 Now we don't talk about that. That's like, you can laugh at the name. It's fine. So I obviously recommend it. I've talked about it a lot. And trick myself into thinking that it's winter. It's winter, which where I live means that it's not actually cold outside, but is the season for closing all the windows and lighting all the candles and wrapping up cozy and trying to melt and disappear into a fictional world that is actually wintry and trick myself into thinking that it's winter. So if you can hear noise outside, I very much apologize for that. Of course, I didn't know when I sat down to film the day that that would be the exact time that nearby they would decide to do all of the landscaping. And I really need to film this right now, so sorry. Anyway, so today we're going to be going through a 10 series that I think are excellent for binging in wintertime because they are wintry and also because I think binging series is something that it's like winter is a good time for that because either you're tricking yourself into the games winter, like me, or it is actually winter and going outside is more difficult. And so you just bundle up and stay inside. And so binging a series when you have nowhere to go and you don't want to go anywhere, you know, it's ideal time for that 10 series that I think are great options for binging in winter. First up, I have the what is the series called the first book is called the wretched of mirror wood as you can see right here by Jeff Wheeler. I think it's just called the wretched the mirror wood series legends of legends of mirror wood book one there we go. This is for sure when I read it was self published. I'm not sure if he's been picked up by traditional publishers. Anyway, I binge read this series. And then my dad binge read it. It's a really addicting writing style that Jeff Wheeler has and I've been meaning to read more from him ever since. So the legends of mirror wood or at least this first trilogy because there's other books that take place in the mirror wood world. I haven't read them. But so the wretched of mirror wood follows our main character who is an orphan. She is a wretched living in this like cozy abbey. And so she's like working in the kitchens and she's learning how to fight. And there are these massive orchards because this abbey is famous for its apples and apple orchards and apple based things and cider. And there's like a magical mysterious chosen one type quest and mystery that spans these three books. So it's the wretched of mirror wood, the blight of mirror wood and the scourge of mirror wood. And it's just like the coziest. And also it just like, again, I binge read it on accident just because I was I couldn't stop reading them. There's something very bingeable about them. And it's just the coziest most wintry most it's kind of like if you've read Redwall, and it's not really like Redwall the story, but that same vibe of like being in an abbey where everybody is like being industrious and there's like lots of baked goods and that. So I think it's a perfect series to binge in winter. Next up I have a series that like literally you could not make a video like this and not include the series. That is the winter night trilogy by Catherine Arden. I mean it's called the winter night trilogy. So like I don't, do I even need to explain this? I have talked about the series quite a bit. I am very excited about these new special editions that I have that finally came in. But in any case, this is an adult fantasy speculative series that is sort of like historical Russia, but with a lot of like Russian folkloric things coming to life and actually being players in the story. It's not retelling any particular Russian folk story, folk tale or myth, but they are all being sort of like woven into this like historical Russian epic story. So the first book mainly takes place in very rural Russia, where our main character is born and grows up and then is confronted with the sort of like Christianization of Russia, because a member of the church is sent to this rural town to kind of like make them shape up and be less pagan. And then the series goes on, continues to follow that same main character. And then we go to Moscow and to other parts of Russia. And it is, it is beautiful, it is lush, it is evocative, the prose chef's kiss. It is just absolutely like mesmeric and beautiful, and you just sort of get lost in this wintry Russian world. Like you can't help but not completely sink into the pages and get lost in this world. So if you want to feel lost in a magical Russia for three books straight, and it gets swept away in this epic adventure, this is a great one to binge in winter. Next up I have one that you may not have expected to see on this list, but I maintain it belongs on the list. And that is the daughter of smoke and bone series by Leni Taylor in particular the first book. So basically I think the first book is very perfect is perfect for winter time. And then the subsequent books aren't necessarily so perfect for winter, but you're going to want to binge the series. So like winter is just a good time to binge. So the first book is properly wintry. And then after that you're just going to be in for the ride. So daughter of smoke and bone is this is the problem with Leni Taylor is that her series both this and Stranger the Dreamer. The thing that the story is about is something that you do not know when you start out the book and you cannot know when you start out the book like it's kind of a big reveal. But then it's only after that big reveal that like all of the action of the story takes place. So you cannot tell people what Stranger the Dreamer is about or what daughter of smoke and bone is about. But being as as vague while still giving you an idea. So our main character Karu is an art student in Prague. And so at least in the very beginning I don't that is clear why that's wintry because it's taking place in like fall or winter and following sort of her life. And there's a lot of sort of cozy places that they go to eat. They eat a lot of goulash and there's just a very sort of wintry or urban wintry vibe in the beginning of the book when she is an art student in Prague. And then a Leni Taylor-ish thing happens and then the rest of the series happens. I just... yeah. Suffice to say it is an intensely magical adventure that is bizarre. And I cannot say more than that I don't think. What is... okay well the back of the book literally just says once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. So that's what it's about. But um I guess I can I guess I can tell you. Okay so she's like her roommate so to speak the people she lives with are not human. And so she's very much aware that there is like magical stuff possible that she lives around it all the time. And so she's like as an art student she like draws the magical things that she lives with and people just assume that she's got a great imagination but she's literally just drawing the people that she lives with. And so she has some idea about like the magics they're capable of but she's very much kept in the in the dark about the extent of like what they can do and where they came from. So yeah that's okay that's better right? And then then after that a leany tailor-ish thing happens and then the rest of the series goes from there. It is an intense series like I feel like emotionally like it was a an experience reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And I think I mean I read it I what it was happened to be extremely well for LA extremely cold and I was you know by myself home alone wrapped up in blankets and like just cozied up chewing my way through this book while I was like low-key freezing and it was it was amazing as an experience. So I would like you to also experience that. So send everyone away get a blanket if it's not cold turn the AC up and read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Next up I have The Chronicles of Predame by Lloyd Alexander. I have yet to read the fifth book that's my TBR in December as of the filming of this video I have not read that yet. But so The Chronicles of Predane are a I guess middle grade series I mean I feel like this kind of a little bit predates those distinctions in publishing. It's not like intense it's not like super duper old. I read a lot about Alexander when I was a kid. But anyway so The Chronicles of Predame this is the series that inspired the Disney movie The Black Cauldron and the second book in this series is called The Black Cauldron. But the movie is sort of an amalgam of several of the books. There are five books in all. They're all more or less this length. The last two are a little bit longer. So you can very easily be like cheer your way through this. Honestly if you're a fast reader and you're motivated you could probably read the entire series in one day. I might be pushing it and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. But like it's very doable. It is a magical whimsical fantasy fantastic fairy tale like adventure that is heavily inspired by Welsh folklore Welsh names Welsh plans. There's like an author's note to it but I think in all the books about how a lot of this is stolen from like Welsh stuff. And I think if memory serves that the map of the world is also like largely based on Wales like geographically speaking. Let's just look at the author's note. So this Chronicle of the Land of Predame is not a retelling or retranslation of Welsh mythology. Predame is not Wales not entirely at least. The inspiration for it comes from that magnificent land and its legends but essentially Predame is a country existing only in the imagination. So yeah it's it's extremely Welsh but it is fantasy. So the names again of both the places and of the characters of the folklore things are like Welsh-ish in the way that you know grisha stuff is always very russian-ish and so on and so forth. Anyway I highly recommend if you want a very sort of like quite cozy traditional fantasy adventure where there is questing and there are magical objects that must be sought and must be used to defeat dark powers, animal companions, like wise people that show up to give advice, often with a mysterious background and that kind of thing. So that I feel like winter is the perfect time to be reading something like that like I and I picture cozying up and reading something in winter. It's usually something quite traditional like that where it's a it's a the most quintessentially fantasy story where you want to be cozyed up by a fire with some cider and reading about this. So highly recommend. In that vein my next recommendation is The Farsier Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I mean I just recommend Robin Hobb and The Farsier Trilogy just in general but I do think that The Farsier Trilogy much in the way that Mirrorwood and the Chronicles of Predame it has this kind of like very traditional kind of fantasy vibe where especially the first book it takes place largely in Buckkeep which is this sort of, I mean it is a keep so you know it's a stone building filled with people industriously working. There are many scenes that take place in kitchens, in stables. The young main character if you don't know anything about this the entire trilogy follows one main character, Fitzschilverie Farsier. You can laugh at the name it's fine. He just goes by Fitz and he is a bastard of the heir to the throne who is now dead. He is you know a royal bastard basically so there's no one really claiming him there's nobody really like he doesn't really have a family unit but sort of it takes a village. So he's living in the in the keep he's learning how to work in the stables but he's also now beginning to learn the trait of being an assassin which this is not your never night style throne of glass style assassinating. He is a young boy who is learning how to tell different poisons apart or what is the best method to use for this that and the other uh how to figure out if somebody is lying like he's it's very much like um a school setting type of thing even though it's just him and the older the older assassin that he is now apprenticing. There's also him just learning about other magics in the world magics that he may or may not have access to. There's a lot of animals there's a lot of heartbreak it is kind of rough to read but the the vibe of buck keep is very cozy and then in the subsequent books you also travel into other parts of the world of these books and there are some very extremely cold and wintry places that they visit um and then I mean they continue to be in buck keep for some of it so it's just a very cozy traditional fantasy vibe. It's definitely a world that you kind of like get lost in and you get lost in the story of fits and get your emotions invested in your heart broken but I think it would be a great one to just cozy up and just power through in winter. Next up I have His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman um in particular the first book again but the entire series to a greater or lesser degree takes place. If you don't know anything about His Dark Materials it is an alternate universe parallel universe which is extremely similar to our own but it differs in that people's souls I guess sort of manifest themselves as these animal companions called demons and so the in the first book Lyra is sort of growing up in Oxford and roaming around and having adventures with her animal companion and then there is there's a lot of mystery surrounding this artifact called the Golden Compass and Lyra where she came from and why she might be special and her guardian he seems mysterious and he might be special and so you sort of go on this adventure with Lyra and her animal companion and them figuring this out I don't know how else to describe it there's you know a lot of sinister adults being sinister and you know it's it's a I guess middle grader YA series Lyra is quite young in the first book and the UK um title for this book is the Northern Lights not the Golden Compass so I feel like that title alone is like that's a winter right you know being in the north seeing the northern lights like the rural borealis is like peak winter vibes and it's just like a fun adventure that I think is great to power through in winter I will say that the first book in the series is my favorite and I ended up feeling a little more lukewarm about the conclusion of the series but I love the first book absolutely but to very least I recommend reading the Golden Compass and then I think you're gonna want to read the next two I certainly did and then even though I ended up being slightly disappointed by the second and third books I was immediately excited to jump into them after finishing the Golden Compass next up I have the Golden Wolf saga by Linnea Hartziker this is peak viking vibes I will caution you that this is much more in the vein of like very more dry historical fiction this isn't like a tutor style outlander style epic drama type thing this in essence this trilogy is a retelling of the saga of king harold and it is a quite I don't say faithful retelling because I mean that it's just literally like transliteration of the saga but I mean it is she is very thoroughly both retold the saga and also taken into consideration what is actually you know going on in this time and place in history what that would have looked like felt like how people would have dressed what the culture would have been like what politics would have been like and I think she's woven a beautiful portrait of what that time and place would have been like what Norse peoples were like back then not just you know the slashing and raiding vikings because not everybody was a viking so I mean that's really part of it there is violence and adventure and war to be had both you know vikings you know Norse peoples fighting each other for power and land and also raiding elsewhere discovering new territories so it's quite expansive and well done and I really did find myself attached to the characters but again it's more it's a little more dry so if that's going to bother you then maybe don't pick it up but if that sounds great to you I cannot recommend this highly enough if you really want to sort of like get lost in the Norse world of of olden days I absolutely love it so recommend next up I have under the northern sky by Leo caru the third book is not out yet it's coming out in 2022 in summer I believe so now's a great time to catch up on the first book the wolf and the second book the spider so you can read the cuckoo when it comes out I mean in my perfect world I would just be into the whole series in winter but in future winters you can do that so the wolf and this series under the northern sky is an alternate history fantasy where Leo caru has explored what the world would have been like if more than one humanoid species had survived the ice age to form language and culture so we follow both human characters who are the southerners as well as the northern characters which are neanderthals and they are called the anachem and they are very warlike people there is something a little bit kind of Norse and viking about them they extremely differ from vikings in that they do not like to leave their land they do not want to explore and expand and go raiding but in other ways I mean the sort of their lifestyle their culture the way they live what they eat their names there's a very Norse vibe to them and it is just a fascinating incredible project I feel like Leo caru has done an amazing job of actually exploring this possibility and what that would look like and how that would work and the sort of natural conclusions that you would go to if this was possible based on what we know about neanderthal biology obviously we can't be certain but we do know the sort of best gases of how that could further develop down the line if given the evolutionary opportunity so I mean it is an epic story filled with battle and politics and intrigue backstabbing in interesting maneuvering both on the battlefield and at home and it's fun to get to see the sort of both sides of the chessboard the human sort of characters who are battling with the anachem as well as the main character roper who is the black lord of the anachem and this is one of my all-time favorite books of all time ever I've read this five times probably we'll read it again before the cuckoo comes out so I obviously recommend it I've talked about it a lot so if you've heard me talk about this you might have already skipped ahead because you're like yeah yeah we know so anyway I do think it's a great one for winter because of the very cold norse vibes where the anachem live and how they live next up I have the song of ice and fire by georgia or martin I mean this series never makes my list because I just like never think of it as like actually like a book series it's an option it's just kind of like its own it's like too big a deal I don't know if that makes sense but it's like no we don't talk about that that's like it's like a big big thing of itself it's like more than just a book series but I haven't been reading the song of ice and fire with jimmy and alex as you probably know we're hosting a read-along and I just have to say that it is such a perfect winter time read and when I first read the books it was largely in winter that I was reading them because it is such this expansive epic world that you can just get lost in which is perfect for winter but also all of the times that you do spend like not some of the chapters take place in very deserty and hot places but there is a lot of time spent in the north beyond the wall there is a lot of snow and ice and the constant threat of winter is coming so if you have not read the books ever I mean I absolutely recommend them and if you have read them but it's been a while I recommend revisiting them because I mean one it's been great revisiting them I'm better than I actually expected it to be and it is just perfect for winter to just get lost in and sink your teeth into and reacquaint yourself with this world this cold and bleak and wintry world filled with politics and battle and darkness so I absolutely recommend it in general and definitely for winter and last but not least I have The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson which I do like I was somewhat just like the his dark materials I was disappointed with the conclusion but I feel like in particular The Final Empire which is the first book it's published as Mistborn The Final Empire in America but in the UK it's The Final Empire the first book it really takes I feel like sets you in this cold and dreary urban environment where this city that is ruled by the bad guy that won so many years ago there's ash falling from the sky but you know our main characters are kind of pulling off I guess a heist you really get this sort of like feeling of the sort of like damp darkness of this urban place they're in like it feels cold and you kind of want to wrap up and read it like that and then the second and third books I mean are a little bit less sort of focused on really being in this cold dark urban environment but they definitely still take place there or thereabouts so yeah I think it's perfect also I think it's a very good series except for the only how it ended but it's an excellent series one of the coolest magic systems around quite dark quite grim dark even so yeah 100 recommend so those are all my series recommendations for binging in winter time really anytime because these are all just good series but winter is a great time for them so let me know the comments down below if you've read these series if you want to read these series if there are any series that you expected to see on this list and you think that I messed up by not including them whenever you want to let me know I post videos on saturdays other items as well but I think saturday so like and subscribe join my patreon if you feel so inclined and I'll see you when I see you