Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi – A (2019) Reading Challenge + Bingo Cards

by Annemieke, posted in Read-a-longs and Read-a-thons

Intro

You know sometimes I like to challenge myself.

How to Play

This reading challenge consists of 3 sections. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and General for a total of 52 prompts which comes down to about 1 book a week.

  1.  You can do 1, 2 or all 3 sections.
  2. With each section you are allowed 1 Double-Up. Double-Up means you can use 1 book for 2 prompts. Preferred is not to at all but if for some reason you are struggling with time or a prompt you can.
  3. In the general sections you can use both fantasy and sci-fi books but not other genres.
  4. Graphic novels, comics, audiobooks and novella’s are allowed. It is all reading in my book.
  5. Rereads count.
  6. You can move the books around throughout the year if things fit better elsewhere and all.
  7. You can step into this reading challenge at any point. I’m starting it in January 2019 but in reality this is a reading challenge you can fit for yourself in anyway you like. If you want to start in May and end April the year after, that is totally fine.

Graphic

reading challenge 2019(1).png

Sign-Up

I don’t know if people want to join me but I would love to interact with each other if you do. You can participate anyway you like, with goodreads, twitter, instagram or your blog. I don’t require a sign-up post but I would appreciate if you boosted this.

If there are a nice group of people we can see if we can do a twitter dm group or an fb group or something to chat with each other on how to fill the prompts. 🙂

The widget won’t go into the post because wp sucks so here is the direct link.

If You Need Inspiration:
Find Some Fitting Books Per Prompt Here

I figured some of you might like to have a list of options for each prompt so here we are. I’ve read a portion of these, others are on my own TBR and others I just know fit with the prompt. These are in no way meant as real recommendations, just those that fit the prompt. No links because do you see how many books I mention haha.

Fantasy

fantasy bingo card(1)

Classic Fantasy
The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin / The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Narnia by C.S Lewis /

Magic School
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce / A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin / The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss / Carry On by Rainbow Rowell / Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones / The Magicians by Lev Grossman / The Novice by Taran Matharu

Necromancers
Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong / Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride / Sabriel by Garth Nix / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews / Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landry / Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

PTSD
Witchmark C.L. Polk / The First Law by Joe Abercrombie /

Dragons
The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli / Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb / The Copper Promise by Jen Williams / Talon by Julie Kagawa / Seraphina by Rachel Hartman / A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin / Eragon by Christopher Paolini / Eon by Alison Goodman / Temeraire by Naomi Novik / A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan / How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell / Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland / Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aron

Fairytale Retelling
Uprooted by Naomi Novik / A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas / Ash by Melinda Lo / Forests of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao / The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh / The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden / Thorn by Intisar Khanani / To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Grimdark
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence / Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson / Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall / Skullsworn by Brian Stavely / Red Sister by Mark Lawrence / The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Ghosts
Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud / The Graveyard Queen by Amanda Stevens / City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab / The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman / The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater / Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Uncommon Fantasy Creatures
So not the usual werewolf, dragons, vampires and the like
Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves (Huldra) / The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker (Golem) / Steel & Stone by Annette Marie (Incubus) / Troll Fell by Katherine Langrish (Trolls) / The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Goblins)

Shapeshifters
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs / Written in Red by Anne Bishop / Stray by Rachel Vincent / Soulless by Gail Carragher / The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong /

Gods
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan / Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan / Aru Shah at the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin / The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter / The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White / Furyborn by Claire LeGrand / Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman / Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova / The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

Animal (or in Animal Form) Companion(s)
Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb / The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell / The Summoner by Taran Matharu

Matriarchy
Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima / Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake / Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop / Dragonflight by Anne McAffrey / The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells / The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

Set in Our World
The Others by Anne Bishop / Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning / Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh / Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Witches
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness / Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett / The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy / Uprooted by Naomi Novik / Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Magical Law Enforcement
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch / The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher / The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud / Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

Thief
The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron / The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo / The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima / The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

Pirates
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo / Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke / Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch / The Nature of a Pirate by A.M. Dellamonica

Portal Fantasy
Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Warrior
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Night Angel by Brent Weeks / Half a King by Joe Abercrombie /

Sci-Fi

bingo card sci-fi(1)

On a Different Planet
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray / The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin / The Martian by Andy Weir / Dune by Frank Herbert / Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Space Ship
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers / The Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers / An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams

Artificial Intelligence Point of View
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / I, Robot by Isaac Asimov / 2001: A Space Odessey by Arthur C. Clarke / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Kick

Proto Sci-Fi
As Frankenstein is seen as the first sci-fi novel all books prior to that that seem to be sci-fi are called proto sci-fi but anything before H.G. Wells will count here as it seems to cause some discussions. 
New Atlantis by Francis Bacon / Frankenstein by Mary Shelley / The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson / From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne /

Alien
The Fifth Wave by Rick Riordan / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams / The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells / Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Time Travel
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells / Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier / Passenger by Alexandra Bracken / The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig / The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma / Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Utopia
The Dispossed by Ursula K. le Guin / Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel / Andromeda by Ivan Efremov / The Giver by Lois Lowry

Games/Gaming/Virtual Reality
Warcross by Marie Lu / Armada by Ernest Cline / Otherland by Tad Williams / In Real Life by Cory Doctorow / Unplugged by Donna Freitas

Hive (Mind)
The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

Steampunk
Soulless by Gail Carrigher / Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve / Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld / Boneshaker by Cherie Priest / Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

Super Powers
The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson / Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee / Nimona by Noelle Stevenson / The Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan

Science
Better known as heavy sci-fi if you go searching for books
Foundation by Isaac Asimov / World War Z by Max Brooks / The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson / Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

Replicate/Replica
Accelerando by Charles Stross / Replica by Lauren Oliver / Evolution by Stephen Baxter / The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Space Colonization
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradburry

Mecha
Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel / Gundam Wing by Haijme Hatate / Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Space Creatures/Beasts
Mistworld by Simon Green / Dune by Frank Herbert /  Alien by Alan Dean Foster /

Teleportation
Jumper by Stephen Gould / Timeline by Michael Crighton / The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Space Western
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury / Six-Gun Planet by John Yakes / Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow / Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon / Cowboy Bebop by Yutaka Nanten

The Moon
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer / Moonseed by Stephen Baxter / Artemis by Andy Weir / Red Rising by Pierce Brown / The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Invasion
Alien or Human
The Andromedia Strain by Michael Crighton / Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout / The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / The Alien Years by Robert Silverberg / Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card / First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells / Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

General

bingo card general

For this you can use sci-fi and fantasy where you can make them fit.

Satire
Discworld by Terry Pratchett / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams / The Portable Door by Tom Holt / Red Shirts by John Scalzi /

Novella
Binty by Nnedi Okorafor / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Ghost Line by Andrew Neil Gray / The Girl Who Rules Fairyland – For a Little While by Catheryne M. Valente

Finish a Series
For this you can read the other books for other prompts throughout this challenge and read the last one here or finish a series you previously started. Or you could just read a whole series for this prompt alone. Whatever you want haha.

Mental Health
Stormlight Archives by Branden Sanderson (depression) / The Magicians by Lev Grossman (depression) / Witchmark by C.L Polk (PTSD) / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (PTSD)

Disability *
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (autism) / October Daye by Seanan McGuire (weelchair)
*Kristen from Metaphors and Moonlight created a masterlist.

Set in Africa
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor  / Zoo City by Lauren Beukes / The Famished Road by Ben Okri / Changa’s Safari by Milton J. Davis

Library
Library is semi-important in the book
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine / The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman / The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins /

By a Woman of Color
Nnedi Okorafor / N.K. Jemisin / Tomi Adeyemi / Julie Kagawa / Malinda Lo / Heidi Helig / to name only a few…

One Word Title / Under 500 Pages / Over 800 Pages / Published Before 1990
I don’t think I need to make a list for these, right?

If you have any recs for any of these categories (especially Disability, Mental Health, Set in Africa and PTSD) than please leave them down below.

Printables

Let me know if these don’t work to save.

130 thoughts on “Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi – A (2019) Reading Challenge + Bingo Cards”

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  3. This sounds like fun! I have two more “set in Africa” recs. Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar, and Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor. Oh also for mental Health, Someone Like Me by M.R. Carey.

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  4. …it’s maybe 48 hours since I said to myself that I wasn’t doing any challenges next year, isn’t it? HA. Best laid plans / good intentions / sign me the hell up 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Annemieke, this is so well done! My goodness, you worked so hard on this. I think I may give this challenge a try but I am also keenly aware of my lack of consistency when it comes to reading. So, like, is it a challenge if I am predicting failing on an epic scale? Hmm.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. And thank you! I made this challenge so you can do different things and not nessecarily have to do all 52 prompts because it can be so overwhelming so you can just go for the 12 prompts too.

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  18. Hi! I’m sorry for the late reply on this post, but I stayed away from the blogging community (it wasn’t a choice, but I went on a hiatus due to lack of time and energy. Adulting sometimes really sucks, sorry for the language!) and I wasn’t able to comment sooner. Anyway, I’m in love with your challenge and I am in! I just can not miss it!
    And I am sorry to bother you, but I have a question, or two. To participate we have to post somewhere the reviews for the books we read? And, for the goal “finish a series” we have to finish a series that we start just for it (or for other tasks in this challenge) or it can be just the last volume of a series (fantasy or sci-fi) that we have started in the past?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. No worries. Adulting is hard! Hugs.

      Yeay that is great to hear. To participate you do no have to post any reviews. I don’t want to add more to the challenge as i think this is plenty for most. And for finish series, both those options are fine. As long as you finish a series. 😀

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  24. This looks like an incredible challenge. I’m going to bookmark it and see where I fall later into the year. I have a couple series that I’m going to be aiming to get through this year (Harry Dresden & Wheel of Time) before getting into too much variety for reading, but this set up feels like so much fun!! Great Work!!

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  26. I have a recommendation for the ‘set in Africa’ prompt: The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer. It’s a stunningly weird (at least to me) YA sci-fi/fantasy.

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  29. I just discovered your blog through someone else’s blog post on the challenge and I so want to take part in this challenge now, it’s so exciting! I’ve been in a huge fantasy slump for most of 2018, but I’ve been slowly been getting back from it and it’s mainly thanks to Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy. Your challenge will totally help me with reading more fantasy again, so I’m looking forward to 2019 to get started! 🙂

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  34. What a fab year-long challenge, and would have loved to participate (and I still might, in part) but I have a full load already planned for 2019 by way of writing. So a lot of my reading will be playing second fiddle to my online project. Still, I might do some of the SF section. 😀

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  39. OOooooh, I almost didn’t see this!! That happens when I go missing for almost a whole month.

    It’s a brilliant idea and I will sure join! I’ll be off for 4 days in a row soon (a miracle!) and will write a post on it. So cool!

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  46. My personal challenge this year is to read as many books as I can from my inventory, which is vast. They are across many genres… including Science Fiction and Fantasy as well as others that would not fit into your challenge. I just finished reading Under The Dome (1074 pages) by Stephen King and it took three weeks! As I tend to favor long books like this, I may not get all 52 books read in a year. I do intend to see how many I can get done.

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  48. I’m going to low-key, unofficially participate [or try to] in this one! I rarely read scifi, so that’ll be a joke anyway but let’s ignore that, haha.

    I already ticked off:
    – Animal companion with Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff [shadow-cat, yay!]
    – Thief with The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
    – One word title with Imber by Tyffany Hackett

    I don’t have a lot of specific books in mind for the other prompts, but I do know Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows fits the dragons prompt. [If I remember correctly, the MC has anxiety as well.] Daughter of the Pirate King counts for Pirates, I reckon? And A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a fairy tale retelling of Beauty and the Beast, so there’s that. 😀 [That one should also fit disability but I’m not sure why anymore and I don’t want to look it up in case of spoilers, haha.]

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