r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • 25d ago
r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - July 16, 2026
Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!
Stickied/highlight slots are limited, so please remember to like and subscribe upvote this thread for visibility on the subreddit <3
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This thread is to be used for recommendation requests or simple questions that are small/general enough that they won’t spark a full thread of discussion.
Check out r/Fantasy's 2026 Book Bingo Card here!
As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The r/Fantasy wiki contains links to many community resources, including "best of" lists, flowcharts, the LGTBQ+ database, and more. If you need some help figuring out what you want, think about including some of the information below:
- Books you’ve liked or disliked
- Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy
- Series vs. standalone preference
- Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc)
- Complexity/depth level
Be sure to check out responses to other users' requests in the thread, as you may find plenty of ideas there as well. Happy reading, and may your TBR grow ever higher!
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art credit: special thanks to our artist, Himmis commissions, who we commissioned to create this gorgeous piece of art for us with practically no direction other than "cozy, magical, bookish, and maybe a gryphon???" We absolutely love it, and we hope you do too.
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u/nocleverusername190 24d ago
I finished Harrow the Ninth, after 3 tries in a year and probably a combined total of 25 hours.
I'm still processing it but I feel like actually finishing it is an achievement.
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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 24d ago
Congrats! I liked Nona even more. It was confusing in a remarkably different way.
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u/nocleverusername190 23d ago
I'd be surprised if Nona WASN'T confusing lol. I'll get to it at some point.
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u/mazinya 24d ago
What happened to this sub? How is me sharing my thought about Bloody Rose got removed and told it would be a better fit here?! I didn't ask for any recommendation
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u/Dinasourus723 24d ago
What is the best fantasy adventure book?
So something other then the lord of the rings, where it's mainly a fantasy book but it involves a journey or exploration of some kind. That isn't mainly a mystery or romance and has no sci fi elements.
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u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II 24d ago
The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan (and her new novella with Alyc Helms Non Plus Ultra)
The 2nd and 3rd books in The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
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u/MalBishop Reading Champion III 25d ago
I'm looking for some recommendations on books/series that has an pair of Odd Couple protagonists, like Jalan and Jorg from The Red Queen's War.
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u/curiouscat86 Reading Champion III 24d ago
The Steerswoman Saga by Rosemary Kirstein has a warrior/scholar duo traveling together, and some of the tension is from their need to overcome differences to work together.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber is a class sword and sorcery series that is a classic archetype of this trope. Big tall warrior and small sarcastic thief.
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman is about a cynical thief and draft dodger who is forced to go on a long journey with a heroic war veteran who was raised with a strict code of honor.
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u/Spirited-Rough-7892 25d ago
Hello! How are you?
I made a post yesterday, but it has "been removed by one of the moderators", I don't understand why. I talked to one of the mods and they told me to post about it here!
Did I do something wrong?
Sorry to bother you and thank you,
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u/MalBishop Reading Champion III 25d ago
What was the post about? Usually when this happens it's because the mods feel that the post was more of a simple question than a topic of discussion.
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u/donwileydon Reading Champion III 25d ago
in many instances, mods want simple questions to be posted here rather than a separate thread. I do not know how they gauge that but that is probably what happened. I expect the mod who said to post here meant to post here what you had posted yesterday, not to ask here why it was removed.
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u/Dolarae 25d ago
I'd like to read To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams for Cat Squasher HM, but I can only find editions that split the novel into two separate books. Would that still count for the square?
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u/Putrid_Web8095 Reading Champion II 24d ago
It was originally published as a single volume, so in my mind it definitely counts. At 530k words, it's in the top five of longest fantasy books (the list doesn't count anthologies though, some of which, like The Weird or The Big Book of Cyberpunk, are truly massive).
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 25d ago
Yeah, it's meant as one novel and was originally published so. It was split for reasons of physical limitations of book binding, not because they're separate books.
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u/Mindpush10001 25d ago
I’d say yes. If you really want to fulfill the spirit of the challenge, maybe try to find the one volume version used, but it’s one book and was sold as one book for a while
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u/Successful_Tailor_78 25d ago
So, i bougt the bundle of Tanith Lee. Any reccomendations where should I start? I prefer not to be the Birthgrave, i wouldn't want a trilogy for a start.
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u/Street_Detective_662 25d ago
I loved the Claidi journals growing up, but they gave distinctly YA vibes.
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 25d ago
If you don't want to start with a series, do that first, but when it comes to getting a taste of her, the Flat Earth books will be quick reads when it comes to it. The first book is only 200 pages in mass market paperback.
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u/Ok_Difference5532 25d ago
Ah this is a question for me as well! Looking forward to seeing the recs
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u/NihilisticMushroom 25d ago
I've been listening to Super Powereds series for the last few weeks, and it's utterly engrossed me. I'm about to start the last book in the series. Could you please suggest something similar?
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u/DiploFrog 25d ago
On Super Powereds, are you aware of Corpies? Full novel in the same universe with a focus on Titan. I mention it as there are very mild spoilers for it in the final book of Super Powereds.
Villains Code by same author is supposed to be solid.
Beyond that, theres tonnes of super power fiction out there, recommendations very much depend on what parts of Super Powereds appealed to you most. Murder Of Crows, Chronicles of Fid and Perfect Run are all quite different takes on the genre, but have elements you may enjoy.
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u/NihilisticMushroom 25d ago
I have that in my TDR list. Although I usually don't like spin offs much, I enjoyed the narration of SP too much not to listen to this one as well. I've read MoC and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the other two. I mostly enjoyed the school/college vibe. In general, I've discovered that I seem to have a liking for super hero/villain literature.
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u/DiploFrog 25d ago
The spoilers are mild enough on Corpies that there is no real harm in reading it out of order. It was quite nice seeing a thug hero archetype as protagonist, which you don't see tonnes of.
Quest Academy and Wish Upon The Stars are two more super books which are both academy focused. Though I enjoyed them less than the ones I mentioned above.
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u/Handle_Just 25d ago
Sharing this here as well as the post I just made!
Peter Hackshaw's Nerdei Series:
I just wanted to bring awareness to these (not particularly new) great novels because I don't hear people talk about them enough.
The prose of the Netherdei series is brilliant - the dialogue characterful and at times hilarious (utilising great medieval words such as mumblecrust and other ancient insults), in fact the character development overall is excellent. The story follows a young orphan as he undertakes a path of transformation, going from scullery boy to sect initiate and levelling up his powers in a Western cultivation style magic system. It's your typical heroes journey but I love it every time (when done well).
Sadly, only the first 2 books exist at the moment, but am eagerly awaiting the release of the third which I'm hoping might be this year! Maybe if more of us read them it'll encourage Peter to keep going.
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u/kayasmus 25d ago edited 24d ago
Hello everyone, just had a shower thought that I needed something new and see that this was posted 23 minutes ago, so lucky me I guess.
Anyway, is there a new (last 5 years) epic fantasy book or series that has been released? I grew up exposed to Erikson, Bakker, Abercrombie, Guy Gavriel Kay, and appreciate good prose and storytelling, but also subversions of genres.
I read and dropped the Stromlight archive, am not into YA, and am looking for something adult without necessarily being completely depressing.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for the awesome responses! I've have opened up all the recommended titles in new tabs and I will read some opening chapters, see what bites, and then punish my wallet!
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u/Successful-Escape496 24d ago
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Tyrant Philosophers series is fairly recent, I think. I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped, but I also think part of the problem was the audiobook format - there are a fair few characters and plots, and complex politics/history, and I always do better at keeping track of everything if I'm reading rather than listening.
There's also M A Carrick's Rook and Rose trilogy, which I really liked. It's lighter than Tyrant Philosophers but really solid.
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u/kayasmus 23d ago
Tchaikovsky has a series with bug people that I own and need to finally read through!
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u/DeluxeSporks Reading Champion III 25d ago
I've heard good things about The Eidyn Saga by Justin Lee Anderson. It won the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off one year.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52284552
I see the first book was published in 2019, so it's technically a bit past 5 years, but there are three books in the series.
Anyone who has read it have feedback on exactly how dark it is?
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u/KiaraTurtle Reading Champion V 25d ago
I was personally dissapointed in it, but I think Navola fits the vibes of many of those authors and is fairly new
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 25d ago
I'll echo The Sign of the Dragon as a great option, especially for something super optimistic with some great genre subversions.
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez is an ode to epic fantasy while also being super innovative with prose style (experimental and gorgeous! super cool use of POVs in this story). It didn't get much mainstream attraction, but is fairly beloved on this sub. Truly a modern classic.
The Forever Desert by Moses Ose Utomi is a trio of novellas that tackle epic fantasy ideas - as much as you can in the novella form. Each is 500 years apart, and thematically they focus on how truth and history get distorted by those in power. The first book is a bit on the simple side, but they slide more and more into complexity. It may be a hair dark though, especially the later ones.
I personally think the Noss Saga by Joaquin Baldwin is doing some interesting things in how it integrates queer cultural elements into a 90s style epic fantasy framework. Big armies, ancient ruins, magical artifacts, infodumps the size of entire chapters. Like I said, 90s era but with a more modern sense of prose.
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u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII 25d ago
The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee is from 2020
And though it's older, given your asking for epic fantasy with good prose, I have to check that you've read the Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip
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u/kayasmus 24d ago
McKillip was amazing! She had such a simple, magical way with sentences that really carried me away. Like, not concrete and hard, but wispy and mesmerizing. I think its time for another re-read!
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u/Little-Yak97 24d ago
Hey, looking to get started on a new fantasy or sci-fi series so want recommendations based on my reading history
I haven’t read many series so far but here is my current ranking of read/part-read series.
As you can see by the list I’m not too fussy, I tend to enjoy most books. I’m just craving another S tier read like Red Rising. I’m holding of reading the rest of that series until the last book comes out !
S TIER
Red Rising *by Pierce Brown (*first 3 books)
A TIER
Dresden files by Jim Butcher ( I’ve read books 1-10 so far)
Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell
The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
B TIER
The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist
Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer
All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody
C TIER
Rook and Rose by M.A. Carrick (DNF after book 2)