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.

hello again! it's been a couple years since i did one of these, so: i'm alix e. harrow, author of THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY, THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES, STARLING HOUSE, THE EVERLASTING (out in paperback on 11/10), and a collection of genre short fiction called THE SLANTWISE HISTORIES (out last week!). i'm from kentucky, but now we (husband, two kids, two cats) are in charlottesville, va.

THE EVERLASTING is about a big sad lady knight stuck in a bad time loop. THE SLANTWISE HISTORIES is ten years of my short fiction, plus four new stories (the new stories can be summarized by the titles they once had in my scrivener folders: midcentury lesbian pulp, reverse little mermaid, brothers bloom/grimm, and post apocalyptic packhorse librarian). i only have a couple events left in the US, but i'm in the UK in november!

happy to talk about: board games, problematic 2000s historical romances, craft & prose, the failures of american youth soccer culture, books that i wrote, books that i did not write, the publishing industry, baking, season 1 of andor, our collective existential dread, etc. my 8 and 10yos have also agreed to recommend books upon request, although they don't get home from school til 2:45 and are really into yu-gi-oh! manga rn.

oh, and i'm giving away three copies of The Slantwise Histories (you pick the US or UK editions; open internationally). all you have to do is recommend me a book in your comment :) thanks so much for having me! i'll be popping in and out all day!

EDIT 1: oh my god i don't think i'm going to get to all of these?? it's soccer practice o'clock here, so i'll come back later in the evening and try to dig myself out of this hole that i have dug! yall are so nice!

EDIT 2: i think i have to call it quits you guys :( i am SO sorry--the last time i did this it was very possible to answer everyone! i truly cannot thank you all enough for such warm, funny, smart, unexpected questions. <3

Good morning!

The very start of my journey into fantasy books began when my dad read Daybreak 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton to me as a child, before I could read for myself. But I really laced up my boots when I discovered the whimsical wonder of Prydain and the Westmark trilogy by Lloyd Alexander in elementary school (I loved the art on these old library editions https://imgur.com/kbr1qpk ).

What book or series first got you into the world of Fantasy literature?

Were you waiting curiously in the wings for a little while like me? Or did you start lacing up your boots to join the party before finishing the first page?

I’d love to hear about your journey, and maybe get a few great book recommendations to boot!

I consider Tolkien unrivalled, but reading Feist’s Magician I came across this passage and it’s the closest I’ve felt to Tolkien’s writing outside of Middle Earth.

Horns blew and drums beat, and with shrieking war cries the enemy came.
The defenders waited, then as the attacking host crossed the invisible line marking the outer range of the castle's war engines, death rained down upon the enemy. Still they came.
The enemy crossed the second invisible line marking the outer range of the castle's bowmen, and scores more died. Still they came.
The attackers reached the walls, and defenders dropped stones and pushed over scaling ladders, dealing out death to those below. Still they came.

I’ve replaced spoiler army name with ‘enemy’. What’s your favourite battle/siege passage?

Some stories do an excellent job of making me feel that there is a world (or sometimes just pieces of lore) that is vastly undiscovered and mysterious — usually there’s a moment when reading when I find myself thinking, “oh my goodness, what has MC (or myself) gotten themselves into?”

My favorite stories to have done this:

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — the house is simply otherworldly, dreamlike, and infinite. It’s so mysterious but in a really peaceful way.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson — towards the end when plot points start unfolding, there’s an overall looming feeling that something bigger is happening, something you don’t understand, and while there are still so many questions, you feel as though you’re getting to know the world bit by bit.

A story that also does this well but is less to my taste is the Broken Earth series — really good at making you feel that deep, staggering sense of curiosity, but tonally is a lot more existential dread and hopelessness than what I’m looking for.

What are your favorite stories that do this sort of thing well? It’s basically mystery, but not just as a plot or a simple question — more the mystery of the lore of the world on behalf of the characters discovering it?

If you like weird westerns, gaslamp fantasy, alternate history, or just brilliantly executed character-driven storytelling, The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow is a book you should try.

It’s basically Deadwood meets fantasy with a heavy dose of subterranean exploration. Set in the Montana Territory in 1876, the discovery of a magical, highly addictive crystal has sparked a rush that makes the gold rush look like child's play. But these crystals aren't just shiny rocks, they have certain properties that gangs, governments, and tribes all want to take advantage of. They twist minds, mutate wildlife and men into monsters, and turn the underground mining caves into a shifting claustrophobic maze.

Enter protagonist Mary Good Crow. She’s half white, half Lakota, caught between two worlds that have largely rejected her, and she makes a living as a guide leading miners through the mazelike tunnels. The catch is that she has the ability to hear the crystal singing. To her it’s a beautiful song that helps her find scores for miners but it's also an ability that she has to hide from prospectors lest they burn her for being a witch.

It captures that gritty high-stakes frontier atmosphere but feels very fantasy at the same time with the style of worldbuilding, magic, and factions you would expect from a fantasy novel. I highly recommend.

The fifth season of Short Fiction Book Club is in full swing, and we hosted a pair of themed discussions in October. Before They Wrote Big featured early-career short fiction by authors who would become acclaimed novelists, and The Afterlife offered some seasonally-appropriate spookiness. As always, I'll remind you that those threads are still there, and Reddit is great for asynchronous discussion, so if you haven't popped in yet, go check them out!

We'd also like to announce our first slate of November discussions. On November 4, 2026, we'll be hosting a discussion on Parents and Portals. Americans, take a break from election coverage and come read some bangers. The rest of the world? You don't need an excuse, the bangers should be sufficient. I'll turn it over to my colleague u/oceanoftrees for the introduction:

With Halloween this weekend, The Holidays^™ are fast approaching (or have already started, if you observe Canadian Thanksgiving). For many of us, that means time with family. For some of us, that might also mean you’d rather escape through a portal to a fantasy land and re-emerge a brand-new, braver person, ready to tackle any monsters that come along. Maybe in 2027. Either way, we’ve got you covered: our next session has three awesome short stories about parents and portals!

Remade, Reshaped, Remembered by Sydney Paige Guerrero (Otherside, 4000 words)

“I didn’t think the portal would choose you.”

This is the first thing Ma tells you when she finds you standing in your childhood bedroom, unable to remember how you got there. You are grasping for a nonexistent blade at your waist, completely baffled by your child-soft hands and your oversized basketball shorts and the Paramore poster on the wall. There is so much you remember about this room—the striped pink and blue bedsheets and the essay-writing trophy perched on your bookshelf, the dings in the hardwood floor and the slew of secondhand komiks stacked by the lamp on your desk. You clung to these details while you were in Kapulinan, counted them like sheep when you couldn’t sleep on the forest floor, stones pressing into your back like so many bruising fingertips; repeated them in your mind like a prayer when a spirit stole your name, but—were the walls always this shade of blue?

All Worlds Left Behind by Iona Datt Sharma (Khoreo, 3100 words)

Priya was organised about it; she started planning her father’s funeral in mid-February, so that when it became an immediate necessity, it wouldn’t be a shock. Sylvia, her mother-in-law-to-be, called to say that in these difficult times, Priya shouldn’t have to worry about the wedding, too. Sylvia would arrange for everything and all Priya would have to do was offer an opinion occasionally. Of course, Priya and Adam didn’t even have to get married now, they could wait until later in the year, but if the two of them did want to—

Priya cut her off, thanked her, and said that she would be glad of the help. Adam was on a business trip to California, but he agreed that it was the right idea to go ahead as planned. “I’ll get an earlier flight,” he said on the phone, raising his voice over a background of seagulls and surf. “I don’t like to think of you wandering around the house alone, especially in these difficult times.”

Priya wondered why they were all so afraid to speak of death, herself included. “I’ll be fine,” she said. The daylight spilling across the kitchen floor was filtering through the layer of snow on the window, erasing all shadows. It all felt pleasingly melodramatic. “If I get lonely, I’ll go to Amarnath Noy.”

Strange Waters by Samantha Mills (Strange Horizons, 6183 words)

Fisherwoman Mika Sandrigal was lost at sea. She knew where she was in relation to the Candorrean coastline and how to navigate back to her home city, Maelstrom. She knew the time of day. She knew the season. She knew the phase of the moon and the pattern of the tide.

She did not know the year.

For those who expected our Survival is Insufficient session next week, we've pushed that one to November 18. Stay tuned next week for the announcement of the full discussion slate.

But today, as is our habit at the end of each month, we have a less-structured discussion. I'll start us off with some prompts, but any short fiction is fair game. Come talk about what you've been reading this month, what you're trying to cajole others to read, your (respectful) hot takes on recent award-winners, whatever! Let's get into it.

Premise: When the military shoots down an asteroid heading for Earth, it seems like good news. But shortly after, a red rain begins, and those caught within it develop an intense hunger. A husband and wife are caught at their respective work places during the rain, and have to fight their way back to each other.

Characters: Zoe. A nurse-in-training. At the start of the story, she suspects Oliver is cheating on her. When the rain comes, she’s trapped at the local courthouse, trying to get a permit for construction work they want to do with their patio.

Oliver. All around handyman, currently a sanitation worker for the city. I literally couldn’t think of another trait for him to add here. Oh, he got at some point before the story while on his route.

Sam. Oliver’s female partner on his route. Gay.

Jurnee. A six year old that Oliver rescues around the first third of the story.

Louie. Zoe and Oliver’s dog.

Do the dead walk? That is, is it any good? Yes, though it’s thematically the most straight putt of any zombie related thing I’ve read this month. I wouldn’t quite say it has no theme; the primary locations of zombie conflict are such that they imply a theme of the importance and fragility of the nuclear family in the wake of societal collapse. But when you compare it to some of the other themes this set has included—the breaking point of family in the midst of cognitive dissonance and racism; the compromise of looking the other way to immoral acts in the name of safety; the macabre horror of the beings we’re supposed to aspire towards brought low, etc.--”our house is under attack” is comparatively simple in scope. It’s a depth that kind of matches the depth of the characters, or the lack thereof. But honestly, I think it all works to the story’s credit. It’s got clear stakes, a clear threat, and a narrow scope that helps reinforce the first two things. I’m not a fan of the “oh no they were bit/ no they weren’t” it tries more than once, nor of the moments when it does try to hit emotional depth, but I’m otherwise here for the story it’s telling.

Is it scary? The key difference between this and the typical zombie story is that the virus is spread not just by bites but also by rain. That change really does a good job of shifting the sense of peril. Zoe and Oliver aren’t just worrying about their former friends turned monsters; they’re trapped indoors by an environment that has turned against them. And the regular zombie issues are fairly well done here too. A few big character deaths at the beginning establish some credibility that Schafer is willing to make big shake ups, though the later fakeouts undermine this a bit. I will say that having more vulnerable characters also does work to keep that sense of vulnerability, even it’s a little transparent in its manipulation.

Is it Halloween? Yes, and overall, I’m glad to have a zombie book on the set that’s as straightforward as this one is. Even with the twist of the rain, it feels more the quintessential zombie experience than any other reading, except maybe the CYOA book. The brief chapters do a lot to give it a quick pace, and that’s particularly important in the early chapters where they jump back and forth between Oliver on his garbage route and Zoe at City Hall. The explosive finale when the home stops being safe works well too. What’s less fun is the things the book does that annoy me. I’ll get into a few of those in a minute.

Quotation: Chuck bent, his hands going to his stomach. “It hurts… you know? The hunger… it’s too much.” He lowered his voice, whispering as if talking to himself. “I know but I can’t just…”

Ben glanced up from rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Pal, you don’t look so good.”

Suddenly, Chuck’s eyes snapped back from wherever they had been, stretching cartoonishly wide as his lips twisted into a grotesque sneer.

Ben froze, glancing at Zoe and then back to the man towering over him. “Chuck. Listen, we’re just trying to help—”

“Oh, you’re damn right!” He yanked the pistol from his waistband and thrust the barrel down toward Ben’s face.

Ben gasped, his voice shaking as he found words. “Now just stay calm. Let’s not do anything—”

Chuck pulled the trigger.

Random Thoughts:

--The zombie “lore” here is that the zombies are essentially bloodthirsty, somewhat stronger than real life psychopaths, capable of speech and reason, until they’re dealt a mortal amount of damage. Then the parasite takes over, and they’re shambling zombies of the traditional Romero type. It’s a reasonably elegant way of setting things up so you can have both types in a single story.

--What’s less elegant is how this information is conveyed to the reader. I don’t want to besmirch Zoe’s scientific acumen, but the idea that she could hypothesize the two types out of home-bought microscope and half a nursing degree seems a bit far fetched. It feels more like it’s information Schaefer wanted to tell instead of show instead of demonstrating her contribution to the team. She’s already shown she can take care of herself and dress wounds; she doesn’t have to be a super scientist on top of that.

--As I said, there’s a few fakeouts where it looks like a character has been bit at the end of the chapter, but it’s revealed after that nothing happened. I’ll admit that to a certain degree, that’s just genre conventions at play. Worrying about whether someone’s been turned is a pretty common part of the zombie experience. On the other hand, ending a chapter on a jump scare that’s then quickly defused is a very Goosebumps way of handling a horror plot, and that doesn’t make for a great reading experience.

--Another detracting point here is... Jurnee. The character is fine, if maybe a little overly precocious. But Zoe and Oliver bond specifically over the fact that not only does Jurnee have the same name as the child she miscarried, it’s spelt the same way too. And I’m sorry, but I just can’t get on board on with a big emotional moment that hinges on saddling a child with an awkward name spelling. It’s a zombie equivalent of a “my mother’s name is Martha” kind of moment.

--It’s funny how alien invasion hasn’t played a major role in most of these narratives, except for the superhero ones. It’s the antilife equation from Apocalips that makes Cyborg patient zero, and (in one of the more successful Marvel Zombies series), it’s the Brood consuming Galactus that creates the initial zombie virus. In all of the other stories, it’s either human-made, a mutation of existing earth parasites, or kept off the board all together (well, the CYOA has another option, but it feels like more of an easter egg than a serious root). To a certain degree, the cause of the zombie virus really doesn’t matter for most of these stories, though it can definitely offer a thematic resonance. In The Loop, for example, the fact that it starts as a sort of industry attempt to turn delinquent and defective teens into super soldiers adds some dramatic irony to the proceedings. The “it was aliens” approach doesn’t have that resonance, though I suppose Schaefer could do something more with it in a later volume.

--I do like the idea of holing up in your house to wait out a zombie outbreak. There’s something both cozy and prepper coded to that approach.

Rating: 7.5 drops of copper-coloured rain out of 10

Next: Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, edited by Deborah Christie and Sarah Juliet Lauro

In a lot of fantasy, the golden age is past. The most obvious example is LotR, where the splendor of Gondor, and Numenor, the elven kingdoms and even Moria are all in the past. There’s hope and promise that with Aragorn’s reign there will be a second gold age, of course, but it certainly won’t ever be as splendid as it once was. I was wondering if there’s any series you can think of where the golden age is in the future, obvious on the horizon and there has to be a few things taken care of to pace the way.

An example for that I think is King Arthur, where at the start you have divided petty kingdoms and then Arthur builds them up into one entity, and of course it then falls eventually. Another might be the Ranger’s Apprentice series, where by the end of it the kingdom is doing well and made alliance with old foes, the Rangers are re-established and everything is more or less prosperous.

I tried giving Mushoku Tensei an honest shot after S3 hype, but the slave market sequence completely disgusted me, and I can't understand how anyone defends it.

Rudeus isn't an uneducated native born into a brutal world—he has the mind and moral awareness of a 34-year-old modern adult. Yet he browses caged, traumatized children like he's shopping at a flea market, jokes around and looks at a starving six-year-old with total apathy. His reason for buying a human being isn't to liberate her; it's to force a child to mass-produce anime figurines for his hobby.

Worse, the show paints him as benevolent just because he feeds her and doesn't abuse her, sanitizing child trafficking into a wholesome "mentorship."

Defending this with "it's medieval morality" falls apart when the protagonist's consciousness is modern. You can't claim this is a profound redemption story when the lead casually participates in human trafficking seasons in, only to be constantly rewarded by the narrative. Depicting dark themes is fine; trivializing child slavery for a hobby while asking the audience to root for the perpetrator is completely repulsive.

This is my third year participating in the bingo, and honestly, it has helped me rediscover my love of reading. It has also encouraged me to explore different authors and genres instead of sticking to my all-time favorites. This year I found some real gems, so I’d like to share my thoughts and recommendations with the kind people here on r/Fantasy.

Today I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the fourth row. Here we go!

16. One-Word Title: Circe by Madeline Miller – 5/5

The daughter of a Titan is different from every other god and deity, and acts accordingly.

Great book. The farther I got, the better it became. Great character work, a compelling story, fantastic themes, and a satisfying ending. I loved it and highly recommend it.

17. Non-Human Protagonist: Captured by the Orc by Mina Carter – 4/5

A human girl accidentally stumbles into a fantasy world and gets (you guessed it) captured by an orc. They then proceed to have a lot of great sex.

A great popcorn read. Short, spicy, and very entertaining. The same goes for the sequels.

18. Middle Grade: Het Potlood by Guido Kees – 3.5/5

A kid who loves drawing discovers a magical pencil. Whatever he draws with it comes to life. Unfortunately, those drawings then try to kill him in order to stay alive. With the help of a classmate, he has to find a way to make things right.

I read this one in Dutch, so I don't know whether it's available in other languages. I found it in the library and picked it up without knowing anything about the book or the author. I had fun reading it, but I haven't really thought about it since finishing it.

19. First Contact: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente – 3/5

In order to survive, humanity has to participate in an intergalactic Eurovision-style contest. Unfortunately, the only person qualified to represent Earth is a former rock star who hasn't been in the spotlight for over two decades...

The premise is fantastic. Eurovision meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets... I don't know, Star Trek or something?

But the pacing was awful, and the book could definitely have used some heavy editing. Or maybe it just wasn't for me. Whatever the case, it was okay, but definitely not one of my favorites.

20. Murder Mystery: Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang – 3/5

A murder mystery with a classic Agatha Christie-style cast, but drenched in a Halloweenlike vibe.

I saw this one recommended quite a few times on Reddit, so I was intrigued and decided to check it out. The story was fine, and the twists and turns were entertaining. But I'm more into dragons and wizards than monsters, ghosts and supernatural phenomenons, so this one wasn't entirely my cup of tea.

First row can be found here: Part 1

Second row can be found here: Part 2

Third row can be found here: Part 3

Thanks again for reading my quick reviews. I'll be back soon with the fifth and final row!

Hi all,

Background: I am 32 and I am new to reading the fantasy genre. I loved Harry Potter as a child and teenager. I went to midnight book releases and read those books voraciously. I also read The Hobbit around middle school and enjoyed it. I tried reading LOTR as a young person and just could not get into the writing. I tried watching the movies then too and they went over my head. I found it hard to keep up with the names, places, and dialogue.

Fast forward to now and I have read LOTR over the last 3 weeks and I've really enjoyed it. In fact, it really sucked me in. Tomorrow I start book VI and should be finished in 2-3 days. I want to share the elements of the books I enjoyed and didn't enjoy as much in hopes that this community would be able to recommend further fantasy series for me to check out.

I like: the overall story, the idea of a quest, the theme of good vs evil, the humor, the lore, and the characters. Reading the lore in chapters like The Shadow of he Past and the Council of Elrond were some of my favorite parts of the book. I really like understanding the character motivations, good and evil, that drive the quest forward. I like it when we are given windows into the minds of the characters to see their inner thoughts. I like the setting of Middle Earth, where magic and the might of men exist simultaneously in a world that seems like a distant cousin of the medieval time of our own world. Generally speaking, I like the writing style, though it did take some getting used to.

However, the writing style is also part of what I don't like. While I enjoy how Tolkien tells the story and makes Middle Earth come to life, I also find most of his long descriptions of places difficult to get through and understand. For example, I found the descriptions of Helm's Deep tedious and confusing, and I was unable to picture what it actually looked like. It made this section and others like it tough to get through and rather boring. I find myself wanting briefer, more straight-forward descriptions of locations, and more time spent with the characters and the progression of the story.

To give further context of what I like in storytelling, my favorite book in the Harry Potter series is The Half Blood Prince, specifically because it brings us inside the mind of Voldemort and shows us his past, how he became the terror that he eventually became, and revealed his motivations in a way none of the other books had.

So, I am looking for recommendations in the fantasy genre that appeal to what I really liked about LOTR while minimizing or doing away with the components of the writing style that I did not like. I have thought of giving the Wheel of Time a whirl, but the sheer volume of books in that series is daunting to me.

For further context into the kinds of stories I like in general I will list some of my favorite movies and TV shows: Twin Peaks, Altered Carbon (season 1), Blade Runner, DARK, Black Mirror, Pan's Labyrinth, Fight Club, True Detective (season 1), There Will Be Blood, Shutter Island

Thank you for reading this far and providing recommendations!

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 Price of Power by Michael Michel just revealed their full cast audio for the book. I heard an sample and it's good! It's a startup up company so they will only get better. But I wonder if there are any other indie fantasy books that have a full cast audio? Or fantasy books that have their own soundtrack/music which they actually paid someone to make for their work? Philip Chase did that recently with his Edan Trilogy. Are there any others? Recently The Witcher released their own dramatizations if you aren't aware.

If you don't know what a full cast audio is its when voice actors/narrators are "casted" to voice the lines of a specific character not just read them but actually act them. They also have soundtracks and sounds to emulate specific things happening in the scene. Music to set a tone. Graphic Audio is the biggest maker for this type of audiobook. They've done pretty much all of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere and other fantasy works. Check out their website if you want to hear a sample of what a full cast audio is. It's actually my preferred way to listen to a book. I know some will get mad but that's just my personal taste. I would rather hear multiple actors voice different characters than just one narrator doing a voice. You may feel compelled to recommend one narrator because he or she is really good but I'm sorry it just doesn't work for me.

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.

Welcome to the book club New Voices! In this book club we want to highlight books by debut authors and open the stage for under-represented and under-appreciated writers from all walks of life. New voices refers to the authors as well as the protagonists, and the goal is to include viewpoints away from the standard and most common. For more information and a short description of how we plan to run this club and how you can participate, please have a look at the announcement post.

This month, we are reading Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm

In this lyrical debut, three generations of Palestinian women must put the haunting of their ancestral home to rest, before the secrets of the past drown them all. Our Cut of Salt is a powerful and intimate look at what it means to make a home, to lose it, and to return, only to find it irrevocably changed.

There is something haunting Nuhad’s childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter, strange noises come from within, and residents have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart.

And, in return, the house did the same for her.

After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother’s home after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina's mother, Haifa - named for the city that was lost to their family - reluctantly agrees to her trip, though she knows firsthand that some secrets are better left buried.

But the house is no longer a home. It is a painful, festering wound that infects everything it touches. The more Marina digs into her family’s past, the sicker she becomes. Despite Nuhad’s ghostly warnings, Haifa rushes to help her daughter.

As the three women converge in their ancestral home, they must put the haunting to rest before the secrets of the past drown them all.

Bingo Squares: Published in 2026 HM, Author of Colour, The Afterlife, Politics and Court Intrigue

Please join us next month, when we will be reading The Heresy of Thieves by Mia V. Moss

Very much so a spoiler following.

I just need to rant a bit about how unbelievably angry this book makes me. The villains have literally all of the power and seemingly all of the numbers. All of the good guys are generally useless besides corban and his gang. Anytime the villains are in a corner they are saved by a warband of incomparable strength or skill.

I am currently at the pount where Veradis has held a meeting between RIPA and the Vin Thalum and I may not open the book again. How can Veradis be considered this massive tactician, with this incredibly intelligent mind and the ability to read people and still just let Lykos go? I understand following Nathairs lead and trusting him, but come the fuck on. That so god damn lazy. THEN the Vin Thalum RAID RIPAS TOWER with fucking swords drawn and searched every inch of the tower, and the reprocussion isn't being bound in chains? Nah it's " pwetty pwease be nice lykos".

The whole book is just the heroes running away with the most minimal of resources as the villains have literally every advantage. I thought by book THREE there would be more taking the fight to them. And in book two there was, followed shortly by having to run away or die trying, again. After the villains successfully recieved over a thousand kadoshim. For basically free I should add, like the resistance that they received for the cauldron is literally next to nothing judging by what we are told.

My main issue now is coming from Veradis. His blind trust even after seeing Nathair in the state he was in just infuriates me. It just makes zero sense for someone of his supposed intellect to just disregard everyone's opinion but Lykos and Calidus. He even admits multiple times he doesn't trust either of em "except calidus is ben-Elim". Fucking stupid plot hole that was. "Alcyon is mumbling magic words under his breath seconds before the transformation to ben-elim". Like is Veradis an idiot with no ability to think for himself, or is he this super intelligent tactician? Its like its two different people at times.

I just cannot stand the constant villains being saved from seemingly nothing. Lykos literally bragging about getting fidele back IN FRONT OF VERADIS as Fidelle literally is seething in anger and fear of him and Veradis just goes "ah trouble in love, how sweet and nice!" It genuinely makes no fucking sense. And I loved booke one and two, just tactics and fighting and learning the world. Now its still the same thing, just in different places, and with the villains steamrolling with basically no pushback. There hasn't been a victory for the good guys in a while besides Gramms hold, and even that wasnt really a victory. They showed up way too late after it was already lost and barely saved anybody. The only "victory" truly was Haelan surviving.

Housekeeping: in case you aren't aware this is the third installment in a series so I wouldn't recommend starting with this book.

That said this is basically everything I enjoyed in the Blacktongue thief and a bit more. Full disclosure: Blacktongue Thief is basically my favourite book so if you didn't like that, chances are you won't like this.

Kinch's narrative voice and quick one liners are as witty as they were in the first book and frankly I'd happily listen to him reading and academic report on the speed of nail growth. Every fantasy writer eventually runs across the problem of "how do I tell my reader about the dry details of my particular fantasy world without boring them to death?" - I would argue that nobody does that better than Kinch.

My biggest gripe with the story is probably that it really does feel like a middle book. If you're going in thinking this'll be the epic conclusion to the Blacktongue thief story, I'll save you some disappointment: it's not. It's just another episode in the series, but it's a really good episode.

The plot is probably the weakest part of this book which was much the case with the Blacktongue thief - if you're the kind of reader that really needs to know where things are going and why do I care about any of this, you might struggle. It's not super apparent by the end of the book why any of this matters, but if you can put that to one side and just enjoy the ride it's great.

The thing you don't expect is the emotional beats that Buehlman manages to hit. Especially if you listen to the audiobook, Buehlman's voice acting for the climax of the book is genuinely some of the best stuff I've heard. Sure, he doesn't quite have as many voices to choose from as Steven Pacey, but the acting is spot on.

Overall this is my top book this year and it's not close.

After a very sudden illness I just lost one of my best friends Cheddar. Cheddar was a goofy pitbull mix with personality for days. I almost named him Mouse after Harry Dresden's dog, but it my partner didnt love that name and isn't a Dresden fan. I am looking for lightish fantasy stories that feature awsome dogs or other furry friends. Anything that touches on the special relationships between humans and their pets in an escapist fantasy world, would be really appreciated.

Edit: Before this becomes overrun with Dungeon Crawler Carl rec, I am aware of how awesome Princess Doughnut is.

Listening to the crystalline dragon series by Eoghan R. Cunningham.
I’ve only recently started to listen to books a lot. It forces me to consume slower. Finding I catch more details/remember more than when I devour. 300-500 page book in a Saturday.

My thoughts as I have been listening (spoilers start here):

Book 1

Nine’s going to die and Dusk is going to be punished for it.
Juniper is sending him on the fantasy equivalent of the Underground Railroad.
I hope Lex isn’t the love interest. Was kind of hoping the dragon would be.
Read spoilers online. Lex is the love interest. I’m slightly disappointed, but maybe he’ll grow on both me and Dusk.

These are just two clueless guys literally stumbling upon the most random stuff. It’s like newbie D&D players on their first level-one campaign.
Aaannnnd…they’re captured.

I really like how Dusk’s approach to death and killing is so messy and human.

Okay. Dusk is the dragon. Sort of.

Horse! Also, Lex rolled well for charisma. His charm and deception is spot on.

New girl has problems. She fits.

Tara’s at least level 10, but she put NO wisdom and her charisma is possibly negative. She’s failing all of her saving throws. At lvl 1, Dusk and Lex have no perception.

Yeah. Saw that coming a mile away.

Oh, ho! Did NOT expect the puppet twist.

Tara is has some sneak skills to go with that muscle. I like it.

Ugh! Lex! You are SUCH a spoiled noble. But, that just means he’s written well.

Okay. I’m invested. Going to listen to book #2.

There are a lot of shared motifs, from dealing with the terminal stage of a world in entropic decline to the unreliable and fragmentary nature of history and even the lightly surreal, almost psychedelic vibe of its deliberately vague cosmology.

I'd say it counts if Dark Sun counts.

Recently, I read The Riyria Revelations, and it immediately pulled me in with the great and unlikely friendship pairing of Royce and Hadrian. Then it slowly built an incredible epic fantasy story around that foundation. After finishing Revelations, then Chronicles, I was a bit hesitant to jump into Legends of the First Empire because, well, no Royce or Hadrian. But then I am almost immediately sucked into the series and the world, and it tells such an engrossing story while also fleshing out and adding incredible weight to what happens in the Riyria series.

My question is, are there any worlds that you know of that ease you into the same way, but then allow you to immerse yourself in the world? The closest comp I can see is the Realm of the Elderlings even though every aspect is completely different. It just starts immediately personal with Fitz, and then grows into what I consider the best epic fantasy series of all time.

Just to give you guys an inkling of my further likes and dislikes, as well as my reading history, here are some of the other authors (and series) I've read as well as my thoughts about them.

Tad Williams (MST and almost his entire catalogue.) - Probably my favorite author. If I enjoyed Robin Hobb's other works more, she would probably be there by the strength of ROTE and her deep emotional work. Other than that, I feel like Tad is the modern Tolkien with his prose, imagination, and the sense of wonder you feel while reading, but his catalogue is so diverse that feels like it could easily be interpreted wrong if you weren't familiar with his entire catalogue.

Wheel of Time - Going with the series here instead of the author for several reasons. 1: I have never read any of Jordan's other works. 2: While I enjoyed his contributions to WoT, I've found everything else I've read by Sanderson to be underwhelming. Good concepts, mediocre execution with little to no emotional attachment.

I read a ton, but nothing else as broad or expansive as the works I've listed here, so I'd appreciate your input and recommendations!

Edit: Fixed some clunky phrasing. Also I a word in the title...goddammit.

A pair of anthology reviews means I left the magazines until late this month, but I still read through Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. What sci-fi/fantasy short fiction do I have to recommend? Let’s take a look!

Clarkesworld

Clarkesworld celebrated its twentieth anniversary this month, and if you think that means a star-studded issue full of big-name authors, you don’t know Clarkesworld. They pride themselves on a total refusal to solicit stories, so while this issue has several pieces by authors I’ve enjoyed in the past, it’s very much in keeping with a normal issue of Clarkesworld. 

The October issue opens with A Vintage Kind of Death by newly-minted Sturgeon Award-winner Alex T. Singer. It details something of an AI meet-cute, with a pair of synthetics donning human costumes and awkwardly recreating the untimely death that had arrived on the heels of a broken relationship. Both generate pathos with the personalities peeking out through their struggles to stay in-character, making for a story that’s a bit more uplifting than its premise may suggest. 

Fiona Moore returns to Clarkesworld with another entry in her long-running Morag series that started in 2023 with “The Spoil Heap.” The Mari Lwyd is very much in keeping with the previous entries, so fans will doubtless stay fans and critics have no real reason to try again. But it’s a pleasant story that offers a bit of seasonally-appropriate spookiness and some light in an issue that certainly does get darker. 

The issue’s sole novelette, How Does One Person Kill a Mountain by Shi Heiyao, translated by Andy Dudak, sees the Malawian lead attempt to execute a scheme to kill the mountainous alien that he sees as the center of the death of local industry and the influx of wealthy foreigners. As one might expect, the job doesn’t go off quite as planned, forcing him to consider things from another angle. I’ve often shared my dislike of heist stories, and assassination plots hit much the same for me, leading to a read that I view as a bit overlong but could easily click better for another reader. 

For me, the highlight of the issue—by a large margin—is the extended centerpiece, Elizabeth Bear’s novella The Job. Like my other favorite novella published this year in Clarkesworld (Rebecca Campbell’s “The Floating Republic”), this deals with people going off-script while working on a distant planet and later having to reckon with Earth’s response. In this case, the lead leaves behind a failing body and a rocky relationship for the opportunity to earn life-changing money being embedded in a whale-like body designed to scout an ocean world for extractible resources. But a potential first contact significantly muddies the waters, casting doubt on the project’s viability and introducing friction between the lead, her partner, and their boss. It all comes together in a way that’s absolutely enthralling, with nuanced characters and heart-wrenching moments. A truly exceptional tale. 

The issue returns to short stories with Five Bottles in Memory of Petronius Finch by Louis Inglis Hall, an author who has released more than his fair share of excellent tales over the last couple years. Here, the quality of the storytelling is as good as always, but the premise of making wine from human cadavers is a bit more grotesque than I prefer. If that’s not an obstacle, this family drama formatted as a wine tasting is still worth the read, though it wouldn’t be the place I’d go first for readers new to Hall’s work. 

Natalia Theodoridou’s Roams the Planet of Our Grief introduces a lead who hears voices of the dead coming from a mysterious planet nicknamed Little Prince. He tries persistently to pass those messages to loved ones, even at great personal cost, all the while caught up in his own loss and a society that doesn’t always accept his gender identity. The thread of self-sacrifice to the point of vice comes through wonderfully, making for a quality read, even if the various other story threads don’t always click quite as well. 

The fiction section closes with The Rice Paper Bleed by Tia Tashiro, starring a woman in an assisted living facility who insists that her surroundings keep changing inexplicably. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her family members chalk it up to deteriorating memory, but the reader quickly sees glimpses of the underlying truth. Well put-together and emotionally engaging. Nothing else in this issue hits the level of the novella, but for me, this comes the closest. 

The editorial reflects on twenty years of survival as a short fiction magazine—truly a staggering achievement—while also talking about pay for staff, columnists, artists, translators, authors, etc. It also updates an anniversary subscription drive conducted with an eye toward raising pay (for authors, who were next in the raise rotation). At the time of publication, it was just short, but I’m pleased to see that Clarkesworld reached its goal before the month was out. There is, of course, no rest for the weary, but good news is good news. 

The science article takes a look at the amazing vision and flight of the dragonfly and wonders whether any of the principles behind it could be applied to spaceship design. And as usual, there are a pair of interviews, this time with authors Wole Talabi and Yoon Ha Lee. I’ve already read the former’s upcoming novel (and liked it!) and am certainly intrigued by the latter’s. 

GigaNotoSaurus 

This month’s longish short fiction in GigaNotoSaurus is the novelette People Like Us by Grace F. Hopkins, which tells of the awakening of a werewolf. The narrator tells the reader immediately what to expect, before retreating to a time when she had not known werewolves existed and detailing the agonizingly slow process of trying to figure out just what kept going so wrong every month. There’s very little plot here, but it wonderfully sinks into the character’s perspective. For fans of origin stories and found families, this is an excellent read.

October Favorites

• The Job by Elizabeth Bear (novella, Clarkesworld)

I'm looking for books with a main character who is an unsung hero and wants to stay that way, or someone who becomes a hero over the course of the story and wants to be unsung.

My main requirement is that the character must still be an unsung hero by the end of the story. If it's a standalone book, they need to remain unsung at the end of that book. If it's a series, they need to remain unsung at the end of the entire series.

I'd prefer a male main character, but that's not a requirement.

I'd also prefer the main character to have a love interest, and ideally, they end up in a relationship by the end of the story or series. Romance doesn't have to be a major part of the plot, and books without romance are still fine.

The only absolute requirement is that the main character wants to remain unsung and actually stays unsung by the end of the complete story.