askchapo

The fetish/harem stuff is infuriating, partly because it adds nothing, but mostly because it tends to sneak up on you.

I get so disappointed when a serial is written incredibly well and has a pretty interesting premise but for whatever godawful reason the author feels the need to introduce their ideal Manic Pixie Dream Girl/Guy or a harem and you can tell the trajectory of the story's quality is just gonna plummet. But then there are the rare stories where the protagonist has a romance/love interest that is written so well that I'm like "I can't only read stories that explicitly advertise themselves as having no romance at all"

For what it is worth in terms of the recommendations, I would say that all of the recommendations I tend to make are the ones I would tell my non-reading friends about if they asked - purely on the basis that I consider their writing/editing/plots to at least be on par with most sci-fi or fantasy you can find on the Best Sellers table at like, Barnes & Noble. I think Worm, Wandering Inn, and Pale Lights have the same writing quality (better, if I'm being honest) than your average Brandon Sanderson or Sarah Mass novel.

Let me add The Elf Who Would Become A Dragon to my previous recommendations, because it is definitely my favorite serial of 2026. and I was reminded of it when I mentioned the rare story where romance is written genuinely well. It isn't even the focus of the story - it is at its heart shaping up to be a story about rejection/cultural dissonance shown through the lens of elves and how their long lives make parts of their culture difficult to change. Fantastically written. It, Pale Lights, Worm, and even TWI are all books I would purchase physical copies of and proudly display on my bookshelf!