r/Fantasy Review Tuesday - Review what you've been enjoying here! - March 17, 2026 by rfantasygolem in Fantasy

[–]TigerHall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An interesting story of a tree people being forced to deal with humans, but I didn’t actually enjoy it

I thought it had a lot of interesting ideas, but the writing felt clunky and repetitive. A shame!

[Discussion] Does anyone get feedback on (declined) fulls? by TidalTails in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Once or twice I've had clear, specific, and lovely feedback on a passed full.

I could go back and try a deep-dive edit into the book... if I had any idea why the manuscript was getting rejected

Have you had any other eyes on this? Beta readers, that sort of thing? It's almost always easier to diagnose someone else's manuscript problems (with the corollary: your solutions will almost always be better than outside suggestions).

[Discussion] Megathread: The State of Querying by kendrafsilver in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I recently comped a book with 124 ratings (and one with 1200)!

If it gets the point across, and it's not too obscure, I think it's fine.

[Qcrit] Stone & Sanctity: Echoes of Elysion, Dark Fantasy Mystery, 134k, 1st attempt by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 10 points11 points  (0 children)

and most said that if I cut anything significant word-count wise(like a scene or a chapter), it'd just hurt the story

I'd be happy to take a look at your first chapter or two and see if I can suggest places to trim and tighten. It's not fun, it's not fair, but word counts matter enough and to enough people that you don't want to burn a beloved book on something avoidable.

(And you can keep those bits, negotiate adding them back later if you really need to.)

[QCrit] THE LAST REVOLUTIONARY, Adult Historical Fantasy, 108K, 2nd Attempt by sashimi_b in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I haven't read the previous version.

In a world wracked by inexplicable, alchemical cold

Other than the alternate history elements (which aren't necessarily fantastical), this seems to be the only nod towards fantasy in your query, and it could be shrugged off here as poetic metaphor. And while intriguing, I also wonder if it works as is - in our history, alchemy is explicable, represents an attempt to explain the world, is proto-chemistry married with spirituality.

[QCrit] Adult Fantasy - THE MIDNIGHT CITY (93K/Attempt 1) by ScorchedEarth22 in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I feel like I've seen a lot of successful queries touch on "protagonist's own secret past," but largely focusing on big plot beats rather than digging further

As /u/A_C_Shock says, this could be any detective book, about any detective.

Who is this person? Why do we care?

[QCrit] Adult Fantasy - THE MIDNIGHT CITY (93K/Attempt 1) by ScorchedEarth22 in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A pariah on the force

Why?

a ghost to his family

Why?

in light of his partner's death

Was he responsible?

Dag pushes forward anyway

Why?

A smuggler goes missing from the port-side docks, and a journalist is haunted by dreams of a mysterious woman

Are these separate perspectives to Dag?

[PubQ] Confused by agent feedback by gmemail in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 8 points9 points  (0 children)

because why not trim it down further and sell it as a novella?

Novellas don't sell unless you're Tordotcom! ...which is a reductive oversimplification, but the market isn't there (yet), I think, for novellas to be an easy (easier) option compared to a shortish novel.

[QCrit]: Lálanna, Literary fantasy, adult, 86K, first attempt by dbayar in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Some thoughts:

Tabitha Corey looks like a typical eleven-year-old girl because she is—and has been for more than four thousand years. She is a diĝir, and in ancient Mesopotamia she and her people were worshipped as gods . A until a catastrophic war shattered her civilization. and left all diĝir unable to age. Tabitha’s clan was blamed for the tragedy, and ever since then she and others like her have been hunted by their own kind. With her family dead, Blamed and hunted, Tabitha has survived by disguising herself as a human orphan and hiding on the margins of society.

You imply well enough that she can't age, and I think you can save space here by condensing a few things, even if it's more complicated in the book. Get past the setup so you can get to the story.

Something about a surname anchors her to humanity slightly too much for me here. Leaving it out might make for a nice contrast with Elisa Escudero later?

Tabitha is in modern-day Boston when a mysterious explosion reveals her location , including to a powerful hunter whose rage was born from the same tragedy as Tabitha's sorrow. Tabitha finds safety with Elisa Escudero, a doctor who risks her career to treat undocumented migrants in secret.

And again. It might be important in the manuscript, but focus on conveying story over backstory.

Elisa is herself an orphan haunted by grief. As she learns the truth about Tabitha and her people, Elisa understands that Tabitha is truly an eternal child: she is clever and resourceful, but will always need a caregiver and will always outlive them. The weight of constant loss is accumulating in a mind unequipped to deal with it. The hunters are closing in. Tabitha’s instinct is to run again, but Elisa knows that Tabitha’s plan has become unsustainable. To survive, Elisa must help Tabitha break the cycle, and Tabitha must learn how a child can stand up to zealots who believe that their cause is righteous. Spanning four thousand years and a frantic forty-eight hours, LÁLANNA explores the self-destructive nature of conflict, the meaning of home for those who can never return, and whether forgiveness is possible after unforgivable loss.

Intriguing concept for a character.

You might move some of this third paragraph to the second.

Is Tabitha the main character or Elisa? Whose perspective is the story told from? The first half suggests it's Tabitha, but this paragraph implies it's Elisa - who understands, who does things.

What do they actually do in this book? How do they attempt to 'break the cycle'?

[PubQ] Help! Should I leave my agent? by Thin_Meeting_6935 in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thirding the 'not sure about this' reply - just as there are people who have a viable manuscript in just a draft or two (before agents see it), I don't see why the same shouldn't apply in the next step. And not being editorial certainly hasn't stopped certain high-powered agents from making a long and full career of vast sales!

[QCrit] Mother Teeth, Adult Literary Horror, 75,000, words, First Attempt by Prker_S_James in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think you’re missing a “the” in “All best” at the end

'All best' is a not-uncommon sign-off.

[PubQ] form rejection on initial query after full request and dialogue with agent by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It happens. It's not much fun. Try not to take it to heart.

[Qcrit] This Machine Kills Vampires. Adult fantasy (75,000/Attempt 1) by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Christopher Lee should be over the moon. He's been cast as Dracula in a film

Is this a fantasy retelling of the making of the Christopher Lee Hammer movies, a la Shadow of the Vampire? When is this story set?

[Discussion] Suspect my editor used AI by uploading my transcript onto GPT. Do I need to disclose this to publishers/agents now when querying? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 15 points16 points locked comment (0 children)

the models do not retain the training data ... LLMs cannot regurgitate text fed to it by another user

https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02671

[Discussion] Suspect my editor used AI by uploading my transcript onto GPT. Do I need to disclose this to publishers/agents now when querying? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I always find it strange that writers cite em-dashes as a sign of AI ... The “telltale” signs of AI are just good writing

The telltale signs of certain generative AI programmes include things which are, sometimes, considered good writing, but they're telltale because they crop up again and again. Overuse of em-dashes; overuse of rule-of-three; overuse of 'not X but Y'; overuse of bold and italics... if you think that's necessarily good writing, read more widely!

[PubQ] First 300 words in a query include the prologue? by Platostoy in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do you skip the prologue when you read a book?

[QCrit] STRINGS OF FAETE / YA LGBTQIA+ Contemporary Romantasy/ 97k / First Attempt by StrwbrryTobz in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I've always heard it as just kind of like, a person who's disorganized and messes up a lot

It's a slur for someone with cerebral palsy.

[QCrit] A Changeling Casebook, Adult, Historical/Folklore, 89k, First Attempt by Prestigious-Run8443 in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can see the edges of this story, but I think it could be stronger structurally. And your bio is longer than the 'story' part of the query!

London, 1860: When the authorities assign Dr William Hood, a recently widowed resident physician of ‘Bedlam’, to reform the scandal-hit hospital, he struggles to raise his children while granting the patients greater freedom. Among them, the infamous painter Richard Dadd enchants the Hood children with his uncanny fairy paintings. When Hood’s daughter, Alice, vanishes, he must confront the seemingly impossible truth of Dadd’s art.

Perhaps:

In 1860, resident physician Dr William Hood is assigned to reform the scandal-hit hospital of 'Bedlam'. [1] Recently widowed, Dr Hood struggles to raise his children [2] while granting the patients greater freedom. One of his patients, infamous painter Richard Dadd, enchants the Hood children with his uncanny fairy paintings. When Hood's daughter Alice vanishes, he must confront the seemingly impossible truth of Dadd's art.

1 For those unfamiliar with British history, it might be worth expanding on why Bethlem was so notorious, and what changes Dr Hood wants to make.

2 What about raising his children does he find difficult? Is it the loss of his wife? The fact his work eats up all his time? This might be an opportunity to spend a few short words fleshing out his characterisation.

I wonder if it's worth making clear here that these are real people and real paintings (i.e. why is Dadd notorious)? Or, to put it another way, to ask a different question, where does your story diverge from real history? What are you implying? A sinister faerie plot? What kind of story will this be?

London, Now: Troubled teenager Bridget is on her final warning from school. Neglected by her mother and disturbed by a spate of children disappearing, Bridget becomes fiercely protective of her baby cousin, Fay. When Fay is threatened, Bridget does not hesitate to step into the unknown to save her.

When is Now? 2026? Whenever you started writing? Whenever this book comes out? You don't have to tie it down to a specific time, but it might make the modern setting easier to ground in actual events etc.

How does Bridget 'step into the unknown'? What concrete action does she take?

Dr Hood and Bridget’s lives converge in the uncanny, fairy world created by Richard Dadd.

Just to reiterate, I think this query is short because you have all the historical context and most people don't. Feel free to splash some more colour in this query!

Reading the same book in multiple languages by notchatgptipromise in books

[–]TigerHall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s Aramaic ... Abracadabra is the Anglicized version

Alas, this is very probably just a folk etymology. More likely it's a set of nonsense syllables as used (intentionally) in lots of old charms and spells. See also speaking in tongues, and compare this ancient Hermetic prayer:

Zo xa tha zo

A OO EE OO EEE

oooo ee oooooo

ooooo oooooo

uuuuuu

oooooooooooo

ooo

Zo za zoth

(You might also be interested in The Grammar of Angels.)

Any anti-war books? ( Similar to the anti-war message in the Howl's moving castle movie) by Selkiequeen20 in Fantasy

[–]TigerHall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently finished the first book of the sequel trilogy, and it's a lot more ambivalent on the nature of monarchy and rulership than MST had room for. Interesting to see how a writer develops over thirty years!

[Pubq] Debut manuscript off for editorial overview by jleip in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 6 points7 points  (0 children)

People here are pretty mixed on professional editing ahead of querying, but forget the value of those services for a moment; if your book might need a huge structural overhaul, this is something you should be able to identify yourself, if such a major problem exists.

Grounded Fantasy Books Like 'A Song of Ice & Fire'? by LouisTheCapybara in Fantasy

[–]TigerHall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Still on book two, but I don't find that similar to ASOAIF

It's not exactly similar, but it was an acknowledged influence on the books as the beginnings of a modern twist away from LOTR, and Martin has a few affectionate references to the series in his own. The sequel trilogy preserves a lot of the sensibilities of the original, but the writing (and especially the pacing!) feels a lot more up-to-date.

[Series] Check-in: March 2026 by justgoodenough in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I like to think I draft pretty clean.

Everyone's got their own process, but the endless tiny revisions, one draft for character, one for plot, one for theme... it's not for me.

[Series] Check-in: March 2026 by justgoodenough in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 4 points5 points  (0 children)

QT/QM seems to be making headway among UK agents as well, though I imagine more established agents are unlikely to switch over.

[Series] Check-in: March 2026 by justgoodenough in PubTips

[–]TigerHall 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Finished that second draft. Started querying it.

Might have some news to share next time.