C0smic Occurence

Not Even Bones

I’m not a person who can handle gruesome depictions of core when presented with the slow, deliberate pace of a medical show or some darker parts of fantasy. When in the middle of an action scene, sure, but torture is something I struggle with. As I’ve read more horror over the years though, I’ve started to appreciate it more and more. And if you’re interested in a dark story that feels a lot like watching Dexter or You, then Market of Monsters will be right up your alley

Read If Looking For: body horror, fun twists, urban fantasy that goes beyond werewolves and vampires

Avoid if Looking For: bespoke prose, books where characters make smart choices, healthy family dynamics

2024 Bingo: Final Card + Reflections

This is my fourth year of doing r/fantasy’s bingo challenge, and my fourth year of reading with the joy and intensity of my youth. You can find the official bingo announcement here, but the rules are simple: read 25 books by different authors, fitting a wide variety of categories.

I finally feel like I’ve caught up with a lot of the breakout hits I missed on my reading hiatus, though there are still some glaring gaps, and was ready to start exploring books as they were being released. And so this year I committed to completing a themed ‘published in 2024’ card. I committed to posting each review on r/fantasy, which eventually led to me creating this blog.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Someone You Can Build a Nest in caught my eye with its cover as I was exploring 2024 new releases. I threw a hold on the audiobook at my local library and promptly forgot about it until it came up just as I was finishing a re-listen of Dungeon Crawler Carl. It was perfect timing, and ended up being a really wonderful read that is a good example of a book that manages to successfully balance romance and fantasy elements in its story.

Read If Looking For: quality asexual romance, plus sized queer rep, cozy/horror mashups

Avoid if Looking For: monsters that truly feel monstrous

Evocation

Evocation immediately caught my eye with its cover. While I’m not a someone who subscribes to Tarot in my personal life, I greatly enjoy how it can be used as a symbolic component in stories, especially fantasy ones where its easy for me to suspend disbelief and enjoy fortune telling. That, plus a queer cast made it an easy choice for me to read.

Read If Looking For: poly romance, dynamic narration, occultism

Avoid if Looking For: flesheshed out magic systems, mystery/thriller plotlines that satisfy

The Wings Upon Her Back

This book wasn’t really on my radar until a variety of people whose taste I trust recommended it as a fantastic thematic exploration of Fascism, Military Dehumanization, Religious Programming, and Abusive Relationships. I was hesitant about the mix of fantasy and mecha elements, but it ended up being a really enjoyable read that I anticipate being nominated for at least a few awards.

Read If Looking For: theme-focused novels, fantasy about religion and politics, nuanced relationships

Avoid if Looking For: action heavy books, fleshed out side characters

The Bullet Swallower

The intersection between Speculative Fiction and Westerns is something I’ve been interested in exploring for a while now. I’ve got both American Hippo and Make Me No Grave on my bookshelf right now, waiting for me to find the time to get around to them. This was my first foray into the genre, primarily because the Magical Realism elements were intriguing, as was the parallel storyline in the pitch.

Read If Looking For: frank depictions of characters, family sagas, heaps of bravado

Avoid if Looking For: fast paced stories, lots of action scenes

Mistress of Lies

One of this year’s bingo squares is ‘Judge a Book by It’s Cover’ which challenges you to read a book without knowing anything other than what’s on the front cover. Mistress of Lies was my pick for my ‘published in 2024’ themed card. I thought the art was wonderfully evocative, and also visually distinct from a lot of cover art trends I’m seeing these days. Ella Garrett (designer) and Felix Abel Klaer (illustrator) did a phenomenal job.

Read If Looking For: romantic tension, polyamorous storylines, moral ambiguity

Avoid if Looking For: political intrigue, books free of YA/New Adult vibes

The Woods All Black

Horror, especially queer horror, is something that I’ve been dipping my toes in more and more as I get older. I’m a squeamish person; during medical shows I look away during surgery scenes, and I despise jump scares. But I find both elements much more manageable in book form. And The Woods All Black was a wonderful marriage of queer history and queer horror. At 150 pages, it was an easy choice to pick up.

Read If Looking For: Appalachian settings, queer history, religious horror

Avoid if Looking For: engaging romances, lots of supernatural content

Cascade Failure

I picked up Cascade Failure after seeing it compared to Firefly favorably in a few different places, and I am unabashedly a fan of the cult-hit TV show, even if I was rather late getting on the bandwagon. We’ve seen misfit underdog spacheship crews a million times before, but I enjoy books that tread familiar ground just as much as I enjoy those which innovate in the genre. While this book wasn’t particularly original, it does evoke the feeling of Firefly much better than anything I’ve read before.

Read If Looking For: found family, touching moments, AI characters

Avoid if Looking For: fast paced stories, in-depth Sci Fi worlbuilding

The Daughter’s War

This book is a prequel to The Blacktongue Thief, which was a story that I enjoyed, especially for some of its worldbuilding elements. However, I had some issues with the pacing of the book. It was engaging enough that The Daughter’s War, with its promise of brutal goblins, an engaging central character, and horror elements, was a powerful draw. In the end I liked it more than Blacktongue Thief, and the books can be read independently of each other.

Read If Looking For: scary goblins, scary birds, mysterious wizards, the horrors of war

Avoid if Looking For: cinematic action scenes, traditional hero’s journeys