The r/Fantasy book bingo challenge is my favorite reading challenge of the year, and one I seem to be able to stick to even when everything else is chaos. I didn’t plan out my cards this year, just choosing from my TBR/owned books/library options whatever fits the squares I have available.

I was hoping I’d have some sort of theme for my 3 cards, but it ended up just being wholly random. I didn’t really focus on hard mode, and gave up tracking, but I did try to get as many already-owned books and sequels as I could.

I failed to review most of these as I read them, and that’s really messed with my memory. Like a lot, lot, I read Fireheart Tiger twice in the same year and only realized when I got close to the ending. I do remember some books very well, but some just did not stick to brain at all. I find this very weird. Especially for some of the sequels, I remember the first book strongly but only vibes from the second.

I prefer grouping by square than by card, so I’ll have 3 posts:

• Rows 1 & 2
• Rows 3 & 4
• Row 5 & stats

I’m rating this on a scale of heart ❤️, smiley face ☺️ and meh 😐, based mainly on enjoyment.

First Row Across:

• A Book from r/Fantasy‘s Top LGBTQIA List:

Any book on this list, including sequels. HARD MODE: A book or series that received ten votes or less.

• Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers

  ☺️ it was nice, another solid entry in the Wayfarers series, and worked well for my mood when I need it

• A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine 😐 sadly I read this cause it was recommended as inspired by Foreigner,  and it is, but not the parts I wanted from it. So it’s not you, it’s me, but it was mostly a let down.
• Treason’s Shore (Inda #4) by Sherwood Smith ❤️ I love Inda, he is amazing, great series, excellent worldbuilding, writing, and characters, go read it now.

• Weird Ecology:

 Story takes place in a world that is wildly different from our own and includes such things as unique environments, strange flora and fauna, unusual ecosystems, etc. The difference in environment, flora and fauna, and ecosystems cannot simply be “it’s a fantasy world,” but something that is fundamentally different about the world itself. Example: The Bone Ships by RJ Barker counts as this is a poisonous world without trees and the world had to evolve in significantly different ways to deal with that. Meanwhile The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb would not count, as it is fairly close to our own world’s ecology just with the added presence of dragons. HARD MODE: Not written by Jeff VanderMeer or China Miéville.

• The Stone Sky(The Broken Earth #3)by N.K. Jemisin ❤️ glad I finally finished this series, I liked the ending and I felt like it answered all the questions I wanted
• Winds of Change (Valdemar: Mage Winds #2) by Mercedes Lackey ☺️ I liked the setting for this trilogy a lot, I was already a big fan of Valdermar
• Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon by ❤️ I admit, I went in with low expectations and that was wrong of me, surprisingly violent & disturbing opening aside, the rest of the book was great fun, and the weird ecology was pretty well developed

• Two or More Authors:

Any book written by two or more authors such as This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Anthologies count! HARD MODE: Three or more authors.

• Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien, Kat Weaver ❤️ I had quite the gothic phase this bingo year, I loved this, and I wished it were longer than a novella
• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey ❤️ I binged 7 books and 4 seasons of the Expanse, then had to take a break cause I was Expansed out. Obv I loved the series, I thought the plot was very well constructed, and it was interesting and deliberate in the ways it made me love/hate characters.
• Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse #3) by James S.A. Corey ☺️ I did good work with sequels on this series, but they all kinda blended together (this is a recurring theme)

• Historical SFF:

Any book within the historical fantasy subgenre. HARD MODE: Not based in Britain or Ireland.

• The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #1) by Theodora Goss ❤️ read when I wanted more of that Dracula itch scratched and it provided, good fun
• European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #2) by Theodora Goss  ❤️ I really liked this one too, and would’ve continued on but couldn’t find the 3rd book in audio
• The Hidden Palace (The Golem and the Jinni #2) by Helen Wecker😐 it was a bit of a letdown compared to book 1, more slice of life which I usually enjoy, but I was missing some plot motivator like the big bad of book 1

• Set in Space:

A book that takes place primarily (at least 50%) off planet. IE: on a spaceship, space station, asteroid, space whale, free floating in space, etc. HARD MODE: Characters are not originally from Earth. It is acceptable for the characters to be descendants of Earthlings as long as they are not themselves from Earth.

• Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes 😐 I’m sorry to say this book left me cold. I just never got into, despite the hold full of cats which is always a big draw for me. Maybe it was just bad timing.
• Ethan of Athos Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #3 by Lois McMaster Bujold ☺️ this was an entry in the Vorkosigan universe. Athos is a planet with just men, and they have a lot of interesting (read: misogynistic, but in an almost comical way) ideas about women. Pretty fun but not the most memorable
• Dark Horse by Michelle Diener ❤️ I remember I loved this, I listened to as fast as I could. It’s romantic sci fi. I cannot remember a single detail about it except that the female lead was great. Thankfully, past me had a note: It was really cool, fun creative worldbuilding, good characters, lots of tension, sentient AI, wholesome romance. Dark Horse has some really cool worldbuilding and I’m surprised I haven’t seen it more often, the humans and aliens are mostly similarly shaped, but have significant differences in the light and sound they can perceive and make, and I feel like that’s such a common difference between species on earth I would be a lot easier for authors to reach for, but the most we usually get is elves seeing/hearing further away/in the dark, but not so much different wavelengths.

Second Row Across:

• Standalone:

A book that is not part of a series or a larger world. No connected novellas or short stories. HARD MODE: Not on r/Fantasy’s Favorite Standalones List.

• Circe by Madeline Miller 😐 I put this off for so long and I was right to, totally not my thing, I’m sure it’s a perfectly fine book it just did nothing for me
• Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher ❤️ I cannot overstate how lovely Nettle and Bone is. It’s got the bones of a horror story with the death and horrible hopeless shit going on, but it’s written with so much kindness and warm and sweet humor it feels cozy.
• The Half Killed by Quenby Olson 😐 I read this on my gothic kick but it didn’t quite work for me, the author writes with lots of asides and I find it distracting. I thought the oppressive atmosphere was well done.

• Anti-Hero:

Wikipedia describes an antihero as “a character in a story who lacks conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that are morally correct, it is not always for the right reasons, often acting primarily out of self-interest or in ways that defy conventional ethical codes.” Examples: Locke Lamora in the Gentleman Bastard series or most grimdark books. HARD MODE: A YA book with an anti-hero.

• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao❤️ I was blown away by this. It pulls no punches. Not a subtle bone in its body but good for when you’re angry at the world and need a good vent. The central relationship was great and fresh.
• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett❤️ a reread that went very well, every time a new important character turned up I got all mushy with nostalgia.
• The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick ❤️ took me forever to get invested in this because I could not care less about another former street rat in another not-venice, but eventually got into it and loved it! I’m waiting on the library loan for the sequel. The magic aspects are great and imo the authors were wrong to put off using them for so long in the book.

• Book Club OR Readalong Book:

Any past or active r/Fantasy book clubs count (HEA, Mod, Classics, Resident Author, Feminism in Fantasy, etc.), as well as past or active r/Fantasy readalongs. See our full list of book clubs here. NOTE: All of the current book club info can also be found on our Goodreads page. Every book added to our Goodreads shelf or on this Google Sheet counts for this square. You can see our past readalongs here. HARD MODE: Must read a current selection of either a book club or readalong and participate in the discussion.

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine ☺️ I liked this in the end, but it took me a minute to get into it because of the parents dying thing and I found the curse pretty stressful.
• She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan ❤️ IT WAS SO GOOD. I loved this book overall, but there was one weakness for me. In about the first half, everytime the PoV switched away from Zhu I put down the book. And the other PoVs were fine, perfectly good characters, interesting in their own right, but Zhu was fire and I did not care about other people. They did eventually grow on me, somewhat, and I appreciated all the extra context, but I think I might’ve liked this even more as a single PoV. (I noticed this is a recurring problem I seem to be having at this stage in my life)
• Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman – ok so I havent actually read this one, but I’m starting it this week and since the rest of the post was ready to go I didnt wanna wait.

• Cool Weapon:

At least one main character uses a weapon with magical properties. HARD MODE: Weapon has a unique name. Examples: Excalibur from Arthurian legend, Dragnipur in Malazan, Sting in Lord of the Rings, etc.

• By the Sword Valdemar (Publication order) #9 by Mercedes Lackey ☺️ another one for the pile of “I remember I liked this, but not why” It was a good bridge between the previous sub-series, which I didn’t like much, and going back to more Valdemar focused.
• Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer 😐 this book had promise but it was too long for me. I’m not into chonky epics anymore so I felt like it really dragged. It had a cool world and the dragons were very neat though.
• Winds of Fate Valdemar: Mage Winds #1 by Mercedes Lackey☺️ I was not a fan of the dual PoV in this one, since it took them so long to get in the same place/story. This series ended up having more weird rape stuff than I was expecting. I liked the subsquent two Mage Winds books more than the first.

• Revolutions and Rebellions:

A book featuring a revolution. Any overthrowing of governments, monarchs, and systems will do. HARD MODE: Revolution/Rebellion is the main focus of the plot.

• The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala ❤️  I loved this, I’m not the biggest fan of enemies to lovers but I thought this did such a good job of it. I thought it was great how they were truly enemies on different sides of a large scale conflict, not just petty rivals. I also greatly enjoyed the South Asian inspired world and the forest setting.
• Empire of Gold The Daevabad Trilogy #3 S.A. Chakraborty ☺️ oh yeah another series bites the dust! I liked it though it went on a little long for my taste, very epic and magical though. Definitely needed a refresher before I started.
• Whispers of Shadow and Flame Earthsinger Chronicles #2 L. Penelope ❤️  I really enjoyed this and the rest of the series. I liked the characters and the world, I feel like so often we see the before of a huge world-changing event in fantasy, and I love series that also show the after (another good one is The Kingston Cycle by CL Polk)