Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag

Thank you to Literary Leisha for tagging me in the Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag!

Bree Hill originally created this tag as the Get to Know the Romance Reader Tag, and The Book Pusher adapted it for fantasy readers. 

This looks like a really fun way to chat about fantasy books!

What is your fantasy origin story? (the first fantasy novel you read)

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis! My dad had a paperback set of all the books, and I devoured them when I was younger. They were so wonderful and absorbing, I wanted to travel to Narnia too!

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?

Hmmm this is a hard one. Honestly I don’t think I would be a particularly good heroine to a story, but if I had to choose I would probably go with Melissa Caruso! I read The Obsidian Tower in 2020 and fully fell in love with Caruso’s writing style! For trope, maybe the reluctant hero would be the perfect fit, particularly given how dreadful I think I would be as a heroine!!

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

Ok since we’re only in January, I’m going to slightly cheat and choose one from 2020! Although it’s pretty popular online, I still think more people need to read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. This dark fantasy about necromancy is one of my favourite books, and I highly recommend it to everyone!!

What is your favourite fantasy sub-genre? What sub-genre have you not read much from?

My favourite sub-genre is probably dark fantasy/grimdark. I like my fantasy very gritty, and very depressing! In terms of sub-genres I haven’t read so much of, I’m probably going to say high-fantasy, especially the ‘classics’. I haven’t read The Wheel of Time or and Brandon Sanderson, although I do plan on changing that soon!

Who is one of your auto-buy fantasy authors?

So I’ve only read one book by this author, but I know I will read everything else he writes, and that is T.J. Klune. The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of the best books ever, and I know I will buy everything he writes!!!

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

Mostly from the internet! Twitter is a great source for finding new books, if someone is hyping a book online, I am likely to look it up myself! Also Booktube is a great source for recommendations!

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

I have so many anticipated releases for 2021, but I’m going to say She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. This is a fantasy reimagining of the peasant rebel who became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China, and it’s published in July in the UK.

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

I think for this one I would say the misconception that all fantasy is high/epic fantasy like Game of Thrones. Fantasy is such a wide genre that encompasses so much, you can definitely find the high fantasies like GoT, but equally you can find so much else!

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?

Oooooh this is a tricky one!

I would say Sabriel by Garth Nix, this is a perfect place to start with fantasy I think! Also The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which is a subtle fantasy novel which would be perfect for those who are a little unsure about fantasy as a genre. My final recommendation would be The City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty, which is such a well-developed page-turning fantasy novel!!

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

I would like to shoutout Leisha who tagged me in this tag, I have already added to my TBR pile as a result of her blog!

Thank you so much for reading, I tag anyone who would like to do the Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag.

*all Waterstones links are affiliate*

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