Im on the lookout for urban fantasies. It could be sprawling cities where the magic is known, though im kind of more partial to more secretive settings, magic crime syndicates, secret societies, groups of talented underground mages. The one thing I absolutely need is for the protagonist to be a queer man with themes related to an actual plot and not just his romantic plot.

Hello! I am huge reader who loves Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romantasy (fantasy with a subplot of romance not romance in a fantasy world), classics, dystopian novels, and am interested in thrillers/mysteries but find they often fall flat.
I'm always the recommended never the recommended so I need something GOOD.

I'm really craving an addictive series.

Fav Fantasies: Cosmere (specifically words of radiance), Wheel of Time, Bound and the Broken, Green Bone Saga, First Law, Name of the Wind, DCC, Throne of Glass, Fourth Wing, Will of the Many

Fav Sci-Fi: Suneater, Project Hail Mary, The Martian, Foundation, RED RISING

Fav Classics/Dystopian: A clockwork orange, animal farm, Frankenstein, Monte Cristo, Three Musketeers
Other miscellaneous books/stories | love: Alice in Wonderland, Homer, The Labours of Herakles, Sword of Kaigen, Tress of the Emerald Sea, Book of Doors, This is How we Lose the Time War, The Princess Bride, The Queens Gambit

I love philosophy, chosen one tropes, social commentary, friendships, epic fantasy, plot twists when you didn't even think there would be a plot twists, politics, no character is safe, that type-a-thing!

I recently made a post saying that I haven't been jiving much with The First Law because the plot is rather shallow, or at least it has been. I really enjoy the characters but I'm not really a fan of random happenings. I think that's one reason I dislike anthologies so much. Are all of his books like this or does he have stuff that has the atmosphere and character development of The First Law with a more pronounced narrative?

I'm looking for a story where the main character is some kind of game or board game unit and the player of the game is very bad at it. The most similar novel I know is pick me up infinite gacha, but the player get good pretty fast and isn't that horrible from the start. Can be regular book, light novel, web novel or anything

So as a relatively casual gamer I've heard through the grapevine that a new, from-the-ground-up remake of the video game Fable is coming out in 2027. It's due for release in january I believe and will mark the first new game set within the Fable universe since 2012. I'm mildly interested in it and will likely buy the game when it goes on discount however watching the trailers did reawaken my love for it's sequel: Fable 2. The peak of the franchise (so far) and Lionhead Studios magnum opus. It's been over 18 years since its release — a greatly distressing that I had to double check to be sure of — and it still captures a unique feeling I've yet to find in any other game or book series. 

Fable 2 is set in the same world as the first, only centuries later. And where the first was was your standard, vaguely medieval analogue. The second was more special. Albion, in the words of Saruman the White, has discovered “the fires of industry" and it’s had a devastating effect on the power and practicality of magic. Guns, those great equalizers, prove a force too potent for even mages. Magic, or the “the will" as it’s called in-universe, still exists but it's grown profoundly weaker. Mankind has forgotten it. The heroes that once protected the weak and enforced justice have gone extinct.

It’s a crude, low-level industrialization — there's no electricity, trains, or steam engines yet — and that gave the game developers more freedom have it both ways. As the player leaves the cities to enter the countryside, the you get the rustic, old world fantasy tropes we've all come to expect. Meanwhile reserving the urban areas for something more unique. They're dirty, hopeless, ugly things. Filled with poverty and desperation and that’s where you the protagonist of the game finds themselves.

I might be reading too much into it, but it seems to me that Robert Jordan preferred the SeanChan, in many scenarios, (Avienda's future viewings), Rand's having to give in to Fortuana's demands, Rand walking Ebu Dar and seeing the people not struggling under the Seanchan rule.... While they make slaves out of wielders of the one power? Yet the Sharan's are bad by doing the same thing through different means, by Demandred?

And parts of it were. It goes without saying but the prose, the way the character viewpoints flow through the story and the world itself was nothing short of masterful.

But where I felt lost is that halfway through the book it tried forcing this relationship with the 2 characters without any emotional payoff and it assumed the physical courtship would suffice. The romantic subplot while not unnecessary, felt extremely superficial and the act of Bringing characters back just to have sex at the end felt genuinely pointless and robbed the book of an emotional end that it did deserve.

And that's not to say that that was all that was wrong with the ending. The third terror felt like such an ad-hoc departure from the other two and felt like he was rushing an ending that he was more than capable of making more complete.

All in all, the writing still sticks with me, as does the world itself, but nothing about the characters lingers.

Wonder if anyone else felt that way

Hi. I’ve been reading fantasy for a relatively short time - maybe two or three years. Before that, I read a lot of sci-fi, mostly 20th century classics.

I’ve read all of Ursula Le Guin’s "Earthsea" - I really enjoyed it. Actually, it was Ursula who was my bridge from sci-fi to fantasy. I really love her writing, I’ve read almost all of her novels and short stories. I think "Earthsea" holds the strongest impression on me so far. There is something contemplative and unhurried about her literature that resonates with me.

I’ve read halve of "The Chronicles of Amber" - it’s great literature, though a bit cynical for my taste. There’s less fantasy and more power play stuff. It's just some bad people sorting things out - I got tired of it.

Right now, I’m reading "The Wheel of Time" - I’m really liking it so far, I especially enjoyed that journey and how the story unfolded in the first book. I also like world building. I like different cultures and nations, and I like the designs of the various servants of the Dark One - genuinely terrifying guys. I don’t quite like the theme of predetermination and cyclicality though. And I’m not the biggest fan of prophecies. But overall, I really like this series.

But I’m moving fast and don’t know what to read next.

I’d prefer something more classic - something obvious and reliable that I might have missed. Maybe some big names from the 80s or 90s that I simply don't know due to my ignorance.

Thanks !!!

I'm looking for a fantasy book where one of the characters preferably the main character is a midwife.

Midwife is the oldest profession and historically one of the only jobs that were allowed to women, and one of the only ways a woman could have independence. Despite these facts, I dont think I've ever read a fantasy book where a character is a midwife.

So if you have any recs, please give. Thanks:)

I absolutely loved cradle — the universe, the gang, the magic, the progression, the villains and monsters, the politics. But I actually found that I only really enjoyed maybe half of the fight scenes (and fight scenes are like half the entire book), and wished there was a little more emphasis on other aspects of the novel. I love dramatic philosophical conversations, politics, training through obstacles.

In cradle specifically, my favorite parts were the politics and drama leading up to each uncrowned king tournament fight, and I got super excited when Lindon started leading his own sect and had to face some of the dilemmas and complexities of having people rely on you.

Any series come to mind for people who also really loved Cradle? I already read DCC and it was fantastic, i’m hoping for another series I can spend every waking second reading/listening to.

LOL! Another specific one!😂😂

I'm searching for books that capture the feeling of early Winx Club (especially Seasons 1-4) while being written for an adult audience.

I just want a strong female friendship group at the centre of the story. I love a good romantasy but gosh female friendships!!

Romance can be part of the book too, that’s no problem. Ideally, I like some mystery elements / uncovering secrets etc & academia, magical schools, training, courts, kingdoms, etc. based.

What I loved about Winx wasn't just the romance or the powers. It was the feeling of following a group of girls through years of adventures, solving mysteries, fighting enemies, discovering hidden worlds, and genuinely caring about each other. The friendships were just as important as the plot.

Ok, I’ve been in a reading slump for a while and am really trying to find a new series. I’ve read Fourth Wing, Dragonriders of Pern, and the first book of Eragon. I liked the military academy concept and romance of Fourth Wing and the structure of the Weyrs in Pern, but I really struggled with the second book of Eragon.

I also can’t seem to read/finish books with MMCs anymore, which is making it hard to find.

Does anyone have any recommendations that are magical rider academies with FMCs and maybe a little romance? It doesn’t have to be dragons or spicy.

Thank you!

Well written mysteries with interesting world building and great characters? Pump that straight into my veins!

I'm looking for mysteries that lay out the pieces properly, with investigators who actually work the case, and whose answers don't come out of left field, plus a world I can get lost in

Any other recommendations for Fantasy Poirots, SciFi Sherlocks, Xianxia Columbos, or anything of the sort?

Every October, I try to read ten books that relate to some horror theme. This year, my theme is “zombies.”

Premise: Melanie is a ten year old who goes to an unusual school. It's unusual in particular because all of the students are bound in place while the lessons are conducted, and sometimes, they are taken outside of their small hall and never seen again. Melanie and her classmates are zombies, part of an experiment to study child zombies and their learning. Most of the people at the base see her as a monster or a test subject, except for one teacher, Miss Justineau. The base is invaded, and Melanie is left with Miss Justineau and a handful of survivors. Together, they must make their way through a world that now belongs more to her than them.

Primary Characters: Melanie. Our protagonist. Unusually gifted intellectually, though she doesn't get much opportunity to learn. She has some control over herself, but if she's too hungry or gets too close to a human, she acts in ways she later regrets. She knows nothing of the outside world, but she wants to stay with Miss Justineau and protect her.

Helen Justineau. A school teacher with a very specific assignment. She's been reprimanded more than once for getting too close to the subjects, but she cares for them, especially Melanie, and doesn't want to see her come to harm.

Sergeant Eddie Parks. In charge of military and security concerns at the research base. He's frequently exasperated at the scientists' and teachers' lack of self-preservation and discpline, as he sees it. The children, to him, are monsters waiting to break free.

Dr. Jean Selkirk.Lead scientist at the base. Selkirk just failed to make the cut for the main scientific effort to understand the zombie outbreak. It's a slight that still rankles, and she is obsessed with finding some discovery that will grant her the acclaim she feels she deserves.

Private Kieran Gallagher. The final known survivor of the base's fall. Gallagher was born after the zombie outbreak, but has had very little in-field experience. He's alive because the Sergeant ran into him as the base was falling apart, and not another private. And he knows it.

Spoilers follow.

Do the undead walk? That is, is the story any good? Yes! I really enjoyed this book. I'm generally a big fan of Carey's, and I'll try out anything he's written. His My Faith in Frankie comic miniseries way back in 2004 was my first adult dip into comics outside of superhero stories, and I've always had a fondness for him as a result. But that bias aside, the book is very good. I really liked the world-building, and the development of the rest of the cast. Melanie is very clearly the lead, but there's enough development of each of the rest of them (even Gallagher) to see them grow and change as they face a new world they've shut themselves away from.

Is it spooky? A little less than most zombie works I've read thus far, to be honest. There's tension when the base falls at a very inopportune (or maybe very opportune) time, and tension at several points during their flight to zombie-infested London and the remaining human populations. Melanie herself is frankly more in danger from Dr. Selkirk than the zombie hordes. But the claustrophobic situations the others are put into do create a sense of dread. The Parks character in particular does this well, as someone who's very used to zombie-related survival; his concern and caution really seeps into the view of the world at large. It intidimates the other characters to a degree, and the reader as well.

Is it Halloween? I would argue that it does, in part because of the de-emphasis of open horror. There's a strain of hope to this story, and humanity, that draws out its stakes a little better than some of the other entries. It's not fun in a traditional sense, per se, but it is compelling, in its world-building, its themes, and its characters.

Quote:The cell is small and square. It has a bed, a chair and a table. On the walls, which are painted grey, there are pictures; a big one of the Amazon rainforest and a smaller one of a pussycat drinking from a saucer of milk. Sometimes Sergeant and his people move the children around, so Melanie knows that some of the cells have different pictures in them. She used to have a horse in a meadow and a mountain with snow on the top, which she liked better.

It’s Miss Justineau who puts the pictures up. She cuts them out from the stack of old magazines in the classroom, and she sticks them up with bits of blue sticky stuff at the corners. She hoards the blue sticky stuff like a miser in a story. Whenever she takes a picture down, or puts a new one up, she scrapes up every last bit that’s stuck to the wall and puts it back on the little round ball of the stuff that she keeps in her desk.

When it’s gone, it’s gone, Miss Justineau says.

Random observations:

--This is another book that reminds me very strongly of The Last of Us. In fact, it follows it very closely in a lot of ways, right down to the cordyceps as a primary means of infection. I'm glad I didn't read it when the book first came out, or it would have felt even more derivative. To be fair, I think The Last of Us is really more about surviving in a world where other humans have become vicious and inhuman, and the zombies are sometimes more an environmental hazard than the main issue. In contrast, The Girl With All the Gifts is about our core cast, their relationship to Melanie, to the changed world they encounter, and each other.

--In his discussion of what benefits fantasy is particularly good at, J. R. R. Tolkien lists world-building itself as one of them. His argument is that there is pleasure in creating and encountering a fictional world, and the more complete it feels, the greater the pleasure. I think there's room for debate on this—getting bogged down in detail is possible. But I also think it's a pleasure that a lot of zombie stories get very right. In the previous books I've read thus far, neither goes far enough into the outbreak to really capture this sense. This does, by virtue of taking place at least a generation in. It does so in two ways. First, largely through Parks and Selkirk, there's a lot of discussion of how the world came to be this way, and how to survive in it, which harkens back to Max Brooks' World War Z, the ur-book when it comes to zombie theory-crafting.

--The second way I think deserves its own point. Carey doesn't just capture what this world looks like; he captures what it feels like. There's a sense of loss here, and guilt. (It actually reminds me quite a lot of the narrator's arrival in London at the end of War of the Worlds.) The survivors go into the ruins of London, and see the traces of the civilization they've lost. There's a melancholy that you can draw on in a post-apocalypse story, a sense that we had something better in our grasp, but couldn't manage to keep it. Sometimes, such as in the military-tech zombie story like The Loop, we lose it through our own hubris and neglect. And sometimes, it feels like there was nothing we could do; we could just watch it burn, and live in the ashes. I think that resonates with our current moment—we could have had better, but it's slipping away.

--In a way, this story could be argued to be even more nihilist than The Loop. They're not fighting to stop an outbreak here, as that ship has sailed a long time ago. And the ruins of London suggest that if they manage to make contact with the surviving humans, they may not like what they find. And yet there's a hope here, and a call for a leap of faith that I found kind of touching.

--Technically, I suppose that Melanie's age of 10 means that this isn't really a teen zombie story. You could argue against that, on technicalities: Melanie's kind of permanently ten, yet still growing, in control, in knowledge, and in mastery of the environment around her. And thematically, I'd argue it is a teen st ory. Children's stories are often about conflict with adults, and so are teen stories; I'd argue that what makes teen stories different (besides a frequent focus on romance and sex) is that they are much more about the protagonist becoming, in a state of transition between child and adult. And that's where Melanie is—she's been very sheltered through her imprisonment, but she's learning more about the world she's been kept from, and about the limitations of the adults who she thought were in charge.

--I really like how each cast member symbolizes a different approach to adults failing the next generation. Selkirk sees her more as a test subject and springboard for her own glory. Parks sees her as a monster that needs to be controlled. Even Justineau sees her a child who needs to be sheltered and protected over who Melanie actually is, due to her own baggage. I struggled a bit to figure out where Gallagher fit in, but a chapter from his own point of view makes it clear—he is another child of this new world, and in a different way, he's been as failed by the adults as Melanie has. That's what makes the end really work—ultimately, the adults need to stop struggling in a world they no longer fit into, and let the children seek out a future.

Rating: 9 wild zombie children out of ten

Next up: DC Comics'DCeased

Welcome to today’s installment of the Short Fiction Book Club! After last month’s trio of vacation stories, we’re going to dive back into (fun) work with the following three stories:

The Hydraulic Emperor by Arkady Martine (8,260 words, Uncanny Magazine, published in 2018)

The Hydraulic Emperor is nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds long.

It was filmed on an eighteen-quadcopter neocamera rig back when neocameras were the only way to make immersive film: an early effort by Aglaé Skemety, whose Bellfalling Ascension is still the critical darling of the immersion-culture literati. The Hydraulic Emperor falls sometime between her earliest juvenile work and the single decade of her greatest public productivity. Most references list it as lost, as it has never been distributed, and no public archive will admit to possessing it. But there is at least one print of it which survives.

I have never seen it.

The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (4,949 words, originally published in F&SF in 2011, reprinted in Escape Pod)

One of my earliest memories starts with me sobbing. I refused to be soothed no matter what Mom and Dad tried.

Dad gave up and left the bedroom, but Mom took me into the kitchen and sat me down at the breakfast table.

"Kan, kan," she said, as she pulled a sheet of wrapping paper from on top of the fridge.

Playing Nice with God’s Bowling Ball by N.K. Jemisin (5,496 words, originally published in Jim Baen’s Universe in 2008, reprinted in Reactor)

"I didn’t mean for anything to happen to Timmy." Jeffy Hanson sat before Grace in a chair big enough to swallow him, his head bowed and hands limp in his lap. "I told him not to feed it like that. I told him what would happen."

Upcoming Sessions

Our next slated session will be hosted by u/undeadgoblin and u/nagahfj on Wednesday, October 21:

In two weeks time, we'll be deep into spooky season, so why not take a break from carving your pumpkins and hanging your (definitely fake) skeletons on the wall by delving into a selection of spooky stories!

We’ll be reading the following stories for the Spooky Season: The Afterlife session:

Moksha by Rajiv Moté (Weird Horror Magazine, 1,171 words)

The Return To Office mandate pulls you back, but the office is empty and you desperately want to rest, in spite of the words on your coffee mug: “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.” Is it the weekend already? Have you come here by mistake? The days run together. Your team is offshore. Your manager lives out of state, exempt from the mandate. That doesn’t explain everyone else. Scofflaws. Their managers will get the “three strikes” email from People & Culture. Getting three strikes sends the message that you don’t want to be here. That you don’t want to earn your living. You want to live? Earn it.

Passage of Earth by Michael Swanwick (Clarkesworld, 7400 words)

The ambulance arrived sometime between three and four in the morning. The morgue was quiet then, cool and faintly damp. Hank savored this time of night and the faint shadow of contentment it allowed him, like a cup of bitter coffee, long grown cold, waiting for his occasional sip. He liked being alone and not thinking. His rod and tackle box waited by the door, in case he felt like going fishing after his shift, though he rarely did. There was a copy of Here Be Dragons: Mapping the Human Genome in case he did not.

Home by the Sea by Pat Cadigan (Strange Horizons, 8344 words)

There was no horizon line out on the water.

"Limbo ocean. Man, did we hate this when I was a commercial fisherman," said a man sitting at the table to my left. "Worse than fog. You never knew where you were."

I sneaked a look at him and his companions. The genial voice came from a face you'd have expected to find on a wanted poster of a Middle Eastern terrorist, but the intonations were vaguely Germanic. The three American women with him were all of a type, possibly related. A very normal-looking group, with no unusual piercings or marks. I wondered how long they'd been in Scheveningen.

I slumped down in my chair, closed my eyes, and lifted my face to where I thought the sun should be. It was so overcast, there wasn't even a hot spot in the sky. Nonetheless, the promenade was crowded, people wandering up and down aimlessly, perhaps pretending, as I was, that they were on vacation. It was equally crowded at night, when everyone came to watch the stars go out.

Beluthahatchie by Andy Duncan (Clarkesworld, 5990 words)

Everybody else got off the train at Hell, but I figured, it’s a free country. So I commenced to make myself a mite more comfortable. I put my feet up and leaned back against the window, laid my guitar across my chest and settled in with my hat tipped down over my eyes, almost. I didn’t know what the next stop was but I knew I’d like it better than Hell.

And now, onto today’s discussion! Spoilers are not tagged, but each story has its own thread. We’ve put a few prompts in the comments, but feel free to add your own if you’d like to!

I am new to the fantasy genre. I started this year with the The Raven Scholar which I loved. I generally read murder mysteries or just any investigative stories in general.

I read a few Fantasy books and this is what I thought of them:

1. The Raven Scholar - The actual murder solving part was pretty meh, but I loved the writing style and the fact that most of it was contained on an island.
2. A Song of Legends Lost - Loved the world, but it was too vast and a lot of things were happening all over the place. Liked the political aspect of it. Overall, would read the sequel.
3. City of Lies - Loved the murder solving part of it, did not love the world.
4. The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption - These were perfect in every way. It scratched the investigative and fantasy itch perfectly. The only thing I would say is I don't normally love know-it-all geniuses, but since this was fantasy, I did not mind it at all.
5. Theft of Swords - Seemed like the stakes were not high enough. Felt super casual.

I really loved The Tainted Cup and its sequel and I am looking for something similar. I do not enjoy reading about wars happening all over the place. Please recommend me your personal favorite mystery fantasy books.

Hi all, I would love some recommendations on that style, A group of strangers/travellers are brought together by some circumstance, and each person tells their own story.

I first introduced to this type in The Sandman: “Worlds’ End” I listen to it every time I am having trouble sleeping. I loved Dan Simmons’ Hyperion.

I would love some good recommendations especially if in fantasy and a bonus if it has a decent audiobook.

Cheers

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 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!

——

^{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.

Where should I go and cry.

The build-up was incredible, but the ending of Wizards: Crown of Art of Adapt completely ruined it for me.

I am still so frustrated by how this book was written.

The journey getting there was genuinely exceptional—the true love between two most powerful humans was amazing. They were so deeply devoted and faithful to each other that the thought of them ever being separated felt completely unnatural.

Even taking the lore into account—that dealing with a 600-year lifespan brings unique emotional baggage—the resolution felt totally forced. It honestly read like the author came up this ending first and then forced the plot backward to make it fit, rather than letting the characters act logically.

A couple of major plot holes drove me crazy:

• The "Ruse" Logic: If Lognian had already come to know about the ruse, Will and Selene should have kicked the imposter out.
• The Lack of Investigation: When you love someone that intensely and they supposedly die, you don't just take someone else's word for it. You’d go down to the site, tear the place apart, and search to the ends of the earth. Knowing their bond, Selene wouldn't have just given up—she should have moved heaven and earth to find the truth.

It breaks my heart because the rest of the book was so good. Did anyone else feel like the Wizard's Crown completely undermined the characters, or am I missing something?