Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Unusual Transportation: Story includes a surprising method of moving from place to place. By “unusual” we mean that it is out of the ordinary in real life AND uncommon to the book’s broader genre. This can include a highly unique take on a genre staple (spaceships with FTL wouldn’t normally count but the Infinite Improbability Drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would) or be a completely original mode of transit (autoducks in The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy). HARD MODE: Transportation is NOT combustion-powered or steam-powered. If the power source is not stated, use your best judgment. A story likely won’t specify that cars are combustion-powered and horses aren’t, but a reasonable person would assume those things to be true if they’re not stated. Likewise, in a steampunk setting, the chances are good that the transport is steam-powered.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: 

• Published in the 70s
• Duologies
• First Contact
• Middle Grade
• Game Changer
• Murder Mystery
• Translated
• Trans/Nonbinary Protagonist
• The Afterlife
• Author of Color
• Five Short Stories (2024)
• Self-Pub/Small Press (2024)
• Note that hard mode for Self-Pub/Small Press has changed (a new focus thread is coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Author of Color: Story written by a person of color. HARD MODE: Author does NOT live in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: 

• Published in the 70s
• Duologies
• First Contact
• Middle Grade
• Game Changer
• Murder Mystery
• Translated
• Trans/Nonbinary Protagonist
• The Afterlife
• Five Short Stories (2024)
• Self-Pub/Small Press (2024)
• Note that hard mode for Self-Pub/Small Press has changed (a new focus thread is coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

The Afterlife: Story deals with the realm of the dead. This could be communicating with the dead, spirits transferring over, or being set in the afterlife itself. HARD MODE: The afterlife does NOT depict a “Good Place” vs “Bad Place” dichotomy.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: 

• Published in the 70s
• Duologies
• First Contact
• Middle Grade
• Game Changer
• Murder Mystery
• Translated
• Trans/Nonbinary Protagonist
• Five Short Stories (2024)
• Author of Color (2024)
• Self-Pub/Small Press (2024)
• Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are the most interesting depictions of the afterlife you've read, whether or not you otherwise loved the book?
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Welcome back to the 2026 Hugo Readalong! Today, we're discussing all the finalists for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

If you have read even one of the works by a nominated author and want to jump in to share your thoughts, please do! I'll include some prompts in top-level comments - feel free to respond to these or add your own. Unlike in threads devoted to just one or two works, it is unlikely that many participants have read all the works by all the finalists, so please hide any major spoilers.

The Astounding Award recognizes new writers in the first two years of their careers. This year's nominees are:

• Sophie Burnham (2nd year of eligibility)
• Kamilah Cole (2nd year of eligibility)
• Antonia Hodgson (1st year of eligibility)
• Molly O’Neill (1st year of eligibility)
• H.H. Pak (2nd year of eligibility)
• Jared Pechaček (2nd year of eligibility)

For more information on the Readalong, check out our full schedule post, or see the remainder of this year's schedule here:

The votes are in for our September read, which will count for the Published in the 70s bingo square (HM).

What is the FIF Bookclub? You can read about it in our Reboot thread here.

Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre

>The Hugo and Nebula Award–winning novel from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Moon and the Sun.

>On an Earth scarred by nuclear war, Snake harnesses the power of venom to cure illnesses and vaccinate against disease. The healer can even ease patients into death with the power of her dreamsnake. But she is not respected and trusted by all, and when she tries to help a sick nomad child, the frightened clan kills her dreamsnake.

>Ashamed of being misjudged and grieving the loss of her dreamsnake, Snake has one choice to maintain her livelihood: she must travel to the city, which jealously guards its knowledge. And before she faces the prejudices and arrogance of the people there, Snake must make her way across a barren desert, surviving storms and radiation poisoning, helping those she can—all while a madman stalks her every move . . .

Bingo squares: Published in the 70s (HM), Book Club (HM if you join us!), Explorer and Rangers (HM), possibly others?

Voting results:

For this one we used approval voting, meaning participants could vote for multiple books - and many did! You can see the results below.

Dreamsnake: 18 votes; Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 17; Song of Solomon and Biting the Sun, tied at 15; Gate of Ivrel, 14

Fourteen of you voted for only one book (interestingly only one single-book voter chose the winner, the favorite was Forgotten Beasts of Eld with 5 dedicated voters), 11 chose two books, 13 chose three books and 1 chose 4 books (everything but Song of Solomon).

Midway discussion will be Wednesday, September 16, and the final discussion on Wednesday, September 30. See you in September!

What's next?

• Our July read is The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee. Join us for the midway discussion TOMORROW and the final on the 29th.
• Our August read is Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei.

What I loved about None of This is True as an airplane read and am hoping to find in another book:

• Plot-driven and compelling, but in more of a psychological way than cheap action (maybe a little fast-paced to count as an actual psychological thriller, but that kind of vibe)
• Well-written with strong character development, and smart enough to leave the reader thinking, rather than resorting to random action scenes just to move the plot forward
• Prominently features multiple female leads, AND the basis of the plot is not a woman being fridged. I don't want mystery/thrillers where the premise begins with "a girl/woman has been killed/raped/disappeared." Yes, I know this eliminates like 90% of mystery/thrillers that are not war novels (which are probably eliminated by the female focus preference) and that is why I am asking for recs on Reddit rather than just browsing at the bookstore.
• No jump scares, not creepy in a way that makes you leave the light on at night afterwards. I am pretty sensitive to this and liked in None of This is True that all the potential culprits are already known characters (no random crime/break-in component)
• Absolutely no torture porn

So, please give me your best recs for high-quality, female-focused, non-exploitative thrillers!

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist: Story features a trans or nonbinary protagonist. This protagonist must NOT be an alien or robot. HARD MODE: Set in a pre-modern time period.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Game Changer, Murder Mystery, Translated, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are some good older books (using whatever definition of "older" you like!) that would fit this square?
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Welcome to the September FIF Book Club nomination thread! Our theme for the month is Published in the 70s. We're looking for female authors only to meet Hard Mode for bingo! We need to look beyond Butler and Le Guin on this one since the club recently read books by both authors. The club has a preference for books with female protagonists/feminist themes.

Nominations:

• Leave one book suggestion per top comment. Please include title, author, and a blurb or brief description. You can nominate as many books as you like: just put them in separate comments.
• Please note bingo squares if you know them.
• We try not to repeat authors this club has recently read, or books recently read by any club on the sub, but I'll check that and manually disqualify any overlap. You can also check our Goodreads shelf here.

What is the FIF Bookclub? You can read about it in our Reboot thread here.

What's next?

• Our July read is The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee. Join us for the midway discussion Wednesday the 15th, and the final on the 29th.
• Our August read is Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei.

I will leave this thread up for 2 days, then post a poll on Friday with the top choices. Have fun!

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Translated: Story has been translated from a language you don’t read or speak. HARD MODE: First translated into your language within the last 5 years.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Game Changer, Murder Mystery, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books written in languages other than English? Please note the language they are written in.
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Murder Mystery: Main plot of the story focuses on solving a murder. HARD MODE: The main character is NOT a detective or private investigator.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Game Changer, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Game Changer: Story features a game or competition. HARD MODE: The protagonist bends or breaks the rules in some way.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode? (Alternately, as this is a pretty easy Hard Mode, what are some books that don't fit?)

Lately I've been thinking about my dissatisfaction with the way most female friendships in sci-fi and fantasy are written, when they are written at all, and it intersects with one of my complaints about the way close relationships in SFF are often written generally. Characters will risk their lives for each other without a second thought, yet often have no emotional intimacy or any real depth to their bond. They're taking enormous risks or making massive sacrifices for someone who comes across like a friendly acquaintance at best.

This is hard for me to relate to because to me giving my life for someone else would be a huge f'ing deal! It would require an extraordinary amount of love (as well as a lot of courage which ofc comes far more easily to fantasy protagonists than ordinary mortals). Meanwhile, having personal conversations, offering and seeking emotional support, spending one-on-one time together, and feeling emotionally connected is the essence of close friendship to me. If this isn't going on, it's more of a casual friendship/acquaintanceship/professional relationship.

And I notice that a lot of female friendships in SFF seem to fall more into that "battle buddy" mode that represents the stereotypical male friendship (not to say that this is the norm for real men, but a common media representation). They would do anything for their friend.... except talk about feelings with them, or admit to having feelings for them (even non-romantically).

This does not carry over to other types of fiction, and I especially noticed when I looked over my list of female friendship books for stuff to recommend for the challenge, and realized I've read lots of good ones but few are SFF.

Thoughts? Anybody else notice this?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Middle Grade: Read a middle grade book (intended for readers aged 8-12). See this Wikipedia page for additional information on Middle Grade fiction. HARD MODE: The author is entirely new to you.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• For those attempting Hard Mode, what are some great middle grade books by lesser-known authors, and/or that are recently published?
• Those who have or teach children in this age group: what are some current favorites among middle grade readers? How well do they hold up for adults?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

First Contact: Story prominently features interspecies or interracial meeting for the first time. HARD MODE: Non-violent first contact.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are some first contact stories outside of the usual spacefaring sci-fi mode?
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode (keeping it as spoiler-free as possible)?

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Duology Part 1: Read the first book in a duology. HARD MODE: By an author you haven’t read before.

Duology Part 2: Read the second book in a duology. For this square, you ARE allowed to read the same author you used for Duology Part 1 without violating the no-repeat author rule. HARD MODE: Finish a different duology than you started for the Duology Part 1 square.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite speculative fiction duologies?
• Already read something for this square (or, read something recently that you wish you could count)? Tell us about it!
• For those planning for Hard Mode, what are some duologies where one or both books works as a standalone?