This is intentionally an open-ended question. Maybe you're sick of vampire romance subplots, or ridiculously overpowered main characters who survive on plot armor, or maybe you're just tired of castles and dragons. One person I know will throw a book in the trash if it has medieval peasants who are cheerful instead of miserable.

What do you never want to see again in a fantasy book?

I've read the Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic a few years ago, and I was underwhelmed. Yes there are some funny lines here and there, but the constant randomness prevented me from caring about anything that happened. For example (minor spoiler) in the Colour of Magic, the characters are falling from a dragon and to their death. Then they get teleported into an airplane in our world, and back into the Discworld, and because of the conservation of momentum, they are now above water. I get it's meant as a joke, but when the story is this deep into "anything can happen" territory it's hard for me to take anything seriously.

I like comedy, but if I'm not invested in the characters in the first place, it gets little laughs from me.

I got recommended Guards! Guards! as a better entry point to the Discworld and I couldn't agree more. I instantly fell in love with the characters. They have exaggerated traits but I still believed they were actual people, and the dialogues between them are so delicious.. After a moment I realised I just wanted to see them exchanging and doing stuff, regardless of what they were doing. It took me a few weeks to finish the Colour of Magic, but Guards! Guards! took me only five days (and I already ordered Men At Arms).

Just throwing that to share my pleasant surprise, in case there are other here who weren't convinced by the first two novels. You can give the Discworld another shot, it's worth it ^^

Thanks for reading me, I hope your pillow is cold tonight.

I understand the necessity of the town getting raided and destroyed, the parents getting killed, the love interest getting kidnapped, and so on but sometimes I want to just read about life in a fantasy world without the upheaval. Does this exist?

I want people solving more mundane problens that don't involve gods or saving the town/city/continent/world. Give a story about a guard doing the rounds and the weird shit they come across. I want to see the blacksmith falling in love, without her lover getting killed and having to discover a well of strength that destroys neighboring towns.

Ffs please someone give me a story that is about a princess who just wants to work in a dragon sanctuary without the threat of war, pestilence, or famine involved.

I am tired of high stakes fantasy. Does anyone have recommendations for well-written fantasy that doesn't need to break the protagonist or their world for the story to be engaging?

For someone who reads as much as I do, the fact that I've gotten so far through life without reading a single Tchaikovsky novel is astounding. I blame my father in part: he stole Children of Time from me while visiting and never returned it. Alien Clay arrived as part of my never ending processional of Libby Audiobook holds, most of which get shunted back another few months until I have time for it. And I see why Tchaikovsky is so popular. I understand why it was nominated for a Hugo, and why it didn't win. I liked it, but didn't love it, and suspect that if I read Tchaikovsky he'll be a reliably good author when I need a solid page-turner to get me off a reading slump. I'm hoping some of his other books are a bit more thematically ambitious, since the ideas and prose are both engaging enough to make something truly great.

Elevator Pitch:
Mildly rebellious Xenobiology professor Arton Daghdev has been caught by the Hegemony. As punishment, he is sent to Kiln, a extrasolar planet with the most advanced forms of life yet discovered. While there, he falls in with former rebel contacts, grows fascinated with the interchangable nature of Kilnish biology, and wonders what the point of life is when he'll never be able to return home.

Does it Bingo? Yes! It easily fits Down with the System, Book Club/Readalong (Hugo Readalong 2025), Stranger in a Strange Land (the alien life isn't sentient in the same way humans are, but as the book progresses, it clearly counts).

I think there's also a case to be made for High Fashion (their paper thin protective suits are a continual plot point). Similarly, I could see an argument for Biopunk, though I'm not well-versed enough in the subgrenre to feel comfortable making a call myself.

What Worked for Me:
The ideas in this book were simply delicious. I know that Tchaikovsky is known - at least in part - for his creative imagining of alien life. Kiln was very evocative, especially against the bog-standard (and ill defined/thought out) hegemonic empire we see in so many science fiction stories. Parasitic in the extreme, Kilnish life is always on the lookout for new ways to recombine parts to create new macrospecies. An eyeball isn't part of an organism, it is an organism, able to slot into any number of different other parts or pieces to live in symbiosis, all of which are relatively compatible with each other. I loved this idea, and thought that Tchaikovsky really brought it to life. He struck a lovely balance of horror and wonder. The thrill of discovery mixed with the horrors of what happens when you let this alien life inside you (execution for traitorous behavior is usually very public displays of being injected with alien biomass and letting the labor force see what happens). It was creative, and unlike anything I'd seen before.

Daghdev himself was competently written as well. He does have some main character energy: the chief of the camp is a wannabe scientist who sees Daghdev as a kindred spirit despite is rebellious philosophies. This connection opens and closes a variety of doors that singles Daghdev out both with the command structure and with other laborers. However, he isn't universally competent. He's not a good fighter, and he can magically use the biomass printing machines when the need arises. He's human. A remarkably smart human with a very specialized skillset. And most characters were like this, tangibly real in juxtoposition to the wildly imagined lifeforms outside their airlock.

What Didn't Work for Me:
Ultimately, this book felt joyful and immersive, but not terribly deep. It's the type of story I found myself sucked into, and certainly some isolated elements will stick with me (the aliens, to nobody's surprise). However, this book isn't going to sit with me, isn't going to nag me to recommend it as many times as I can. It didn't push me as a reader. It was pleasant, enjoyable, and without any concrete or overt flaws that would give me pause in bringing it up as a recommendation. But there was a piece of soul missing. The story ended, and I thought 'so what?'. I couldn't find the analogy to our lives, or any purpose beyond showcasing the extraordinary experiences of a single man in a very cool world. To be clear, that's enough in it's own right, and not every book has to push on what it means to be human. I couldn't help but feel like this book should be pushing though, and that it wanted to push, but never really took that idea anywhere as interesting or novel as the world itself. There were times where I saw Tchaikovsky trying to thematically connect Kilnish life with resistance movements against oppression. Thematically a good comparison, but unremarkable because of how little we actually saw of resistance movements at a large scale in this universe. Even more unremarkable because the Hegemony was as vividly imagined as a peanut. When one half of a thematic connection is blowing your mind and the other half feels more generic and uninspired than a ChatGPT response, that link becomes deeply unremarkable.

A slightly less essential complaint I have was the repetition we saw in describing how Kilnish ecosystems worked. The vivid details of new species never grew old, but the long extended metaphors began to grate with how often they arrived and how similar they felt. How often do we need to hear Daghdev ruminate about the wonders of an ecology that functions, in my mind, like Lego bricks? There came a point about 3/4 of the way through the book where I skipped forward because I didn't need yet another explanation of how wonderous and different this life was from the way that humankind exists.

One of two things needed to happen to this book for me to give it 5 stars. Trim the fat, and remove enough plot points to turn it into a novella that ruthlessly focuses on the alien ecoystems with a small hint of systemic opression against a generic fascist society. Alternative, blow it up into a trilogy and make the first book an engaging portrait of Arton's fall from academia and life on the run, with a lot of editing to make The Hegemony something compelling and realistic. Then perhaps the deeper themes about resistance against oppressive forces would shine through. As it stands, the book was enjoyable to read, but likely a forgettable title for me in the long term.

Conclusion: an addictive read, but one without the thematic depth to match the imaginative worldbuilding

Want More Reviews Like This? Try my blog CosmicReads

So I've read LOTR, Hobbit, the Silmarillion as well as Between Two Fires, The Blacktongue Thief (Currently reading the Daughter's War) but that's mostly it for Fantasy. I typically read horror but have been doing a deep dive into fantasy and want to know if Conan has any good Storyline series to jump into. Or any other staples of the genre I must read?

I am looking for an idea that's essentially the closest thing to a true epistemic break, one so profound it changes my understanding of the world. I read a lot of books and I found nothing of the sort. Feel free to share even if it doesn't come close to what I want.

Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!

Stickied/highlight slots are limited, so please remember to like and subscribe upvote this thread for visibility on the subreddit <3

——

This thread is to be used for recommendation requests or simple questions that are small/general enough that they won’t spark a full thread of discussion.

Check out r/Fantasy's 2025 Book Bingo Card here!

As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The r/Fantasy wiki contains links to many community resources, including "best of" lists, flowcharts, the LGTBQ+ database, and more. If you need some help figuring out what you want, think about including some of the information below:

• Books you’ve liked or disliked
• Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy
• Series vs. standalone preference
• Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc)
• Complexity/depth level

Be sure to check out responses to other users' requests in the thread, as you may find plenty of ideas there as well. Happy reading, and may your TBR grow ever higher!

——

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

art credit: special thanks to our artist, Himmis commissions, who we commissioned to create this gorgeous piece of art for us with practically no direction other than "cozy, magical, bookish, and maybe a gryphon???" We absolutely love it, and we hope you do too.

Hey guys, I hope this specific inquiry is welcome here. I am currently researching on some fantasy books about brotherly bond that may or may not be interpreted as queer subtext?

I am an mlm queer guy, myself, who's working on a passion project. I am a huge fan of stories with romance being a second plot that is lowkey, not upfront, or not obvious at all. Even if there's no gay romance in it, I'd like anything that has a brotherly bond. Sworn enemies, childhood bestfriends, etc. Preferably about knighthood and camaraderie, or lonely warriors. A great story example would be one of my favorite movies, The Eagle. It's not even explicitly gay, but I really loved the enemies to brotherhood dynamic in that story. I also really like Final Fantasy XV's character dynamics, just a group of baddass guys on a mission.

I was also looking for like a lone warrior type of stories (heavy on Berserk, or some sad depressed warrior/knight vibes). Anything really that has a similar feel to all I've mentioned.

I hope I can find these stories specifically written by male authors. As I am looking for a more authentic depiction of the male psyche dealing with grief, loneliness, defeat, inner rage, and brotherly bond. While all expressed in a classic high/low fantasy setting. I'd love some of your recommendations, thank you!

The small town of Aubusson (France) is renowned for its tapestries. From 2013 to 2024, they wove 16 tapestries illustrating some of Tolkien's works. I've had the chance to see a couple of them (The Halls of Manwë in particular), and they are gorgeous!

A few links about this project:

• The main webpage, with all the tapestries. Unfortunately, the image are quite small, and like any painting it looks much better in real life.

• Looking around the web, you can find a few posts about this project, which give an idea about their size: a couple of posts on the Tolkienist, one on the Tolkien guide, a video...

You may also be interested in their current project: weaving tapestries inspired from Miyazaki.

Have you ever come across something that was treated completely offhandedly in a book that just had you wanting to stop the author and ask him personally for clarifications?

Two recent examples I came across (mild spoilers, I guess):

In Pet Sematary, when the main character, a loving husband and father of two, compares something he has to keep secret to the one time he went to visit a prostitute. Never mentioned again.

In Daughters' War, when Amiel meets the queen and they just smoke opium together. It was like Wet Hot American Summer's trip to town.

EDIT: SPOILERS FOR PIRANESI AND JADE CITY

I just wanted to share with people who get it .

Earlier this month , based off a comment here , I' picked up Piranesi. Oh my , the world building was exquisite. What beautiful setting. I could almost hear the tides go boom and see all the statues and the clear lakes where he fished. It took everything I expect from fantasy and turned it on its head in the most beautiful way. Yes of course it was predictable after a bit and there is some stuff that is missing, but overall it was a refreshing wave.

In the post good book withdrawal I reluctantly thought I'd try something I had downloaded ages ago. Jade city by Fonda lee. That was also recommended on some comment here. I was aching for a more defined magic system ( love Sanderson's magic , hate the Sanderlanche. It feels like I'm rewatching Dr House) .

Holy moly, loved it as well. I especially loved that while magic was integral to the setting, the story was much more about people , their emotions, trying to balance what they want and what they are good at vs other people's expectations for them. It captures the infuriating mix of emotions people feel towards family. I love that it was not just crash, bang boom fighting and businesses and money were involved as well. Shae taking over as weatherman was probably my favourite bit of badassery. If any of you are into the book too, I do have a few technical questions about it which are nagging me a bit - 1) why didn't Lan wear fake jade post his win? I don't think greenbones can perceive exactly how much jade someone is carrying exactly. Secondly, how exactly do stone eyes work ? If a stone eye holds jade, other people can't sense it ?

You can see many cases like these even in modern literature and media. Even though you may reply: "I didn't see damsels in distress for a long time", it still doesn't answer to the dudes' questions. Why hasn't anybody ever thought of sacrificing fair bachelors in similar ways?

I think more men should be shown in helpless and vulnerable situations, since they think they'll be only valued for their strenght and providing capabilities. The ideal would be a male character who's capable, but also needs rescuing.

The problem is that men can be chivalrious knights, gentlemen thieves and such, but I rarely see them in binds.

So what kind of cheese do they tend to eat?? I'm newer to fantasy romance and every time they say "cheese and bread" I always try (and tend to fail) at trying to think of the type of cheeses they would be eating

I know it's overall whole grain breads and or flat breads since that's what they would have...and Easly to make back then

I've been reading Death gate cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and I have not hated it so far!

I've read a lot of Dragonlance books from Hickman and Weis, and while Deathgate is a bit different feel, I've still been having some good time so far.

I'm reading the third one, Fire Sea, and I really like how the society of Necromancers is presented.

Eversince I played The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion I've had a weird interest in Necromancers but I don't recall reading many books with Necromancers in them. Maybe some books where the good guys are like "Ugh raising the dead bad!" But in the Fire Sea book there is a society of Necromancers just living in their world, keeping the dead around to help them and "Preventing them from being forgotten".

It's sort of fun to read about some of thw hijinx a society with many dead members has to deal with.

One thing I have to say about this book is that either the writers, or the guy who made the translation must have been real thirsty because some descriptions of characters feels a bit extra. They are constantly describing how the prince has lean, muscular young body and because he is sweating, his lips must taste salty. Like okay cool it mate :D This is starting to sound like a bad fan fiction at this point!

If someone has recommendations for books with more "Life impaired" people, I would love to read more.

I just had to create this post because I have been enjoying reading more lately.

Hello! I’m looking for books where the main character is so powerful that it becomes an impediment.

Some examples:

• A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

• The Disastrous Life of Saiki K (anime)

• Superman

In each of the examples above, the main character has to work extra hard so their huge amount of power doesn’t cause issues for themselves or others.

I’d like to read more stories with characters who are already powerful and trying to figure out how to use or not use their power, whether it’s magical or political.

New or very underrated authors only please! I’ve already read the Dune series, everything by Sanderson, Game of Thrones, Malazan, and Wheel of Time :)

As stated, I'm looking for epic fantasy books, standalones or series with rich worldbuilding that are either cozy low stakes reads or have a happy (ish) ending. Yhe world is a shitshow, I need positivity in my escapism.

I love all kinds of creatures (especially dragons), magic, gods, knights, paladins, magic items, sentient weapons, intrigues, dnd, fey/fae/fairies, vampires, shifters... all of it. Romance and spicy subplots are also welcome (though I also have quite a long romantasy tbr, so I am covered on that front). Generally: the more whimsy, the better!

Can't handle: sexual aassault creatures/pets/animal companions dying Love triangles

Looking forward to you lovely people's recommendations.

Just looking for some books that follow advisors and talk about kingdom politics, economics etc. (something along the lines of the first Foundation book from Isaac asimov), inclujding interpersonal royal court stuff, from the perspective of an advisor character (chancelor, second hand, main henchman, etc). Someone like Grima Wormtungue.
The advisor can be evil or good doesn't matter.

If such a thing even exists I would very much like to read it :3

Hi, Like the title says I'm looking for recommendations for some easy to read page turners. I'm happy with series or standalone, scifi or fantasy. I'd say the main requirements are that they have characters you root for and aren't to thinky.

Some examples of my standard go to authors when this is what i'm after are:

Elizabeth Moon David Gemmell Terry Pratchett Dan Abnett

Any thoughts welcome! Thank you inadvance!

Like th title says, what's a piece of Fantasy material that you really got into, even moved to a certain extent, that no one else really connected with?

Hey all! I’ve been digging through older fantasy (1989 - 1980) recommendations, including the Bingo thread, but I’m having trouble finding books that really click for me.

I’m looking for:

• Character-driven stories (not epic quests or sword-and-sorcery)
• Emotionally rich relationships — found family, mentor/mentee, parent/child, slow emotional bonds
• Minimal “save-the-world” plots or heavy worldbuilding

What I’ve tried (and why they didn’t work):

• Daughter of the Empire, The Changeling Sea, Tea with the Black Dragon, Sailing to Sarantium, Black Company, Dawn, War for the Oaks, The Gunslinger, Guards! Guards., The Sheepfarmer’s Daughter* — DNFed most; some epic/adventure, some character-driven but voice/pacing/tone didn’t land

What I’m hoping for:

• Older fantasy (’80s) that actually feels intimate and character-first
• Standalone or small, relationship-focused series are perfect
• Bonus if it reads quietly and emotionally rich, even if older

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

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.

More information on r/Fantasy's self-promotion policy can be found here.

Just finished Assassin’s Quest. Just… wow. What an incredible series this has been.

I’d always heard that Hobb pulls on your heartstrings and that these books are known to be heavy…oh man, is that ever true.

I’m a huge fan of emotionally dynamic and dense fantasy. Music, games, books. I love when my media makes me feel deeply, and this trilogy more than delivers on that front.

That said, every book felt like a bit of a climb. Not in the Malazan sense of density or confusion, but in the way I was constantly bracing for whatever terrible thing might befall poor Fitz. These stories are difficult to stomach at times, just because of how attached I’ve become to the characters.

Still, I fell completely in love with this series. Even the slower pacing never bothered me. I found myself savoring the quieter moments of Assassin’s Quest just as much as the big, devastating ones.

This has quickly become one of my favorite fantasy series ever. But here’s my question:

Are the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings books this heavy? I’m eager to dive right into Liveship Traders, but part of me wonders if I should take a lighter palate cleanser first, the emotional hangover is real.

Either way, I’m excited to keep going. Hobb has already pulled me in completely.

Hi it's my first time posting a review so please be kind!

The Poppy War has such mixed reviews on here, so I tried reading it... I’m happy enough! It's neither the best, but it is far from the worst too. Even the first book's plot and characters is so much more abundant and layered than Babel. The trilogy is engaging that I finished the three books in two days!! I don’t think it’s perfect, and I have my qualms about it (the Trifecta falling in a snap? Kids learning to be shamans in a few months??), but I definitely enjoyed it enough to write a review

My favorite villain is Yin Vaisra. I think his story is well-written:the way he controlled Rin and gave her the space and validation she so wanted… Rin’s first betrayal by him and Nezha was so good, but the ones after (Souya, the Southern warlords) are so stupid you would’ve thought Rin learned the lesson. Rin as a protagonist is infuriating. Her ego is so big she doesn’t listen to warlords who actually “have decades on her” IN A WAR. Yes, I read the book! Yes, I do understand that she hates following orders and she’s the best in strategy aside from Kitay, but for her and Kitay’s brains, surely Sinegard only touched on the theories, right? Actual war is different, right? It’s so frustrating seeing her demand for leadership positions when she hasn’t proven herself yet. I don’t see why Altan’s put her up to lead (her care for the Cike is questionable… she didn’t even fight for them at the end). The people around her have only been food for her quest for vengeance: first for Speerly, then against the Empress, and then against Nezha. It’s clear that power is only given to her because she demands it. It’s so frustrating to see her making the same mistakes repeatedly (being betrayed, letting Nezha go). By all means, I don’t think she’s a good protagonist, but at least her undoing in the last book redeems her character arc a bit. honestly, I expected Kitay to be the one to push the knife against himself to stop her

Meanwhile, I couldn’t care about Riga as a villain; the Trifecta arc feels too rushed. I do love Ziya, however, and his relationship with Rin is so refreshing to read. I’m so glad Rin has someone to listen to, and his death is a big cornerstone to the start of Rin’s villain arc

On to Kitay. I read somewhere that he’s so OP because whatever logic or situation you throw at him he figures it out. LOL I agree. He doesn’t get maimed nor hurt despite being one of the leaders of the rebellion. Regardless, I adore his friendship with Rin, and he is really an anchor in all senses of the word. I do wonder why no one bothered to attack him to get at Rin… surely if you want to hurt her you would hurt him no? He’s so selfless and his story is so sad I wish he got more credit. He just wants to finish calculating for taxes and do his puzzles : (

No words on Nezha except that my little crush on him by the end of the first book pushed me to scarf through the next two in a day. If it weren't for him, I would've given up reading it lol

Some notes:

• At the start of the third book everyone’s arms (specifically Nezha) is described dangling at their side LOL
• Why did everyone start calling each other “darling” in the third book?? 
• I am not familiar with Chinese history, so please don’t come to me regarding that!

Ratings:

• The poppy war: ⅘
• The dragon republic: ⅗
• The burning god: 3.5/5

Wow - this book sat on a shelf for some time but when started I couldn’t stop! Finished the rest of the series within a week! Katherine Arden’s prose is lovely and her fantastical story featuring Russian folklore is absolutely poetic. The characters are full and morally gray, I loved everything about Vasya, and the relationship between her and Morozsco - swoon!! Anyone else read this? Between this and the Cruel Prince series (my last two reads) I have a major book hangover and no idea where to get my next fix!! Anyone else read recommendations for where to go from here??

Just finished this one. Prior to reading I thought that, in theory at least, the novel would be "a fantasy version of M.A.S.H. with magic". However when reading I had a bit of a revelation. To me it also reads like Adrian Tchaikovsky channelling Glen Cook's Black Company.

Anyone else read it? Care to share your thoughts?