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Can you actually separate the author from the book when the author turns out to be awful?
I've been a fantasy reader forever, and I always used to roll my eyes at the whole "separate art from artist" debate because it felt like internet noise. Lately though I keep running into the same situation: I’m halfway through a series, I’m invested, then I stumble on a real scandal about the author. Not just "they were kind of rude in an interview" but stuff that makes your stomach drop. And then I sit there with the book open and I feel weirdly guilty for even enjoying it. I know the usual arguments. Buying the book can fund the person, but also it funds editors, cover artists, narrators, bookstores, etc. Libraries exist, used copies exist, borrowing exists. At the same time, seeing the name on the spine starts to feel like I’m quietly cosigning them, even if I know that’s not logically true. I’ve tried the "just focus on the story" approach and sometimes it works, other times I can't stop thinking about it and the magic just drains out of the page. What I can't figure out is where people draw the line in real life, not in a perfect moral thought experiment.
So I’m asking r/Fantasy how you handle it, practically. Do you DNF on principle even if you were having fun? Do you finish what you already own but stop buying future books? Do you switch to the library or used copies to avoid giving them money? Or do you think that's still basically support and you avoid it altogether? And if the book meant a lot to you before the news, do you "let it stay yours" or does it feel tainted forever? I’m not looking to start a callout thread or name-drop anything, I'm genuinely trying to figure out what other readers do when this hits close to home because right now my TBR is starting to feel like a minefield.
https://redd.it/1psgfmm
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If you love Robin Hobb, I would love to suggest The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
I just finished reading this book, and the protagonist (Cazaril) has a lot in common with Fitz. Bujold’s writing, like Hobb’s, is beautiful and mature. Most of the conflict is not at the point of a sword but with the sharpness of wit.
Bujold’s Vorkosigan books have been on my radar for a while, and I will eventually get to them. However, this was the first book of hers that I have read. I am impressed! Why have I not heard much about The Curse of Chalion before? It’s so good!
https://redd.it/1ph1wd4
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First Bingo Completed! Final Mini Reviews
I've just completed my first ever Bingo card! Overall, it's been a rewarding experience - at least half the books were things I probably would have read this year anyway, but quite a few are things that I specifically sought out to meet a square. Some were just OK, but a number of things I really enjoyed.
Will I do this again? Maybe so. I do always enjoy an excuse to fill out an Excel sheet. But I probably won't for 2026. I have quite a stack of non-Bingo things waiting for me, including series to finish. And I read almost no non-fiction since starting the Bingo in April, and I've missed that. I think my "reading for fun" time is too limited for me to be able to do this every year. But I'm very happy I did it once, and maybe I'll be back again.
In the meantime, here are the final items from October and November for me:
In the Shadow of Their Dying by Michael R. Fletcher and Anna Smith Spark (square: Small Press or Self Published). My biggest prior experience with what people consider "Grimdark fantasy" has primarily been Joe Abercrombie's First Law world. I love those books. I've never read anything by Fletcher or Smith Spark, and this was recommended to me by several people in response to a question about novella length works that could fit this square. I don't know if this book is typical of these authors, but all I can say is "holy cow!" This book was an experience! In short, this is in some way a fantasy setting "caper story," with a crew of rogues plotting the assassination of a King during a brutal war. But when the King is being protected by a powerful demon, things go majorly awry. This struck me as a mix of Fritz Leiber style sword and sorcery mashed up with a major Cthulhu style horror. Parts of this story quite literally wade through a flood of blood and gore, so it may not be for everyone. This is one of my most enjoyable discoveries of this Bingo exercise, and I'll be looking at more from these authors Rating 4.5/5.
The Golden Enclaves by Noami Novik (square: Last in a Series). I wasn't quite prepared for this final volume. I love dark academia stories, and enjoyed the first two in this series. In retrospect maybe I should have seen this coming, but >!I hadn't expected this to become an Omelas style fable in the end!<. I think Novik largely sticks the landing here with a satisfying conclusion for these characters. Rating 4.5/5.
The Black Company by Glenn Cook (square: Published in the 80's). I struggled selecting a book for this square. I've been reading SFF since the late being a kid in the late 70's. When I look at most lists of great SFF of the 80's, I've read the vast majority of them. But somehow I had never gotten around to Glenn Cook. Reading this in retrospect, I can definitely see the straight lines that led to Abercrombie or maybe some aspects of Malazan. The echoes of Vietnam are very clear - the on-the-ground viewpoint of soldiers just "doing their job" on a mission that they don't really have a moral or philosophical stake in. I'm glad a got to this, but am on the fence about whether I'll continue with any more in this series. Rating 4/5.
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (square: Generic title). This was also suggested to me on this board as a novella length story for this square. This was an enjoyable enough urban fantasy centering around a ghost who spends her time volunteering on the night shift at a suicide prevention hotline. Middlegame is the only other McGuire book I've read before, and I thought both of these works were just fine but nothing really special for me. I know people love the Wayward Children books, and I've been meaning to get to those. I'd be curious to hear how people think this one compares to those. Rating 3/5.
The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold (square: Pirates). Another suggestion from the board. I have read and enjoyed Bujold's Vorkosigan books, but have never read any of her fantasy. As advertised, this novella worked well as a
Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Bingo Squares: Down With The System (HM); Epistolary; Biopunk
So… That was an interesting choice to read after Bee Speaker and Alien Clay. On the surface, it’s a CliFi Heart of Darkness, with Dr. Jasmine Marks in the role of Marlow. She’s recruited to go back into the Hygrometric Dehabitation Region, aka the Zone where heat and humidity combine to make the place uninhabitable to any large mammal - humans, dogs, cows, jaguars, etc. At least not without a lot of technological support, because it makes Antarctica look friendly. Dr. Marks was in the Zone 20 years ago as a grad student with Dr. Fell (after seeing that name, the nursery rhyme came to mind “I do not like thee, Doctor Fell”). With that echoing through my head, we join Dr. Marks, seconded from a rather boring agricultural research job to Neosparan Threat Logistics for a “rescue mission” in the zone. Once they're there, the real mission is revealed and it's only notionally a rescue. If you squint at it. In the dark. In the fog. While wearing a trenchcoat.
Of course after they enter the zone, it all goes pear shaped - if it hadn’t it would be a much shorter book. We get a decent look at the Zone in all its unique weather and weird, vibrant life. Without mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects have taken off. Plants are exploding and changing like nothing else. Symbiosis and parasitism are even more common in the Zone. Tchaikovsky also gets into why the Zone is so deadly to us - the answer is we’re optimized over a narrow band of temperatures. Take us out of that, and bad things happen - fat begins to liquify, proteins denature and on and on.
Marks is someone in way over her head - she’s optimized for life in the habitable regions. Going to the Zone takes her out of her comfort ~~zone~~ area. She’s also the only one who really understands just how dangerous the Zone is. The mercenaries keep comparing it to deserts, but the deserts don’t have black flag humidity. Besides being in extremely dangerous territory, the mission she’s on is full of secrets and her employer is keeping things far too close to the breast for far too long.
I liked this one. Yes, it steals from all over - the Strugatsky, H.G. Wells, Douglas Adams, Joseph Conrad - but the great steal. Still, Tchaikovsky combines them into something interesting. And he does do some things besides the obvious.
I give it a solid 8/10 for worldbuilding, plot and situation. ★★★★★★★★.
https://redd.it/1pgvsvm
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dumb.
Alexis is up in the running for worst main character this year. If you have me rooting for a character to be murked just to put myself out of my misery, you have failed at writing a compelling main character. Where do we even start with her? You could replace her with a sexy lamp and nothing about the plot would change. She has 0 agency in the story. Things happen to her rather than her affecting the plot. She is a weak, pathetic excuse for a "Spartan" (I hate that they call them that) who exists only to be kicked around by the plot and the other characters. She is your classic Angsty Sue. I understand there are people who have hard lives, but no matter what she does, she is constantly beaten down. She's disabled, but not in any way that actually affects her. Just some ringing in her deaf ear and a super cool badass white eye (which is not how eye injuries work; scleras don't turn white without the pupil also doing so). She has a highly tragic past, is bullied no matter where she goes, and most of the people who actually want to be her friends die painfully. This is just torture porn for torture porn's sake. But of course, she's also secretly super powerful and the daughter of HADES AND PERSEPHONE and also Hercules?? Which is supposed to be important but also makes no sense?? Also, in the old blurb for this, they straight-up spoil it because that's supposed to be the big plot twist. God, this book is stupid.
The whole fun of a reverse harem is that the love interests all have different personalities and thus, dynamics with the main character. So tell me why all of the goddamn "love interests" have the same overbearing, toxic, rapey personality. Literally every single one of them hates Alexis and continually either berates her, attempts to torture her, or sexually assaults her and claims she's "theirs." There is no depth of nuance to their personalities. They are your typical incels who see women as property. Not to mention, what the fuck do they even see in Alexis? She's a nothingburger, and yet they (and multiple other minor characters) lust over her. I can't get behind a romance that makes absolutely zero sense. Not to mention the weird biphobic notion that they're all sex crazed lunatics because they like men and women. The only way you can differentiate them is by their super edgy designs and tattoos.
Also, why is one of their nicknames just Sex? Are we being serious? Not even Hazbin Hotel is this edgy.
The other side characters are practically useless. Charlie is just there to be mentioned. Titus hates Alexis to give her more angst. Drex is like the one decent guy in this entire story, but because he's not 6'14 with a 10 pack, he's forgettable.
I also won't even get started on the mythological inaccuracies. Jasmine, you have a degree in Greco-Roman classical studies. What do you mean, Artemis, one of the most famous VIRGIN GODDESSES, has a child with a man? What do you mean Spartans are an actual race and not just a people? What do you mean Hades and Persephone have a daughter, and her name isn't Melione???? What do you mean YOU SHORNED PATROCLUS' NAME TO PATRO, WHICH JUST MEANS "DADDY." You not only need your degree revoked, but you need your ass whooped. Someone. Please.
There's so much more that's terrible about this book, but this review is already long enough. I've put more thought into critically reviewing this "book" than Jasmine has into writing this. This book is an embarrassment to feminism, fantasy/dystopia genre, Greek and Roman mythology, and language itself. And this has thousands of 5-star reviews??? Nuke the fucking earth. There's no saving us.
https://redd.it/1pgr9j8
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Recommendations for a family friendly magical book series to read my kids to replace Harry potter?
.
https://redd.it/1pgraq4
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Pirate fantasy books where the characters actually act like sea-faring criminals
Pirate history enthusiast here, and also a huge fantasy fan. I'm look for some book to read that can join my two interests in a way that wouldn't make my eyes roll.
Tbh, I'm just looking for a pirate book where the main characters aren't freedom-fighting idealists who hardly do any theft and where the ship designs and naval jargon is actually respected. With a dash of politics if you please.
And no fucking tricorns and big boots.
https://redd.it/1pglg15
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r/Fantasy Dealer's Room: Self-Promo Sunday - December 07, 2025
This weekly self-promotion thread is the place for content creators to compete for our attention in the spirit of reckless capitalism. Tell us about your book/webcomic/podcast/blog/etc.
The rules:
* Top comments should only be from authors/bloggers/whatever who want to tell us about what they are offering. This is their place.
* Discussion of/questions about the books get free rein as sub-comments.
* You're stiIl not allowed to use link shorteners and the AutoMod will remove any link shortened comments until the links are fixed.
* If you are not the actual author, but are posting on their behalf (e.g., 'My father self-pubIished this awesome book,'), this is the place for you as well.
* If you found something great you think needs more exposure but you have no connection to the creator, this is not the place for you. Feel free to make your own thread, since that sort of post is the bread-and-butter of [r/Fantasy](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/).
More information on [r/Fantasy](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/)'s self-promotion policy can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/wiki/rules#wiki_self-promotion_.26amp.3B_karma_farming).
https://redd.it/1pght3g
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Looking for a fantasy book about a hermit living on his own
Any books where the main character is a hermit or an introvert living on his/her own, maybe in harsh climate, struggling to build, hunt and survive? Does not need to be snowy, can also be in a forest or something similar, but I really want to spend time with one character who doesn’t talk to others, and were the focus is on surviving, living close to nature, sort of like all of those survival youtube videoes.
I loved the start of Black Stone Heart by Michael Fletcher, as the first few chapters were like this (the main character killed a man in the mountains, stole his clothes, lived in his log cabin for years, hunting, surviving), but then the main character suddenly became like any other character, travelling with his love interest, becoming a funny, warm and social man, so I dnf. I have other books like that to read.
But nothing quite like this.
I started reading Legend by David Gemmel, liking the idea of this grizzled old warrior living on his own in a lair up in the mountains, hoping the first half of the book would be about that. But it was like one chapter about that, and it took 50 pages before we even met the guy.
Any suggestions?
https://redd.it/1pggkt7
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Looking for a fantasy book about leadership with multiple characters
Is there a fantasy book with multiple characters each one stuck in a different leadership position?
For example:
A classic king or heir ruling a nation.
One can just be a father or mother watching over their family
The boss of a business or worker crew
The commander of a band of soldiers.
Each a different flavour of leadership and with varying degrees of responsibility and stakes.
https://redd.it/1pgdqt0
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Looking for some 'Farmboy/girl' Epic Fantasy.
#Please don't recommend any Brandon Sanderson books.
Looking for books where the Mc rises up in status in the world. A Chosen one story is also appreciated.
I have already read:
Wheel of Time.
Memory Sorrow and Thorn.
A Man of his Word.
Belegariad.
Eragon.
Riftwar.
Prydain.
Sword of Truth.
Anything you think fits please reccommend.
https://redd.it/1pg3r2d
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I have a question about "knowing a thing's true name"
I just read The Name of the Wind and A Wizard of Earthsea, and they both talk about knowing the true name of a thing to control it. I'm new-ish to fantasy, and I wonder if this is a common theme/trope in the genre?
https://redd.it/1pg3mv4
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Jam Reads: The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver, by Rafael Torrubia Review
https://preview.redd.it/p08k6p4bfm5g1.jpg?width=1445&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=464973f690e2568ea84eed1100efd04e31e3acb1
The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver is an epic fantasy novel written by Rafael Torrubia and published by Gollancz. A story of epic scope, similar to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, portraying a vast, magical world full of lore and a deliciously layered cast of characters that will engulf you into its pages, all with a prose that remembers epic poems, creating a debut that will be talked about years from.
No one remembers the calamity that stole the names of their people; now most are known by their professions, among them Shipwright, a master of magical shipbuilding, and Shroudweaver, a maker of the gilded gods that fuel their sails. They've been fighting for three years to keep Crowkisser confined in the South, assuming losses; but when a chance to save the world appears, they embark on a race against time to beat Crowkisser to reach the mountain near the Republic, a place of legends, infested of power, before she unleashes the evil they entombed twenty years ago, a threat that could destroy this world, revealing many secrets about their past in the process.
Torrubia gifts the reader with a marvelously complex cast of characters that become pivotal to this story, steering away from the classical black/white archetypes that are so common in classical fantasy. All of them are captured as people with their own story, a past, which is influencing their current actions.
As you might have imagined from the title, Shipwright and Shroudweaver are two of the most prominent characters; a pair with a strong bond, who are trying to restore the world after a calamity, trying to stop Crowkisser. A task that is especially important for Shroudweaver, especially as we get to know more about his past; a weight he's been holding for twenty years. Despite being really powerful, we also get to see their human side, their struggles and how they care about others.
At the other extreme, we have a Crowkisser who acts as the antagonist; a powerful sorceress whose actions are responsible for the calamity that changed this world. Grief moves her, and as readers, we will slowly learn more about her motivations; at the end, we have a well-fleshed character that lands on the greyer side of the spectrum.
The rest of the cast doesn't have as much narrative weight as our leading characters, but Torrubia still puts the effort in rounding them; their acts play a crucial role in the plot's development, and all of them have a backstory that we eventually learn about.
Outside of the cast, the worldbuilding is another of the aspects where this novel excels; not only there's a vast history behind most of the places, introduced to the reader in a really organic way, but also the post-cataclysm aspects that are shaping this world. Each location is alive; there are some details that are left undefined, especially regarding the scope of magic and gods, but it suits quite well with this book.
The scope of the plot resembles big epic stories, with a prose that is a bit on the lyrical side, with a certain rhythm that carries you through the pages. Being this novel a long one, it actually felt short, as you are drawn into the story from the start, with a good pacing, devoid of dull moments.
The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver is a candidate to be my favourite novel of the year: an excellent Epic fantasy novel that stays with you even after finishing, a delightful read that traps you in a magical, vast world and a compelling cast as part of the plot. What a debut!
https://redd.it/1pfv8jf
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Best winter reads?
Hi! Looking for some fantasy recommendations for the winter. I like to base my current books on the vibe of the weather and right now it’s freezing cold and snowy.
https://redd.it/1pfssso
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need to be driven back. And the Empire also has ways to biologically modify people to make them stronger, smarter, give them perfect memories, etc. Wonderful concept, pretty good world building... ok-ish story. I'll probably pick up the sequel at some point here. Bingo Squares Down with the System, A Book in Parts (HM), Gods and Pantheons (HM), Book Club, Biopunk (HM), LGBTQIA+ Protagonist (HM)
Bloody Rose (5) - Nicholas Eames. The sequel to Kings of the Wyld, which I read in August. I may have actually enjoyed this more, and I know that's a controversial take. Same world - one where adventuring bands are major celebrities. This one had some more traditional "save the world" and "hero's journey" storytelling beats in it, and I felt like the character mix worked well with some different dynamics compared to the previous group. Bingo Squares: Down with the System (HM), A Book in Parts (HM), Last in a Series (technically, until the next book releases), Parents (HM), LGBTQIA+ Protagonist, Generic Title (HM) - using it here. Rose is absolutely a color and I'm counting "Bloody" as "Blood".
From a Certain Point of View (4) - Multi-authorAnthology. This is a collection of short stories, all set around characters appearing in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Want to know about the Rebel Captain who gets choked by Darth Vader in the opening scene, or the red droid who malfunctions so Artoo gets purchased, or the musicians at the cantina, or... all sorts of minor characters get their own stories. A lot of are humorous, some are poignant. Many are very well written. Honestly, it would have been a 5/5, except for the Grand Moff Tarkin/TK-421 slash-fic from the point of view of a mouse droid. That cost it a point. (no I am not joking that is an entire story and I have feelings about it.) Bingo Squares: Knights and Paladins (HM), Down with the System, Impossible Places, Parents, Epistolary, LGBTQIA+ Protagonist, Five Short Stories (HM)
Bioshock: Rapture (3) - John Shirley. This was a prequel novel to the Bioshock video games, and was pretty decent. Mostly going through and setting the stage for the full setting of Rapture during the first two games, intoducing a lot of characters and showing how the city got to where it was when we first start exploring it. Nothing groundbreaking but interesting enough, and made me itchy to play the games again, which was probably the goal. Bingo Squares: Down with the System (HM), A Book in Parts, Parents, Biopunk
Swordheart (5) - T. Kingfisher. MORE T. KINGFISHER, in the same world as the Paladin's books, and my favorite one so far. Halla inherits a lot of money, her in-laws are going to try and steal it from her by marrying her off, so she decides to kill herself first so it goes to her nieces. And the sword she's gonna use to do that objects very strongly to killing her. Brilliantly done, a romantasy where I liked both characters a lot, strong recommend. Bingo Squares: Knights and Paladins, Impossible Places, Gods & Pantheons (HM), Book Club, stranger in a Strange Land, Generic Title. Because I used Paladin's Grace already, this got moved to the 2022 card for Initials.
Golden Son (5) - Pierce Brown. Basically as soon as I finished Red Rising, I put this in my library queue and started it once it came in. Even better than the first book. The first was "Adult Hunger Games", this went hard for political intrigue and war with some Game of Thrones-esque twists. Next one is in my queue. Bingo Squares: Knights & Paladins (HM), Down with the System, A Book in Parts, Biopunk. Since Red Rising locks me out of more Pierce Brown for 2025, it went to the 2022 card for "Set in Space".
The Golem's Eye (3) - Jonathan Stroud. Second book in the Bartimaeus trilogy, of which I read the first last year. We got an interesting new POV character this time, and it more firmly established the timeline as alternate 1990s/2000s but with magic and less industrial progress which was interesting, I felt that wasn't made clear in the first one.
Are there any fantasy series that doesn't revolve around war?
Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Stormlight Archives, Harry Potter, The Wandering Inn, Dungeon Crawler Carl. All lead to war or culminate in it. Any good series that doesn't?
Kinda getting tired of grand battles and want something different. Sure, Kingkiller might not but who knows when that'll happen.
https://redd.it/1ph3muk
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standalone. A sorcerer and his linked demon, who grants him his "chaos magic" abilities, has to rescue himself and two young orphans from the pirates who kidnap them This was a short, quick and engaging fantasy story and I enjoyed meeting these characters. I am very reluctant these days to jump into series with 10+ volumes like the World of the Five Gods series, but I'm tempted to try a few more. Rating 3/5
https://redd.it/1pgzxew
@r_fantasy
Do you like Sanderson? If so, try The Runelords by David Farland.
We should talk more about The Runelords. If you enjoy hard magic systems with clearly defined costs and rules (like in Mistborn or The Stormlight Archive) and rich world-building, then give it a try. The series is a little older, but I’m still amazed by how unique and original it is.
The magic system is morally complex: Runelords gain attributes - like strength or wit - from others, which weakens the “giver.” Runelords are cool, and only some of them are bad guys, but it still feels like parasitism … which creates many dilemmas!
https://redd.it/1pgnn6d
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Starting Deadhouse Gates after Will of the Many helped me put my finger on the latter
After hearing a lot about Will of the Many, I decided to read it and the book didn't do much for me. It was by no means a bad book and I don't think expectations prevented me from enjoying it since I didn't mind reading it. Afterwards, I picked up Deadhouse Gates since I remember devouring Gardens of the Moon in a few days. I'm 200 pages into and it helped me figure out what Will of the Many was lacking for me.
Some of my other favorite books or series for perspective: Wheel of Time, Song of Ice & Fire, Lord of the Rings, World of the Five Gods, Lymond Chronicles(not fantasy, but feels like it and just plain awesome), The Fifth Season, and Realm of the Elderlings.
First, I couldn't connect with any of the characters in the story. They all felt like devices to move the story forward and didn't change much. That includes the main character who was a Gary Stu in my opinion. I love the Lymond Chronicles series so Gary Stu's in themselves don't bother me, but Lymond is much more of a compelling and complex character compared to Vis. It's evident even upon finishing Game of Kings, the first book in the series, which is also shorter than WotM.
Next, the differences in writing also threw me off. I would describe WotM as feeling flat and not descriptive even though a lot of words are used. Reading the ruins in the desert scenes in Deadhouse Gates drove that home for me. In WotM, there are similar scenes but it felt like I was reading about a location that served to move the story forward rather than something that should have felt ancient. The ruins felt lifeless. In Deadhouse Gates, I stop to read those scenes over again because my imagination is actively trying to imagine the fictional civilizations that the author is describing. Not only that, but I can't even take for truth what I'm reading because I'm reading a characters interpretation of what they are seeing and their retelling of the history could be off since they don't have 100% accurate information.
The same also applies to the Hierarchy compared to the Malazan's, Red Blades, and the empress. I was told a hundred times the Hierarchy and using will is bad, but it never felt that way. In Deadhouse Gates, the factions described so far have felt threatening without the author needing to tell me that they are threatening.
Lastly, and this is a matter of preference, but I don't enjoy reading fantasy series where magic is over-explained and feels like a fake science.
https://redd.it/1pgv13n
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Blood Of Hercules Review.
Initially, I DNF'd this book at 20% in January. However, as a glutton for punishment, my girlfriend challenged me to try and finish it for the love of the hating game. I thought I would find a glimmer of something good buried in the depths of this book. And after almost a week of reading this book, I can safely conclude that this is one of the most dogshit pieces of "literature" my eyes have ever laid upon. Not only that, but if anyone walks away from this book thinking it is even marginally good, they have worms in their brains. There are no redeeming qualities about this book. This may be a controversial opinion, but everyone involved in getting this book published should either retire from the industry or walk into traffic. Those are the only acceptable reparations.
Did you know this book was acquired by one of the big five publishers for seven figures? Over 1 million dollars. With Six 0's. And it's formatted like a 14-year-old's first edgy oc fanfic. It's written like one too, with such amazing phrases as "male thotch (thigh crotch)", "Cunt--absolute cunt, served." (did you know this takes place 70 years into the future and they still talk like brainrotted imbiciles who misappropriate aave and gay culture lingo?), "fluck the flucking world. Life's a biatch like that. Yes, I was in my emo era.", the constant "birds aren't real" joke that hasn't been funny since the 10's. Almost every single sentence is its own paragraph for some reason. Some, even just one word, and this happens constantly. I actually had to look up how old Jasmine Mas is, and as of today, December 7th 2025, she is 28 years old. She's older than I am. That meteor should have hit us in 2012.
Once you start to think about it, there are so many choices in the worldbuilding that make absolutely zero sense. Why doesn't this future have a working foster care system? Why is Charlie dropped off with this random foster family? Why was Alexis?? How can a policeman prosecute people? Why did the Cthonics start a war with the Olympians to the death if they knew Spartans were dying out and needed them to kill the Titans? Why are battery and assault not prosecuted anymore? Why was Alexis not qualified for hospital treatment (aka: how do hospitals work). There is no reason for any of these choices; they're just made to move the plot along. But when you worldbuild, you need to have options for your laws/backstory or else nothing feels believable.
The vast amount of weird misogyny present in this book is absolutely insane. For 90% of the novel, the only female character is Alexis. The other slightly more important female character, A., shows up in the last half of the book, and B. is the younger sister of one of the love interests, so she can automatically be Alexis' friend and not be competition. Although actual Greek goddesses were tough as nails and Sparta was one of the few cities to actually grant women rights, nothing about this weird hatred for women makes sense. It's almost like any self-respect as a woman left Jasmine Mas before she even got to the end of the fourth prologue. Not to mention there's constant incel rhetoric (one of the male love interests saying that Alexis had a "sanctimonious need to prove that Spartan women should fight alongside men." Why is this a bad thing?) and a disgusting paternal undertone to how all the men want to keep the women safe, whether they want to or not." Jasmine Mas didn't need to write it this way. What was the point? Am I supposed to be empowered by this? Not to mention how Nyx as seen as in the right for saying that "all women are supposed to want a real man who will slaughter for you" and "[Men who are nice\] died out because they were pathetic and embarassing losers because no woman wants a nerd." Literally, most of my girl friends are dating nerds. I'm dating a hot, tall nerd who's a nonbinary woman. I am a nerd. Nerds are in. Jasmine, why are you advocating for this???? Even if it's fiction???
The plot is bare bones and stupid. I'm not gonna go over that. It's just
Can you recommend books in which one of the main villains / antagonists is a woman ?
90% of the times the main villain was a man.... but I like female villain better
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
I first read this novel when it came out in 2004, and I loved it. I've just started a reread for the first time since then. It's even better than I remembered it. I am at the point where >!Mr. Norrell has just realized that his bargain for half of Lady Pole's life!< means something much different than he thought. The writing is so beautiful and fantastical - every detail is thought out and polished, even those that aren't integral to the story - like >!Laurence Strange's tormenting of the servant, Jeremy!<. The moment when >!Stephen Black is startled to notice there's a new room in the mansion named No-Hope!<. It is also a perfect December book. Just had to enthuse about it to people who will understand.
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r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - December 07, 2025
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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 [2025 Book Bingo Card here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1joxlrr/official_rfantasy_2025_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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Fantasy books about moths?
Specific, I know.
As a kid, my favourite flavour text in the entire history of Magic: The Gathering was that of the card Eiganjo Free-Riders, from the Saviors of Kamigawa expansion. It still is:
“The air filled with dust and the sound of wingbeats. The mothriders had joined the fray.”
—Great Battles of Kamigawa
I've always found it endlessly epic and poetic. The art is gorgeous too!
So, my point is, moths are cool. Like, really cool. We need to see more of them in the genre. Are there any good books that make use of them as fantasy creatures?
Note: I am specifically looking for moth-like creatures or moth-like physical characteristics, not moths only used for their symbolism, which is far more common. I am also not looking for generic fantasy insects, there's plenty of those around. They can be there, as long as we also have moths.
Books I am already aware of:
- Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is of course amazing.
- Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, love some of the worldbuilding ideas (including the Slake Moths), but I DNF'd it due to how gritty its tone is.
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig, I'm not into that kind of romantasy, also apparently moths are mostly symbolic in the book.
Do you have any more moth-themed recommendations?
Thank you!
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About "The Black Iron Legacy", from Gareth Hanrahan
Hello folks, fell into a bit of a rabbit hole recently and couldn't find a satisfactory answer.
I've seen a couple forums and Q&A's from Gareth stating that The Black Iron Legacy "was never supposed to be just a trilogy", and that there were more books incoming. However, I've found literally zero evidence that he indeed is writing or at least has plans to write more stuff in this series.
I'm aware he's published another trilogy, which is in an entirely different world. But does anybody have any idea if he truly will publish anything related to TBIL?
Maybe this is a lost cause, maybe not. At least I'm sure someone out there has a better answer than I do.
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PSA: Farseer and Liveship Traders audiobooks have been rerecorded with new narrators!
Joe Eyre is the narrator for the Farseer trilogy and Lucy Tregear will be reading Liveship Traders trilogy. The release date is set for January 29th 2026
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Are there any fantasy worlds with modern technology, besides the one I mention in my post?
There are of course A LOT of medieval fantasy worlds, and some futuristic ones, like Star Wars and Starfinder, but I can't think of any with 1920s - 2020s technology, aside from the world of the Trails games, and maybe Sera from Gears Of War, if one wants to consider it "fantasy".
And I don't mean fantasy settings which are based on our world, but in which the fanatsy elements either "appeared" in somehow, like Shadowrun or Warhammer 40k, or are hidden, like Harry Potter or World of Darkness, but classic, "constructed" fantasy worlds.
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One Mike to Read Them All: “Greenteeth” by Molly O’Neill
This was a decent book that could have been a great book, if Orbit’s marketing people hadn’t pushed it as “cozy” and the author had embraced writing something YA (which is not and has never been a pejorative).
Jenny Greenteeth has been living in her English lake for centuries, leaving the nearby village alone and happy to be left alone in turn. Her life gets unexpectedly interesting when the villagers toss a chained village woman into her lake (rude!). Rather than eat the woman, Jenny decides to take her to her lakebottom cave and revive her. The woman, Temperance, is a witch, and was denounced by the new village pastor, who is in fact the demonic Erl King. Along with Jenny’s frenemy Brackus the goblin peddler, the trio set out to seek the High Fae and get their help casting out the Erl King and reuniting Temperance with her husband and children.
As I said at the top, this could have been a great YA book, and honestly I think that’s what the story wanted to be. YA isn’t anything bad; it can mean a variety of things, but in this case I mean something straightforward. There’s a good reason we’ve been telling stories about the Hero’s Journey for thousands of years, and this would have been a great Hero’s Journey if that was what O’Neill wanted it to be. But partway through the book she introduces tension between Jenny and Temperance; it felt hugely contrived, and (without knowing the creative process) felt like it was there because someone decided it needed to be. It disrupted the flow of the story, and left a bad taste in my mouth that took a while to wash out.
Imagining this novel without that tension, I’d call it a 5 out of 5. With it, I’m thinking about 3 and a half.
And as for the marketing: I get that “cozy” is popular nowadays, but this isn’t cozy and shouldn’t have been presented as such. Expectations matter and shape the experience.
Bingo categories: Impossible Places; Gods and Pantheons; Parents; Published in 2025; Elves and Dwarves
My blog
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Definitely interesting as some more political upheaval plot gets worked in, story just felt a bit uneven. Bingo Squares: Down with the System, A Book in Parts (HM). I didn't have a spot to use this for 2025, so it wound up in 2022's "Non-Human Protagonist" category.
Vampires of El Norte (3) - Isabel Canas. Set in 1840s-era Mexico, it's a romantasy horror with vampires and forbidden love between a rich rancher's daughter and a cowboy. As with a lot of romantasy there's a lot of "you two are both stupid please kiss". But overall I liked both characters and they're both competent. The horror was a bit light but that's fine, I'm not a huge horror fan just needed a BIT of horror to hit HM on a category. Bingo Squares Author of Color (HM), Small Press (HM)
Outbound Flight (3.5) - Timothy Zahn. Wow, a Legends-era Star Wars book I haven't read?! This was in the "post-prequels but before the canon reset" era, and Zahn was trying to merge stuff from Heir to the Empire with the new continuity the Prequels created. Overall he did as good a job with it as he could have, but that was always a mess. It's always fun to see Thrawn be a genius, though one really starts to wonder how he was alwayhs able to be the smartest guy at all points in his life. Obi-Wan and Anakin dip in for a bit and then leave the story is a weird cameo that I don't think added anything. Bingo Squares: Knights and Paladins (HM), Stranger in a Strange Land, Pirates (HM)
Bingo Card Updates I went for 8 categories filled in to 17! I knocked out Down with the System, A Book in Parts, Epistolary, Author of Color, Biopunk, LGBTQIA+ Protagonist, Short Stories, Generic Title and Pirates in the last four months.
That leaves me with Hidden Gem, Published in the 80s, High Fashion, Impossible Places, Book Club, Published in 2025, Self-Published, and Elves & Dwarves. Eight categories, four months to get them, so I'm right on pace there, but it is hitting the section of the board where I've got fewer immediate ideas for them, so I'm open to suggestions!
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Bingo Reviews: Where I'm at 2/3 of the way through the year's challenge)
I did a review back at the start of August for the first 1/3 of my Bingo year. Let's see how I've done in the next four months. (Spoiler, not as well, life got busy, but still making some progress!)
Overall I read another 14 books since the previous post. But, several were targeted and have helped me knock off several more Bingo Squares! All ratings are out of 5 stars. As before, I'm trying to fill all the cards over time, so if I can't use a book for 2025 (either due to using the same author or it not fitting a category), it gets moved to a prior year where it fits. And I'm going for Hard Modes only, though I note if a book meets non-HM in a category. Bold in the Bingo Squares indicates what category the book got used for.
Dracula (4) - Bram Stoker. I'd somehow never read Dracula, though I did know most of the overall story. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It shows its age, but less than I was bracing myself for. I was pleasantly surprised that Mina Harker was given a lot of generally positive qualities (not a fantastic modern female protagonist, but written by a guy in 1897? Way better than I was fearing). I was less imprssed by Van Helsing than I expected, he's gotten a huge glowup in modern adaptations. I did the audiobook with Tim Curry and Alan Cumming, among others, for this, and it was great.
Bingo Squares: Gods and Pantheons, Epistolary (HM) - I think a lot of folks might be using this one for Epistolary, but it was a great excuse to finally read it!
Harrow the Ninth (4) - Tamsyn Muir. This one was werid. Good, but really, really strange.I enjoyed Gideon more when I rread it last year, but this was still well worth the read. It may be the first book I've ever read that was writtne in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person.
Bingo Squares: High Fashion, Impossible Places, A Book in Parts (HM), Gods and Pantheons, Epistolary, LGBTQIA+ Protagonist (HM) - I count Harrow as having a disability/other conditions which separate her from others in this book.
Paladin's Strength (5) - T. Kingfisher. I enjoyed this a lot more than Paladin' Grace, mostly because I liked both protagonists a lot more and they were a more palatable sort of dumb about their attraction to one another. I've absolutely become a romantasy girlie over the past year and a half, but I really like it when there's a great fantasy story happening along with the romantasy, which we got here. Bingo Squares: Knights and Paladins (HM), Gods & Pantheons. Because I'd already used a T. Kingfisher book, this got moved to the 2023 card for Queernorm.
Dodger (3.5) - Terry Pratchett. A Pratchett book that isn't Discworld?! It's historical fiction set in 19th century London, featuring (and also sort of inspired by/in-world-inspiring) Charles Dickens. It follows a young man, Dodger, and his adventures in London (he meets Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, Sweeney Todd, and others). Very much the streetwise orphan archetype, similar vein though less brutal than a Locke Lamora. A lot of Pratchett's usual humor and social commentary, though less fantasy. Bingo Squares High Fashion. Since this didn't fet anything in 2025, it eventually settled in 2021's "Has Chapter Titles" category.
Red Rising (4.5) - Pierce Brown. This had been at the periphery of my radar for a while but I'd kind of assumed it was a YA-y Hunger Games clone. It's definitely got a Hunger Games premise, but it's not YA, and I was pretty engrossed. Very excellent across the board, great characters, good action, a few things I was surprised with. Bingo Squares: Down with the System, A Book in Parts (HM), Book Club, Biopunk
The Tainted Cup (3.5) - Robert Jackson Bennett. I picked this one up specifically for the "Biopunk" square on Bingo. It's a mystery story, Holmes and Watson-y, in a Roman Empire-inspired world where Kaiju attack the outer ring of the Empire every year and
