Every April, the r/fantasy subreddit does a fun thing where they release a bingo card with a bunch of different categories of books, and people try to read books fitting as many of the squares as possible until the next Bingo year begins the following April. I’ve completed Book Bingo every year since 2017 and this year was another great year. I’m a little late doing my mini-reviews this year, but I did want to do them because this is the first time doing so on my fancypants author site!
Without further ado, here are my reviews for the first row of the bingo card!
Five Short Stories
How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin
I often find it difficult to review short story collections because I am not, by and large, a big short story person (the “short” story I wrote for my newsletter subscribers clocked in at about 14,000 words) and also because there are always going to be short stories that are more compelling than others. But this collection by N.K. Jemisin was of consistently excellent quality, and made me think perhaps I could be a short story person after all. The ones that stuck with me the most were “Cloud Dragon Skies,” a heartbreaking tale of the humans who remained on Earth and humans who left to go live in space, and “L’Alchimista” which was an absolutely delightful story about cooking. But overall I highly recommend any of the stories in this collection.
Hard Mode
Yes, it is a whole anthology
2022 Bingo Squares
- Five Short Stories (HM)
- Author uses initials
- BIPOC Author
- No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
Set in Asia
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
The Sword of Kaigen stands out to me as one of the best books I read in 2021. This book took my heart and smashed it to pieces and then rebuilt it again from the ground up. It’s always such a rare treat to find a story with a protagonist who is not only older than her mid twenties, but also has children as well. As a parent rapidly approaching middle age myself, I found I identified with Misaki’s character a lot. While this book does have its fair share of action, it is largely a character driven story, focusing on the human cost of war and the people who must survive with what remains. My only minor complaint was with certain aspects of the worldbuilding seemed inconsistent. I didn’t mind the uneven distribution of technology, because the real world is like that too. But it was never clear to me why, even in the most advanced countries in the setting, swords were still considered viable war weapons when things like fighter jets also exist. Despite that minor quibble, however, I’d recommend this book to anyone.
Hard Mode?
Yes, M.L. Wang is of Asian descent
2022 Bingo Squares
- Cool Weapon (HM)
- Author uses initials
- Mental Health
- Self-Published
- BIPOC Author
- Family Matters
A Selection from the A-Z Genre Guide
Time Salvager by Wesley Chu
This one has been on my TBR for a long time because I loved his Tao trilogy. This book was also delightful and fun and I enjoyed it throughout. The premise of a terrible future held together by time travel and highly regulated to make sure people don’t change the past to make things even worse kind of reminded me of the TVA from the Loki tv show, although this book I think came out before that. The hero, a mid-ranked time traveler with a drinking problem, was flawed yet relatable. Despite the truly crapsack future they find themselves in, I found the story to be hopeful and optimistic which was refreshing during these times. The weakest point, for me, was the romance. The heroine and love interest has almost no flaws to speak of and seems to exist only as wish fulfillment for the hero. All the same, I liked this book a lot and can’t wait to read the sequel.
Hard Mode?
Yes, Wesley Chu is a person of color
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird Ecology (debatable, it is Earth, but the ecology is weird now)
- Anti-hero
- Wibbly Wobbly Timey wimey
- Mental Health
- BIPOC Author
- No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
Found Family
This Quest is Bullshit by J.P. Valentine
With a title like that, I had to read it. This Quest is Bullshit is a gamelit/LitRPG that takes place in a world that functions on game mechanics (rather than being about humans on Earth playing a game). The main character can’t wait until she finally comes of age to receive her life’s quest, only to be disappointed when it turns out to be nothing more than going to the next town over for a loaf of bread. But getting a loaf of bread is a lot more complicated than it sounds. Along the way, the main character makes friends, wins glory, and learns the meaning of love and loss. I liked that the relationships between the main character and her adventuring party were based on friendship rather than romance. Especially since one character seems to be clearly set up to be a romantic interest, only for him to end up in a m/m relationship with one of the other adventure party members. I’m not usually one for LitRPG but I really liked this one — it both made me want to read the rest of the series, and play more video games!
Hard Mode?
Yes, the heroine’s two best friends are in an m/m relationship
2022 Bingo Squares
- Cool Weapon
- Author uses initials
- Non-human protagonist (technically, but that’s kind of a spoiler)
- Self-Published
First Person POV
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
This YA enemies to lovers romance between a witch and a witch hunter was pretty fun to read, and I liked the dynamic between the two main characters. I tend to be fond of enemies-to-lovers tropes anyway, so this was enjoyable in that respect. However, I didn’t really like the depictions of witches in the story, it seems to vary too far back and forth between “Witches are Good Actually” and “Witches are bad and the witch hunters are right to hunt them.” I suppose that’s realistic enough, because Witches are Human, but in the story itself it felt jarring. It also borrows a lot of the trappings of Wicca, the religion, while not being anything like Wicca the religion, which was mostly just annoying. Nevertheless this was a fun book I’d happily recommend to anyone who likes YA and enemies to lovers romance.
Hard Mode?
Yes, the witch and the witch hunter each have first person POVs
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Anti-hero
Book Club or Readalong Book
The Lord of Stariel by AJ Lancaster
Modern and Independent Woman Hetta Valstar never got along with her stuffy relatives, so it is with some mixed emotions that she returns to her home estate of Stariel to attend the funeral and watch a magic stone choose who will be the next lord. Predictably, for how else would there be a plot, the stone chooses her. OR DOES IT? The main word I can use to describe this book is “Delightful.” I liked all the characters and enjoyed myself throughout. The plot was, at times, predictable, but I don’t feel like that took away from the story. I did like the family dynamics stuff more than the fae stuff, and thought the worldbuilding could’ve been a bit deeper, but I still look forward to reading the sequels.
Hard Mode
Alas, no, I didn’t manage to finish in time to participate in the HEA bookclub threads. I did participate when we read it for bookclub on a Discord server, but I don’t think that counts.
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Book Club or Readalong Book
- Author uses initials
- Self-Published
- Family Matters (hard mode)
New To You Author
Bubbles in Space: Tropical Punch by S.C. Jensen
I initially picked up this book from a Facebook post, because the main character is a woman in her 30s and a recovering alcoholic which you don’t see a lot of in fiction so I was really interested to read the story. It is cyberpunk detective noir, which is not really my preferred genre of choice, but I still had a lot of fun reading this one. My favorite part was probably her talking pig robot companion — I want one of those of my own! The main character was realistic and flawed but still likable, and I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author moving forward.
Hard Mode
Yes, I didn’t know anything about the author before picking up the book
2022 Bingo Squares
- Set in space
- Anti-hero
- Cool Weapon
- Name in the Title
- Author Uses Initials
- Mental Health
- Self Published
Gothic Fantasy
I Come with Knives by S.A. Hunt
The gothic square was honestly the hardest for me to fill, because I’m not really clear on what the dividing line is between gothic and horror so I wasn’t sure what counted or not. However, some time ago I read the first book in this series, Burn the Dark, which fit solidly into the southern gothic genre, so I figured the second book would count as well. My favorite part of this book was by far the characters. The protagonist, Robin, is interesting and dynamic, but the side characters are in some ways even better, particularly Joel (pronounced Jo-EL), his brother Fisher, and Robin’s romantic interest Kenway. I really felt like I got to know the people of the creepy-yet-cozy Southern town where this story is set. I’m a little disappointed that the third book in the series takes place outside the town with a largely new cast of side characters, but I still look forward to reading more by this author.
Hard Mode
yes, it was not listed in the article about gothic fantasy
2022 Bingo Squares
- Anti-hero
- Cool weapon (hard mode)
- Author uses initials
- Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (hard mode)
- No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
- Family Matters
Backlist Book
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
I’ve been slowly working my way through the Vorkosigan Saga in chronological order. I read the first few years ago and ended up getting busy with other things, but this was the first one that was new to me so I didn’t have to use my re-read (which I use further down). Miles Vorkosigan is a delightful character with the ability to bullshit his way out of any situation, and I also really enjoy reading about his himbo cousin Ivan. However I’d say Cetaganda doesn’t particularly stand out among the Vorkosigan books by itself. The introduction to Cetagandan culture is pretty interesting but I’m ashamed to say I don’t remember much about the plot. Still, the Vorkosigan Saga is a great series that holds up remarkably well even though it is older.
Hard Mode
yes, it was written before 2000
2022 Bingo Squares
- Award finalist, but didn’t win (Locus awards 1997) (hard mode)
- No ifs, ands, or buts
- Family Matters
Revenge Seeking Character
The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
Hey, it’s even got Vengeance in the title! The Fires of Vengeance picks up right where the first book, the Rage of Dragons, leaves off, and sees our main character with quite a dilemma, as he is torn between continuing his quest for vengeance and focusing on the admittedly far more important things that are going on. Unfortunately I can’t go into too much detail without massive spoilers for the first book, but I like that this one went more into the personal cost of vengeance, and had stronger characterization than the first book. I hope to read more from this author.
Hard Mode
Yes, look, vengeance, it’s right there in the title
2022 Bingo Squares
- Anti-hero
- Cool weapon
- Revolutions and Rebellions
- Set in Africa (hard mode)
- Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (hard mode)
- BIPOC Author
- Shape-Shifters
- Family Matters
Mystery Plot
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
I had a lot of fun with this book. The plot is fast moving and the worldbuilding is delightful, but the characters are where the story really shines. I loved the working relationship between the heroine, Fatma, and her unwanted-but-helpful new police partner. I found aspects of the mystery plot to be fairly predictable — it was clear pretty early on to me, at least, who the main villain would be. But the rest of the book was entertaining enough I didn’t mind.
Hard Mode
No, it is set on Earth
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF (hard mode)
- Revolutions and rebellions
- Author uses initials (well, one initial, P)
- Set in Africa (hard mode)
- BIPOC Author
Comfort Read
Ascendant by Michael R. Miller
In the mood for a trope-tacular book to sit down with on a rainy afternoon with a nice mug of tea? Look no further. Ascendant doesn’t really bring a lot new to the table, and the tropes are more than a little predictable, but it’s still an enjoyable cozy read for when sometimes you’re just in the mood for an underdog story about a misfit boy and his outcast dragon. There are some things that make it stand out. The blight that they’re fighting is somewhat intriguing, and I’ve never read about a dragon working around being blind before, so that was cool to read about. I also read and enjoyed the second book in this series. Can’t wait until book 3!
Hard Mode
yes, it was a new comfort read for me
2022 Bingo Squares
- Cool weapon
- No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
- Family Matters
Published in 2021
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan
I really enjoyed this book, most of the way through. Zhu is an interesting and engaging main character throughout, and I appreciated that there was a female protagonist who is allowed to be openly ambitious. Unfortunately the ending really did ruin it for me, there are certain things I have a lot of trouble tolerating in fiction and something that happens near the end is, regrettably, one of them. However, that doesn’t make it a bad book by any means. A common complaint I’ve read is that this book kind of glosses over all the battle scenes, so if you’re after an action-heavy book you might be disappointed. However, I actually appreciated how it focuses more on the human drama before and after the fight, rather than getting bogged down in the blow-by-blow minutiae. I think people will inevitably draw comparisons between this book and the Poppy War — both are meant to be gender-bent retellings of the rise of famous historical Chinese leaders, both have resourceful and determined heroines who become increasingly more ruthless as the story goes on. I think it’s safe to say if you liked one you will like the other.
Hard Mode
yes, it was the author’s debut
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Anti-hero
- BIPOC Author
- Family matters
Cat Squasher (500+ Pages)
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Yes, I used the same book everyone probably used for this one. I really liked this one, a lot more than Oathbringer though possibly not as much as Words of Radiance. Navani’s POV chapters and backstory were really interesting. I liked getting to know her as a character more, and also I appreciate that with each book we learn more about the late king Gavilar, who was treated as unambiguously good in the first book, but becomes more morally gray the further we go on. I also really really liked a certain revelation we are given about Shallan’s backstory. The subplot of Kaladin inventing therapy was pretty neat, too. I didn’t think I was going to like Venli’s chapters, because I was never particularly interested in Eshonai in the earlier books, but she, too, came as a pleasant surprise.
Hard Mode
oh indeedy, this book could probably squash one of those Voltron Cat Robots
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird ecology
- Anti-Hero (Venli)
- Cool Weapon
- Non-Human Protagonist (Venli again)
- Mental Health
- Family Matters (hard mode)
SFF-Related Nonfiction
Plot Gardening by Chris Fox
This book is mostly general writing advice, but since Chris Fox is primarily an SFF guy and most of the examples in the book are SFF, I think it counts. This was a useful book for learning about story structure and how to develop a plot from nothing, which is admittedly something I have struggled with as a writer. I don’t agree with everything Chris Fox says; I think a lot of his advice is recipe for burnout and of course in an earlier book in his writing advice series he famously said that readers are only interested in male space captains which made me write a female space captain out of spite — you’ll get to see that book eventually. But overall I think his advice is helpful to the new indie author just starting out.
Hard Mode
yes, it was written in the last 5 years
2022 Bingo Squares
- Self-published
Latinx or Latin American Author
Cradle of Sea and Soil by Bernie Anés Paz
This book was a great surprise that I might not have come upon if not for book bingo. I think this one was probably popular this year because it was mentioned in the Bingo recommendation thread as qualifying for hard mode. I really enjoyed it a lot, especially the mother/son dynamic. I’m a big fan of coming of age fantasy, but I also like fantasy with mature women as protagonists, so it was exciting to find a book that has both. This book was fast-paced and all of the characters were engaging. I also appreciate that it is implied the mother is an alcoholic, but while this is not glamorized or treated as a good thing, it is also not a main plot point nor her entire personality. The mother being in a stable, healthy romantic relationship at the start of the story, which is not a cause of dramatic tension, was also a refreshing change. I will definitely read more from this author.
Hard Mode
yes, it has fewer than 1000 ratings on Goodreads
2022 Bingo Squares
- Cool weapon
- Non-human protagonist (half-human)
- Self published
- BIPOC Author
- Family Matters
Self Published
Bitter Sky by Tim Stretton
I read this book in one setting on March 31st because I really, really wanted something for hard mode. I initially read the Kindle preview for this some time ago when I’d picked some SPFBO books at random to try out. I was intrigued by the beginning but life got busy and I never got back to it until recently. This book follows two young men on opposite sides of an airship war and does a good job conveying the message that war totally sucks. The characters are really intriguing and well-realized, and I think it did a good job conveying that, while one side in the war was objectively worse, neither can be seen as wholly good. The pacing is tight overall and doesn’t belabor anything too much, which was nice, although I thought it could have used a bit more belaboring towards the end, which felt rushed. Still, this was a pretty good underrated story that I think deserves more attention.
Hard Mode
yes, it has fewer than 50 ratings on Goodreads
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Anti-hero
- Self-Published
- Family matters
Forest Setting
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
I liked Tasha Suri’s other duology quite a lot, so regrettably I think I expected to like this book a lot more than I actually did. There were many wonderful things about it, don’t get me wrong. The setting is vivid and engrossing, and the heroines are flawed but dynamic and engaging. But I think the pacing was just a little too slow for me, this book narrowly qualifies for the cat squasher square and I don’t think it really had to. In particular the beginning where the princess is drugged and imprisoned went on just a touch longer than I thought it really needed to. Still an enjoyable read, I look forward to seeing where, if anywhere, the romance goes in the sequel.
Hard Mode
alas nope, they leave the forest plenty
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird ecology
- Historical SFF
- Anti-hero
- Revolutions and Rebellions
- BIPOC Author
- Family Matters
Genre Mashup
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This was a really enjoyable novella that I read for a book club on Discord, and I’m glad I did. It is a fresh and interesting take on the Sword and Planet genre that was popular in decades past. I really liked that there are two main POV characters, one of whom absolutely believes that she is in a fantasy story, and one who absolutely believes he is in a sci-fi story, and due to linguistic and cultural differences, they both are correct. I often struggle with novellas, because while I often think big chonker books are too long, novellas often feel too short, and leave me wanting more. However, this book was exactly the length it needed to be.
Hard Mode
alas no, just sci-fi and fantasy, perhaps some cosmic horror mixed in but I’m not sure it counts
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird ecology
- Stand-alone
- Mental health
- No ifs, ands, or buts
Has Chapter Titles
The Bone Ships Wake by RJ Barker
RJ Barker is one of my favorite authors of all time and The Bone Ships Wake was no exception. Stunning conclusion to a stunning trilogy. I can’t really say much about this one specific book without getting too far into spoiler territory, but I highly recommend the trilogy to anyone who wants to find hope in a crapsack world, who wants to find people becoming better than they thought they were.
Hard Mode
yes, all the chapter titles are more than one word
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird ecology
- Author uses initials
- Mental health
Title: ____ of _____
God of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This book had fairytale vibes, with the young heroine forced to work as a servant for her cruel grandfather and cousin, dreaming of adventure and ending up with far more than she bargained for. I enjoyed the setting of 1920s Mexico, because for whatever reason I just don’t read a lot of books with a Jazz age setting so that made for a refreshing change. It seemed like it was building up to a specific romantic subplot but it did not go the way I thought, which was also refreshing, because I’ve found similar plot lines annoying in other books. Overall, though, I much more enjoyed the parts that were grounded in a sense of place than the fantastical elements.
Hard Mode
yes, it is blank of blank AND blank
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Stand-alone
- Award finalist
- BIPOC author
- Family matters, hard mode
First Contact
The Andalite Chronicles by K.A. Applegate
This was one of my favorite books from childhood and was therefore my one reread from this year’s bingo. It’s a really fun story with some cool moments — at one point, the alien protagonist saves the day driving a sports car — while also having a lot of serious things to say about the nature of war. It’s not a happy story despite having so many individual fun moments. The prose is a bit simplistic as is to be expected from a middle-grade book, and some things made my inner editor cringe (at one point “hiss” is used as a dialog tag when not only did the statement not have an s sound but also it was stated telepathically, so no hissing was done). Nevertheless it’s hard to review a childhood favorite, other than to say it holds up shockingly well for a book that’s approaching 30 years old.
Hard Mode
No, the aliens are already at war when they meet the humans, but humanity is dragged into the war as a result of the encounter
2022 Bingo Squares
- Weird Ecology (hard mode)
- Two or more authors
- Set in space (hard mode)
- Revolutions and Rebellions
- Author uses initials
- Non-human protagonist (hard mode)
- Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey
- Award finalist (hard mode)
- Shape-Shifters (hard mode)
Trans or Nonbinary Character
The Story of Silence by Alex Myers
I had a lot of fun reading this one. It’s a retelling of an old Arthurian poem wherein a king has declared that only men can inherit property, and even then only when they themselves have male heirs. When Silence’s father’s wife passes away, he stands to lose all of the land holdings he gained in the wedding, unless he can pass off his daughter Silence as a boy. As Silence grows up and yearns for identity of their own, they begin to question their own gender and what it means to be a boy, or a girl, or neither. This book has a cozy classical-fantasy-knights-and-princesses feel, and I almost used it for the comfort read instead of this square. It does have limitations in that the author was bound to try and follow the original poem as closely as possible, so it has some gross problematic tropes such as a false rape accusation. However, I think it was handled in a sensitive way and I really enjoyed following Silence as they come into themselves.
Hard Mode
yes, the nonbinary character is the main protagonist
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Stand-alone
- Name in the title
- Family matters
Debut Author
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
This debut got a lot of attention last year and I think is probably one a lot of people will have used for the debut square, and for good reason. The Unbroken is on the surface a story about star-crossed lovers who find themselves on the opposite sides of a conflict around colonialism. But it’s so much more than that. It’s also about absolute disaster human beings making terrible choices. Which is painful to read at times, but also deeply compelling. I’d say that both of the heroines are pretty unlikable in different ways, but I found myself rooting for them anyway. (Well, rooting for Touraine. We don’t talk about Luca.) I also thought it was interesting that the atheist culture uses atheism as a tool for oppression. So often in books it’s the religious organization that’s the big bad, so it was nice to see a setting where being religious doesn’t necessarily make you bad and being atheist doesn’t necessarily make you moral.
Hard Mode
Darn, I could’ve sworn it was, but I think I’m mistaken
2022 Bingo Squares
- Historical SFF
- Anti-hero
- Revolutions and Rebellions
- Author uses initials
- Set in Africa
- BIPOC Author
- Family Matters
Witches
This Coven Won’t Break by Isabel Sterling
The second book in the series, this one picks up right where the previous left off. Unfortunately like other sequels in these mini-reviews I can’t go into too much detail without spoilers. I found I didn’t quite like it as much as the first book, though there was still a lot to enjoy. I liked the continuation of the romance from the first book, and I liked that platonic relationships between friends were considered just as important as romantic relationships. The magic system was pretty cool as well. In general, witch stories tend to fall into two separate categories, ones where witches are born with their powers and ones where witchcraft is something anyone can learn. This story happens to have both, which I thought was refreshing.
Hard Mode
Yes, the main protagonist is a witch
2022 Bingo Squares
- Urban fantasy
- Family matters, hard mode