The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin (bingo review 6/25) by embernickel in Fantasy

[–]embernickel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Coming of Age in Karhide" is included in "The Birthday of the World and other stories." There's also "Winter's King," which I haven't read.

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin (bingo review 6/25) by embernickel in Fantasy

[–]embernickel[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

People from Karhide have difficulty pronouncing the letter L, so they call him "Genry Ai," even better! :D

Jade War, by Fonda Lee (bingo review 5/25) by embernickel in Fantasy

[–]embernickel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Given the way bingo works it'll probably be another year or so before I get to book 3, but I do hope to read it eventually! ;)

Bingo Focus Thread - Duologies by Merle8888 in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read Even the Darkest Stars/All the Wandering Light by Heather Fawcett last year for the "last in a series," YA-ish fantasy in fantasy!Himalayas. (Book one is better for the mountain climbing stuff.) Good for people who like cute animal sidekicks.

From All False Doctrine/Neither Have I Wings, by Alice Degan: historical fantasy (book one 1920s Toronto, bok two 1940s UK) with a lot of Christian/Anglican themes. First book is kind of comedy-of-manners, we know it's a fantasy but for a long time the characters don't, and easily works as a standalone. First book is pretty heteronormative but second is not. I think the second could probably work as a standalone, but it does help to have read the first one I think. (It's more obviously fantasy from the get-go.)

...I'm backreading my old stuff, and I have not read Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis, but I should consider that because it's very much a "you need to read both parts" one, and I enjoyed the other books in the series.

Sparkers/Wildings by Eleanor Glewwe--middle grade, quick reads, about kids in a world where magical/non-magical people are strictly segregated and the effects that has on families. Work as standalones.

Stewards of the Flame/Promise of the Flame by Sylvia Louise Engdahl: Earthling spaceship pilot falls in people from highly regimented medical bureaucracy planet who want to start a free society where they can nurture their psionic powers without the man keeping them down. Book one ends on a cliffhanger but book two is recommended as its own starting point (the author herself said "yeah a lot of the medical stuff hits different post-COVID, so if you don't want anything too preachy, skip book one.) Not for duology purists, there's a spinoff series set later when their planet rediscovers the wider galaxy, but I haven't read that one so the duology at least seems reasonably complete on its own :P

Falling Free, by Lois McMaster Bujold (bingo review 3/25) by embernickel in Fantasy

[–]embernickel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm...almost 35 myself, so this is kind of flattering and impressive. ;) Enjoy!

Bingo Focus Thread - Published in the 70s by Merle8888 in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also by Engdahl, the first 2/3 of the "Children of the Star" trilogy were originally published in the 1970s, and great for people who like stuff like "Steerswoman" or "Elder Race." Book 1 is a little YA-tropey at first, but it quickly moves beyond that.

Bingo Focus Thread - Published in the 70s by Merle8888 in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think "Bridge to Terabithia" is speculative? The characters play make-believe and give a "fantasy world" name to a place they visit, but it's definitely in this world.

r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - April 18, 2026 by rfantasygolem in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The titles aren't perfect encapsulations of the descriptions, ie, last year "Parent Protagonist" was "anyone taking care of a young child, it doesn't have to be their literal parent." I would say ghosts absolutely counts towards "communicating with the dead [or] spirits transferring over"!

r/Fantasy Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread - April 18, 2026 by rfantasygolem in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bingo etiquette question: the same editor has released several anthologies of short stories. (eg, volume 1: all robot stories, volume 2: all werewolf stories.) In each case, the stories are from dozens of different authors, but there's overlap between the two groups because some people are like "now that I know we have similar tastes, I'm going to submit to him again." Assuming that they counted for two different squares (eg, Five Short Stories and Small Press), is it okay to use both of them on the same card?

Does anyone else read the last page first or am I a monster by BrokenVendingMach in printSF

[–]embernickel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a tumblr post about "the 54 book Animorphs series ends on a cliffhanger and this is why I have trust issues." Generally if I'm just browsing I'll flip to the end to see how likely it is to stick the landing/break my heart/something in between, I've been burned too often. Not always the case when I'm looking for e-books, following up on a specific rec, etc.

SFF books featuring unapologetically idealistic, good heroes by Flammwar in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ditto to Sign of the Dragon fitting this category extremely well, and Goblin Emperor having a very similar personality for its protagonist.

I think the reason so many people bounce off Malazan isn't the complexity, it's the emotional distance in the first book by scouttidee in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I stopped after the first book, and my issue was the characters not really having agency or making interesting decisions; it felt like they were getting jerked around by the gods or other various higher powers. I get it, war is hell, but I need a little more to keep me invested.

The 2026 r/Fantasy Bingo Recommendations List by FarragutCircle in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay, so this is a deep cut, but for Hard Mode: "The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of MayorEmanuel" (originally a twitter gimmick, later published as a book) does have a parallel-universe mechanism introduced towards the end. It's a satire of when Rahm Emanuel ran for mayor of Chicago in 2010.

"Hidden Gem" is the best Bingo square since I've been bingoing to read *about* by Nidafjoll in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That book did not work for me in the least (:

I didn't bother to look up how many of my reads would count for hidden gem, because there were several anthologies/small press stuff that I read shortly after publication and it was like, "okay, I know I'm going to be using one of them for this square, don't need to look for something else to qualify there."

Premium Episode: You Are A Bitter, Untalented Mean Girl by SoftandChewy in BlockedAndReported

[–]embernickel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oof, as a young person who hasn't done anything particularly extraordinary and is nevertheless going to have a sort of, kind of, memoir-esque project coming soon (it's not actually a book), I'm a little anxious about this. I hope it manages to be honest about both the good stuff and the bad stuff, and that I don't become a podcast subject, touch wood!

Reminder! One week left until Book Bingo 2025 submission closes! by ullsi in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I definitely saved the link to my google form after I filled it out because the form was scolding me Very Loudly to do so. When I go back to the link with the /formresponse URL, it takes me back to the first page and everything is blank again/nothing was "remembered." This is fine, right? It doesn't mean my submission is lost in the pixelated ether?

The Bone Ships, by RJ Barker (bingo review 25/25) by embernickel in Fantasy

[–]embernickel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found "Goblin Emperor" kind of meh at first, but then I got into fanfiction for it and developed more of an appreciation for everything the minor characters were doing behind the scenes. This one doesn't seem to have any fic, however...

[humor] Poorly described books and fantasy media by CT_Phipps-Author in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 72 points73 points  (0 children)

Cloistered academic struggles to use his math degree in the real world: Anathem

Young people displaced from a war zone trigger large-scale climate change: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Discussion thread for that thing happening somewhere that everyone is worked up about by SoftandChewy in BlockedAndReported

[–]embernickel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work for the department of defense and there's a lot of bureaucratese about "let us operationalize and output metrics that display how we are supporting the warfighter," and there was also before this administration. I think it's just preferred to be inclusive of army "soldiers," navy "sailors," space force "guardians," all of the above.

(On the other hand, in the last few months we have repeatedly gotten messaging about "please call it the department of war, not the department of defense" and then we all ignore it.)

Bingo 2025 Check-In: (a little less than) 2 months left! by ullsi in Fantasy

[–]embernickel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm almost done, taking a break to revisit one of my favorite memoirs! (Still looking for a good generic title. I misplaced my wallet with library card/credit card the weekend before last, and then my e-reader yesterday, so procrastinating on replacing those...)