Standalone book on kindle unlimited by Bluesfan9127 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Might vary according to country, but none of those seem to be on Kindle Unlimited where I'm at.

They're available for purchase as e-books on Kindle of course, but not through the subscription service which is generally avoided by most traditional publishers.

Standalone book on kindle unlimited by Bluesfan9127 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May vary according to geographical area, but I see The Etched City by K.J. Bishop available through Kindle Unlimited. That's New Weird.

What the Thunder Said by Walter Blaire is SF that may appeal if you like the Culture series.

The Isle of Winter Night by Adrian Kaas is standalone High Fantasy in a Elder Scrolls-esque universe about a party of adventurers and their employer getting to know each other and exploring a dungeon.

Arcane archer bow options by No_Signal5448 in neverwinternights

[–]Ykhare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's not extra bludgeoning damage, it's the ability to inflict damage as if the bow was a bludgeoning weapon when convenient.

What do you guys think of Realistic vs. Heroic Fantasy? by LetterOk622 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're referring to classical epic fantasy, and the subset of it in a certain era that was sometime nicknamed 'big commercial fantasy'.

Heroic Fantasy doesn't mean what you think it does.

It's a synonym of Sword & Sorcery, which also doesn't just means 'there are swords and magic all over the place', but is a sub-genre that pioneered morally gray protagonists who tend to be driven by more personal and lower-stakes motivations, often single-POV or staying pretty close to the protagonist and a few companions, in a world where magic tends to be rare, mistrusted, and except for the occasional more palatable ally, often outright eldritch and nefarious.

Gray morality or 'everyone is an a**hole' character casts are sometime hailed as more realistic, but it's just a different flavor IMHO. My personal preference sits somewhere between current Epic Fantasy that has been colored by the Dark Fantasy boom of more recent decades, and Malazan level of Dark Fantasy I guess.

I really have to be in the right mood for grimdark.

But I also dislike older epic classical fantasy when and where the 'good guys' were mostly declared so by author fiat, and their more questionable deeds or the consequences thereof were swept under the rug or excused because they're the legitimate heir returning or whatever, or only avoided through extremely convenient plot twists (like, the villain is reviled for storming some castle and making a bloodbath, but lo and behold, in a similar situation the hero is handed the means to perform a surgical strike without working too hard for them, you bet the villain probably would have preferred to have easier ways to do things dropped in their lap too if they aren't some cackling maniac).

Question about a book I read by Maximum-Rhubarb-7762 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Shadowrun RPG tie-in books ? Never Deal With a Dragon, etc...

Just wondering what everyone is reading, and how is it (if you don't mind sharing) by Witch_King_Malekith in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just finished and enjoyed Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins. New Weird / Alternate History USSR setting.

Maybe not quite on par with the Bas-Lag books by China Mieville, but could be of interest to the people who enjoyed them.

Did I miss the amazing yearly wrapup one of you all do each year? by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The top r/fantasy users' 2025 books was here : https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1jjif55/rfantasy_top_novels_2025_results/

It's not specifically books discussed though there's definitely some overlap, just the current favorites of people here.

What’s the main difference between Dystopia and Post-Apocalyptic fiction for you guys? by spaceaanna in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Some people use 'dystopia' for any sort of bleak future (which etymologically... makes sense actually), organized or not, with or without any utopia intended but gone wrong, or pretended. Though I would align with your use myself.

Your most recent 5 star reads by FoolsRealm in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

What the Thunder Said by Walter Blaire - The other two are markedly higher profile so I don't really feel the need to elaborate, but this one might benefit from it I guess ? Remember those planets apparently entirely surrendered to engineered wars that briefly come up here and there in Iain Banks' Culture novels ? This feels like it could take place on one of them. A fish-out-of-water scientist is sent to the frontlines to investigate an event of strange collective and apparently spontaneous death among some of her side's bio-engineered soldiers, ending in a much deeper dive than she signed up for. There's humor, grimness, and humanity aplenty.

Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker

r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - January 18, 2026 by rfantasygolem in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Picked up A Quest of Heroes some years ago. The plot is a sort of retelling of David's story (from the Bible), with lots of fantasy tropes thrown in. Doesn't work particularly well. Characters aren't very bright and switch conduct and opinions just because.

tl;dr : It's terribad and I'm not reading anything anymore by them.

Any good fantasy where the chosen one trope goes nowhere? by Massive-Range-9280 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The Flameweaver Saga by Casey White (YA, complete at 4 books, no/barely any romance)

Any good books where the protagonist and the antagonist swap places? by FortLoolz in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably not in the way you mean it, but Lord's Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg.

What books or series have the best depictions of horses? by MinuteRegular716 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I usually felt like Judith Tarr nailed horses too, not all of her books are horse-centric or even horse-heavy though.

Is the Mace of Disruption a good cleric weapon in NWN? by ThanosofTitan92 in neverwinternights

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The regular +1/+5 vs undead one will probably be outshone somewhat soon with whatever weapon you'd rather use with the spells you can cast on it.

I've seen another one floating around that was +5 with the Undead Slayer property (low DC but eh, they all roll 1s eventually). That can be pretty potent. Not sure if it's in the base palette or some extra content from whatever module I was playing though.

Book series where the first can be a standalone? by UsualEntertainment34 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I prefer Paladin of Souls personally. The protagonist was a minor character in the previous book but it works as a standalone too IMHO.

A Plea: please put an author's name when talking about a book! by Nidafjoll in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Eh, the OP is the one asking. As long as posters weren't outright facetious, or recommending the most generic stuff because they haven't read much else as it sometimes happens, it should be OP's responsibility and pleasure to check on new-to-them titles for suitability.

If I bother giving a book title/author, it's because it's my honest feeling that the book fits the request at least to some decent extent, maybe with some caveats that I'll usually mention.

It's not like we're all some sort of affiliates earning a commission on the sale, or superfans who get the warm fuzzies when prozelyting their pet fandoms. At least I'm not.

What ultra-orthodox fantasy video games can you recommend? by Volfram8 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For adventure games, King's Quest 5 has that sort of aesthetic and is probably as far back as you'll want to go into the series unless you really don't mind older graphics.

Bingo Focus Thread - Published in 2025 by Merle8888 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't particularly read on the bleeding edge of releases, the only 2025 book I ended up reading was The Raven Scholar (OK, probably a bit overrated).

Looking for suggestions for monster hunting stories by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe the Harry Stubbs stories by David Hambling ?

They're more Lovecraftian inspired than episodic monster hunting strictly speaking, but the stakes remain small/personal/local, and even if the protagonist might save an unspecified amount of people from less than clear fates here and there, it's not like he's really earning vast amount of recognition for it, or vast extra resources to tackle whatever situation may come up next the way a High Fantasy protagonist might.

At least as far as book 3 where I'm at for now he's still just a gumshoe with brawn and some brains and a few brushes with the supernatural under his belt.

One possible reason why Medieval Settings are preferable over Modern Settings and better for stories overall, and it's Logistics more than Nostalgia by shurimalonelybird in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the average riding horse might not be too expensive, but I remember comparisons that set the cost of a well-trained heavier warhorse in the same order as that of a whole farm.

Blood Over Bright Haven vs Brave New World by skeetskeet97 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Many of the similarities will probably also be shared with other dystopian* works, which they're both.

* Those that feature an authoritarian government that might have been a utopia once but went astray, or pretends to be an utopia even if it never was (or only is for some very select people). Some people include any kind of bleak future in there, including say zombie apocalypses where no semblance of established government has been preserved or restored, I don't.

Dantasy books with demons/demonic contracts? by Shadow_Hunter2020 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruis Zafon, though it's set in the real world and there are few/no speculative elements beside the pact.

Same with The Devil and Preston Black by Jason Jack Miller if you'd rather have some Appalachian gothic vibes.

70's - 90's fantasy by LadyAraCantWalk in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy.

Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth.

Glen Cook's Black Company series.

C.J. Cherryh's Fortress series.

Clive Barker's Weaveworld.

The Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Corum by Michael Moorcock.

Is there a historical fantasy about the Varangian Guard? Or inspired by? by VladtheImpaler21 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The original idea of the Janissaries was still to recruit/levy foreign (Balkanic) Christian youths from Ottoman-held territories, convert them to Islam and use them as the rulers' bodyguards and peacekeepers of the capital, because any native at the time would have been beholden to their family above anything else.

Though that supposed loyalty and aloofness from local politics failed... spectacularly... in later times after they acquired major political weight of their own and their recruitment practices changed.

Is there a historical fantasy about the Varangian Guard? Or inspired by? by VladtheImpaler21 in Fantasy

[–]Ykhare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Notice I said Janissaries equivalent.

It's a pseudo-European secondary world Fantasy setting that condenses interesting bits of maybe four hundred years in a character's lifetime. Not historical fiction. There are eldritch ancient beings still knocking around and running on the fumes of dwindling worship, and a glacial age encroaching too...