Well met, traveller! How are your adventures through the realms of fantasy? Varied and satisfying, we hope – but before you head back out in search of another, settle in and I’ll tell you a tale of what the rest of the party have encountered in their genre journeys. That’s right, it’s time for the Quest Log!
We have reached the midway point in our fantastic voyage, and the ether is rich with news of reviews and recommendations, Challenges and Fantastic Fives. This week, I have a round-up of the latest reviews, read-alongs and Challenge blog posts, and Lisa will regale you with the Fantastic Fives, tags, memes, interviews and other fun. Keep an eye out for the Instagram recap of the week in pictures over at @wyrdandwonder courtesy of co-host Ariana.
New companions
A warm welcome this week to Anne Nydam of Black and White (and a fond wave to those fellow travellers who have joined in the fun but haven’t signed up officially). Want to join the party? Add your name to the party rolls and we’ll announce you next week.
If you’d rather slide quietly into the conversation without the fanfare, just use the #WyrdAndWonder tag when you make a post – and add your links to our master schedule if you want to be featured in our weekly Quest Logs!
Reviews
- CHELSEA ABDULLAH – The Stardust Thief | Realms Of My Mind | My World of Books | A Literary Escape
- LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD – The Orphans Of Raspay | Mervi’s Book Reviews
- CERRIE BURNELL – Wilder Than Midnight | Book Nook Reviews
- ANDREW CALDECOTT – Momenticon | Little Frog Scribbles
- SAMUEL R DELANY – Tales of Nevèrÿon | Peat Long
- KATE ELLIOTT – King’s Dragon | Every Book A Doorway
- NEIL GAIMAN – I, Cthulhu | Space and Sorcery
- ALEX JENNINGS – The Ballad Of Perilous Graves | Every Book A Doorway
- ROBERT JORDAN – The Dragon Reborn | Peat Long
- CK McDONNELL – The Stranger Times | Space and Sorcery
- MICHAEL MOORCOCK – The Eternal Champion | Peat Long
- TAMSYN MUIR – Gideon The Ninth | Peat Long
- CL POLK – Witchmark | The Bibliophibian
- ALEXANDRA ROWLAND – A Taste Of Gold And Iron | Every Book A Doorway
- LEXI RYAN – These Hollow Vows | A Literary Escape
- ANTHEA SHARP – Faerie Song | Mervi’s Book Reviews
- SHAMI STOVALL – Master Arcanist | Mug Full Of Books
- KJ TAYLOR – Shadow of the Skytree | Jorie Loves A Story
- MARGARET WEIS & TRACY HICKMAN – Dragons Of Autumn Twilight | Peat Long
- JANE YOLEN – Dragon’s Blood | Mervi’s Book Reviews
- REBECCA ZAHABI – The Collarbound | There’s Always Room For One More
- XIRAN JAY ZHAO – Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | My World Of Books
- VARIOUS AUTHORS – The Dragon Universe | A Dance With Books
The Challenge
Each year, we come up with a prompt for each day of Wyrd & Wonder for the party to use as inspiration for posts, pics, tags, or whatever else they make of it. You can tackle as many or as few as you like, in any order you fancy. This year, the Quest Log is focusing only on blog posts – to catch up on the gorgeous pics being shared on Instagram, check out the @wyrdandwonder reels and highlights; or check out the #wyrdandwonder hashtag on Twitter and Litsy.
We always appreciate the enthusiasm with which The Fantasy Hive dive into the Challenge: this year, we’re loving their Throwback Thursday retrospectives. This week they applauded the beauty and the agony of book rainbows and spine poetry.
Right – what about 2022?
- Day 8 | Undergods (I make no apology for the pun)
- Heather rounded up an impressive array of demi-gods and celestial helpers
- Day 9 | #MapMonday doesn’t lend itself to blog posts, but if you love a good map there’s some gorgeous examples on #WyrdAndWonder on Instagram and Twitter
- Day 10 | #TropeTuesday – don’t leave the path – would fantasy be the same without the dangers encountered when our heroes stray from the straight and narrow?
- Annemieke considered cautionary tales and rousing adventures
- Day 11 | Weapon of choice
- Heather brought the true gems: improvised and whimsical weaponry!
- Peat Long considered iconic weapons (that last one is a stretch, but we don’t argue with people who deploy it so bravo for throwing it in the mix)
- Day 12 | Step into another’s shoes – which fantasy character would you dare to be?
- Celeste is willing to brave some hardships for the right reward <waggles eyebrows>
- Day 13 | Epic – the subgenre of chonksters and glory
- Sahi celebrated five of her favourite epic series
- Charlotte considered some epics she really wants to read
- Day 14 | A book within a book
- Heather has five recommendations of books all about secret tomes or storytelling
Read-along round-up
Our read-alongs are in full flow as we approach the halfway mark. Added to the discussions this week:
The Darkest Part Of The Forest – Holly Black
- Week One (to Ch5) | Pages and Procrastination | Peat Long | Where Stories Lie
- Week Two (Ch6 – 11)| A Dance With Books | Book Forager | The Book Nook | Dear Geek Place | The Green Tea Librarian | Jorie Loves A Story | Pages and Procrastination | Peat Long | Video Games As Literature | Where Stories Lie
Week
The Summer Tree – Guy Gavriel Kay
- Week Two (Ch 6-8): A Dance With Books | The Bibliophibian | Book Forager | The Book Nook | Dear Geek Place | The Fantasy Hive | The Green Tea Librarian | Jorie Loves A Story | One Reading Nurse | Peat Long | Readergrrl | There’s Always Room For One More | Where Stories Lie
Want to join us? Grab a copy and get reading – or slide into the comments on our posts to share your thoughts. Please check the read-along breakdowns for details of what chapters we’re reading each week, and who will be setting our discussion questions. If you have read the book or read ahead – please, no spoilers for future weeks!
That’s it for this week – pop by again next week for the latest adventures from around the party.
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Note: the gorgeous tree wolf is not royalty-free, but is licensed for use to promote Wyrd and Wonder online. You are welcome to use the banner on your Wyrd and Wonder posts, but please make no changes (except to resize if needed) and always credit the artist!
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