.
After that I was going back and forth between starting Hobb or Joe Abercrombie. And people on here rant and rave about Hobb so I figured it had to be at least ok. I hated every second of the books. Like everyone says the prose is wonderful but I just couldn’t deal with such an annoying main character and just oblivious side characters.
I just hated it. It made me second guess the whole genre, since it was so loved and I didn’t like it so much. So I figured maybe I’m into LitRPG stuff and progression fantasy and I picked up He Who Fights With Monsters. Honestly, I didn’t hate it but I don’t think it was for me. I may continue at some point but I know he has like 9 books and the quality gets worse and Jason was already starting to get pretentious and I heard it gets worse. There are some other books in the genre I’m interested in though. Possibly Avowed?
But I really felt like I was losing steam and almost interest in reading again. I decided to come back to fantasy and start Faithful and the Fallen. Finished the first and almost done with the second and I’m hooked. I’m not sure if I will stay with him after the series and start Bloodsworn but I’ll see if he sticks the landing.
I really want to read First Law. I have a feeling I’m going to love it so that is next on my list as of now. I just wanted to get this all out if anyone cares or has similar likes or dislikes they could use me as a reference.
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Tainted Cup Recommends
Absolutely loved The Tainted Cup and just read book 2 in 3 days, loving it even more. In August book 3 comes out but looking for recommandations for similar books!
Great tips already; just wanted to say i especially love the setting! The moodiness, the leviathans always lurking, all the different reagents and crazy effects they have.
https://redd.it/1v0yahk
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have been far more memorable if they'd just been written clearly.
Lastly, the ending. The ultimate boss fight. The be-all and end-all of enemies. Crushed like they were nothing... and like I said about there being no clear sense of anyone's capabilities, this is the point where that hurt the most, because it all ended so quickly, and I will probably forget it by 2027. One thing that will stick with me though is just how pretentious the author decided to make it.
People love to say this series gets better on a reread, and I actually believe that's true. If I reread it now I'd recognize everyone immediately, I'd stop losing track of names, and most of my confusion would just disappear. The problem is that fixing my experience would cost another year of my reading life, and I have too many other books waiting for that trade to feel worth it.
What surprises me most is how often Malazan gets recommended to people who loved Realm of the Elderlings, because after finishing both I think they're aiming at almost opposite things. Hobb's books live inside character's heads for hundreds of pages and make you feel every relationship as it forms. Malazan is far more interested in history, factions, and huge ideas moving across an enormous board. If someone asked me for something similar to Hobb, Malazan would be near the bottom of my list.
There's a lot of pressure around this series to either love it or accept that you just didn't get it, and I don't think that's fair. I understood far more by the end than I did on page one. My opinion never changed not because I missed what Erikson was doing, but because what he was doing just wasn't what I was looking for.
And that's it...you can now take out your pitchforks Malafans. "I yield to nothing."
P.S. I hope this post helps someone out there struggling with Malazan. If you're not dealing with FOMO or OCD, and you're still not enjoying it by book three, I don't think it gets better, and the payoff isn't worth the suffering and the wait. Just drop it. There are plenty of other books you'll enjoy more.
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Useless Jobs in Fantasy
Hi,
I'm reading Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, and it got me thinking about bullshit jobs in fantasy. Any books where the protagonist is doing a bullshit job? Can be a sci-fi book, too. And what do you think would be the equivalent of useless jobs in fantasy?
https://redd.it/1v0h519
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