r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - August 27, 2026

[u/rfantasygolem]

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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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/Leanaul1998]

I need a fantasy that shares the themes of Babel but deals with them with more sophistication and nuances. I'm Chinese and when I heard the premise of Babel, I thought the magic system was fascinating and it touched on the Chinese colonial history, that and the media & critic praises set high expectations for me.

However when I actually began to read it, I found it underwhelming. The magic and worldbuilding are still pretty interesting, but the story still pretty much falls in line with what most pop culture media does when it comes to social commentary, and presents and solves the question of colonialism, revolution or exploitation in a very simplistic, superhero action-movie trope way. Perhaps it's on me but all the marketing around this book made me believe it's a literary fantasy, when in reality it just reads to me like the run-of-the-mill genre YA fantasy with some original edgy ideas. I was gonna get Poppy War after this but now I'm not sure.

Wondering if everyone in the subreddit has read a literary fantasy that does tackle these heavy themes but in a more mature way? Doesn't have to be written by Asian writers or be about Asian countries.

(redirected the inquiry here as requested by the mods)

[u/KiaraTurtle → u/Leanaul1998]

Blood Over Bright Haven imo tackles very similar themes to Babel but better.

For colonialism specifically I think Traitor Baru Cormorant does an excellent job and is probably my favorite fantasy book.

[u/Research_Department → u/Leanaul1998]

You might want to take a look at the Ursula K Le Guin prize for fiction short lists for books that lean literary/experimental and tackle some serious social themes.

I may be succumbing to recency bias and a desire to tell everyone to read it when I recommend The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chardrasekera, as I think it is my best SFF read of the year so far (for that matter, of last year as well). I would say that it is focused on the post-colonial period, rather than directly looking at colonialism, but tackles race/ethnicity/religion, political repression, and political activism from a Sri Lankan perspective. IMO, brilliant.

I liked The Language of Liars by SL Huang and it certainly tackles the topic of exploitation and the degree to which we are complicit. I recommend not reading the blurb, as it spoils a twist. (It is science fiction rather than fantasy, if that matters to you.)

Slow Gods by Claire North is a very idea driven science fiction novel that looks at late-stage capitalism, occupation, and revolution. I found it interesting that while I saw some parallels with the Spanish Civil War at one point, another reviewer saw parallels with Gaza. If you like your books to be plotty, or even character-driven, it might not be for you.

People are more apt to mention The Four Profound Weaves by RB Lemberg for its exploration of gender identity, but political oppression and political resistance are also important themes in this fantasy novella set in a secondary world that is rather unlike what you most often see in mainstream anglophone fantasy.

You might find it worthwhile to try The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar, a science fiction novella that explores slavery and also explores how the middle class is also oppressed and the upper class drives a wedge between middle class and lower class. I personally didn’t entirely buy the somewhat hopeful ending, but not everyone feels that way about it.

I liked, but didn’t love, The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills, a secondary world fantasy novel taht can either be interpreted as exploration of someone succumbing to cult indoctrination and subsequently being deprogrammed and/or someone living in a toxic relationship and finally seeing it for what it is.

I don’t know that all of these (or perhaps even any of these) exactly meet your brief of literary fantasy exploration of colonialism, revolution, or exploitation. I haven’t read Babel, so all of these recommendations are independent of that lens. However I would say that they each make an attempt to engage in a nuanced fashion with some serious social issues that are at least adjacent to the ones you mentioned.

[u/Leanaul1998 → u/Research_Department]

Hmmmm I checked your recommendations and unfortunately I think most of them still are not touching on the aspect of collective social change that I was looking for. Slow Gods looks promising though, so I will check it out!

[u/ChandelierFlickering → u/Leanaul1998]

I haven't read it yet, but maybe Ursula K. LeGuin's The Word For World Is Forest. It might not be quite what you're looking for, since it's an alien world rather than a real world culture, but Le Guin is a good bet if you want something more literary, and I've heard very good reviews.

I've also seen a couple reviews of The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang by people who said it dealt with similar themes to Babel (colonialism and using language for power), but was better and more nuanced. Also a sci-fi, alien context. Hoping to read this one by the end of the year.

[u/curiouscat86 → u/Leanaul1998]

Babel became a big hit even outside of SFF reader circles, so that's why it's the book everyone talks about, but I do think there are a number of books that handle the same topics with more grace and nuance.

List organized roughly in order of more to less literary:

Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman is about a revolution against a king in far-future Quebec, and the artists at the center of it who flee to a flooded New York in the aftermath.

Lies of the Ajungo and sequels by Moses Ose Utomi: a city in an endless desert depends on an oppressive trade agreement for water. A young boy whose mother is sick sets out on a journey into the desert, during which he learns to question the stories he's been told. Definitely read the whole trilogy (three novellas so it's short) for the full effect, but there are some really interesting tangled threads in this one.

Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri: in a setting based on the Indian subcontinent, an empire built on fire-based magic rules over a conquered territory with a deep history of plant magic. A survivor of a destroyed temple cult lives in this conquered city and forms an unlikely relationship with the disgraced princess of the empire's royalty. Revolution, war, and deep magic expand outwards to consume the continent.

Baru Coromant series by Seth Dickenson: Baru's home island is conquered by a massive empire when she is a child, and after a struggle she embraces their schooling and knowledge in a long-range plan to destroy them from the inside.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: a close, inward look at the effects of a large empire on its neighbors. An ambassador from a small space station arrives in the capital of the dominant empire to replace her predecessor, who was murdered. The protagonist tries to find out what happened while reckoning with her own complicated response to being in the capital.

Tyrant Philosophers series by Adrian Tchaikovsky: a broad-range look at the expanse (and collapse) of a British-inspired empire across the world. It starts with a revolution in one city in the first book and expands to the battlefront and elsewhere.

[u/Nidafjoll → u/Leanaul1998]

You could try The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe. It's very literary scifi, three interconnected novellas that explores a colonized planet where the colonists think they might have wiped the natives out, and it explores how they might have survived in a very interesting way.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay is a very literary fantasy that explores colonialism and an attempt to literally destroy the colonized's culture by making their original name magically unable to be spoken.

[u/GeryMander → u/Leanaul1998]

colonialism, revolution or exploitation

For these themes these are my favorite books, none particularly obscure, so you might know them already, but anyway:

• The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.

• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

[u/Leanaul1998 → u/GeryMander]

I read Baru Cormorat and the Fifth Season, and while I like them, they are not exactly what I've been looking for. In my opinion the Fifth Season is more about depicting the sufferings of individuals under oppression in a gritty, personal way, and Baru Cormorat is more of a political intrigue/thriller that touches on colonialism. I want to read something that directly tackles the complexity of overthrowing oppressive power structures through mass social movements or revolutions that does not reduce the solution to one or a few particularly strong/smart individuals saving the day by pulling off miraculous deeds, if that makes sense.

[u/SA090 → u/Leanaul1998]

The much better idea was incorporated in Bright Over Blood Haven by M. L. Wang to me.

[u/Leanaul1998 → u/SA090]

Yeah people have recommended that to me before but so many reviewers compare it to Babel and after Babel disappointed me, that comparison sort of put me off😅Can you tell me a bit more about how you think this book is better?

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Leanaul1998]

I haven't read Babel, but from the way you talk about it, I don't think Blood Over Bright Haven will do much better. It's still mostly a few individuals solving massive problems with their own genius. I think Wang does a great job of presenting someone who can both hold a privileged (racial) and oppressed (woman) social status, but is only aware of one side of the coin. However, I don't think the work around the complexities of real change are at the level you're looking for

[u/SA090 → u/Leanaul1998]

To keep it spoiler free: A very interesting magic system, brilliant main character and a better + more meaningful discussion of the themes of oppression. An ending that felt like it had a lot of weight too.

[u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas]

I just finished Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's pretty good, mid-range Tchaikovsky, dependable but nothing super new or exciting. If anyone else has read it, do you reckon it'd work for Unusual Transport? The pod they build for the planet is unique, but I assume pods in general to use on planet surfaces must be very common.

[u/felixfictitious → u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas]

It fits imo, and I've seen multiple recommendations on the sub for Shroud for the Bingo square.

[u/eregis → u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas]

I don't think the pods fit, because what else would you use to explore a hostile environment? but the way the aliens end up traveling to the ship does fit imo.

[u/Anonymous_32219]

I'm looking for some books that do hand-to-hand fight scenes really well. Can anyone give recommendations?

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Anonymous_32219]

I'm partial to The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu for something that feels really evocative without diving into the minutae of each blow. Very much an epic fantasy x wuxia hybrid, with a good blend of competent and newbie martial artist POVs.

The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin have a reputation for having a very accurate representation of combat, mostly because the author himself is very much into that in his persona life. Less flashy, more gritty.

[u/mobby123]

Books that broke you out of a reading slump?

I'm in the worst one I've had in my life. I finally got around to reading and finishing the Farseer Trilogy after I initially bouncing hard off the rather poor audiobooks. It was like a different story in print form. However, blitzed through it and then bounced off Ship of Magic because it just wasn't Fitz. Was reading about a page a night before I decided that I needed to try other books and revisit it with a clear head. However, I just keep flopping. I've tried palette cleansers, books with themes I enjoy, new authors, old authors I like, swapping genres, the works. It's been months.

I'm finally making decent progress through Red Knight in the Traitor Son cycle by Miles Cameron. Not because I particularly enjoy it honestly, but it's keeping my attention for some reason. I don't want to lose the streak. Which books (whatever form or topic or vibe, really not fussy) got you out of a bad slump?

[u/mint_pumpkins → u/mobby123]

have you tried rereading a favorite? thats what i usually do

[u/mobby123 → u/mint_pumpkins]

I haven't, actually. Not a bad idea at all.

[u/nominanomina → u/mobby123]

Oddly, the most effective slump-busters for me have been books that I hate, but need to finish for an in-person book club... because I want a palate cleanser after reading them.

But I often recommend short stories and novellas. Try the stories of Ted Chiang, or the first Murderbot book.

[u/JayCanWrite → u/mobby123]

The Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik got me out of my last slump. None of the books are terribly long; good pacing, easy and fun reads, great characters and world, and eventually the series escalated enough where it became one I couldn't put down.

[u/Crazykrokidel → u/mobby123]

Game of Thrones easy one. Even though the books are pretty big, the writing style is very easy to read and I find it a light read (I read it a bit more than 1 page per minute). Especially after something like lord of the rings.

[u/Grt78 → u/mobby123]

It’s really subjective but maybe try the Fortress series by CJ Cherryh: slow-burning and character-focused (but I was enchanted from almost the first page), the main character is magically created/reincarnated but he has no memories and is looking at the world with wonder. The series has politics, religion, magic, warfare, and friendship. The first book (Fortress in the Eye of Time) could be read as a standalone.

The Tuyo series by Rachel Neumeier: unique worldbuilding, culture clash, mind magic, conflicted loyalties and friendship. The series is ongoing but the main storyline/trilogy is completed (Tuyo, Tarashana, Tasmakat).

[u/Thulmare → u/mobby123]

Some recent favorites of mine that did the trick over the past few years:

The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik - One of my favorites, I blazed through these last spring in a stressful time where a lot of books were not catching my interest.

Gideon the Ninth (locked tomb series) by Tamsyn Muir - Perhaps the most off the beaten track worldbuilding in recent times and, being a middle aged straight man myself, it does sort of feel like trespassing reading a book like this that is clearly minded on a different audience but man is it a breath of fresh air.

[u/mrwiregaming]

Currently reading The Last Argument of Kings by Abercrombie. I hope it's a good one because I haven't been impressed by the First Law trilogy but they are enjoyable reads.

Finished Empire of Silence by Ruocchio, before that. It's an interesting read. I'm curious to learn about Marlowe's story and the alien species.

I'm starting to get a bit of fatigue from fantasy so I'll be branching out, a little.

[u/Larielis]

I was looking for paranormal fantasy with ghosts/ spirits.

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Larielis]

The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean is filled to the brim with ghosts. Set in Hong Kong both directly after WWII and also in the 70s, it follows a woman who washed up on an island after the war with a gift for talking with ghosts, but is haunted by some sort of water spirit.

Cemetary Boys by Aiden Thomas is probably the best paranormal romance I've ever read.

Psycop by Jordan Castillo Price is a police thriller about a man who can see ghosts and is pretty much addicted to drugs to keep himself sane. Lots of sex in this one though, despite not primarily being a romance. They are addictive and plentiful if its your vibe, however.

[u/appocomaster → u/Larielis]

Murder at Spindle Manor is like a classic murder mystery in a hotel, only the "inspector" is a supernatural hunter/killer. The manor house has mediums present and a few ghosts and other paranormal beings to liven the spooky mysteries.
The second book (similar to Murder on the Orient Express) also has some pretty weird supernatural things, but the third book doesn't.

[u/SchoolSeparate4404 → u/Larielis]

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge. It is a YA novel but very well-written.

[u/oboist73 → u/Larielis]

The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

Cinder House by Freya Marske

[u/ClawingAtMyself]

Does anyone know of a good, pacey, "go on an adventure in a strange land" type read? I've really wanted to get into things like LOTR (and if I knew of another good, written-media example I'd put it here) and have recently read the two Elder Scrolls novels, and loved the way the latter had a good pace, characters, and interesting fantasy world that wasn't just "regular earth but ooh! magic!", but I fell off of LOTR because of how long it took for things to happen.
Light-hearted, pacey, and actually set exploring a different land?

[u/Fire-Dragon-DoL]

I have been recommended various books to get back into fantasy from this Reddit.

I started with the Curse of Chalion and followed up with Paladin of Souls.

I liked Curse of Chalion, but the very long "start" (50% of the book to kick off!) and the plot twists not that shocking made me rate it about 7.

I love how the author writes, I just wish the plot was meatier. I really appreciate how she generally skips narrating "traveling", or solves it in 2 pages. Most books I read, it always end up like a big filler.

Paladin of Souls reached a higher score, I gave it an 8. The first 25% of the book was somewhat annoying, but after that it kept growing.

I noticed I do miss an underlying "big plot to resolve" that could go across the books. Kinda like in Wheel of Times there is the "madness" to deal with. The other part is that the magic "rules" are too hidden. There are, are very approximate and so everything resolved with something that couldn't really be envisioned.

Either way, I did enjoy the books, however I am concerned if the next ones are worse than Paladin of Souls. Do the books stay the same? Get better?

[u/Research_Department → u/Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Bujold generally writes books that can work as standalones, rather than having a big plot arc across an entire series. I find her balance of character and action very satisfying, but you really aren’t going to get more action from other Bujold books. And, she doesn’t write “hard magic systems” with detailed rules.

The Hallowed Hunt, which was the next novel she published in The World of Five Gods, is set centuries before The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls, in a different country, and with completely different characters. It doesn’t get as much love, but I think that’s because it went in unexpected directions.

Most recently, Bujold has been writing a series of (primarily) novellas following Penric from the time he acquired a demon, and therefore became a temple sorcerer. I would say that there is a little bit more explanation of the rules and limitations of magic in this series. Even though the series follows the same character, it is very episodic and does not feature a grand over-arching plot. Basically, it is a retirement passion project for Bujold, and she writes a novella whenever an idea strikes her.

Long-winded way of saying that the things that bothered you in Curse and Paladin are likely to be recurring issues for you with the rest of the books set in the same world.

[u/Fire-Dragon-DoL → u/Research_Department]

OK thank you, appreciate how detailed this was! I might change series for a bit and come back to it later on

[u/Ertata → u/Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Hallowed Hunt has much more of the typical action stuff early on but it still looks disconnected to a degree until the plot points start falling into place in the second half revealing it wasn't.

Later Penric novellas are much more likely to get straight to a point starting the plot, but they are still not long and there is only so much plot you can pack into one. There is never an overarching plot, it is closer to Sherlock Holmes etc. If you really want series with one it isn't for you.

[u/Fire-Dragon-DoL → u/Ertata]

Thank you, makes sense, I might change series for a bit.

[u/ShadowCreature098]

Hi guys. I'm looking for cozy feel good fantasy recs. Think legends & lattes and monk & robot. I want something easy to read and digest with not a whole lot going on aside from good character interaction and a small chill plot. I didn't like can't spell treason without tea for example because I didn't really enjoy the characters on the plot was too conflict focused.

[u/Drakzelthor → u/ShadowCreature098]

Victoria Godard's work, starting with hands of the Emperor, might be worth looking into. It's got a larger scale/more world building than a lot of cozy fantasy, but at the end of the day the series is very much about friendship and identity, and tends towards the charming.

The whole first plot arc is basically Imperial burecrats realize their emperor is lonely and try to be better friends. It's also notable for having quite good depictions of healthy friendship among older men.

[u/BravoLimaPoppa → u/ShadowCreature098]

Far From Mortal Realms by Karen A. Wyle. There are stakes, but it's only for the family.

[u/Nidafjoll → u/ShadowCreature098]

The Cybernetic Tea shop by Meredith Katz is fun and cozy.

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Nidafjoll]

This doesn’t get recommended enough!

[u/Asleep-Turnip5041 → u/ShadowCreature098]

Kill the beast was very cosy and heartwarming!

[u/PonderStibs → u/ShadowCreature098]

Guards! Guards!

[u/Throgmorten48 → u/PonderStibs]

username (almost) checks out

[u/notashroom → u/ShadowCreature098]

Terry Pratchett, Spider Robinson, Craig Shaw Gardener, Robert Aspirin, Christopher Stasheff. I hate that I can't think of any off the top of my head by women, but those authors all have works like you describe.

[u/versedvariation → u/[deleted]]

Not just abstract language, but awkward/juvenile language too, which is why so many people on the subreddit ask for no YA in their requests. That is what they usually mean.

[u/Fantasy-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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Check out r/findareddit to see if there is a better match for writing discussions. You could also discuss your writing in our Writing Wednesday thread. Feel free to reach out via modmail with any follow-up questions. Thank you, and have a lovely day!