imyril @ There's Always Room For One More Giveaways, Wyrd and Wonder, Wyrd and Wonder 2020

Quest Log The Last: until the next time

Wyrd and Wonder - celebrate the fantastic

As the month ended, the adventurers gathered in the inn once more to share their exploits. It had been an epic season of Wyrd and Wonder, made delightful by friends well-met and tales well-told. While all good things proverbially come to end, there was comfort in knowing this was less an ending than a hiatus.

WHAT A MONTH! First up, I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who took part. While Wyrd and Wonder gets bigger every year, I’m glad to see it stays welcoming and curious. Raise your glasses, and let’s toast the best party in town. I hope to see you all back in the tavern on May 1st next year!

…if May 2021 feels like an awfully long time away, perhaps we can tempt you to explore adjacent realms? Wyrd and Wonder’s Hallowe’en baby will be back on October 19th for 13 nights of #SpooktasticReads – and older sibling SciFiMonth will be back on November 1st for (as the name implies) a month of all things science fiction.

But that’s not all! There was a huge response to my suggestion of a Kushiel read-along – so I’ll be hosting an autumn group read of Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey starting in September. I’ll announce exact dates and chapter breakdowns over the summer here, on Twitter and on the Goodreads group.

Right, that’s quite enough about the future – it’s time to take one last look back at the final week of this year’s Wyrd and Wonder. This week, I’ve got reviews and random treasure for you; you can find discussions and interviews over at Dear Geek Place; and keep at eye out over at Jorie Loves A Story for a final round-up of Wyrd and Wonder challenge tweets.

Fill up your tankard, and let’s take a look.

Book Reviews

TV & Movie Reviews

Random treasure

Time our weekly blog pot luck of tags and other delights! Beth spotlighted the spectacular opening of The Fifth Season for Book Beginnings and Friday 56 at Beth’s Bookish Thoughts. Jessticulates considered EK Johnston’s A Thousand Nights for Shelf Control. For Can’t Wait Wednesday, SJ Higbee looked forward to Grave Secrets by Alice James at Brainfluff, while Lynn got excited about Naomi Novik’s new book, A Deadly Education at Lynn’s Books.

The Friday Face/Off prompt was Silhouette. Lynn featured Foundryside at Lynn’s Books, SJ Higbee chose The Dark Lord of Derkholm for Brainfluff and Brittany had her eye on Crooked Kingdom at Perfectly Tolerable.

The adventure may be nearly over, but there’s always time for a quick tag…

The Wyrd and Wonder Challenge

Time for one last selection from the amazing responses to this year’s Challenge. I don’t think we’ve ever had so many people take the Challenge – let alone for the whole month and it’s been overwhelmingly awesome. Thank you to everyone for having so much with this! As ever, I’ll be focusing mostly (mostly) on the long-form responses here in the Quest Log, so head over to Jorie Loves A Story for her recaps of the fun on Twitter and check out the rest of the love on the #WyrdAndWonder tag on Instagram.

Day 25 | #MapMonday – the full Fantasy Hive picked their favourite maps to reboot Tough Travelling. DH Willison shared a personal adventure in mapping. I’m a sucker for maps, so this day was a treat. Mayri the BookForager picked Angel Mage as it has four maps – including this darling city plan (yep, I love the little buildings too!)

Day 26 | Mic drop – Brittany had thoughts on some books she would rather hadn’t had a sequel at Perfectly Tolerable. Caitlin sang the praises of Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson – and hang on, tell me more about these sentient books!

Day 27 | Not all heroes wear capes – but some of them wear cloaks. Don’t worry, Jake, I’ll allow it – Bilbo is a brilliant pick for this prompt

Day 28 | As you wish – this could be romance, movies, a favourite quote – or any combination – and in one of those little moments of synchronicity Nicholas Eames got two mentions on the 28th (but Caitlin wasn’t technically responding to the prompt, so I’ve gone with Bethan’s rather appropriately accessorised tome)

Day 29 | Book rainbow – I adore a good book rainbow and ohmigosh they were ALL brilliant – I’ve gone with the lovely hardback editions featured by Louise at Foxes and Fairytales, but do check out the rest on Instagram and Twitter!

Day 30 | Fond farewells – Anna Stephens got two separate (and well-earned) shout-outs for the magnificently emotional Godblind trilogy, which left Julia of the Fantasy Hive ‘slightly traumatised’ (me too, Julia. Me too) and won a place in Peter “The Swordsmith” Hutchinson‘s heart

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#WyrdAndWonder day 30 Fond Farewells I chose the Godblind trilogy by @annasmithwrites not only is the whole series amazing, but because it has one of the best endings I've yet read. There's also a lot of farewells within the series, as they're dark books, and quite same characters don't make it to the end… So it fits this prompt in many ways! Yes, it left me slightly traumatized, and a lot of chocolate and coffee was needed to calm my nerves, but I do count that as brilliant writing! Big thanks to @notjameslatimer for finding me a hardcover of book three that wasn't to be found anywhere here in Germany! #fantasy #fantasyreader  #fantasyfiction  #fantasybooks  #fantasyreads #bookstagram  #bookaholic #bookaddict  #booklover #bookrecommendations #bookworm  #bibliophile  #booksbooksbooks #readreadread #ilovereading #grimdarkfantasy

A post shared by Julia Kitvaria Sarene (@juliakitvariasarene) on

Day 31 | Fave Wyrd & Wonder read – there have been so many amazing books read this month; it’s been brilliant hearing about your favourites – and I’m so happy our month-long fantasy party has helped introduce so many of us to beloved new books. Charlotte of Chatterverse singled out Peter Newman as her fave read for the month:

…and a rapid-fire catch-up round of all the above tags from Peat Long.

Before you go…

Don’t forget to check out Tammy’s month-end giveaway at Bones, Books & Buffy!

Remember, a fantasy read is for life, not just for Wyrd and Wonder 😉 Keep tagging us in your fantasy reviews (@wyrdandwonder) through the year and we’ll happily follow your reading travels until the next party starts…