#please read a chorus of dragons by jenn lyons please please please please please

[bookwyrminspiration]

hey. if you haven't read the A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons (highly recommended for high/hard fantasy lovers)

Some of the wording is intentionally a tad misrepresentative simply because its funnier that way, but it's still accurate.

please read a chorus of dragons by jenn lyons. please. i promise I've spoiled like nothing, there's so much context and other happenings missing. i am begging

[bonebrujeria]

Hello, I saw in a comment section you were offering to make a rec list of queer adult fantasy. Any chance you happen to have that list handy? If not no worries, and thank you for your time

YOU GOT IT

Contemporary Adult Queer Fantasy

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Geisbrecht (we do not talk about this book enough it's so good!! Read if you love Hannibal or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Unbroken by CL Clark (ft. Sexy butch protagonist) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark (+ his Djinn in Cairo novella series) Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (read if you love Hozier) The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (ft. Trans vampire protagonist) The City of Dusk by Tara Sim Burning Roses by S.L. Huang The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane (ft trans Achilles!) The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (ft. Aroace protagonist) Spear by Nicola Griffith (Authuriana) Witchmark by C.L. Polk, or anything by C.L. Polk The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (or anything by Aliette de Bodard) Sarahland by Sam Cohen House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliot (Alexander the Great retelling) The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke K.A. Doore's Chronicles of Ghadid series The Deep by Rivers Solomon Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons series Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera The Devourers by Indra Das (Indian shapeshifters!) The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (queer Gatsby retelling)

Adult Queer Fantasy that I know specifically feature on-page boning: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo (please read anything & everything by Nghi Vo) A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan The Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Rocha (dystopian) KJ Charles' Magpie Lord series

Not fantasy but you should still read them: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, trans cast, firmly anti-TERF) Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (science-fantasy, objectively a perfect novel) Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (horror, gay yearning) The Seep by Chana Porter Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang (sci-fi Joan of Arc) Everything by Becky Chambers Everything by Rivers Solomon Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire

ALSO: author K.A. Doore keeps a running list of queer adult SFF published every year. I highly recommend going through those archives, which you can find here: https://kadoore.com/2022/05/23/2022-queer-adult-science-fiction-fantasy-books/

Tl;dr: SFF is extremely gay, almost everyone writing contemporary SFF is queer in some way, we are truly blessed and I don't want to hear anyone complaining about not being able to find stuff ever again, I love you all.

[let-them-sing-of-others]

okay dragon series!! one of them is aurelian cycle, but you already know about that one

a second I'm fond of is The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan. These are the memoirs of now-old world renowned dragon naturalist Isabella Trent, who's the leading expert in the field and shaped it into what it is today, changing the world. follow her story from childhood to where she is today, how she discovered her passion for dragons, the challenges she had to overcome as a woman scientist in a basically victorian era society. facing both physical challenges and the politics of science, it's mixed with a delightfully analytical and animalistic portrayal of dragons from her travels around the world. also has some, in my opinion, quite lovely relationships of several kinds. it has a bit of an unexpected twist in book 5, but it was pre-planned and not out of nowhere; i simply wasn't expecting it. Isabella has such a lovely voice and enthralling story--AND!! if you read the physical books, there's so many illustrations they're beautiful! please please read they're so good

another is A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons, which, my god where do I even begin to explain this one. it's a story about breaking cycles and how power corrupts even when you give it to "good" people, about what you can justify when you start seeing people as statistics. we follow our mc Kihrin, thief raised in a brothel who learns he's a missing prince, but he barely spends any time there before finding out that's the least important part of who he is, and the gods (who aren't actually gods, they're just powerful people who've been treated like gods) have actually been manipulating him for several lifetimes as their key wild card in a several millenia long demon war. there's a wide cast of well balanced characters, majority of which are queer, and who are real. this series is so incredibly confusing but you enjoy it, because everything works in cycles. the ending was planned from the beginning and if you're into worldbuilding, my GOD will you love this because it's so fuckin intricate. this series genuinely changed how I thought about literature and is one of the best series I've read in a long time. there's so much too it I can't really explain it because it's SO specific and detailed. but i will beg on my knees for everyone to read it please please please please please

hope that helps :)

DRAGONS!!! this helps immensely, thank you quil!!!

i’ll have to see if any of my local bookstores have the memoirs of lady trent, since i AM a fan of illustrations… not super optimistic but i can probably get them off thriftbooks if not. it’s a very interesting premise i haven’t seen before, writing a memoir from a character’s point of view, but it sounds like something i’d enjoy!!!

i did crack open ruin of kings one time at a b&n in like boston, and from what i’ve seen it ALSO has a funky format, so i think i’ll like that as well — unfortunately i did not buy it (did not have enough money on me) but i’ll probably be able to get that on audiobook or find an epub sometime :)

very excited to finally get some more dragon books!!! am still recovering from the aurelian cycle so it will probably take a while but. they are on the back burner of my mind now <3

[eskelent]

end of year book asks!! 3, 13, 22, 24, 25 if that isn't too many 😂

Yaaay thanks for asking, friend!! ;) Imma do all of them except 24 which I got on a different ask.

It was a really good year for reading for me, even though I didnt get anywhere near my number-of-books-finished goal. I feel like I enjoyed almost everything I read immensely, which isnt always true! So here we go

3.) What were your top five books of the year? - Very Hard Question so I'm giving myself the limiting factor of books that I read for the first time because I reread about three favorites this year (I also eliminated The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson because although I did finish it for the first time this year, I started it four years ago and stopped and started many times and already knew that I loved it going into this year... it would have been my number 2 if I'd kept it in..):

5. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

4. Dominus: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Steven Saylor

3. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

2. Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) by Kristin Cashore

1. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

13.) What were your least favorite books of the year? - Like I said it was a very good reading year for me, in part because a large chunk of it was taken up exclusively by The Stormlight Archives audiobooks, which have because my happy place, no really. So even the books I liked least this year I still enjoyed, but here's a few

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix - I simply wasn't blown away by this book and don't really remember much of it. Like, even the main characters' names... It was also the first book I read this year so take that as you will.

The House of Always by Jenn Lyons - This one pains me to write, because the Chorus of Dragons series is one of my FAVORITE from the past three years and every book in it to this point has been wonderful. With this one though, I think the framing device (one of my fav features of the first two books) got away from her and actively detracted from the overall story. It was honestly hard to follow, it changed too often, the interweaving of the characters felt like it fell apart, ironically, once they were more or less in the same room. I was just left a bit disappointed :/ BUT please everyone go read the first book in the series and see if you like it, The Ruin of Kings is wonderful.

22.) What’s the longest book you read? - I had to look up word counts for this bc its SO hard to compare page lengths with high fantasy, which was most of what I read this year, but the result is Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, surprising only in the way that I truly thought Words of Radiance was longer overall. If I end up finishing Rhythm of War before the end of the year that will be the longest tho

25.) What reading goals do you have for next year? - Next year I want to read a little more consciously, if that makes any sense. Basically I usually follow my whims with which novels I pick up when and I don’t do well trying to get myself to read anything I think might not be pleasurable so I stick to genres I know I’m pretty much guaranteed to enjoy. But this year I want to purposefully diversify my reading not only in terms of genre but also with authors with specific perspectives and viewpoints and read from only magazines as well as trad published stuff. and maybe I’ll even read a little nonfiction if I’m feeling particularly adventurous

[morhath]

If you want to make a book/media rec list, here’s an idea: things that feel like fanfic but in a good way. (Can be adult or YA, but please no Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Leigh Bardugo, or Nora Sakavic—I hate CC and the other 3 just weren’t to my taste).

AND/OR novella/novel-length fanfics where you can absorb details from context without knowing the canon! No pressure though lol, only if you want to.

Like I said over PM, I’ve actually been planning a reclist that’s kinda fic-inspired, so I definitely have ideas!  (Gotta be real, if you hadn’t said no Leigh Bardugo I would’ve also recced Ninth House.)  Here are some books that have fanfic vibes:

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.  I swear this book must have some BBC Merlin fanfiction somewhere in its DNA; I’m not saying it’s BBC Merlin fic with the serial numbers filed off, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the author’s enjoyed some Merthur before.  It’s modern-day, YA, romantic.  The first son of the US and one of the princes of England fall in love.

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is literally fanfic, of the Scottish Play.  The author manages to bring the plot to a modern-day high school setting while still making it really dark.  (People very much still die.)

I know I just mentioned this in the other rec post, but In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan.  It was initially released serially online, so it’s definitely got that in common with fanfiction!  It also takes that kinda Generic Fantasy Land you see in so many fantasy books and is like okay... let’s play with that.

Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie, which I’m almost positive is Finn/Poe from Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off.  (Look at the cover and you’ll see what I mean.)  Honestly I felt neutrally about it, but hey, it’s there.  It’s, yanno, scifi with pilots and stuff.

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison.  She straight up acknowledges in the author’s note that this started life as BBC Sherlock wingfic.  Don’t worry--it’s way better than the source material.  It’s sorta fantasy-ish, steampunk-ish and does interesting things with gender!  One of my favorite books I’ve read recently.

The Locked Tomb trilogy by Tamsyn Muir, first one is Gideon the Ninth, third one isn’t out yet.  I enjoy a lot of things about these books but there’s also some really awful ableism in the first book and some poorly-timed memes in the second book.  However!  The author is actually one of the authors of the popular Homestuck AU fic, Hemostuck.  It definitely has some fanfic vibes, and I keep joking that it’s actually Homestuck fanfiction (it isn’t, but Gideon’s shades are apparently meant to be Dave’s shades, so you can make a case for it being connected).  These are sorta scifi sorta fantasy, lots of necromancy stuff but it’s in space.

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk and Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho are both Regency-ish fantasy novels that both feel a little like Regency AUs?  I liked Sorcerer to the Crown more of the two, but both are very good.  They have great casts and romantic dynamics.  The Midnight Bargain is about a world where women have to give up magic when they get married, which means none of them can bond with major spirits to strengthen their powers.  Sorcerer to the Crown is set in a world where the current Sorcerer to the Crown is a young Black man, which society isn’t happy about.  His life gets even more complicated when he accidentally acquires a young woman as a student.

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake is a recent read that is a modern Twelfth Night AU.  I enjoyed it a lot although it had a beautiful opportunity to use one of my favorite tropes and then it DIDN’T.

The Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons, first one is The Ruin of Kings.  Parts of these books feel like a transcribed DnD campaign and not necessarily in a good way, but they are very fun.  Big old high fantasy tomes for if you have a lot of time on your hands.  They’re sort of just... standard fantasy in a lot of ways?  But very enjoyable and more diverse than usual.

I’ve been reading a lot of T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon’s pen name) recently and she focuses on character dynamics in a way that I think a lot of fanfiction authors do as well.  You could read just about any of her stuff, but I’d go for Paladin’s Grace to start with, which is about a paladin whose god has died.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho is a found family novella that plays with a lot of the genre conventions of wuxia, which I’m not super familiar with.  I definitely missed a lot of the context for this novella but what I did get was great.  A nun falls in with a group of bandits.

I couldn’t think of a ton of fic that can be read as a standalone, but here’s one:

Known Associates by thingswithwings.  This is... very long.  It is a Captain America fic that focuses on meticulously researched queer history, weaving that into the story of Steve Rogers.  There’s a Lot going on in this fic, so heed the tags.  I do think there are some bits that it skips over where it helps if you’re familiar with Marvel canon, but I don’t totally remember.

(I might be able to come up with a better list of fics like this later but it’s harder to think about whether or not they can be read as standalones when, yanno, I’m in the fandom in the first place.  I do hope that the Queen’s Thief fic I’m working on will fall into this category though...)

[bookwyrminspiration]

I Need Bookrecs but I can’t Just look any up cause all I get is booktok stuff :/

please help

Well I can recommend some things I/people I know personally enjoy! I don't know what you like, so I can't tailor them specifically to you, but hopefully it's still a helpful start :)

(and if anyone would like to reblog with their own additions, that's welcome to!)

A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons: A series I've talked about a lot recently. High Fantasy with incredibly complex and thorough worldbuilding, following Kihrin, a thief raised in a brothel as he discovers an unwanted royal heritage and the knowledge that he is destined to destroy the world. With an entire cast of engaging, unique characters (several queer in various ways) that drive the story, follow along as past lives are uncovered and these people who want nothing more than to live in peace are forced to fight for that right and figure out how to save humanity from the jealous hubris of people who have lost sight of what horrors can be justified for the greater good.

The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan: A series written like memoirs by Isabella Trent, the most famous and accomplished dragon naturalist ever who redefined the world and how dragons are understood with her accomplishments. But before she can be recognized, she had to establish herself in the field as a young woman in a time when women can't even vote--but she refuses to give up and travels the world for her passion, recounting the places she's been, people she's met, cultures she's glimpsed, and dragons she's studied. Very engaging and grounded, realistic in its depictions, isn't afraid to tackle topics like how harmful the "not like other women" idea is and how gender roles are detrimental to everyone.

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane: I haven't read it, but my partner loves it. In this world, you gain a second shadow when you commit a crime, and Kris has one. And when her wife dies in childbirth, their new baby gains a shadow, too. Told as though Kris is talking to her dead wife, it examines grief, resistance, surveillance and prejudice, and is undoubtedly much better than I'm making it out to be with my vaguely informed knowledge.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones: A standalone about a girl trying to provide for her siblings as a gravedigger, one of the only ones left in her small village who's still cautious of the supposed undead magic on its outskirts. But when a map-maker with an unclear past shows up offering money in exchange for guidance to the fabled locations, she can't turn it down. Explores death and grief and learning to live on without the people you care about, very sweet and introspective.

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro: The beginning of a new series, following two boys, Marlowe and Charlie, as they're discovered and taken to a mysterious institution for their magical gifts that allow them to access--in their unique ways--the space between life and death. But there are secrets at this institution and misguided ideas of how best to save everyone from the shadowed figure hunting down little Marlowe, driving their new small band of friends to action to try and keep everyone safe. This book is slow and deliberate, but charming; the kids all act their age and there's no romance, but plenty of finding and choosing your family.

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey: Phenomenal sci-fi set hundreds of years in the future; people are colonizing Mars and a marginalized, oppressed class of people live in the Belt. Tensions run high between all of them, but James Holden is just getting by as an ice hauler before his ship is blown up and he and a few others find themselves at the center of a conspiracy. An important woman's gone missing and when she's found, the very foundations of their world are shaken as a physically impossible biohazard rewrites history and science, taking the story to places beyond where the characters ever saw themselves going. I haven't read it myself, but my dad has and I've seen the show (which is incredible) and I really want to read it myself. Cast of distinct characters and the show is one of the most scientifically realistic out there

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto: A short, bittersweet standalone about grief. Following Mikage as she processes the death of her grandmother, she becomes close with one of her grandmother's friends from a flower shop and his mother, finding herself again and learning to live with it. Notable for its casual depiction of a trans character (that mother) in this book from the 1980s. It's a lovely read, introspective and thoughtful.

The Black Witch Chronicles by Laurie Forest: I'm not caught up with this one, but it starts following Elloren Gardner, granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch--but she doesn't have a single spark of magic in her blood. So she's starting at a new University to become an apothecary, but there finds her beliefs about the world--and her people's superiority--challenged as she's forced to room with two winged icarals, who she doesn't think even deserve to be here. The world turns out to be much more complicated than she thought and she needs to figure out where she actually stands. A high fantasy with a more in-depth world building, but I've only read the first 2 books so far. And in the first Elloren has a lot to unlearn, so prepare to cringe at her actions and thoughts for a hot minute--but the magic and politics of the world I remember being quite interesting.

Babel by R.F. Kuang: I've spoken about this frequently; a standalone about colonialism and language. About the literal power of words and necessity of violence. Follow young Robin Swift, taken from China as a child and given a new name so England can send him to Oxford, where his language can be used to power magical silver bars and strengthen the empire. But this exploitation of him and the people he's come to think of as family rests heavy on him, and a series of experiences drive his thoughts towards revolution and pain. Warning, this is a heavier book, especially for those who have personal experience with language/culture loss and disconnect, with the effects colonialism.

The Martian by Andy Weir: A standalone about an astronaut who gets stuck as the only person on mars when his crew has to flee the planet when a storm hits. Trying his best to survive alone until someone can hopefully come get him, the story is told through his Log entries--and he is quite the little shit of a narrator. Surviving on humor and fuck it we ball mentality, he's either going to survive and be famous for it, or die on mars and also be famous for that. An incredibly fun read that touches on the bonds of humanity and what we'll do to help others, and how hard people will fight to survive and keep their hope alive. This was also turned into a movie, and not a bad one!