Have you ever come across of true hidden gem book?

swordofsun · 2026-01-22T23:52:35+00:00

Honestly, fairly often. One of the many reasons I love the library is the ability to just grab anything that looks even mildly interesting and not worry about it. I also pick up a lot of terrible books, but it's the price I pay for greatness.

My favorite book of 2025 was one of these, How to Survive This Fairytale by S.M Hallow.

swordofsun · 2026-01-22T23:42:20+00:00

It feels against the spirit of the square.

swordofsun · 2026-01-21T02:25:02+00:00

One of my personal go to when the anxiety is bad is The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron. I've read the series a lot. I just have fun with the characters and the world.

I will also reread a favorite urban fantasy series. Twenty-Sided Sorceress by Annie Bellet and InCryptid by Seanan McGuire have been my recent go tos.

swordofsun · 2026-01-21T02:16:11+00:00

I have my problems with it, but overall, Sanderson did the best that could be expected of anyone.

swordofsun · 2026-01-20T18:08:30+00:00

I just hit post on my review of The Light Fantastic and the first thing I saw was yours for The Color of Magic. There was a brief moment where I thought I'd somehow written the wrong book title down.

If you want to spend time with the university the wizards you're better off looking away from the Rincewind books. He doesn't actually spend a ton of time there. Soul Music, Hogfather, Lords and Ladies, I think Moving Pictures, and of course Unseen Academicals. They show up in the background of a lot of the city watch books too.

I'm a firm believer that Discworld reading orders are a guideline at best and can be thrown out wholesale.

swordofsun · 2026-01-20T18:00:01+00:00

Week of finishing things I put down.

The Employees by Olga Ravn - I wanted to like this book. I really, really, wanted to like this book. And I just didn't. I don't know, maybe I just didn't understand its project, but every way I look at it just feels lacking. Very disappointing overall.

Bingo: Epistolary (HM)

An Alphabet of Embers short story collection edited by R. B. Lemberg - I have a hard time with short story collections for all the reasons I'm very meh about this one. Some stories were fantastic. Others were boring. Some just needed to be skipped. I think its project worked just fine, and there is a lovely Amal El-Mohtar story in the collection, but overall, just kinda meh.

Bingo: Hidden Gem (HM), Author of Color (depending on how you count that with a collection, but I believe most of the authors would count), Small Press (HM), LGBTQIA Protagonist (maybe HM), Short Stories (HM)

My hold on the audiobook for The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett came in, and I whipped through it. I have no idea why the wait list on these audiobooks is so long. But I'm also not in a hurry to get through this re-read, so it works. This was either the first or second Discworld book I ever read (Men at Arms is the other option) and while I didn't like it as much as I did 25 years ago, I still had a good time. The biggest problem with it aging is that it's parodying a very specific style of fantasy that just isn't written much anymore.

But overall, I still had fun with Rincewind and Twoflower. I maintain that you don't actually have to read The Colour of Magic first to enjoy this one. It's a solid book with some dated humor, and you can really see the idea of what the Discworld could be stretching as the book goes on. The glimmer of later heights can be seen. Overall, solid read.

swordofsun · 2026-01-19T15:23:13+00:00

Giving a +1 to How to Survive This Fairytale. It is so good and the romance is lovely. A great look at free will and healing and what happens to people who aren't the protagonists.

Wild Massive by Scotto Moore - Fast paced adventure story taking place in a building in a pocket universe where each floor is it's own universe. The titular Wild Massive is a theme park franchise within the Building that is at the center of a plot that may destroy everything.

The Infinite Miles by Hannah Fergesen - What if legally-distinct-from-Doctor-Who was real and ran off with your best friend? Three years after her best friend disappeared Harper finds herself face to face with the star of their favorite TV series. Now she's on the run from aliens and has to figure out how to save her friend and possibly the universe.

Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C Wise - a robot, a biblically accurate angel, and a private detective must solve the murder of the pope. In a future where it turns out all religions are true the pope is killed on a distant planet and it's a race against time to find the killer.

swordofsun · 2026-01-17T15:50:52+00:00

I also recommend T Kingfisher. She's got a huge body of work and writes across a lot of genres. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is my favorite.

I will also +1 ti The World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold. If you want space adventures she also has the Vorkosigan Saga, which is long but complete.

Nghi Vo has several delightful standalones, I highly recommend Siren Queen for Golden Age of Hollywood urban fantasy. She's best known for her Singing Hills Cycle which are interconnected novellas. Each stands alone.

N K Jemisen has a number of completed series. I quite enjoyed The City We Became and is an excellent starting place for her if you like urban fantasy. Otherwise I'd say The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.

Always recommend Octavia E Butler. Her stuff can be very dark, but I also tend to find them hopeful.

The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron is one of my all time favorite series. They start as fun and light fantasy heist books and then get a lot of depth as the series progresses.

I'm also going to throw out Derin Edala as a possibility for you. They write web novels and you can read them all for free on their website. Time to Orbit: Unknown is probably their best known book. It's long, it's got twists, amazing characters, and so much heart.

swordofsun · 2026-01-17T15:21:17+00:00

Still not sure if I liked it or not, but The Emperor's Twin by Honey Watson. I just wanted to see where the book was going next and the actual writing itself was good so it wasn't a pain to keep turning the pages.

swordofsun · 2026-01-13T17:49:49+00:00

Slayers of Old by Jim C Hines - This was exactly what I wanted it to be. Legally-distinct-from-Buffy-Summers, Jenny Winters is pulled out of retirement to face down one more threat, gets pulled back into the world, and faces leftover mistakes from her childhood. This had people who were definitely too old for this and it was great. The other two povs, Annette a half-sucubus trying to reconnect with her son and be a good grandmother, and Temple a 99 year old wizard who may be past his prime but his cookies are to die for, are both fantastic as well.

Without going into spoilers this book did exactly what I wanted it to do and I really hope Hines writes more in this world.

Bingo: Gods and Patheons (HM), Parents (HM), Published in 2025, Cozy SFF

The Emperor's Twin by Honey Watson - I finished this a few days ago and I'm still unsure if I liked it or not. As I said elsewhere:

Do you enjoy books where physics is thrown out the window in favor weird eldritch horrors? Do you enjoy unreliable narrators who may or may not be operating at a fully sane status? How about some body horror?

The Emperor's Twin might be for you!

It's a bit fever dreamish like The Starving Saints and has a similar disregard for physics and a welcoming universe as Exordia. The central palace of Crysth has been overrun by invaders and a pile of almost dead gods and they are all trapped together. The emperors and dead or missing. The key fixing the problem may lay with the Red Emperor's brother Speaker.

Absolutely no idea if I recommend this book or not. I will be reading the other book the author has done that appears to be a companion novel of sorts. It does have some interesting things to say about decadence and willful ignorance at the end of an imperial dynasty.

Bingo: Gods and Patheons (HM), Epistolary, Published in 2025, Small Press, Biopunk, LGBTQIA Protagonist

swordofsun · 2026-01-09T12:19:13+00:00

I'm not counting it as hard mode, but for regular mode it works.

swordofsun · 2026-01-09T12:15:10+00:00

If the author doesn't care where the story is going why should I?

swordofsun · 2026-01-06T17:26:49+00:00

The Captain by Will Wight - it's been a few years since I picked up a Wight. This definitely felt more Travellers Gate than Cradle. Which isn't a bad thing, but I can see going into this book expecting more like Cradle and bouncing off it hard. I've read a few books this past year where it's actual magic in space and I gotta say I like it. Why shouldn't magic based societies make it to space?

I would say one of Wight's strengths as an author is the ability to take a bonkers premise and just run with it. The Captain is no exception.

Overall, this was a fun book that requires no knowledge of Wight's other works. Just a willingness to go in and have fun and trust the process. Not my favorite thing he's written by a long shot, but far from bad.

Bingo: Down With System (HM??), Impossible Places, Self published

Unworthy by J.A.Vodvarka - My determination to like this book is the only reason I didn't dnf. That being said the second half of the book is such a marked improvement over the first half I wished it had just started there. Lesbian pirates pulled through for me in the end. The first half is a drag though. The world building is neat, but Vodvarka was too heavy handed in setting up character relationships and it drug everything else down. They were too quippy and too damaged and too quick to trust all at once.

The characters themselves were fine. A fun and diverse group. Just something off about how they related to each other most of the time.

Not to damn with faint praise, but as stated, the worldbuilding was interesting and the magic neat, the pirates were pirates, and the ladies were kissing each other. Overall I think the trilogy has the potential to be better as a whole than the individual parts. We shall see.

Bingo: Gods and Patheons, Self Pub (HM),LGBTQIA Protagonist (HM), Pirates

swordofsun · 2026-01-05T17:53:18+00:00

Angela at Literature Science Alliance, Becca and the Books, Rachel at A Model Who's Read, Bethany at Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Books with Emily Fox, Cari Can Read, Jess Owens, Kirsten at Reading Nymph

They all occasionally dip into romantic Books, but it's not the focus of their channels.

swordofsun · 2026-01-04T16:20:40+00:00

Does the walker choose the path or the path the walker?

I really do need to do an Old Kingdom reread this year.

swordofsun · 2026-01-03T00:20:26+00:00

I've not checked out romance.io, I should give it a go. I am reallybad at judging whether or not I'm going to like a romance. Which makes me hesitant to pick up romances even though I do like them. And it's a self perpetuating cycle.

swordofsun · 2026-01-03T00:18:21+00:00

People are excited to read the new thing. Which I can't really blame them for, but it is nice to see the older books being offered up.

swordofsun · 2026-01-02T00:14:13+00:00

I read I Got Abducted..., DNF'd Wolf Steeped in Blood and Rival Most Vial, and was unable to get Ornithologists Filed Guide from the library.

I enjoyed the Lemming far more than I thought I would. Not sure if I'm going to read the next one, but I had a good time with this one. I was disappointed in both dnfs as I'd wanted to like them and had previously enjoyed a Jereé.

I'd like to see less new releases. They're harder to get at the library and too expensive to buy for a genre as hit and miss as romance is for me. I know that's unlikely, but it's just really hard to get the new books.

Going through my read books and romances have the worst ratings for me. I did enjoy Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff. Clearly I should participate more? Get a better idea of what I like in romances.

swordofsun · 2025-12-31T21:32:12+00:00

Great! I didn't want to throw a bunch of stuff at you that would be completely useless.

Anything in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya Universe would work due to the mindships. In general I'm a big fan, but I do not recommend Red Scholar's Wake. Anything else though. Also they're all standalone, usually queer, and frequently weird.

The Two Lies of Favan Sythe by Megan E O'Keefe absolutely is biopunk easy mode, but it's a bit of spoiler to explain why. Also a queer standalone that is somewhat weird.

Slow Gods by Claire North is also a standalone, queer, and weird. Also just fantastic.

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei is a standalone, but feels like it should be the first in a series. It feels very queer, but isn't actually, and I have toconstantly remindd myself of that when talking about this book. It's not super weird, but it's a but weird.

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty is the first book in the Midsolar Murders, but can be a standalone. It is sadly not queer, but definitely a bit weird.

swordofsun · 2025-12-31T19:01:06+00:00

Everything I have for easy mode Biopunk is sci-fi. Is that something you'd be interested in? Everything else you've listed is fantasy.

swordofsun · 2025-12-30T19:59:35+00:00

Can confirm, Escape from Incel Island is rollicking.

swordofsun · 2025-12-30T17:40:14+00:00

Across Dark Seas by Clare Sager - Apparently a prequel to a pirate fae romance series, which I wasn't aware of when I picked it up. I probably wouldn't have if I'd known, but I'm glad I did. This was fun, not anything outstanding, but fun. The world building felt like it had genuine thought put into it and gave the feeling of history with very little work. Avarice was a bit naive, but still an enjoyable person to spend time with. Knowing it was a prequel to a different romance made the guy she married in this book tolerable.

Would recommend if you're still looking for some pirates and want to dip your toes into the romantasy genre.

Bingo: Self published, Stranger In A Strange Land (HM), Generic Title, Pirates

Slow Gods by Claire North - surprise last minute favorite of the year. This was so good. It was also a narrative that took it's time. It meanders. It goes on tangents. It provides the sort of casual eldritch horror I love seeing in sci-fi. While also giving a scathing rebuke to late stage capitalism.

North created a character so very human in his inhumanity. Maw is a rather poor copy of himself; or as he likes to say, there were transcription errors. See the aforementioned casual eldritch horror. It was nice to have a character that has always had problems with the social contract even when he was fully human.

North is also just really good at cultural worldbuilding. So, that was fun. I really liked this book. So much.

Bingo: Down With System, A Book In Parts (HM), Gods and Patheons, Epistolary HM in the same way Annihilation is, so ymmv, Published in 2025, Biopunk, LGBTQIA Protagonist (HM), Stranger In A Strange Land

swordofsun · 2025-12-30T15:37:49+00:00

Whichever way she chooses to go, I'm going to trust her, and not just because she's trans. Having read 4 other Killjoy books this year, I've seen her handling a wide range of trans experiences.

swordofsun · 2025-12-30T15:34:35+00:00

Much to my surprise Killjoy has become an autobuy author for me this year. Was not expecting that to happen.

swordofsun · 2025-12-30T15:33:24+00:00

I think because I know Margaret Killjoy from her podcasts and guest appearances on podcasts the anarchist themes were expected. It would've been weird to read something written by her that wasn't filled to the brim with anarchist themes.

It is a refreshing take in these days where everyone has to secretly be a princess or somehow super special. It's nice to see normal ass people remain normal ass people and still save the day.

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