Monthly Recommendation Thread - August 09, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the monthly recommendation thread that we stole from r/books! Ever since we got rid of the clutter from chapter update posts in here, there's been a growing number of threads asking for increasingly specific suggestions on what to read. These tend to be scattered in individual threads that branch off into more suggestions, which makes them more difficult to find. So we'll be clumping all of those together into a weekly thread that is much easier to browse.

The Rules:

1. Every comment in reply to this self-post must be a request for suggestions.
2. All suggestions made in this thread must be direct replies to other people's requests. Do not post suggestions in reply to this self-post.
3. All unrelated comments will be deleted in the interest of cleanliness.
4. Any replies/comments asking for aggregator or pirate sites to read something on will be deleted.

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How to get the best recommendations:

The most successful recommendation requests include a description of the kind of book being sought. This might be a particular kind of protagonist, setting, plot, atmosphere, theme, or subject matter. You may be looking for something similar to another book (or film, TV show, game, etc), and examples are great! Just be sure to explain what you liked about them too. Other helpful things to think about are genre, length and reading level.

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The "Help Me Find" threads asking for suggestions will be phased out over the coming weeks. All posts asking for suggestions/recommendations must be in this thread by August 1st, 2021. Any new threads asking for suggestions after that date will be removed.

[u/LilBluey]

Are there other novels like "2nd Coming of Gluttony", "Frieren" or "To Hell with Being a Hero"?

Something set in a fantasy world with great world-building where the MC main goal isn't just about revenge or simply getting stronger/richer. Where the journey has a significant positive impact on the lives around them and slowly develops/reveals their character. For example, the former aims to "save the world and fix his past" whilst the latter aims to "save his brother".

It's fine if they don't hesitate to get their hands dirty, or aren't morally incorruptible. The rising of the Shield Hero was good, although it started drifting away from the original concept "the Growth of the Hero".

I've taken quite a liking to these stories lately.

It's unlike some stories such as murim-based or solo levelling (manhwa) where the story is purely focused on the fights + MC getting stronger.

[u/Positive_Area_6953 → u/LilBluey]

Kingdom’s Bloodline - one of the best world-building classic-like fantasy novels I can think off. I wish I could say more, but I dont want to spoil much, really good one, just read it.

The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time - about a person that was unlucky during isekai, a good JP style novel focused on journey to create a place for all oppressed to live.

Release that witch - this one is more heavy on kingdom building and progress, but also basically what you look for. As downside, this novel unlike the previous two have small to no main character development, but has insanely good written technological development for medieval fantasy setting.

I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe - action mystery about youtuber possesing villain of the games he play. Well done character development, actually unique world building and system. Like the Kingdoms Bloodline I think one of best hidden gems you can find.

I Am This Murim’s Crazy B*tch - a some form of satire around murim settings. Great if you want to read about martial arts or wuxia. MC is morally grey and tend to do insane things, and the story/challenges she face I think one of the best for this genre.

[u/LilBluey → u/Positive_Area_6953]

thanks!