| ||
Random quote: "By day the banished sun circles the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp." - Cormac McCarthy (The Road) - (Added by: Emil) |
2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
General Discussion -> Roll-Your-Own Reading Challenge | Message format |
bazhsw |
| ||
Regular Posts: 94 | Hello everyone, this is a little thread for anyone to post any thoughts, or discussion for anyone taking part in the 2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge. It's my first 'Roll-Your-Own' challenge on here although I've been taking part in other people's challenges on and off for a long time. So why grimdark? Like many people I made a connection to the genre when reading the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series. There is something about a novel which has a lot of complex relationships in it, where the world is unforgiving and where characters are faced with difficult moral choices. In 'real life' I like to think of myself as a hopeful person, who sees the best in people and is trusting of others. So it is interesting to me that I have an affection for the morally bankrupt, the villain, the anti-hero in fiction. I can somewhat trace my interest in the genre without really knowing it to playing role playing games in my teens (which I have still kept up). I never bought in to high-powered magic and over-powered heroic heroes with giant swords. I was more into 'Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay' (1st edition!) and beggars and thieves and rat catchers being unlikely heroes in the mud, almost against their will. The sense of humour, the type of games I played and how I envisioned the worlds I played in was 'grimdark' before I knew the word. So onto the books. I find myself a bit of a reading butterfly. I jump from theme to genre almost book by book. I also have a bad habit of reading 'book one' in a series before reading something else, and even if I like the book, rarely getting around to book two. That's a problem with a world with so many books in it. So for this challenge I am at least going to try and read one more book in series I have started. I'm also going to make sure I read at least a couple of new-to-me authors. Whilst most of the books I have my eye on are well known and regarded I am going to try and identify at least one book independently / self-published and also something published recently. I'm starting with Joe Abercrombie's 'Before They Are Hanged' which is the second book in 'The First Law' series. I read Book 1 'The Blade Itself' in the autumn of last year and really enjoyed the characterisation and world building but had some frustrations with the book. Also, should anyone taking part want any recommendations, or lists for potential recommendations I've got quite a few lists saved should anyone be interested. And a final comment, in my mind reading books we enjoy is the most important thing, so I don't think we need to be to firm on a definition of 'grimdark'. In any case I'm not qualified to adjudicate on that anymore than the next person so if you feel it fits go for it. | ||
Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] |
Search this forum Printer friendly version E-mail a link to this thread |
Books
BOOK AWARDS
Hugo Award
Nebula Award
BSFA Award
Mythopoeic Award
Locus SF Award
Locus Fantasy Award
Locus FN Award
Locus YA Award
Locus Horror Award
August Derleth Award
Robert Holdstock Award
Campbell Award
World Fantasy Award
Prometheus Award
Aurora Award
PKD Award
Clarke Award
Stoker Award
Otherwise Award
Aurealis SF Award
Aurealis Fantasy Award
Aurealis Horror Award
Andre Norton Award
Shirley Jackson Award
Red Tentacle Award
Golden Tentacle Award
Legend Award
Morningstar Award
Nommo Award
BOOK LISTS
Classics of SF
SF Mistressworks
Guardian: The Best SF/F
NPR: Top 100 SF/F
Pringle Best 100 SF
Pringle Modern Fantasy
SF: 101 Best 1985-2010
Fantasy 100
ISFDB Top 100
Horror 100
Nightmare Magazine 100
HWA Reading List
Locus Best SF
200 Significant SF Books by Women
David Brin's YA List
Baen Military SF List
Defining SF Books:
50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 90s
SF by Women Writers
A Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction
Authors
Top Authors
All Authors
All Women Authors
Author Videos
AUTHOR AWARDS
Damon Knight Memorial
World Horror Convention
WFA Life Achievement
Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery
AUTHOR LISTS
Starmont Reader's Guide
Publishers
Top Publishers
All Publishers
PUBLISHER LISTS
Ace Doubles Series:
D | F | G | H | M | #
Conversation Pieces
Classic Library of SF
Critical Explorations in SF&F
EP Masterpieces of SF
Fantasy Masterworks
SF Masterworks
Laser Books
Liverpool SF Texts and Studies
Author's Choice Monthly
Pulphouse Short Stories
Winston SF
Resources
Podcasts
BookTubers
Magazines
Conventions
eBooks
Bookstores
SF/F/H Sub-Genres
Websites
Clubs & Groups
WWEnd
BookTrackr™
The Responsible Parties
WWEnd Patrons
Support WWEnd
Advertise on WWEnd
FAQ
Contact Us
My World
Sign Up now and enjoy the enhanced features only available to members.
Blog
Guest Post: Playing with Time: A Bundle of Books for Christmas Time
2023 Kitschies Awards Shortlists
2024 British Fantasy Awards Winners
2024 British Fantasy Awards Shortlists Announced
2023 Nommo Awards Winners
Forums
Home | © 2025 Tres Barbas, LLC. All rights reserved.
(Delete all cookies set by this site) | |