It’s time for the Get To Know The Fantasy Reader tag!

Thank you so much to Virginia at The Sassy Library Fox for tagging me! If you aren’t following Virginia, you absolutely should be. They’re so kind and their content is fantastic! 

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Rules:

• Make sure you give credit to the original creators of this tag – this tag was originally created by Bree Hill.
• If you want to, pingback to the post you first saw this tag.
• Have fun!

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1. What is your fantasy origin story? (The first fantasy you read)

Oooh, starting off with a tough one, because I’ve been a bookworm as long as I can remember! I think my first fantasy series was probably The Chronicles of Narnia!

2. If you could be the hero/heroine in a fantasy novel, who would be the author and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story?

I feel like most of the fantasy books I read involve terrible things happening to the characters, but I’m going to go with Seanan McGuire for this one, only because despite a lot of her books involving some pretty rough journeys, I feel that most of the protagonists in her fantasy books that I’ve read still came out on top in the end! As far as the trope… can I just pick the HEA/”happily ever after” trope? 😂

3. What is a fantasy series you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read?

This question totally called me out and made me realize that I haven’t read much fantasy this year at all, and what I have read has mostly been stand-alone titles! So I’ll go with a series I started last year that I’ve been recommending to people a lot lately, which is VRC: Vampire Related Crimes by Alice Winters. I’ve only read the first book in the series so far, but adored it. It’s a queer (m/m) paranormal romance series about a cinnamon-rolls-and-sunshine human detective who gets teamed up with a very grumpy old vampire as his new partner. It’s hilarious, the MC is disabled (he has two prosthetic limbs), the sunshine/grumpy trope is in FULL FORCE, and I just love it a lot. AND it’s on Kindle Unlimited!

4. What is your favourite fantasy subgenre?

Probably dark fantasy or fantasy/horror (nobody is surprised, lol), but if I had to pick a fantasy genre that isn’t a “crossover”, I’d go with portal fantasy (like the Wayward Children books).

5. What subgenre have you not read much from?

I’m borrowing Virginia’s answer here: grimdark! I actually really like the premise of a LOT of grimdark series, but for some reason, haven’t reached for it too often. (Feel free to leave recommendations in the comments if you’re a grimdark fan!)

6. Who is one of your auto-buy fantasy authors?

I have so many at this point: Seanan McGuire, Margaret Rogerson, V.E. Schwab, Sarah J. Maas, Jay Kristoff…

7. How do you typically find fantasy recommendations? (Goodreads, Youtube, Podcasts, Instagram…)

Publicity emails, scrolling through Netgalley, Goodreads, Bookstagram, Twitter, and Booktube!

8. What is an upcoming fantasy release you’re excited for?

I am sooo freaking excited for A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland! A queer royalty/body guard fantasy romance novel, written by a queer author, with a stunning cover and some rave reviews already — I’m so glad I have an ARC of this, and I’m planning on starting it in the next week or so!

9. What is one misconception about fantasy you would like to lay to rest?

This one is pretty specific, but I see a LOT of people say things like, “Adult fantasy is just a bunch of cishet white dudes!” and frankly, that’s untrue, and if you DO still think that’s true, I would sincerely ask you to look at some book lists and consider how much attention you’re devoting to that handful of big names as opposed to trying to seek out diverse voices for yourself. Just to be clear, I’m not saying anything negative about the “cishet white dudes” of fantasy here! I’m just saying that there are lots of authors in adult SFF who are writing from marginalized perspectives and to say they “don’t exist” is dismissive and untrue. While there is still a lot of work to be done in the field of publishing, we’ve actually made some serious progress in recent years, and I don’t think it’s fair to ignore that hard work!

10. If someone had never read a fantasy before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books that come to mind as places to start, what would those recommendations be?

Oh WOW, this is such a tough question! Okay, here are a few that I think would be good starting points: the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire (quick reads, accessible, diverse characters, and fun); The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (funny, engaging, and doesn’t involve any complicated magic systems); and Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen (graphic novel, great for young readers, cute, and full of lovable characters).

11. Who is the most recent fantasy reading content creator you came across that you’d like to shoutout?

I’ll go with a bookstagrammer I met recently whose feed I’m loving: Jess at cat.feinated_chapters! She’s super sweet and her photos are STUNNING!

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💖 TAGS 💖

I’m not sure who has done this tag already, but anyone who would like to do it is tagged now!

I’ll also tag Leslie, Caro, Dini, Misty, and Jordyn! (No pressure if you’ve already done this tag or don’t want to do it!)

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— destiny ♥

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