wyrd and wonder

Wyrd & Wonder Countdown: Top 5 Fantasy Reads Since Last May

29 March 2022

A couple of years ago I stumbled across something called Wyrd & Wonder. Wyrd & Wonder is an annual geek-out of people who love all things fantasy hosted by Lisa, Jorie, and imyril. The month of May is dedicated to celebrating fantasy books, movies TV shows, games, and more, and the fun includes read-alongs, interviews, memes, gaming, and more.

I joined the fun in 2020 and wrote one of my all-time favorite posts on A Few of My Favorite (Fantasy) Things.

This year, Wyrd & Wonder turns 5. And there just happens to be 5 weeks before May 1. To celebrate this 5th Wyrdiverisary, I’m doing 5 countdown posts to Wyrd & Wonder. I’m starting off the countdown with my Top 5 Fantasy Read since last May.

A Few of My Favorite (Fantasy) Things

12 May 2020

Now that I addressed the question of what is fantasy, I can do more fun posts like my 3 favorite fantasy creatures. And continuing this month’s fantasy theme with Wyrd and Wonder, So today I present some of my favorite (fantasy) things.

Imagining the Improbable (This Post Gets A Bit Academic.)

10 May 2020

I had a whole other post ready to go in continuing with this month’s fantasy theme. (In fact I have a couple.) But as I was writing, I realized some will discuss space, aliens, or other things that could be considered “science fiction” and not “fantasy.” And if you look back at my Wyrd and Wonder TBR, some of the books might be considered sci-fi. So I thought I’d step back and talk about what I mean when I say fantasy.

What is the fantasy genre?

That’s a question with many answers and no one consensus.

Unboxing the April OwlCrate

5 May 2020

I finally received my April 2020 OwlCrate box yesterday.

The shipment was understandably delayed by the stay-at-home orders. Team OwlCrate took a bit longer to pack and ship the boxes to adhere to social distance safety requirements. And I’m guessing that the May box will also be a bit late too. But the important thing is, it arrived.

SPOILER Alert!

For those who have not received or opened your box yet or if you just don’t want to know, stop here. The rest of this post discusses the contents of the April box.

For those who want to see what’s inside, click to Page 2 below to continue.

3 Fantastical Creatures I Love

4 May 2020

Part III of my #WyrdandWonder fantastical adventure. (Read the first parts here and here.)

You enter the cottage and you tightly grip your sword. Darkness shrouds you as the door closes behind you. As you pause to let your eyes adjust, you see a faint light in the far corner.

With your sword in front of you, you slowly ease your way toward the dim light. As you approach the corner, you see a tiny glowing figure sniffling. Wee wings on its back shine iridescent from the miniature lantern sitting beside it. You think it’s a fairy. But fairies don’t exist. You shake your head in confusion and take a second look. It seems to be about six inches tall with wings and silvery-blond hair.

Since you don’t sense any immediate danger, you kneel down and ask, “Are you okay?”

The tiny figure looks up through silvery-blond hair. “I’m Petal Juniperglow. A goblin took my family and now I’m all alone” The fairy starts to cry again.

“Hi Petal. I’m . . . ” you pause. You can’t remember your name. “I’m actually not sure. The first thing I remember was waking up on the beach. I don’t know who I am or how I got to this land. But I will help you if I can.”

Petal wipes her eye. “You will? Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.” Her teeny hand grabs your index finger. She takes a long look at you. “Since you are lost but are willing to help me, I shall call you Aine because Aine was a great helper of my people.”

She stands up and flitters to your shoulder. “Okay, we should go get supplies, which are to the west. And we should try to recruit some more reinforcements from my clan, which is to the east.”

What do you do first?

Wyrd and Wonder TBR

2 May 2020

The fantastical adventure continues.

You chose to go into the dark, spooky forest. As soon as you step into the forest, you notice the air cooled instantly. The tightly packed canopy doesn’t allow enough sunlight to reach the forest floor, which also means there’s minimal flora or other underbrush that you’d typically see in a forest. The forest floor is covered with a strange, almost glowing moss that also seems to dampen the sounds. The scent of something (or many things) decomposing fills your nostrils. You look around but see no trace of humans or other beings.

You start along the narrow, winding path, occasionally stumbling over unseen roots. After walking for what feels like hours, you hear a small whimpering sound. Almost like someone crying. Walking toward the noise, you see a small cottage. You can tell the crying is coming from the cottage. You grip your small, rusty sword tightly.

Do you enter the cottage or keep going along the path?

An Epic Fantasy Adventure

1 May 2020

You stand on a beach at the edge of a forest. Behind you, a vast lake but no boat. You can’t remember what happened or how you ended up on the beach.

To your left, the beach slopes up to a rocky cliff where a ruined tower sits. To your right, you see a cave with a sign warning of ogres. In front of you, a dark forest path. You have a small, rusty sword, a bottle with an unknown potion, and a walking stick.

Which way do you go?