Fantasy Challenge 2012
Step 1: Choose between Light (20 books) or Full (40 books) Challenge
Step 2: Choose three categories in Part I and one category in Part II
Step 3: Read a new-to-you book in half (for the Light) or all of the subcategories in the categories you have chosen within one year of your start date.
PART I
Choose three of the six categories.
Dark Fantasy & Horror
1. Read a fantasy novel by a horror author.
2. Read a horror novel by a fantasy author.
3. Read a high fantasy novel about an anti-hero.
4. Read a Gothic novel.
5. Read a Weird Western.
6. Read a ghost story.
7. Read a comedic horror novel.
8. Read a novel narrated by (or told from the perspective of) a monster.
9. Read something in the Cthulhu mythos.
10. Read a Bram Stoker Award Winner.
Genre in the Mainstream
1. Read a fantasy novel commonly found on high school reading lists.
2. Read a World Fantasy Award winner/nominee or a Mythopoeic Award winner/nominee by a non-genre author.
3. Read a fantasy novel that has won/was nominated for the Booker Prize or National Book Award.
4. Read a allegorical novel.
5. Read a postmodern novel.
6. Read a magical realist novel from North America.
7. Read a magical realist novel from South America.
8. Read a magical realist novel from Europe.
9. Read a magical realist novel from Asia.
10. Read a fantasy novel written before 1900.
High Fantasy
1. Read a fantasy set entirely in a secondary world, with no reference to this world.
2. Read a fantasy that begins in this world but quickly moves through a portal of some sort to a secondary world.
3. Read a Heroic Fantasy novel: Racing the Dark, by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Completed 2/11/12. Rated 3 1/2 stars. ( Review)
4. Read a Kingdom Fantasy novel: Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder. Completed 1/30/12. Rated 2 1/2 stars.
5. Read a Sword and Sorcery novel.
6. Read a novel set in a world with magic.
7. Read a novel set in a world with no magic.
8. Read a novel that focuses on an entirely invented religion: Earth Logic, by Laurie J. Marks. Completed 1/8/12. Rated 4 stars.
9. Read a novel with a quest plot
10. Read a novel set in a world at a pre-Medieval Europe level of technology.
Mythopoeia and Mythic Fiction
1. Read an epic poem.
2. Read a retelling of a European myth.
3. Read a retelling of an Asian myth.
4. Read a retelling of an African myth: Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord. Completed 2/7/12. Rated 4 stars.
5. Read a retelling of an American myth.
6. Read a retelling of an Oceanic myth.
7. Read a retelling of a Caribbean myth.
8. Read a revisionist fairy tale.
9. Read something set in a shared universe.
10. Read something by one of the Inklings.
Science Fantasy
1. Read a novel where a traditional science fiction element is explained fantastically.
2. Read a novel where a traditional fantasy element is explained scientifically.
3. Read a novel where both science fictional elements and fantasy elements are treated as equally factual.
4. Read a Dying Earth novel.
5. Read a Planetary Romance.
6. Read a Sword and Planet novel.
7. Read a novel set in a future with magic.
8. Read a novel with a computer/computers who are treated like gods.
9. Read a novel that involves psi powers: Black Sun Rising, by C. S. Friedman. Completed 1/16/12. Rated 3 1/2 stars.
10. Read a Lost Colony novel where the colony has reverted to a feudal system of some sort.
Urban Fantasy
1. Read an urban fantasy set pre-1400.
2. Read an urban fantasy set between 1400 and 1900.
3. Read an urban fantasy set post 1900.
4. Read an urban fantasy set in Europe.
5. Read an urban fantasy set in Asia.
6. Read an urban fantasy set in Africa.
7. Read an urban fantasy set in the Americas.
8. Read an urban fantasy set in Oceania.
9. Read an urban fantasy set in a secondary world.
10. Read a contemporary rural fantasy.
PART II
Choose one of the three categories
Authors
1. Read a novel by an author from Europe.
2. Read a novel by an author from Central/South America.
3. Read a novel by an author from Asia.
4. Read a novel by an author from Africa.
5. Read a novel by an author from Oceania.
6. Read a novel by an author from the Caribbean.
7. Read a novel by a woman.
8. Read a novel by a person of color.
9. Read a novel by someone who identifies as something other than heterosexual.
10. Read a novel by more than one author.
Book-as-Object
1. Read a novel published in the last 12 months.
2. Read a novel published by a small press.
3. Read a novel with cover art that you love.
4. Read a novel with cover art that you hate.
5. Read a novel with less than 150 pages.
6. Read a novel with between 350 and 450 pages.
7. Read a novel with over 700 pages.
8. Read a paperback original.
9. Read a novel that has been out of print for at least ten years.
10. Read a novel that was blurbed by one of your favorite authors.
Main Character
1. Read a novel featuring a female protagonist.
2. Read a novel featuring a protagonist of color.
3. Read a novel featuring a character who identifies as something other than heterosexual.
4. Read a novel featuring a married protagonist.
5. Read a novel featuring a protagonist who is a parent.
6. Read a novel featuring a detective as the protagonist.
7. Read a novel featuring a religious official as the protagonist.
8. Read a novel featuring a magic-user as the protagonist.
9. Read a novel featuring an anti-hero as the protagonist.
10. Read a novel with multiple protagonists.
Notes
For books to qualify in any category, they must be at least 100 pages long.
You may double-count a maximum of three books in the Light Challenge and five books in the Full Challenge; however, a book may not count twice within the same category.