Sorting through my bingo squares last year, I realized that I have a lot of books that fit the underrated square, under 2500 Goodreads ratings, and they’re also some of my favorites that deserve some serious lovin. So I’m gonna try writing reviews in 50 words of so. Goodreads ratings numbers are from about a month so might be a bit off. Features minor author stalking to see where they live

They’re ordered from fewest Goodreads ratings to most, except that usually the second book in a series has less ratings than the first so that messed up my order a lot.

Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin, 124 GRr, on TBRindr, free through the author’s website. Probably the one closest to my heart. It’s the most hopeful thing ever, brimming with optimism and humor. Set in and around Camelot it’s a great little adventure with lovely characters such as a reformed evil wizard and a shrinking giantess.

Self published, local to Phoenix, Arizona, title has more than 4 words, hard mode

Faycalibur by Liam Perrin, 13 GRr, sequel to Sir Thomas.

Feels like Thomas grew up a lot since the beginning of book 1, the stakes are much higher this time, saving the kingdom, and so are the risks. I love the menace of Morgan le Fay, and there are new endearing characters as well as growth for the old ones. Not enough of Grandma Farmer.

Self published hard mode, local to :Phoenix, Arizona, published in 2019

The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi by Kelvyn Fernandes, GRr 23, on TBRindr,

The MCs are cool and mysterious, Peter’s a mage whose unique power is to make bubblesand Fi’s a chimera. The worldbuilding is very intriguing, every new bit of information holds a hint of a new mystery. It started out a bit slow for me but I liked the ending.

Self published hard mode, title has more than 4 words,

A Demon in the Desert by Ashe Armstrong GRr 71

A fun wild west adventure with a seasoned Orc demon hunter, an isolated mining town and a powerful demon. A really fun read, and I’m all in for this Clint Eastwood orc business, hell yeah! Contains at least one very cheesy pun.

Self published,

The Fire Eye Refugee by Samuel Gately, GRr 74, on TBRindr

Kinda slow to start, but I liked it in the end. It’s kind of a mystery, the MC is a fetch that finds missing children, and her laters case ends up involving her in all kinds of politics. Low magic except of the giant burning Fire Eye in the sky.

Self published, local to Oak Park just outside Chicago, title has 4 words

Klondaeg the Monster Hunter by Steve Thomas, GRr 77

A fun little adventure, set in a world with some pretty awesome mad gods.I loved the Goddess Perpleskga, The Goddess of Things That Make No Sense and the double headed axe with the double personality. I felt a bit meh about Klondaeg, he’s alright, but I wished the axe were the MC.

Self published, title has 4 words, twins

A Tale of Two Factions: Elegy and A Good War by Christie Golden, Robert Brooks, GRr 32, two World of Warcraft Novellas

Probably only for WoW fans, but I really liked the idea of having two novellas showing the opposing sides before Battle for Azeroth. They’re free and they do a good job of getting in the character’s heads. For the Horde!

SFF Novellas, Local to: Born in Atlanta, Georgia with stints in Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, Tennessee, and Texas, Golden has returned to Virginia for a spell. Media Tie-In, title has more than 4 words hard mode

Copii Intunericului/ Children of Darkness by Lavinia Calina, GRr 185, only in Romanian

It’s a paranormal/urban fantasy about two witches trying to hide from big bad witch clans and getting caught. They end up as pawns pitted against one another in this clan war, each of the them thinking she’s doing what she needs to keep her friend safe, and believing that the other has betrayed her.

Local to Caransebes and Timisoara Romania,

What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank A Fantasy Lover’s Food Guide by Krista D Ball, GRr286, nonfiction

I loved it, a fun history book, mixed in with a cookbook, sprinkled with great images of Krista making a mess of her kitchen, to her dog’s delight.It was really interesting, filled with very detailed information and very fun and easy to read.

Works for substitution square “Non-fiction Fantasy Related Book”, local to Alberta, Canada, title has more than 4 words

Titanborn by Rhett Bruno, GRr 403

My least favorite of the bunch. A gritty space noir, narrated by RC Bray, that was not for me. In a world that’s not-The-Expanse, Old MCKnowItAll has to solve the mystery of a bombing, together with his very smart, augment side kick with no social skills. The plot was too predictable for me to enjoy.

Orconomics by Zachary Pike, GRr 1,719, on TBR

Another one of my favorites. It’s a great satire and adventure poking fun at the professional heroics model we see in so many books. It’s got a substance abusing elf, a dwarven berserker, a joy of a loveable goblin, a floating head evil necromancer and great humor.

Self published

Self published, Local to New Hampshire

Son of a Liche by Zachary Pike, GRr 602, sequel to Orconomics

Everything Orconmics had and more! It was less about a party of people, and more about each individual person. There was a lot of character development and people getting their chance to shine. First one was great, but this one had a lot more soul. Hilarious too

Self published, Local to New Hampshire, title has 4 words,

The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories, antology, edited by Mahvesh Murad GR 647

Some great stories in this one, very magical and immersive. I recommend this to anyone curious about Djinn that hasn’t seen them pop up often enough. Their settings range from traditional hot desert setting, to vivid cities, dystopian futures and modern day drone warfare.I loved how dangerous and alluring the djinns are.

Any r/fantasy book club botm, title has more than 4 words hard mode, 5 short stories

Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren GR 766

Cosy mystery set in modern day Oxford. It’s cute, comforting, interesting, fun and a quick read. MC is a 27 year old that doesn’t know what to do with her life that ends up having to figure out her gran’s mysterious death, while vampires knit in the basement and shady figures try to buy her shop.

Featuring vampires, local Vancouver, Canada

Differently Morphous by Yahtzee Croshaw GR 969

Listened to the audiobook, it’s a blast! Yahtzee does great voices that might temporarily ruin you for other narrators. It’s a urban fantasy bureaucracy satire with cosmic horror creatures, incompetent government organizations and PR nightmares. I loved the british humor.

Local to San Francisco, also lived more than 10 years in Australia,

Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan GRr 2484

The last of The Memoirs of Lady Trent, an alt-history victorian series about a female natural historian traveling the world studying dragons, and causing occasional political or social scandals. I recommend it to people who like fantasy of manners and dragons, some people mentioned only reading the latest, I’d start with book 1.

Local to San Francisco, title has more than 4 words, final book of a series

Just over the 2500 mark:

Will Save the Galaxy for Food by Yahtzee Croshaw GRr 2743

A fun space adventure, with great narration. Great humor, space pirates and some small scale space-battles and the characters are enjoyable, apart from the annoying teenage brat, but he’s meant to be that way. The main character is a former star pilot hero now made obsolete by new technology and has to take shitty jobs now.

Local to San Francisco, also lived more than 10 years in Australia, title has more than 4 words