I got an ebook reader and Libby subscription a year ago and rediscovered leisure reading after an almost 10-year break (during which time I moved countries, switched jobs, started a family). Most of the books I found thru Reddit recommendations, and a few through buddy reads. It seems I like darker stories, interesting character dynamics, as well as YA and some whimsy. I probably have a few controversial opinions, but that's why it's fun to share :)

Open to recommendations for my next read!

Any hints for someone who likes reading, but is struggling to stay interested in everything they start? I have started the Farseer trilogy, Shadow of the Gods, and a Way of kings all this month, making 100-150 pages into them but feel like I’m struggling to stay interested.

Everyone recommends these books all the time and I just don’t feel pulled in to any of them.

Am I not giving them enough time?

Most recent fantasy series I read were the Keeper series by David Dalgish and Fall of radiance series by Blake Arthur Peel. There were times with those I just didn’t want to put them down and I’m not getting that with my current reading picks that I can see are great and everyone recommends

Since I’ve gotten into reading again and specifically have started reading fantasy again I have grown frustrated by the recommendations I receive.

While social media and booktok type of content are the biggest contributors to this, I feel like the top recommendations I receive are the same 20 or so books. It’s always the works of John Gwynne, Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, and Joe Abercrombie. They are obviously amazing writers and the books are definitely worth reading, but I can’t remember the last time I was scrolling social media or a book was recommended that I haven’t heard of before.

At this rate I feel like I’ll have greater success finding a book at a store and judging it by its cover and reading the back flap to find something new. That’s how I found the Keeper trilogy by David Dalgish which is some of the books that got me back into reading to begin with.

I’m about 200 pages into this and it is a difficult read. It is constantly throwing around new names, characters and locations without introducing them or providing context. I feel like I can’t follow the plot because I can’t keep track of who is who. Do I need to start over and make lists of the characters and locations or does it become easier if I keep reading? I hate not finishing a book or series, but this is rough sledding.

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 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...

Open to similar recommendations akin to my S-B tiers

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!

this is every book I have listened to since nov 2025 when I started Elantris and fell in love with audio books. I have a peculiar sense of taste but if yall have some good books let me know I'm looking for something to start. (almost all where listened to as audio books)

list with a small blurb I wrote after reading each
SOME CONTAIN SPOILERS

Dungeon Crawler Carl 1 – 4: 6/10 its decently interesting but it has 2 things I dislike 1 it has the impossible odds problem where there is no way for the hero to win without the author writing some contrived stuff to make them 2 the concept triggers my suspension of disbelieve way to much for me to enjoy not many books do this but this one does for some reason

this ^ is where I started with audio books and it took a year before I started the next one

Elantris: 9.5/10 I love Elantris and maybe its just that its my first dive into the medium but man is it fantastic and its nearly a 10 but the ending left much to be desired I wanted to see more but the climax of the ending was super cool.

Elantris Short story: 1/10 why does he taunt me this way

Mistborn: the Final Empire: 9/10 Mistborn good, I love the setting and the characters and just about everything in this book.

Mistborn: the Well of Ascension 8/10 both best and worst ending great for falling from the sky and slicing father in half bad because the world is going to end and that just so much world to do. Honestly could be a bit lower because the stakes are just so meh like oh no the city is gonna get taken over so sad just meh but its still good despite that issue.

Mistborn: the Hero of Ages 8/10: it was a bit dreary the world ending

The Emperor’s Soul 9/10 really interesting story summarized well

Mistborn: Alloy Of Law 7/10 WHY MISTBORN WITH NO MISTBORNS IT DUMB

Mistborn: Shadows of Self 7/10“it was even funnier the second time!” is now a joke between my friend and I because I told him “yeah God made the mc shoot his wife twice”

Mistborn: Bands Of Mourning 7/10 uh Idk it was fine

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania 8/10 it was pretty good

Mistborn: The Eleventh Metal 1/10 waste of time

Mistborn: Secret History 9/10 kelsier doing some thieving was cool

Mistborn: The Lost Metal 1/10wayne dies which in itself deserves the utmost distain from me. he and wife lady are the best parts of this series. It makes it so much worse as this is not character development that he sacrifices himself as he would have done the same thing in book one just as much as now, he just started learning to not hate himself and then he goes and explodes himself, yeah great writing Brandon. Another thing is that when the books starts I was really hoping that Brandon would actually subvert the expectations and the vote would pass that could have been really cool to see instead we get a boring bomb chase.

WarBreaker 7.5/10 second half is pretty good But I think brandon is allergic to satisfying endings “don’t worry our ultimate stone warriors will defeat the army” book ends. Also it was extremely cheesy when he said “I was the WarBreaker the whole time!”

Stormlight Archives: The Way of Kings 8/10loooots of world building

Stormlight Archives: Words of Radiance 7/10 more world building and boring fight scenes I am not much fan of fight scenes

Stormlight Archives: Oathbringer 3/10 the longest slog I have ever been though for a book. Good ending though

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 7.5/10 quite good, its interesting and characters are only so-so but good ending(very good for Mr. sand otherwise known as unsatisfying endings McGee) and interesting magic system for that world.

Tress of the Emerald Sea 10/10truly peak not much else to say he finally wrote a good satisfying story (I think sanderson is allergic to satisfying endings he must have been in pain writing this fantastic one)

White Sand 6.5/10 pretty boring but like not the worst thing ever.

Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel 1: the greatest work of fiction to ever grace this planet 11/10. while this is the greatest work of fiction to ever grace this planet, I will say that much of the enjoyment is after understanding Chinese tropes and genres around cultivation and such, so it is a somewhat niche the greatest work of fiction to ever grace this planet.

Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel 2: 10/10nuff said its peak

Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel 3: 8/10the weakest of the books which is still fantastic as it focuses more on fighting but the ending was amazing when joe comes with the big man pants on and puts everyone in their place

Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel 4 9/10

Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel 5 11/10 yet again I see the peak and it is beautiful

Tree of Aeons 1: 4/10 pretty boring and hard to get invested in anything

Tree of Aeons 2: 8/10 starts to get interesting! The management aspect is much better than I thought, and the fight scenes are not as bad as I thought they would be perhaps I just don’t like fighting when it is drawn out. Only annoying thing is how rude Aeon is to Alexis and the other hero’s ghost honestly he is just being a jerk for the sake of it.

Tree of Aeons 3: 8.5/10 his commitment to keeping the small part that is human is cool, and the ending was a pretty cool send off for jura O7.

Tree of Aeons 4: 8 can’t remember the specifics of books 4-7 but they where all good.

Tree of Aeons 5: 8

Tree of Aeons 6: 8.5

Tree of Aeons 7: 8.5

Chrysalis 1: 4.5 boring just a bunch of fighting nothing interesting I dropped it

Cradle 1: 7alright does a pretty generic cultivation book but it does it well with an interesting protag, I do hope he is not always forever the weakest in the room, but I feel like that’s where its aiming

Cradle 2-12: 9/10 honestly, I did these in very rapid succession so it’s hard to differentiate when one starts and one ended but in total fantastic series and Travis Baldree is now my favorite narrator. Lovable characters, amazing world and story just all around fantastic. Only complaint would be that it did not suck me into the world like some other stories did some just have that spark and this was fantastic even without it.

Beware of Chicken AU soaring Heavens Isle 11/10: once again the greatest author decides to write peak. Guy gets a flying boat too.

Mother of Learning: ?/10 really wanted to start this one, but the narrator was far too British to stand. Dropped (perhaps will read at some point)

We are Legion: 2/10 dropped dumb world does not believe in the afterlife.

Path of Ascension: 3/10 very cool concept but the execution was abysmal, particularly the narrator and certain parts of the world did not make sense. Also, it really annoyed me after coming off of cradle where the mc was fantastic and constantly bettering himself to the mc of this TURNS DOWN learning any hobby besides cooking because they are too “boring” ticked me off.

Return of the Runebound Professor 1: 4/10 interesting enough but man is it slow it just drags on.

Return of the Runebound Professor 2: 4/10 same issue not interesting enough to continue dropped.

Battlemage Farmer: ?/10 world too depressing could be interesting but how do you expect me to care if the world ends or not if the common folk(villagers) are a bunch of pieces of garbage.

Until Death by Andur: 8/10 has everything I like in a story but something about it felt off like I don’t know something stopped me from being interested even though interesting things were happening not finished yet but will.

Scholomance A Deadly Education: 10/10 fantastic honestly one of the best magic systems I have seen almost like harry potter but better in every way. Super cool concept execution and all around this is fantastic.

Scholomance The Last Graduate: 9/10wow really just more peak I love the protagonist how I can almost feel her emotions along with her every step of the way not that she is always right but the writing makes me I don’t know I can’t put it into world it just sucks me into the world it’s great.

Scholomance The Golden Enclaves: 8.5/10man the gay sex came out of nowhere really drags down the book so I’m going to rate it as if that did not happen. Really its so good like man the twist with how the enclaves are made quite literally made my jaw drop its crazy. And the foreshadowing was amazing some might say it was obvious, but I had no idea so it paid off really well I love when foreshadowing you can look back and see all the little pieces fantastic. And the ending was great I loved the final confrontation, and the happy ending was kind of contrived but I’m willing to look past it for a happy ending.

hey everyone,

I want to read Grave Empire. It has been on my reading list for awhile and next month my partner and I (who are primarily horror nerds) will be checking out fantasy books.

Despite not reading too much fantasy , I loved The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit as a kid and I also enjoyed ASOIAF. I would argue that LOTR probably had a more profound impact on me compared to any other series (regardless of genre).

Anyways, I noticed that i can only stick with fantasy (and keep track of everything ) with a good map. does anyone know where I can purchase one for Grave Empire (by Richard Swan)? the small one in the paper back does not suffice ! thank you !

Both audiobooks, and both outstanding but good grief are they on polar opposites of the fantasy spectrum and I went in with 0 idea what I was getting into for either of them.

I just finished this book in 2 days, and I am blown away by how good it is. It is fantasy with an incredible amount of politics, economics, and just a massive plot. I'm reading book #2 now!

I didn't realize he was one of the authors of Expanse, which I also loved.

Is this is his best series? Are they all this good?

How does his urban fantasy series Black Sun's Daughter stack up?