 Hey guys, it's Leana and I'm here today with the Get to Know the Fantasy reader tag. I saw a few people do this, but the one that inspired me to actually do it myself. So he gets credit for this video, whether he wants it or not, is Alan from the Library of Alan's Andrea. I would recommend his channel, but he is my nemesis, so I don't think I can recommend his channel because that is not in keeping with the spirit of our ongoing animosity. But if you want to join team Alan or something, or to spite me, you can go check out his channel, but just know that we hate each other. Okay, so this is a book tag that I think was inspired by a romance tag and then somebody repurposed it for fantasy. I will leave the original down below, that is to say the person who first decided to repurpose it for fantasy. Any who sees. Yeah, so there are 10 questions. So let us be about the business. Question number one is what is your fantasy origin story? How you came to read your first fantasy novel? I don't know what I would consider my first fantasy novel. I mean, I grew up reading fairy tales and that kind of thing. My dad is an avid fantasy reader, as I think if you've been watching me for some time, you are aware because I mentioned often books that he and I have both read. We buddy read Gardens of the Moon. I am not sure. I think the, yeah, I'm not sure. This video is going up first or the one where we're talking about our buddy read Gardens of the Moon. But yeah, like reading fantasy was always like a thing. Like it was a given because we always had a ton of fantasy books in the house because my dad was always reading fantasy. So it wasn't like I didn't have to go off-roading an adventure into the area of the bookstore that had never before been explored before. It was an uncharted territory. It was like, well, duh, you read fantasy. I mean, I think my first proper fantasy novel was probably Harry Potter. And actually it's my mom that read Harry Potter to us when we were kids. Like we read, I think, the first three together. My mom reading it to me and my brother. And then we read the later books ourselves. So maybe Harry Potter, I guess? Because I was mainly reading like Nancy Drew and that kind of thing before like Nancy Drew and the American Girl books, stuff like that before Harry Potter came along. But I didn't really read any fantasy after Harry Potter until college, I think. Is that true? I can't think of any fantasy that I read in between. I was reading a lot of classics in high school, like by choice. I mean, there were ones assigned. But my like for fun reading was like The Phantom of the Opera or Jane Eyre or The Count of Monte Cristo. So I didn't really read fantasy until college. And the first adult fantasy book I read was Wizard's First Role by Terry Goodkind. So the Sword of Truth series will always have a special place in my home. I had a giant stack of books next to me. And when I said that my first fantasy book was the Sword of Truth, all the books came tumbling down like they were shocked. Couldn't have planned that. Okay, well, what was I saying? That I will always love the Sword of Truth books because they were my intro to fantasy. I still recommend them as a good intro to adult fantasy because they are very easy to read. They are very easy to like chew your way through. If you're intimidated by the length of fantasy books, like you will feel emboldened by them because you can knock them out really quickly. The they introduce you to like most fantasy tropes and themes. So you kind of get like it's kind of like a in the way that like a like physics 101, most people who are physicists are going to find it to be a useless and childish class. But you need a physics 101 because you have to start somewhere. So I kind of feel like the Sword of Truth books are kind of like a fantasy 101. It's a crash course in all the tropes you're going to find in fantasy books, good or bad. And then from there you can read the harder stuff, the good or stuff. Question number two is if you could be the hero or heroine in a fantasy novel, who would be the author? And what's one trope you'd insist be in the story? This took me along. I did prepare some answers for this because I knew what the questions were like, and I was like, oh, that's going to take some thinking. I can't wing this. So I did kind of prepare a few answers. So I struggled with this one because I read a lot of grimdark and a lot of stuff like that. So I wouldn't necessarily want to be in the books that I'm reading. So like, I love Joe Abercrombie. But what I want to be in the world of the first law, like no, no, thank you. I love reading about it from the comfort of my own life. No, thanks. So I was thinking about an author that I like, who's like worlds are actually ones that like, I would like to visit, but I wouldn't mind being in. And I landed on Lainey Taylor. So for both the daughter of Smokinbone trilogy and Strange the Dreamer, there's just such a lush, fantastical, whimsical, magical quality to the world she builds that would be dazzling to behold and to live through. So to visit the places she describes or to have her write a brand new one, which I guess is what this question is, because it would be a whole new fantasy where you are the main character. So I would love Lainey Taylor to write me because I would be such a magical version of myself and my life would be so magical and beautiful and poetical. As for a trope that I'd insist on being in the story, what I came up with was Found Family. I don't know if that is a trope. I think it is. And that's, yeah, that's the only kind of trope that I want to be in. And I think Lainey Taylor would handle it well. So I found family of extremely magical creatures and magical entities and magical beings. Yes, please, I now actually want that Lainey Taylor. So if you're watching question number three, what is the fantasy you've read this year that you want more people to read? I didn't say first law for this, because even though I'm reading it this year, it is not the first time. So that seemed unfair. So I have three answers for this. Those are Broken Earth, Barsier, and Dread Nation. A Broken Earth is just such like a staggering achievement that I think it just deserves even more attention. So I just want to like direct people's eyes towards it and awareness towards it. Even though in my video where I talked about it at length, I did say that it wasn't for everyone. It's not the kind of book that I actually think everyone should read because there's a lot of people who I don't think would like it because of the nature of the story that it is. But I want more people to consider it, I guess. Whereas I think, well, well for Farsier, I think it has more widespread appeal. I think there's a greater likelihood of a larger number of people or a larger percentage of people enjoying it. It is just, I feel like it's flown under the radar. And I believe this is kind of the year of Hobb. Like what I've been seeing is that like everyone's kind of on the same wavelength and we're all like being like, Hobb, where have you been all my life? She's been writing books all my life. That's where she's been. But I just didn't know it because I'm a bad reader. But yeah, Robin Hobb, it just feels like this hidden little gem that you just stumble upon and fall into head first and just find yourself wading through the emotions that she makes you feel and being like, it hurts so good. And then Dreadnation by Justina Ireland is just the epitome of what YA could and should be. And she's got some really incredible work with themes and social and class themes. And she's just in such an amazing job weaving them into an interesting narrative that is, doesn't pull away from being grim. It doesn't pull away from the harsh realities of the kind of situations she's depicting, but is approachable for the YA audience she's writing it for. And it's also, I think, the kind of YA that can be read by, you know, adults as well. It's nothing like Harry Potter, but in the way that Harry Potter, even though it's written for kids, is the kind of thing that anyone could enjoy. I think Dreadnation, that duology, I think canon should be read by all. All not children, okay, not children. All humans who are YA age and up should read it. Okay, question number four is, what is your favorite fantasy subgenre? Or a subgenre? Wait, this is two questions. That's not fair. I did prepare answers for this, but I don't know why I didn't realize that it was like two opposite questions in one question. So I would say that this tag has 11 questions, but question number four is actually two questions, those being favorite subgenre and a subgenre that you don't read much from. So my answers are Grimdark and Flintlock Fantasy respectively. You read a lot of Grimdark, not much. I can't think of any Flintlock fantasy that I've read, except for perhaps Priest of Bones that I guess might be Flintlock Fantasy. I do want to read it though. It's not like I've avoided it. I just haven't, but I do read a lot of Grimdark, mainly Grimdark. Question number five is, who is one of your autobi fantasy authors? One of, as I recall, yeah, I just listed them all. I couldn't choose, so place your bets now if you can guess who I'm going to say. My list in order of appearance, as I typed them, is Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb, Lainey Taylor, Leigh Bardugo. I didn't include on here some other favorite authors of mine, because those authors, for example, Leo Caru, who wrote The Wolf, he's only ever written The Wolf and the sequel to it, The Spider. So he's an autobi author, because yeah, I want to read the end of the series. And if he published another series, I would probably want to pick it up. But I just feel like they haven't written enough, and I haven't read enough from them to be able to say, oh yeah, they've written all these different things, and I would just buy any of it, because it's always been good. I mean, like this one thing you've written, I'm super into it. But I can't, I don't know if I can say you're an autobi author. I imagine you probably would be, but I don't know. Um, Joe Abercrombie, like, well, I used to do Abercrombie. I didn't really love The Shattered Sea, but I do plan to finish The Shattered Sea, because I've heard that the second and third books are quite different and better than the first book. But so in his case, like it's mainly based on the first law, but the first law, he's also done so many different things with it, like with the stand-alones, they are all kind of a unique project within the world of the first law. So I pretty much trust him for anything. And I've only read two books by Robin Hobb, but I also went ahead and bought like every Robin Hobb book ever after having read those two because I was like, let's do it. I think I'm safe in your hands. Lee and Taylor has never let me down. Lee Bardugo has never let me down. So, yep, I almost put Clara Legrand on here. Maybe I should have, because I did kind of automatically go out and buy everything that she's written. Okay, let's put her on there too. I didn't write her, but Clara Legrand as well. How do you typically, wait, did I say Neil Gaiman? Yes, I did. I don't know why I skipped over him. Obviously Neil Gaiman, because he's my favorite author. Okay, number six is how do you typically, fuck, don't give me notifications right now. I'm trying to read your questions. How do you typically find fantasy recommendations? The Goodreads YouTube podcast Instagram, honestly, a lot of it is just Instagram. And it's not even, like, I'm following particular accounts that I trust and I'm like, oh, they liked this book because I never read captions or very rarely read captions. I just scroll through Instagram and mindlessly like the prettier pictures. And if there's a cover that I scroll past it, I'm like, ooh, that's a pretty cover. Let me find out what that is. And then I buy it. That's how I find books. Question number seven is what is an upcoming fantasy release that you're excited for? The Wisdom of Crowds, is that what I put? It's what I put, by a joy of overcoming. It's the last first law book that we have to look forward to until such time as he announces more first law books. But as far as we know right now, that's it. So I'm super pumped and also sad to know that'll be it. But I think he's on a regular. But for now, that's it. Yep. So that's the only answer I have for that. Question number eight is what is one misconception about fantasy you would like to lay to rest? That it isn't deep or complex? I find like, I mean, generally speaking, yeah, like, people look down on fantasy as compared to like, lipstick and that kind of thing. But the thing that they look down on it for is multi-fold. And the thing about it that most irks me is the fact that they act like it doesn't have depth. In fact, because fantasy is able to take a reader to a place that the world, the real world may not have, situations the real world may not have, it allows you to explore philosophical themes and character reactions. And this things about humanity in a way that a book that takes place in the real world can't. Because of the situations that it proposes, like those are situations that are impossible in the real world. But it can be like, I think science fiction is looked at is slightly more highly regarded for this very reason. And I don't know why people aren't able to understand that fantasy can do the exact same thing. Because science fiction people are like, oh, it's like this great, you know, philosophy about like, what it's going to look like if humanity is able to do this and like how that will affect humans and like it's so deep fantasy does the exact same thing. And like, science fiction is basically fantasy because we haven't invented that science yet or ever and maybe something that will never happen because it's not possible for it to happen. So it's really it's just like fantasy that has the nerve to say that it's possible. Um, which it may not be. Whereas fantasy has the like integrity to say, nope, this is not possible. I'm not suggesting that it is. But consider if it were possible, if such a thing did exist. Okay, let's examine what that might mean, how that might look. And if you're a good world builder, then you're doing a lot more work than somebody who's just writing a book that is like contemporary and about two people. That doesn't mean those aren't good books and they are not deep. But to conceive of a world that is different and then to go through the thought exercise, the butterfly effect of how that would change everything from the culture to the landscape to the institutions to the religion to the food to the everything. If you actually done it properly, that's an achievement. And it is very difficult to So fantasy can be very complex and very deep. Question number nine is if someone had never read a fantasy before and asked you to recommend the first three books that came to mind as places to start, what would those recommendations be? What did I say? Okay, yeah, I'll stick with those answers. Sort of truth as I said before, or the reasons that I said before. So just insert answer from previous question here. In addition, king killer, because I think similarly to sort of truth, but very differently, because I mean, I don't want to say that like, oh, brotha sent you a good guy, they're all like on par. And I don't mean that at all. But I think the name of the wind is an easy book to read. Like, it just like sweeps you up into this narrative. Patrick Roth, this is writing is so lyrical, that you just kind of like, get lost in it. And I feel like somebody who feels intimidated again by a fantasy book and like learning magic and learning a new world and blah, blah, blah, they'll just be so sucked in to this magical lyrical world that I think it'll turn you into a fantasy fan if you weren't one before. And then shades of magic might be each one. I think is like a more sort of like fast paced and more easy to more accessible fantasy. It's adult fantasy, but it's not doing an insane amount of world building. And it does kind of have the anchor of taking place at least a tiny, tiny bit in our real world in grey London. So it has that kind of point of reality reference for somebody who hasn't read fantasy before, they can be like, I know what London is. And so from London, you know, you feel like you've got like one foot on firm solid ground before you kind of like start trying to navigate this fantasy world and these magics. You have like a firmer like footing. And then question number 10 is who is the most recent fantasy reading content creator that you have come across and you would like to shout out? I would say Luke Edwards, who I found recently. And I stumbled upon his channel because he had a really funny review of Jade City by Fonda Lee. And then I discovered that he had some other content that was also interesting. And then I decided to subscribe to him. And then I started talking to him. And he's a pretty swell, chill fellow. And it turns out we have a lot in common that we didn't realize. He's also vegan like me. He likes Marmite like me. We like a lot of the same British shows because I'm an Anglophile, so I watch a lot of British TV. So yeah, I would say check out Luke Edwards. All right, that's me as a fantasy reader, if you did not already know. Let me know in the comments down below how you feel about these questions, what your answers to them would be. Do you agree or disagree with me about any of the answers that I gave? If you would also like to do this tag, feel free to do it. I'm not going to tag anyone, because I feel like a lot of people have already done it. And I feel like if they didn't do it, they didn't want to. I might be wrong. Maybe you want to. In which case, consider yourself tagged. I post videos on Saturdays, other random times as well, but only Saturdays. So like and subscribe, and I'll see you when I see you.