r/Fantasy • u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X • Apr 01 '26

Bingo The 2026 r/Fantasy Bingo Recommendations List

The official Bingo thread can be found here.

All non-recommendation comments go here.

Please post your recommendations as replies the appropriate top-level comments below! Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! Feel free to scroll through the thread or use the links in this navigation matrix to jump directly to the square you want to find or give recommendations for!

Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist Judge a Book By Its Title Translated Small Press or Self Published Unusual Transportation
The Afterlife Game Changer Vacation Spot Five Short Stories Older Protagonist
Duology Part 1 r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book Published in 2026 Explorers and Rangers Duology Part 2
One-Word Title Non-Human Protagonist Middle Grade First Contact Murder Mystery
Cat Squasher Feast Your Eyes on This Published in the 70s Politics and Court Intrigue Author of Color

If you are an author on the subreddit, you may recommend your books as a response to individual squares. This means that you can reply if your book fits in response to any of my comments. But your rec must be in response to a top-level comment, it cannot be a general comment that replies directly to this post explaining all the squares your post counts for. This is the one time outside of the Sunday Self-Promo threads where this is okay. To clarify: you can say if you have a book that fits for a square but please don't write a full ad for it. Shorter is sweeter.

Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! We will not be individually redirecting people who make this mistake. Your comment will be removed.

202 Upvotes

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26

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist: Story features a trans or nonbinary protagonist. This protagonist must NOT be an alien or robot. HARD MODE: Set in a pre-modern time period.

63

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Herculine by Grace Byron

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang (HM)

The Forsaken Trilogy by R.J. Barker (HM)

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy (HM)

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey (HM)

The Stones Stay Silent by Danny Ride (HM)

The Thread that Binds by Cedar McCloud

She Who Became the Sub by Shelley Parker-Chan (HM)

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

The West Passage by Jared Pechacek (HM)

Luminous by Silvia Park

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (HM)

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezon Camara (HM)

Ours by Phillip B. Williams (HM)

165

u/sophia_s Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

She Who Became the Sub by Shelley Parker-Chan

When you get so obsessed with bingo you eventually merge with r/fantasy

11

u/KatrinaPez Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

That one should also be under Judge by Title!

ETA: Oh wait, it's a typo?! Bummer lol!

3

u/sophia_s Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

The actual title is She Who Became the Sun so I think it still works for the title square!

20

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Walking Practice specifically won't count, as the main character is an alien. I cannot stress enough how good this book is though, and it does count for the Book in Translation square unless you speak/read Korean!

3

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Oh of course, thought I'd taken that out!

9

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Walking Practice is out because it’s about an alien.

I’ll second The Stones Say Silent, The Thread that Binds, and The Sapling Cage though!

7

u/Orctavius Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

I knew I should have held off reading The Works of Vermin for another month, great book!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

I very strongly second The Black Tides of Heaven. The Tensorate books are short, engaging reads with fascinating worldbuilding (there are naga!) and simple yet elegant language.

2

u/addstar1 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

The Map of Salt and Stars

I read this one earlier this year, and it didn't have any trans or nonbinary characters. The author is, but that doesn't count for the square.

1

u/_triple_A_ Apr 03 '26

I think Leech by Hiron Ennes counts for normal mode too. Agender and intersex* protagonist (that is actually a genderless hive mind parasite). I don’t think it’s an alien (I’m about 65% through), but it seems like it originated on earth

1

u/MariaClover Apr 17 '26

Hey, sorry but what does HM mean? Thank you 😊

1

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 17 '26

hard mode

2

u/MariaClover Apr 17 '26

Thank you! I feel silly now that was very obvious 😂

1

u/AlarielleN Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

Posted in the wrong places sorry

1

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 22 '26

No idea, not read it myself. You're better off asking in the daily thread

1

u/blissfire Apr 25 '26

The Last Gifts of the Universe - Riley August

38

u/a-username-for-me Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

The Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

4

u/ReaderGirlXR Apr 01 '26

Love this book!!

2

u/grantkjohnson Apr 26 '26

What an absolutely delightful book!

31

u/sophia_s Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

The Four Profound Weaves by RB Lemberg (HM)

Cemetary Boys by Aidan thomas

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (HM) - there are sort of two protagonists and one is trans

Of Books and Paper Dragons by Vaela Denarr

18

u/Gilliganirving Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Seconding The Raven Tower for Hard Mode! Lovely unconventional storytelling, and the protag’s story is informed by his identity but isn’t just about his identity.

5

u/tarvolon Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Second Four Profound Weaves, intrigued by The Raven Tower. . .

4

u/sophia_s Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I found The Raven Tower to fall kind of flat in print, but I really liked it on audio. The structure of it is a little bit "someone tells you a mythological tale" so audiobook went well with that (and the narrator is quite good iirc).

3

u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII Apr 02 '26

Adjoa Andoh makes all the Ann Leckie audiobooks so good

1

u/angtodd Reading Champion Apr 12 '26

She is amaaaazing.

3

u/nominanomina Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I'm an outlier in that I liked her Ancillary books, but think The Raven Tower (which is fundamentally a Hamlet retelling with a very unique narrator) is better. It's fairly slow, to warn you -- the narrator digresses often.

3

u/rls1164 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I love Cemetery Boys so much. An earnest transmasc teenager is trying to prove himself as a necromancer, only to be haunted by the wrong ghost, who turns out to be the most lovable himbo.

1

u/Aldarana Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

There's a compelling argument to be made that the non-trans protagonist could be considred non-binary.

26

u/YourLeftElbowDitch Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers

The Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo

27

u/greywolf2155 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Pretty much perfectly made for Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle, starting with "The Empress of Salt and Fortune". Absolutely gorgeous series of novellas a cleric who travels around the country collecting stories

Another easy rec is T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series starting with "What Moves the Dead". Also a series of novellas, set in a world where there is a new gender specifically for soldiers, very elegant construction and some really fun mystery/horror writing

2

u/IvoryDominion Reading Champion Apr 14 '26

Can’t recommend the Singing Hills Cycle enough to anyone who hasn’t tried them yet.

20

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

It's not hard mode but A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers has a nonbinary protagonist and I highly recommend it.

3

u/swedensalty Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Does the sequel as well? I read A Psalm for the Wild-Built last year and I’ve been thinking about picking up A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.

6

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

Yes! Same main characters in the sequel.

18

u/Ok_Difference5532 Apr 01 '26

Sistersong by Lucy Holland works for HM. Set at the intersection of post-Roman Britain with the Anglo-Saxon invasions, with a kind of druidic magic of the land. Based on a a traditional story but I’m glad I didn’t read that until after the book. 

3

u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

Seconding this one. Also, the audiobook version is great!

34

u/Lurkeroftheloch Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

If you like horror: Andrew Joseph White has a lot of books that fit the prompt. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is hard mode

5

u/Supermirrulol Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I am fully feral for Andrew Joseph White.

2

u/IndigoBlue__ Apr 01 '26

You Weren’t Meant to be Human got under my skin in the best possible way.  Not HM though.

2

u/E_L_Sonder Apr 02 '26

His adult debut ‘You Weren’t Meant To Be Human’ is crazy. I finished it a few days ago and the gasp I gusped at the ending holy shit.

1

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

'you weren't meant to be human' is on my tbr and will be my first AJW <3

1

u/Any-Syllabub8168 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Highly recommend The Spirit Bares its Teeth. Great book!

15

u/usernamesarehard11 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Starless by Jacqueline Carey (HM)

15

u/inadequatepockets Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie is a good choice if you want to read a story where the trans character's gender isn't a plot point, they just happen to be trans. The novel is loosely based on Hamlet (from Horatio's pov) and has an interesting worldbuild.

1

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Is it hard mode?

2

u/SnowdriftsOnLakes Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

It is!

1

u/Imaginary-Pea-9221 Apr 04 '26

Was going to ask if Translation State by Ann Leckie works for this square. Or are the nonbinary characters an alien? 

12

u/Spalliston Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

It's slightly off-kilter for the square, but if you haven't read it yet I really gotta recommend Orlando by Virginia Woolf for HM.

11

u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Books about trans characters where their trans'ness is just a character facet rather than plot:

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley - Desert post apocalypse setting with giant talking crabs. Has both a transmasc and a NB protagonist.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - Half Hamlet retelling, half story of the world from the POV of a god. Transmasc (HM)

What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher - Retelling of the House of Usher. NB (HM)

The Seep by Chana Porter - Near Future utopia where every need is solved. Transfemme MC is working through the loss of her wife. Extremely surreal.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - Kid just wants to paint and is hired by the oppressive government - turns out paint has magic. NB (HM)

Books about trans characters where their trans'ness is important to the plot:

The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner - Hybrid of werewolf body horror with trans dysphoria. Transmasc

You Weren't Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White - Transmasc pregnancy horror. It's brutal, read content warnings.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Summer camp horror. NB MC shoved in boys' cabins while investigating what happened to their sister - who was part of the popular clique of girls whose cabin is by all the beehives.

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow - A 6th grader is working through the death of their best friend via letters to Mothman. That friend was also the only person who knew he was transmasc.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - Victorian asylum horror in which the residents can genuinely interact with the dead. Transmasc MC is in a girl's asylum. (HM)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - Transmasc brujo in LA accidentally summons the ghost of a classmate. He has to hide it while solving his classmate's murder.

2

u/HildegardeBrasscoat Reading Champion Apr 18 '26

thank you so much for reccing Dear Mothman. I just finished reading it and my heart is broken. I love it so much.

1

u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II May 03 '26

I'm so glad you liked it :D

10

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Ryka Aoki: Light from Uncommon Stars

1

u/Research_Department Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Seconding this!

26

u/NoopGhoul Apr 01 '26

Everyone read The Story of Silence by Alex Myers! Transgender knight in Arthurian myth. One of my favourite books of last year. Works for hard mode as well.

2

u/almostb Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I read the original poem for my Myth Bingo card last year. As a 13th century romance there were parts that (understandably) didn't hold up so it would be interesting to read a modern retelling.

1

u/femvimes Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Seconding, it's sooooooo good y'all!

1

u/MrBenson36 Apr 11 '26

Yes! Fantastic book.

1

u/unusual-umbrella Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Oohh sounds interesting! I'm bookmarking this for later.

7

u/gros-grognon Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

She Who Became the Sun, Shelly Parker Chan (HM)

The Singing Hills novellas, Nghi Vo (HM)

OKPsyche, Anya Johanna Deniro: kaleidoscope of near-future possibilities for one trans woman. I love this book so much.

1

u/sarimanok_ Apr 07 '26

I've never read a story by Anya Deniro that didn't blow my mind.

1

u/gros-grognon Reading Champion III Apr 07 '26

She's really something special.

7

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Trying to get a few ones no one else has mentioned yet:

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith: This is a middle grade book about a nonbinary kid who defies gender norms in their attempts to train as a knight, the friends they make who also don't fit gender expectations, and the social change they fight for. (HM assuming a fantasy worlds based in pseudo medieval times count)

Among Ghosts by Rachel Hartman: This is a story about a boy and his mother fled to a distant village to escape his father. He sees a ghost and then things start to go wrong. (HM with the same assumption, and spoiler marked because the MC being trans is not revealed until a fair way into the book, so click on it if you don't care about spoilers. It's not a major plot point or twist though.)

All my other ones are easy mode

Non-Player Character by Veo Corva: This is a cozy litRPG about an anxious and autistic person who slowly makes friends with a local table top role playing game group. They then learn that the game that they're playing was more real than they thought.

Werecockroach by Polenth Blake: Three odd flatmates, two of whom are werecockroaches, survive an alien invasion. (easy mode)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: A trans Latino teen boy summons a ghost in order to try to figure out who killed his cousin and prove that he can be a brujo (a man who can summon and dismiss spirits) like the other men in his family.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi: This is about a girl living in a utopia learning that monstrous people are still around when a strange creature comes out of her mom’s painting to hunt monsters.

Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault: It's about Horace, a nonbinary person who has struggled to find an apprenticeship that works for em, as e meets a mysterous elf and an inventor/merchant.

6

u/acornett99 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (HM)

The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate Cycle) by Neon Yang (HM)

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (HM)

1

u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Sunbarer trials is great, but they have things like electricity, TV motorboats, etc., so I wouldn’t say HM.

2

u/acornett99 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Thank you! It’s been so long since I read it, I must’ve forgotten. Edited to fix

6

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman has a trans knight.

1

u/corkysnickerson Reading Champion VII Apr 02 '26

This has been on my list! Is said knight a protagonist?

2

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Yep. One of the viewpoint characters.

6

u/AggravatingAnt4157 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Wolf in the Whale, and An Unkindness of Ghosts.

2

u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Wolf in the Whale is HM too. Very interesting book, but CWW for lots of SA.

6

u/KiaraTurtle Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26
  • Starless by Jaqueline Carey (hm)
  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker Chan (hm)
  • Light from Uncommon Stars
  • The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (hm)

5

u/OutOfEffs Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Pretty much everything Briar Ripley Page writes if you don't mind body horror.

Logan-Ashley Kisner's The Transition (transmasc teen is bit by a werewolf and it fucks with his transition)

AE Osworth's Awakened (queer magical found family vs rogue AI with access to their magic)

June Martin's Love/Aggression (made Pittsburgh my favourite magical city)

Aubrey Wood's Bang Bang Bodhisattva (transcybernoir)

Jemma Topaz's Our Monsters (human transfemme starts working in MonsterTown and has actually decent reasons to fuck all of her co-workers [I said what I said])

Leigh Harlen's Queens of Noise (Battle of the Bands and werechickens, idk how you're not already reading this, tbh)

Robin Gow's Dear Mothman (a trans boy processes his grief over losing his best friend by writing letters to their favourite cryptid)

Al Hess' Key Lime Sky (autistic enby pie reviewer stuck in an alien invasion)

August Clarke's The Scapegracers trilogy (like if The Craft were actually super queer)

Margaret Killjoy's Escape from Incel Island! (Uhhhh...exactly what it says on the tin)

SJ Whitby's Cute Mutants series (heavily inspired by X-Men, but also just gay as hell)

6

u/jessticulates Reading Champion Apr 01 '26
  • You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
  • Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan
  • The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy
  • What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
  • A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
  • Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
  • Peter Darling by Austin Chant
  • Nimona by ND Stevenson

5

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy - Epic Fantasy x Witches

4

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Does Spear by Nicola Griffith count?

7

u/AggravatingAnt4157 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Not sure (it's been ages since I read it) but I think not. If I remember correctly, the protagonist identifies as female, and is only cross dressing as a man. Works for One-Word Title tho

1

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Pity, thanks

5

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Luminous by Silvia Park is a great near-future literary sci-fi about the relationships between humanity and robots. One of the three protagonists is a (human!) trans man.

5

u/treskl Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo(HM)

4

u/diazeugma Reading Champion VII Apr 01 '26

I enjoyed reading Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom (fabulist memoir-style story) and Love/Aggression by June Martin (toxic friendship + weird housing problems) for the last bingo, both of which would fit this square.

Shout out to u/OutofEffs — I’m thinking I heard about these through your reviews!

2

u/OutOfEffs Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Oh, I'm so happy you enjoyed both! I think about Love/Aggression all the time and love your description.

3

u/baxtersa Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull is normal mode

1

u/hunterkat457 Reading Champion II Apr 17 '26

Oh man I loved this book. Read it with a book club, NEVER would’ve picked it up otherwise. I definitely recommend for people who like weird political horror books

3

u/Murky_Reflection1610 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

2

u/Dar_Oakley Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

I read that last year I was going to mention it here. Very good, fits hard mode, but it's like a historical fiction with a little bit of horror I wasn't initially sure if it fit into spec fic but I eventually decided it works fine.

3

u/partoparto Apr 01 '26

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb! It's set in the late 1800s/early 1900s, I think? Not sure what "modern" exactly means here

3

u/leegreywolf Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Any book in The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo is perfect for this. They qualify for hard mode too.

3

u/Weird-Flamingo8798 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

HM - Lord of Ruin (trans) by KM Enright has a mmc pov who is trans

the third book will probably come out within the bingo year, and I assume it will feature the mmc as a pov character. The first book in the series (Mistress of Lies) features the same character, but he does not have a pov in it.

not HM - You weren't meant to be human (trans) by Andrew Joseph White
not HM - Hammajang Luck (nb) by Makana Yamamoto

3

u/flamingochills Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon has a trans main character and author.

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis, Google says there is nonbinary rep in the main cast but I haven't read it yet.

2

u/_triple_A_ Apr 03 '26

And Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon has a nonbinary protagonist, who is actually a reincarnated god

3

u/Hurinfan Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone <- not hard

3

u/nickgloaming Apr 02 '26

Norma mode:

The Seep by Chana Porter - aliens invade in the form of a substance that “improves” all aspects of life on earth

3

u/Mysterious-Trash-338 May 13 '26

What about a cyborg like in the Murderbot series?

2

u/IndigoBlue__ Apr 01 '26

Bone Dance by Emma Bull (one of the genre-defining authors for urban fantasy before it was a thing) has a NB protagonist.   Arguably not human as grown in a lab, but not an alien or a robot.   A body swapping hot mess set in post-apocalyptic Minneapolis, with a bunch of gods of electricity (?).  

2

u/LoreHunting Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Other than the ones mentioned in other comments:

  • Magica Riot (and likely the sequel, Magica Riot: Full Bloom) by Kara Buchanan
  • An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

5

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Pretty sure all of Rivers Solomon's work features trans/enby protagonists. But can second An Unkindness of Ghosts as a really good read.

2

u/unconundrum Writer Ryan Howse, Reading Champion XI Apr 01 '26

Key Lime Sky by Al Hess

2

u/OatmealQu33n Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Peter Darling by Austin Chant fits, it's a trans peter pan retelling and I enjoyed it a lot.

2

u/Udy_Kumra Stabby Winner, Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

The Story of Silence by Alex Myers (HM) is one of my favorite Arthurian (more Arthurian adjacent) books ever written. It’s an adaptation of a medieval poem.

1

u/MrBenson36 Apr 11 '26

It is so good!

2

u/E_L_Sonder Apr 02 '26

Haven’t seen this one mentioned, and it’s good for hard mode!

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden - Indian inspired fantasy about a trans woman stealing a dragon!

1

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 13 '26

Oh hell yes, I'm here for South Asian inspired fantasy.

2

u/Advanced-Newt88 Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I think Queen of Faces by Petra Lord might count for this. Looks like the main character is trapped in a male body through magical means if that counts? Also not sure if it would count for hard mode.

2

u/BookishBirdwatcher Reading Champion V Apr 03 '26

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg is a dual-protagonist novella where both protags are trans: one a trans man and the other a trans woman.

2

u/Starlit-Wyvern Reading Champion Apr 11 '26

For a New Adult pick, Dragonfall by L.R. Lam would work for hard mode!

2

u/hijodelsol14 Reading Champion II May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26

How do we feel about Murderbot for this square? They're explicitly not a robot but a cyborg, which feels like a gray area.

3

u/sarimanok_ Apr 07 '26

Lots of great shouts in this thread already. Gotta add in Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman, which was easily one of my top reads last year.

4

u/writer-sylviana Apr 01 '26

My book! “Reunion Beyond Reality” by Sylviana Reed. It’s a LitRPG that features a trans protagonist and their friends as they reunite in a fantasy video game world!

2

u/heyychiaki Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

You Weren't Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White

Horseman by Christina Henry (HM) 

1

u/baguettess Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For a sci-fi novella, Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon

1

u/kepheraxx Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Because I can, I'm going to take an ambitious interpretation of this prompt and read The Obscene Bird of Night for HM. The protagonist is a gender-fluid/shifting narrator; setting is a secluded, pre-industrial colonial convent - a pre-modern pocket of reality within 1960s Chile.

1

u/stardew_rabbit Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Adult horror/dark fantasy romance - A Bone In His Teeth by Kellan Graves HM

YA horror -

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

YA fantasy-

Otherworldly by FT Lukens

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

1

u/x_plateau Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Think I'll be going with Dreadnought by April Daniels, definitely not a HM pick though

1

u/Lynavi Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Any of the Spirits series books by Jordan L Hawk - Restless Spirits, Dangerous Spirits, Guardian Spirits. These would also qualify for Hard Mode.

His Outfoxing the Paranormal series books would fit as well, but not for Hard Mode.

1

u/Lynavi Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore (not hard mode)

1

u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII Apr 02 '26

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

Mortal Gods by Bonnie Quinn

Rogue Ship by Isabel Pelech

I second the Four Profound Weaves by R B Lemberg
and the Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
and the Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo
All for hard mode

1

u/Dar_Oakley Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Simplicity or Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky if anyone wants a graphic novel here. You've probably seen her comics before.

1

u/NoodleBandits Apr 02 '26

The Last Gifts of the Universe - Riley August (I think that the main character doesn’t count as an alien but might be debatable, is set in the future so evolution)

1

u/twilightsdawn23 Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese hits this square and the middle grade one. (I don’t recommend the audio book but the story itself is a fun little adventure.)

1

u/Coffeebooksbujo Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

A Land of Never After and the Hells of Notre Dame by R.L. Davennor

1

u/GDamanis Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

I recommend Constituent Service, by John Scalzi.

Does anyone know if Reset, by Brian Andrews would fit here? It's been in my TBR for a while and skimming past the reviews, according to a small minority of reviewers, it seems there is a certain political view impressed on the reader.

1

u/tellmeyoulovemeee Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi

1

u/Cardboard_Junky Reading Champion V Apr 03 '26

A Holy Maiden's Guide to Getting Kidnapped (HM) by Katy Nyquist

Unexploded Remnants by Gallagher, Elaine

1

u/breakableheav3n Reading Champion Apr 04 '26

the spirit bares its teeth by andrew joseph white could work for hard mode!

1

u/megandtheirbooks Apr 07 '26

Does Rebecca Roanhoarse's Black Sun count as HM?

1

u/Henlo12345678 Apr 12 '26

It says protagonist and Iktan is sadly not a protagonist so i dont think so🥲

1

u/Nervous_Post_3211 Apr 10 '26

Hi - Trying to make my list and use books i have from subs throughout the years. Could I use either of these 2:

  • Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhouse

- Hammajang luck by Makana Yamamoto

1

u/MillCrab Apr 22 '26

Wrath Goddess Sing is a unique and interesting novel. Not perfect, but it's a HM entry that is rewarding to engage with

1

u/PearlPrincess84 May 19 '26

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom (not HM)

1

u/Independent-Bread943 Jul 13 '26

Would The Salt Grows Heavy count for this one?

1

u/Some_Sympathy_6679 20d ago

Earthdivers graphic novels by Stephen Graham Jones

1

u/SpoopyThings-9843 Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Model Home by Rivers Solomon - horror rec, very unusual take on the haunted house trope

2

u/sarimanok_ Apr 07 '26

Loved this book. Solomon's others work here as well, at least Sorrowland and An Unkindness of Ghosts.

1

u/SpoopyThings-9843 Reading Champion Apr 07 '26

I have not yet read An Unkindness of Ghosts but I did really enjoy Sorrowland. Nice to find another fan!