For me it's the Cradle series. I went in expecting a standard underdog fantasy and got completely blindsided — a few books in I was up at 2am telling myself "one more chapter" like a liar. I'd love to get that first read back, having no idea where it goes.

What's the book that hit different because you didn't see it coming?

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Revolution in the Heart was released on September 22, 2026.

I’ve read less of Ursula K. Le Guin than many of my bookish friends, but it’s hard not to appreciate her towering influence over the most thoughtful corners of science fiction. Combine that with an impressive table of contents, and I was excited for the opportunity to read Revolution in the Heart, an anthology of stories inspired by Le Guin, edited by Jonathan Strahan. 

Revolution in the Heart includes 15 original stories by 15 different authors, almost all of them women. While I don’t have precise word counts, I’d estimate that most of them sit between roughly 3,000 and 10,000 words in length. I’m sure the biggest Le Guin fans will be able to point to specific influences for most of the individual stories, but this is not an anthology of fiction set in Le Guin’s worlds. Instead, the editor asked for stories that would honor Le Guin’s memory, and the anthology is built from the different ways the contributors did so. 

Again, I am not the best person to identify specific inspirations, but it’s not hard to see a few broad trends. There are, for instance, a whole lot of stories about either encounters with the alien or the treatment of the marginalized in society. That should come as no surprise, and both topics are rich with opportunities for storytelling. 

Another common thread comes in the tone, with many of the stories taking on a voice that’s a fair bit more didactic than average. That may be a red flag for some readers, and I admit I’d have liked to see a bit more variance in approach, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and while a handful of the stories in the anthology try to explain too much and end up muddled, some of the ones that most exemplify a more focused didacticism are indeed quality tales. Perhaps the clearest example is the opening story, Five-Eyed Jane by Ann Leckie, which starts with “once upon a time” and proceeds to detail a catlike alien species and the way they treat minorities. There are plenty of asides to the audience and an ending that’s not terribly difficult to predict, but it’s also an entertaining story that keeps the tone lighter than the subject matter. Mission accomplished. 

Hold Me Close to Your Heart by S. Qiouyi Lu has a similarly appropriate didacticism. It’s a ghost story that features several essaylike musings on language, gender, and colonialism that make sense because…well, the lead is a student studying language, uncomfortable with their own gender presentation, and living in a place with a long history of racial discrimination. It’s completely in-character for the introspection to get a bit academic. There are times where the introspective segments feel a bit like rabbit trails, but they ultimately fit the character and make for a story that comes together nicely in the end. 

The story where the tone most bothers me is Kelly Link’s novelette, The Monster’s Story, and that’s because of the way it shifts as the story progresses. The story consists of a series of nested narratives, told by prisoners to their captors in the heart of conflict. Link is well-known as an excellent storyteller, and the interwoven narratives are complex and powerful enough that the ending’s bluntness comes off as jarring. It certainly calls attention to the themes, which is surely the purpose, but it does so in a way that undercuts some of the subtlety of the story to that point, even if it remains a story worth reading on the whole. 

Given my impression of “The Monster’s Story,” it likely comes as no surprise that my favorites in the anthology lean a bit harder into the subtext. Two of the shortest stories in the collection take familiar premises and tell them from unusual perspectives. First, Homestead by Molly Gloss delivers a “gunslinger visits a town that’s being taken advantage of” tale from the perspective of an opinionated and adventurous youth enamored with the new arrival. The general direction of the plot won’t be much of a surprise, but it’s recontextualized in a way that delivers a powerful message that’s quite a bit different from that you usually see in these sorts of stories. It’s an abrupt ending that mostly leaves the theme for the reader to infer, but it’s also not particularly ambiguous, providing a refreshing balance between having something to say and not beating the reader over the head.

Similarly, the anthology’s final entry, Blaumont by Karen Joy Fowler, tells of a rich man living on a poor island, keeping the inside of his house and what seems a revolving door of wives largely hidden while winning influence and respect through his money and mainland connections. Again, it’s a familiar setup, and experienced readers will likely guess major plot developments. But those predictable plot developments are almost an afterthought set against the way the lead’s perception of her people and their benefactor changes as the story progresses. Once again, it’s a familiar tale that delivers a different message when presented from an unusual angle. And for my money, this one is the strongest piece in the entire anthology. 

Rounding out my three favorites is the shortest story in the anthology, A Shell in the Desert by E. Lily Yu. Once again, it’s a story with something to say about power and interaction with the other, but those themes are pure subtext in a short, dark tale about isolated individuals in eerie desert pools that supply all their needs and don’t take kindly to outsiders. Its trim word count is enough to establish a surreal and unsettling atmosphere, and it doesn’t linger long before delivering a powerful final blow. 

In any anthology organized around a central idea, there will inevitably be a few storytelling patterns, and another seen several times in Revolution in the Heart is the personal tale that uses an explanation-heavy tone to detail an encounter with something the lead cannot at all explain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the standout stories of this type are novelettes penned by a pair of exceptional writers: Sarah Pinsker and Premee Mohamed. Pinsker’s Traveling, Home features a woman living in an isolated Southwest community that had been the site of a shockingly ill-publicized alien incursion. The narrative mostly consists in her recounting of her previous life and how she came to the alien-adjacent community, interspersed with discussion of the ineffable means of teleportation that so captured the curiosity of a handful of residents. Pinsker is an expert in the novelette form, and this entry creates easy immersion, a satisfying conclusion, and a good bit of meditation on knowing a place and interacting with things you can’t understand. 

Mohamed’s River Run Riot Run Dry also spends most of its time flashing back to the lead’s pre-migration life, but here there’s less focus on the inexplicable fantastical premise and more on its community reception. The lead’s best friend has an ability to prophesy that she can neither control nor explain. And while her religious, rural community doesn’t respond with the kneejerk hatred that one may expect from this sort of story, neither do they trust or understand. And so the lead and her friend must figure out what to do with some particularly foreboding knowledge amidst a community that will not accept it. Like with the Pinsker, Mohamed is an excellent writer and delves into the mindset of the lead in a compelling, nuanced, and ultimately satisfying way. 

The Dark Below by Vandana Singh sees the lead joining an expedition to the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. While he’s there as a photographer, his deepest hope is to recover the body of his mountaineering brother, who had disappeared in the area years before. Like the Pinsker and Mohamed stories, there are significant flashback sections here, mostly taken from his brother’s journal entries. But those entries aren’t the entirety of the story—while they hint at the existence of something beyond the ken of humanity, it’s the present storyline with the opportunity to learn the truth. 

Not all of the stories in the anthology keep the strangeness at a distance. Aliya Whiteley’s In One Substance stars an ambassador visiting a world of ascetics who had traditionally rebuffed efforts to establish trade. The host society makes learning difficult, but there are still chances to uncover snippets of mystery, even if the full picture and its consequences remain uncertain. 

Many Light Objects by Chana Porter also dives into a strange world—or collection of worlds—one where pop stars perform exaggerated displays of emotion to the thrill of massive crowds. The lead is one of those pop stars, but the alien profession here is a window into the complicated relationship with an abusive father. I admit that I didn’t fully sink into the lead’s inner turmoil, but the unique setup and nuanced interpersonal plot definitely make this worth a look. 

Darcie Little Badger also builds a fascinating setting into Soloist Nell, though with less use of aliens and more of a subterranean society beneath a scorched surface. The lead must intensely prepare for the dangerous trek above ground in search of resources, but it’s a story that gestures at mysteries while ultimately lingering in ambiguity. That’s certainly different from the dominant style in the anthology, but in this case, it left me wanting a little more. 

As I mentioned at the start of the review, there are a couple others that come off a bit too muddled and never fully engaged me, and the anthology as a whole does suffer a little from the stylistic clustering that often threatens themed anthologies. But most of the stories make for entertaining reads, and there are a handful of true standouts that make it worth tracking down the anthology. It’s not without its flaws, but it delivers enough compelling stories and fascinating themes to make for an overall quality read. 

Recommended if you like: short stories inspired by Le Guin, the authors in the table of contents. 

Can I use it for Bingo? It’s hard mode for Five Short Stories, and is also Published in 2026 by a (relatively) Small Press. 

Overall rating: 15 of Tar Vol’s 20. Four stars on Goodreads. 

Weird request, I know. I just got done reading The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams and I really loved the character or Tormalin.

Some other examples of characters like this that I loved reading are Locke in the Lies of Locke Lamora, Howl from Howl's moving castle, Cain from the Raven Scholar.

[GIVEAWAY] The Bookshop Book is out! It's a standalone fantasy (by me, Mark Lawrence).

To be in the running for the random allocation of one of two signed copies just comment here with your favourite bookshop (or market if no shops near you).

The Bookshop Book has loose associations with The Library Trilogy but that's not required reading.

Farseer trilogy book 2: The royal assassin. Regal is, by far, my most hated character in all books I can think of. His ignorance of the truth, the world around him, and the end of the world coming from the raiders is matched only by the complete passiveness of the protagonist and his "allies".

The way he destroys everything that has been built up by the six duchies and buckkeep is astounding. Abandoning subjects, allowing raids to occur, attempted murder of the queen in waiting, and the worst crime of all: selling all the good horses. It was a slow read, but very enjoyable, but drove me crazy especially towards the end. I'm not the most knowledgeable literary critic, but I've tried to sum up my thoughts.

I understand some reasons why he isn't stopped or slowed:

Verity embodies honour and optimism in people, and is killing himself to Skill against the raiders. He believes Regal has learned his lesson at the start of the book. He doesn't see the king's slow failure until halfway through the book.

Chade is conditioned to think of himself only as a tool. He won't act for the king, only at the king's word.

The Fool has no political power except a drugged up invalid king. He takes subtler measures and attempts to use Fitz to help, but never manages to quite get it right.

However, I think the other qualities of these characters are ignored in this book.

Verity values bluntness and honesty, but will not be blunt and honest with the treachery or treason of Regal and his skillmaster.

He follows the King's wishes, but in no way does he even attempt to defend himself or the king against Regal. Verity does not seem the person to obey the letter of the law and ignore the spirit.

Simply stationing loyal guards to the king, or having Wallace removed would have helped, and required little effort or time for himself. Would it have worked? Doubtful, it would be undone by Regal, but the mere attempt would be something.

He sees Shrewd's slow death, and is the only character skilled enough with the Skill that should be able to know why. He doesn't, fine, but still he lets his father be treated by Wallace, who as far as I know, is known to be an idiot.

Chade obeys only the king's word, but still aids in drugging the king for the pain. However, it's shown that you can drug the king for his pain while leaving his mind reasonably astute. Instead, he obeys in destroying the king's mind and leaving him a puppet. His tool, Wallace, is taken by Regal, and despite knowing the man is incapable, he lets it lie. He leaves the king in the care of said idiot. The King does seem to form a dependency on Wallace, which complicates it, but still he makes seemingly no attempt to get the king better help. Yes, he obeys the king, but he doesn't even try to help the king at all. There is the discussion between him and Fitz about not using your own judgement, as they are a tool, but you placed Wallace the tool there in the first place. How is that not using your judgement? He's still the spymaster and assassin, he does make his own decisions, but apparently not when it's inconvenient for the plot. I do think, though, that if Chase were trained in skill, he would have seen the slow assassination from the coterie, but even without that training, he doesn't mention any suspicions about coterie members constantly arriving to touch the king, who looks worse after every interaction? I don't believe they did it remotely.

The Fool has clear knowledge and understanding, although I appreciate we see where he is ignorant about matters as well. He works very hard to improve the situation for his King, as much as it is possible. We see him try with Fitz, but it often fails as Fitz is an impulsive teenager. My confusion is how the Fool doesn't seem to try with anyone else. There's no sign of him working Verity or the Queen in waiting to help the King.

Nighteyes. Why does nighteyes, the bigger and strongest of the pack not simply eat regal? Clear plothole.

I really did enjoy the book, and don't think I'm correct about everything I've said, plus I'm not an author. There's counter arguments for everything I've said, and I do understand some of the themes are specifically trying to comment on this. However, the last few hundred pages did have me speeding through them because I couldn't handle the passiveness at which the book allows its villain to take control. It felt to me that there was never shown even a token effort to stop Regal, just limit the damage after he performs an action. One can say it's because we only see it through Fitz's PoV, but there's no reason it couldn't be hinted at.

Again, though, these are just minor criticisms and confusions, and above all an opinion, not objective facts that I think I'm pointing out.

This is such a dumb question, but I don’t really have people that could help me answer it. I’ve recently gotten extremely into D&D and I’ve been watching a channel that just does TTRPGs for a little over a month straight. That’s all I’ve watched, and I love it so much. I found a comic book store I’ve been wanting to go to, and they have a bunch of events surrounding fantasy games and stories, but I don’t know anything about what they do. Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, and of course, D&D are all things I’ve been really wanting to get into. But I have no idea where to start with any of them. I don’t have friends to play D&D with, for starters. That’s my main obstacle right now. I feel like it would be hard to play it with strangers.

I grew up as a very girly girl, so I didn’t learn anything about Pokémon or DBZ and stuff when I was growing up. Feels like I’m extremely late to the party, I’m 20 right now and I know basically nothing.

I just don’t know where to start with the things I wanna get into, mostly because I’m on a limited budget. I was hoping y’all would have some ideas.

I feel like I haven’t heard much discussion of some of these. But they are all by authors whose previous work I absolutely loved, so I‘m incredibly excited for what they put out next.

Where Fire Reigns- February 2027 

Jared Pechaçek, author of The West Passage

Once, there were seas. Then the god of fire came. He defeated water, and under his rule the world has burned. The survivors live in the wasteland called the Salt, a vast desert where water is priceless and lives are cheap.

The Mother of Waters promised she’d return to save humanity, reborn into the world she lost generation after generation. She promised to die for us, and bring a flood to quench the world’s thirst. Unfortunately, at the moment of greatest need, the Church lost track of her. The promised child was lost, raised by robotic scavengers, ignorant of her destiny. That feral messiah is now in the hands of a ragtag crew of fugitives with no plan to save anything but themselves.

Tomas is a pyric, blessed with the divine gift of fire and burdened with a stolen airship. At the helm are Three and Four, twin cyborg navigators who escaped the wreckage of their last vessel and now long for freedom from the August Union that created them. On their tail is Violet, first paladin of the church of water, intent on bringing the messiah to her destiny. And in their cargo hold is the girl who can call lightning and bring rainstorms. Her life could save the rest of humanity.

What is that girl’s life worth in this dried-up world?

Hero Come Home- July 2027

Vajra Chandrasekera, author of The Saint of Bright Doors

While repairing a telephone wire, Oro is struck by lightning. Mysterious symbols flood his brain: a flaming swan, a red half-moon, a key of bone, spilling ink. When he realizes the message is a potent threat to the ruling party of his city, he has to go underground, descending not only into the criminal underworld but into the endlessly unfolding fractal cities within the city. 

As Oro travels ever further from his home, his wife, and his pursuers, he suffers the worst and most indignant fate imaginable. He becomes… a hero.

Oro's journey forces him to face beasts, gods, and monster-hunters, haunted by enslaved ghosts, his future self, and the wife who misses him. 

Floralinda- July 2027

Tamsyn Muir, author of The Locked Tomb

The princess in the tower is a classic for a reason. Witch kidnaps princess. Witch puts princess in tower guarded by monsters. Prince kills monsters, rescues princess: happily ever after, roll credits. Princess Floralinda's story goes a little differently.

Her witch was an artiste, and she got carried away. After a dozen or so princes died on the very first floor, the rest decided there were easier paths to wedded bliss. So Floralinda sets out to rescue herself, armed only with a breadknife, a good upbringing, and a captive fairy named Cobweb.

Unfortunately for Floralinda, the trouble with the tower is only beginning. On the outside, succession looms. The Fairy Courts call. A princess would have no hope of surviving all that is to come… but maybe a monster could.

A Brief & Fearful Star- September 2027

Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

No description yet, but will be a short story collection

Nobody But Us- March 2028

Catherynne Valente, author of Deathless

A door appears in the air above a pastoral clearing outside a tiny village in the Dolmades region—a brother and a sister venture inside a mystery, and the world as we know it will be changed forever.

Any man that enters is destroyed; any woman that enters returns with a secret—and then anytime between two days and two years, she gives birth. The pregnancies are never natural or predictable, the process as mysterious and unknowable as the children that result.

And of course—with any secret and every treasure comes the hunter.

The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc

Bingo Square: Small Press (HM)

Other Bingo Squares: Judge a Book by Its Title, Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist, Feast Your Eyes Upon This, maybe Nonhuman Protagonist. Maybe.

I snagged this back in July based on the description and title, thinking it would be a funny romp, but I got something else in addition to the romp. Millions Wayland is a cheese obsessed upload who has sequestered herself away just to make cheese after a tragic event. Then someone slings her asteroid cheese cave into the sun. So, she sends a copy of herself to Lenaius station to straighten this out with her business manager, Miller.

Thing is, this straightforward mission is diverted by a host of things. Miller’s greed. Legal troubles with Earth. Private equity. Other copies of herself. A heist. Uploads that are getting seriously weird out in the asteroid belt and Jovian orbit. Guilt. Lust. Trauma. 

Don’t get me wrong. There is a lot of imagination, fun and joy in The Transitive Properties of Cheese. Particularly queer joy. I was taken by the merging of religion (Dionysian cult), mutual aid, assistance and a nightclub/restaurant empire. There’s also some healing too.

And while the stakes start small and immediate (just a cheese cave asteroid), they do expand into something that potentially impacts every upload in Earth Lunar space (there’s a reason they’re called the Millions). And it’s a logical progression from my viewpoint. 

And this is all complicated by Wayland’s own trauma and maladaptive coping techniques. She exiled herself. This visit pries at the edges of her boundaries and where she tries to avoid. The problem is, there are other copies of her on station and they’ve gone down different paths. Hettie has gotten heavily into mutual aid, religion and sensuality. And she’s not as sneaky as she likes to think.

Miller isn’t as slick as he likes to think either. He’s entangled in legal proceedings on Earth with a private equity firm that bought the biotech lab (whose techniques they used to upload) and has pressed the claim that he and all the Millions are derivative from the technology and that they are property. For me, this gets into what a lot of AI boosters want - to own people or their equivalents - saying the quiet part out loud.

This is a fun good book, a quick, easy read that slides some other things down with the entertainment and popcorn. Also: disguised cheese based puns. I’ll give it 8 stars easy. 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

Suggested for: transhuman and posthuman SF fans; trans and queer SF fans, fans of the lighter side of Eclipse Phase.

'She Dreams in Blood' by mike r fletcher, page 89.

the context of this scene is that one character chops the head off of a big lizard, and this is how another character reacts to it:

"Well," said Bren, "I do belive that was the second time in my life i stopped thinking about oral sex." He patted me on the back as if to congratulate me on an impressive feat. "I may have also crapped myself a little". Shifting position with a look of intense concentration, he added, "Nope. Just a sudden and violent fart".

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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^{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.

Welcome to today’s session of Short Fiction Book Club! We’re glad you’ve joined us. If you’re new here, we’re excited to have you! We talk about speculative short fiction on Wednesdays here on r/Fantasy.

Today’s 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.

Upcoming Session

Our next session will be hosted by u/sarahlynngrey on Wednesday, November 4th:

It’s been a bleak year for a lot of people, and I think we can all agree that we could use a little less despair around here. Please join us for Survival is Insufficient: Hopeful SFF.

This session was inspired by a comment a few seasons back, when someone asked if we could please read some slightly happier stories. Absolutely, we thought to ourselves! Sure thing. This will be so easy! Reader, it was not easy. It turns out a lot of great SFF short fiction relies on depressing premises and the turn of the knife to really make an impact.

In fact, it was so difficult that I found two amazing stories, compiled a great list of ideas for story number 3, and then promptly forgot what month my session was in. I will be turning to my partners in short fiction crime to finalize the slate over the next few days, and will add the details as a comment to this post. Please stay tuned!

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!

Hello

I have just finished the six books of Elder Enpire and, though I certainly object to certain aspects of it (mainly the blatant Shera/ consultant guild author favoritism), I greatly enjoyed the magic system and the intricate politics bot only of the guilds, but also the relationships between the Elders, how they are not always 100% damaging if you play your cards right, etc.

Could you recommend a book series with similar elements? Thanks a lot.

This is my third year participating in the Fantasy Bingo, and honestly, it has helped me rediscover my love of reading. It's also encouraged me to branch out into different authors and genres instead of sticking to my old favorites. This year I found some real gems, so I'd like to share my thoughts and recommendations with the lovely people of r/Fantasy.

Today I'll be covering the second row. Here we go!

1. The Afterlife

Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey – 3.5/5

The story was quite original, but ultimately not really my style. It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up enjoying the second half quite a bit. That said, I haven't really thought about the book since finishing it, which probably says something.

1. Game Changer

Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) by Jim Butcher – 4/5

I'm a big Dresden Files fan, but I'd been putting off reading Butcher's other work for years. This year, I finally read the entire Codex Alera series and absolutely loved it.

Its a great story, little tropy but not in the wrong way and executed in a really satisfying manner. Definitely worth checking out, whether you are a Dresden fan or not.

1. Vacation Spot

The Baby Dragon Café by A.T. Qureshi – 3.5/5

I like to mix in some popcorn romantasy between my darker or more epic reads, and this book delivered. It was a little too sweet for me at times, but it was charming and entertaining. And honestly, who wouldn't want to vacation somewhere with cafés full of baby dragons?

1. Five Short Stories

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix – 4.5/5

I hadn't read anything by Garth Nix before picking this up, and I definitely plan to read more of his now that I've discovered this gem.

The reason I picked it up in the first place is admittedly a bit silly: one of my kids is named Fitz. Luckily, the book turned out to be excellent. The stories, characters, and world are wonderfully original, and by the end I found myself wanting much more. It feels as though we've only scratched the surface of a fascinating story.

This book deserves far more attention than it gets. I've hardly ever seen it recommended here, which surprises me because it's such a fun and imaginative read. Highly recommended!

1. Older Protagonist

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie – 3.5/5

This is one of those books that gets recommended here quite frequently, and I can absolutely see why. However, the main character never really clicked with me, which made it harder for me to fully invest in the story. I'm primarily a fantasy reader, and I generally prefer magic and dragons over spaceships, robots, and sentient machines. That probably influenced my rating more than any shortcomings of the book itself.

I'd still recommend it to science fiction fans. It simply wasn't my cup of tea.

You can find my First Row post here:

Finished My Fantasy Book Bingo 2026 – Part 1

Thanks again for reading my thoughts. I'll be back soon with the next row! 😉

Previously I have been batching my reviews roughly as rows in the bingo but these are the 5 last standalone novels I am reading so these are a bit all over the place. I have tried to avoid any specific spoilers without tagging but there are some light spoilers for general plot.

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (Afterlife)

Buehlman has been on my radar for a while, so there was only ever going to be one pick for the “afterlife” category for bingo.

The book is set in France amid the chaos of the Hundreds Years War and the Black Death. The book presents both calamities as part of a war between angels and demons.

The core of the story is a girl who has been touched by angels who must get to Avignon and picks up a disgraced knight and a corrupted (in his eyes) priest. I really love the interplay between the party and relationship that develops between them.

This is the first book I have read that blended horror and fantasy and I really enjoyed the aesthetic. Rather than being truly scary, it reminded me of the creepy vibes and body horror I find in a lot of anime. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Delphine spends the night alone in the convent with the monster made up of bits of the nuns.

The story and creep factor build nicely throughout and I found the ending very satisfying. One of my favourite reads of the year.

Circe by Madeline Miller (Substituting Vacation Spot with Gods and Pantheons from last years bingo)

It has been a while since I read the Iliad, the Odyssey and other tales from Greek mythology, so I can't really speak to the accuracy of Miller's retelling. However, Greek mythology has always been a rich vein for storytelling, and Miller does a great job of approaching these familiar tales from a different perspective, taking a relatively minor character and making her the central focus.

The novel captures the capricious and often vindictive nature of the gods particularly well. Circe is not immune to this and has to live with the consequences and regrets of her own decisions over centuries. The passage of time is a strong theme throughout the book, as Circe struggles with her exile and the loss of mortals to whom she has grown attached. The sections involving Daedalus were particularly touching.

As a middle-aged man with no children, I'm not really in a position to judge how accurately the novel portrays the trials of motherhood. However, with both my sisters being single parents, I can appreciate some of the challenges of raising a child alone, and Circe's struggles brought those to mind.

I also enjoyed the alternative perspective on Odysseus, particularly the suggestion of how a lifetime of war and adventure might affect someone who then has to return to domestic life.

Miller has the advantage of working with a world and characters that are already familiar to many readers, but she brings a distinctive perspective to these old tales. The result was an engaging read that offered something new even when the underlying stories were familiar.

Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence (Older Protagonist)

I think it might be time to accept that Mark Lawrence may just not be for me.

I’ve read his Broken Empire trilogy and found it very up and down in terms of quality, although ultimately there were more highs than lows. Daughter of Crows, unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy at all.

Lawrence once again uses the technique of telling a story in the present while gradually revealing information about the past through flashbacks. The problem for me is that the revelations are presented in such a carefully controlled, chronological order that just seems too convenient. Events from Year 1 at the Academy become relevant in the present before events from Year 2, and so on. Rather than feeling like I'm piecing together a mystery, I was increasingly aware of the author deciding when I was allowed to know something.

For anyone reading the physical book or ebook, I’d also recommend avoiding the contents page, as the chapter titles give away a significant plot point. Even without that, though, I realised fairly early that the Bek and Einsa POVs were red herrings and that they were destined to die, with Mollandra being the character whose story we were actually following in the present.

Unfortunately, the book is awash with these sorts of twists, many of which I found cheap (and often predictable).Bek being Mollandra’s real sister (but wait, she isn’t!), the Kindnesses having been wiped out, Minor Remon being Milk-Eye, Mother still being alive, Strong being Sunder, Cela being the Battle Queen, and so on. None of these reveals left me with any sense of discovery but rather thinking “well of course”.

The repeated use of Rue’s death and resurrection also became increasingly tiresome. By the third time, it had lost pretty much all impact, and the ending seems to promise that we’ll be doing it all again in the next instalment.

On the plus side, I do enjoy Lawrence’s prose and dialogue. There’s a definite skill to the way he writes, but unfortunately that isn’t enough to make me want to continue with this series. It has made me seriously question some of his other books sitting on my TBR.

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T.Kingfisher (Feast Your Eyes on This)

The premise for this book was utterly ridiculous but in the best possible way. The story focuses on a teen wizard whose only magic is manipulating baked goods. At the very start she discovers a dead body in the bakery she works at and gets caught up in a conspiracy with ever increasing stakes. The magic in this is really creative and I love the little gingerbread man sidekick. Great for a quick light hearted palate cleanser if you need a break from heavier works.

The Book of Fallen Leave by AS Tamaki (Author of Colour)

I picked this book up as it’s essentially marketed as a Japanese ASOIAF. While I wouldn’t say the prose or character work is quite at GRRM’s level yet, I thought it was a great effort for a debut novel.

The book is set in a world heavily influenced by Japan as it entered the shogunate period. You have an increasingly symbolic imperial family, aristocratic families and warrior clans jockeying for political power, and even temple monks fighting amongst themselves. The first half takes its time establishing the world and political backdrop, before the second half really kicks things up a gear with more and more action.

The book definitely doesn’t shy away from graphic violence, and the battles are depicted as brutal and chaotic rather than just having heroic figures cutting through their enemies.

At first, I struggled to empathise with a lot of the POV characters, as many of them are young and naive. The one I related to most in the beginning was the older Yora, who, having seen his family destroyed in a previous war, wanted to avoid conflict at all costs. By the end, though, most of the character arcs had developed nicely. There’s a little bit of plot armour, but there was still a definite sense of jeopardy for some of the core characters.

The fantasy elements are fairly low-key. The world has gods, spirits, demons etc., but there are no overt magic users. One of my main gripes is actually with one of the more fantastical elements. The demon seeking revenge on the Ten’in, Gensei and Keishi families is introduced in the very first chapter, but it’s never really explained why it waits another 17 years before becoming active again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up the next book in the series.

The remaining 4 slots are part of series or have other books that spoil them so I will be reviewing them in their own groups.

I’m halfway through era 2 of Mistborn and was trying to explain it to my friend and I realised that it sounds absolutely insane and like I’m in the middle of some profound philosophical coke-fuelled fervent dream.

And then I started to think about most of my favourite series and most of them follow that same pattern of just being too weird and complex to explain in a brief conversation without coming off as unhinged.

So my question is, what fantasy series do you think sound crazy trying to explain both cause of how complex they are and how weird they are.

When I first started the book, it felt very childish and I was a bit bummed. But then things took a violent turn and it was suddenly very not childish. I felt better about reading it. But then something else started sticking out: these characters suck. I’m a big character guy, so I considered DNFing it, but I stuck with it. And I’m so glad I did.

The plot has pretty much everything I like: mysteries about identity, some insane twists, a little training arc, and a few very intense scenes.

I’m writing this now after I’ve finished the trilogy and this is one of the books I think about the most. I feel like the plot was buttoned up so nicely and made so much sense. I loved it.

TLDR: the characters suck but the plot, mysteries, and twists made up for it!

I’ve got a real craving for stories where the main character learns magic in an in depth way and comes to truly understand it, not just use it. I’ve just demolished all of the Hedge Wizard in a week or so and really enjoyed it. Other examples of this I’ve enjoyed include books like Ar’ Kendrithyst, the Legend of William Oh, the Immovable Mage, Book of the Dead, and a ton more. I’m happy to read anything that fits this description and someone thinks is a genuinely well written and enjoyable book or series.

I do lean towards longer stuff, the longer the better, but if anyone has recommendations please comment.

If anyone is looking for a new read themselves put a comment saying what you’re interested in and I’ll try to recommend something I’ve enjoyed.

Hello Reddit! I’m looking for books with a competent protagonist, who isn’t a teenager (preferably) and does not make too many illogical and emotional decisions. I don’t want my protagonist to drink too much, take drugs and/or constantly wake up in strangers’ beds, etc. I don’t want their life dominated by it. I don’t want to read about it too much and I don’t want it to be a constant theme in the book. Minimal to no romance, please. No K.J. Parker’a style of competence too, even though I admire his writing - it’s just not for me. I am also usually not that keen on stories where the protagonist starts as a simple person and ends with godlike powers or turns out to be a lost child of god, etc.

To make matters more clear - some of the books that I loved or liked: DCC, Dune, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Combat Codes, RJB Ana and Din series + City of Stairs, the Culture books (Use of Weapons and Player of Games the most), The Works of Vermin, N.K. Jemisin books, Roger Zelazny, R.J. Barker books, Arkady Martine: A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace, Ann Leckie Imperial Radch series, Rebecca Roanhorse: Black Sun trilogy, Blindsight by Peter Watts, Name of the Wind, Blacktongue Thief + Thrice Bound Fool (but not Daughter’s War), Gideon the Ninth, Ursula K. Le Guin’s works, Murderbot, Terry Pratchett, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Stanisław Lem, Slow Gods, Steerswoman series, Stephen King, The Raven Scholar.

Some of what I did not like and/or DNF’d: Hyperion, Joe Abercrombie (except The Devils, which I loved), Brandon Sanderson, Malazan, Wheel of Time, Gideon’s sequels, Baru Cormorant, Octavia Butler, Throne of Glass, Neuromancer, Babel, Piranesi, Red Rising, The Expanse, Asimov, Dresden Files, Farseer, Empire of the Vampire.

That said, shower me with your recommendations, please!

I have consistently heard that pre ordering is one of the most effective ways to support writers. 2026 was a good year for new releases but looking ahead, what do you currently have pre-ordered that we should check out?

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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