Wyrd & Wonder Wrap-Up

I haphazardly participated in Wyrd & Wonder during the inaugural event in 2018. I didn’t participate in 2019, focused instead on finishing grad school. This year, due to COVID-19 layoffs, I had plenty of time to throw myself into writing and reading all sorts of Wyrd & Wonder posts. I know I’m not the only participant especially grateful for the opportunity that Wyrd & Wonder gave most of us for our second full month in lockdown. Many thanks to hosts Imyril @ There’s Always Room for One More, Lisa @ Dear Geek Place, and Jorie @ Jorie Loves a Story for hosting an excellent community-building event.

This wrap up post includes: the posts I wrote specifically for Wyrd & Wonder, the fantasy books I read in May, the fantasy books I added to my TBR, and all the new-to-me-blogs that I wouldn’t have come across without Wyrd & Wonder.

Posts Written

• Introduction
• Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag
• 5 Star Fantasy Books in 5 Words
• Review of young adult fantasy series Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
• “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read That Yet” #12 with a fantasy theme
• 35 Middle Grade Fantasy Faves
• Review of adult historical fantasy The Binding by Bridget Collins

Books Read

• In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (unplanned reread)
• The Binding by Bridget Collins (Wyrd & Wonder TBR)
• Highfire by Eoin Colfer (DNF’d at 32%)
• The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley (Wyrd & Wonder TBR)
• The Deck of Omens (incidental)

Added to TBR

I added the following books to my to-read-fantasy shelf, meaning they are 1) adult fiction and 2) secondary world high fantasy (for the most apart). Other types of fantasies (ex. magical realism, low magic, ghost stories) end up on my to-read-intriguing shelf. Fantasy of all varieties end up on either my to-read-middle-grade or to-read-young-adult shelves.

The last book I added to my fantasy shelf before Wyrd & Wonder was The Bone Ships on Jan 7.; before that was The Ninth Rain last July. Participating in Wyrd & Wonder reminded me why I love secondary world high fantasy. It helped me realize that I had, in a way, abandoned the genre as I pursued interests in other types of books. Each of these books were mentioned or reviewed positively by one or more Wyrd & Wonder participants.

• Dragon’s Ring by Dave Freer
• For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
• The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
• Black Leviathan by Bernd Perplies
• The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
• Torn by Rowenna Miller
• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
• The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. REdick
• The Unfinished Land by Bear Greg
• Feathertide by Beth Cartwright
• A Blight of Mages by Karen Miller
• Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade
• The Bard’s Blade by Brian D. Anderson
• The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie

New-to-Me Blogs

If your feed reader could use an injection of adult SFF blogs, I recommend all of these!

I think that everyone who participated (and even some who didn’t) enjoyed Wyrd & Wonder as much as I did. Though circumstances will hopefully be different next year, I look forward to participating in 2021.

(PS – keep an eye out for Spooktastic Reads in October, hosted by the same crew.)