So when I was younger I read Lord of the Rings, Terry Pratchett and Gormenghast and several others. Really enjoyed them back then and still fondly remember them now.

In recent years I've been going through a lot of classic literature and really enjoying that. Particularly the amazing prose, complex and believable characters as well as the wider, deeper messages that explore the core of the human condition.

I'm a lifelong nerd outside of reading, I love fantasy video games, dungeons and dragons etc. Do naturally I figured I should try and get back into fantasy literature again

I started with A Song of Ice and Fire and really enjoyed the excellent prose, atmosphere and complex web of relationships. I started losing interest around book 4 but will likely come back to it.

I was then recommended the Malazan series. I'm two books in but haven't enjoyed this one at all. People talk about the complexity being a barrier, but it's not that (I'm the sort of person who takes joy in plotting all the particulars of a story in a spreadsheet as I read). There is no real message of interest or depth here. It's written by a nerd, who wants to explore how much edge he can throw at you alongside a videogame esque power fantasy.

So throwing it out there, what would be a recommendation for something in the genre with profundity, depth and excellent prose? Thank you!

I just finished The Shadow of The Torturer, and I don't suppose I'm bringing a new take; I will also try not to talk about Gene Wolf, for I have no idea who he was in life and what he believed in.

As I said, I just finished the book, and even though the first chapters made me think it could be one of my favorite reads of the year, I felt myself becoming more and more distant from the story as I turned the pages. The story felt like it dragged in the second half? Yes. Did I feel like the descriptions went on for longer than needed and yet didn't explain a lot? Also yes, occasionally. But none of this took me out as much as my increasing distaste for Severian.

I don't think all protagonists need to be morally perfect, or even good people, necessarily. But when all women in the book are repeatedly described first by their boobs and then by their face, it starts to bother me. Almost all of them appeared at least once naked on scene, and Severian makes sure to describe his desire for each and every one of them (at the beginning, with Thecla, it made sense and enhanced their relationship; and with Agia, she was trying to seduce him... sure. But I still can't get over how he would always, in one moment, describe the "innocence" and "childish-looking" of Dorcas, and then sexualise her in the next.)

I genuinely have no idea what the general perception of this series is, and despite all that, I kinda want to read the next one, but for now... is been hard enough to finish this one with all of this. Does this get better as the series goes on, or is it at least tackled in any way that doesn't just feel like the character/author has a very plain view of women?

This book was awesome! This was my first time listening to a Graphic Audio and I absolutely adored it. I started it a few hours ago and just got done listening to it and loved every second of it. Loved the main character and I want to know more about her.

As a Brandon Sanderson reader, you'd expect the book to have a plot twist in the end, but I thought this book had an ending much better while not being "SHOCKING" in any way. It was a simple ending,yet very powerful.

I liked this parallel between Gaotona throwing the book into the fire and Shae burning the painting earlier

I definitely think this book had a better writing quality than the og Mistborn trilogy, the only Sanderson series I've read. There was nothing Id change in this book and it is one of the best book I've ever read now.

Well, now let's talk about the audio performance. I loved it! The voice actress for Shae had such a soothing voice and I could listen to her voice all the time, ngl.

If you've not read it yet, Id highly recommend the Graphic Audio. Its only 3.5 hours long so you'd be able to finish it in a day.

That's all Id wanted to say. Have a good day!

As the title says, I am really struggling to finish the 4th installment of the series, and I'm not one to complain about length or plot, not that the plot is weak. But I think there is a pacing issue for me, the pace is way too slow.

My question is, is it worth powering through?

Forget plot, character, and worldbuilding: which authors publishing post-2020 have excellent writing/prose? I'm thinking writing that is reminiscent of old school fantasy like Tad Williams and Robin Hobbs or Paula Volsky, or even GRRM, writing that is dense, or clever, or beautiful. I feel like a lot of modern fantasy, under the influence of fast-paced YA, leans towards sparse, serviceable writing.

I'd say Ava Reid is an example of a modern fantasy writer who has strong, stylistic, and beautiful prose. I think Tasha Suri had it in her first two novels, but lost it in The Jasmine Throne series.

This is something I’ve only really started noticing recently, but my taste in book covers seems to have changed quite a lot.

I used to really like the UK Cosmere covers. I loved how sleek and minimalist they looked, and especially how well they all matched on a shelf. Each series/world having its own colour scheme was a big part of the appeal to me — blue for Mistborn, red for Stormlight, etc. When they’re all together, they look really clean and cohesive.

But lately, I’ve found myself appreciating the US covers a lot more. They have much more traditional fantasy artwork and actually feel like they’re telling you something about the world or story, rather than just being a nice-looking edition.

I’ve particularly noticed this while trying to complete my Wheel of Time collection. I own the first three books physically and initially wanted to buy the rest in the same UK edition so they would all match on my shelf. But then I started looking at the US covers and… honestly, I think they look so much better.

It’s made me wonder whether my taste has just changed as I’ve got older. I’m not exactly ancient, I’m only in my early 30s, but I’m definitely starting to prefer those big, illustrated fantasy covers over the sleek/minimalist UK covers that I used to love.

Has anyone else experienced this? Have you found your taste in book covers changing as you’ve got older, or am I just slowly turning into someone who judges a book entirely by its cover?

A fourth book of three novellas added to the ten book Iron Druid fantasy series. There are several other novellas for the series also. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by Horned Lark Press in 2024 that I bought in 2026. I own several of the other novellas and plan to read them soon.

The Iron Druid Series starts with "Hounded" released in 2011:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XU2PE

Atticus O'Sullivan is a 2,000+ year old Druid living peacefully in Arizona, USA in modern times. His Irish Wolfhound Oberon is also many decades old due to Atticus's special teas. Atticus also has another dog, Starbuck, who is learning how to speak telepathically to Atticus and Oberon.

Atticus and the two dogs are in Tasmania via his special pathways for Atticus to heal several Tasmania Devils from a cancer that is spreading amongst them. And of course, somebody is murdered right in their presence. And, some perfectly good sausages are wasted that the dogs could have eaten.

The other two novellas in the book are good reading also. I would classify them as horror (dark fantasy). All are canines and cocktails related.

The author has a website at:
https://kevinhearne.com/

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (201 reviews)
https://www.amazon.com/Canines-Cocktails-Kevin-Hearne/dp/1738279200

Lynn

Howdy, r/fantasy! I’m Jared (u/pornokitsch), editor, reviewer, BBQ nerd and general SF dogsbody (not literally). 

Mostly, I make anthologies - themed collections of short stories - and my latest, THE ELEMENTS OF DARK ACADEMIA is out now!

This foxy, sinister tome includes twenty-odd stories from the past, present and (possible) future of this amazing movement. It ranges from Edgar Allan Poe to M.L. Rio, Evelyn Waugh to Olivie Blake. Also, Roald Dahl and H.P. Lovecraft and Carmen Maria Machado and Lev Grossman and Brandon O’Brien and many, many more...

Dark Academia crosses a lot of genres, but is very familiar to fantasy readers. We love a sinister magic school, don't we?

My previous books have been about cyberpunk (THE BIG BOOK OF CYBERPUNK), jinn (THE DJINN FALLS IN LOVE, with the legendary Mahvesh Murad), the night people (THE OUTCAST HOURS, also with Mahvesh), Dickensian London, space exploration, the apocalypse, Weird Westerns, and many more. 

As well as anthologies, I also edit the weekly SHELFIES newsletter with Lavie Tidhar. It is a weekly peek at other people's bookshelves. And I've just been announced as one of the new editors of the award-winning ParSec magazine.

Over the years, I've written about Very Important Topics such as barbecue (I take BBQ very seriously), Gossip Girl, publishing, and the squidpocalypse. I review books as well, and am supposed to be writing one today (argh), but am procrastinating.

Want to talk about dark academia or BBQ? Bookshelves or anthologies? Anything else? AMA!

I've noticed that many video games, manga, manhwa, anime, and isekai novels explore the classic theme of a group or party of (summoned) heroes facing off against a Demon King or Demon Lord and his elite four, or some other number of high-ranking generals.

According to my research, the four demon generals are most likely based on the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Buddhist mythology.

And in many comments across various platforms, the view is expressed that the influential JRPG *Dragon Quest* established this entire popular adventure or sword & sorcery sub trope.

But is that actually true? What are your thoughts?

Hello👋🏻

I’m looking for fantasy recommendations with the dynamic of a captive princess or princess from a foreign/conquered kingdom living at court of her enemy kingdom and navigating diplomacy there. I really liked Saga’s dynamic from the ashen series (Kidnapped when her kingdom was conquered and assimilated into their royal family) and looking for more like that. Romance a plus, but not necessary. Just want it to be the main character or plot.

Hello everyone,

I just finished reading the Tapestry of Fate and I couldn’t help but notice the connections between some aspects of Chakraborty’s story and The Odyssey. Of course there are a lot of differences and I appreciate the reinterpretation of the story, but I as soon as I read that she was going to an island with a witch who stranded sailors and none left alive, I immediately thought of Circe. Did anyone else have that thought and then continued making connections?

My main gripe and constant gripe with so many stories is that they rely on people not communicating when it is not in their character to do so. In this case, it bothered me that Dalila didn’t tell Amina about the illness, but I think it was far more so in line with the character than it usually is. Unfortunately quite a bit relied on this plot point.

Also I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on the story.

Welcome to the November 2026 HEA Book Club nomination thread! This month's theme is Asian fantasy romance!

For this month's theme, books should feature an Asian protagonist who lives in an Asian culture/world. (Asian-coded protagonist in a fantasy-Asian setting is also fine.) The author should be Asian or able to write Asian stories respectfully.

Please remember that you can nominate stories from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia (Middle East). We have so many options!!

Nominations

• Make sure HEA has not read a book by the author previously. You can check this Goodreads shelf. You can nominate an author that was read by a different book club, though.

• Leave one book suggestion per top comment. Please include title, author, and a short summary or description. (You can nominate more than 1 if you like, just put them in separate comments.)

• Please include bingo squares if possible.

I will leave this thread open for 2 days, and compile the top results into a Google poll to be posted on Thursday, 03-Sep-2026. Have fun!

Reminders:

This month (September 2026), we're reading Celestially Yours by Al Hess&restrict_sr=on&sort=new). The midway discussion will be next Thursday, 10-Sep-2026.

What is the HEA Book Club? Every odd month, we read a fantasy romance book and discuss! You can read about it in our reboot thread here.

The Last Human by Zack Jordan 

Bingo Square: Nothing for 2026, Space Opera for 2024

So, I’ve joined another IRL SF book club and this one I read in the hopes I could finish in time. And I just did. Was it worth it? Maybe?

I debated sharing this reivew, but decided I should.

The backmatter summarizes the plot better than I could, even if it does spoil the latter portions of the book a bit.

But we start with Sarya the Daughter, adopted daughter of Shenya the Widow, on the remote station or Watertower in the Network. It sets the scene, establishes what’s going on, then very, very quickly, upsets the applecart. A bounty hunter named Hood attempts to abduct her and things spring off from there.

This book felt like three books welded together. The openings of various chapters which felt kind of like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, or maybe Space Opera. Then there were the portions on Water Tower and on the Riptide. They felt like “We're going on an adventure!" type of space opera. Then there were the philosophical portions which could have been interesting getting into free will in the face of intelligences much greater than yours. Does free will exist in the face of that? Maybe. Three books badly joined. 

Honestly, I found the first third of the book kind of hard to read. Maybe part of it was the character of Sarya - I mean Jordan does get adolescents down pretty well here. She felt thirteen or so. But I also wanted her to stop bloody running.

After she gets on board the Riptide with the Hood’s former captives, things get interesting again, but eventually descends into Olaf Stapledon philosophy. Or ascends, if that’s your jam.

Related to the latter parts of the book, every time Sarya spoke with a higher level intelligence, they lied to her. Then as soon as she spoke to another high level intelligence, they lied to her again and immediately changed her mind again. Which is a bit like how she dealt with the lower level intelligences on Water Tower. There's no self awareness on her part there, looking at what's happening to her, and realize that's what she did. 

There is some neat worldbuilding - the Network and its uncountable species are one of them. The sense of scale and time was another. The Widows - Shenya’s species were fascinating and I kind of wish we’d had more of them and their culture. And their conflict with humanity.

One more aspect of the worldbuilding I enjoyed was the Tiers 1 through 5, each one 12 times smarter than the one below it. Tier Two is the minimum for Network membership. I liked it because it reminded me of Fire Upon the Deep and Orion’s Arm and their toposophic levels, but it didn’t take itself so seriously.

I’ll also say part of the charm was how Shenya adopted Sarya. Literally the fighting human spirit charmed her. But Jordan didn’t soften the problems of that parent child relationship either. Sarya is deeply traumatized - between the encounter with Shenya to Shenya’s missteps while raising her. Still, there is love there.

Not a bad book, but I had to force myself to keep moving. I wouldn’t have chosen this on my own, so in that regard the book club is doing what is needed - moving me out of my comfort zone.

Overall, I’ll give it 6 stars - for being amusing (even if it did try a little too hard), the worldbuilding and the relationship between mother and daughter. ★★★★★★

Also, for what it's worth, check out the webcomic, The Last Human. It's amusing and I think better done than the novel.

We're continuing our readalong with The Farthest Shore for September. Please read Chapters 1-6 for the Midway Discussion on September 15.

In this third book in the Earthsea series, darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: The world and its wizards are losing their magic. But Ged Sparrohawk—Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord—is determined to discover the source of this devastating loss.

Aided by Enlad’s young Prince Arren, Ged embarks on a treacherous journey that will test their strength and will. Because to restore magic, the two warriors must venture to the farthest reaches of their world—and even beyond the realm of death.

Feel free to use the comments below to discuss any non-spoilery thoughts you have about the upcoming book.

The Farthest Shore counts for these r/Fantasy 2026 Bingo squares:

• r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book (HM if you comment here!)
• Middle Grade
• Published in the 70s (HM)
• Older Protagonist (probably HM)
• Potentially the subjective squares (Judge a Book by its Title, Vacation Spot)

Let me know if I've missed any squares!

September schedule

• Midway Discussion - Sep 15 (Ch. 1 - 6)
• Final Discussion - Sep 30

Remaining series schedule

• October - Tehanu (Midway: Chapters 1-7)
• November - Tales from Earthsea (Midway: The Finder and Darkrose and Diamond)
• December - The Other Wind (Midway: Chapters 1-3)

I'll start by saying I'm a fan of KJ Parker - I've enjoyed a number of his short stories and very much liked his Siege trilogy (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City et al). I like his writing style a lot, I'm an engineer myself, a big fan of other first-person viewpoint books with logical protagonists like The Martian, so I'm very much seemingly the target audience for his Devices trilogy.

And yet... it didn't work for me. I slogged through the first book and ended up buying and starting the second but abandoned it after getting about 20% of the way in. I tend to enjoy a wide array of styles and topics and tend to stick to well-reviewed authors and books, so it's rare for me to give up a book part-way through, especially from an author I've previously enjoyed.

I can pretty much say exactly what my problem is. Parker has a very specific style of internal dialog for his viewpoint characters: deeply logical, sardonic, and somewhat fatalistic. And that very much works for me in the other books of his I've read, when there's just one viewpoint character. The issue with the Engineer books is that it switches between numerous viewpoint characters and even though they have wildly different backgrounds and personalities they all have this essentially identical and very idiosyncratic internal dialog, which completely destroys my suspension of disbelief. It's particularly egregious as a recurring theme in the books in that multiple of these characters are meant to be driven by passion, and yet inside their heads they're the least passionate-sounding people you've ever met.

As I say, it seems like this would be laser-targeted at my particular interests and yet it just didn't work for me; would be interested to hear how other people found it and whether this is just me taking against it for some reason.

The Heart of the Nhaga is the first in a tetralogy originally written in 2003 but only just now translated into English. Lee Yeong-do is known as the father of Korean fantasy and people have called this series, The Bird That Drinks Tears, The Lord of the Rings for Korea and I can see why. It’s a group of men of different races going on a walk. A human, a Tekkobi, and a Rekon meet up and journey together to get their fourth member, a Nhaga, so they can deliver him to a temple far to the north. This particular Nhaga is going in place of another who was murdered, and a second plot details the effects of the murder in his city.

Each of the four has a major flaw that sometimes gets in the way of their journey but also a strength that none of the others have. For instance, the Rekon is huge and a skilled fighter but is terrified of water. The human hates Nhaga but knows a lot about basically everything and has his own strict morals to which he adheres. (From the book flap, I thought it was clear he was the murderer? But no, the hate does not interfere with the mission.)

One thing I really liked about this book was the philosophical discussions amongst the characters. Each has their own belief system, and each is regarded as correct for them.  One theme is what makes a good leader? What is it that makes someone a king vs a chief? I liked how the book explains how each party member must adapt to different environments and as some characters were unfamiliar with different creatures, I never felt behind despite being unfamiliar with some things from Korean folklore. The book delves deeply into Nhaga society and I’m hoping the next books explore the other races.

There were a few things I didn’t like. A couple of times the party would be in a tough spot and the human (the leader of the party) would suddenly pull out some information or object that would get them out. It felt far too convenient. The party are all wrapped up in chains and suddenly he’s got a special blade of grass that breaks the chains and gets them out. All are shocked and he casually mentions he picked it up a while ago and never mentioned it. I would have been more impressed if there was any amount of setup for it.

Additionally, despite Nhaga society being matriarchal and very much in power, the few female characters only talk about men. The sexist beliefs are pretty recognizable and I think they do make sense for the way the society and political power structure is set up, but it would have been nice to hear them talk about anything but the male characters and/or having a baby.

And finally, there were some disturbing scenes. Not enough that I would consider it a horror by any means, but they did kind of make me stop in my tracks and think wow, that’s messed up.

Overall I really enjoyed it and look forward to the second one which comes out early 2027. 4/5

Bingo squares: Translated, Explorers and Rangers (maybe?), Non-Human Protagonist, Politics and Court Intrigue
Maybe Feast Your Eyes, but you’re not going to want to recreate it.

Can someone clear something up for me? after finishing the book is it safe to assume Burilis found the web originally, then he breed it for the cats? Or do you guys believe Burilis found the web out in the wild (like he claims) and it was Jalin who later went looking for the true source and stumbled upon the death lake below that black plug in the forest?

I love getting lost in a book and discovering a new world all together. Discovering a new landscape, or a new culture that lives in that new environment, or even a new wildlife/ecosystem, is so much fun to me as a reader. It’s even better when the main POV feels a sense of exploration or awe when discovering it.

I’m actually looking for some inspiration myself, I’d love to write my own fantasy book where the basis revolves around the main character exploring and discovering new things in the world. Maybe he/she is a tracker, or explorer, or even some type of fantasy biologist.

What comes to mind when thinking about this? I thing LotR is a prime example for me.

Let me know!

Spoilers ahead.

Towards the end of the book, Anna says there were two houses Daavir and the daljen. The daljen basically enslaved regular humans with the fungus to do farmwork. Then suddenly in the fifth century, all Daljen disappeared unlike the other tribes that slowly dwindled out. What do you think happened? Could the enslaved humans have revolted, found a way to break free, and slaughtered the daljen? Anna also said that the daavir foresaw what was coming to the daljen with their talent of seeing future and post and chose a different path from the daljen. Do you think that different path was being herdsmen or growing cows instead of farming with slave labor. After all, daavir are the line of the emperor and it seems like that’s what they do.

I loved this book. It's like 60 pages but a brilliant, dark short story.

I've heard Between Two Fires recommended but keen to hear any other suggestions.

Fast-paced, dark and single point of view (no alternating characters). Anything eldritch would be a cherry on top!

Many thanks!

I am trying to find out if a specific edition exists or not.

As you may know, the first ten books in the Myth series were published by Starblaze as illustrated trade paperbacks.

Starting with the third book, the illustrations were drawn by Phil Foglio, and then Starblaze later re-released the first book with Phil's drawings.

Here's my question: Did they ever release an edition of the second book, Myth Conceptions, which had Foglio's illustrations? (I can't find if it exists or not.)

Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!

Stickied/highlight slots are limited, so please remember to like and subscribe upvote this thread for visibility on the subreddit <3

——

This thread is to be used for recommendation requests or simple questions that are small/general enough that they won’t spark a full thread of discussion.

Check out r/Fantasy's 2026 Book Bingo Card here!

As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The r/Fantasy wiki contains links to many community resources, including "best of" lists, flowcharts, the LGTBQ+ database, and more. If you need some help figuring out what you want, think about including some of the information below:

• Books you’ve liked or disliked
• Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy
• Series vs. standalone preference
• Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc)
• Complexity/depth level

Be sure to check out responses to other users' requests in the thread, as you may find plenty of ideas there as well. Happy reading, and may your TBR grow ever higher!

——

^{tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly}

art credit: special thanks to our artist, Himmis commissions, who we commissioned to create this gorgeous piece of art for us with practically no direction other than "cozy, magical, bookish, and maybe a gryphon???" We absolutely love it, and we hope you do too.

The weekly Tuesday Review Thread is a great place to share quick reviews and thoughts on any speculative fiction media you've enjoyed recently. Most people will talk about what they've read but there's no reason you can't talk about movies, games, or even a podcast here.

Please keep in mind, users who want to share more in depth thoughts are still welcome to make a separate full text post. The Review Thread is not meant to discourage full posts but rather to provide a space for people who don't feel they have a full post of content in them to have a space to share their thoughts too.

For bloggers, we ask that you include either the full text or a condensed version of the review along with a link back to your review blog. Condensed reviews should try to give a good summary of the full review, not just act as clickbait advertising for the review. Please remember, off-site reviews are only permitted in these threads per our reviews policy.

Pushed back to February 2027 now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1n6uhxw/daniel_abraham_gives_brief_update_on_the_final/

It was April, then October, now Feb 2027. 4 years since the last one in series.

There is a cover now though:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/orbit-books/cover-launch-judge-of-worlds-by-daniel-abraham/