The Book Junkie Trials TBR

The Book Junkie Trials start this week. It’s a bit complicated so you should go watch the announcement video and read the FAQs to get the details.

There are four teams. I did the personality test and I’m on team scribe.

So each team has to follow a certain path through the Queendom. Each place has a different reading prompt for the book you have to read to complete that quest. You also declare your TBR and then you can’t deviate from it.

Once you’ve done your team quests you can then pick where you want to go in the Queendom, if you want to keep going because that’s optional.

I’ve decided to try to complete all the quests because I like to take on things I probably can’t achieve.

So these are the Scribe quests:

Dwarf Mount

Hint of Romance

Fionn: Defence of Rath Bladhma (Fionn Mac Cumhaill #1) by Brian O’sullivan

Pages: 218

This is Irish Historical Fantasy with a lesbian couple as the main characters. It’s also the first in a series of books.

As I post this I’ve already read this book and I highly recommend it. The author knows a lot about the time period and how hard it was to survive back then. So the stakes feel really high even though it’s only one settlement that’s in danger.

Apothecary Towers

Random book from your library

The Tiger’s Daughter (Their Bright Ascendency #1) by K. Arsenault Rivera

Pages: 526

This is more lesbian fantasy but Mongol inspired this time. That’s all I know about it but the cover is beautiful and I’m so excited to read it. 

I’m also really glad that out of all the books on my shelves one that I feel like reading got chosen. I’m a bit of a mood reader and this could have slowed me down a lot.

The Great Library

A book that’s been on your TBR forever

Luck in the shadows (Nightrunners #1) by Lynn Flewelling

Pages: 497

I’ve been meaning to read this book forever. I’ve even had a physical copy for years just sitting on my shelves. I don’t know why I haven’t read it, I have no reason not to.

This is the first in a series of fantasy books where the main characters are like spies and trying to protect their country. There’s also meant to be some queer characters but I don’t know the specifics.

The Drowning Deep

Amazing Rich Worldbuilding

The Dragon’s Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles #1) by Robin Hobb

Pages: 553

I had trouble thinking of a book with deep worldbuilding because how do you know the worldbuilding is good until you’ve read the book. But then I realised I had been meaning to read more of Robin Hobb and had just bought the Rain Wild books so the answer was obvious. Robin Hobb is a master of worldbuilding and making the settings come alive.

This is set in the same world as the Farseers but is set near Bingtown where the Liveship Traders trilogy took place. I’ve reread the Farseer Trilogy recently but I haven’t reread Ship of Magic in a long time. So it might be a mistake to read the sequel series before rereading the Liveship Traders.

The Bookie Grail

The group book is Stardust by Neil Gaimon but you can also read any book where they go on a quest to find something.

I’m going to read Good Omens because of ineffable husbands. I’ve been watching the series on Amazon and I can’t get enough. Also this book was recommended as a replacement for Stardust.

Once I’ve read these books then I’ll move on to the other quests. There’s Mage, Bard and Outlaw. They each have four books so in total I’ve got 17 books to read overall.

The rest of the challenges don’t have to be read in a particular order but I’m going to group them into their teams so it’s easier to keep track of.

Mage Quests

Orc Grove

Gruesome, Gory, Gritty

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards #1) by Scott Lynch

Pages: 499

This is another one that I’ve been meaning to read for ages. I wanted to fit it into this readathon but I couldn’t figure out where. Until I read a review that said it made the reviewer almost throw up. That sounds gory.

This book is about Locke who is an orphan. He becomes a really successful thief but there’s someone who’s more dangerous and Locke has to defeat them.

That’s all I know. I just really like stories about thieves and spies.

Old Pirate Road

A book set at least partly on the sea

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders #1) by Robin Hobb

Pages: 880

I have the paperback version of this book somewhere but I can’t find it so I’m going to read the audiobook on Scribd. I think all of Robin Hobb’s books are on Scribd.

This was the only book that came into my head when the sea was mentioned. I read it a very long time ago and I can only remember the start of the book. I can’t even remember the sequels so it’ll be like reading it for the first time.

This book is about a Bingtown trader family who own a liveship, which is basically a ship that is alive. They have carved figure heads that you can speak to and the ships all have personalities. They are also rare because they are made out of a special wood only found in the Rain Wilds.

From what I remember the book follows the daughter of a trader family who has a close relationship with their liveship and is expecting to inherit the ship. Unfortunately her sister marries an awful man who appoints a different captain (I think). So she goes off to serve aboard a different liveship to prove herself capable. There’s also a pirate that wants to capture a liveship. That’s all I remember. 

So I’m excited to reread this book.

Glimmer

Beautiful or colourful book

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Dark Star Trilogy #1) by Marlon James

Pages: 620

I love the cover of this book. I got it in hardcover and it’s so beautiful.

This book has been described as Game of Thrones set in an african inspired fantasy land. I’m so excited.

Draconic Isle

Features Dragons

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon #1) by Alison Goodman

Pages: 531

I searched through a goodreads list until I found a dragon book with queer characters. I could have been lazy and just gone with the sequel to The Dragon Keeper but I think I’ve got enough Robin Hobb books on this TBR (if that’s possible).

I have no idea what this book is about but it’s got dragons, queer characters and apparently I own it (no idea when I bought it).

Bard Quests

The Elven Guard

War, military or political themes

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

Pages: 848

This seemed like the obvious choice. Do I need to explain what this book is about? Or why I chose it for this challenge?

On the Hallow Isle

Atmospheric or Horror Book

Survival Instinct by May Dawney

Pages: 358

This is queer post apocalyptic fiction where a woman has survived by staying on her own but then has to work with another woman who it looks like she’s going to fall in love with.

I’m hoping this will have lots of horror elements but I’m not sure.

I recently read The luminous Dead which would have been perfect for this challenge. It’s queer science fiction horror where a woman is cave diving on an alient planet and she only has contact with her handler who has her own secret motives for sending someone down into the alien caves.

There’s also Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. It’s about a scientific vessel looking for mermaids. There’s lots of queer characters and the mermaids are horrifying. They mimic human voices and are very competent predators.

Empty Barrel Inn

An indulgent read

The last Sun (Tarot Sequence #1) by KD Edwards

Pages: 368

I didn’t know what would be my version of indulgent. Everything I read is indulgent. I’m quick to DNF a book if I don’t like it. So I went through my Goodreads shelves and found this book.

I read this book last year on audiobook and I’ve been waiting for the sequel forever.

It’s queer urban fantasy where all the men seem to be gay and they take naked showers together without anything sexual happening. It made me laugh so much.

I was going to re-read this anyway because the sequel is coming out in september.

There is mentions of past rape of the main character so trigger warnings for that.

Giant Squid

A book that intimidates you

Dust of Dreams

Pages: 1280

This is the biggest book I own. It’s a huge hardcover that’s been sitting there for years. I picked it up in a charity shop. Because my version of a book haul is to go to a charity shop and pick up every fantasy and sci-fi book I find. 

So this book seems to be stand alone but there were quite a few books before it. This could get confusing but I’m actually going to read what it’s about and any other information I can find. If it turns out that you need to read these books in order then I’ll pick one of the other massive books I’ve got on my shelves. None of them are quite as big as this one though.

Outlaw Quests

Crimson Peaks

Re-read a favourite

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Pages: 452

I really enjoyed this book and the sequel but I read them a long time ago and I don’t really remember it that well. But there’s a third book that I want to read after re-reading the other two.

Queendom Stone

Features Royalty

The Demon King

Pages: 506

I know nothing about this book. I searched for fantasy royalty books, found a goodreads list and sorted through the books until I found one that had queer content.

The Forgotten Forest

Next in a series

The Cold Commands

Pages: 407

This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. I bought it right away after finishing the Steel Remains and then forgot about it. So it seems appropriate.

This is epic grimdark fantasy with a gay main character and I think there are side queer characters as well. There were also fantasy tropes like a great evil they had to defeat.

What I like best about this series is Ril gets to beat the crap out of people who are homophobic towards him. It’s fun.

The Weeping Falls

A Tearjerker

The House of Sundering Flames (Dominion of the Fallen #3) by Aliette de Bodard

Pages: 288

I had trouble coming up with a book for this challenge. I can’t remember any of the books I’ve cried at. There aren’t many of them.

So I went for a sequel where the previous books made me feel something. I’m really attached to the characters in this series and this is the last book in the trilogy so if I’m going to cry at anything it’s more likely to be this book.

This series is about an alternate version of Paris where fallen angels have houses that are constantly at war with one another.

There are a lot of queer characters.

I’m also going to actually join in on twitter, where most of the readathon is taking place. I haven’t been on twitter in years.

In total there’s 17 books I have to read with a combined total of 9079 pages. That feels like a lot.