Many people have read Enders game, but i feel that it's sequel, albeit an entirely different type of book, is often ignored and it's a shame. I suppose part of it is that Enders game can easily be read by children and Speaker is a way more adult book, it's philosophical, spiritual and emotional, I absolutely love how it deals with the dilema that enders game final chapter shares about how the buggers were Ramen and not verelsa.

Also the characters are so emotional, the concept of a speaker for the dead, I really connect with all of it.

Anyways have you read it?, what do you think about it?

I love excellent prose, and personally my favourite writer in all of fantasy on a sentence to sentence basis has to be Gene Wolfe. Who is your favourite?

It could be an actual serious worker strike, or a more humorous "The BBEG's henchmen are striking". I'm looking for something that deals with it as an actual significant plot point, not as a passing mention or a paragraph.

Anything with a union (not guilds) that plays a major role is also welcome.

I also don't care if it's shown in a positive or negative light.

EDIT: probably should have specified - Not looking for a book with worker revolution.

A lot of books have these far-off places that nobody knows much about like Asshai, Yi Ti, the Seanchan etc. which adds a sense of of mystery and scale to the world but I would much rather get the chance to see what it's like there instead of hearing about it second or third hand. I love the trope of strangers to a new place experiencing it for the first time, where everything is mysterious and "alien". Are there any books/series where it starts in one part of the world, a second far-off area gets mentioned, and the characters actually end up going there later on in the series?

The best i've found and enjoyed so far is The Books of the Raksura

This is my first year doing the Bingo, and I really enjoyed it. The categories were diverse and eclectic enough to make me pick up some new things, and while I always read a lot I think I read both more voraciously and more attentively during the challenge than I usually do. Overall, I read many more good books than bad. Hopefully others will find things they might want to include on their bingo in this list - there's a version of my list with no reviews at the end of the post.

1. First in Series: Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, Anonymous, translated by Robert Van Gulik

Hard Mode: Yes.

This is a World War II era translation of an 18th century Chinese detective novel, which was then followed by many original novels about the same character. Judge Dee is a magistrate who must discover the culprits behind three murders which explore different facets of 18th century Chinese society. It’s fantasy because there are ghosts who accuse some of the murderers - Gulike in the introduction says that he chose to translate this book partly because it has relatively few fantasy elements compared to typical 18th century examples of the genre, but as a fantasy fan I would have been happy to see more. Judge Dee is a likable and clever central character, and is aided by a team of martial arts experts and assistants.

I am mostly unfamiliar with Chinese literature, having previously only read the Journey to the West, so I saw some continuity between this and “Coiling Dragon,� the other Chinese novel on my bingo: a belief in the efficacy of torture, a faith that social status is a reflection of inner nobility (which of course is apparent throughout much western literature as well, at least until the rise of the novel), and an emphasis on the importance of keeping face and honor. However, the overt lesson at the end of Judge Dee book is that all social classes deserve equal justice, and one of the cases involves a criminal so determined they they will not confess under torture. The anonymous author is interested in exploring the lacunae in a system the book mostly seems to have total faith in. Unlike Coiling Dragon, Judge Dee is interested in exploring the limits and self contradictions of the system it ultimately supports.

Also would have fit: Alliterative Title,Dreams, Author of Color (the anonymous Chinese author, not Gulik), Set in a Small Town

2. Alliterative Title: Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, Tamsyn Muir. Hard Mode: Yes

This book is a super villain origin story. I’m a big fan of Muir’s Gideon the Ninth books, but I had never heard of Princess Floralinda until I saw it on the bingo recommendation thread. This is not as rich and as carefully written as those books, but it’s funny and clever, with a narrative voice that reads like a parody of the style of CS Lewis and I'm sure other similarly didactic and patronizing fairy tale authors. This book is very online, in that it is in dialogue with the discourse about trauma that has been so dominant across social media over the last few years. It’s a reshaping of fairy tales in the context of the belief that trauma is both inescapably scarring and an opportunity for personal transformation. Muir has interesting and thoughtful things to say about love. In some ways this is a popcorn book, but it’s thematically challenging.

Also would have fit: Indie Publisher (is Subterranean indie? I think so?), Orcs, Trolls, & Goblins, Oh My!, Survival

3. Under the Surface: A Face Like Glass, Frances Hardinge. Hard Mode: Yes

A young adult dystopia set underground, with a likeable ingenue as its central character. In this world, most people are able to express only a few set emotions, but our heroine, an orphan raised in the cheese tunnels, stands apart. Thematically similar to the Twilight Zone’s “Eye of the Beholder,� A Face Like Glass is very well written in terms of prose. The quirkiness, larger than life personalities, and dark steampunk setting remind me of The City of Lost Children.

Also would have fit: Dreams, Character with a Disability (from the perspective of her society, Neverfell is disabled)

4. Criminals: Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer Hard Mode: No

Too Like the Lightning was already on my tbr list, so I was happy to have it slot nicely into Criminals. The narrator, Mycroft, is a criminal sentenced to permanent involuntary servitude. As a former humanities grad student, this book feels like it was written specifically for me. It’s big, complicated, and difficult to describe, but Palmer is constructing a utopian/dystopian future world with an eye to examining enlightenment values and philosophical ideas, especially surrounding free will, providence, and the nature of the divine. There’s also a lot of influence from Anime, and if you imagine all the characters with big eyes, wearing costumes either from The Rose of Versailles or Ghost in the Shell, I don’t think you’d be too far off. Oh, and society has moved past gender, so everyone is androgynous, except that the narrator’s obsessed with gender and it’s not that simple. I really enjoyed the playfulness around gender in this book, although I worry that this particular version of the future will seem dated in thirty years.

Some people have argued this book is as much fantasy as Sci-Fi because there are some godlike beings, but if you don’t think SF has had godlike beings all along, you haven’t been paying attention. Speaking of gods, I don’t think Palmer’s as good on religion as she is on philosophy - Schleiermacher and Spinoza should really be here but aren’t, for in universe reasons that conveniently allow her to explore religious ideas which are spiritual and rational without any basis in religious texts or any specific tradition. Maybe in the sequels?

While Palmer’s explicitly in conversation with Voltaire, Rousseau, De Sade, and Alfred Bester, I detect influence from Dr. Johnson, and Henry Fielding, too. “Explicitly in conversation� is if anything an understatement - part of the joy of this book is that Palmer’s characters are obsessed with all the philosophers she wants to talk about. However, it’s not always obvious what she’s saying about them, even if you happen to have read them. For example, the future society almost worships Thomas Carlyle, founder of the Great Man theory of history, and the book does center around 10 or so world leaders who seem to be guiding everything, to such an extent that it becomes a parody of the idea of Great Men (the plot revolves around how destabilizing it would be to rank the influence of the world leaders in a slightly different order.) Mycroft’s narrative voice kind of reads like a parody of 18th century writing, but it’s more direct, more heightened, and funnier than most of its inspirations. Not much happens in this book - reviewers say all the payoffs are in the sequel, which I haven’t read yet - but I had a blast reading it.

Also fits: First in Series, Alliterative Title, Prologues and Epilogues, Multi POV (sort of - other narrators briefly step in for Mycroft.)

5. Dreams: Spear, Nicola Griffith Hard Mode: No

Spear begins as a gritty, serious portrayal of a girl growing up on the fringes of Arthurian Britain, and then takes a turn towards high magic Arthurian fantasy in the second half. >!The main character turns out to be a version of Perceval, and a non-Christian Holy Grail is prominently involved.!< Griffith is much more interested than most fantasy authors in the details of medieval life, both in terms of the details of the description and in the personalities of the characters. Spear has maybe the best version of the “woman must pretend to be a man to become a knight� story that I’ve ever read, with rounded characters and prominent LGBTQ themes. This book is good in every way, but the solidity of its medieval world is the most special thing about it.

Also fits: Survival (especially the first half)

6 Entitled Animals: Fishing for the Little Pike, Juhani Karila

Our heroine, Elina, is cursed, so that she must travel to her hometown in rural Lapland and catch a fish, or else she’ll die. Karila has written a very funny, very fast-reading (in translation!) book that also works as a relationship drama. There are wacky, scary monsters who act like people in here, there are some quirky rural folks right out of Twin Peaks, and there’s also a touch of the numinous. I read an interview where Karila cited Jordan and Eddings as influences, but this book is much closer in tone to Buffy the Vampire Slayer than anything else I can think of. Fishing for the Little Pike made me feel like I was learning something about the Scandinavian worldview. 

Also Fits: Criminals (Elina is being chased by a police detective), Indie Publisher, Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins, Oh My!, Survival, Set in a Small Town, Eldritch Creatures

7. Bards: The Harp of Kings, Juliet Marrilier Hard Mode: Yes

The Harp of Kings is perhaps the bardiest book that ever barded, a sweet little novel about some bard secret agents who encounter the world of Faerie in the course of a political mission. They do prominently use their musical skills to solve problems. I found it a little slow-paced and repetitive in parts, and the bad guys are a little too bad and the faeries aren’t quite mysterious enough, but overall I enjoyed it. There are sequels but I don’t know if I’ll read them.

8. Prologues and Epilogues: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi Hard Mode: Probably not (There’s definitely a prologue and debatably an epilogue)

Another book that I already was planning to read, this is a fun 500 page novel that could have been a really good 400 page novel. Inspired by Sinbad the Sailor, in practice it's more like a Muslim-world Indiana Jones filtered through d&d than it is the actual Arabian Nights. That said, there are a lot of little details that make the seafaring world of the Arabian Sea feel real and the setting is the biggest strength of this book. The one thing that does feel like the Arabian Nights is the way the fantasy world is structured around the reality of Islam and Allah’s providence. Amina, a middle-aged woman, must put her pirate crew back together in order to save the world from a villainous crusader. I wish the narrator's voice was stronger and that Chakraborty trusted the reader a little more - there's so much unnecessary repetition in the internal monologue. Amina is a great character - I just wish she didn't spend so many pages telling you how great she is. There are some fun side characters who mostly aren’t as well-developed as you’d like, but the book comes to life every time Amina’s ex-husband, a demon shows up. That relationship crackles, and it’s so fun to read about that it saved the book for me. I liked this better than Chakraborty’s Daevabad books and I will definitely read the rest of the trilogy when it comes out.

Also Fits: First in Series, Alliterative Title, Criminals, Romantasy (borderline, but there are definite romance novel elements here, although not as prominently as in the Daevabad books), Book Club or Readalong Book (Hugos readalong)

9. Self Published or Indie Publisher: Coiling Dragon, Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi Hard Mode: no

I rarely read self-published books, or web fiction, so I wanted to pick something that was an authentic self-published novel, representative of its genre. A comment told me that this book was the definitive example of the Wuxia progression fantasy genre, so I picked it up. I actually read the first four books of the series because the website I found it on had them as one long novel, but I didn’t finish the entire saga. Coiling Dragon might be the worst book I've ever read. I hate, hate, hate it. It’s the story of Linley, a young boy who wants to become a powerful Dragon warrior and restore his family’s honor. By the time I stopped reading, he was essentially as powerful as anyone on his planet, but it seemed like he would soon travel to other dimensions where he could train some more. While the published version is apparently essentially a fan translation, this book is incompetent on the level of prose in so many ways that the original must share a lot of its weaknesses in English. 

The book’s biggest weaknesses are its transparent attempts to get you to sympathize with Linley. It loves its main character - we’re constantly told about how wonderful he is. Anytime you might imagine he has made a mistake, the author assures you that he has a good reason for his decision. In every single chapter, you’re explicitly and implicitly reminded about how extraordinary Linley is both as a prodigy and a moral paragon. I’ve never read something so transparently manipulative.

I don’t know enough about Chinese web literature to know if this book’s gender politics are typical, but they’re really regressive. In a torturously long sequence, a girl breaks Linley’s heart, but don’t worry, the author punishes her financially, sexually, and emotionally so that she can only live in regret. Coiling Dragon’s moral universe is simple and disturbing - might makes right, the family’s honor must be protected at all costs, hierarchical social structures are just and good, and the strong are right to look down on the weak. I also disliked Cradle and Arcane Ascension, so likely the progression fantasy genre just isn’t for me.

Also fits: First in Series, Entitled Animals, Author of Color, Eldritch Creatures (Maybe? Lots of unearthly demons, although they’re not particularly creepy)

10. Romantasy: Unquiet Land, Sharon Shinn Hard Mode: No

The fourth book in the Elemental Blessings series, Unquiet Land is a fantasy romance about Leah, a woman falling in love while also trying to build a relationship with her child, who has been raised by an adoptive family. The first book in this series was really fun, with some surprising moments where the characters cut through the plot that seemed to be unfolding to get to the heart beneath. The series gets slightly worse with each volume. The heroes and heroines from the earlier books keep showing up, and they’re all so perfect that the tone becomes smarmy and self-satisfied as everyone compliments each other. Everything’s a little too simple and comes a little too easily. I didn’t love it, but it’s competent and worth reading if you like the subgenre.

11. Dark Academia: The Cloisters Hard Mode: yes

I love The Cloisters museum, I love medievalism in general, my family is composed of academics and medievalists, so I thought I would like this book. It turns out that The Cloisters takes itself very seriously but is actually extremely goofy. Its heroine must navigate the dark and dangerous world of academic research on the Tarot, here accurately portrayed as consisting of 99% sitting in reading rooms looking at books, while navigating her relationship with a mysterious femme fatale who has the museum’s 4-person staff completely under her thumb. The book is very tightly plotted in a way reminiscent of a movie script, but there are also narrative leaps that are never justified. Hays is hyper focused on her themes of fate and free will, which are repeated constantly, but there’s a lot more talk than action when it comes to the fantasy elements of the story. The tone is unintentionally self-parodic, not at all scary or tense. All that said, I thought this was very well written on the sentence level, much more than most genre novels.

Also fits: Dreams

12. Multi POV: Blackdog, K.V. Johansen Hard Mode: Yes

This is one of the three classic fantasy tomes that made it onto my bingo. It’s the story of a depowered goddess and the Blackdog, a magical guardian who is also a kind of father-figure, all set in a fantasy steppe that does feel different from the typical fantasy Europe we’re used to. The beginning is very action-packed, but then the book settles into a slow-paced story about a variety of characters who must find a new place for themselves when their old world has been destroyed. Johansen does a good job of making minor characters feel as though they exist outside the scope of the story, giving the world a kind of solidness. There’s a funny forced-by-circumstance romantic comedy interlude that in some hands would have felt out of place, but here feels like one piece of a larger fabric. The ending is emotionally complex and bittersweet. There are multiple sequels set in the same world but focusing on different characters.

Also fits: First in Series, Entitled Animals, Reference Materials

13. Published in 2024: Lyorn, Steven Brust Hard Mode: No

This is one of my all-time favorite fantasy series, maybe my favorite of all, and I think it's woefully underread. Vlad Taltos, our hero and a former assassin, has grown and changed convincingly over the course of thirty years' worth of books. There’s very little else like this series in terms of consistent and compelling character growth and change over time. Lyorn is a relatively minor and relatively silly book in the series, but it's still great, with a compelling voice and clever plotting. Vlad has to hide out in a theater, so every chapter begins with a filk version of a Broadway tune, like Brust is writing like a love letter to the SFF fan communities he came up in in the 70s and 80s. We’re beginning to wrap things up, as this book defines the stakes of the whole series more clearly than ever and begins to set things up for the conclusion that’s coming very soon now (only two more books!) I buy everything Brust writes as soon as it comes out, so I definitely would have read this one without the bingo.

Also fits: Criminals, Dreams, Bards, Prologues and Epilogues, Reference Materials

14. Character with a Disability: The Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson Hard Mode: Yes

Very loosely based on the mythological story of Geryon, this is a very sad, exceptionally beautiful coming of age tale about a queer boy who grows up red, with wings. The only Anne Carson I had read before this is her translation of the fragments of Sappho, which I highly recommend. With that context, I was expecting a window into the ancient world, but this novel in verse is at least as much in conversation with Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and Joyce as it is with Stesichoros or the Greek mythological tradition. A rich book with a real density of meaning and allusion. The Autobiography of Red is from 1998, and while its LBGTQ themes don’t feel dated, exactly, they are of their time and place. This will be one to revisit.

Also fits: Prologues and Epilogues (a foreword that is part academic essay, part parody, and part a section of the work as a whole), Set in a Small Town

15. Published in the 1990’s: King’s Dragon, Kate Eliot

Another old style fantasy tome, King’s Dragon draws on French and English medieval court politics, imagining what they would be like in a more feminist world. Eliot includes major Tolkien and Campbellesque fantasy elements, with an inhuman attacking army, the discovery of inner power, a grizzled magical mentor, and more. There is a major focus on religion, religious life, and monasticism, which to me reads as well-informed. I suspect Elliot has read Margery Kempe and other female medieval religious writers, or at least a bunch of biographies. Like the politics, her version of Christianity has a feminist twist and I'm interested in following up with the later books in the series mostly to see where that goes. The story, which has influences from romance and feels a little too attached to its characters, is less captivating than the worldbuilding. There is a ton of rape right at the very beginning of the novel.

Also fits: First in Series, Dreams, Entitled Animals, Multi POV, Reference Materials

16. Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins, Oh My!: Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree Hard Mode: Yes

I don’t need to introduce this very popular book that started a whole subgenre. I do think it’s the best of its type: it has better prose and better drawn characters than the other cozy fantasies I've read. I still found it just ok, without the richness and depth I’m looking for from even a lighthearted novel. It almost but not quite achieves subtlety. I found the running gag of fantasy versions of coffee shop items to get old fast.

Also fits: First in Series, Alliterative Title, Prologues and Epilogues, Set in a Small Town

17. Space Opera: Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie Hard Mode: Yes

Another book that was already on my to- read pile. As more of a fantasy than Sci-Fi fan, I loved Leckie;’s Raven’s Tower when it came out five years ago, but I’m just now catching up with her more well-known SF books. There are spaceships, there’s gender stuff similar to Too Like the Lightning, there are some very well written action scenes and a sense of humor. At the same time, Leckie deals sensitively and intelligently with guilt and trauma. This is a page-turner with very likeable characters and rich subtext. I'm already reading the sequels.

18. Author of Color: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi Hard Mode: Yes

Shigidi is a down on his luck god in an unhealthy relationship with a succubus who must retrieve an artifact from the British Museum to protect the African pantheon’s belief-based economy. The setup is a lot like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, but Shigidi stands out with thriller pacing and the compelling romantic tension between the two leads. I found myself sympathizing with the unrepentantly evil characters (both heroes literally devour the souls of regular people, and it never even occurs to them to feel guilty about it.) At its heart, this is a story about an unattractive man who thinks his body is the source of his problems, transforms himself, and finds out he still has work to do to be who he wants.

Also fits: Criminals (Hard Mode, because half this book is about a heist), Character with a Disability

19. Survival: Chain Gang All Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Hard Mode: Yes

In the future, prisoners fight in one-on-one combat for the entertainment of the masses and the enrichment of the for-profit prison system. Chain Gang All Stars is an extremely effective satire of the prison industrial complex, with a lot to say about the disjuncture between our treatment of prisoner’s bodies and our ideals of incarceration. It’s not as sharp in its satire of reality tv or of sports, but the All Stars combat league does feel like a logical progression of pro wrestling. There are prominent queer themes and, of course, a sophisticated and difficult to summarize treatment of race and racism. The narrative is punctuated by footnotes detailing the excesses of the real world person system, an understandable choice which doesn’t show a lot of faith in the audience.

On the other hand, Adjei-Brenyan is not afraid to challenge his readership. The ultra-violent action scenes are so entertaining, the badassery so gonzo and over the top, that it’s easy to forget its human toll. Are we as readers participating in the exploitation? There’s also a lot of complexity in the novel’s approach to the possibility of rehabilitation. >!Most of the All Stars are guilty of terrible crimes. I was very disappointed by the revelation near the end of the group that one of the two central characters is guilty only of self-defense, which to me undercuts the argument about the nature of injustice in the system the rest of the novel so carefully builds.!< Does the fact that most of the prisoners become better people through participating in the murderous system justify its existence? Chain Gang All Stars is smart, provocative, thoughtful, and very entertaining, but only sometimes moving. It’s begging to be filmed - the plot is simple enough to fit in a movie, but the world is expansive enough for a limited series. This probably should have been on the Hugo shortlist this year.

Also fits: Criminals, Multi POV, Character with a Disability, Author of Color

20. Judge a Book by its cover: Never Whistle at Night, Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr Hard Mode: Yes

This collection of Indigenous Dark Fiction has a gorgeous cover, The stories range from straightforward ghost hauntings to humorous monster attacks to unsettling compromises with racism. Among the 26 authors, you get a wide variety of interpretations of Native American folklore and mythology, along with a similarly wide group of perspectives on the place on Indigenous people in American society. Not every story is a winner, but overall this is a high quality collection. For a horror anthology, there are a lot of happy endings among these stories, which I liked but might not be to everyone’s taste.

Also fits: Author of Color (I think every author included in the anthology is of Indigenous ancestry)

21. Set in a Small Town: Shutter, Ramona Emerson Hard Mode: Yes

By coincidence, Shutter is another Indigenous horror narrative. Our hero, Rita, is a police photographer in Albuquerque who can also communicate with ghosts, some of whom are friendly and some of whom desperately want revenge. Combined with this story are a set of flashbacks to her youth on a reservation (the small town that makes it fit this category.) It works as a gritty detective novel, works as a fantasy with word building that make sense beyond serving the plot, and works as a personal story about growing up as a Navajo woman. It's more of a thriller than a mystery - it's pretty obvious whodunnit from early on - but with a fairly serious tone, more serious than, for example, Rivers of London, another paranormal police series. Emerson has written a fun book with enough depth to make it feel rewarding. The supporting characters are thin, but you can see the roles they'll fit into as the series continues - while Shutter stands alone, Emerson is clearly writing with a view to an ongoing series, probably one structured like mysteries/thrillers rather than urban fantasies. I'll definitely read the sequel coming out in October.

Also Fits: First in a Series, Dreams, Author of Color

22. Five Short Stories: Jewel Box, E. Lily Yu Hard Mode: Yes

This collection of short stories sometimes is a little too obvious, but every story is rendered with delicate prose, compact little fables with wit and humor. Yu can be heavy handed, but she is willing to acknowledge that and turn it on its head - the stories where she says something you weren't already thinking are brilliant, and when you already agree with her, she can make you see even her most conventional gender politics in a new way. Her characters, even those sketched very quickly, are vibrant and alive. The overt messages of these stories are by and large pessimistic, both about society at large and about the potential for meaningful relationships with others.

Also fits: Author of Color

23. Eldritch Creatures: The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed Hard Mode: Yes

A well-written novella about a quest into a Faerie forest, in which our hero, a middle-aged woman, must save the children of the local tyrant. The imagery is exceptionally well-described, efficiently, clearly, evocatively. It's dream-like, but without abandoning the inner logic of the story, because the world it takes place in is inherently dream-like. The creatures and environments the heroine encounters aren’t totally original, but they’re brought vividly to life. The message is that the monsters in the forest are no worse than the monsters in the real world, but to reduce it to such a cliche is to ignore its complexity and emotional heft. Read along with A.S. Byatt's The Thing in the Forest, a creepy, sad version of the same kind of narrative, but set in the real world in the wake of World War II.

Also fits: Author of Color, Survival, Set in a Small Town (It mostly takes place in the enchanted forest, but starts and ends in a small town.)

24. Reference Materials: The Summer Dragon, Todd Lockwood Hard Mode: Yes (Multiple maps and extensive illustrations, as Lockwood is primarily an illustrator)

My third and last epic fantasy tome of the bingo! If you like dragons, this has more dragons per page than pretty much anything I've ever read - multiple different kinds of dragons, too. This book is from 2016, but felt old-fashioned, like it could have been written in the 90s or the 80s. A fast, light read, but very clean. There's some depth here: our narrator, a teenage girl, is unreliable in that she tends to rush to judgment and see others as one dimensional, but there are clear signs that they're living their own lives under the surface. The dragons are cute and they talk in a cute dragon pidgin language. The focus on religion isn't great - Lockwood is interested in spirituality and not a fan of organized religion, but it didn't quite gel or feel real to me, and religiosity isn’t presented in a way I think most people who think of themselves as religious would recognize. I also didn’t find the magical creature villains very interesting, although the banality of the human villains is effective. The book ends on a cliffhanger and the sequel is still forthcoming after 8 years.

Also fits: First in series (if another book ever comes out), Dreams, Entitled Animals, Prologues and Epilogues

25. Book Club or Readalong Book: Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera.

I saved the best for last. I'm counting this in this category as part of the Hugo read-along. Saint of Bright Doors is the story of Fetter, a former assassin who now lives a rootless existence in the big city, wheres into other’s with similar backgrounds and must contend with the political systems that seek to use and contain him. The book it has most in common with is Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria, another secondary-world fantasy with themes of bureaucratic violence and Kafkaesque elements. I also see similarities with Jose Saramago's Blindness and other literary fiction with fantasy elements.

It clearly is a fantasy book, and many reviewers feel compelled to insist that it is a secondary-world fantasy with many classic elements, but I think a lot of fantasy fans won’t find much to like here. The fantastic elements are highly allegorical. For example, the book features a support group for "chosen ones" who failed to achieve their destiny, but it's much more of a metaphor for the rootlessness of young adulthood in a world whose political systems are hostile towards its citizenry than it is a reality on its own terms. The world-building is also not very solid: as the book continues there is a considerable bleed between its world and ours, to the point that the United Nations are mentioned, and more and more of a dreamlike quality. There are demons only Fetter is able to see, but they don’t really function as a physical threat. They are not only metaphorically but explicitly and literally defined as a representation of the forgotten violence society is built on. In other words, this is a political literary novel whose genre elements serve those artistic ends.

There's also a religious element involving a fantasy version of Buddhism, here mostly subjected to a political critique which apparently reflects its role in Sri Lankan politics. This is another way in which Chandrasekara rejects the numinous in favor of an embodied political reality which he equates with violence.

Saint of Bright Doors also has the best prose of anything on this list, and it manages to be involving, moving, and harrowing while still doing all that political work. It’s a great book which will make its way onto college syllabi, should win the Hugo, and will deserve any other awards it wins.

Also fits: Author of Color

I want to thank the mods for setting up the bingo - I really enjoyed completing it and I will definitely participate again next year! If anyone has comments on these mini-reviews, I’d love to hear them!

Just the list:

First in Series: Robert Van Gulik, Anonymous Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee

Alliterative Title: Tamsyn Muir, Princess Floralinda and the Forty-flight tower

Under the Surface: Frances Hardinge, A Face Like Glass

Criminals: Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning

Dreams: Nicola Griffith, Spear

Entitled Animals: Juhani Karila, Fishing for the Little Pike

Bards Juliet Marrilier, The Harp of Kings

Prologues and Epilogues Chakraborty, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Self Published or Indie Publisher: Wo Chi Xi Hong Sh, Coiling Dragon

Romantasy: Sharon Shinn, Unquiet Land

Dark Academia: Katy Hays, The Cloisters

Multi POV: K.V. Johansen, Blackdog

Published in 2024: Steven Brust, Lyorn

Character with a Disability: Anne Carson, The Autobiography of Red

Published in the 90s: Kate Elliot, King's Dragon

Orcs, Trolls, & Goblins, Oh My!: Travis Baldree, Legends and Lattes

Space Opera: Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice

Author of Color: Wole Talabi, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

Survival: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brnyah, Chain Gang All Stars

Judge a Book by its Cover: Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr, Never Whistle at Night

Set in a Small Town: Ramona Emerson, Shutter

Five Short Stories: E. Lily Yu, Jewel Box

Eldritch Creatures: Premee Mohamed, The Butcher of the Forest

Reference Materials: Todd lockwood, The Summer Dragon

Book Club or Readalong Book: Vajra Chandrasekera, Saint of Bright Doors

Hello!

I did some quick searching on this sub but couldn’t find a request exactly like mine.

I’d love a fantasy book with dragon riders. But, I would like it to be as maturely written as possible, meaning Adult fantasy over YA.

I’d prefer dragons that do not speak, but that they are in some way bonded to humans, whether that be a hard connection or a soft connection does not matter to me.

Thank you.

Edit: I’d also like to avoid a typical Hero’s journey in the first book if possible. While I can read and enjoy a heroes journey first book, if I can get a unique story from the first book I’ll take it.

Google has failed me, because carnivorous plants have plenty of representation in horror, but I feel there has to be more fantasy examples than I know, and it is a weird trope craving I am having. They dont have to be central to the story, just present.

Books I have read with this trope:

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley - been a while, but I believe there were trees that actually hunted and set traps?

Dusk by Tim Lebbon - Carnivorous tumbleweeds.

South Reach- Jeff VanderMeer- New weird has a few, because Bas Lag also has walking cacti.

And that is all I can think of. Can anyone help me expand this list?

Hi! I would really love to find more books like two of my favorites: The Curse of Chalion by by Lois McMaster Bujold and The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. These books are very different in plot and style, but what they have in common is the pov character being an honest, competent, hardworking person who, despite doing work that is incredibly important within their government, works mainly behind the scenes to support their chosen ruler. I would love to find more fantasy/historical/scifi novels that similarly are from the point of view of someone who might more traditionally be a "support" character or the "power behind the throne." Anyone got any recs?

This month we are reading The Tainted Cup for our Fantasy Mystery theme.

 by Robert Jackson Bennett

In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.

Bingo Squares: First in a Series, Reference Materials (HM), Published in 2024, Book Club, Character with a Disability

The discussion here will cover through the **end of Chapter 19 in Part III**. Any spoilers after that should be marked. Questions will be posted as separate comments and please feel free to add your own if there is something you want to discuss. Happy reading!

Reading Schedule:

• Midway Discussion - July 15th - Through the end of Chapter 19 in Part III. That's today!

• Final Discussion - July 29th

I’ve listened to the Harry Potter audiobooks. What must be 15 times at this point.

I’m looking to expand my horizons, and discover new art and support different authors.

However, it’s been hard to find the comforting sense of familiarity that these books provide. To me it’s about being able to exist in the world that’s different than ours, but it’s not just about adventure, and instead, we spend time going to class, playing sports, and making friends.

I was hoping to find more books like this in the sci-fi or fantasy genres!

Please let me know if you can think of anything! I’ll take any help I can get!

I'm reading Michael Moorcock's Gloriana and absolutely love it so far, but I've been taking longer and longer breaks in between finishing it and I refuse to read other books without finishing it. Not a complaint, really, just find it strange that I can't read more than 3-4 chapters of it at a time before bouncing, when I usually plow through tomes in 2-3 days. Have any of you read a book you loved but it took you so long to finish it?

I've lacked a lot of reading from my teenage years to now, mid 20s. I used to read as a kid! Percy Jackson and the Hunger Games but lately, trying to get back into reading, I've found myself having to re-read pages over and over again. Or getting three chapters in and struggling to remember anything. The same is true with audiobooks. Many of them I have a hard time absorbing information and usually have to rewind it or just give up.

Now there's been exceptions. Non-fiction, like Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology I was able to absorb fine. I was also able to listen to Tress of the Emerald Sea perfectly! But I struggle to listen to Mistborn. I have no idea why this is happening but it's truly aggravating.

TL;DR Review – Pokemon meets Dances with Wolves. A youthful and engaging “light� progression fantasy.

Full Review:

Kellen was just a farmer—until he woke up in the world of Oras and found himself face to face with a talking, bouncing fox.

And his life has only just begun to get weird!

Beast Mage is a fun, adventure-packed progression fantasy that’s light on the progression and rich on the fantasy. It’s set in a landscape that feels delightfully reminiscent of the Great Plains of North America, home to wandering tribes that lightly evoke Native American culture and personalities.  

The simplicity of the landscape is contrasted sharply by the complexity of the magic (mana) system. Every beastcaller gifted the ability to wield mana bonds with an animal of some sort—in this book, we see magical foxes, coyotes, and crow-looking monsters—but there are also wild beasts, from giant rhino-bears to fire bison to thunderbirds.

Kellen’s fox companion, Vex, is a whole lot of fun. He’s an endless source of quips and comments, and his naivete and innocence makes him a riot to read. His personality contrasts Kellen’s more serious nature, but he’s also a great source of Kellen’s drive to succeed and develop his magical abilities.

Another impetus behind Kellen’s story is his search for his sister, Allison, who was brought to Oras through the same magical portal that brought him. Only when he arrives, she’s nowhere in sight, but was captured by a rival beastcaller who is collecting slaves to sell for power and profit.

Allison’s story is by far the darker of the two, with a great deal of suffering, pain, loss, and sorrow. And because of that, we’re eager for Kellen to push harder and travel faster to catch up to her and rescue her.

The pacing was smooth and steady, the progression was easy to follow without being excessively complex, and the colorful world made for a really enjoyable read. It evoked Pokemon or Digimon in the animal companion/training/powering up aspects, but its Native American-esque flavor made it something unique in the progression fantasy world.

I teach seventh grade English (12-13 year olds). I was so excited about the scifi unit when I took over this grade level, but the stories used currently are all written by white men before 1970. I teach at an international school and want to bring more diverse stories to the unit. I plan to look into Le Guin as a starting place. Does anyone have tips about short stories with themes and writing appropriate for this age level? This could include things this generation can relate to, like social media and the modern understanding of AI. Preferably stories written in the last 20 years by authors who are women, non-American/British, or BIPOC.

Thankful for any suggestions! For some context, the final task for the unit is that students write their own scifi short story, with a focus on plot structure and a "what if" question as a theme.

Edit to note that the current assigned reading established by my colleagues is The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, and short stories by Isaac Asimov and Henry Slesar.

Hey everyone,

I've recently become a huge fan of fantasy novels. When I was younger, I read a lot of the popular kids' series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but didn't read much of the adult genre. Recently, I've gotten back into it and have devoured all of Brandon Sanderson's works and absolutely love them. The highlights for me are the interconnected Cosmere universe, and the character building. I've also completed the entire Wheel of Time series, which I enjoyed but found a bit slow at times. Additionally, I read and really liked "The Expanse" series (I know it's more sci-fi than fantasy, but that’s okay too).

I'm looking for recommendations for my next read. Here's what I'm after:

• A long series or a universe with multiple interconnected series (similar to the Cosmere).

• Popular and highly reviewed authors.

• I enjoy epic fantasy with deep world-building and compelling characters.

• I'm not a fan of horror but am open to some adult themes.

If there's any must-read fantasy that doesn't quite fit these criteria, I'd love to hear about that too. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

How different is the writing between the first publishing of the series and the recent re-edited second edition? Which one has the better writing, overall? Does it even matter?

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 's !

As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The 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!

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I've read the first Temeraire book, and while I enjoyed it, I found it hard to wrap my head around the fact that the dragons could talk, lol. It's just not my thing. I prefer dragons that are beastlike but intelligent in their own right. GRRM's dragons hit sweet spot I feel, and I would like to find more books with similar ones (:

My favorite fantasy character is accused of being a procrastinator, an idiot, short-sighted, and a fool. He is all of these things.

"The White Prophet and the Catalyst. Rather name them as they are- The Fool and the Idiot."

I read this book recently and I've been meaning to ask this. Great book btw. I spent the first bit of the book trying to keep track of all 12 siblings/librarians. Here's my notes:

1 Carolyn: languages

2 David: fighing

3 Margaret: dying

4 Michael: Dr Dolittle

5 Jennifer: healing

6 alicia: future/time-travel

7 rachel: phantom children see potential futures

8 Peter twin1: dates alicia

9 Richard twin2: math?

10 Emily: mind reading

11 Lisa: mind control

12 ???

Am I missing someone? I thought I was clever for figuring out that one of the librarians hadn't been mentioned and that they might show up at the end for some grand reveal. But then the book ended and I still don't know who it was. Was Steve the 12th child? Did I just miss it somewhere? Help me out.

For example, I wouldn't list Harry Potter since it's a mixed solution as they still have this massive battle after the major climax. Narrow Road Between Desires would make the cut. What else?

I’m pretty new to fantasy and have been finding I really enjoy books that touch on the concept of the soul. However, I’ve really only seen this come up in Faustian, ‘sell your soul’ kind of bargains so far and I have yet to see any explanation for why an entity would want someone’s soul in the first place. The soul is just an orb of light that is needed to cross over to the afterlife - if explained at all.

I would really love to read a book where the soul is portrayed in a more creative way, where its purpose is explained more in depth, or where it’s used for something other than a bargaining chip.

Do you have any recommendations for me? I’ve mostly been reading books, but open to tv shows/movies, manga/anime, etc.

So I read the Priest of Bones (War for the rose throne) and the subsequent two books and they were just REMARKABLE!!

I have yet to find another book which has captured me the same and/or provided the same experience straight of the bat.

Can any one provide some suitable options?