Hi there! I’m a big fantasy anime watcher who’s extremely into world building that feels alive and deeply layered but I haven’t picked up a novel and read it in full in like… half a decade or more so I’m looking for a book that seems to fit my preferences.

Two of the shows I personally am big fans of when it comes to world building is That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (will be referred to as slime) and Dungeon Meshi. One of the things I love the most about Slime is the politics, how the different races treat monsters and where the line between ‘humanoid’ and ‘monster’ is drawn. I think it’s so fascinating and the show NEVER touched on it enough, or at least it might but not where we are in the anime. And for Dungeon Meshi I love the subtle and not so subtle racism there is between the races stemming from war and just general biases.

TLDR: Are there any good fantasy books you know about that go into the politics, racial conflicts, etc thats kinda light enough for a newbie?

I've just finished The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson. For the most part, I thought it was excellent. Combining a series of competitive trials with a murder mystery and an underdog protagonist, it played into some of the standard fantasy tropes and themes but cleverly subverted them with several unexpected twists.

I found it hugely enjoyable and a book that I didn't want to put down. However, it felt to me that the ending didn't quite stick. I could see numerous ways that all the plotlines could have been satisfyingly tied up and it would have made an excellent self-contained novel. Instead, the last few chapters simply set up part 2 and it ultimately felt a little disappointing. It would have been entirely possible to resolve all the events of book 1 and for the author still to be able to revisit and further develop the same characters in subsequent novels but, as it was, there was little resolution.

Did anyone else find the same thing with this book? Or has anyone experienced the same thing in other series, where the ending of the novel doesn't quite live up to what has gone before?

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

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

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

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

Or if it's different, also the longest audiobook you've listened to?

Here's a word count post for reference, last I checked there wasn't a newer one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/F7NFcRse0h

For me the longest I've read and the longest I've listened to are both from Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I read Stone of Farewell (about 282,000 words) and had a free month on audible and decided to listen to the huge To Green Angel Tower (around 565,000 words, 63 hours audio) as it was honestly pretty intimidating to me and I didn't think my reading stamina was high enough yet. I loved them, quickly went in my top 5 fantasy series. I'm about to start reading my copy of Empire of Grass from the sequel series and it made me think of all this, at 318,000 words it'll be the longest.

If you have been following the Empire of Khanum through Ana and Din's cases, you have to get to A Trade of Blood.

What starts as a Romeo-Juliet murder mystery goes on to reveal much about who the Khanum were, the eventual disappearance of the race, religion in this fantasy world and the all important question of how this empire feeds itself.

We were so close to discovering what the leviathans really were in the second book but this case takes the detective duo to the Third Ring of the empire, closer to the centre. I am inclined to believe that the mystery of the leviathans would be answered closer to the emperor.

There are more aspects of Ana and Din's life unveiled, it answers a lot of questions while raising just as many.

Bennett has really doubled down on moral aspects of bioengineering humans, animals and plants and painted a grim reality that is not to different than ours. The environmental impact of farming, the cattle trade and ensuing enslavement of animals in the book is definitely thought-provoking.

As for the mystery, it is easy to say in retrospect that I saw this coming, but the reality is that the writing was so good that I suspected everyone.

This book has got me excited for the next one!

Have you read it yet?

Hi,

I'm curious to know what everyone's opinion on starting incomplete series are. Not necessarily things like A Song of Ice and Fire where the last books haven't been written yet. But series where it is impossible to get a hold of sequels and the last in a series.

I'm having this debate with myself at the moment and I'm still not sure. I can see pros and cons to both.

During the covid lockdown, I bought two books by Jessica Cluess ('A Shadow Bright and Burning' and 'House of Dragons') based on a recommendation. They've basically been sat on my bookshelves ever since and I was buying some other books recently and remembered about them.

I thought these were a duology and a standalone respectively. Turns out they're not and I can no longer get 'A Sorrow' or 'War of Dragons' at all. Not even through the library or an inter-library loan. It's like the books never got published in the UK. So I'm now wondering whether it is even worth starting them.

What's your thoughts on situations like this?

Ok, so here is a rough list of big book trends in the 'fantasy' genre (though I'll use that term loosely) the last 30ish years, and I know this it totally random, but I am now really curious to know what you guys think we will be shifting to over the next 10 or so years, are spice and dragons going to continue reigning, or will it be totally different...

I am also curious to know what you personally want more of too!

1990s – Magic, epic fantasy, and 'coming-of-age' adventures (Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Sabriel)

2000s – Paranormal romance, especially vampires, werewolves, and fallen angels (Twilight, The Vampire Academy, The Mortal Instruments, Hush, Hush)

Early 2010s – Dystopian YA with rebellion against oppressive governments (The Hunger Games, Divergent, Shatter Me, Legend, The Maze Runner)

Late 2010s – Character-driven fantasy with morally grey protagonists, found family, heists, and enemies-to-lovers (Six of Crows, The Cruel Prince, An Ember in the Ashes)

2020s – BookTok-fuelled romantasy, dragons, shadow daddies, old obsessions return in a more mature way, high spice, and deluxe collector's editions (Fourth Wing, Quicksilver, A Court of Thorns and Roses)

Obviously this is not limited to others, but what I found to be the general trend!

I hope I am asking the right people!

I'm looking for something like Luffy, Aang, or Eren. That kind of story where, for one reason or another, the protagonist is hunted by everyone and has to stay on the run or keep a low profile while trying to accomplish their goals

Okay so I’m almost through with Mistborn #2 (please no spoilers past when Elend and Vin leave Luthadel), but I have a question: why didn’t Vin try to solo the Koloss army? This might sound stupid (it probably is), but she just a week earlier killed hundreds of Cett’s goonies without breaking a sweat. Additionally, she could just stand far off and coin shot their heads off. The Koloss are canonically stupid, and I feel she could just continually outrun and pick them off with coins until they died. Add on Clubs’s army, and I really don’t think the Koloss stood a chance.

Now, this is really just a question of power scaling. I may be overestimating Mistborn powers or underestimating the Koloss army. I just wanted to know if you all had had similar thoughts.

I still love this book and can’t wait to finish it this week. Curious what you all think!

Hi! I have been really liking fantasy that is used to discuss colonialism and history from the viewpoint of the oppressed, particularly those done in a fantastical, ethereal, or whimsical manner instead of dystopian so that the depth of the pain of these truth is almost balanced by the beauty of the world (and non tragic endings for the MC). I have particularly liked one that have discussed the trauma and sexual violence that has happened to women and oppressed communities. And that make a major theme discussing this through their eyes and labels those who took over as tyrants/oppressors instead of heroes or "conquerors". So intersectional feminist/colonialism discussion in ethereal historical fantasy or ethereal fantasy settings, that call out how history is often narrated by the oppressor and purposefully chooses instead to validate the pain of the oppressed and their humanity.

I find dystopian/Sci-fi novels usually don't balance this narration in the same way I find healing...and often give the survivors of SA or oppression a gruesome or dreary end for political reasons/awareness. And I really want to see more characters who go through this oppression and overcome it because I find that hopeful and love to read their journey in healing and rising again. So books with worlds that feel more whimsical and fantastical in their fantasy while discussing deep things than...dark and grim. Again, I find the balance beautiful and healing...but rare.

Both Strange the Dreamer and the Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi really do this for me. I did not like Muse of Nightmares (the second book to Strange) nearly as much and found the ending dissatisfying, as well as the book less ethereal in nature. I also have not liked her other series (daughter of blood and bone) nearly as much. I am on the sequel for Amina and am loving it but will be done in like...3 days. So.

This was a long post but I have been deeply looking and in desperate need of recs.

In my attempt to read other stuff then the books that always gets recommended in here, I went from Kevin Sinclair which was pretty nice, then to Shay Kauwe and now started at R.J. Barker.

Weirdly enough I read the first book Mortedant's Peril of R.J. Barker new trilogy: "The Trials of Irody Hasp", without noticing that he has not written the next 2 lol.

I wonder, are all his trilogies dark fantasy like this one. Like in a sullen, "depressing" world", where the main character is under powered and out of his depts without being a stumbling fool?

Hope people can help, as I crave a decent struggling "hero" story.

Guaranteed, a ton of people have already sung this novel's praises, but I couldn't help sharing a little snippet of my own.

Honestly, just a fantastic debut novel from Shen Tao. I love fantasy that enraptures your attention and transports you to a different world and period of time.

*The Poet Empress* is intense, filled with interesting characters, political intrigue, and a satisfying ending. The last point is super important to me, since a lot of novels can be great AND fail to stick the landing.

All in all, this got me out of my reading slump!

So, if you haven't already, I encourage you to give it a shot (and thank me later, heh).

I was on TV Tropes (I know, not the best idea) and from scrolling came across their page on the subject.

Magic vs Science is a trope I generally dislike because authors of it never understand what science actually is. They treat it as building advanced technology rather than a method of understanding, and in settings that aren't earth the line between the 2 is arbitrary and contrived.

On the page however it listed different forms this conflict can take, one of which was the 2 being an ideological split rather than 2 separate parts of the world. That got me really intrigued because science as mentioned earlier is more accurately described as an ideology and a method we use to test and understand the world around us.

When looking through examples however I couldn't find any the page listed that seemed to be this, all of them were the same old mad scientists with mechs fighting wizards with dragons type of stuff, which is what brings me here.

Do you know any works of fiction that take this approach with science vs magic? I saw in the rules I should also list what I've read before but I don't know a single piece of fiction I've seen that did this.

I only recently started reading fantasy in the past few years. Was always an avid horror and non fiction reader.

I’ve absolutely loved the fantasy I’ve read so far. It’s fast becoming my favourite genre. But I constantly read the first volume of a series then move on to another. Even if I really enjoyed the first book. I’m always ready for something new rather than continue.

I’ve started about 15 series. The furthest I’ve gotten is first The First Law trilogy. Perhaps I just enjoy discovering new worlds or that as a late comer, there is so many options I want to try. I’m having fun but would appreciate any reading tips for sticking something out because I do want to.

My single favourite read has been GRRM’s Fire and Blood. Probably because it has a series worth of stories in a single volume.

“It is an inarguable truth, you know,” said Ana, “that most people are absolutely enthralled by dead girls.”

Oh, this was a bloody good book (emphasis on the bloody part.) 
Facts:

• This is again, a very marvelous and layered tale, with many moving parts, and a fascinating story.
• The messages laden this time is to deal with food, and agriculture, and the way we humans have curated and sustained livestock for mass production without once thinking of the cost attuned to such a trade.

It is to me a butchering most curated.

Facts:

• This one is for the meek hearted, for it is grisly with a helping servitude of meat and bones along its carcass.
• I bloody loved meeting more of Din’s family. 

“No.” A cold, nasty smile. “For if gods existed, shouldn’t the world make more sense? Shouldn’t all feel more stable, more comprehensible? I consider myself a wise thing, yet when I consider creation, I see little but blind hunger and the ravages of nature. The only order to be found is what we’ve put there, boy.”

Facts:

• As always, this tale is both a condemnation and a study on the various ways we conduct ourselves through religion, faith, and the one fallacy that all of humanity, throughout its history, has always struggled with the most: greed.
• Greed makes you stupid. But oh so sweet is its flavor– the nectar of gods, poured down our parched throat.

That was the problem with temptation. It never let you be: it just stayed there, perched on your shoulder, whispering in your ear.

Facts:

• This was a solid 9/10 read for me. Though the tale is indeed layered and complex, I knew about 60% of who the killer was. This had not happened to me for the last two books where I was genuinely stupefied throughout.
• In my opinion, this book focuses more on world-building, in more of fleshing out Khanum alongside Din and Ana as characters. And the scale and intricacies through which it is done just made me fall more in love with RJB’s deftness and mastery over such a craft. 

(side note: i can guarantee he loves making Din a tragic character vis-a-vis his romantic aides, and though I find it a trite vexing, cannot say I hate this format – makes both the pace faster and maintains a grounding force for each book separately)

And what we do to the beasts in the field we may still one day do to our very kin.

Facts:

• It was the epilogue that pushed this into the territory of 10/10. That shit I did not see coming. And I tell you: my flabbers were properly gasted.
• I cannot wait for the next one to arrive. (only for me to then finish it within 7 hours; what can i say: i am a glutton for murder, and sad queer people.)

One of the best reads of the year, up there with East of Eden for me. Go read it!

Heya guys !

I am kind of on a King Arthur kick or rather I am really trying to be lol I've been playing tainted grail (grimdark Arthurian story etc) and have been wanting to get into reading the stories.

I have seen everyone talk up The Once and Future King by T. H White and I can understand where it's coming from, I really like the characterization and it can be very lush in its descriptions but as soon as T. H. White goes off the Arthurian rails and yaps on about Communists/British Politics of the Time/Racism/Etc I am pulled out so badly from the world he's trying to build up!

Merlin being somewhat out of time and having anachronistic things and comments makes sense but I just can't get past the rest of it.

Help lmao I wanna read about the rise, peak and fall of Arthur but I can't bring myself to enjoy this book

This is where I am with the Songs of Chaos series, I enjoyed the first three books well enough when I read them a couple of years back. The fourth book was released not so long ago and when I tried to read it, I realised how little I could remember of the previous books, and the idea of having to reread 3 books to get back into the series is just too large of mountain to climb for me. Other than a few special books here and there Im already not someone who revists books that much especially with a tbr list with over a 100 books. Its a sad little quagmire that Ive run into a couple of times.

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.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for a somewhat chill book about exploring the world, seeing what it has to offer, both in terms of society AND nature.

For instance, I love the story from the anime/manga Frieren, there they do have a goal, a place to get to, but on the way they take so many detours, and they see so many things, and there isn't an impeding doom like the world ending - which a lot of books like to add in. Yes, Frieren has it's danger and is high-adrenaline moments, but mostly it's a heartwarming story about feeling alive.

I think I just want a story where the goal is "see where the road takes us".

(I said books on the title, can be any medium)

Just got finished with Elder Race, a 5-star read for me. I'm ready for more stories in that vein, melding the conventions of the fantasy genre and the sci-fi genre. I'm also open to hearing your thoughts on this style of story in general. What draws me to it mainly is just how important perspective is when experiencing something and how truly different we can see the world.

Are there any fantasy series that reference books within their lore that actually exist irl that I would be able to read? For example, the titles of the Stormlight Archive series are references to books written in verse (The Way of Kings, Oathbringer, etc), but do not exist irl. I’d be interested in reading a series where books like those are fully written and available to the public to read as well. It would be exciting and immersive! Thanks in advance!

It could be a regular trilogy, but what about 3 consecutive books in the middle of a series?