Get to Know The Fantasy Reader Tag

Hello all! Today we’ve just got a quick book tag (does anyone even do these anymore? I’m so out of the loop) because we’re in the first few days of NaNoWriMo, which is always a bit of a slog, especially if you’re a slow writer like me. Anyway, this tag has been sitting in my drafts folder for months and months at this point, so I think it’s well and truly time that I posted it.

(Also, please let me know if you’re the creator of this tag! I stole it from somewhere and my sieve brain forgot where, I’m so sorry).

What Is Your Fantasy Origin Story (the first fantasy you read)

My mum loves fantasy, so most of my earliest reading memories involve fantasy. Probably the very first books I read (or were read to me) were The Chronicles of Narnia. Obviously I loved these and I was hooked from then on, I really didn’t stand a chance, fantasy was literally introduced to me in the womb.

After Narnia, I think was next introduced to The Magician’s Daughter, a self-published Australian fantasy trilogy, How To Train Your Dragon, The Little White Horse, and Emily Rodda’s books, including Rowan of Rin, The Key To Rondo, and of course the Deltora Quest series, the staple of every Aussie kid’s reading life. When I was in my preteens, I started on the Warrior Cats series, Rick Riordan, Lloyd Alexander, Stephen Lawrence, Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis’s adult fantasies.

If You Could Be the Hero in a Fantasy Novel, Who Would Be the Author? What’s One Trope You’d Insist Be In The Story?

I would like to be in one of Dianna Wynne Jones’ novels, something like Howl’s Moving Castle. Things get scary and a bit bizarre, but everything turns out all right in the end. Also it’s set in a cosy little universe, where there’s lots of eggs and bacon, and wonderful, wacky wizards with a flair for dramatics. It sounds like delightful life.

What Is A Fantasy Series You’ve Read This Year That You Want More People To Read?

I haven’t read much fantasy this year, as I’ve mainly read non-fiction so far, but there’s a few series I love that I need to rant about.

First of all, there’s The Burning series by Evan Winter, which is absolutely brilliant. Outside of BookTube though, I’ve never really heard anyone talk about it? It’s one of the best high fantasies I’ve ever read, so I need this fixed pronto.

There’s also The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, which is a low fantasy/pseudo-historical series of books about a naturalist who studies dragons. I’ve only read the first one, but I’m so keen to read the rest. This series scratches an itch I never knew I had. And despite having really high ratings on GoodReads, I’ve never met anyone else who has read it!

Last but not least, there’s Naomi Novik’s fairytale novels. They aren’t really a series, but they’re similar enough that I like to group them together. Both Spinning Silver and Uprooted are amazingly written and are perfect for my taste in fantasy.

What Is Your Favourite Fantasy Subgenre?

I love a lot of subgenres! It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I love anything with a hint of mystery/paranormal/supernatural to it. This probably stems all the way back to reading The Little White Horse as a kid, which has a definite supernatural aspect to it and a kind of Light Gothic (TM) vibe to it. Anything with the unexplained is wonderful.

Speaking of Gothic, I LOVE gothic fantasy. Stuff like The Picture of Dorian Grey, Mexican Gothic, All These Murmuring Bones, Uprooted, and Ninth House. The mixture of fantasy, folklore and gothic aesthetics is great and my current WIP falls into this category.

What Subgenre Have You Not Read Much From?

I’m pretty widely read in fantasy, but I would say my least read subgenre is romantic and erotic fantasy. I don’t mind a romantic subplot in my books, but I don’t read romance. Nothing against it, I just don’t care that much for romance stories, I’m entirely the wrong dynamic.

What Is One Of Your Auto-Buy Fantasy Authors?

I don’t really buy books, but some of my auto-read authors include Cressida Cowell (I love both of her Middle Grade series), Stephen Lawrence, Naomi Novik, Evan Winter and Nadine Brandes! They’re all fantastic fantasy authors and I’ll read every book they write.

How Do You Typically Find Fantasy Recommendations?

Usually word of mouth, either through my real life friends, or my blogging/online friends. As I mentioned above, my mum loves fantasy, so I’ve read most of the old classics on her recommendation, like The Lord of the Rings, The Prydain Chronicles, The Pendragon Cycle, Out of The Silent Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia, Five Children and It, and a bunch of other fantasy and sci-fi stories.

Other than that, my friends often give me good recommendations, and of course I’m always stalking my online friends blogs and goodreads accounts to see what they’re reading.

What Is An Upcoming Fantasy Release You’re Excited For?

The Lord of Demons by Evan Winter is probably the release I’m most excited for and I don’t know why it’s taking so long! Please Mr Winter, don’t do a Patrick Rothfuss on me 😭

Also The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea looks really good! It’s actually already come out, but I haven’t got a chance to read it yet, Wishtress by Nadine Brandes is coming out and is on my To-Read-As-Soon-As-Possible list. Last on my new release list is The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. It’s by the same author as Mexican Gothic, which I really enjoyed, and I love the original H.G. Wells novel, so I’m really looking forward to this book!

What Is One Misconception About Fantasy You Would Like To Lay To Rest?

That there is only one type of fantasy. People who aren’t familiar with the fantasy genre, tend to assume that all fantasy is high fantasy, swords and sorcery type stuff and they assume they won’t like it. But fantasy is really diverse now (it actually always has been!), there’s so much on offer, from historical fantasy, gothic fantasy, contemporary and urban fantasy, gaslamp, fairytale retellings, etc. There’s really something for everyone.

If Someone Had Never Read A Fantasy Before and Asked You To Recommend 3 Books To Begin With, What Would You Recommend?

Ooh, this is hard! I think usually I would try to find something that already fits into someone’s already established reading tastes first. For example, if someone usually reads historical fiction, I would recommend something sort of crossover like the Outlander series, Stephen Lawrence’s Pendragon Cycle, or Nadine Brandes’s historical fiction.

However, if I just had to pick three books to suggest to absolutely anyone, without knowing anything about the books they like… I think I’d suggest:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I feel like Hobbit is a good gateway into classic high fantasy and is more accessible than LOTR.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. This is such a good book and it’s so well written and grounded in its fictional British island setting that I actually forget it’s fantasy. Every time I read it, I’m 100% convinced that there’s really a British island that races carnivorous horses every year.

The Final Empire by Brendon Sanderson. While this is a really long book, it’s well written, has good characters, and is a pretty easy introduction to epic fantasy, especially the other works of Sanderson. It’s original, but also sets pretty solid expectations for the epic subgenre, so you’ll know what to expect as you go forward in your fantasy quest.

Are you a fantasy reader? What is your favourite subgenre? And what books led to you becoming a fan?