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So this is a slightly different kind of challenge as it's more of a group one, very informal, just one big thread, and you don't have to consistently participate.

Starting July 1st I will post one question per day in this thread to provoke each other to share what we've read, and hopefully we will all discover something new!

As we go, I will list (and link) all of the books with each question in this post so it's organized and you won't have to sift through the thread.

Example:

Day 1: Name a book that made you cry.

And so on and so forth. If have a question you think would be a good discussion provoking one, please PM me instead of posting it here and it'll be a fun surprise the day it's posted! Questions? Who's with me!?

Author you'd get drunk with
Old Man's War John Scalzi
Beyond Redemption Michael R Fletcher
The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie
Trainspotting Irvine Welsh
The Martian Andy Weir
The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson
Fablehaven Brandon Mull
The Aeronaut's Windlass Jim Butcher
The Eye of the World Robert Jordan

Favorite Villain
Tower Lord
Malice
The Dragonbone Chair
Assassin's Apprentice
Deadhouse Gates
A Game of Thrones
The Fellowship of the Ring
Return of the Crimson Guard
The Silence of the Lambs

Atypical Fantasy Settings
The Alloy of Law
The Invisible Library
Mage's Blood
Gardens of the Moon
A Shadow in Summer
The Painted Man
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai
The Gunslinger
The Waking Fire
Arena
Tinker
His Majesty's Dragon
City of Stairs
Promise of Blood
The Thousand Names
The Rithmatist

Hidden Gems
Lord of the Silver Bow
The Naming
Inda
Muddle Earth
Heir of Novron
The Screaming Staircase
The Cry of the Icemark
Wolfwalker
Hope and Red
An Ember in the Ashes
Winterbirth
Imajica
City of Thieves
Dragon Weather
The Heart of Myrial
The Thief's Gamble
The Better Part of Darkness
Scourge of the Betrayer
The Path of Anger

Animal Bonds
His Majesty's Dragon
Age of Myth
The Dragonbone Chair
Sabriel
Where the Waters Turn Black
The Princess and The Queen, or, The Blacks and The Greens
Eragon
The Dragon of Despair
Northern Lights
Assassin's Apprentice
Memories of Ice
Green Rider
Dhampir
The Dark Hills Divide
Fool's Errand
Malice
Joust
A Game of Thrones
Sea of Shadows

Awesome Worldbuilding
The Lies of Locke Lamora
The Way of Kings
The Dragonbone Chair
The Night Circus
The Eye of the World
The Dragon's Path
The Emperor's Blades
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones
Daughter of the Empire
The Cloud Roads
The Last Stormlord
Reap the Wild Wind
House Immortal
Gardens of the Moon

Sea Voyages
Ship of Destiny
Hope and Red
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Heir of Novron
Stonewielder
The Emerald Storm
Leviathan
Inda
Hawkwood and the Kings
His Majesty's Dragon
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Legion of Flame
Nimitz Class
Pearls of Lutra
The Demon Awakens
Sorcery Rising
The Dagger's Path
Half a King
A Conjuring of Light
Alias Hook
Abarat

Best Sidekicks
Daughter of Smoke & Bone
The Dragon's Path
The Alloy of Law
The Faerie Guardian
Traitor's Blade
Red Rising
The Republic of Thieves
The Crown Tower
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Fellowship of the Ring
Uprooted
Graceling
Alanna: The First Adventure
Stone of Tears

Book that made you cry
The Hobbit
The Return of the King
The Crippled God
The Neverending Story
The Lions of Al-Rassan
An Autumn War
The Hero of Ages
The Nightingale
Reaper's Gale
Dragons of Winter Night
Deadhouse Gates
Age of Swords
Crewel Lye
Fool's Fate

Epic Battle Scenes
A Clash of Kings
The Final Empire
The Way of Kings
The Return of the King
The Dragon Reborn
Furies of Calderon
Deadhouse Gates
Kushiel's Scion
Perdition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Two Towers
The Warded Man
The Thousand Names

Coming Releases You're Excited For
The Lost Metal
New Brent Weeks Lightbringer Novel #5
Deadhouse Landing
Oathbringer
Age of Swords
The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter
The Stone Sky
Iron Gold
The Infernal Battalion
The Grey Bastards
The Thorn of Emberlain
The Winds of Winter
The Skeleton Tree
The Olympian Affair
Untitled

Coolest title
The Shadow Rising
Lord Foul's Bane
Strange the Dreamer
River of Stars
Where the Waters Turn Black
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Gathering of Shadows
Promise of Blood
The Shadow of What Was Lost
An Echo Of Things To Come
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Shadows of Self
The Bands of Mourning
When We Were Animals
The Reapers are the Angels
The Mystical Serial Killer: Mr. Evil
When the Sea Is Rising Red
Dust of Dreams
The Crippled God
Words of Radiance
The Spider's War
The Thousand Names
Malice
Red Rising
The Hunger Games
Illuminae
The Blade Itself

Best young adult/middle grade
A Wrinkle in Time
Sabriel
Howl's Moving Castle
Red Rising
The Golden Compass
The Little Prince
An Ember in the Ashes
Fablehaven
The Naming
Six of Crows
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Artemis Fowl
Half a King
The Novice
The Screaming Staircase
Insignia
Angelfall
Graceling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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This is such a good idea! :D

What a great idea !
This is going to be fun !

Count me in !

Great, so is that the first question for July 1st, LOL?

Haven't decided yet!

Great idea Margret.

Sounds like a great idea! I am in as well.

Sounds good can't wait to see what you have

Wow this is a great idea Margret- love it!

Happy Canada Day! Since today is a celebratory day, here is the theme for our first question:

What author would you like to get drunk with? And please name a book from that author.

No rules, it doesn't NEED to be a fantasy author but preferably spec fiction. If you don't want to get drunk with anyone, it could just be a nice dinner, or a totally legally purchased marijuana cigarette ;)

I won't be popping in much today as I'll be out having fun with my family, but I hope we have lots of fun today with this one :)

My author would be John Scalzi, book Old Man's War

Neil Gaiman would be pretty cool too

Oh, and the author doesn't need to even be alive.

Since I don't drink I'll just say that the author got drunk and I was sitting with him with my Pepsi or something

I don't have a definite answer but I wouldn't mind having a drink Joe Abercrombie since he's British we would probably take the piss and have a couple of laughs and all that and not give a shit at who were offending plus I've seen him on the comic con panels and he's the type of guy to be cool on a lot of things (yeah were like that sometimes also I may or may not have shown my Yorkshire here)

I wanted to say Sanderson but I think he might be too geeky for my tastes (no offence given obviously)

And there's others like Tolkien who I wouldn't mind listening to his life story as well as thank him for what he's done and all that maybe not a conversation to have when drunk but I'm weird like that

Michael R. Fletcher author of Beyond Redemption because:

1. He's posted in our forum.

2. I could see hooking up with him when I make it back to Toronto.

3. Drinking with Steven Erikson might be fun but I have a feeling he'd go off on a tangent that would have me wanting to slit my wrists because of the sorrow.

4. If you've read his books wouldn't you want a sample of what he's been smoking? :)

Margret wrote: "My author would be John Scalzi, book Old Man's War

Neil Gaiman would be pretty cool too"

I've only read Agent to the Stars but hated it. I'll have to try something else by him.

Great answers! I actually thought of both of those authors too!

Scalzi is more of a "how do you even come up with this shit!?" I've only read Fuzzy Nation, but I figure someone who writes a book about Eewoks is pretty cool

Ahdam- book you'd like to list of Abercrombie?

Whoops forgot about that part haha but I enjoyed the blade itself a lot and to be honest I felt better about the grimdark genre as it's not all doom and gloom as I thought and the lovable bastards (except my man Glokta of course)

Actually since I've read his books my first question would be "Do you have a thing for people with disabilities or something??" If you've read half a king and first law you know what I mean

I love that about him, as someone who has permanent injuries from a car accident I appreciate how he describes the constant nagging of pain! Especially Glotka

This is a really great idea Margret!

A tricky question, because even if I read a few books from an author I don't have the feeling to know him/her. I think I will go with someone whose book made me laugh. Because I rather enjoy sharing a funny story while savor my drink :)
So I choose Andy Weir, author of The Martian. I like his humor and he seems to be a very clever guy, so it won't get boring.

I don't drink, but I would love to spend some time with Brandon Sanderson. Brandon Mull would be a lot of fun too. They did a panel at Yallfest together and it was great. Pretty sure hanging out with those two would be a blast. My favorite Sanderson book is The Way of Kings, but all of them are great. I've only read Fablehaven by Mull (I really need to finish that series).

I will go non fantasy here and choose the author of Trainspotting -Irvine Welsh. I am sure you would have a good night out and here some interesting stories.

Since I don't drink and I think dinner would be kind of boring I think I would try LARPing with Jim Butcher since he's big into that. I like all of his books but right now I guess The Aeronaut's Windlass is my favorite.

All of these answers are just so awesome! And I don't really drink either, so I think all of the responses have kept the spirit of the question going. I especially love the idea of LARPing, how cool would that be?

Yeah Kieron I bet that he would really go down the rabbit hole.. same with Michael Fletcher too, I really liked when he did our Q&A, he was tons of fun

Larping isn't my thing but brainstorming some new ideas for books with them would be really cool as well.

Yeah I like fantasy and I do like looking at history sometimes but LARPing isn't really my thing although I had friend who cosplays and goes comic con (she did a pretty good daenerys costume) or is that different 😂😂😂

Ahdam wrote: "Yeah I like fantasy and I do like looking at history sometimes but LARPing isn't really my thing although I had friend who cosplays and goes comic con (she did a pretty good daenerys costume) or is..."

Ya sign me up for a Khal Drogo costume and I'll be "Larping" for all I' worth. :)

Since I am about to finish Wheel of Time I would love to grab a drink with Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson and talk about the series and all the things I missed.

Day 1 was so awesome, I loved all of the responses and thank you everyone for participating!

I'll begin adding the books we picked to the first post shortly.

In the meantime.....

Who is your most favorite villain and why? Please list the book they shined the most in

Could it be Randall Flagg? Could it be Pennywise? Could it be Sauron? Perhaps Graendal or the Dark One?

I will pick "Woman" from Tower Lord. Yes, I was the one person who thought that Tower Lord totally blew Blood Song out of the water, and it was mostly because of Woman. If Dr. evil has someone to aspire to, it would be her.

Hmm I haven't read the entire series but I would have to go for Nathair from Malice as he was truly a smart and mischievous person who will do anything to get what he wants and I think the best part is that he doesn't know that he's the opposite of what he think he is and how he is just a pawn for a bigger scheme can't wait to see how it goes in future books after that ending

I guess I'd better bump Malice up on my list.

Actually thinking about it I think I enjoy the villains who are more like the puppetmasters in the story who pull the strings such as Asroth in Malice or the storm king in The Dragonbone Chair who uses there evil powers to influence people for there own end which is cliché but still

Also oops I hope I wasn't too spoilery for some reason I feel I keep doing that more hahahaha

First I had to think of Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter because I can remember how much I hated her as I read the books when I was young. But I think I will go with Prince Regal from The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb I've seldom hated a character as much as I despised him. I wanted him to die so badly for everything he did. In general I think Robin Hobb is a master in creating characters, so Regal isn't the only one of her villains I love to hate :)

Margret wrote: "I guess I'd better bump Malice up on my list."

NO NOT do the audiobook. Awful narration.

Margret wrote: "I will pick "Woman" from Tower Lord. Yes, I was the one person who thought that Tower Lord totally blew Blood Song out of the water, and it was mostly because of Woman. If Dr. evil ..."

She was a great villain.

The one that had me spitting nails for forever is Mallick Rel even more so than Kallor. His treachery in Deadhouse Gates left me seething for months.

Scott- Duiker. Fuck man. My heart got utterly stomped on

Anne- totally agree, what a complete..... grrr. And same with Kennett from Liveships

Margret wrote: "Scott- Duiker. Fuck man. My heart got utterly stomped on"

The entire Aren Way.

First of all, I'd have a beer with Robin Hobb. I find her so interesting! I think we'd have great conversation if I could calm down and stop fangirling long enough to speak lol

I can't think of a favorite villain, but I will say I always love the ones who aren't evil for evil's sake - the ones where you can totally see why they're committed to their cause and kind of empathize with them a bit.

That said, the villain I was most angry at/hated the most (which is different than favoring imo) is probably Umbridge - book 5. :)

I was about to mention Umbridge as well, as I have never hated a character so much in my life. :)

But another one on my list is Lord Walder Frey in A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's one of the few bad guys you cannot even try to sympathise with.

I'm late was tied up yesterday.

Tad Williams - all his series
Neat Stephenson - System of the World and Seven Eves
Anthony Ryan - Raven Shadow series,
Brian Ruckley - The Godless World series, why aren't you writing as much these days the series was awesome.
Lastly Steve Erikson - you've got to help me out her, bring Ian Esselmont for help!

I better stop.

Sauron of course is number one.
Voldemort
King Joffrey - GOT
Cersai Lannister
Rat - The way of the Shadows

Mallick Rel probably tops my list especially after finishing Return of the Crimson Guard.

I really like villains that you don't know are the bad guys until the end. Don't want to list them as they are major spoilers but First Law and Wheel of Time have people who fit that role well.

For anyone not listing a book.. should I just list the first book of the series? I do so love the discussion but please also list the book in which the villain is the star of the show :)

Margret wrote: "For anyone not listing a book.. should I just list the first book of the series? I do so love the discussion but please also list the book in which the villain is the star of the show :)"

Rules Rules Rules. Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson for Mallick Rel.

No soup for you!

Hannibal Lecter - The Silence of the Lambs