Is this the year I’m catching up to my TBR? (spoilers: no, it isn’t because the TBR is neverending) In an attempt to do it, I’m joining a reading challenge organized by one of my favourite people in the indie fantasy community: Trudie Skies. Tru has themed this challenge with the world in their The Cruel Gods series.
In this universe, there are twelve gods who reside over their own domains and the mortals they create in their image. Mortals can leave their domain through a magical portal known as the Gate which connects to the hourglass city of Chime, a home for mortals only which the gods cannot touch. From Chime, mortals can travel back to their domain or visit the others.
The Gate cycles through each domain at the turn of the hour, thus if a mortal misses their designated crossing, they must wait twelve hours for the next one. These domains are allocated a time on the clock.
The challenge consists in reading one book a month throughout the year following a prompt for each of the domains. Here are the prompts for each month and which indie book I’ll try to read for it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to read all these or even wait until said month to read them, but you can take them as suggestions if you want to join.
January: A Book set in or on the ocean
Book: Journeyman (The Ashen Levels #2)
Author: C.F. Welburn
It’s about time I come back to this series, and this one has a pirate ship! I loved the first book and I’m sure I’ll be pleasantly surprised by this author again.
February: A book focused on animals
Book: Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1)
Author: M.L. Spencer
As if I needed another excuse to get to this hyped book with a neurodivergent protagonist. I got a couple of bigger books I want to get to this year, but I’ll try squeezing this one too. (Dragons count as animals, right?)
March: A book set in a forest or on a mountain
Book: Journeys (The Archers of Saint Sebastian #1)
Author: Jeanne Roland
I may or may not have started this book today as it’s been on my priotity TBR for almost two years. This one sounds like a lot of fun and I love the girl disguised as boy trope, which surprises no one.
April: A book featuring sun magic/powers
Book: Heliotrope
Author: Palmer Pickering
Ok, Tru is looking for a copyright lawsuit here and I refuse to be a part of it, so I’m cheating a little here. Heliotrope features a homonymous design which is speculated to bless you in battle, as it used to do for the old Mages, if you dance the sword on it while the Summer Solstice sun shines through a round window and hits its center. I might also start it this month, I can’t follow my own plans, ok?
May: A book with singing as magic or plot
Book: The Stray Spirit (Lutesong #1)
Author: R.K. Ashwick
I love bards and have many books about them on my TBR. I chose this one as I’ve already read a small sample of it for BBNYA and it didn’t disappoint. While the focus of the story is a talkative forest spirit who takes home in a bard’s lute, it is said bard’s singing that attracts it.
June: A horror or gothic fantasy book
Book: When Shadows Fall (Shadows of the Vale #1)
Author: Lindy Enns
I don’t even remember adding this book to my TBR and much less buying it. I don’t read much horror-inspired fantasy but this shadow-riddled world seems very interesting to pass on. Plus, it’s on the shorter side.
July: A book featuring airships
Book: A Matter of Execution (Tales of the Iron Rose #0)
Author: Nicholas & Olivia Atwater
Power couple Nicholas and Olivia Atwater have joined forces to write this funny prequel novella about a goblin airship captain who’s about to be hanged for a crime he didn’t commit. This series sounds promising.
August: A book set in the desert
Book: Bones to the Wind (A Forging of Age #1)
Author: Tatiana Obey
This book keeps eluding me for one reason or another but I rememeber reading the beginning of this coming of age novel and being intrigued by its premise, and since I want to read more books by BIPOC authors this might be the year I finally get to it. Look at that cover!
September: A book featuring romance or sex
Book: Secrets of the Dead (The Lost Kingdom Saga #1)
Author: Laura Carter
I love romantic subplots, so there were many books to choose from. This novel also includes different “domains” in the form of elemental-themed realms, LGBTQ+ rep, enemies-to-lovers, political intrigue… I’m liking this recipe.
October: A book set during fall or Halloween
Book: Beautiful Undone
Author: Melissa Polk
I’ve got my eye on Melissa Polk’s queer books since I first heard of The Trow of Duncaster. This year, they entered Beautiful Undone to SPFBO 9 and even did a fan casting for it during the first year celebrations of Tiny Elf Arcanist where they talk a bit on the inspiration for this novel.
November: A sci-fi book or set in space
Book: Once We Flew
Author: Nikky Lee
I don’t read much sci-fi, so a novella with more of a science fantasy feel by an author I’ve been meaning to read looks to be in the right vein for me.
December: A steampunk or clockpunk book
Book: Blood Over Bright Haven
Author: M.L. Wang
I’m not the only one who has declared themself an M.L. Wang fan after reading her masterpiece The Sword of Kaigen. I’ve got Blood Over Bright Heaven on my kindle since before its release and I should start finishing those ARCs.
If you’d like to know more about the domains in Chime and the people who inhabit them, you can check Trudie Skies’s website. They also made a quiz to know wich domain you would belong to!
You can join Tru’s discord to find more people participating in this challenge and share or find recommendations.
Tiny Elf Arcanist 
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