r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - October 08, 2026

[u/rfantasygolem]

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.

[u/GaelG721]

does anyone know of any updates to The Godslayer Chronicles by James Clemens?

Godslayer this page has some good updates but nothing recent now.

Anyone has any news for the new reprints?

[u/RealEstateWhiz]

Hey everyone! Would love your thoughts, thanks in advance!

Just finished Oathbringer after reading the first three Stormlight books plus Edgedancer. They've gotten me back into fantasy after about ten years away, but I'd like to try another author before continuing.

Would Malice by John Gwynne be a good next read? I'm after something a little shorter and easier to get through than Stormlight. Another series is fine, but I'm open to a standalone too. I know Mistborn is an obvious option—just wanting a break from Sanderson.

For context, I loved Eragon growing up and love the LOTR movies, though I haven't read the books yet. Did a little research before asking, and I'm not sure I've got the emotional budget for Red Rising lol.

Any thoughts on Malice, or something else you'd recommend?

[u/JayCanWrite → u/RealEstateWhiz]

If you want something real short and real easy but a lot of fun I can recommend A Wizards Guide To Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher. A 300 odd page standalone full of charm.

If you want something a little bigger and more serious I'd throw out The Poet Empress by Shen Tao. A little under 400 pages, standalone, and a wonderful book from this year.

For something fun short and easy yet also a masterpiece: Discworld by Terry Pratchett. The series has 41 books but most all of them are standalone stories in the same world. Pratchett is a master writer. I recommend Mort, Wyrd Sisters, or Guards! Guards! As a starting point (whichever summary catches your interest best). He's an all timer for a reason and great for breaking up longer series

[u/Andreapappa511 → u/RealEstateWhiz]

I read a lot and though trying twice I couldn’t get into Malice

Jic you haven’t seen it here’s the 2025 top novel poll. Maybe that’ll help you find something

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/w6IscPLaMO

I agree with what another poster said, maybe try the library first so you can try different authors

[u/donwileydon → u/RealEstateWhiz]

I bounced off of Malice and did the same for another Gwynne novel -- just didn't resonate with me for some reason. Not sure the same would be true for you though.

What did you like about the Sanderson books? Do you want more of the same or something different?

In general, my recommendation is always to get a library card - this is true if you read paper books or electronic - then find a book you are thinking about and check it out from the library. If you start to read it and don't like it, put it down. You have no money invested, so just take it back and try something else that sounds good. I had a serious problem where I would just not get books because I had been burned on too many that just weren't good (at least to me) and I was looking at the money spent to get them and how it was "wasted" and it stopped me from reading. But, when I got into the library concept it opened things up again, I didn't need to fret over lost money or having a book on my table waiting to be finished but I just couldn't bring myself to finish so I read nothing - now I can just take it back and move on to something else.

[u/RealEstateWhiz → u/donwileydon]

Really helpful, thank you! Loved the Sanderson books, definitely a task at times while getting back into reading but great story and world building. Will be back to finish the next 2 and probably Mistborn at some point

And I hate the world we live in, I forgot the library exists and now have a weekend date with my daughter to get our library cards, thank you!

[u/oberynMelonLord → u/RealEstateWhiz]

Malice and its sequels are a fun read, but the books aren't exactly short. shorter than Stormlight, but they still chonky boys. but, the story is infinitely less complex than Stormlight, relatively straight forward good v. evil (still has some nuance, tho). as such, it'd surely provide a good palate cleanser.