The Readathon to Rule them All

I adore all things Fantasy so when a two week fantasy based readathon presents itself I had to participate.

The Readathon to Rule them all was created by Don’t have a degree in Reading and is an all fantasy readathon with 8 challenges.

It starts on the 29th of April and runs until with 12th of May.

The challenges 

• Fantasy book by a POC author
• Fantasy book with a POC main character
• Fantasy book under 300 pages
• Fantasy book over 1,000 pages
• A standalone fantasy book
• Fantasy book by a non-english speaking author
• Fantasy book with a non-European setting
• Fantasy book with LBGTQIA+ representation

---

My TBR

I love searching through my bookshelves for TBRs but I never seem good at sticking to them. Therefore, while I have picked a book for each challenge the and will try my hardest to stick to my choices I will probably find myself changing some of these as the time goes by. I have found a lot of my books double up on Challenges so I am bound to succeed in this one!

Fantasy book by a POC author

The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin

I have been wanting to read this series for some time, I got all three books for a bargain at the beginning of the year but due to the number of readathons I have been participating in lately I had not found a way to work them in but finally I can. This would also count for POC main character and non European setting.

Fantasy book with a POC main character

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns – Julie C. Dao

This book has been sitting with its beautifully glowing jade cover asking me why i haven’t delved into its pages yet. I received this as part of my FairyLoot subcription and I have been trying to incorporate at least one book a month into my TBR. This was an obvious choice for this challenge. this would also satisfy the challenge of non-European setting and POC Author.

Fantasy book under 300 pages

Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K Rowling

This one was a tough one, if I stick to the brief of fantasy books I only have one unread fantasy book under 300 pages. i do have a number of Sci-fi books that fill this challenge – see my back up picks below.

Fantasy book over 1,000 pages

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke

I was reluctant to do this challenge as I will be working over the next two weeks and 1000 page book is a large commitment. But then I remembered I own the unabridged audiobook for this Tome. i am hoping that while working I can fit in all 32 hours of this book while working.

A standalone fantasy book

The Wicked Deep – Shea Ernshaw

Again I have a number of choices for this and I am not sure if the ones i have picked are entirely stand alone. according to good reads there are no squeals in the works. If this is not a standalone please till me and I can pick another book. See my back up choices for other books I might choose to read instead.

Fantasy book by a non-English speaking author

Invisible Planets – Various Authors

Translated by Ken Liu

Ok I have cheated a little, this is science fiction. It is also a short story anthology. I currently don’t own any translated fantasy, most of my translated books and literary fiction, non-fiction or Science fiction. I feel Science Fiction and Fantasy can overlap greatly so I am counting this book. Also I love a good anthology for helping discover new writers.

Fantasy book with a non-European setting

The City of Brass – S.A Chakraborty

You might remember this one appearing on my Owls readathon TBR, I really wanted to get to it but due to time constraints and my hold coming in from my library I swapped it for Lair of Dreams by Libba Brey. I am still very keen to read this book. I am very much looking forward to the North African setting. This book could also count towards a POC author and a POC main character.

Fantasy book with LBGTQIA+ representation

Shadowplay – Laura Lam

I read the first of this series last year and loved it. The MC is intersex and had relationships with both male and female characters during the first book. I found the characters engaging and interesting and I have been looking for an excuse to jump back into this magical circus world. ( I was tempted to get all my magical circus books together and have a mini circus based readathon one month, maybe October)

---

My back up books

 

 

The Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor is a masterpiece of Science fiction novellas and I have been wanting to finish off this trilogy. It could count for a whopping 4 out of the 8 challenges – POC author, POC main character, non-European setting and under 300 pages. but it is Sci-fi with hints of magic so I would have to bend the rules a little to include it (like i did for Invisible planets).

Both Truly Devious and The Last Namsara

were on my various April TBRs and I really really want to read them. Truly devious could stand in for the Standalone book and The Last Namsara could be the Non-European setting.

If I dont fit these in during May i am sure you will see them again in June.

---

Are you participating in The One Readathon to Rule them All?

Have you read any of these books? I would love to know what you thought.