imyril @ There's Always Room For One More Giveaways, Wyrd and Wonder, Wyrd and Wonder 2019

Quest Log The Third: the finest fantasy flailing

Text banner: Wyrd and Wonder: Celebrate the Fantastic (1-31 May) - plus a gorgeous stylised dragon glyph

I’m locked high in a tower with my nose in the wrong sort of book this weekend, but at least the view is good from up here – so grab yourself a seat and let me share the doings of my Wyrd and Wonderful companions…

First up, a massive THANK YOU to my wonderful co-hosts Lisa and Jorie for keeping the party going while I traverse Tomb U’ch Werc. And an equally massive THANK YOU to everyone who is blogging, tweeting, Litsying, Instagramming and generally sharing the love of fantasy.

Reviews

As ever, I’m loving the many types of fantasy being read across our fellowship:

…and a selection of mini-reviews of graphics novels over at Perfectly Tolerable!

The Wyrd and Wonder Challenge

In this week’s Challenge:

Check out #WyrdAndWonder on Instagram for near-daily Challenge responses! 

Features

There’s been some thought-provoking discussion this week. Brittany asked What is Fantasy? at Perfectly Tolerable. Annemieke tried to find the difference between grimdark and dark fantasy at A Dance with Books. Kathy has things to say about intimacy, friendship and romance in her post about 5 Fantasy BFFs at Pages Below The Vaulted Sky. And Caitlin weighed in on the importance of maps (HEAR HEAR) at Realms of My Mind.

What bookwyrm can resist a sneak peek into someone else’s reading? Jorie treated us to a #25PagePreview of her current reads, and they’re doozies: The Priory of the Orange Tree, Empire of Sand and Adrift. In other vicarious bookwormery, Jess(ticulates) caught us up on her progress with her Wyrd and Wonder TBR – and Annemieke treated us to ringside seats for her unboxing of a Shades of Magic box.

We’ve had some fun book tags this week if you fancy tagging yourself in. Hannah took the A-Z Book Tag at I Have Thoughts On Books. Brittany took the Marvel Avengers Book Tag (too awesome. I may not be able to resist this one). Annemieke tackled the Bookish Adventure tag – which fantasy world would you pick to go on an adventure?

But that’s not all. Author Aliette de Bodard guested at Dear Geek Place to talk about her favourite fiction tropes. Caitlin took some time to look back at where her obsession with dragons started. Mervi picked 5 Fantasy BFFs (shout out to Shara Thivani and Sigrud, hell yeah!). In honour of the release of The Poison Song by Jen Williams, Lynn featured The Winnowing Flame trilogy for Throwback Thursday – and I made an impassioned case for getting on your bat and reading this brilliant and unusual series.

Lynn now hosts the Friday Face-off (created by Books by Proxy) at Lynn’s Books and there was no avoiding a fantasy theme this week: fabulous beasts it is. Brittany at Perfectly Tolerable, Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy, and Lynn herself all had some awesome covers to share.

Right, how’s that TBR looking? Before we start thinking about heading back out into the Wild, there’s a few more posts that might make an impact! Lynn featured C L Polk’s sequel Stormsong for Can’t Wait Wednesday; Dani at Mousai Books took a look at her Most Anticipated Reads for the summer; and Hannah put together a divine list of recommendations for fantasy featuring gods (sorry not sorry).

Read-alongs

Our read-alongs are coming to a close: next week will see the end of Trail of Lightning (ahem, I think we’ve all actually finished reading it – but we’ll hold off on that final discussion). At just past the halfway stage it seems that The Ninth Rain has stolen all our hearts and we’re convinced Hest will sacrifice us to her tree-god. If you’ve read the books, please pop over to our blogs to join in the conversation (but avoid spoilers for future weeks!)

Trail of Lightning

The Ninth Rain

Recap: Weekly chapter breakdowns for each read-along.

Giveaways

In case you’ve forgotten…

  • Deanna will send one lucky winner a book of their choice (up to $25) from the Book Depository. Enter using the Rafflecopter before May 31st
  • Zezee is offering a book of the winner’s choice (up to $30) from the Book Depository. Enter using the Rafflecopter before May 31st
  • Nikki is gifting a copy of one of the books they read this month via the Book Depository. Enter using the Rafflecopter before May 31st
    • Plus Nikki has bonus prizes for Habitica users!
    • Five gems for one hero who takes part in The Ninth Rain read-along and completes the tasks on Habitica.
    • Five more gems are on offer for a winner who takes part in the Trail of Lightning read-along and completes the associated tasks on Habitica

One last thing

As ever, if I’ve missed you in the Quest Log, my apologies. You’re a tricky but rewarding party to track through the woods, and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Make some noise on the #WyrdAndWonder hashtags as a sign of your passing, update the Master Schedule with word of where you’re heading, and I’ll gather the gang at the tavern next Monday to hear all about it.

We’re in to the third act now, so things must be about to get Really Serious. Ready for some more Wyrd and Wonder? Damn right we are!