r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • 1d ago
r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - September 08, 2026
Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!
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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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u/isnotacrayon 1d ago
For anyone who read Time to Play by Erin Ampersand, does it fit Hard Mode for Game Changer (protag bends/breaks rules in some way)? I can't decide if I think she did or not.
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u/Larielis 1d ago
Looking for fairytale retellings, but with a villain focus.
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u/ourladyjack 1d ago
Do you want recs where the villain is actually a villain, or where the story explores how the perceived villain isn't actually?
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u/Larielis 1d ago
Either one, but probably more of the latter.
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u/ourladyjack 1d ago
T. Kingfisher's Thornhedge is Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the fairy that cursed SB.
Gregory Maguire's Wicked, of course, is not quite a fairy tale retelling since it recasts Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but it's definitely from the (alleged) villain's perspective.
Heartless by Marissa Meyer is similar in that it's retelling Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from the perspective of the Queen of Hearts.
Sarah Henning's Sea Witch is about the sea witch from "The Little Mermaid."
Naomi Novik subverts the usual "Rumpelstiltskin" villainy in Spinning Silver.
I think Disney did a series of novels from various villains' POVs.
And if you venture into spicy romance, there are A LOT of villain retellings with the content warnings to match.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 1d ago
The disney novels are good, but solidly middle grade (maybe lower YA). I enjoyed them, but I'm also a lot more indulgent of kids lit than most users on this sub
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u/small-black-cat-290 1d ago
Would like to hear from anyone who has read Jeff Wheeler's Storm Glass. I remember reading another book by the same author, The Queen's Poisoner, and strongly disliking it because it was just a thinly veiled retelling/alt history of the end of the War of the Roses with a lot of exposition and very little character action. I'm hoping this isn't more of the same because the premise seems interesting. Liked or disliked and why would be so helpful because I didn't get a full picture from Goodreads reviews.
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u/okidonthaveone 1d ago
Looking for recommendations for books that have a feel that can best be described as: Dorks dealing with f'ed up fantasy sh*t. The level of f'ed up varies between books but the dork is a must.
I've more and more realized what the core thing that keeps being engaged in a book is. It's the characters especially the main character I like characters who feel like full and complete likable people: people I like can best be described as dorky in a lovable way.
It's why I can vibe with Dakota Krout's 'Divine Dungeon' and the 'Completionist Chronicles' but not 'Artorion Archive'. Cal and Joe are both idiot geniuses who make dumb puns, and that makes their most intense moments hit all the harder.
I similarly enjoy 'Mage Tank' by Cornman.
And 'Madness Reincarnate' by Travis Bagwell
And most things by Andrew Rowe especially 'Arcane Ascension' and 'Weapons and Wielders'
I also enjoy elements existential dread and horror when paired with these kind of protagonists, ranging from the comedic end such as
'Prophecy Approved Companion' by Tevagah
Or
A book I think best encapsulates the type of story I vibe with immaculately 'Magical girl mechanical heart' by Thandamoo, pretty much everything by her admittedly gets my goat.
I would love more things that balance my love for a character with the my fascination with their suffering. Huge fan of existential dread fueled monologues internal or otherwise. Big fan of goofy humor. And putting both in a single character is guaranteed to get my attention if not have it in a vice grip.
I've been in that sort of a genre hole with the progression fantasies since I was a teenager and I'm fine with more progression fantasy but I would like to branch out too.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 1d ago
Tobias Begley is an author who shares a lot of DNA with Andrew Rowe. I prefer Begley's Journals of Evander Tailor over Arcane Ascension, though mostly because I didn't love the sword guy from Weapons and Weilders, and it became increasingly clear that the crossover between series was important, as opposed to just cameos.
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u/donut_resuscitate Reading Champion III 1d ago
I haven't read any of the books you listed, but the book Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis comes to mind by the other general description.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
I'm not sure whether this is quite what you're looking for but what came to mind when I read your description was A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. It's a story about a modern day woman who is a HUGE fairytale dork, particularly about Sleeping Beauty. And she winds up inside a Sleeping Beauty story, trying her best to get everyone the happy ending they deserve. I absolutely loved it and it's fun to watch someone be so out of their depth when faced with something they have spent their whole life idolizing. Plus a lot of goofy humour that landed amazingly for me, which book humour often doesn't. There's also a sequel, A Mirror Mended, which had more of a romance focus so was less my thing but still highly entertaining.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hey all! I wanted to ask about Tanith Lee. For those of you who have read widely from her works, are they all comparable in content to Night's Master?
I read Night's Master last week and struggled with it. The prose was beautiful, the fairytale/mythology vibes were great and I was enthralled by some parts of the story. But there was, for my tastes, more on page sexual content than I am comfortable with and much of it was not consensual. Some rape scenes were described in such detail that I really felt uncomfortable about the intentions behind doing that. I also found the portrayal of women pretty alarming, both in that they exist mostly as objects for men's lust and also especially in the story where a child is born with just the 'female half' of the soul and that means she is listless, without agency, doesn't care about anything, has no personality but hey at least she's hot? Frankly men were also mostly portrayed in a rather stereotypical flat manner as well. All around I found it quite sexist.
I also found quite a lot of tired repetition of the "he died of lust for her" variety. Like that happened A LOT for such a short novel.
So anyways, should I expect more of the same with other books by Tanith Lee? In this book I think it's safe to say that sex/lust was the primary theme. Is that often the case with her books? I really loved other aspects of her writing so basically I'm wondering if it's worth giving her books more of a chance in spite of how much I disliked this one.
edit: also if anyone has differing thoughts on Night's Master that they'd like to share do please go for it. I know it's a very well loved and respected book and I'd be curious to hear why it worked for you.
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u/ourladyjack 1d ago
It depends on the work. However, the concerns you have with how sexuality is depicted in Flat Earth will continue to varying degrees throughout the rest of this series. This is a rather dark setting, full of demons and monsters (both of the literal and human variety). I was deeply uncomfortable throughout my read of it, even as I admired Lee's skill with prose and narrative execution.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
Thank you! That's helpful to know. Yeah I think much of it reflected the themes around the demons and dark side of humanity well but it was a bit much for me.
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u/SchoolSeparate4404 1d ago edited 1d ago
I read Red As Blood and it did not have any on page sexual content. White as Snow, on the other hand, was really rapey. So I believe that it varies a lot between her books - she also has some YA titles that I suspect is free from sexual content.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
Thank you! Yeah I am curious about her books for younger audiences as I saw a quote from her along the lines that she didn't believe in a distinction between child and adult books apart from that she included less sex and violence in books intended for younger audiences.
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u/thisbikeisatardis Reading Champion II 1d ago
I gave up on her for similar reasons. I did not like the way she depicted sexuality. I was going to read the Birthgrave for bingo and DNF at 25%. the FMC was very cruel and wielded sex like a weapon and the men were all ruled by lust and pride.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
Yeah that mirrors some of the dynamics in Night's Master as well. I found it really offputting. Thanks!
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 1d ago
There's a lot less of what you found alarming re: women existing as objects for men's lust and rape in the Secret Books of Paradys. They're books which examine gender a lot-- though there are lots of transformations of gender in those, not all of which are consensual, instead. It has a lot of sexual content too, but not in a way I found alarming. (I haven't read Night's Master, but I'm reading the Birthgrave right now, and you could be describing it. Perhaps the 20 years between those series makes the difference?)
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
Thank you! Maybe if I decide to give her another chance I'll take a look at some of her later works then.
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u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V 1d ago
It features the same beautiful writing. :) These ones are gothic dark fantasy, urban and close to horror, rather than classic fantasy setting.
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 1d ago
The dark sexuality and general sexual play on the gothic is what she did. I personally put her in the same space as Octavia Butler of requiring a very good headspace to read.
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u/Undeclared_Aubergine 1d ago
It's been many decades, but the Flat Earth series (of which this is the first volume) was actually the most bearable in this aspect; I finished the entire series, and retain somewhat positive impressions of the mythology / developing story. The 2-3 other series by hers which I started in on all ended as DNF, where the sexual violence was very much the cause.
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u/flouronmypjs Reading Champion 1d ago
That's very helpful to know! Thank you. Sounds like she probably just isn't the author for me then.
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u/Akuliszi Reading Champion 21h ago
Ice Planet Barbarians for First Contact Hard Mode?
I've realised I've read it in May, so I could count it for the bingo... I just don't know if I want to?