#terapsina's book rambles

[terapsina]

Let's talk books. Sorted in threes by vibes.

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I Support Women's Wrongs (murder, slaughter and body horror galore).

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Django Wexler - A woman from Earth is dropped into a magical realm, meant to save the Kingdom from the FoRCes of DaRKneSSss... except, unfortunately that might have been a thousand years worth of time loops ago, so it's rather time to lose one's temper and decide to become the Dark Lord herself.

Main character -> basically Deadpool (measured in sanity, humor and levels of bisexual horniness)).

Someone You Can Build a Nest In ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by John Wiswell - Shesheshen, a shapechanging monster who's rudely interrupted during her hibernation by hunters. Manages to to eat one of them, unfortunately she also gets shot by an arrow and falls off a cliff. On the bright side she meets a lovely human woman she might end up falling in love with so much... she'll want to build a nest in her (it's possible there's some Cultural Differences that need to be worked through).

Hench ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Natalie Zina Walschots - Anna's latest temp job for a villain (because even supervillains need office help) ends with her carelessly injured by a superhero, laid off and with injured mobility for the foreseeable future (because human bodies don't see much difference between getting hit by a truck and getting moved out of way by someone able to pick up a truck). Angry, disillusioned, and looking for some vengeful payback she starts compiling the statistics of exactly how much suffering gets left behind the heroes and in quick order finds a new job working for one of the worst supervillains in the neighborhood.

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Extremely Competent Women Show Up to Fix Everyone's Shit (with a whallop of romance which was actually sweet instead of irritating)

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The Witchwood Knot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Olivia Atwater - Winifred Hall was invited to the Witchwood Manor under the pretense of being the governess for a very bratty kid, but when said boy suddenly turns into a very quiet and perfectly bland boy overnight it's very obvious her charge has been stolen by faeries (and it might have something to do with the actual reason she's there). Rescue however is complicated by some factors, one, there being something terribly dark and wrong about the house (normal houses don't have screaming faces in the walls), another, the faerie man posing as the manor's butler who would very much like to make her run screaming the way so many servants had before her (unfortunately for him, she's not even half as scared of him as she is the eyes of the father of her charge).

This one's about dealing with past trauma, and otherworldly terrors paling in comparison to mundane monsters, set in a very beautiful and dark and shiver-inducing Victorian time world where the Fair Folk are very real.

(Same world as her Regency Faerie Tales trilogy that Started with Half a Soul but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy this one)

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Charlie N. Holmberg - Merritt Fernsby inherits a house only to be immediately taken hostage by what turns out to be a very stubborn and opinionated magical house. Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms goes there to facilitate the relationship between the house and its new owner.

It's supposed to be a very simple job. Unfortunately there's a third POV character in this book (no, not the Whimbrel House, though I adore that house and *insert here the Rosa Diaz gif about her new puppy and how she would kill everyone in this room and then herself if anything were to happen to that dog*). Anyway, they're a bit... uhhh... let's go with Bad News.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett - As one might expect from the title, Emily (a Cambridge scholar) wants to write the first ever encyclopedia of faeries. And she's brilliant enough to do it, what she's terrible at is people (*insert autistic character alert here*).

Someone else might then say it's lucky that a fellow scholar with a far easier time at charming people has stuck his toes in her reaserch trip into the Hidden Ones... that person however doesn't understand how irritating, frustrating and maddening her academic rival Wendell Bambleby actually is.

What follows is a story filled with winter snows, some terrible fae, some adorable fae, some not-very-secret fae, the goodest of good dogs, and lots and lots of squabbling. It's the best.

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Dark and Impactful Stories about Children Who Decide on Their Own Paths

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A Skinful of Shadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Frances Hardinge - Kate, an orphan and the illegitimate daughter of some stuffy (and evil) aristocrats runs away because being a bastard doesn't mean she didn't inherit the family magic that allows her to get possessed by the dead.

A dead bear ghost is one thing, a Get Out situation is something else entirely.

A Sorceress Comes to Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher - Cordelia isn't allowed friends or the privacy of closed doors, and whenever she's done something she shouldn't - a category too unpredictable to guard against - she's not allowed power over her own body.

Because her mother is an evil sorceress (think Regina and Cora... except somehow even worse). An evil sorceress that has found herself a Squire to lure into a marriage.

Hester is an old maid living with her brother, a Squire (well look at them coincidences), when said brother acquires a woman clearly set on his fortune. The plan is only to save her brother, except Hester can't help noticing how the woman's daughter keeps flinching in her mother's presence.

In The Lives of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by TJ Klune - A family can be an android inventor, his human son (*homoromantic asexual alert*), a sadistic nurse droid, and a very emotional roomba.

And it can be a very happy family. Until one uncovers and wakes up an android that shares a very Skynet past with one's father, said father gets kidnapped, and one has to go on a journey to get him back.

(A book I like to call Sci-fi Reverse Pinocchio)

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Unraveling an Unjust System (and a hero that - on a scale from occasionally to constantly - hears a disembodied voice directly in their heads okay the connection between these three is a bit of a stretch but they're all great books so shut up)

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Hell for Hire ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Rachel Aaron - 5000 years ago Gilgamesh conquered the heavens, enslaved the demons and made it so that the only road to magic humanity had access, was through him.

Now, however a mercenary team made up of free demons gets hired by a Blackwood witch to protect him (and his familiar, the talking cat named Boston) while he puts down roots (literally) inside the new forest grove he's about to start so that he can stand up against the warlocks after him.

The witch quickly becomes the best client Bex and her crew have ever had (after all, warlocks under the rule of the Eternal King Gilgamesh are slavers of their kind, they are delighted at the chance to kill some).

Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson - In a world where the veil between the living and the dead has been kinda broken Artemisia (*another autistic character alert*) is training to be a Gray Sister (magic nun).

Until her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she has no choice but to pick up a Saint's Relic containing a malevolent revenant to protect it.

Problem. Only a Vespertine is supposed to do it. Another problem. The only one "alive" who can teach her to be a Vespertine is the revenant. Another another problem. The revenant cannot be trusted and if she loses control to it, the death toll will be counted in cities.

Terminal Alliance ⭐⭐⭐⭐¾ by Jim C. Hines - Post Zombie Apocalypse, where some aliens showed up, sort of cured the zombies and took the (mostly) cured zombies into their military.

Which leads us to Marion Adamopoulos, also known as Mops, the Leutenant in charge of Shipboard Hygene and Sanitation of the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish.

Right up until a bioweapon turns the entire crew except her crew back into zombies. Congratulations, she's the captain now.

(Space Janitors save the universe story).

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[terapsina]

An Enchantment of Ravens - Probably the book closest to what you described looking for.

Isobel is a painter who creates portraits for the Fair Folk, but then she makes a terrible mistake, she paints mortal sorrow in the eyes of a fae prince.

And the book spends a lot of time inside a forest. And there's lots of forest aesthetics.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries - This one's about a scholar who's writing the first encyclopedia of faerie lore (in a world where everyone knows fae exist).

She's very good at understanding what makes the fae tick and very bad at getting through simple human interactions. Because she always somehow manages to insult people by being too frank, or not smiling when she should, or failing to react the way she should.

Anyway, then her annoying, irritating, infuriating colleague shows up in the middle of her latest field research trip on The Hidden Ones and... well then we get into the mystery of all this story is about.

Lots of fae lore. Quite a few fae. Winter aesthetics. Quite a bit of magical forest stuff too.

Nettle & Bone - A darker story here.

This one more plays with the fairy tale elements than has the Fae themselves but there are fae present. There's also a Goblin Market and a former knight she rescues from it.

Anyway book follows a princess from a minor kingdom, a third daughter, who spent the last decades in a convent when she finds out that the prince of a neighboring - much more powerful - kingdom has been abusing his wife, her second oldest sister... and probably killed her first oldest too.

So obviously she goes off to finish three impossible tasks to be able to kill him.

Bryony and Roses - A Beauty and the Beast retelling.

No fae. But some not not-fae, and lots and lots of magical roses. And definitely keeps to the vibes described.

Bryony gets caught up in a snow storm, takes shelter in a house that shouldn't be there, and then makes the massive mistake of cutting a rose to bring home to her sister before leaving.

does anyone have any good fae/forest nymph/ forest magic fantasy books? preferably w a romantic subplot. something that reads like a hozier song?

[terapsina]

So I read The Tainted Cup (amazing book, totally recommend) and there's one unresolved thing that is going to be driving me nuts until I finally get my hands on the next book years from now.

(spoilers for book under the cut, people-who-have-finished-the-book eyes only)

Excerpt nr. 1

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Excerpt nr. 2

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And.

No. That is NOT all that needs to be said of it. WHAT WAS THE LEVIATHAN TRYING TO SAY? PRETTY SURE WE REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE LEVIATHAN WAS TRYING TO SAY.

What is the empire trying to hide?

[terapsina]

Okay, it's been a while so here's an additional list of fantasy and sci-fi books with little to no romance in them that I've read recently and really loved.

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First post with books not heavy on the romantic subplots HERE.

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Once There Was ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Kiyash Monsef.

An Iranian American girl discovers that her recently dead father was a veterinary for magical animals and that she - like him - has inherited the ability to help these animals because of a family line reaching back for hundreds of generations.

The story deals with grief, rage, neglect and how it all intersects.

But it's also an incredibly magical story that wakes up all the wonder and love for animals that most children have and some never lose.

Interspersed through the book are also short fables and legends that Marjan's father used to tell her when she was young and are now gaining new meaning as she understands that they were more than stories.

(totally also recommend the audiobook version for those who enjoy good narration. Nikki Massoud does a freaking excellent job)

(Marjan does develop subtly budding feelings for someone in the story but it's kept very, very background. On a scale from 0 to 10 the romance reaches barely a 2).

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Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson.

A story about a girl named Artemisia who is training to become a Gray Sister. A nun who cleanses the bodies of the dead so that their souls would not return as ravenous spirits that would then threaten the lives of the living.

But then her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she's forced to pick up a sword holding the spirit of a very powerful revenant - a malevolent spirit of mass destruction that could possess her and kill everyone around her indiscriminately - despite not having the training of a Vespertine. So the only one who can teach her what she needs to know is the Revenant itself.

(The main character is autistic, antisocial and extremely introverted. And as for the romance, there is someone who develops feelings for her and we as the reader kinda notice it, but Artemisia the character notices nothing (also, the someone in question is not the Revenant, just thought I should clarify that). Amounts of romance in the book, like 1/10)

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A House With Good Bones ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher.

A Southern Gothic light horror with a bit of humor thrown in.

Sam Montgomery is worried about her mother so when her Paleoentomology dig falls through after she's already sublet her apartment for the next few months, she temporarily moves back in with her mother.

The mother who seems to be very stressed out while saying she's fine, and also seems to have acquired a sudden personality transplant. More specifically, she seems to have changed the house from the bright and colorful place it's been for decades, into the cookie cutter, bland (and slightly racist) fifties commercial kinda place it once was under the iron thumb of Sam's dead grandmother.

Is this some kind of weird delayed grief? Early onset alzheimers?

And why isn't there a single bug or insect in the entirety of the back yard's rose garden? Or why does she wake up to thousand's of ladybugs crawling all over each other - and Sam - one night in her childhood bedroom? And what's up with all these vultures staring at their house 24/7?

(Sam's POV is hilarious, her relationship with her mother one of the most genuinely emotional aspects of the book, and the story creepy enough to be exciting without reaching the point that would have made me throw the book down a hole for my own peace of mind. The romance... eh, there's a very nice dude Sam wouldn't mind going out with but it's not all that relevant to anything so amounts of romance don't reach past 2 out of 10).

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And finally some special shout outs to some other recently read books that I also enjoyed and that don't really have a lot of focus on the romance but that I don't feel like getting into rn.

Thornhedge ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett (okay this one's a bit heavier on the amount of romance but it gets points for not being annoying and still doesn't reach past 4 out of 10 in its amount, would recommend this book for people who enjoyed The Memoirs of Lady Trent), Translation Slate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐by Ann Leckie, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Theodora Goss (the daughters of classical book scientists like Frankenstein, Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde, Moreau and others come together to solve some White Chapel murders and maybe uncover a society that has been doing human experiments on women. 0.5 out of 10 on amounts of romance).

[terapsina]

26 for the ask game

(ask game)

26. Favorite novella(s).

The Emperor's Soul is I think my favorite of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere novellas, largely because I enjoy reading about con artists and thieves. Ones with magic power to rewrite the history of objects? Even better.

Thornhedge is a fun take on Sleeping Beauty that answers the question of why a fairy might have had NEED to put a girl to sleep. And how extremely stressful it would be to then spend hundreds of years dealing with all these knights trying to rescue this princess because apparently there's a story about it (reminds me a bit of how stories have a life of their own in Terry Pratchett's Discworld).

Mysteries of Thorn Manor is an epilogue novella to Sorcery of Thorns that I really enjoyed. A really nice self-contained look into the happily ever after of the characters I love (I mean what's not to love about the warrior librarian of living magical grimoires, a magician who has earned his magic by making a deal with a demon, AND the demon in question (Silas is the best, we love Silas)). Do need to read the preceding book to enjoy the novella though.

Artificial Condition, the second Murderbot novella. I mean I love all the novellas (and one novel) in this series but this one was my favorite. Because ART. I mean a sarcastic, extremely competent SecUnit meeting an equally sarcastic and kinda terrifying Asshole Research Transport? What more can one ask for?

The Secret Life of Bots. Its on the shorter end of the novella spectrum but I adore the little Bot that could. This Bot just gives me the WALL-E feelings, okay?

The Lies of the Ajungo. Okay, so I'm actually currently reading this one but I can already tell it's going to be very good. A story about a boy who goes on a quest to bring water to his city (they're under the thumb of a neighbor city that provides them water... as long as they agree to cut out the tongues of anyone older than thirteen.

It was a twofold price, a price of blood and a price of history: an untongued people cannot tell their story.

[terapsina]

My shameless rec of Discworld by Terry Pratchett to people who enjoy really memorable and vivid characters.

(this art is by Bartosz Kosowski, link here).

A world that rests on the shoulders of four elephants who rest on the back of the Great A'tuin.

Some of the characters in question are Death; the granddaughter of Death; a wizard who very very badly would like to not be a hero; three witches one of whom (the very grumpy and powerful one) needs to put a sign that says 'I Ate'nt Dead' around her neck whenever she goes burrowing into the heads of animals; a Watch Captain who is in a constant battle with the city tyrant to not get promoted; an extremely efficient city tyrant; a conman who gets put in charge of the post office by the city tyrant; a witch-to-be who's got a brother kidnapped by elves, an iron pan and (most of all) some Common Sense; a talking dog that takes great advantage of the fact that 'everyone knows dogs can't talk'; The Librarian who is a wizard that once had an accident and is now an orangutan who will make you Regret Everything if you ever try to call him a mon-*insert terrified screaming*-key; and many many more.

Series contains 41 books. Can be jumped into in any kind of order you want. But if you want at least some kind of linear order (coward) here's all the books that CAN be the first one you read: The Color of Magic (but don't choose this one, you can come back to this one), Equal Rites, Mort, Guards! Guards!, The Wee Free Men, The Moving Pictures, Going Postal.

And here's some memorable excerpts too:

[terapsina]

I'm creating a new book rec post containing my new favorite thing -> Comfort Fantasy with Food Aesthetic.

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Legends & Lattes - 💚💖☕

Viv the Orc is retiring from the life of blood, death and adventuring to open up her own little coffee shop.

“You can smell it though, can’t you? Like roasted nuts and fruit.”

Cal squinted at her. “Thought you said you drank it?”

Viv nibbled one experimentally, tasted the warm, bitter, dark flavor as it coated her tongue. She felt she needed to explain. “They grind it into powder and then run hot water through it, but there’s more to it than that. When the machine shows up, I’ll show you. Gods, the smell of it, Cal. This is just a ghost of it.”

She sat back on the flagstones and rolled the bean between her thumb and forefinger. “I told you I came across it in Azimuth, and I remember following the smell to the shop. They called it a café. People just sat around drinking it from these little ceramic cups, and I had to try it, and…it was like drinking the feeling of being peaceful. Being peaceful in your mind. Well, not if you have too much, then it’s something else.”

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The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart - 🐉🍫❤️

A very young dragon who has the great misfortune to come across a wizard that turns her into a human girl (oh, the horror) but also introduces her to CHOCOLATE!

As he stirred the hot chocolate, he kept on whispering to himself the whole time in that funny rhythmic chant, his whole body taut with concentration. I suppose I could have listened harder, to try to pick out his words, but really, when had I ever cared about anything that humans said? Besides, I was far too busy enjoying the smells from his pot. If I could have, I would have wrapped myself up in those steamy tendrils of scent and rolled around in them for hours. Hot chocolate. Talk about a treasure fit for a dragon!

I’d have to look for more chocolate in his luggage when I finished here. I already knew I would have to have hot chocolate again. Lots of it.

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A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - 🧙‍♀️✨🍪

Mona the fourteen-year-old magicker finds a dead body, gets accused of murder and has to save her city from a deadly conspiracy. But what can she do when the only magic she's got is power over baked goods?

I flushed. As wizards go, I’m pretty much the bottom of the barrel. Even Master Elwidge, who’s got just enough magic to take knots out of wooden boards, is better than me. Dough and pastries are about all I can do. The great wizards, the magi that serve the Duchess, they can throw fireballs around or rip mountains out of the earth, heal the dying, turn lead into gold. Me, I can turn flour and yeast into tasty bread, on a good day.

And occasionally make carnivorous sourdough starters.

Pls add recs if thou knowest more.

[terapsina]

I know I said I'd be reading Elatsoe next (and I still plan to, it looks like everything I've been looking for recently).

But I got distracted by In the Lives of Puppets and what I'm getting from it so far is that it's a queer Reverse!Pinocchio.

And also that I love the little, bubbly vacuum cleaner Rambo that's basically WALL-E if WALL-E could talk.

And also the medical droid Nurse Ratched with the murderous tendencies. She is a bully, she is also very protective, she's got no feelings, and if she admits to some she will follow up with threats of bodily harm. She contains multitudes.

Victor and Hap are very sweet too, obviously... but I've got a weakness for the mean murder-nurse!robot and the super excitable sunshine!roomba okay?

[terapsina]

I'm seconding The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart but may I also offer...

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - Mona is a fourteen-year-old magicker with power over baked goods (i.e. making muffins rise perfectly in the oven; a week old bread think its just been baked and soft as clouds; making gingerbread cookies dance a dance of their choice (too much spice in the recipe might make them pull moves that make married people blush), and very occasionally giving life to carnivorous sourdough starters named Bob). And then she finds a dead body in the kitchen of her family's bakery and things quickly spiral our of control.

Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines - Jig the Goblin, near-sighted and small even for his species (a species who sing of their heroes by listing all the ways all these heroic goblins died) gets captured by the latest band of adventurers and is forced to become the guide for this stupid, doomed quest. Basically, if Gollum was the hero of the tale.

Okay, I'm vibing at home procrastinating from writing so now's as good a time as any for this post that I owe @starbirdrising!

Behold: My Top Ten Fantasy Books/Series For When You Need Something With Magic And Kingdoms And Good Vs. Evil With Good Winning And Fun Adventures And Probably Dragons So Basically You Want To Read Narnia But Something New Would Be Fun:

"Valiant", by Sarah McGuire. I will recommend this book for as long as it takes the larger part of my followers to read it. It's a fantasy fairy tale retelling of "The Valiant Little Tailor", which is in the gray area between well known and "wait that's a real fairy tale??" where The Seven Swans and King Thrushbeard resides. The general plot is this girl moving to a new city with her dad, but due to unforseen circumstances she has to pretend to be a tailor to make a living. And then giants show up. And she accidentally gets involved. There is a bit of romance, but it's really, really good. Also the writing style is IMMACULATE and there's adoption. (this is one of the only single books on the list, the rest are series)

"The Dragon With A Chocolate Heart", by Stephanie Burgis. First of all, I should have asked for this for my birthday. Second of all, this is about a dragon who gets turned into a human. By a food mage. Have you heard of a food mage before? No, you haven't, but they're amazing. Especially when it comes to chocolate. So, said dragon sets off to seek her fortune as a chocolatier! Super fun platonic relationships, and there are DRAGONS

"The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making", by Catherynne M. Valente. How can you turn away from an incredibly cool name like that?? This is your classic portal fantasy-- girl travels by leapord to Fairyland, gets up to trouble with a Wyverary, and has to face off with an evil Marquess! Also it's a series, and the prose is freaking STUNNING. I reread the last one recently, and there was crying

"The Green Ember", by S.D. Smith. My sister just called this series "this generation's Narnia" and WOW is she right. The journey of two young rabbits as they discover their heritage and the war to save their world-- it's beautiful!! And also really funny

"Magic Marks The Spot", by Caroline Carlson. This one has PIRATES. It's about a navy admiral's rebellious daughter, who takes off to become a pirate instead of going to finishing school. It's funny and delightful and just such a good read!

"Breadcrumbs," by Anne Ursu. This rec is accompanied with a story, because I said so. So, when I used to actually have time and go to the library every week, I would always see this book. EVERY. TIME. It was weird. I ignored it for the longest time-- until finally one day I decided "may as well give it a shot" and brought it home with me. And HOLY HECK was it good. A retelling of The Snow Queen, this book is about friendship. And growing up. And it made me cry. And I love it.

"Storybound", by Marissa Burt. This one is a duology, and they're both amazing! The first one tells the story of Una, a girl who winds up in the world where stories come from. The sequel continues her adventures, and also introduces a character who I love so so much. He's so funny and carefree. Until he's not in which case holy SPADES IS HE COOL. Also I'm suddenly realizing this book may have inspired more of my WIP than I thought. I digress

"The Search For WondLa", by Tony DiTerlizzi. This is actually not fantasy. It is, in fact, sci-fi! It's about a girl who lives in an underground home with her robot caretaker. When their home is attacked, the girl escapes to discover that the Earth she thinks she was raised on isn't Earth after all-- it's another world entirely. It's got AMAZING found family, super cool world building, and it's just so fun!!

"Tuesdays At The Castle", by Jessica Day George. Okay it's been a while, so I don't remember the exact premise of this one. But as I recall, it's about a royal family who lives in a magical castle that can shift rooms and grow new parts as well! When the royal siblings' are under threat from foreign enemies, they have to work with the castle to protect each other. Super wholesome family vibes, and the series is really fun in general!

"Wizard For Hire", by Obert Skye. I could not tell you if or if not this is fantasy. But I can tell you that it's set in modern day, and it's about a boy who lived on his own from a young age after his parents disappeared. And one day, he finds an ad in the paper for a wizard, and hires him to find his parents. Shenanigans ensue (as well as really funny catchphrases and a lot of breakfast food. No one is surprised that I love this trilogy)

Well, that's all the room I have for now! This post was super fun to make-- I might make another bizarrely specific one like it someday! For now, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy some of these book recs

[terapsina]

Any and all you wanna answer from 3, 5, 7, 22, 27, 31, 35, 41, 45?

3. Favorite fantasy sub-genre(s). (high fantasy, urban fantasy, portal fantasy etc.)

I really enjoy fantasy in general so if the story sounds interesting I'll read pretty much anything.

But I guess I have a particular fondness for all sorts of high and epic fantasy. The more detailed the worldbuilding the better.

At the same time I also really like Comic Fantasy (and so Terry Pratchett, in particular his Discworld series).

And Cozy Fantasy when I want something warm and comfy.

I also love fantasy books with dragons, with fae (but particularly the kind where the Fae are very alien and not just humans by a different name with some sparkle on top) and with witches (love me some witches).

5. Favorite science fiction sub-genre(s). (dystopian, superhero, aliens etc.)

I love First Contact books and Space Exploration stories. Just Aliens in general. As well as Sentient Spaceships (thank you Martha Wells and Ann Leckie).

7. What kind of common romance tropes do you enjoy and what kind do you dislike?

I don't really like the kind where the romance takes over the story unless I specifically grabbed a romance book. Which is why I don't enjoy instalove.

Also don't like love triangles. Especially when it's a case of childhood friend (boring) or amoral kinda abusive new guy (irritating and gross).

I do enjoy when there's the inclusion of an awkward grumpy bean too stubborn to admit slowly developing feeelings. Or squabbling reluctant allies where by the beginning they don't like each other and by the end WE know that the non-POV character is a complete goner for the main character, but the main character is completely oblivious.

22. Favorite example of a Chosen One trope in a book.

Katniss Everdeen. Maybe especially because she doesn't technically count and yet she also does.

There was always going to be a rebellion, something was always going to spark it, and there was always going to be someone pushed into the center of it. Once the dominoes fell Katniss was stuck.

27. What was the first book you remember reading as a kid?

Matilda.

31. Do you mostly read through e-reader; reading app on phone; on your laptop; a physical copy; or by audiobook?

Lately I read mostly on my phone. Half through Kindle and half as audiobook on Everand.

35. Least favorite trope in your most favorite book genre.

Idk. I'm really picky about the kind of romances I enjoy, so that at least half the time I pick up a fantasy book I'll probably get irritated by the romantic subplot tropes.

41. When you get ready for a week long trip to somewhere how many books do you download/pack inside the suitcase?

7 days. Where I live and the kind of trips I can afford to take, this probably means 2 days on bus in each direction. 1.5 books for each of those days. Bringing it up to 6 books. But taking into consideration the likelihood of moods and eye-strain I also need some audiobooks?

Answer: 6 books for visual reading + 3 audiobooks. That should give enough of a comfort zone to be sure I won't run out of something to read.

45. What book(s) would you sell your soul to get a TV or movie adaptation of?

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner.

To see Gen and Irene and their messy love story? Eugenides being the best damn thief around and his desperate struggle of NOT wanting to become what he's destined to become. The political strain of Attolia and Eddis and Sounis as they NEED to be able to put their country differences aside to face the encroaching threat of the Mede empire. The interfering gods. The cuteness of Costis and Kamet.

I want to SEE IT ALL SO MUCH.

[terapsina]

Book asks: 12, 23, 26

Ask Game

12. which book will you read next?

My to-be-read list is quite extensive so I haven't settled on my next book but it's probably going to be one of these three.

It kinda depends on what my mood's going to be after I finish the middle grade audiobook I'm currently listening to.

If I feel like a light, fun adventure with a woman who was the brightest magician of her age until she lost her magic (and was the only woman accepted in the Victorian(ish)-time magic university) but now has opened a school for female magicians? Then the second book in The Harwood Spellbook series.

(also depends if I'm feeling like audiobook or not, the narrator in the first book was excellent so I'm planning to read the second book by listening too).

If however I want something heavier and completely new then Elatsoe looks like it's a very interesting read. A queer fantasy book focusing on a main character from a Lipan Apache family who can raise the ghosts of dead animals? Sign me up.

But yeah, I feel like that one will require more mental and emotional space in me, so I'll need to be in the right frame of mind.

And finally, if I feel like checking out the newest Brandon Sanderson book (which I've heard is getting excellent reviews). I'll read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.

23. what book to movie adaptation do you love?

The Martian by Andy Weir. Great book, great movie. Had a lot of fun with both.

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Matilda by Roald Dahl. I've got a special place in my heart for that book because it's actually the first book I ever read. And the movie was everything that kid!me wanted it to be (including the ending, I'm still glad they changed Matilda's ending to not losing her power).

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. And its absolutely perfect 2005 adaptation (though this is a bit of a cheat as I watched the movie first, but as it inspired me to immediately go read the book I'm going to count it).

26. do you use libby? (or other)

No. It's unfortunately unavailable in my country.

I do subscribe to Scribd, but I know that's not the same.

[terapsina]

I'm 58% into reading Translation State but if anything bad happens to Qven or Reet...

[terapsina]

There is literally nothing as good as reading a really fucking AMAZING book.

And nothing as annoying as doing hours and hours of research trying to find the NEXT one.

(something fantasy, or sci-fi, and not grimdark, and without love triangles, and not a lot of romance, unless it's queer, but even then please god no insta-love, funny is fine, adventure stuff would be nice, interesting characters with actual personalities are a must... hmm, this one looks boring, no, no, too much mushy, ugh glorified abuse, no, boring, boring, sexist af, ooh found family... aaaand I don't like the writing style, no, no, promising but I'm not in the mood for heavy stuff -- to-be-read, maybe, maybe, no, maybe... aand I've been going through summaries and reviews for two hours, I'm done).

[terapsina]

Just started reading Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater.

There's a Fallen Angel of Petty Temptations who could go into millennia long rants about the unfairness of a System that makes eating chocolate a small sin that makes you lose points.

So clearly I'm already absolutely sold on this book.

(initial vibes impression: essentially, if Good Omens and The Good Place had a baby).

[terapsina]

29 + 46 (if you're comfortable, otherwise--your pick) for the book asks? :)

29. is there a book that made you laugh out loud?

Honestly, I've got many. I enjoy humor in books so I've read a lot of stuff that's made me laugh.

Most recently though I think it might be A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. Which is the most hilarious horror-fantasy I've probably ever read.

Here's a little taste of what I mean.

I stared at the rose-pink wall and part of me was ten years old and another part of me was thirty-two and had a doctorate and had written a thesis on the spread of seed weevils through North American sunflower crops. I had a sudden horrible fear that maybe the ten-year-old was the real one and I had just had a particularly vivid dream and now I would have to go and live my entire life all over again. I put my hand to my forehead and said, “Fuuuuck…”which ten-year-old me would not have said.

Gran Mae did not teleport to my location to say, Samantha Myrtle Montgomery, you know what happens to little girls who swear. (Yes, Gran Mae, I know. The underground children get them.) This was proof positive that she was dead.

I sat up, looked down, and saw that I had breasts bigger than my head, which ten-year-old me most definitely did not have. Right. Thirty-two. Did not have to rewrite my thesis. Thank you, Jesus.

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But also, special shout outs to Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (literally every single one I've ever read has made me laugh out loud), Martha Wells's The Murderbot Diaries (I knew I'd found a gem as soon as I read the opening line) and The Martian by Andy Weir (I dare you to not laugh reading that one).

46. share a pic of your bookshelf!

Here you go, ONE of my bookshelves (with a guest appearance from my cat... or the back of my cat anyway).

[terapsina]

Then worst thing about being in the mood to read something involving a very specific trope is "Yeah, good luck finding that".

So. Tumblr book community. Anyone have any recommendations for...

Books involving powerful villainous or criminal or just like 'very alien' characters who truly love their children even if they don't always immediately know the best ways to show it?

I don't really care if the book follows the parent or their child. I just want the complicated, very torn and tense relationship with that kind of premise. Where there's emotional misunderstandings, and having done the wrong thing for the... maybe not the right reasons but for compelling reasons?

Something along the lines of Opal Yong-ae and her father from the DFZ trilogy (Minimum Wage Magic, Part-Time Gods, Night Shift Dragons).

And because I know of more live action TV examples than book ones, there's Kai Jin and his father Uncle Six from Wu Assassins, Regina and Henry Mills from OUAT, Michael and alternate universe Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery, Dutch and her sister/mother/clone Aneela (post return of memories) from Killjoys.

So basically the kind of stories where the parents might be bad at expressing their love for their kids and do it in all the worst ways initially, and the kids ('kid' here being defined by their role in the relationship not their age, I don't care how old the kid is) feel like they "shouldn't" love their parents but do, and maybe also think that their parents don't really care about them at all (but they're wrong, it's important here that they're wrong).

So anyone know anything along those lines?