Hello!

Life – and my blasted back – got in the way again, so here is a very belated final post for the #WyrdAndWonder challenge for the final prompts. It has been a blast taking part again, and it has dug up some old books that I want to revisit – and my poor TBR weeps.

May 25th – Chosen One #TropeTuesday

I actually really like this trope as long as it’s done well, and there are so many ways to play with it – and I am always down for the reluctant chosen one, chosen ones who stumble into being chosen etc etc. It’s something I’m playing with in my own series.

Legendborn was the most recent example that came to mind, and is a fantastic read that you should absolutely pick up. The others are older series that I read years ago, but they’re also ones that I come back to on a regular basis. ‘I am that is’ came back to me when I was trying to pick books for this prompt, so Redwall had to be on the list. The Song of the Lioness Quartet is another favourite series from Tamora Pierce, and I am always down for chosen ones who have direct influence and/or interactions with the gods and here we have that. Stonehenge was another one I was reminded of as it came into work the other day, and it plays with the idea of fate and going against it.

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May 26th – All the Feels

To the surprise of no one familiar with me or this blog, Sarah Chorn’s books had to be top for this prompt – I have never found books that eviscerate me emotionally so beautifully as those ones and they linger and haunt, and it doesn’t matter how many times I reread them the impact is always there. The Gifted and the Cursed was another series that had an emotional impact, because Marcus makes you care about the characters – and the End of Dreams in particular was a heart wrenching. The Sword of Kaigen is one I’ve seen several people mention for this prompt and I can’t disagree – this book was brilliant and it hurt, and now I want to read it again.

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May 27th – #Throwback Thursday

I went for a mix of two I’ve read – The Green Rider series (although I am a few books behind) and The Runespell Trilogy and two that I want to read. The Runespell Trilogy is one I read ages ago, and one I’ve been looking to get hold of again because I want to reread it, but I remember enjoying it immensely at the time. The Green Rider series, I loved the first three books, but then I fell out of love a little, but it’s one I want to return to and see if I can complete this time. The Cleric Quintet is a recent discovery as I was digging through Forgotten Realms books, and partly motivated by the fact that I am playing a Cleric in one of my campaigns at the moment I really want to read it (I eventually want to read through ALL the Forgotten Realms books). Maddigan’s Fantasia made it onto the list because I was messing around on youtube watching old intros to shows I watched as a kid, and I found the one for the show based off the book which I loved watching at the time, and I’d always intended to read the books but never got around to it.

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May 28th – Off the Beaten Track

I’m discovering I have a slight bias towards Shadow Spark Publishing books – and the best thing is there are still more for me to work through! The Maer Cycle has been one of my favourite series that I’ve read this year, and I was lucky because I got to go through them book 1-3 in one go and none of that pesky waiting (although at the same time why did I wait so long). I absolutely adored River Magic, and I have Hearth Magic and Forest Magic sat on my kindle and singing a siren song for me to read them (and it’s one I will give in to soon, because I had so much fun with the first one). I’ve just finished Six-Gun Sorcery (review to come) and really enjoyed it, and I already have the second one waiting to be read. The Hollow Gods is from Parliament Press and is one of those happy discoveries where I requested a book on a whim because I fell in love with the cover, and LOVED IT – I am currently reading The Echoed Realm and enjoying every moment.

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May 29th – 5 Star Fantasy Reads

I have been blessed with so many great books since I started this blog and it was so hard to narrow it down. The War Eternal series was absolutely fantastic, and one of those series that had me crouched over my kindle at midnight when the next book released and devouring the book right away (and then moaning when I had to wait for the next one). Stones of Light has been one of my favourite reads this year and I am excited for the rest of the rest of the series (also look at that cover). The Books of Ambha are just fantastic, and a series that I really don’t talk about enough and firmly cemented Tasha Suri as a must-buy author and I am currently reading The Jasmine Throne which is just confirming that. The Reborn Empire is a series that has everything that I love about fantasy (I also have one of those sneaky kiill editions of the first one), and I am counting down the days for when ‘We Cry for Blood’ comes out.

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May 30th – #ShelfieSunday

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I have a very small bedroom so any space is utilised for books (not featured here are the books on the window ledge, and the storage boxes under the bed and another pile near the desk). I also tend not to be very organised, and I will arrange according to size rather than series and author so chaos tends to rule. Saying that, I have been getting more organised with my indie and self-published books.

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May 31st – Fave Wyrd & Wonder Read

I cheated with this one and chose two. The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng (Review HERE) was absolutely fantastic and everything I could have wanted for the finale to a series that I’m going to revisit for many years to come, while the Flames of Rebellion (Review HERE) was nothing like I had expected and yet I loved every single moment of it and I will be grabbing the second book in that series in the near future.

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So there we are, the end of Wyrd and Wonder 2021. Hopefully next year I might be able to keep up on daily basis but we will see.

Rowena