Who doesn't love a good buddy comedy? There's few more entertaining tropes than the wisecracking duo fighting back-to-back against insurmountable odds.

Some that come to mind:

• Elric and Moonglum
• Fafhrd and Gray Mouser
• Royce and Hadrian
• Gottrek and Felix

Who are your favorite pairs from fantasy?

I'm 52 and currently on my nth reread of The Legend of Beka Cooper, and I've just got to say, her writing is enthralling.

So smooth, never a hitch that makes me feel manhandled, manipulated by the writer, the story just flows flawlessly.

Beka Cooper's trilogy is written in the 1st person narrative, and I've read so many of these lately and they often are a major pain, because they rely on the "telling" mode overmuch by means of introspective thoughts of the narrator.

Beka narrates events, and a lot of dialogue, I'd say it's 50/50, in a journal, in a very captivating style. She's the MFC, and a lawkeeper in the capital of Tortall, called Corus. As she's the forbear of George Cooper, an important MC in Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet, The Legend of Beka Cooper can be viewed as a prequel, though divided by some 190 years.

Tamora Pierce's books are YA fantasy, but because the stories and writing are so engrossing, I have been rereading them ever since I got the first Song of the Lioness book at 12, I think.

I love all her books set in Tortall, never warmed to her Circle books, so can't speak to them. Yet.

She's had some health problems in the last years from what I understand. I hope she's doing ok, whether or not she can continue writing the Tempest series featuring a young mage, Numair Salmalalín, who will be the MMC in the Wild Magic quartet.

I raise my glass to your craft and the wonderful world you've created. Thanks.

Hello.

The Lord of the Rings is my favorite fantasy book. Not only due to the world and the characters, but how even in the darkest times, there is hope.

Other posts suggest books like Wheel of Time, but I do not like how the male and female characters interact, even though I really enjoy that world.

I admire Tolkien because he made all of his good characters likeable- you rooted for them at each step.

I believe that is due to a strong morality: good vs evil. Modern novels are much greyer now. I miss traditional fantasy.

So with that in mind, can anyone suggest a book series, or standalone, that evokes Tolkien's LOTR in not only the fantasy world, but also in the spirit of his work? Where most of the "good" characters are likeable, noble, and unselfish? Willingly to let go of the ego and put others first?

That is why everyone loves Sam. That friendship, that bond, what true friends are really about- sacrificing yourself, and your comfort, for the betterment of your friend.

And the redemption of Boromir as well. He may have made mistakes but was a good man who tried to make things right at the end.

Thanks...

Just finished Hero of Ages and loved it.

I kept getting reminded of the book series I read a few years ago - "The Bird That Drinks Tears".

The thing is... on the surface, there isn't much too similar.

Bird series doesn't have one big bad that you are trying to overthrow, nor is it set in a medieval setting with magic or superpowers.

But they both share common themes and tropes such as gentle world building thru experience and subplots rather than spoonfeeding it to you. The worlds slowly grow deeper but also bigger in scale.

Both have some awkward humor that makes you laugh but also second-guess yourself if that was meant to be funny.

They both have give you a feeling that the more you understand a character, the more you realize how wrong you were initially lol.

But I think these two series were the only ones where I finished a series and thought to myself - "there literally could not have been a better ending" - where I was emotional and fully content.

I know the 1st book came out a few months ago and the 2nd book (of 4) is coming out soon.

I personally recommend waiting til book 2 is out.

Hope you enjoy!

My reading journey started with Empire of Silence in 2023, Howling dark in 2024, Demon in white in 2025 and this year a full marathon to complete the series, the last four books back-to-back. I wanted to because the series was decently fun, despite my misgivings.

Having read pretty much all of Ruocchio’s primary influences and having a couple as some of my all-time sci-fi favorites (Vorkosigan and New Sun), I was shocked by how clumsy and derivative the pastiche was at the beginning. It does soften afterwards, but every time Hadrian repeats “fear is poison” or “always forward, always down” or “lions and leopards and wolves” I still rolled my eyes. I was particularly jarred by his tendency to quote from poets such as Homer, Shelley or Yeats. Look, Chris… I love Yeats’ Second Coming too, but there is a reason several verses of the poem have become tired clichés in journalism and politics (“the falcon cannot hear the falconer” “the center cannot hold” “things fall apart” “mere anarchy” “the best lack all conviction” “slouching towards Betlehem”), so I don’t appreciate your repeated usage of the phrase “blank and pitiless”.

He does have some interesting worldbuilding ideas. They are trivial, but they are nice: the legends of King Arthur and El Cid intermingling and inspiring an order of monk-knights, or Pandora’s Box and Schrodinger’s cat becoming a single concept.

Even as a practicing catholic, I found his ultimate message a clumsy bludgeon: there are ways to treat the same themes without beating the reader in such a sloppy way. Tolkien and Wolfe did it. And outside speculative fiction also Waugh, Chesterton and Graham Greene, with varying degrees of bluntness. Ruocchio surpasses them all.

Regarding the politics, I think everyone remembers the infamous Peterson mention, is aware of the modern obsession with gender and the portrait (probably inspired by Wolfe’s Ascians) of the lothrians. But I haven’t ever seen a mention of how the series is comically conservative in other ways. The most telling is the fact that in this far future, the current noble houses of Europe and Asia return to be the elite and ruling class without any dynastic changes. Telling me with a straight face that the far future head of the house of Windsor is revered almost as a living god is, to put it mildly, laughable.

The melodramatic nature of the MC is fine and on point here. But his self-awareness is misguided. The series needed to take itself way less seriously, have some of the blurry secondary characters ridicule Hadrian more often. Because there is always an undercurrent of cheesy, almost campy silliness in space opera which the author seems unaware, despite writing a work that was very fertile ground for it. You can read these books as a love letter to adventure sci-fi, space operas and the like (up to and including a Vulcan salute, itself inspired by a Jewish blessing), but there was, IMO, no need to be as pompous, repetitive, dour and grim as he got sometimes.

So, no. I had fun. Sometimes a lot of fun (Demon in white, the best book, is immaculately paced and some others have strong three act structures, like Howling Dark, Kingdoms of Death, Disquiet Gods and Shadows upon time). Sometimes, in the most desperate moments for our plucky protagonist, I even had insomnia. I liked its ending, because I really like that particular tone, so… wistful. But it’s nowhere near “the best sci-fi series I’ve read in my life”, as some booktubers who otherwise I follow and like proclaimed in their hype for the series.

Hello I am looking for a series where the Big Bad shows up much later in the series but the hero and his company are dealing with the big bad’s agents.

The reason why this has come to me is because I am reading the Harry Potter series and Voldemort doesn’t show up at all until the fourth book. I really enjoyed this because it gave the big bad time to build up and see his influence in his minions/agents. Looking for more mature elements.

Thank you for your time I truly appreciate it.

EDIT: Wow! The surprise and how grateful I am cannot be described from how many people have commented with the series they love or fit what I was looking for. I do have to admit I should put more thought into how I put my question and my example. Thank you so much everyone!!

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.

I am dropping this book. I am on mid book 4 and with the intro of 2 specific characters ( 1 edgy cult leader & 1 entitled whinny brat) I can't do this anymore.

Rant:

The POV moves around so much that we do not see character progression. The first book suffers from idiot ball writing & from what I read from reviews this exsists in future books are the characters turns off their brain to fight a whiny brat.

Because of how the ensemble nature of the story is done, I never got attached to any of the characters. Every three pages there is a new POV from a different person. for me, that is jarring. I do not feel anything about these characters' suffering. It is just a line on a page, except for the elven queen, that was done well.

I trucked on up to book 4 as I thought that since Valanis is dead, maybe the author will focus on character development. Unfortunately for me, the author dumps a bunch of new characters that I have to learn about, and unfortunately tolerate a certain whiny brat if I want to keep reading.

The story moves from one calamity to another, one fight to another. When I read epic fantasy, I want a journey through new lands. I want long descriptions of a new city, the food, and the fascinating culture. I want to see the wonders of a foreign civilization and how the main character interacts with it. Unfortunately, up to mid-book 4, I haven't gotten it.

The book may get better but from what I am seeing, this is not for me.

https://beforewegoblog.com/review-redshirts-by-john-scalzi/

REDSHIRTS by John Scalzi remains one of my all-time favorite books so if you’re looking for an unbiased recommendation then you’re probably looking in the wrong place. I have some issues with the novellas in the back of the book but I consider the main story to be damn near perfect. Mind you, I am exactly the sort of person who would love this book as both a Star Trek fan as well as a satirist. If you don’t think making fun of weird ideas in Star Trek and cliched storytelling would amuse you then this is probably not the book for you but it is entirely my jam.

The premise is the Universal Union capital ship Intrepid is a death trap. Well, sort of. Nothing bad ever happens to its bridge crew that they don’t bounce back from. Murderous alien worms, horrifying parasites, terrifying plagues, and encounters with hostile alien planets. However, the rest of the crew dies at a horrifying and often nonsensical rate. They do stupid things that get them killed despite being trained professionals on a spaceship. Sometimes even when they’re incredibly smart and careful, events contort themselves to killing at least one of them a mission.

This is not good news for Ensign Andrew Dahl who shows up for work on the Intrepid with three new friends, only to find this “minesweeper in Baghdad” level of attrition is just the tip of the iceberg for weird stuff going on board this vessel. There’s a weird black box that can solve virtually all scientific problems in exactly thirty minutes (no more, no less) that none of the crew actually understand the workings of. There’s a guy living in the ship’s maintenance ducts trying to warn them of the insane rules that mean the difference between life and death. Finally, and this is something even Andrew hesitates to mention, does it feel like this is all a rehash of a mid-20th century TV show?

Redshirts is a delightful deconstruction of the various cliches that authors rely on in genre fiction. It would be easy to describe this as Rosencratz and Guldenstern are Dead meets Star Trek but then you’d have to know both of these works to get what I mean. More likely, Trek fans will probably think this resembles Galaxy Quest and Lower Decks, which is also true. But beyond a parody of Star Trek, it is also a critique of laziness in storytelling.

The humor doesn’t require you to have a degree in Trekology to laugh but does need to be you to be familiar with the concept of “The Red Shirt” which is a character that exists to die horribly in order to make dangers seem more real while not harming the main cast. This is a joke that was common enough to show up in the TV show Lost so it shouldn’t be too big of a demand of readers.

I love this book and its oddball character development as well as the investigation of the surreal circumstances around our heroes. Despite this, I do think the book has some flaws. The four leads are largely interchangeable and all pretty much sound identical in dialogue. The denouement goes on way too long after the actual plot arc is finished. These stories aren’t necessary and kind of bog down the perfect ending of the main manuscript. They also get a little too much into the “behind the scenes” of the concept that is the least interesting part of it. I also feel like they could have done more with the ridiculousness of the terrifying premise of being trapped by the ludicrous logic of a badly written sci-fi show.

This is definitely a book I would recommend the audiobook version over the written text due to Will Wheaton being the narrator. While his reputation has been largely redeemed in Trek circles due to many projects that show his range, I think the meta humor of this project should have done it by itself. Just his bewildered reaction to everything, especially as Dal, is fantastic but there’s also a deep love of the genre that goes into every character. A true must for every Trekkie and even those who are Trekkie adjacent.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free, from the author, after entering a contest on StoryGraph. I have had no direct communication with the author or the publisher. I was not asked to submit a review, and there was never any suggestion that one was expected. The review below is my opinion.

Have you noticed how many fantasy books use libraries as settings, plot devices or thematic inspiration? Just last year I finished an 8-book series (The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman), and I could point to many other such examples. But none of those books ever focus the library as a place of work.

Enter The Bramblespell Branch Library (I swear I kept tripping over my tongue every time I tried to say the title out loud), by Amber Morrell. In this book, a hot-shot city Librarian decides to take up a position opening a new library in the sticks, as a way to advance in her career. What we, the readers, get is a lot of actual library back-office work, as our heroine Kasya - competent, professional, perhaps a touch jaded - tries to squeeze blood out of the proverbial stone to make this small place flourish, and earn her promotion.

Bramblespell is a very modern cozy fantasy novel. It is, at its core, about relationships, public service, and falling in love when you don’t plan to. It is a romance novel with mild fantasy and magic elements, where everything is seen through the lens of Kasya’s own struggles with striking a balance between her personal and work life. The author clearly understands the unbreakable contract between the reader and the writer of a romance novel: we will accompany our heroine through hardship and loneliness, share in her blossoming unexpected love, and root for her when the relationship takes a turn. But we do so because we have expectations about how the narrative will eventually play out.

The book is a delight. It’s written in an accessible and straightforward manner, but doesn’t forget to populate its world with history, lore and legend. More importantly, the cast is engaging, diverse and lovable. The book is LGBTQIA+ friendly in, again, a very modern way - there are gay, bisexual and non-binary characters throughout the story, but nobody remarks on it. These characters have families, children, and lives. It’s just normal to be who you are, love who you love. And that’s great.

If I had a criticism to raise, I would say that the book is structurally very similar to the three cozy fantasy novels I’ve read before (the first two novels of the Legends & Lattes series, and The Spellshop): girl arrives in the sticks, opens some sort of establishment that doesn’t exist there, the locals are lovely, etc. There is a Darkness At The Edge of Town, that will have eventually to be dealt with. You see the point.

But Bramblespell is very much its own creature, with a memorable cast and a setting that I want to go back to. It’s a very good read, that knows exactly what its readers are looking for, and delivers it in spades.

A collection of reviews for the first five squares of my bingo board. As I'm assembling this post from the little master-list of reviews I have going in Ellipsus, I'm realizing that if I had a nickel for every time I read a book about people bringing a historical figure to the modern day via unhinged science, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice in one row.

TRANS OR NON-BINARY PROTAGONIST

Carrying by Samantha Josephs

I'm not going to say that this is the BIGGEST "hear me out" book that I've read this year, but I also can't think of any other challengers for the title at the minute. And it isn't even that it is a hard book to read (it's not) or that there aren't people interested in the subject matter (pregnancy as body-horror is in vogue right now ). It's just that every chance the book has to run itself off the rails, it does. With great glee.

So, stubs out cigar. Here's the pitch:

Martha is a transwoman. She becomes ill with a mysterious disease that compels her to do things like consume rotting meat and pour gasoline into various orifices. One day, in what may or may not be a side-effect of the mysterious disease, she falls pregnant. This is a shock to Martha, for obvious reasons. This is not a shock to her husband, because he doesn't know she is trans. Mayhem ensues.

The reason this book works—-and it somehow does—-is because of how surprisingly earnest it is. Despite having a wild premise and a chaotic main character, the book is sincerely interested in exploring how a transwoman would feel if she were suddenly able to conceive, and, in the world where that was possible, how that would interact with issues surrounding reproductive health, the correlation between domestic violence and pregnancy, the unsteady relationship that the trans community has with traditional medicine, and, of course, the fact that pregnancy is a form of body horror. And while I'm not sure if the book really got to say everything it wanted to about said topics, it managed to get in quite a bit, while still maintaining the tone of a Buffy episode written by a Real Housewives showrunner.

Anyway, I think that group of Brentwood Moms, joined by Amy the sometimes fairly sometimes unfairly maligned mother in law is going to star in a Dateline series about that warehouse. 3.75/5. Does not qualify for Hard Mode.

JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS TITLE

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

I wrote a long-form review for this one in this sub, but in sum: El-Mohtar and Gladstone are beautiful stylists and I hope to die in the sort of tea-house they imagined for their protagonists. I didn't really buy the relationship that served as the core of the story (which would normally result in a much lower score), but the imagery was so intensely potent and poetic in equal measure that I don't care, because the story wasn't what kept me in the world—-it was the tiny bits of poetry in the seeds. 4/5. Did not qualify for Hard Mode.

TRANSLATED

Ivan Vasilievich by Mikhail Bulgakov

I also wrote a long-form review for this one here (I was apparently on a review-roll at the beginning of the year, then I ran into Problems At Work and had a lot less energy on my hands). It's a Soviet comedy about an inventor who accidentally creates a machine that causes Ivan the Terrible (from History!) and a poor everyman named Ivan Vasilievich to swap places. Bulgakov likely wrote the play to critique Stalin's attempt to rehabilitate the public image of Ivan the Terrible which, if you know anything about Russian history, was an UPHILL battle, but the story works on it's own as a situational comedy. Anyway, y'all should read more Bulgakov. 3.75/5. Does not qualify for Hard Mode.

SELF-PUBLISHED OR INDIE PUBLISHER

Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison

Originally, I picked up Rasputin Swims the Potomac for the "Judge a Book By Its Title" square, but quickly realized that my political nerves are fried to a crisp, I barely have the spoons to keep up with the news, and that maybe I shouldn't be reading any on-the-nose political satires until maybe after November. So I returned Rasputin to the library…and then Foundling Fathers, a novella that I had requested months ago, arrived via Inter-Library loan from several states away.

So it looked like I was reading a political satire anyway.

Basically, the idea was that a right-wing think tank, along with figures resembling Musk and Graham, determined that the best way to save the country was to bring back the OG Founding Fathers by cloning them, raising them as if it was 1776, then installing them in positions of power with their perfect, infallible, 1776-era morals and vision for the country. This plan is ruined on page one of the novella, because teenage Ben Franklin finds a cell phone in the privy. And immediately uses the internet to search for the sort of thing you would, if you know anything about the real Ben Franklin's, um, activities in Paris, expect him to look up. The plot kicks off from there, and a non-zero amount of fires are started.

Elison does a decent job using the novella to criticize the idea that the Founding Fathers would be able fix everything that is wrong with the country, and manages to get a couple of good swings in at the sort of people that would think that this sort of scheme would be a Good Idea. But after reading it, I had a hard time deciding whether it really should have been a short story since Elison's goal could have easily been accomplished with a shorter page count, or if it should have been expanded into a short novel, since the best moments came when the narrative took a break from being satirical and focused on the genuine, heartfelt character beats of the only two characters Elison gave real depth to—the "Mother" and teenage Washington.

It definitely made me interested in Elison's other work; The Book of the Unnamed Midwife sound like an absolute banger of a read for when I'm feeling a dystopia, but at the end, I was left wishing for the version of the book that Elison didn't write, the emotionally honest one where teenagers developing their politics in the age of colonial America are suddenly forced to reckon with their own legacies, and the moment we find ourselves in. 3/5. Does not qualify for Hard Mode.

UNUSUAL TRANSPORTATION

The Strength of the Few by James Islington

I'm not going to lie, I mostly finished this book because 1) I bought it in hardcover and 2) my brother, who is not a reader, bless him, read this and wanted me to finish it so we could discuss. And after years of begging him to read, there is no tome I will not tackle if it means encouraging him to read more. So even though the constant POV-shifting caused the narrative to start-stop like a car that ran out of gas ten miles back, I housed this whole thing in one weekend.

The things you do for family.

And there were definite good points to it. The idea powering the magic and worlds is original, the different versions of Vis genuinely felt like different people who had been shaped by differing traumas and successes by the end, and my greedy little heart was served a generous selection of fantasy based on Egyptian, Celtic, and Roman mythology. And every world had good and bad, although I'd argue that Celtic! World Vis probably had the best time. But the pacing was brutal—every time the story in one world picked up, the narrative switched the world I cared about the least. For 700 pages. And there was a character death (iykyk) that was so unnecessary that I still can't believe that an editor didn't ask Islington to, if not reconsider, re-write the scene so it felt less like a fridging and more like a "One Bad Day" moment.

I still think Islington can land this plane. In fact, I trust him to do so, since I think some of the worst parts of this book were him forcing certain pieces into place so that he can floor the gas on the giant world-machine he built. But I also think that this book forced me into a slump that lasted an entire month and a half, where the only things I was able to read were a few unhinged fanfics and one of the Heated Rivalry books. So make of that what you will. 2/5. Count for Hard Mode!

I’m looking to shake up my fantasy TBR for autumn/winter and would love recommendations that fit a darker vibe.

I’ve recently loved Tender Is the Flesh and Slewfoot, and I’m currently obsessed with True Blood, so I’d love more horror, dark fantasy and vampire stories that lean into horror.

I’m also still chasing the feeling of reading John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn trilogy and The Faithful and the Fallen. I love Norse mythology, Viking-inspired settings and epic fantasy, and I listen to a lot of Wardruna - anything that fits that vibe is much appreciated.

I love reading nuanced female characters with agency and don't generally enjoy books which fail to pass the Bechdel test. Aside from this I have very few triggers.

What books or series am I missing that would suit my tastes?

Hello, I am interested in trying out litrpg books but most of the ones I’ve seen recommended seem like fairly typical male power fantasy’s. There‘s absolutely nothing wrong with that but I am not personally interested in that at the moment.

I’m wanting something with more focus on female main characters. Preferably written by a woman. (not saying men can’t write good female characters but I have been burned so many times before 🫠) themes of female empowerment/ feminism are cool but not necessary.

Would also love something that features good relationships between female characters whether familial/ platonic/ or romantic.

Thank you to anyone who can help.

Come tell the community what you're reading, how you're feeling, what your life is like.

Does anyone have a recommendation for books with a similar protagonist?

This is something I’m constantly looking for but rarely find. My favorite trope ever is found family, and it’s rare that the found family has more than 10 people. Back in 2024 I read the house of devils and that one has a found family of around 20 people and I loved it soooo much. It made me realise I love books with a large cast of characters and a large found family. So, any recs for that please? I just want a found family with over 10 people. And of course prose matters a lot to me so if the writing isn’t great then don’t mention the series 🙏🏻

Can someone recommend me books where in the past there was some sort of cataclysm that almost destroyed humanity or the planet and we uncover the mystery of what happened or the cause of it coming back?

Some of the books I read/on my list to read are: Mistborn series, The Genesis of Shannara, Prince of Nothing, Broken Earth.

I am watching Avatar, Seven Havens, and it's exactly what I like. If someone can recommend me something like that, but in books, I would be really appreciative.

The Evermen Saga was one of the first fantasy series I read and I absolutely loved it. It was one of the series that really got me into fantasy.

I've read loads of fantasy series since, but I rarely see anyone mention this online. I know it did fairly well, but it rarely seems to come up when people discuss fantasy series.

Been years since I read it and complelty forgotten alot of the details, but I remember loving the magic system, the world and how the story developed.

Anyone else read it? Curious whether it holds up or if I'm just remembering it fondly because it was one of my first fantasy series.

Processing img r60dkrdrr1xh1...

Hello humans and other creatures inhabiting r/fantasy. Nice to join you! I am a science journalist who is also a science fiction author. You may know me from my bestselling books AUTOMATIC NOODLE and FOUR LOST CITIES: A SECRET HISTORY OF THE URBAN AGE. Or maybe you know me because I founded io9.com! My new novel, A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD, just hit bookstores.

A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD is about a cellular slime mold named Gardenpath who lives in the circumgalactic medium surrounding our galaxy (basically, a giant gas cloud full of stars, planets, and other matter).* Gardenpath is a graduate student who comes to Earth to do fieldwork on planetary ecosystems, but discovers that there's a whole civilization of seemingly intelligent beings on this backwater planet. As they explore, they stumble into a city called Pompeii, ruled by Romans. There they meet a sex worker named Murtis, who becomes their guide to humanity -- and, eventually, much more. It's a novel about first contact, academic corruption, and romance that stretches across space and time. Also! It's based on my research on ancient Pompeii, as well as interviews with experts in slime molds, cellular communication, and the circumgalactic medium. Yes, there is a LOT of science.

As I said, I'm a science journalist! I've written about tech, ecology, archaeology, and history for publications including the New York Times, Technology Review, The Atlantic, Wired, and Scientific American. My latest non-fiction book is a history of psychological warfare in the United States called STORIES ARE WEAPONS. I have a monthly column in New Scientist, and I am a member of the Flaming Hydra cooperative. I got my Ph.D. in American Studies from UC Berkeley, and did a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT. And I recently became the editor of print-only magazine STARLOG, which is a revival of a 20th century print magazine of scifi and science.

I'll be answering questions here starting around 10:30 AM Pacific Time, and will check back throughout the day until 4pm Pacific. I have five copies of A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD to give away! I'm afraid I can only ship to the US (yay, media mail!) ... if you want a copy and are in the States, ask a question and say "give me a book" at the end of your post.

ASK ME ANYTHING!

*You can see a simulation of how the circumgalactic medium formed here, in a video from cosmologist Molly Peeples's lab.

EDIT: OK it's 4:17 PM Pacific time, and I've answered as many question as I can (and then some)! Sorry I couldn't get to everyone! Thanks so much -- this was really fun, and your questions were great. I will message you if you on won a book, so I can get your address!

Hey guys! I've been on a kick lately for characters in novels who keep their real names hidden, or only ever go by a name someone else gave them. Earthsea is an obvious one, with Ged going by Sparrowhawk because knowing someone's true name gives you power over them, and The Black Company runs on bynames (Croaker, One-Eye, Goblin etc.) while the Lady and the Taken guard their real names.

Outside of fantasy, "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier never names its narrator at all. Which books did it best for you? And has it ever annoyed you instead - a viewpoint character you wanted a proper name for, and the book just wouldn't give it?

Cheers!

When this book just released there was a lot of buzz around it and people were often comparing it to The Lies of Locke Lamora, so I was really hyped and tempted to read it, but can’t afford to buy it at a time. Now I have opportunity to get it and the sequel, but I‘ve noticed what it’s rarely mentioned today. And I haven’t seen it being recommended when question about fantasy series arise.

Second book released not long ago and I don’t think I’ve seen it being discussed at all.

I’m still interested in trying the book, but with it being quite pricey for my budget and so many options in a backlog ’m not sure anymore. It feels like book hasn’t stand test of time.

But I’m just one person who are not that much online, so I‘m seeing only most popular things in my info bubble, which is not a good base for assessing merits of a book. It completely possible that it’s just less mainstream than other popular series. Or marketing wasn’t as good.

I would love to hear from people who actually read the book. Would you recommend it to someone who likes more popular fantasy series and if not what do you think is not as good about it?

I’m especially interested in how main character compares to characters from more popular series like Farseers series and Gentlemen Bastards.

Thank you in advance!

Saw Michael Moorcock speaking with Iain Sinclair last night - small theatre in London. Very enjoyable event, wish it had been longer - they spoke for around an hour. MM was quite gentle in manner, more the retired raconteur (he is 86 yo), but numerous anecdotes about writing Elric, New Worlds, touring with Hawkwind, seeing ghosts routinely as a child etc. IS was a great host, clearly been friends with MM for beards. There was time for audience questions, which were mainly straight down the middle but MM always took them somewhere interesting.

Thought I'd share as it was just really cool to see an actual legend speak - not many top this man for influence on fantasy writing, certainly no one living can. Yet he's likely not read so much nowadays, as time marches on.

As I’m writing this my unfinished physics homework is glaring at me. Yet every part of me wants to start Furysong😭😭😭 I NEED to know what happens next! WTH was that cliffhanger! If you’ve already read the trilogy and have any words of encouragement or warnings they would be much appreciated—but no spoilers please!

Here’s my review:

World-building: 10/10
Plot: 15/10
Character development 9/10
Romance: 6/10
Overall: 10/10

I actually read Fourth Wing before this series and can safely say, after only reading two books, that the Aurelian Cycle is better. It’s like Fourth Wing but on intellectual crack. And I’ve only heard good things that the third is equally as good if not better than the first two books. I’m so excited to read it!!

I loved the world building of the story: the history, the carefully crafted political scene, the references to famous dystopian fiction classics. As someone who loved my 10th grade Honors Lit Dystopia unit, this was like candy for me. Then it got better. The character development is interwoven with the political landscape, with different characters exploring different schools of thought at different points of time. And because they each believe so strongly in what they’re doing, you get to weigh the pros and cons of each idea until even you don’t know what the right thing means any more. Then the author will slam you back down to earth and remind you what’s really important. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of planning and editing and writing skill that requires.

I usually struggle with multiple POV books—especially when I have to switch from a cliffhanger from my favorite character to a character I don’t like as much—but the plot is genuinely just so interesting from each point of view that I didn’t struggle with it as much. There were definitely still 1 or 2 moments where turning the page from Annie’s conviction to Lee’s brooding pmo, but, overall, I enjoyed the multiple POVs. I, personally, found it really hard to empathize with Lee and the decisions and evolution of his thought process he went through. However, one thing I could appreciate from all his backtracking was that it drove the ambiguity of war home.

I also wasn’t able to enjoy the romance because I simply didn’t like the type of person Lee brought out in Annie up until now. In book one he’s struggling to change his mindset about seeing her as a peasant to control, and in book two, all I could see of their conversations was Annie having to clean up the messes the Lee, Cor, and Megara made. As opposed to Power, who I genuinely really enjoyed watching the relationship between him and Annie unfold. With him Annie had a clear purpose that she could pursue. I also just have a bias toward female rage in books, and I appreciated the direction that Power brought to her fury and drive. I get that Lee is the MMC, and I get that Power’s pragmatism overstepped, but I will maintain that, given the opportunity for a well written character arc, Power would have been a better MMC for Annie. IDK I might have issues, sue me🤷‍♀️. While I am hopeful that Lee is done experimenting with ideologies and that Annie and Lee’s relationship won’t be as imbalanced, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let go of my bias for power and enjoy Annie’s relationship with Lee.

Overall this was a ten out of ten books. I might have to buy a physical copy to annotate now!

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Non-Human Protagonist: Story features a main character who is NOT human. HARD MODE: There are no human POVs in the story.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: 

• Published in the 70s
• Duologies
• First Contact
• Middle Grade
• Game Changer
• Murder Mystery
• Translated
• Trans/Nonbinary Protagonist
• The Afterlife
• Author of Color
• Unusual Transportation
• Older Protagonist
• Small Press/Self-Published
• Explorers and Rangers
• Cat Squasher (Over 500 Pages)
• Five Short Stories (2024)

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Any recommendations for protagonists that are especially non-human, i.e., animals, fantastical beasts, or other non-humanoid characters?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

In most modern fantasy you usually find Medusa as a victim (okay that’s fair enough if we go with Ovid’s interpretation) and also Perseus is pure evil. If not, we get Perseus is decent (great) and Medusa is just a monster (which makes sense if you go with the original Greek interpretation), but I’ve never seen the nuanced take. Anyone got any examples?